Realizing Redemption

B"H

'Jerusalem received 9/10's of the world's beauty.' -the Talmud

Earlier this afternoon, my friend Yoni took my brother & I on a tour of the old city of Jerusalem. After praying the afternoon service at the Western Wall, we met Yoni at the top of the stairs and proceeded on our tour.
Ascending up a few pairs of narrow stairs, we were suddenly faced with a gorgeous view of the old city.
"There's the direction in which King David came & conquered Jerusalem.
Over there's where we won the hard-fought battle in 1967.
Every inch of this holy city is layered with thousands of years of history; of joy and suffering,
destruction & salvation."

As we wound through the narrow streets & tunnels of this majestic city, we emerged into a large, open square.
As the sun set, we stood together talking while children ran around us kicking a soccer ball, yelling with joy.
My friend motioned to look at the wall next to us, which had inscribed in it the words (in Hebrew):
"And the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing in its streets." (Zechariah 8:5)

There's a powerful story in the Talmud where this verse is brought:
'Again it happened that Rabban Gamliel, Rabbi Elazar ben Azaria, Rabbi Joshua and Rabbi Akiva went up to Jerusalem. When they reached Mt. Scopus, they tore their garments. When they reached the Temple Mount, they saw a fox emerging from the place of the Holy of Holies. The others started weeping; Rabbi Akiva laughed... Said they to him: "A place [so holy] that it is said of it, 'the stranger that approaches it shall die,' and now foxes traverse it, and we shouldn't weep?"Said he to them: "That is why I laugh... the Torah makes Zachariah's prophecy dependent upon Uriah's prophecy. With Uriah, it is written: 'Therefore, because of you, Zion shall be plowed as a field; Jerusalem shall become heaps, and the Temple Mount like the high places of a forest.'
With Zachariah it is written, 'Old men and women shall yet sit in the streets of Jerusalem. And the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing in its streets.' As long as Uriah's prophecy had not been fulfilled, I feared that Zechariah's prophecy may not be fulfilled either. But now that Uriah's prophecy has been fulfilled, it is certain that Zechariah's prophecy will be fulfilled.' With these words they replied to him: "Akiva, you have consoled us! Akiva, you have consoled us!"

As we watched the boys & girls playing all around the square, these words and the accompanying story hit home.
How amazing it was to see with our own eyes the source for Rabbi Akiva's laughter!

But we have to remember, we're not fully there yet. While it is true that we are nearing redemption, we still have to put the finishing touches in our lives and in the world around us to fully realize it. Our sages teach us, that in order to ready the world for the complete Redemption, we need to start viewing our world in, and living with, a redemption mentality.

Now what in the world does that mean?

Well, let me ask you: Why is it that when people bump into each other on the street or in the office hallway, annoyance surfaces? I mean, when a call comes in to firefighters to get moving, and they're slamming into each other in every direction to get their gear and jump on the truck, no one is even close to thinking of getting angry?

The answer is simple. These men are on a mission. They each have a cause on their mind, a purpose that's higher than any pettiness or strife. We can start to live now in exile in a more redemptive way. In the messianic era, there won't be strife or hatred. Let's work on that now. In that time, we will see the good traits in one another. Let's work a bit on that now. In that era we will be occupied in attaining a higher recognition and building our relationship with G-d through learning about Him and connecting. Let's do some of that now. Now it only makes sense that G-d meet our redeemed perspectives with a revealed redemption.

As the 3rd Rebbe of Chabad once said (in Yiddish): "mach da Eretz Yisroel" -"Make Israel here."
This means that even if we're found in CA, NY or Paris, we can live like we're on the streets of Jerusalem. Kedushah, holiness, can be brought into our lives wherever we find ourselves. One coin in a charity box, one smile to a neighbor, one candle lit, can transform the darkness of our exile into the light of redemption.

And through living our lives in such a way, may we merit the complete & ultimate redemption, when there will be no more pain and only joy, and all of our children and elders will play and laugh in the streets, may it happen now!

Shabbat Shalom!

-Daniel

Jerusalem