17 Mar Vayakhel Pekudei- True Redemption

In 1948, when the medinah was first established, the Chazon Ish had already moved to Eretz Yisroel. He is quoted as having said that the establishment of the medinah constitutes the end of the golus but is not yet the geulah. Some thought that this statement was mere double-talk. I think the Chazon Ish was using the terminology of the Ramban in his introduction to Chumash Shemos.

The Ramban explains that Sefer Bereishis is a book of all beginnings: the beginning of the world, the beginning of mankind, and the beginning of the Jewish people. By the time we get to the end of Bereishis, we know about the avos and the shevotim. Sefer Shemos is all about the first galus (in Mitzrayim) and the geulah therefrom. The Ramban then asks on himself, we don’t experience the geulah until after the passing of Moshe Rabbeinu when Yehoshua bin Nun leads Benei Yisroel into Eretz Yisroel. So how can I say that sefer Shemos completes the geulah from the first golus?

To this the Ramban responds that although the Jewish people still had not yet returned to Eretz Yisroel and the golus was still in effect, the building of the Mishkan constituted the geulah. The entire Jewish people should really live in Eretz Yisroel and the main location for observance of the mitzvos is really in Eretz Yisroel. But still, this was not the main tragedy involved in golus Mitzrayim. As long the avos lived in Eretz Yisroel, they were zocheh to hashro’as ha’Shechina. The Ramban, paraphrasing a posuk in Sefer Iyov, coins an expression saying that the avos experienced sod Eloka alei oholeiheim. But when Yaakov Avinu went down to Mitzrayim this hashro’as ha’Shechina was missing, and this was the main tragedy in the golus Mitzrayim. By the time we reach the end of Chumash Shemos, with the four sidrahs of Teruma, Titzave, Vayakhel, and Pikudei all dealing with the construction of the Mishkon, the hashro’as ha’Shechina was restored and this is what the Ramban understands by the term “geulah”. Klal Yisroel had still not yet returned to Eretz Yisroel but nonetheless they had a hashro’as ha’Shechina.

The gemarah in Rosh Hashanah quotes the view of the tanah R’ Yehoshua that b’Nissan nigalu and b’Nissan asidin l’higoel. The original geulah took place in the month of Nissan and in the future, the geulah ha’asida will also take place in Nissan. People usually assume that the gemarah’s reference to the geulah taking place in Nissan is with respect to yetzias Mitzrayim. But based on this comment of the Ramban, it would appear that the reference is to the completion of the construction of the Mishkan which took place on Rosh Chodesh Nissan. R’ Yehishua’s statement that l’osid l’vo the geulah asida will take place in Nissan as well, may possibly be based on the pesukim at the end of Sefer Yechezkel which state that starting from Rosh Chodesh Nissan, through Sukkos (six and a half months), special korbanos will be offered for the purpose of chanukas Bayis Hashlishi over and above the regular korbanos of temidim and musofim.

The novi does not tell us which year this will occur, but apparently just like Rosh Chodesh Nissan was the first day that the nesiim brought the special korbanos for chanukas haMishkon, indicating that there was a clear hashro’as ha’Shechina, so too in the future, the first day of the six and an half months of bringing the special korbanos will be considered the geulah in the sense that at that time the hashro’as ha’Shechina will be apparent.

This is most probably what the Chazon Ish meant when he commented that the establishment of the medinah represents the end of the golus because the British are no longer preventing the Jews from returning back to Eretz Yisroel and there was a tremendous kibutz goliyos, but we still did not merit the hashro’as ha’Shechina which is referred to with the technical term of geulah. May we all merit to see the geulah very soon during our lifetime.