[Avodah] RYShapira on the spread of secularism

[Micha Berger]

This somewhat addresses a question I asked R' Mikha'el Mikhovi about
R' Kook and post-Zionism. I do believe RYS here is actually giving a
derivative of RAYK's view reflecting subsequent events, not RAYK's shitah
unadulterated. But interesting -- particularly to those of us who are
looking at the belief of "reishit tzemichat ge'ulateinu" from the outside
and yet want to better understand someone else's shitah.

-micha

-- Forwarded message from Shabbat BeShabbato <shabbat.beshabbato at gmail.com> --
Date: Mon, 7 Jul 2008 14:34:30 +0300
Subject: Shabbat-B'Shabbato -- Parshat Balak
...
        No 1230: 9 Tammuz 5768 (12 July 2008)
...
TO SEE G-D'S GOODNESS
The Increase of Secularity as Redemption Approaches-
by Rabbi Yehoshua Shapira, Rosh Yeshivat Ramat Gan

Question: It is clear to all that we are very close to the time of
final redemption. But if this is so, why is it that in our generation
the secular approach has become so widespread that it encompasses the
majority of the nation of Yisrael?

Answer: In order to reply to this deep question, it is first important
to delve into the concept of redemption in which we have been involved
for so many years. Is this a process of atonement for a specific sin for
which we have not yet been fully punished? This seems to be the most
widely accepted approach, as we say in the Mussaf prayer: "Because of
our sins, we were exiled from our land." This is also what Moshe seemed
to think, when he asked the Almighty, "Why did you do bad things to this
nation?" [Shemot 5:22]. As the Midrash explains, "What did this nation
do that led them to be so oppressed for all these past generations?"

Moshe asked another question, and it is the one that we asked above. "From
the time that I came to Pharaoh... he did evil things to this nation"
[5:23]. As the Midrash explains, "Your name is great, powerful, and
awesome, and the whole world is afraid of You, how could the evil Pharaoh
hear You and purposefully disobey?" Why does the exile become stronger
and reach its greatest depths just when the sparks of redemption begin to
appear? The Almighty replies, "Now you will see what I will do to Pharaoh"
[6:1]. Just at this point in time, when heresy is at its greatest,
is the moment of redemption and freedom.

One of the early great masters of Chabad, Rabbi Hillel from Faritch,
explains this by a wonderful parable about a rabbi and a student who are
very close to each other. The student's entire life is bound up in the
words of the rabbi, and the rabbi only feels that his life is worthwhile
when he is teaching his student. One time they sat with words of Torah
flowing between them, when the student suddenly felt that his rabbi was
moving farther away from him. The rabbi stuttered, his eyes were distant,
and he seemed to have something else on his mind. The situation became
worse minute by minute, until the rabbi fell silent and closed his
eyes. There was a complete loss of contact, utter silence! The student
did not know what to do, without his rabbi's Torah there was nothing
left to live for. He thought back over his own actions searching for
the reason for what had happened, he repented, but it was all to no
avail. Day after day he looked at his rabbi hoping that he would once
again speak to him, but he did not return to him for a very long time.

In all of this, the student had one ray of hope: He looked at his rabbi
and saw that the rabbi's face was lit up like that of a man who has come
across a new and wonderful idea and who is thoroughly enjoying it. When
the student saw this, he understood that the separation was temporary and
was really for his benefit. While they were studying his rabbi had come
across a new idea, something much wiser than anything he had taught the
student in the past, and in order not to lose the train of thought he
concentrated all of his attention on the new idea. The rabbi knew that
the student would hold on, and that his inner faith in the strong bond
between them was greater than the false picture of separation.

According to Rabbi Hillel, the time in the parable when the rabbi and
the student got along so well can be compared to the era when the Temple
stood in Jerusalem. The time of confusion and consternation is the time
when the fires burned the walls of the Temple, and the evil conquerors
entered the area, cursing and blaspheming. What did they find in the
Temple? According to the Talmud, "When the Gentiles entered the sanctuary
they saw the Keruvim intertwined with each other." Isn't it amazing that
at such a moment of Divine anger the Keruvim faced each other, like the
times when Bnei Yisrael were fulfilling the will of G-d? The answer is
that the parable explains this, because the true innermost meaning of the
exile is nothing more than pure love. From this point on the situation
gets worse and worse ? the Tana'im, the Amora'im, the geonim, early
and later commentators, and our own generation... the enlightenment,
secularism, Gentile culture, and sinful approaches that devour our very
existence. During the entire time in the parable that the new lesson
is taking shape in the mind of the rabbi, he moves further and further
away from his disciple. But the time of the worst separation is when we
can eagerly await the coming of the Mashiach.

What does the lit face of the rabbi mean? This is the time when we begin
to discover the results of separation: secularism reveals the depth of
G-d's demand which lies behind the Divine anger that has shattered old
tools and destroyed all that seemed good. Many new benches are added
to the Beit Midrash, and the new occupants raise it up, adding true
innovation to the Torah -- the innovation of redemption.
...

SHABBAT-ZOMET is an extract from SHABBAT-B'SHABBATO, a weekly bulletin
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    Translated by: Moshe Goldberg

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