How do the historical dates and events of our generation correspond with the course of progressive redemption?
The two holidays - Passover and Shavuoth - as well as Independence Day and Jerusalem Day - create one whole.
Passover and Shavuoth are not only separate holidays but are part of the entire process: from the exodus from Egypt and until theTorah was granted.
Passover symbolizes physical freedom – the exodus from Egypt, while Shavuot symbolizes spiritual freedom – the revelation of God's name in the world through the granting of the Torah.
The connection between the two holidays is emphasized in the counting of the Omer, which links physical freedom with spiritual redemption.
In our day and age:
Independence Day, like Passover, marks the liberation of the national body - establishment of the State of Israel, "Day of Our Freedom".
Jerusalem Day, like Shavuoth, reflects the completion of freedom - the return of the Jewish people to all parts of the Land of Israel, and in particular to Mount Moriah, which is essentially connected to Mount Sinai – a return to the spiritual and holy purpose (as explained by Maimonides in the Guide for the Perplexed).
From an agricultural perspective, there is an internal connection:
The Omer is the beginning of the harvest (of barley), and the two loaves symbolize the peak of the harvest (of wheat) – "And thou shalt observe the feast of weeks, even of the first-fruits of wheat harvest, and the feast of ingathering at the turn of the year" (Exodus 34:22).
Country and Temple - One Building:
Rav Kook teaches that one soul animates both the country and the Temple.
There is no country without a Temple, and no Temple is detached from the country - both are part of one and essential unity.
Zion and Jerusalem:
Zion represents the kingdom - government and matter.
Jerusalem represents the Temple - the spirit and the sacred.
Both of them together complement each other, and the name Jerusalem, with its paired ending, expresses this unity.
Mount Moriah – the peak of the return:
The return to the site of the creation of the world, the Foundation Stone, is the peak of redemption.
There the First and Second Temples were built, and there the Third Temple will be built.
The message for our generation:
Thanks to Jerusalem, G-d returned us to the Land of Israel, and because of this, we were victorious in all our wars.
Unity and dedication are fundamental conditions for the continuation of redemption and the building of the Third Temple.
Conclusion:
We will continue to build Jerusalem and the Land of Israel – both physically and spiritually – to illuminate the entire world with the light of the Holy Temple.
The unity of the Nation of Israel and the strengthening of holiness are key to the construction of the permanent and eternal Third Temple.
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