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TORAT MIZRACHI























       In the Amidah, as well, we say ח ַ מ ֶ צ ת ֶ א   of redemption (the second part of the   Alumot, sheaves, appear elsewhere in
                  ְ
                                 ָ
       ַ חי ִ מ ְ צ ַ מ ,‘ה ה ָּ ת ַ א ךּור ָּ ב ... ַ חי ִ מ ְ צ ַ ת ה ָ ר ֵ ה ְ מ ך ּ ְ ד ְ ב ַ ע ד ִ ו ּ ָ ד   psalm), that the tears be turned to joy.   Tanach solely in the context of Yosef’s
       ה ָ עּו ׁשְי ן ֶ ר ֶ ק, “Speedily cause the sprout   Some of the visions of this psalm did   dreams. As a boy, Yosef had dreams

       of David, Your servant, to flourish…   come to fruition, at least some of the   of greatness. But those dreams were
       Blessed are You… Who causes the      time. However, there was certainly no   destroyed by the hatred and animos-
       power of salvation to sprout.”       impressive breakthrough of redemption   ity between the brothers. Eventually
                                            like afikim in the Negev. Nevertheless,   though, after many trials and much
       Why is Mashiach’s Name a Plant?      Jews all over the world continued to say   suffering, Yosef’s dreams came true,
                                                                                 but in exile.
       At the beginning of the growth process,   this psalm in Birkat HaMazon every
       we see nothing but dry ground. Only   Shabbat and holiday, believing and   Now, with the Return to Tzion, we pray
       once the plant sprouts do we realize the   expecting its vision would be fulfilled   to witness the fulfillment of the great
                                                                                 dream of the upright alumot of Knes-
       process had already begun earlier. The   in its entirety.                 set Yisrael that will in turn lead to the
       new growth begins only after the decay   We are almost there.             realization of the Divine mission in the
       of the previous seed.
                                            With immense gratitude to the        world. These sheaves will stand upright
       Redemption comes after destruction,   Almighty, we have been privileged to   through a process of unity, closeness
       after tears. The decay of the seed may   return to our Land – a much more   and connection.
       seem like the end of the process, but it is   impressive return  than  that of the   We have been blessed with such great
       specifically there where growth begins.   Second  Beit HaMikdash. Then, the   abundance in our generation, and we
       Am Yisrael will grow to salvation and   return was after 70 years. There was   continue to pray that “the L-rd shall
       greatness only through despair, destruc-  hardly any new settlement in the coun-  return us.” We continue to pray for
       tion and difficulty.                 try. We have rebuilt after 2,000 years!   the success of the State of Israel, that
                                            We returned after many years of for-  all the people of Israel will know the
       Chazal  said (Yerushalmi  Berachot)   eign rule and yet we have succeeded   Name of G-d called upon us, and may
       that Israel’s redemption is like  ת ֶ לֶּי ַ א   in establishing a State, with economic,   Hashem bless us in our beloved country
       ר ַ ח ַ ׁ ּ ש ַ ה, dawn. Just as the light of dawn   scientific and technological prosperity,   to continue to make a Kiddush Hashem,
       comes slowly and almost unnoticed,   and even spiritually, the quantities of   further the Redemption, and bring
       so too Israel’s salvation – a great light   Limmud Torah and observant Jews are   Mashiach speedily in our days.
       will suddenly burst out of the bleakest   much higher than at many times during
       darkness.                            our history.

                                            Indeed, the world, the non-Jewish
       Who is This Psalm About?             world, sees the greatness of the mira-
       The common opinion is that this psalm   cle, the magnificent blossoming of the
       was about those returning to Israel   State of Israel through G-d’s grace. We
       during Shivat Tzion. After Cyrus’ dec-  see but do not believe: “we were like
       laration, the immigrants felt the great   dreamers.” The world is in awe: “The   Rabbi Yosef Zvi Rimon is Rosh Yeshiva of
       redemption and were like dreamers.   L-rd has done great things for them.”   JCT–Machon  Lev  and  Head  of  Mizrachi’s
       Slowly, however, they encountered    We are seeing the great Redemption,   Educational Advisory Board.
       insurmountable difficulties. Indeed,   the mighty streams in the Negev, in our   A member of the Mizrachi Speakers Bureau
       almost the entire Second Beit HaMik-  own days.                                mizrachi.org/speakers
       dash period was characterized by     The psalm ends with the sentence: אֹ ּ ב   Rabbanit Sharon Rimon teaches Tanach
       challenges and hardships. Hence the   וי ָ תֹ ּ מ ֻ ל ֲ א א ֵ ׂשֹנ הָּנ ִ ר ְ ב אֹובָי, “he shall come back   and  is Content Editor for the HaTanakh
       returnees asked for the continuation   with songs of joy, carrying his sheaves.”  website.



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