What does it mean that a decree has been nullified?
In various sichos*, including the Dvar Malchus sicha of Tetzaveh, the Rebbe uses the expression that Haman’s decree was nullified (ביטול גזירת המן). This expression is actually quite surprising: where in the Megillas Esther do we see that the King’s order containing Haman’s evil decree was rescinded? The Megillah actually tells us the opposite: Haman’s decree was sealed with the King’s ring, and “a writ that is written in the name of the king and sealed with the king’s ring cannot be rescinded.”** What actually happened was that the a follow-up decree was issued: the right of the Jews “to assemble and to protect themselves, to destroy, to slay, and to cause to perish the entire host of every people and province that oppress them.” (Esther 8:11). The original decree of Haman remained in full force (“cannot be rescinded”), and still the Rebbe calls this the nullification of Haman’s decree?
If we examine this, we will see how it is very relevant to the Geuloh and the sichos of Dvar Malchus.
The question is: how can Haman’s decree be considered to have been nullified? There are two aspects to the answer.
War with Iran is approaching round two – could this be the final groan of golus, the cracking of the shell, the spilling forth of the light of Geuloh that the world is longing for? After all, Iran is simply the preferred modern name of ancient Persia – the very same nation. And we have the testimony of the sages of the Gemara that before Moshiach comes Persia will fall at the hands of Rome![1]
Evidently, we are describing an event of global proportions. But the chess-board of world politics is merely the playing out of an internal spiritual drama of the Jewish people, as Chassidus explains the verse “He gave the world over to their hearts”[2] (גם את העולם נתן בלבם). How should we understand this drama – especially since it is described as being intertwined with the coming of Moshiach?
By attempting to analyze both aspects – both the worldly external events and the inner service of Hashem – based on the words of our sages and the teachings of Chassidus, we will, with Hashem’s help, find them even more significant than we might have thought.
The Fall of Paras: the External Dimension
We will start by mentioning words spoken by the Lubavitcher Rebbe in order to establish the significance of this matter in our generation. The Rebbe told Ron Nachman, mayor of the Israeli city of Ariel, to explain to the Americans that “it is imperative that there be a strong Israel in order to check the spread of the influence of Syria, Iran, and so forth, for they are against the US no less than they are against Israel and maybe moreso.”[3] Clearly, the Rebbe was not discussing with him a sugya in the gemara or esoteric ideas of Chassidus – this is practical advice which even the gentile government in the United States is expected to understand.
Additionally, former Israeli Ambassador Yehuda Avner was interviewed a number of years ago and shared that the Rebbe in the mid-1970s told him (years before the Iranian revolution) that “the emergence of an Islamic Iran carries with it the seeds of jihadism that will spread across the Middle East, threaten Europe, and ultimately the whole of Western Civilization.”[4] We understand clearly that the military threat from Iran is a pressing contemporary issue which in the Rebbe’s view is of the gravest consequence.[5]
Today, it is unfolding before our eyes.
We will now look at the relevant sources in Torah, with hope to gain some small insight into the gravity with which the Rebbe views the developments in Iran (Persia).
The gemara, Yoma 10a, states as follows:
Rebbi said that in the future Rome will fall at the hands of Persia…. Rav said that Persia will fall at the hands of Rome. Rav Kahana and Rav Asi said to Rav: Can the builders [Persia, who permitted the rebuilding of the Holy Temple] fall before the destroyers [Rome, who destroyed the Temple][6]?! He said to them: Yes, it’s a decree of the King.[7]
The commentary of Tosefos[8] clarifies that Persia is the nation destined to fall and adds a critical element: “We were told that in the future Persia will fall at the hands of Rome, that is, in immediate proximity to the coming of Moshiach.” Meaning, it’s not just one of many future events, but an event immediately preceding (-סמוך ל) the coming of Moshiach!
Rome, as we know, is Edom.[9] Edom is commonly understood to mean the Western world in general, and Rome is the center of its financial and military power. Just as Rome was the mightiest and wealthiest world power of its time, so, too, the United States today.
