The Tzaddikim's Years Shine in Our Darkness

1aFollowing the holy words of my father and teacher, R' Yechiel of Alexander, zt"l, cited above (section 1), we can explain the Midrash on “And the life of Sarah was” (Bereishis 23:1): “Why does it need to say ‘the years of the life of Sarah’ at the end? To tell you that the lives of the tzaddikim are dear to the Omnipresent in this world and in the World to Come.” As Rashi explains on the Midrash¹, the phrase “the years of the life of Sarah” points to two kinds of life, in this world and in the World to Come. “In this world”: throughout their lives here, the tzaddikim's main aim is to give satisfaction to their Maker and Creator. “In the World to Come” refers to the time of their passing, when they rise from this world to the next. Out of their great union with Hashem, they give over their souls with love, purity and joy. All their lives they long and yearn to give their souls over to Hashem and raise them to their root. This is what Chazal said: “Tzaddikim, even in death, are called living” (Berachos 18a). All their lives they prepare for the time their souls rise to their root, so that they will rise and part from this world in holiness and purity. “And their inheritance shall be forever” (Tehillim 37:18): out of His love and kindness, Hashem prepares for those who fear Him, at the last moment, a wondrous union and an act of self-sacrifice, so that they give their souls for the sanctification of His Name.

1bThe tzaddikim imagined that they were leaving this world in the middle of their days, through self-sacrifice. In truth they are indeed those who give their souls, and their merit stands forever. The days of their lives are stored away in the air of the heavens, to shine for us out of the darkness in these days, when there is no one to intercede for us, for they have gone to their rest. Then Hashem makes the light of the years of these tzaddikim shine out. For the tzaddikim sanctify their place, which is the dimension of olam, space, among the three dimensions of space, time and soul (olam, shanah, nefesh). As the Midrash says (Shir HaShirim Rabbah 1:3): “R' Eliezer's beis midrash was shaped like an arena, and there was a stone there set aside as his seat. Once [R' Yehoshua] came in... and began to kiss that stone, saying: This stone is like Mount Sinai, and the one who sat on it is like the Ark of the Covenant.” So too with the dimension of nefesh, soul: the tzaddik sanctifies and purifies himself in holiness and purity, and this remains forever, for “the tzaddik shall be an everlasting remembrance” (Tehillim 112:6). And so too the days of their lives, the dimension of shanah, time, remain forever to shine out of the darkness in the last generations, in the time just before Moshiach.

1cThe troubles and the darkness are so intense, together with the yetzer hara, “the leaven in the dough,” and subjugation to the nations, that people have forgotten the light. The light hidden within them, the Divine portion from above that Hashem breathed into them, has grown dark². They imagine, Heaven forbid, that they have lost all hope on every side, for they have nothing with which to revive their wretched souls, and no one to intercede for them. Then the dimension of time awakens, the inheritance of the days that the tzaddikim sanctified and purified, to shine for us in the midst of the darkness.

2This is the meaning of the Ba'al HaTurim (on Bereishis 23:1), who writes that the initials of Sarah me'ah shanah, “Sarah, a hundred years,” spell shemesh, “sun.” The astronomers write that the sun gives light to the moon. In itself the moon is only a dark, polished mirror, which receives from the strength of the sun's light. As the Kabbalists say, “the moon has nothing of its own” [cf. Zohar I:249b], and the power of its light in the dark of night comes only from the strength of the sun's light. So too, “the deeds of the fathers are a sign for the children.” The days of their years, which they sanctified and purified, shine for their children in the time of darkness. This is “and their inheritance shall be forever”: their legacy lasts forever.

3aThis is what the Midrash says below (Bereishis Rabbah 58:3): “R' Akiva was sitting and expounding, and he saw that the congregation was dozing off. He wanted to rouse them. He said: What did Esther see that she should reign over a hundred and twenty-seven provinces?” and so on. This follows the Midrash in Parshas Chukas (Bamidbar Rabbah 19:6): “Things that were not revealed to Moshe were revealed to R' Akiva and his colleagues. ‘And his eye has seen every precious thing’ (Iyov 28:10): this is R' Akiva and his colleagues.” He set his eyes on everything precious in the souls of Israel as a whole, and he looked to the end of days. He saw that because the bondage would be so harsh, the precious light would be covered and hidden, until people would no longer know that the Divine spark is within them. “Sitting and expounding”: sitting, as Chazal say (Megillah 21a), “Gentle things standing, hard things sitting.” And “expounding” (doresh) hints at the redemption, as Chazal say: “‘She is Tziyon, no one seeks (doresh) her’ (Yirmiyahu 30:17): this implies that she needs seeking” (Rosh Hashanah 30a). So he sought how they would be redeemed, all the more so when he saw that the congregation was dozing. This is like Chazal's words (Shir HaShirim Rabbah 5:2) on the verse “I am asleep”: they are asleep from mitzvos. The inner point within them has fallen asleep, until they no longer know or feel that they hold a precious light, a Divine portion from above. “He wanted to rouse them”: to arouse the merit of the Avos for them, to light up their eyes and hearts, so that they would have something with which to revive their souls and would not despair, Heaven forbid, of the redemption.

