As a preface to this essay, we would like to quote a passage from our Publisher's Foreword to a similar essay last year.
Well before the beginning of last year,* people of all walks of life looked forward with anticipation to see what the new year held in store. The Rebbe Shlita had said that the letters É"ÖÜ'ä (5750) stood for the words, 'ëä
ìëæÉ ÜÉÖ ÇäÜ -- "This will surely be a year of miracles." And soon one thing became clear in everyone's mind -- that this was no mere play on words. Within a very short time, cataclysmic upheavals overwhelmed one regime after another, with unprecedented results for humanity at large and for the Jewish people in particular.
Well before this year began, people of all walks of life have again been looking forward with impatient anticipation to see what this new year holds in store. For the Rebbe Shlita has repeatedly said** that the letters Ç"ÉÖÜ'ä (5751) stand for the words, àÉÇÿÇ ÜÉÖ ÇäÜ 'ëä
ÜàÇîöÉ -- "This will surely be a year when '[G-d] will show you wonders.' " Here again it is clear in everyone's mind -- that this is no mere play on words. As the present essay records, the Rebbe Shlita sees a direct connection between the international events which are engaging the earnest concern of the world at large, and the teachings of the Sages in the Midrashic work entitled Yalkut Shimoni.
As we mentioned at the outset, we published the above two paragraphs a year ago.
In the present year as well, the international climate is pregnant with possibilities of radical change for Jews in all parts of the world. And together with the entire Jewish people -- and with many other people throughout the world -- we recognize that the Rebbe Shlita's definition of the Hebrew letters associated with the present year, 5752 (ü"ÉÖÜ'ä) as hayoh tih'yeh shnas niflaos bah (äü ÜàÇîöÉ ÜÉÖ ÇäÜ 'ëä), which mean "This will be a year imbued with wonders," is no mere play on words.
With gratitude to G-d for the wonders of the previous years, we look forward to a year whose message will bring unprecedented results for humanity at large and for the Jewish people in particular.
The Torah conceives of time as cyclical in nature. This is reflected in the Hebrew word for "year" -- shanah (äÉÖ), which also means "repeat." Each year represents a full cycle of spiritual influences diffused from above, which are repeated the following year.
[1]
Simultaneously, every individual year is also unique. (This too is alluded to in the word shanah, whose three letters are indentical with the root of the verb 'ä'É'Ö, meaning "change."[2]) Although the pattern of time is repeated, every year different spiritual qualities are revealed which determine the nature of the events to occur in that year.
In this light, the Hebrew letters which are identified with the date of the present year, 5752, are significant. These letters form an acronym for the Hebrew words which mean that "This will be a year imbued with wonders." The expression "imbued with wonders" implies not only that the year will contain wonders, but that this wondrous dimension will characterize the very nature of this unique year, permeating every day and every event that will transpire in it.
As an expression of this concept, the letters ü"ÉÖÜ also serve as an acronym for the Hebrew words which mean, "This will be a year of wonders in all things." For every aspect of the year, both those facets of general import and those which are relevant to individuals, will be wondrous in nature.
The unique quality of the present year can be appreciated by a contrast to the previous year, a year identified by its Hebrew initials with the verse in which G-d promises, "I will show you wonders."
[3] As implied by that verse, the wonders of 5751 were openly revealed. Similarly, the wonders of the present year will be manifest and apparent.
There is, however, a difference between the two. The word arenu (àÉÇÿÇ), the Hebrew for "I will show you," is related to the potential of re'iyah (äëÇÿ), which means "sight". In chassidic thought, sight is associated with the quality of Chochmah, "wisdom". In contrast, the letter ü that appears as one of the letters associated with the present year, relates to the quality of Binah, "understanding."
Chochmah refers to the abstract conception of an idea, the mind's glimpse of a concept which cannot be precisely defined or distilled into words. Binah, by contrast, refers to an individual's efforts to bring such an idea into his own conceptual framework, to internalize it, and comprehend it in a systematic manner.