One could, however, ask a question on the relevance of this gemara to our times: Following the first Persian Gulf War, the Rebbe referenced the midrash Yalkut Shimoni that refers to a war in the year Moshiach is revealed and stated that it had been fulfilled that year – what need do we have for Persia to fall at the hand of Rome?! We can answer that the Yalkut Shimoni itself states the difference between “the year Moshiach is revealed” and “the hour Moshiach comes”. The Rebbe stated[10] that the first part – Moshiach was revealed – took place in 5751, and since then we are standing on the cusp of “the hour Moshiach comes”. And further, the Rebbe declares numerous times in these sichos that “kolu kol hakitzin” — “all the end times have passed”! The task of refining the fallen sparks of holiness (avoidas habirurim) has been completed! Consequently the Rebbe expresses his astonishment that “Moshiach still hasn’t come!”
In light of this, we can bring an amazing statement from the sefer Yaaros Dvash:[11]
The gemara states that [Moshiach] ben Dovid doesn’t come until the Persians will fall at the hands of the Romans. And the commentators note that it doesn’t state “before [Moshiach] ben Dovid comes” the Persians will fall at the hands of the Romans, but [rather the exclusionary language of “doesn’t come until”] to teach that even if the end-time will arrive, nevertheless it will be delayed until the Persians will fall at the hand of the Romans…[12]
He is describing a time when the final ketz has arrived (as the Rebbe has stated) and there is a perplexing delay in Moshiach’s coming – exactly our situation as per the Rebbe’s description. And the reason, according to Yaaros Dvash, is the matter of the fall of Persia (Iran) at the hands of the Romans (the most powerful of the Western nations).
However, one could protest that the Rebbe responded to the situation (that all the end times have passed and still Moshiach hasn’t come) with astonishment – not an explanation from the Yaaros Dvash! What connection do we find here to the Rebbe’s astonishment and disbelief?!
With a deeper look at the “fall of Persia”, and how it relates to the Rebbe’s declaration that avoidas habirurim has been completed, and especially the gemara’s expression that the fall of Persia is “a decree of the King” – we may find an answer….
Yoma 10a. The sages also quote an opposite opinion: Rome will fall at the hands of Persia, but that opinion is considered to have been rejected.
Koheles 3:11, and see Sicha Bo, 5751 (ch. 9) and Bamidbar, 5750 (ch. 7).
Free translation from video at the distribution of dollars on 28 Tishrei, 5752 (6 October 1991).
Interviewed by JEM for the video presentation “Faithful and Fortified”.
Let us note that “an Islamic Iran” is a combination of Paras (the nation) and Yishmael (the religion of Yishmael). The Mitteler Rebbe (Shaarei Teshuva, ch. 23, p. 91a) writes that “the main aspect of the Geuloh is dependent upon the fall of the Sar (spiritual source) of Yishmael davka, as stated in the Zohar”. The Maharal writes (Netzach Yisrael, ch. 21) that “malchus Yishmael and malchus Paras are all one malchus.” Furthermore, the expression used is that the Sar of Yishmael must “fall”, which matches the gemara that Paras “falls” at the hands of Rome, and Bereishis 25:18 regarding Yishmael: “before all his brothers he will fall.”
The Persian kings who ruled at the end of the Babylonian exile gave permission for the rebuilding of the Second Beis Hamikdosh (see Rosh Hashana 3b/4a). Four centuries later, the Roman general Titus destroyed it. In another sense, the spiritual power of Persia (explained below) allows for the construction of the Mikdosh, whereas the power of Rome destroys it.