3b“He said: What did Esther see?” Esther is the last of the miracles, as Chazal say (Yoma 29a): “Why is Esther compared to the dawn? Just as the dawn is the end of the whole night,” when the darkness grows strongest, “so Esther is the end of all the miracles.” Her miracle came in great darkness, in hester panim, the hiding of Hashem's face. As the Midrash says (Parshas Emor)³, they were dead in their deeds. “That she should reign”: Chazal say (Gittin 62a), “Who are the kings? The Rabbis.” Through their study of the holy Torah, the Rabbis enthrone the form over the matter, the spirit over the body. “What did she see?” By what merit did she then come “to reign,” to enthrone the form over the matter, so that Israel would no longer be enslaved to the leaven in the dough and the bondage of the yetzer? “Let Esther come, the descendant of Sarah, who lived a hundred and twenty-seven years.” See in the holy Zohar how significant the span of a hundred and twenty-seven is. The days of the years of the holy Avos shone light for Esther in the time of darkness. So may Hashem shine for us and give us light out of the darkness. May there be no more “dim and frozen light” [cf. Zechariah 14:6], in the merit of the years of their lives, as it says, “and their inheritance shall be forever.”

3cIt is as though they stand and pray for us, as it says, “And Avraham was still standing before Hashem” (Bereishis 18:22), which Onkelos renders, “Avraham until now serves in prayer before Hashem.” When we pray, and none of us knows how to arouse mercy, the prayer of our holy forefathers is awakened through our prayer, as though they were praying for us now. This is the meaning of the verse “Hashem, God of Avraham, Yitzchak and Israel, our forefathers, keep this forever as the inclination of the thoughts of Your people's heart, and direct their heart to You” (Divrei HaYamim I 29:18). We pray that Hashem awaken the prayer of our forefathers and that the intention of their hearts come before Him. They knew how to pray with a steadfast heart, and their prayer still stands, guarded and stored away in the upper world, and joins with our prayer. With this, each one of us can strengthen himself until he merits the great light.

4aThis is the subject of the Midrash below (Bereishis Rabbah 62:2) on “And these are the days of the years of the life of Avraham” (Bereishis 25:7): “It is written, ‘Hashem knows the days of the wholehearted’: this is Avraham; ‘and their inheritance shall be forever’ (Tehillim 37:18).” An inheritance comes down from the father, and even a bad son inherits, as Chazal say (Kesubos 53a): “Do not be among those who transfer an inheritance, even from a bad son to a good son.” Avraham Avinu leaves us an inheritance: “A light shines in the darkness for the upright” (Tehillim 112:4). This is the light of emunah, for he was the first of the believers. With him the word for faith first appears in the Torah, as it says, “And he believed in Hashem” (Bereishis 15:6). He made the light of emunah shine for his descendants in times of darkness, so that they would have something with which to revive their wretched, crushed souls: faith in Hashem and in His Oneness.

4bAs the verse says, “A light shines in the darkness for the upright,” and “light” is Avraham, as the Midrash says (Bereishis Rabbah 2). And as the verse says, “Who aroused righteousness from the east?” (Yeshayahu 41:2), on which Chazal say (cf. Bereishis Rabbah 43:3), “Do not read ‘aroused’ (העיר) but ‘gave light’ (האיר).” He lit up the light of emunah for the time of darkness to come, with its harsh troubles and exile. Under great pressure and distress, when each day's curse is worse than the day before (Sotah 49a), people would say in their hearts, Heaven forbid, that He has forgotten them, as it were, “for our soul is bowed down to the dust” (Tehillim 44:26). So Avraham planted and rooted in their hearts a steadfast faith, to believe in Hashem “until Hashem looks down and sees from heaven” (Eichah 3:50), to have mercy on them and bring their souls out of confinement [cf. Tehillim 142:8]. In the merit of emunah they will merit salvation. As it says, “Though I sit in darkness, Hashem is a light for me” (Michah 7:8): if I believe in Hashem in the time of darkness, Hashem is a light for me. For His counsel is faithfulness [cf. Yeshayahu 25:1]: to believe in Hashem even in the time of darkness, in the spirit of “Your faithfulness in the nights” (Tehillim 92:3), that He will yet have mercy on us, and there will be no destruction, Heaven forbid, among the children of Yaakov. As the verse says, “For I, Hashem, have not changed, and you, children of Yaakov, have not been consumed” (Malachi 3:6). Just as there is no change at all in Havayah, so the children of Yaakov are not consumed.

4c“Whatever the Merciful One does, He does for the good” (Berachos 60b), and all this is for the good. It is not a true hiding of Hashem's face. Rather, from within the trouble itself He will bring redemption and relief. As the holy Zohar says, “There is no light except the light that comes out of the darkness” (Zohar II:184a). Through this faith, that his own deeds are bound up with the deeds of the Avos, a person awakens the merit (zechus) of the Avos. Zechus is related to zach, pure and clear. Through sins and transgressions their light is darkened for them, as the verse says, “You have screened Yourself with a cloud, so that no prayer can pass through” (Eichah 3:44), and “their eyes are plastered over so they cannot see” (Yeshayahu 44:18). As David HaMelech said, “My iniquities have overtaken me, and I cannot see” (Tehillim 40:13). But by the power of their faith they awaken the holiness of the believing Avos, and they will merit that their eyes are opened. They will see the clear, bright light, which will shine “like the light of morning” (Shmuel II 23:4), and they will see the very essence of the strong light from heaven. As the verse says, “like the very essence of the heavens for clearness (lataher)” (Shemos 24:10); tohar here means light, as in “You have ended his brightness (mi'tehoro)” (Tehillim 89:45). May we merit that the holiness of time shine for us in the midst of the darkness. This is what the Midrash says on “And these are the days of the life of Avraham”: the Holy One, blessed be He, cherished the years of the tzaddikim and wrote them in the Torah, so that the inheritance of their days would be remembered forever. By reading in the Torah about the days of their years, the holiness of time, the holiness of their years, is awakened. And “in their light we will see light” [cf. Tehillim 36:10].