Vayechi: 5784 - Rabbi Shimon Zonnenfeld with the weekly insight: why did Yaakov Avinu want to reveal the end-time of the Geulah? After all, it is stated in the Gemara in Tractate Sanhedrin, "Let the spirit of those who calculate…

00:00 Speaker 1 Please listen.

00:03 Speaker 2 In the weekly parsha: “Yaakov said to his sons, ‘Gather together, and I will tell you what will happen to you at the end of days.’” First of all, this verse teaches us that when Yaakov’s sons gather together and there is unity among them, the Geulah will come. “I’ll tell you when the end of days will be.” Today, our slogan is that together we will win. That’s how important unity is. But Rashi says that the Shechinah departed from him. There is a version in the Midrash that says it was not the Shechinah that departed from him, but prophecy. And the Rebbe asks a question. Surely, when Yaakov wanted to reveal what would happen to them at the end of days, he meant to benefit his sons, to help them. So the question is: Would he reveal to them when the end of days would be? After three thousand-- more than three thousand years?

01:14 Speaker 1 They would lose hope.

01:16 Speaker 2 He saw that we would still be in exile, that Moshiach had still not come. So would he come and tell them, “Listen, do you know when the true and complete Geulah will be? In more than three thousand years.” What did he hope to accomplish by that? What good would it do? On the contrary, it could make them lose hope.

01:30 Speaker 1 Right, they would lose hope.

01:32 Speaker 2 There are several answers to this. The Rebbe gives an answer that is also explained by the commentators: What did Yaakov intend? Yaakov intended to reveal to them not when the final exile would end, but when they would leave Egypt—and that the redemption from Egypt would be the true and complete Geulah. As we say in Az Yashir, “You will bring them and plant them on the mountain of Your inheritance.” Right? In other words, the exodus from Egypt would itself be the true and complete Geulah, the end of exile. That is what he wanted to bring about for the Jewish people. That was his intention. Still, we see that the Shechinah departed from him. The Ramban gives several explanations for why the Shechinah departed from him, why it was not desirable for Yaakov to reveal this. We find that throughout the generations, great Jewish sages gave various dates for the Geulah. The Ramban gives a date for the end. Other great Jewish sages also gave dates. On the other hand, the Gemara says, “May the spirits of those who calculate the end expire.” So wait—is revealing the end a good thing or not? On one hand, the Gemara says, “May the spirits of those who calculate the end expire,” because if that date arrives and the Geulah does not come, the Jewish people could lose hope. But on the other hand, we see that great Jewish sages did give dates for the end. The Maggid of Dubno gives a very interesting parable about this. There was a Jewish merchant who would travel with his merchandise to towns and villages, selling various small wares. He would travel, return home, and that was how he made his living. Once, his son said, “Father, I want to go with you,” and he insisted that he

03:39 Speaker 2 wanted to go. His father said, “All right, come along.” So they set out in the wagon and traveled. After a few hours, the son turned to his father and asked, “Father, when will we get there?” Right? We’re used to that when traveling with children: “When will we get there?” The father scolded him. “What are you talking about? Why are you-- Just sit quietly and don’t talk.” So the son sat quietly. They traveled like that for several days. After about a week, the father, the merchant, asked the wagon driver, “When will we...?” The driver told him, “With Hashem’s help, we’ll arrive in another few hours.” The son turned to his father and said, “When I asked you exactly the same question, you silenced me and scolded me. You shouted at me. But you asked the wagon driver, and he answered you. What’s the difference?” The father told his son, “We had only just set out, and you were already asking, ‘When will we get there?’ We had only just started traveling. It wasn’t time for that question. But after we’ve been traveling for so many days and are close to our destination, it’s possible to ask.” That is how he resolves it. On one hand, the Gemara says, “May the spirits of those who calculate the end expire.” When we’re still at the beginning-- at the beginning of the journey, we’re already making calculations, setting dates. When will it be? Wait a moment. But after so many years have passed, it’s possible to calculate. It’s possible to ask. All the more so today, when the Rebbe said that we must not only ask, but demand: “How much longer?” After so, so many years and so much suffering for the Jewish people, how much longer? The Geulah should-- should already have come, and there is no explanation and no excuse for why it still has not come. Especially today, in our time, when every day we hear about

05:38 Speaker 2 young Jewish men falling in the war, al kiddush Hashem. How much longer? We need to ask and demand of Hakadosh Boruch Hu: We want Moshiach now! We want the Geulah now! May it be His will that we see it very soon.

05:51 Speaker 3 Amen.