Healing Well of Miriam

A few years ago I was working with a rabbi who frequently said, “Everything will be redeemed.  Nothing will be left behind.”  I like that, but it challenges us to really struggle with our long-held beliefs and prejudices, as we struggle with ourselves.  EVERYTHING will be redeemed… NOTHING is left behind.  Everything will be transformed and raised up.

It also challenges the “us and them” idea or the idea of the “other.”  Religious doctrines tend to be chauvinistic in that respect: we are right, and THEY are wrong.  It’s always nice to feel we are in the “right” camp and assured of our “place in Heaven.”  How many religious wars have been fought through the centuries?  How many people have been executed “for the good of their soul” or in the “Name of God”?  And the “right” side seemed to be whoever was in power at the moment.   The list of atrocities is too long to include here, but this is not news to anyone.    

It also challenges our long-held ideas about what Redemption even means.  What will it look like?  What is the process?  The Prophets of Israel gave clues, but even for them it as “looking through a glass darkly.”  That ambiguity has fueled the vastly varied doctrines throughout time.  Yet there are certain ideas—beyond the specific details—that flesh out the clues a bit. 

One of the clues concerns the counting of time.  There have been many guesses throughout the centuries as to the exact year of the Redemption—or the beginning of Redemption.  Brilliant calculations have been made to validate the probability of each one. 

The Vilna Gaon (Rabbi Elijah ben Solomon Zalman, known as the Genius of Vilna) taught that the days of Creation are a template of time.  Counting time in this way indicates the crucial connection to the process of Creation.  Everything is redeemed and raised back up to the state of Creation.  Each thousand-year period seen as a day, then further breaking them into 24 (hour) segments to approximate the “time of day.”  This concept has been widely accepted in the Torah world, seeing ourselves quickly counting down to the Seventh Day (Shabbat), on which the Torah says the Creator rested from the work of creation.  The Vilna Gaon taught that the year 1990 / 5750 would be a critical time in the beginning of Redemption, going into the “last quarter of the day” going up to Shabbat.  In the late afternoon on Friday in any Jewish home there is a rush to finish last minute preparations for the arrival of Shabbat.   Anticipation of Shabbat fills the activities and thoughts of each member of the household.  Candles are set up to be lit prior to sundown.  The meal is done; the table is set.  All this is BEFORE Shabbat actually arrives.  Before the sun actually goes down, the man of the house goes to the synagogue for the last prayers of Friday afternoon and the opening prayers for Shabbat.

With this time-table template, we can see that we are actually in the period of Redemption.  This realization can bring about a shift in consciousness within us individually and collectively.  We can embrace this consciousness by saying to ourselves:  “I am taking my Soul out of the Exile.”  (The opposite of Redemption is Exile…exile from the Divine Presence.)  So just this…realizing where we are in the timeline…brings incredible hope!   

Another way of understanding the redemption process is as it parallels the levels of the Soul, starting at the bottom and going up. 

Tikun Nefesh	Nature becomes good, but it is still natural.  This is quite possible as people become more conscientious about the planet.  World peace could be possible.  It does not have to wait for the supernatural transformation of the planet.
Tikun Ruach	Nature becomes supernatural.  As this point nature is transformed.  Things we would consider miraculous become the normal occurrence. Isaiah 65:25:  Wolf and lamb will graze as one, a lion – like cattle—will eat straw… For this to literally happen, the enmity and fear between species is eliminated.  But also, the digestive system of carnivorous animals has been altered.
Tikun Neshama	Resurrection of the dead.
Tikun Chaya	Seventh Millennium
Tikun Yechida	Seven thousand Jubilees.

A very interesting thought on this idea is that not only can it be seen in relation to the redemption of the earth, but also redemption of the individual Soul.  Every person’s Soul is comprised of these levels.  The Arizal (Rabbi Isaac Luria) taught that only the bottom three levels incarnate into the world, with the upper two always remaining above in Heaven.  Yet all levels are connected and part of the Soul.  Therefore, a person may receive from the upper levels of his Soul, helping with his tikun (rectification) work.  The Arizal taught that as the tikun for each level is complete, the next level descends into the person’s consciousness.  Just so, as the tikun for individual    

As far as the timeline is concerned, it is possible that there may be some overlapping of these levels.  An example of this could be that since resurrection is a supernatural phenomenon, as nature of the earth transforms, the Resurrection of the dead could begin…and we could be here to witness it!