Boulder Aish Kodesh

The roots of Moshiach are born in Parshat Vayera.  But Moshiach, in order to come into the world, requires two “chromosomes”, so to speak.  The one is the line of Yitzhak – Yitzhak is prophesied and predicted.  He is born of utter holiness – only after Avraham is circumcised can Yitzhak come into the world.  He is the first ‘born’ Jew.  He has not tasted sin.  He may not leave Israel.  He does what his father wants him to do, and what his wife wants him to do, and what G-d wants him to do.  He says little and does less.  He spends much of his time in prayer and meditation.  As the Mei Hashiloach writes, he has mastered the art of waiting to be told by G-d what to do.

And then there is the other side, which comes through Mo’av. And Mo’av comes through chaos.  Mo’av is the son of Lot by Lot’s eldest daughter.  This is because Lot, a nebulous character from the start, chose to live in Sodom.  While never quite losing his inherent holiness, he became deeply involved in life in Sodom, even becoming a judge.  It seems clear that he as involved in the sexual immorality that was rampant there as well – this point is proved by Judith S. Antonelli in her book In the Image of G-d: A Feminist Commentary on the Torah.

When Sodom is destroyed, Lot is saved because of G-d’s love for Avraham – not on his own merit.  Even then he is ambiguous about leaving.  When he and his family are finally dragged (literally) out of Sodom, his daughters are convinced that they, with their father, are the last three people on earth, and that they must therefore reproduce, albeit incestuously.  Rashi comments that their intentions were good, but Lot’s were not.  Though they got him drunk, he was aware to some degree of what was happening, and did nothing to stop it. The children of this union are Mo’av and Amon.

So, on one hand, we have Yitzhak, child of holiness and order and prophecy.  And on the other hand we have Mo’av, child of bad decisions, alcohol, incest, deception, and self-gratification.  And history will prove that both are necessary for the coming of Moshiach, the realization of history.

It may be quite difficult for us to accept that G-d can work through our mistakes.  People tend to think that, when things go well, that is G-d in our lives, but when things go wrong, that is something or someone else.  This is actually heresy.  There is nothing else beside G-d – whether it looks good or bad.  Every day in the morning service we misquote a verse from Isaiah (45:7) “I form light and create darkness, make peace and create evil.  I, Hashem, do all this.”  We must accept that G-d works through dark sides as well.

It is essential to be aware of how these two manifestations of G-d’s will play out in our own lives.  On one hand, we have the path of Avraham and Yitzhak.  Avraham’s life is marked by a strand of opportunities to become a more appropriate vessel for G-d’s will.  He has already shown himself capable of changing modes  – from warrior to generous host – and has demonstrated strong belief in G-d’s Benevolence by descending to Egypt after his short stay in Canaan.  But the flip side of ‘opportunities to become a more appropriate vessel’ is a string of constant challenges to detach from all ties.  He is told to send Yishmael away.