12 Sivan 5768 – Parshas Shelach Lecha 15 June 2008

Yechezkel Perokim 39 – 48

Ok that it is, the last full week of Yechezkel over. I know that we have a few more days till we finish the whole book but please let me bring everything to a close, as my contract for writing ends at the end of Yechezkel. After that it is to the boardroom to see if I get the ‘finger’, ‘cos it might be “Rickman your fired”…

So the whole Sefer in my understanding takes us on a journey, a journey of understanding the Holiness of Hashem and how the world of Holiness affects everything else. The start is of the Holy Throne of Hashem and the angels that surround that. The distance that man feels when reading this is so great, why do we not see this great vision? Why aren’t we able to live a life of pure service to Hashem in such a way? Why do we get stuck on this earth, the trials and tribulations of day-to-day life?

Then life goes from bad to worst. The Navi is shown destruction after destruction. Not just death and punishment. We move from the Temple being made into a place of idol worship, the people of God betraying their God in the House of God. Mixed in with these visions, we keep meeting the angels. Feeling even more now the distance that it’s not just that we don’t see and experience the same as them in the service of Hashem, but we are actively moving away from the service.

So once the House is no longer a place of the revelation of Hashem and the people are no longer servants, the land is introduced and takes part in the separation process.

Then we read about the destruction, the climax of the bad times when the enemy is walking in with a VIP pass and nothing is able to stop them.

Then, slowly slowly do we see the end coming closer, however it is not the end that we might have thought. The Jewish people are not wiped off the face of the earth (God forbid). The people do face more wars but this is part of the love of Hashem. It is necessary to sort the people out for the people to turn back to Hashem. They must return and reunite with the Lord.

And then the light, the bright light that blinds and in contrast nothing seems relevant. Next we receive the news that there will be another Temple and that the people will return and live again like the servants that we so really want to be. The image is so vivid and so real. That to hear the words being read, one can almost walk through that very Temple, see the gates and see the courtyard. Then, not just is the Temple rebuilt, the people are brought back and life is blown back into our bones. The excitement is hard to control you want to put down the Navi and go and see it, but sadly we are still far from the end vision.

But now, how to give the final goodbye for the moment to this Navi? We are told the name of the great city that the revelation is present, the place were the Priests are offering sacrifices, the place the Levites sing their songs and the place the Israelite go to see. That city is called “Hashem is There”. This my friends is the end of the circle, the story is brought full circle. The message that we are being shown is that we have the chance, the honour of serving Hashem in the great way that the angels do and in truth we at times have a better chance than the angels. The angels don’t move, they stand on one level but we grow and can get closer! So we must always remember this, that when we read about the depths that we reached, that however low we went, allows us to go even higher. We can rebuild any connection any sin can be wiped out. The message that I have walked away is that Hashem is always there for us and that the love is always there and that we must never never give up and called it a day, we must always strive to be closer in any way we can.

Thank you and have a great shabbos.

By Natan Rickman

3 Sivan 5768 – Parshas Naso 6 June 2008

Yechezkel Perokim 32 – 38

So this week was Yom Yerushalayim, which was for me a very enjoyable time seeing the hundreds and thousands of people come and celebrate, so therefore I feel that I am somewhat forced to discuss some ideas on the topic.

It is very interesting to look at the Torah thoughts from 1967, to see what the Rabbi’s were talking about after the miracle of the Six Day War. There was one particular discussion that was written up in the Tradition journal, which is very interesting if anyone ever gets a chance to read it. There is a discussions of what we should do now that we have the Har HaBayis, should be re-build the Beis HaMikdash to bring Karbanos and should we still fast on the 9th of Av (some did not for the first year). The theme of the discussion was; that we are at the start of very historical event and the end of history should be around the corner. However, sadly as we have seen that the end has taken a little longer than some thought and perhaps we just were not ready. However, what is clear is that the return home has allowed the process of the rebuilding of the Jewish people, both spiritually and physically. We are still far, but let us not forget how far we have come in just 60 of a state and 41 years of Jerusalem. Each day is another step closer.

The Navi in chapter 36 verse 24, spelt out the return, long ago and again to understand what Hashem has planned for us, it can sometimes be found in the Navi. The Navi, explains, that Hashem will gather everyone in from around the world in order to bring us home. The first stage is that we need to recognise that the place we are being taken to is really our home, the final destination. Then, promises Hashem, that He will make us pure, that the process of being close to Hashem is to allow Hashem to come close to us. To allow ourselves to be in contact and focused on being better people and then, we can become those better people.

Once we have become clean again, then we are able to have our “new heart and new spirit”. The new heart is to replace the stone one that we have been told that we have now. Again the Navi We understand, that there needs to be redemption and an end, but what is harder to think about is the state that we are in at the moment. Specifically that we look around and that things look so good but we have to really appreciate, that this is not the true Will of Hashem. That a perfect world, following the Will of Hashem, would be different and we could live differently. Therefore, we need this new heart and sprit so that we will walk around seeing the world in a different way. is giving us a strong wake up call.

Once we have been cleansed and updated, then we are ready to become the servant again. If one can imagine that we would be without the stains of our childhood and that we would be living on the level that we recognise that nature is just another toy that is totally dependant and can be changed according to the Will of Hashem.

It is living on a level were what we do, is successful and we never lose. But there is one sole rule, to listen and obey the Word. This is the world, which Adam was created into. Just Imagine!!!

The valley of the dry bones; the famous image and story. The Navi sees a lifeless heap of bones, and pile of used potential, of what was. The Navi is challenged by Hashem almost to offer a prophecy to these bones. What we then learn, is one lesson that should not be forgotten. We will not get into the discussion about the nevuah itself but just the opening message. That the NaviHashem has control over everything, as we see it happens and that they do come back to life. Never, just see a valley of bones in life, everything should be an opportunity and the question is do you see the opportunity of just a valley of dry bones?? sees the bones and confirms that the Will of

By Natan Rickman