Rebbi Yehuda Hanosi was the redactor of the Mishnah. Rav was his student. We must ask why his student rules differently, and specifically why does Rebbi rule that Rome must fall whereas Rav rules that it is Paras that must fall. We might suggest as follows: the gemara in numerous places describes the friendly relationship between Rebbi and the Roman ruler Antoninus. The Yerushalmi (Megillah 1:11) debates whether or not Antoninus actually converted to Judaism (and even if not, “he will be at the head of those who will come to convert in the time to come”). So we see that Rebbi not only lived under Roman rule, but his avoidah included transforming the aspect of Rome from an oppositional force to a friendly force which eventually rejoins the Jewish people (“rejoins” because the ancestor of Rome was Esav, who was a Jew). Rav not only lived in Bavel most of his life, but more importantly he was from the generation that followed the avoidah of Rebbi. His task was to continue to the next stage: the fall of the aspect of Paras as will be explained.
Tractate Avodah Zora 2b, משכא מלכותייהו. Based on the statement that Moshiach comes only after Rome rules the entire world for 9 months. Maharsha on Yoma 10a also accepts this as the final ruling.
Rashi on Bereishis 36:43: “Aluf Magdiel, Aluf Iram, these are the chieftains of Edom…” Rashi: “Magdiel this is Rome”. Pirkei d’Rebbi Eliezer ch. 38. Also Radak on Ovadia 1:1 – “What the prophets said regarding the destruction of Edom at the end of days they said about Rome. Radak on Yeshaya 34:1 – “..the kingdom of Rome they are all Edomim who adhere to the xtian religion, Ibn Ezra on Yeshaya 61:1, and the Ramban “Sefer Hageuloh”.
Dvar Malchus, Parshas Naso 5751.
Yaaros Dvash chelek 2, 162b, drush 7 Adar.
Also based on the statement that Rome rules the world for 9 months.
The excitement surrounding the Rebbe’s victory of the seforim (5 Teives, 5747) is so intense that it begins even while we are still celebrating Chanukah. The day which the Rebbe referred to as “our side wins” (“Didan Notzach”) is a powerful dor hashvi’i celebration that rightly sweeps through Lubavitch. But beyond the farbrengens and the purchasing of seforim, the events of Didan Notzach and the sichos surrounding it deserve proper attention in order to understand at least something of the true magnitude of the victory. In particular, to recognize how 5 Teives represents the culmination in this physical world of the battle that has been going on since the times of the Alter Rebbe — the battle to bring the Geuloh.
The War of the Alter Rebbe
Hey Teives arrives a few days after the end of the month of Kislev, when everyone is still saturated with the story of the kitrug against the Alter Rebbe and against spreading Chassidus, Continue reading →
In honor of the 15th of Av, 5751, the maamor “קץ שם לחושך” (“He imposed a limit to the darkness”) was released.
In many of the Dvar Malchus sichos the Rebbe addresses the need to draw the makif into the pnimi, meaning to internalize in the intellect (seichel) that which is above the intellect. For this there are two examples brought in this maamor: Will (ratzon) which is enlothed in intellect; and Faith (Emunah) which is enclothed in intellect. On their own, both Will and Faith, Ratzon and Emunah, are beyond the intellect, called in Chassidus “makif“. But the manner in which they are internalized (brought into the intellect) is quite different. Continue reading →
The human eye can perceive light. But only when it has a wavelength between approximately 380 nanometers (seen as violet) and 750 nanometers (seen as red). But these light rays are only a small fraction of the very broad spectrum of rays that exist, from 0.0001 nanometers in wavelength to a full meter. This covers Gamma rays, x-rays, ultraviolet, infrared, microwaves, and radio waves — none of which the human eye can perceive.
But this is not a science lesson — what does it have to do with Geuloh?
We will see that it is a basis for understanding how the Rebbe can say that the Geuloh is here, all the end times have passed, and yet we remain in golus. On the face of it, there is no logical basis to say that Continue reading →
What does it mean that a decree has been nullified?
