The Geulah can only come about when there’s true achdus among all of Klal Yisrael

“And Yaakov called his sons and said, ‘Gather around and I will tell you what will occur to you in the end of days.’” (Bereishis 49:1)

The Gemara (Pesachim 56a) says that Yaakov wanted to reveal when Mashiach would arrive. The Shelah says he therefore told his children to assemble, since the Redemption can only come if all Jews are united in one group.

Yet it seems Yaakov is repeating himself. In this pasuk, he says “hei’asfu — assemble,” and in the next he says, “hikavtzu — gather.” The Malbim explains that “kibbutz” and “asifah” are not synonymous. The word kibbutz means gathering together, while asifah is a gathering at a later stage, ushering into a designated place. Therefore, kibbutz should come before asifah. Yet Yaakov says it conversely.

Why? Since Yaakov’s original intentions were to tell his sons about the Final Redemption, he commanded them to band together as a unified “asifah” — a level of spiritual unity, higher than physical “kibbutz.” Only with such unity could they prepare themselves for the Geulah.

However, when Yaakov sensed that the Shechinah had departed from him, he understood that the Jewish People would eventually be torn with machlokes and internal strife, thus making it impossible for him to reveal the time of the Final Redemption (Rabbi Mordechai Appel, OU Torah).

If you’re anything like me, your inbox is always swamped. There are work emails and messages from friends and family, and of course the groupie emails you’ve never signed up for but they “gotcha!”

Who has time to sort through all that? So I now have the dubious distinction of having 200K+ unread emails in my inbox. (In case I haven’t gotten back to you recently, now you know why.)

The Chiddushei HaRim adds that Yaakov was prompting a suggestion for how to bring about the Geulah. Hence, he called out once more, “hikavtzu,” for when Jews are unified, that will speed up the Final Redemption.

There’s a well-known (albeit cynical) vertel that explains the words of the famous song which we say in davening: “Acheinu — our brothers, all of Beis Yisrael, who are in distress and captivity….”

When is it that all of Klal Yisrael are brothers? When, nebach, there are terrible tzaros happening. So we conclude that tefillah and ask, “Hashem have rachamim…” Please make it that friendships aren’t only in times of strife and dark times, but even in good times, because this will take us from the exile to the Geulah.

It was Erev Shabbos, two weeks into the war, and, as I usually do, I was shutting down my computer early Friday morning. But it was taking longer than usual, as numerous emails kept pouring in, leaving me jotting down names for tefillah, names for refuah sheleimah, and oh, so many names of the missing/abducted.

I was feeling heavyhearted when I came across the following email. I don’t know the original poster, but it read like this:

This morning, while shopping in Shilat, I was offered a rose. Up until a few weeks ago, the man handing out roses had been at the same site, trying to convince others that his left-wing political opinions were the right ones. We chatted about unity. We agreed that more unites us than separates us. We wished each other only peace, health, and happiness. I am calling my rose “The Rose of Hope.”

Signed, S.L.

Attached to the email was a photo of a sunny golden-hued rose.

At first Yaakov called together his sons with the term “hei’asfu,” connoting a gathering of those nearby. Yaakov thought that a gathering of tzaddikim would be sufficient to end the galus. But when the Shechinah left him, he realized that more was needed, including even those who are distant from Hashem. He therefore, added “hikavtzu,” referring to those who are distant from Hashem.

If we truly want this galus to finally end, we need to internalize that it can only come about when there’s true achdus among all of Klal Yisrael.

Every so often you get an email that never leaves the inbox of your brain. I carried this image with me over these past difficult weeks, and it’s inspired me to share my own “roses.” I thanked the cashier for her speedy service. I chatted while waiting at the post office. I nodded in appreciation to the driver who let me make a left turn, and I waved to an older pedestrian as she slowly crossed the street.

I’m calling these my unity roses.

This article is a unity rose for you.

 (Originally featured in Family First, Issue 874)