LESHEM SHEVO V ACHLAMAH Drushei Olam HaTohu, Chelek 2, Drush 4, Anaf 12, Siman 9-10

bs d LESHEM SHEVO V ACHLAMAH Drushei Olam HaTohu, Chelek 2, Drush 4, Anaf 12, Siman 9-10 Nature and physicality will remain until the time of Techiyas HaMeisim Resurrection of the Dead which will begin no less than 40 years after Kib- butz Golios the Ingathering of the Exiles as it says in Midrash Ne elam in Parashas Toldos (139a); see 140a there, and Parashas Shemos (10a). 1 Regarding that time it says: There is no difference between This World and Yemos HaMoshiach except for the oppression of nations (Brochos 34b). The world will not begin to change from its present state and leave the zu- hama, physicality, and nature completely until the time of Techiyas HaMeisim onward. Even then, only little by little and in increments, because the resur- rection itself won t happen at the same moment for everyone, as it says: In the future, righteous people will resurrect the dead (Pesachim 68a). See Midrash Ne elam (Vayaira 114b). 2 Before the resurrection, zuhama will be eliminated and physicality of the body will decompose, as it says: In the future righteous people will be dust, as it says, Until you return to the earth from where you were taken. You are dust, and to dust you will return (Shabbos 152b). When does this occur? One hour before Techiyas HaMeisim. 3 1 In other words, according to the Zohar, the period of time during which bodies will be resurrected and brought back to life will begin at least FORTY years from the time that the Jewish exiles are brought back to Eretz Yisroel. 2 One of the most dramatic effects of our interaction with the Original Snake in Gan Aiden was that we received a kind of indelible spiritual impurity. Spiritual impurity, according to the Torah, can result from one of many different causes, the most extreme one being contact with a dead body. However, even that level of spiritual impurity can be removed during one s lifetime by the procedure of the Parah Adu- mah the Red Heifer unlike zuhama. Though the Talmud indicates that the Jewish people had been able to eradicate their zuhama by accepting Torah (Shabbos 146a), it returned with the incident of the golden calf and is only remedied now, for the most part, through death itself. It is the cause and result of our apparent physicality, for prior to Adam s sin his skin was light- like (Kesones Ohr Aleph- Vav- Raish) as opposed to being fleshy (Kesones Ohr Ayin- Vav- Raish). In our present state we cannot enter the spiritual realm of the World- to- Come and therefore we must be transformed back to our pre- sin reality of being light- like, and this, as the Leshem will explain, does not occur during the forty years from Kib- butz Golios until Techiyas HaMeisim, but from the latter time onward. 3 The word vga is used which literally means an hour, but it can also be taken to mean a moment. Leaving Egypt Supernaturally // 1

For, all those living will die in order to decompose the physicality of the body and to transform from Kesones Ohr (Clothing of Skin: AYIN- Vav- Raish) to Kesones Ohr (Clothing of Light: ALEPH- Vav- Raish). Death will not come from the Angel of Death, God forbid, because then he be eliminated completely, as it says: In the Future Time, The Holy One, Blessed is He, will bring the yetzer hara and slaughter it before the righteous people and the evil, etc. These will cry and these will cry, etc. (Succah 52a). 4 Then the world will be completely purified from the zuhama, and death then will be through The Holy One, Blessed is He alone, for the sake of imme- diate resurrection and to make them completely anew like the body of Adam HaRishon before the sin, at the time he entered Gan Aiden. This is as it says in Midrash Ne elam, Parashas Vayaira (113b). Regarding that time it says, I will bring death and I give life (Devarim 32:39), because their deaths will be the result of The Holy One, Blessed is He alone, as was the death of Moshe Rabbeinu, the deaths of the Forefathers, and Aharon, and Miriam, as it is written in Bava Basra (17a). 5 This is also what is explained in the Zohar, in Parashas Mishpatim (108b): Regarding that time it is written, See now that it is I, I am Him, [and there is no god with Me;] I will bring death and I give life. Until that time death was the result of the Sitra Achra, but, from here onward I will bring death and I give life. From here, meaning at that time no one will taste death. From The Holy One, Blessed is He, will come death to us, and will resurrect us (immediately). Why? Since nothing at all will remain from that zuhama. It will be a new world, the work of the hand of The Holy One, Blessed is He. 6 Theoretically it would be logical to say that the time of decomposition of all those who die in advance of the resurrection will not be the same for eve- 4 Another fundamental difference between our period of history and Yemos HaMoshiach will be how death occurs. For, until Yemos HaMoshiach actually begins, for the purpose of free- will, death has come about as the result of an agent of God called the Angel of Death. This has often resulted in unpleasant ways of leaving this world. However, with the establishment of Yemos HaMoshiach free- will ceases to be purposeful, symbolized by the death of the yetzer hara and our inclination to do evil. However, death will still be a necessary threshold to our original spiritual state but will be a direct result of God Himself. 5 This form of death is called Neshikah Divine Kiss and the Talmud refers to this form of death as the most pleasant of all (Brochos 10a). However, this might imply that Ya akov did in fact die, albeit by the most holy way possible, except that the Leshem does not mention him by name: Forefathers could refer only to Avraham and Yitzchak. 6 Until this point the Leshem has only discussed the period of Yemos HaMoshiach which, we are told by the Talmud in Brochos will not differ from our period of history except that all oppression of peoples will cease. This will obviously be the result of what the Talmud writes elsewhere, that at that time the evil inclination of man will cease to exist and by extension, explains the Leshem, the Malach HaMaves the Angel of Death. Thus death, for the sake of immediate resurrection, will be by Neshikah Divine Kiss alone, as it was for our most illustrious of ancestors from Tanach. Now, the discussion will turn towards the period of Techiyas HaMeisim itself. 2 // LESHEM SHEVO V ACHLAMAH

