Rabbi Akiva's Positive PerspectiveAfter the destruction of the Temple, Rabbi Akiva and his colleagues visited the Temple Mount. As they neared the ruins, they saw a fox emerging from the Holy of Holies. Rabbi Akiva's colleagues cried, whereas Rabbi Akiva laughed. He explained that the scene they witnessed fulfilled the prophecy, "Jerusalem shall become heaps, the Temple like a high forest." That was the reason I laughed, "Now that this prophecy of calamity had been fulfilled, the joyful prophecy of the future rebuilding of the Temple and the restoration of the Shechinah will be fulfilled." Lesson: The Torah tells us that after the destruction of the Temple we will experience a bitter exile. In addition, the Torah clearly reveals that ultimately HaShem will redeem us with a great light and awesome miracles. The long and difficult exile that we have endured is the very proof that HaShem will surely redeem us and rebuild Jerusalem in all of its ancient glory. App: Reflect upon the fact that both the exile and the redemption are prophecies explicitly stated in the Torah. The fulfillment of the prophecy of our redemption is dependent upon the fulfillment of the prophecy of our exile. Now that the exile has occurred, it is absolutely certain that HaShem will bring our redemption. (Based on Makkos 24b) to view the Salant Mussar Library Collection
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L"N Rav Yochanon Mordecai Ben Ephraim and Moras Esther Leach bas Yehudah
Refuah Shleimah
Yochanon Baruch ben Fruma Ettta
Leiba Zlota bas Chana
Shalom Yoseph ben Leiba Zlota
Daniel Zvi ben Yochevd
Riva bas Henya
Zivia bas Raizel |