In various sichos*, including the Dvar Malchus sicha of Tetzaveh, the Rebbe uses the expression that Haman’s decree was nullified (ביטול גזירת המן). This expression is actually quite surprising: where in the Megillas Esther do we see that the King’s order containing Haman’s evil decree was rescinded? The Megillah actually tells us the opposite: Haman’s decree was sealed with the King’s ring, and “a writ that is written in the name of the king and sealed with the king’s ring cannot be rescinded.”** What actually happened was that the a follow-up decree was issued: the right of the Jews “to assemble and to protect themselves, to destroy, to slay, and to cause to perish the entire host of every people and province that oppress them.” (Esther 8:11). The original decree of Haman remained in full force (“cannot be rescinded”), and still the Rebbe calls this the nullification of Haman’s decree?
If we examine this, we will see how it is very relevant to the Geuloh and the sichos of Dvar Malchus.
The question is: how can Haman’s decree be considered to have been nullified? There are two aspects to the answer.
Firstly, the intention behind Haman’s decree was nullified via the issuing of the second decree. By giving the Jews in his Kingdom the right to defend themselves and despoil their oppressors, the original intent of Haman’s decree has been nullified and replaced (even though the decree itself could not be rescinded). The second way of explaining it is that nothing changed until the actual fighting and victory of the Jews on 13 Adar — up until that point it was all “theoretical”. We look at the reality on the ground.
The greatness of Purim is explained by the Alter Rebbe in Torah Ohr as connected with the self-sacrifice (mesirus nefesh) of the Yidden over the course of an entire year. Haman’s decree to “to destroy, kill, and cause to perish all the Jews” was decreed to take place “on one day, on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month of Adar”. From the time Haman’s decree was issued (in Nissan) until the following 13th of Adar was almost a full year. The sword of destruction was held over their heads for full year, and yet nobody thought to deny his Jewishness in order to save himself — this mesirus nefesh is what the Alter Rebbe praises.
However, the “nullification” of Haman’s decree took place only two months after the original decree was issued: Continue reading →
The excitement surrounding the Rebbe’s victory of the seforim (5 Teives, 5747) is so intense that it begins even while we are still celebrating Chanukah. The day which the Rebbe referred to as “our side wins” (“Didan Notzach”) is a powerful dor hashvi’i celebration that rightly sweeps through Lubavitch. But beyond the farbrengens and the purchasing of seforim, the events of Didan Notzach and the sichos surrounding it deserve proper attention in order to understand at least something of the true magnitude of the victory. In particular, to recognize how 5 Teives represents the culmination in this physical world of the battle that has been going on since the times of the Alter Rebbe — the battle to bring the Geuloh.
The War of the Alter Rebbe
Hey Teives arrives a few days after the end of the month of Kislev, when everyone is still saturated with the story of the kitrug against the Alter Rebbe and against spreading Chassidus, Continue reading →
The human eye can perceive light. But only when it has a wavelength between approximately 380 nanometers (seen as violet) and 750 nanometers (seen as red). But these light rays are only a small fraction of the very broad spectrum of rays that exist, from 0.0001 nanometers in wavelength to a full meter. This covers Gamma rays, x-rays, ultraviolet, infrared, microwaves, and radio waves — none of which the human eye can perceive.
But this is not a science lesson — what does it have to do with Geuloh?
We will see that it is a basis for understanding how the Rebbe can say that the Geuloh is here, all the end times have passed, and yet we remain in golus. On the face of it, there is no logical basis to say that Continue reading →
In honor of the 15th of Av, 5751, the maamor “קץ שם לחושך” (“He imposed a limit to the darkness”) was released.
The Rebbe asks the question: since every created thing has a limit, why does this verse say that Hashem “imposed” a limit on the darkness — implying that otherwise it would not have had a limit? The answer begins that in general, undesirable things (darkness) are pushed away by light. But our posuk is telling us that after reaching the limit of the darkness, it won’t be the possibility for darkness. This is the true Geuloh, which leaves no room for darkness.
The maamor then begins to get into deep concepts of chassidus, of which we will mention only one. Many of the Dvar Malchus sichos speak about the need to draw the makif into the pnimi, meaning to internalize in the intellect (seichel) that which is above the intellect. For this there are two examples brought in this maamor: Will (ratzon) which is enlothed in intellect; and Faith (Emunah) which is enclothed in intellect. On their own, both Will and Faith, Ratzon and Emunah, are beyond the intellect, called in Chassidus “makif“. But the manner in which they are internalized (brought into the intellect) is quite different.