ryone, but rather, everyone according to his [spiritual] level. 7 However, ac- cording to another text written in the Zohar mentioned, it says and will res- urrect us immediately, implying one time for all. Nevertheless, it would seem that the time of death and resurrection will vary for each one, that is, not everyone will die at the same moment and automatically the time of resurrection will be different. 8 For, someone who has previously become rectified from his zuhama will die and resurrect earlier, because death then will be only to decompose the physicality of the body, and to renew it. Thus, the duration from death to resurrection will be the same for every- one, but the time of death will not be the same for everyone, and thus the pe- riod of time of the deaths and resurrections for the entire generation will con- tinue for a lot of time. 9 However, righteous people who have died previously will resurrect immediately after the 40 years from Kibbutz Golios. 10 This is what it says in Midrash Ne elam (Parashas Toldos 140a): There will be many resurrections, and the duration of time will be, according to Rebi Ye- hudah, from 40 years after Kibbutz Golios, at which time the first resurrection will occur, and the resurrections will continue from then until the last resur- rection for 210 years. According to Rebi Yitzchak, 214 years 11 7 In other words, the time it will take for a body to decompose will vary from person to person: the more righteous a person was the less time it will take to decompose. Since the point of decomposition is to eradicate the physicality of the body, and righteous people tend to be less materialistic, their bodies should require less time to become completely free of zuhama. 8 In other words, the time of decomposition might be the same for everyone, but the starting point will vary from person to person and therefore, the time of resurrection as well. 9 Hence, Techiyas HaMeisim will not be a momentary thing, but last a long period of time. 10 Clearly from the Leshem, who bases himself on the Zohar, Techiyas HaMeisim takes place on this side of Year 6000. And, the truth is, if one learns the Talmud s hints to Techiyas HaMeisim in the Torah itself (Sanhedrin 90b), and what the Arizal has written in Sha ar HaGilgulim in many places, it would seem clear that this is the only time that Techiyas HaMeisim can occur. In any case, the Zohar and the Leshem have more to add. 11 The Leshem does not explain the difference of opinion between Rebi Yehudah and Rebi Yitzchak, two Tannaim quoted extensively in the Talmud. However, the Zohar, though it does not explain the basis of Rebi Yehudah s the author of the Mishnah it does explain that Rebi Yitzchak bases himself upon a posuk: Vayeired Ya akov One from Ya akov (Bamidbar 24:19), the gematria of yeired Yud- Raish- Dalet being 214. However, the number 210, of course, is the amount of years the Jewish people spent in Egypt before being redeemed by God through Moshe Rabbeinu. And, as Rashi points out, that number to is also alluded to in a verse by a gematria that means the same as Rebi Yitzchak s vayeired: And he (Ya akov) said, Behold I have heard that there is food in in Egypt. Descend (Raish- Dalet- Vav) there (Bereishis 42:2). Says Rashi He did not tell them, Go (Lamed- Chof- Vav), but Descend (Raish- Dalet- Vav) as an allusion to the 210 years during which Israel was to be enslaved in Egypt And, according to the Arizal, those 210 years were meant to allow the Jewish people to elevate themselves and Egypt back to the level of Kesones Ohr Skin of Light just as Techiyas HaMeisim will. However, not only did we not elevate the Egyptians to the 50th level of purity, but we allowed ourselves to be dragged by the Egyp- tians down to the forty- ninth level of impurity! Is this the source of Rebi Yehudah s opinion? After all, the original 210 years was followed by 40 years of wandering outside of Eretz Yisroel. The final period of 210 years will be preceded by 40 years after Kibbutz Golios, the ingathering of us wandering Jews. Leaving Egypt Supernaturally // 3

