I just had to speak to somebody in the kollel about his new phone. The ring starts off with a tone that starts low and goes higher. Every time I heard it (and I saw others as well), I stopped what I was doing, ready to run, thinking it was an air raid siren.
Some things you can no longer get out of your system. And the explosions from the border that we hear daily, thanks to this wonderful "ceasefire," certainly has not helped keep the nerves calm.
He understood immediately and changed it.
Interestingly enough, this has what to do with what I'm about to write.
We have a tradition that Dovid HaMelech died on Shavuos. So, I think it's appropriate to write a little on one of his lasting works: Tehillim (Psalms).
I found a wonderful series of books on Tehillim, which is still being produced, by Rav Shlomo Levenstein in Bnei Brak. I've actually been looking for such a thing for years now, and I was just checking out a copy here in the kollel to see if it was something that would be worth the purchase (it is).
So, the first thing I opened to is Tefillim 126, the famous "Shir Hamalos" that we say before bentching after we eat.
"A song of ascents. When Hashem restored the returnees of Zion, we were as dreamers."
The Rambam writes (Hilchos Megillah 2:18) that all the books of the Prophets and Writings, in the future, will be nullified in the days of Moshiach, with the exception of Megillas Esther …
On this, Rav Yitzchok Soloveitchik writes the reasoning is as follows: One of the main points of all of the books of Neviim (Prophets) and Kesuvim (Writings) is to teach and warn us what will become of us, if we do not follow the Torah. And when Moshiach comes, there will be no future need for them.
The second reason he gives is that in the future the entire Jewish nation will forget all the pain and suffering that we have endured throughout our history, and much of that was recorded there.
With these two ideas, we have a better understanding of the Gemara that says that in the future, all of the (non-Torah ordained) holidays will be annulled, with the exception of Purim and Chanukkah (this is actually somewhat of the situation now). There used to be rabbinically ordained festivals throughout the year to commemorate our rescue from certain dangerous times. After the destruction of the Beis HaMikdash, we no longer celebrate them.
When, asks Rav Levenstein, does a person truly have simcha on his redemption? When he remembers everything that he went through. When he compares and contrasts what he went through before and where he is now, he has real simcha over his redemption.
However, if we will forget all the pain and suffering when Moshiach comes, then there will no longer be any simcha during these days, since we will no longer remember the pain that caused them!
Rav Moshe Sheinerman in Ohel Moshe, writes on this idea to help us understand exactly what this means.
Let's say that you can have two types of people. One who survived the tortures of the Holocaust and one who is well-read and well-versed on the Holocaust.
Let's say the second person falls asleep in the middle of reading a book on the Holocaust, and he has a terrible and detailed nightmare about it. When he wakes up, he will be shocked and saddened. But after a little bit, he will calm down and return to his normal life. By the end of the day, the nightmare will be forgotten.
The first person on the other hand, who experienced it first-hand, will live with these memories forever. Yes, perhaps he will put his life back together, build a family, grow as a human in ways that many could not … but in the end, those scars will remain with him forever, and will affect him in many ways.
Says Dovid HaMelech, " When Hashem restored the returnees of Zion, we were as dreamers." Our entire history of pain and suffering will disappear. Many think that this means that it will simply not continue. But, as we see, it's far deeper than that. All the spiritual and physical PTSD that has affected the entire Jewish nation … will disappear like a dream. And after those scars have completely healed, we will be able to learn and to grow without them in our system to hold us back any longer.
With that, I wish you all an amazing Shavuos and a peaceful Shabbos!