Tractate Chagigah focuses on the festival pilgrimages, when Jews traveled to
celebrate Pesach, Shavuoth and Sukkot in Jerusalem to bask in the glory of
the Divine countenance.
It's obvious relevance to the holiday is why Tractate Chagiga is recommended
for the traditional Siyum to alleviate the Firstborn's Fast on Erev Pesach (Shaloh
Hakadosh and Ari).
We conclude this tractate with the following statement:
"Resh Lakish said. "Even the sinners of Israel cannot consumed by the fire
of Gehenna. We learn this from the Golden Altar of Incense in the holy
Temple, where the fire burned many years but never penetrated the wood,
which was covered only by a thin sheet of gold the size of a coin. Certainly
the fire would not penetrate the Sinners of Israel who are filled with
Mitzvos like a pomegranate, as the verse says in Shir Hasheirem "Kefelach
Harimon Rakasech ". Does this seem to weaken the deterrent, making the fires
of Genhanna less fearsome?It should
be noted that Resh Lakish's statement contrasts with an earlier exclusive
opinion, that only Torah Scholars fired up with Torah are resistant to the
fire of Gehenna.
The Biography of Resh Lakish will allow us to better appreciate his
statement: Originally a robust highway robber Resh Lakish changed direction
and became a Baal Teshuva, rising in Torah Scholarship as a colleague of the
great Rabbi Yochanan. Resh Lakish learned the potential of a sinner from his
own personal experience.
Jews from all walks of life were welcomed in the Temple. Despite their
levels of observance, everyone was assumed to be upright and pure. Despite
superficial appearances, affiliations and circumstances, deep down the inner
core remains intact and indestructible. We learned this unfortunately the
hard way, with the recent kidnapping and gruesome killing of Wall Street
reporter Daniel Pearl, and his famous last words: "I am Jewish."
This concluding statement does not serve
just as a happing ending. It follows the main theme of tractate
Chagigah.when Jews visited the Holy Temple "to see, and to be seen." They
observed not just the outer physical structure of the Building, but became
inspired and by the deeper insights to the Temple and the services. Indeed
the Talmud recounts that Cohanim would raise the Gold Table and its
showbread, displaying it to the visitors, exclaiming: "Behold and see your
love before G-d.
The Talmud (Yoma 54b) describes how they would open all the Temple's
curtains, so the visiting Jews could view the splendor of the Holy Cherubim
in the inner Sanctum.
Perhaps this message of enduring and
unconditional love of all Israel radiating from the Golden Altar also
followed in the same vein. Inspired by the Golden Altar, the Jews took its
message of love and unity back home.
|
Jews from all walks
of life were welcomed in the Temple. Despite superficial appearances,
affiliations & circumstances, deep down the inner core remains intact
indestructible.
"Do not regard anyone with
contempt... for there is no person who does not have his hour"
- Avot 4:3 |
