Redemption of the Truth

In essence, the redemption of Israel is the redemption of the truth. The Shechina, the Divine Presence, is in exile with Israel. Until the redemption, the truth can express itself only with extreme difficulty, and whenever it expresses itself, it is almost necessarily denounced. Also by Israel. We can learn this from Parshat VaYeshev. Though he recognized the truth in his heart, even Yaakov denounced the dreams of Yosef. Fueled by hatred, the ten brothers decided to get rid of the dreamer. The Sages teach us that they used halachic reasoning to defend their decision, to conceal the ugliness in their hearts. In effect, they fought the truth in the name of Torah.

I submit that events like the removal of Jews from their houses in the name of the rule of law, or in the name of Pikuach Nefesh, are reflections of the sale of Yosef. At some point the consequences of these actions will become so glaring that the sin can no longer be denied. The suffering of the righteous serves the redemption of the truth.

One could wonder why there is no shorter and easier way to redemption. Rashi brings in Bereshit 37:35 that Yitzchak knew that Yosef had not died. If so, why did he not tell Ya'akov? Similarly, why did Yosef not notify his father after he had risen to power in Egypt? The answer must be that short of Teshuva, until a certain time, sin can and must express itself to reach its conclusion.

This leads us to the question why the punishment for the sin, the exile in Egypt, was 210 years. The punishment is tenfold, 10 times 21, because ten brothers were involved. The 21 is the gematria of אהיה, the name of HaShem revealed to Moshe after the exile. It is a hint at a heinous aspect of the sin of the brothers: They made a halachic decision, as it were involving HaShem into their deed.

The punishment of 21 years is sevenfold (see VaYikra 26:18), 7 times the 3 years that Yosef was in jail. A hint at the three years is the three-day period the brothers spent in jail (Bereshit 42:17). Why did Yosef have to spend three years in jail? The three years constitute a tenth of Yosef's life. He was in jail from age 27 until age 30. Yosef had to sacrifice a tenth because his brothers had counted the Shechina as a tenth member of their Beit Din after Reuven had left. In other words, Yosef's emprisonment was because of the falsehood that was uttered in the name of HaShem, and Am Yisrael suffered accordingly.

This leads us to the question why the current exile is so long. The main reason for the current exile is the re-emergence of the monster of hatred sanctioned by religion. This time, as explained in the Zohar, the punishment for the hatred was not 70 times the three years of Yosef's jail term, but 70 times the 22 years that Yosef did not see his father.

May those who rule against faithful Jews in the name of Torah take heed.

לז