NL09 – Exile

(pages 125-133)

Yisrael was blessed with prosperity in its land but only lived up to its mission, channeling all its blessings to a higher purpose, for a very brief time. As predicted in the Torah, the people would go astray by the surrounding nations and by their own wealth.

The remedy was to be sent into exile; to be left without its land or wealth. It would remain with only the Torah, its life-spark.

In exile, Israel’s mission remained in place under new circumstances. The exile would provide different ways to educate Yisrael, just as its former prosperity had.

After a short time in exile (70 years GS) God gathered the nation on its soil for a reunion, in the parental home. During that period (420 years), the spiritual bond of the Torah was tied more tightly, which would hold the nation together for the long exile that would come next (2,000 years and counting).

At the onset of the long exile two offshoots were produced. Christianity was to teach the world to abandon idolatry and to rise above animal behavior. It taught the world to renounce wealth and pleasures, although it did not teach about directing blessings to a higher use. Islam was another offshoot of Judaism. (Hirsch does not elaborate on Islam here. GS)

In exile, Yisrael was sustained by its loyalty to God. The spirit and fulfillment of the Torah, the only treasure it had rescued, supported it and enabled it to live amid the suffering and abuse it was to endure.

Many nations have disappeared and Yisrael lives on. Yisrael was offered to join the nations by its abusers, if only they would abandon their religion. The exile’s long history is filled with violence, pillage and the blood of Jews who refused to abandon their commitment to the Torah. The exile has been one big altar on which Yisrael sacrificed everything that man desires for the sake of its loyalty to God and His Torah. Through this painful experience, the Jewish nation showed the world that there are human values more important than possessions and the gratification of one’s desires. Surely these lesson have made an impact on the nations of the world.

The challenge of modern times, when Yisrael is granted equal rights and the ability to prosper among its neighbors, provides a much loftier and effective opportunity for Yisrael to educate man. If Yisrael would now live fully by the laws of the Torah, what an inspiration it would be for the whole world. The laws of the Torah create a model society of justice and love. If all around them all actions were inspired by the love of profit, self gratification and selfishness, but Yisrael would live up to its calling of being a nation of priests, building a model society, what a mighty force it would be in educating man and reaching the ultimate goal of all human education! If only our lives were a perfect reflection of the Torah.