As we read the book of Shemot, examining the original and paradigmatic redemption from exile, it is an auspicious time to return to the beginning of Kol HaTor and examine the fundamental principles from which the book unfolds.
As stated in our introduction to the text a couple of weeks ago, the book is primarily intended as an examination of the role of the Mashiach ben Yosef. The author, Hillel of Sklov, attributes to his teacher the Vilna Gaon the statement that all of the work of redemption in this world, i.e., the ingathering of exiles, building the land, and defeating evil, will be performed by the Mashiach ben Yosef. He is the “first Mashiach” whose work must be completed before the second Mashiach – ben David – can appear to rectify everything that is amiss in spiritual realms.
Certainly, Hashem has the power, if He wills it, to bring about redemption in a sudden fashion, as He did in Mitzrayim. However, if after our many centuries of exile we are still not worthy of redemption in our own merit, there are natural processes at work in the universe that will bring it about inevitably. These natural processes, collectively, are referred to as the “beginning of redemption,” and their agent is Mashiach ben Yosef. Because the laws of nature are principally governed by the Divine attribute of Judgment, such a gradual redemption brought on through natural processes will necessarily be accompanied by many difficulties and trials. One positive aspect of this challenging situation is that we are refined and purified, and through the trials we ourselves are made more deserving of redemption and better able to bring it about speedily for ourselves.
The Vilna Gaon very famously taught – and the primary source is the opening chapter of Kol HaTor – that the final “day” of human existence can be divided into hours. That is to say, there is a tradition from our sages that the six days of Creation correspond to six thousand years of humanity, from Adam until the end of the world as we know it. We are now in the sixth millennium, corresponding to the Friday of Creation. When the Vilna Gaon turned 20 years old, it was the year 5500, the exact halfway mark of the millennium. He explained that the first 500 years represented the night, divided into three “watches,” as in the laws of Shema and of course the service in the Beit HaMikdash. The day that was dawning in that year would be divided into twelve “hours,” as we learn in the laws of the daily prayers and, yes, the Temple service again.
In his commentary on Sifra DiTzniyuta, the Gra elaborated further on this idea, demonstrating his exact computation of the duration of an “hour” and correlating the hours with the twelve hours of Adam and Chava on the sixth day of Creation, as described in the Gemara Sanhedrin (38b). So for example, the end of the fifth hour and the beginning of the sixth correspond exactly to the date of the Declaration of Independence of the State of Israel. In the Gemara, this concludes the stage of Adam “standing on his feet,” and begins “calling all the animals by their proper names.”
According to this same reading, we are presently nearing the end of the seventh hour, corresponding to “he was joined with Chava.” In the summer of 5791, we should transition to the eighth hour, “they went up into their bed two and descended four.” Some commentators on this material note that the union of Adam and Chava is auspicious for us because the redemption is often correlated with the unification of the masculine and feminine aspects of the Divine. This in turn parallels the text of the kavanot of the Arizal to precede the performance of mitzvot. In this context, the serenity of shalom bayit is understood as an aspect of the world in balance, fulfilling the purpose of Creation.
