18 Jul DEVARIM: EARNING REDEMPTION THROUGH SELF-SACRIFICE

The Mishna in Masechet
Sota teaches that the
world will be in a state
of disarray and chaos
in the generation before
Mashiah’s arrival. Youngsters will disrespect
adults, and children will brazenly disobey
parents. During that period, the Mishna writes,
“On whom can we rely? On our Father in the
heavens.”
The conventional reading of the Mishna is that
before the time of the final redemption, the state
of the world will be so dire that it will be clear
to us that we have only the Almighty on whom
to rely, and then the redemption will come.
Additionally, however, there is a deeper
interpretation, that the Mishna is coming
to answer the question that many of us ask
ourselves during this time of year, when we
mourn the destruction and yearn for exile:
how will we ever be worthy of redemption?
If, as our Rabbis teach, there is a process
of “Yeridat Ha’dorot” – “the decline of the
generations,” whereby our nation’s spiritual
level consistently declines, then why do we
think we can be worthy of Mashiah’s arrival, if
previous generations weren’t?
To understand how the Mishna answers this
question, let’s look at a different source which
tells of what will happen in the future.
In Masechet Shabbat (89b), the Gemara teaches
that G-d is going to approach Abraham Abinu

and “complain” that his children, the Jewish
People, are mired in sin. Abraham is going to
reply, “They shall be killed for the glory of Your
Name.” G-d will then approach Yaakob Abinu,
who will give the same response. Finally,
G-d will approach Yitzchak, who, unlike the
other two patriarchs, will come to our nation’s
defense. He will begin by noting that the Jewish
People are not only his children, but also G-d’s
children, and by claiming that the nation’s sins
are not as numerous as they seem – after all,
people are punishable only from the age of 20,
and during the time people sleep, pray, and tend
to their basic needs, they aren’t sinning. And
thus only a very minor percentage of a person’s
life is spent sinning. Yitzchak will then say
that he will step up and volunteer to assume
responsibility for the nation’s sins. He would
be able to that, he will say, “because I sacrificed
my life before You.” Since he was placed on the
altar, ready to be sacrificed for G-d, Yitzchak
will be in a position to assume the full weight
of all of Am Yisrael’s sins.
What does this mean?
It means that even if our sins at the end of time
will make us unworthy of redemption, we can
still nevertheless earn forgiveness through the
quality embodied by Yitzchak at the time he
was placed on the altar – the quality of “Mesirut
Nefesh” – self-sacrifice. If we do what Yitzchak
did, committing ourselves to make great
sacrifices for the Almighty, this outweighs all

our guilt such that we are then indeed worthy of
being redeemed.
This is the deeper meaning of the Mishna’s
teaching that in the end of days, we have
no one on whom to rely other than “Avinu
She’ba’shamayim” – “our father in heaven.”
This might be referring not to G-d, but to our
patriarch, Yitzchak. The Zohar writes that
although Yitzchak was not actually sacrificed,
nevertheless, since he was prepared to be
slaughtered for the sake of G-d, his “ashes”
are in the heavens, right by the Heavenly
Throne. And thus Yitzchak is referred to by
the Mishna as “our father in heaven” – our
patriarch whose “ashes” are present before G-d
at all times in the heaven. What will save us at
the end of time, when we will be mired in sin,
and we will lack the merits with which to be
redeemed? The Mishna’s answer is – the ashes
of Yitzchak. Despite our sins, we can earn our
final redemption by making difficult sacrifices
for Hashem, by showing our selfless devotion
to Him by serving Him even when this entails
great difficulty and significant sacrifices.
Fortunately, we live at a time when we are
not called upon to risk our lives for the sake
of Torah. We enjoy the freedom to practice
our religion without fear. However, this does
not mean that we cannot live with Mesirut
Nefesh, that we cannot make great sacrifices
for Hashem. Anytime we do something difficult
for the sake of a Misva, we are accessing the

precious “currency” of Mesirut Nefesh through
which we earn our final redemption. It could be
writing a check for charity while juggling our
expenses. It could be ensuring to pray properly
with a Minyan despite our busy schedules, or
coming to a Torah class at night despite being
tired and fatigued after a long day at work. For
many people, dressing according to Halachic
standards entails a great deal of sacrifice. For
others, closing a business or refraining from
work on Shabbat results in a significant loss of
income, and thus entails great sacrifice.
This insight should encourage and motivate
us to persist, to be prepared to make these and
other sacrifices for the sake of Torah and Misva
observance. Our generation might be on a much
lower level than previous generations – but we
are no less capable, and perhaps even more
capable, of making sacrifices, of showing our
loyalty and devotion to Hashem by following
His commands and fulfilling Misvot under
difficult conditions and in the face of great
challenges. And if we do this, then yes, we can
be worthy of our final redemption, may it arrive
speedily and in our days, Amen.