"He crouches, he lies down like a lion, and like a lioness, who can rouse him?" (Numbers 24:9). The Midrash says (Genesis Rabbah 98:7) "He crouches, he lies down," refers to the period from King Zedekiah to King Messiah (the current period of history). "In the time of King Zedekiah, the exile of the Jewish people from the Land of Israel began. Even at the time of the Second Temple in Jerusalem, the redemption was not complete, since several elements were missing from the Second Temple (compared to the First), and not all the Jewish people were in the Land of Israel. The beginning of the verse 'He crouches, he lies down' refers to this period (which includes the current one), meaning that the Jewish people are in exile, scattered among the other peoples and lands of the world.".<\/p>\n
We might think that exile is absolute, not only in the physical, that which is related to the body, but also in the spiritual, the Torah and the Mitzvot, aspects related to the soul.<\/p>\n
However, when we look at the continuation of the verse, even though "He crouches down, he lies down," it is not the lying down of one who lacks strength, but rather a limitation, an impasse of a lion, the king of the animals, the most powerful. That is to say, even during the exile in which we find ourselves, "He crouches down, he lies down," the other peoples of the world have no power over the Jewish people, but, as the verse continues, "who will raise him up?".
Our Hasidic teachers explain that, instead of reading the last words in the form of a question, from a deeper perspective, they can be read in the form of a statement, where "who" refers to the Almighty, who will bring us out of exile, as it is written "Who will give out of Zion the salvation of Israel" (Tehilim 14:7).<\/p>\n
Until the time of final redemption arrives, where the "Who will raise him up" will be fulfilled (affirmatively), no one has power over the Jewish people, since they are like a lion. <\/p>\n
The logic behind this is that exile itself is irrational; it has no place in human intellect. It is merely a forced state in which the "lion" is physically "crouched down, lying down." However, spiritually, since the Torah and the Mitzvot are the word of God, exile has no power over them.
In simpler terms, exile is only for the body; the soul is free. The task is to bring that spiritual freedom of the soul into the body so that it manifests in our daily lives, and as our Sages say, "True freedom is the study of Torah" (Pirkei Avot 6:2). Through Torah study and the fulfillment of mitzvot, one can be freed from bondage to the world at large.<\/p>\n
Remembering this, that the Jewish people are a lion and that with regard to the Torah, the Mitzvot and the soul we are not in exile, we can illuminate our surroundings with the light of the Torah to the point of making the dark world an illuminated world, with the coming of the Messiah soon in our days.<\/p>\n
Based on Likutei Sichot Vol. 2, p. 337<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Se agacha, se acuesta como un le\u00f3n, y cual leona \u00bfqui\u00e9n lo levantar\u00e1?\" (Bamidbar 24:9). El midrash dice (Bereshit Rab\u00e1 98:7) \"Se agacha, se acuesta\", se refiere al per\u00edodo desde el Rey Tzidkiahu hasta el Rey Mashiaj (el per\u00edodo actual de la historia).\"En la \u00e9poca del Rey Tzidkiahu comenz\u00f3 el exilio del pueblo jud\u00edo de… Read More \u00bbWho is in exile?<\/span><\/a>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5713,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"neve_meta_sidebar":"","neve_meta_container":"","neve_meta_enable_content_width":"","neve_meta_content_width":0,"neve_meta_title_alignment":"","neve_meta_author_avatar":"","neve_post_elements_order":"","neve_meta_disable_header":"","neve_meta_disable_footer":"","neve_meta_disable_title":"","episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[77],"tags":[950,956,954,978,974,973,942],"series":[],"class_list":["post-1064","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-balak","tag-di-s","tag-estudio","tag-judio","tag-pirkei-avot","tag-redencion","tag-templo","tag-tora"],"episode_featured_image":"https:\/\/tuviaserber.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/Leon.jpg","episode_player_image":"https:\/\/tuviaserber.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/avatar1400.jpeg","download_link":"","player_link":"","audio_player":false,"episode_data":{"playerMode":"light","subscribeUrls":{"castbox":{"key":"castbox","url":"","label":"CastBox","class":"castbox","icon":"castbox.png"},"rss":{"key":"rss","url":"","label":"RSS","class":"rss","icon":"rss.png"},"spotify":{"key":"spotify","url":"","label":"Spotify","class":"spotify","icon":"spotify.png"}},"rssFeedUrl":"https:\/\/tuviaserber.com\/en\/feed\/podcast\/rabino-tuvia-serber","embedCode":"\u00bfQui\u00e9n est\u00e1 en exilio?<\/a><\/blockquote>