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.