By definition, a "wonder" surpasses our ordinary framework of reference: it is not within the grasp of our day-to-day thought processes. This was surely true of the wonders of last year, which exceeded the scope of everyone's imagination. The wonders of the present year will be as great -- and, indeed, greater. They will, however, relate to the intellectual faculty known as Binah, and thus will lend themselves to being comprehended in their entirety. This, in turn, will make it easier for us to internalize the lessons they impart and to communicate them to others.
Sharing our awareness of these wonders is particularly important. It is human nature to rationalize, to attempt to explain any events that happen, even those which are extraordinary. As our distinctive spiritual task for this unique year, we should instead endeavor to draw the attention of those around us to the G-dly nature of the wonders that transpire before our very eyes.
This grateful acknowledgement of G-d's kindness will in turn enhance and amplify the wondrous pattern that He reveals in the world. The appreciation we show for the wonders He works will call forth greater miracles of a more encompassing nature.
Among the wonders which are already taking place is the ingathering of our dispersed brethren to Eretz Yisrael.
[4] Jews who for many years could not have dreamed of coming to our Holy Land are now making aliyah. For many years, they were granted neither the chance to express themselves Jewishly in the lands in which they lived, nor the opportunity to emigrate and live Jewishly in other surroundings. Today, both of these rights are being granted. The right to live as Jews and observe the Torah and its mitzvos is being affirmed by governments which had previously denied it, and hundreds of thousands of Jews have been given the opportunity -- and indeed have been assisted -- to leave these countries and settle in other lands, including Eretz Yisrael.
This mass exodus carries with it a responsibility and a privilege for every member of the Jewish people -- to help our brethren establish themselves in their new surroundings, so that they can begin a new life amidst prosperity and comfort in both a material and spiritual sense.
This mass aliyah should make us ever more conscious of the imminence of the ultimate Ingathering of the Exiles. It is evident that we are at the threshold of the Redemption and indeed, in the process of crossing that threshold.
[5] Even secular magazines, newspapers, and other media have begun speaking of Mashiach and the Redemption as subjects of contemporary interest and relevance.
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Because of the imminence of the Redemption, it is possible to experience a foretaste of that era in the present day. On the most basic level, this means that although the Redemption is not yet manifest, the awareness of its imminence should inspire joy. This in turn should motivate a person to greater efforts to precipitate the coming of this era. And thus, in the immediate future, we will see how the wonders of the present year will include the greatest and most necessary wonder -- the coming of the Redemption.
Notes:
* At the farbrengen of Shabbos Mevarchim Sivan, 5749, the Rebbe Shlita first described 5750 as "A Year of Miracles."
** See the sichah of Shabbos Parshas Emor, 5750.
- (Back to text) Cf. Ibn Ezra on Shmos 12:2; R. Yonah ben Jannach, Sefer HaShorashim, s.v. äÉÖ; Radak, Sefer HaShorashim, s.v. äÉÖ.
- (Back to text) Avodas HaKodesh, Part IV, ch. 19.
- (Back to text) Michah 7:15. See the booklet entitled "I Will Show You Wonders," published by Sichos In English, 5751 (1991), which explains the connection between this verse and that year.
- (Back to text) There is an intrinsic connection between the ingathering of the exiles and the present year. As explained above, the Hebrew letters associated with the date of the present year can be interpreted as an acronym for the Hebrew words, tih'yeh shnas niflaos bakol. The word bakol ("in all things") is the first of the three expressions of blessing (cf. Bava Basra 16b-17a) associated with the Patriarchs -- bakol, mikol, kol, as we recite in the Grace After Meals (Siddur Tehillat HaShem, p. 93). In regard to Avraham it is written, "And G-d blessed Avraham with everything" (îïü; Genesis 24:1). In regard to Yitzchak, it is written, "I have eaten of all" (îïÄ; Genesis 27:33). And regarding Yaakov it is written, "I have everything" (îï; ibid., 33:11).
These three words are numerically equivalent to the word kabetz (òüù), meaning "gather", and implying that one of the manifestations of the wondrous Divine blessings of the present year will be the ingathering of our exiles.
- (Back to text) This theme is developed in the essay entitled "On the Threshold of the Redemption," Sichos In English Vol. 49, pgs. 66-72.
- (Back to text) As a well-known chassidic adage puts it, "When Mashiach comes, his arrival will be reported in the newspapers."
