The Light of the Messiah

[ . . . ] That sacred foundation, which constitutes the main theme of all this great vision, contains within it a hidden ray of the light of the Messiah, the redeemer who is revealed and concealed, and then revealed once more. Because of this, we perceive numerous changes during the course of the ongoing process of the revival of the nation and the expansion of settlement in the Land of Israel—ascents, descents, and further ascents. Each descent in our fortunes along the route of the undertaking constitutes proof of the concealment of the redeemer, and each ascent in our fortunes that occurs subsequently constitutes proof of his revelation to us (“Ha-Har”: Elul 5689).

The redemption is an ongoing process. The redemption from Egypt and the complete redemption in the future is a single operation that never ceases—the workings of the mighty hand and the outstretched arm of the Almighty, which commenced in Egypt and effects its operations in all environments. Moses and Elijah are redeemers within a single, ongoing redemption. He who commences, and he who completes the process—both the one inaugurating it and the one setting the final seal upon it—together fill the same unit, and the spirit of Israel pays attention to the sound of the movements of the deeds of redemption, which travels on through all environments until such time as the flowering of the might of salvation is complete, in its fullness and beneficence (Orot).

The fundamental principle of the unity between the written Torah and the oral Torah is like the brotherly relationship that exists between the plain meaning and the esoteric meaning of scripture. Just as internal reflections march along in tandem with external reflections on the world, on life, on reality, on causes, and on symbols, in mankind and in existence, so too is the unity between the miraculous and the natural, both in practice and in faith. Penetrating, profound contemplation unites the separated parts that the mediating intellect originally separated. The light of the Messiah, the foundation of which is high and exalted and exceedingly elevated, is an illumination from the most sublime essence where the miraculous and the natural are united—and all the workings of nature, from the smallest to the greatest, operate on its behalf and in conjunction with it, literally through it and by virtue of its influence, like miraculous occurrences.

[ . . . ] Prophecy effected no miracle without its having been connected, in some measure, to a natural phenomenon, even if this was weak and insignificant, bound together with the requisite clip which will be from the upper world, from the shining forth of the dominion of the spirit upon the lower world, which is, by its very nature, limited and restricted. Both here and there, beings that are deeply rooted and highly organized in the spheres of wisdom, of liberty, and of total sanctity are on the move—and everything is becoming progressively brighter.

The light of the Messiah is bound up with the salvation of Israel, with the might of this eternal nation, a single unity within the world, in whom the Creator of all worlds is praised through its glory: “And who is like your people Israel, a unique nation upon earth?” For this supernal light, which is comparable to the crown on the top of the scroll of the Torah, which, on account of its great strength and glory, is not allowed to be touched by hand, there will, at the end of days, be found broad paths and thoroughfares, fresh routes to be traversed, to attain its ultimate practical and great objective. At the end of days, there will arise a silent movement, filled with strength and desire, with contrasts and contradictions, with lights and dark places, and intending to row to the shore for the salvation of Israel. The weak light of the Messiah is concealed therein. Many of those holding firmly onto this little torch of light have, on the face of it, betrayed that great light that is held by the lengthy cord belonging to the everlasting light. But the salvation of Israel is always the salvation wrought by the Almighty—“I and He, save us, we pray!” And just as “You redeemed the nation and its God from Egypt,” so too will be the nature of every salvation, be it the greatest of the great or the smallest of the small! In the midst of the humble tangible strip of land, bereft of any vigorous sap from above, broad rivers will be opened for the light of the Messiah, for the amelioration of the world, filled with notions of eternity, guaranteed by the Head of Faith, the divine assurance inscribed in iron and in blood, with the covenant of the flesh and the covenant of the sacred language, with the covenant of the Holy Land and the covenant of the nation, with the everlasting covenant and the covenant of the life of all worlds (Orot).

That holy spark from the basis of the redemption, emanating from the holiness of the name of the Messiah, which was created prior to the creation of the world, which was hidden away and concealed in thousands of fetters from the time when our kingdom was destroyed, when our Temple was laid in ruins and we were exiled from our land, began to get enflamed once more from beneath the successive piles of ashes of the bitter exile that had been lying upon it for hundreds of years. Slowly, slowly did this sacred spark start to awaken through the institutions of the Old Yishuv, and in the most recent period it began to gain strength in respect of its practical aspects, through the movement Ḥibbat Tsiyon, which predated Zionism; and the spirit of the Almighty, and his promise, which remains true forever, to recall the kind deeds of the patriarchs and to bring redemption to their descendants, shone forth over this sacred task in all its elements, both the material and the spiritual, up to the point of the great spiritual arousal, which is extending continuously within the Assembly of Israel, in all its sections, with the assistance of the Zionist movement through its diverse currents. And this was the Almighty’s doing, for the world war brought about great changes in the established order of kingdoms and states, until such time as the British conquest became a reality and the mandate of the Holy Land came under its jurisdiction, and the Balfour Declaration put the political seal upon the odyssey of the return of the children [of Israel] to their borders. And lo and behold! These great signs of the times constitute sure testimony to the workings of the One who is perfect in knowledge, the Redeemer of Israel and his Holy One, who, like a shepherd tending his flock, guards them to raise them up as a people for himself upon the heritage of their ancestors, as in days of yore (“Ha-Har”: Elul, 5689).