After Moshiach comes a major war will be instigated against Israel, as men- tioned in the Holy Zohar (Shemos 7b); see this at length until page 10. It is also in Parashas Vayaira (119a) and Parashas Toldos (139). This is the War of Gog and Magog spoken about in Yechezkel (38, 39), and Zechariah (14), as well as in Midrash Tehillim (Mizmor 118:9): Three times in the future Gog and Magog will war with Israel and go up against Jerusalem; they will assemble and anger the nations to go up to Jerusalem with him, as it explains there. Also see Vayikra Rabbah (27:11), and many other places. After, The Holy One, Blessed is He, will take His revenge against them, as spoken about in Yechezkel, and the Jewish people will dwell in their land in se- curity and with much good. Da as Godly understanding will greatly in- crease, as will wisdom and purity. However, the world will continue as it is now regarding matters of physicality for forty years. Regarding this time it says: There is no difference between this world and Yemos HaMoshiach except for the oppression of nations (Brochos 34b). 12 Obviously, then, all the laws and mitzvos of Torah will still be performed, just as they performed now by the righteous, the pious, and the holy, as it says in Yechezkel (36): And I will take you from the nations and gather you... And I will sprinkle pure waters upon you And I will give you a new heart and a new spirit... I will put My spirit within you, and I will make it so that you will follow My de- crees and keep My judgments and do them. You will dwell in the land. (Yechezkel 36:23-28) It says the same in Chapter 37 as well, but in Chapters 42, 43, and 44, it specifically speaks of sacrifices, the laws of the kohanim, and in Chapters 45 and 46 it mentions holidays, months, and Shabbosos, and all the appointed times of the House of Israel (Yechezkel 45:17), etc. Thus, we will fulfill the en- tire Torah, but with more perfection. Hence, when it says that in the future that all sacrifices will no longer be necessary except for the Todah Thanksgiving- Offering and that all holidays will no longer exist except for Purim and Yom HaKippurim, it is referring to the time of resurrection, forty years after Kibbutz Golios Ingathering of the Ex- iles until the end of the 214 years. At that time, the righteous and the merito- 12 That is, life will be quite natural except that no man will oppress another. As the Talmud states, the yetzer hara will be removed for good taking away all of men s evil tendencies (Succah 52a). 4 // LESHEM SHEVO V ACHLAMAH

rious will be on a higher level than angels, and their bodies will emanate Ohr Asp klaria HaMe irah 13 as mentioned in the Zohar HaKodesh (Toldos, 141a). At that time, a great change will occur to the entire world, even to those still in existence from this world, though they will remain quite physical. For, at the present time the world consists of three categories: impure, pure, and holy, and even the pure of today is still quite profane, lacking holiness. However, at that time everything will be on the level of pure and holy. It is with respect to this time that they say all the holidays will not longer apply, for all days will have the holiness of the holidays; profane days will no longer ex- ist. It may be that the days divide into appointed times relevant to them: 14 Sunday, which is the level of Chesed, would have the holiness of Pesach; Mon- day would be Rosh Hashanah; Tuesday: Shavuos; Wednesday: Rosh Chodesh, because it is also called Moed, as the Talmud says (Shavuos 10a); Thursday: Succos, because, it is also from the side of Gevuros, as it says in the Holy Zohar (Emor 96a; see there, and the emendations of Rabbi Chaim Vital). Thursday corresponds to Hod which is from the side of Gevuros which will transform to Flames of Mercy, and this will be the Time of our Joy. 15 Fri- day, which is Day Six, would be Shemini Atzeres, because Day Six corresponds to Yesod, which incorporates the Atarah with it, the Chesed that is revealed in the mouth of the limb. 16 This refers to Shemini Atzeres, the delight of all of them, as it says in the Zohar (Emor 97a). And this is what it means that all holidays will be annulled in the future, for they will divide up into the days of the week, all of which will then have the holiness of the holidays. 17 However, Purim and Yom HaKippurim will not be annulled at that time, since Purim is the revelation of the Yesod of Abba, 18 as it is known in Kevanos Purim, and therefore, it alludes to the Eighth Millennium when Chochmah will be the primary influence. 19 Likewise, Yom HaKippurim, which is the level of Bi- 13 The name for a very high level, direct light that results in the level of prophecy enjoyed by Moshe Rab- beinu. 14 Just as each holiday is based upon a certain trait and sefirah so too is each day of the week. 15 Which we call Succos. 16 The Atarah (crown) is the end of the Yesod, and therefore the place from which the light of Chesed can come out and be revealed. 17 A holiday is a special spiritual opening through which a specific light can enter the world and influence man. However, if once a week that light can emanate and affect man then a special day of the year will no longer be necessary to allow it into Creation. 18 That is, the revelation of the light of the Yesod of the sefirah Chochmah. 19 Each millennium, since Creation, has been powered by a particular sefirah; the first millennium by Chesed, the second by Gevurah, and so on. Leaving Egypt Supernaturally // 5

