Bleeding Curtain Miracle

Based on excerpts from a discourse by
the third Lubavitcher Rebbe, the "Tzemech Tzedek,"
Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneersohn
Parshat Va'eschanan, Ohr HaTorah

by Rabbi David Rothschild

Introduction

The Tzemech Tzedek asks an enigmatic question. Why did the Babylonian Exile last but seventy years? We know that Israel's inhabitants during First Temple times were idol worshipers, licentious, murderers or violators of other major crimes. Yet after a scant seventy years they returned from exile and the Temple was rebuilt in Jerusalem.

We also know that during Second Temple times the Jewish population was for the most part virtuous. Why then does the exile persist? If they were more observant, why hasn't their Temple been rebuilt for two thousand years?

A bizarre Midrash is quoted, "When the Roman General Titus entered the Temple, and he slashed the arks curtain with his sword. A miracle transpired: Blood spout from the gash. Why did G-d choose this particular miracle? What message does it convey?

A Midrash on Lamentations states, "G-d overlooks idol worship, adultery and murder but He doesn't forgive the neglect of Torah study." Jeremiah confirms this remarkable assertion: "Why does the land perish …? Because they have forsaken my Torah" Cardinal sins aren't listed as the grounds for exile; only the failure to learn Torah is. What can this possibly mean?

Delving into the world of Kabbala and Chassidut, the Tzemech Tzedek analyses the spiritual cause and effect of observing Torah and mitzvahs. And conversely, exactly what happens when transgression occur.

Bringing examples from human anatomy and medicine, allegories are applied to the supernal World of Emanation (Atzilut). If you truly want to understand the cause of Exile and its duration, and the secret of the destruction of the Temple, click here.

Full text is 3000 words approx.