Kaisipang Hudyo sa Ezekiel 36:8: Kol HaTor

[d]. by possession and conquest in the revealed end. The fourth principle is that at the beginning of the Redemption in our time, i.e., the final redemption in the last generation--all activities must be in accord with one of two lines or paths: one is the line of Ezra and Nehemiah; the other is the line of Joshua. Regarding the sentence, [Deut. 11:31] “you shall possess it and you shall settle in it, ” Rabbi Eliyahu, the Vilna Gaon says (in Aderet Eliyahu, on Deut. 11), “Because of your merit in taking possession of it, you will dwell in it, and how will you take possession of it, by establishing your claim (חזקה).” How does one establish a claim? This is done by building and planting as is the law in general with regard to possession of land. This is in line with what was done by Ezra and Nehemiah. However, when necessary, force (חזקה) may also be used (in this case, there is a kametz under the Het --meaning by force (חָזְקָה); if there is a hataf-patach under the het, it means by establishing a claim, by possession (חֲזָקָה)), and this is in line with what was done by Joshua. The Gaon showed us a wonderful hint regarding this idea, i.e., that according to gematria Ezra’ and Nehemiah’ together equal Joshua’ [391] Joshua was a descendant of Efraim ben Joseph, the one who fought Amalek. in gematria, when counting the value of all the letters pronounced when saying the word [that is, עי״ן מ״מ למ״ד קו״ף], equals [490] Sitra Achra (סטרא אחרא). The mission of Joshua son of Nun, a descendant of Efraim, was to fight Amalek. Joshua was the Mashiach ben Yosef, who was supposed to counterattack [lit.: bring the war back to the gates of Jerusalem] at the entrance to the city. Here would be the center of the war against Esau, as it says [Ps. 76:4] “there he broke the flames of the bow.” This mission of Mashiach ben Yosef was hinted at in the sentence above, [Ps. 76:3] “his tabernacle [was/ will be] in Shalem and his dwelling-place in Zion. By using gematria, the Gaon discovered a hint regarding his own mission and a hint at his name in the words “his tabernacle in Shalem and his dwelling-place in Zion.” Those words equal the value of 3 generations of the Gaon, “Eliyahu son of Shlomo Zalman son of Yisachar Dov” (as explained below in Chapter 3). These things ensure us that in our war against Amalek, from every aspect our tabernacle will be complete with the help of God. And the Gaon meant by his interpretation of the words “ you shall inherit it by establishing your claim, ” that this refers to the time of the revealed end mentioned by our Sages (Sanhedrin 98a; Megillah 17b) on the sentence, [Ez. 36:8] “you, mountains of Israel, will give forth your branch, and bear your fruit for My People, Israel, etc.” This was the keen desire of the Vilna Gaon. A major principle of the Gaon was that all activities regarding the beginning of the Redemption have to be similar to the activities during the time of Ezra and Nehemiah and in the time of Cyrus. The Gaon wrote specifically that ingathering of the exiles can be merited by fulfilling the mitzvot dependent on being in Eretz Israel. The second meaning of ! is “take possession by force” in the words of the Gaon (that is, the het with a kametz as noted above) is, as it says (Kiddushin 26a) in accord with the sentence: [Jer. 40:10] “settle in your cities that you have taken." The purpose of gathering in the exiles is to wage God’s war against Amalek, which was the main mission of Joshua, in line with Mashiach ben Yosef. The war against Amalek includes every aspect, against all the enemies of Israel, including Armilus, the prince of the mixed multitude. It is also intended to remove the spirit of impurity from the Land and to bring " Knesset Israel and Shechina from below, from the earth. The opening of the war of Gog and Magog will start with the first redemption before the coming of the righteous mashiach -- Mashiach ben David, may it be speedily in our day. The main activity concerns building Jerusalem and gathering in the exiles and fulfilling the commandments connected with the Land according to secrets concerning the revealed end. All of the above is the mission of the Gaon, the light of Mashiach ben Yosef, according to his exalted directives, both explicit and hinted at by way of Tsofnat Paneach, or by calculations, or by way of secrets in Kol HaTor regarding the actual beginning of the revealed end. This was the keen desire of the Vilna Gaon and his students. The Rabbi’s mission is hidden in the sentence [Isa. 33:20] “visualize Zion, the city of our designated times,” which was said regarding the mission of Mashiach ben Joseph. Likewise, based on known hints, the Holy Ari viewed his own mission as that of Mashiach ben Yosef.

(Ez. 36:8) “you, mountains of Israel, will send forth your branch” -- In the same chapter we find: “...and the cities will be inhabited, and the ruins will be rebuilt” (Ez. 36:10). Preceding this is the verse: “behold [I have spoken] in my jealousy.” All these are signs of the revealed end, according to our Sages (Sanhedrin 98a, Megillah 17b), as is also the verse: “for as the earth sends forth its sprouts, and as a garden causes its seeds to sprout forth, so will the Lord God cause righteousness and praise to sprout forth before the eyes of all the nations” (Isa. 61:11). This was the main aspiration of the Gaon, Rabbi Eliyahu. It is called the ‘revealed’ end after the ‘revealed’ world, from the aspect of Yosef ben Rachel, and after God who is ‘revealed’ by the purification of the holiness of the Holy Land and its fruit from the spirit of [the Sitra Achra], which is accomplished when fulfilling the commandments pertaining to the Holy Land.

“The revealed end” -- (Sanhedrin 98; Megilla 17) on the verse (Ez. 36:8) “you, mountains of Israel, will give forth your branch, and bear your fruit for My people, Israel, when they are about to come.” Rashi, in his commentary on this verse, writes that the revealed end will make the end of the Redemption come closer, and this is the task of the first Mashiach, for anything that prepares for the Redemption is part of the task of Mashiach ben Yosef and is called the ’revealed’ end, after the ’revealed’ God, and after the ’revealed’ document of Anatot from the aspect of the ’revealed’ world in the line of Rachel.