nah, is the sod of the World- to- Come of the Seventh Millennium, the time called, the entire day is Shabbos, as it is says in Rosh Hashanah (31a). 20 Therefore, Shabbos, Yom HaKippurim, and Purim, which allude to periods after Yemos HaMoshiach, parts of the World- to- Come and to eternal lights, will still remain in order to allow access to their lights and revelations of the fu- ture. However, the rest of the holidays allude only to lights of rectification of Yemos HaMoshiach, after which begins the period of Techiyas HaMeisim until the end of the six thousand years. See the GR A in Safra D Tzniusa, Chapter Five, on the words, Let their be firmament until the end. Therefore, (in the period of the resurrection) all the holidays will be an- nulled since the entire period will constantly have the holiness of those holi- days. Then, the lights that the holidays now only hint to will actually be re- vealed. Hence, just as they say regarding the Seventh Millennium that it will be a day that is completely Shabbos, so too in Yemos HaMoshiach after Techiyas HaMeisim and onward will it be a time that is completely holiday. For, there are six different types of holy light of the holidays, and they are: Pesach, Shavuos, Succos, Shemini Atzeres, Rosh Hashanah and Rosh Cho- desh the sod of the root of the six days of the week. When, eventually, their essential lights are actually revealed they will radiate downward continuously, each day with the holy light of the holiday that is relevant to it. Thus, the en- tire time will be on the level of the holiness of the holidays. However, Purim and Yom HaKippurim will not be annulled at that time [in Techiyas HaMeisim, as opposed to the other holidays], since Purim is the reve- lation of the Yesod of Abba [which will govern history from 8000-9000] as it is known in Kevanos Purim [of the Arizal], and therefore it alludes to the Eighth Millennium when [the sefirah of] Chochmah will be the primary influence. 21 Likewise, Yom HaKippurim, which is the level of Binah, is the sod of the World- to- Come of the Seventh Millennium, of which we say, the entire day that is Shabbos, as it is says in Rosh Hashanah (31a). Therefore, Shabbos, Yom HaKippurim, and Purim, which allude to periods after Yemos HaMoshiach, to periods of the World- to- Come and to eternal lights, will remain [as holidays] in 20 Therefore, special days of the year will still be necessary prior to these periods to access their light. 21 As is well known from Kabbalah, the Sefiros spiritual emanations comprised of God s light are the basis of history. All the potential of a particular millennium is within its corresponding sefirah, which acts as the spiritual DNA of that 1000- year period of time. Jewish holidays also are functions of that same light, and when one comes around during the course of a year at this stage of history, it is really a sneak- preview of a light from a different period of time, a taste of a future level of spirituality. However, ex- plains the Leshem, the light of most of the Jewish holidays is the same light that will emanate during Techiyas HaMeisim and therefore they will not require a special day for us to access them. Except, that is, Purim and Yom Kippur. 6 // LESHEM SHEVO V ACHLAMAH

order to allow access to their lights and revelations of the future. However, all the [rest of the] holidays allude only to lights of rectification of Yemos HaMoshiach after the beginning of the time of Techiyas HaMeisim onward until the end of the 6000 years. 22 22 There are 13 principles of faith found in most siddurim, the thirteen principle of which is: I believe with perfect faith that there will be Techiyas HaMeisim when the Creator will it, may His Name be blessed, and may his remembrance be forever. Very true. But, according to Rebi Yehudah it will last 210 years in total, and according to Rebi Yitzchak, 214 years. And according to both, the Zohar, and the Leshem, in advance of Year 6000. Leaving Egypt Supernaturally // 7