We find that Ratzon overpowers and “forces” the intellect to come to the conclusions it wants. The intellect understands things in the way that the Ratzon wants. We see this in the ability of human beings to intellectually justify almost any behavior or goal that they want. To “rationalize” something that is really not “rational” — this is the power of the Will to overpower the intellect so that it comes to the conclusions that the Ratzon wants. The Ratzon is forcing and changing the seichel, and the seichel is being nullified in the face of the Ratzon. Thus, it is not much of a chiddush that the Ratzon remains unchanged (the person still wants the same thing, because he “forced” his intellect to give him a good rational).
When bringing Emunah into intellect, however, the belief does not force the intellect. The fact that his intellect will agree to what he believes in (meaning: to intellectually accept that his belief is true) is coming from the power of the intellect itself, the result of a true and unbiased conclusion:
When he contemplates intellectually in order that his intellect will also be in accordance with his belief, he makes an effort that his contemplation and “intellectual back and forth” will be honest and unbiased (ע”פ אמיתת השכל), and nonetheless it does not cause a change is his Emunah [he does not “lose his faith” as a result of his effort to come to a rational understanding of the things he believes in]…because even after he understands the matter intellectually, his Emunah remains above his intellect.
The Rebbe also brings here, in footnote 33 (on the words “honest and unbiased (ע”פ אמיתת השכל)” from the Rebbe Rashab:
“and since he knows that the thing [in which he believes] is in essence true, because his Emunah is on strong foundations, he is not afraid to delve deeply into the subject and he does not limit the power of his seichel to inquire and seek and weigh each thing until he will come to the truth of the matter.”
The Rebbe is giving over something very relevant to the subject of Geuloh: it is not enough to have Emunah — this Emunah must be brought into seichel. This must be done honestly and truthfully (unlike when we bring Ratzon into seichel, when the honesty of the intellect is compromised to the Ratzon). This depends on our Emunah standing on strong, unshakable foundations, an Emunah which is not afraid to look honestly at the subject (and nonetheless, it will not be compromised from the challenges involved in trying to understand). This is a sort of litmus test for us: do we really believe the Rebbe when he tells us that we are the last generation of golus and the first generation of Geuloh (and all that comes along with that)? If so, we must take that Emunah and bring it into our understanding — this is the inyan of learning Moshiach and Geuloh.
If we find that we have to “force” our understanding, then our conclusions will not be true (probably because we are afraid that our Emunah is not so solid). On the other hand, we cannot remain content with our Emunah above seichel, we have a mandate to draw it down into the intellect. (This recalls the Rebbe’s statement on 28 Sivan that we must “agree” that the Geuloh is here.)
The key to all this? The unification of self-nullification (bittul) and it’s opposite (metzius), as the Rebbe states in the maamor:
It is known that Emunah is bittul and intellect is metzius, and it is understood that for Emunah to be enclothed in intellect is bittul being drawn into metzius. Since his intellectual effort is for the sake of his Emunah [and even this that his intellect remains in its metzius and is not nullified to the Emunah (like it is nullified to the Ratzon) is for the sake of the Emunah, in order that also the intellect as it is in its metzius will be in accordance with Emunah], and therefore even after the bittul of Emunah is drawn into the metzius of the intellect, the bittul remains intact.
We could say that this is also how we are meant to influence others: not to “force” them to accept what they are being told (the opposite of bittul, which nullifies the independence of the intellect); but, rather, to share with them the subject of the Emunah (that the Geuloh is here, the identity of Moshiach…) and to give them the tools to understand (which demands that we also must have these tools) and to reach the conclusion intellectually that these matters are in fact true. In this way we and those around us will be able be “partners” (as the Rebbe says in the sicha of 28 Sivan) to truly agree that the Geuloh is here b’pashtus.
Dvar Malchus 770 