A: Tractate Shabbat 118b:
"Rabbi Yochanan related in the name of Rabbi Shimon ben Yochai: If the people of Israel would observe two Shabbatot, they would be immediately redeemed."
QUESTION: Was Rabbi Shimon referring to two random Shabbatot - perhaps weeks or years apart or to sequential Shabbatot? Furthermore, it seems like a deceptively simple solution to a decree of thousands of years of exile (Galut) involving millions of Jews dispersed across the globe.
B: PROPOSAL: The number of yearly Shabbatot ranges between 50 and 55, depending on the length of the lunar year. While several have distinctive names, two stand out boldly: Shabbat HaGadol (the "Great Shabbat") before Pesach, and Shabbat Shuva (the Shabbat of Repentance) between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.
C: COMMON ESSENCE: When asked what defines the common essence of all Jews? Some would answer that we are an extended family, descended from the same grandparents. Others suggest that we maintain a spiritually centered culture: living by 613 commandments, keeping dietary laws, marrying only within the nation and speaking a unique language with a unique alphabet.
While these are correct, there is a deeper quality.
SHORT INCIDENT: Several weeks after my holy brother, Rav Meir, HY"D was murdered in New York, in 1990, a stranger came to my home in the Old City. He introduced himself as a Baptist minister and claimed my brother had been his rabbi; he requested that I continue the relationship.
I replied that I am a rabbi for the Jewish people, not for those who seek to divert our people from the truth to falsehood.
As we sat and spoke amicably over coffee, I waited for the inevitable antisemitic remark to appear. Eventually, it came: "Why do the Jews believe they were chosen by God over all other nations?"
I answered with a question: "Do you believe your status in the World to Come is a function of your behavior in this world?" He replied, “yes." I then said that the status of those born into this world is a function of how they behaved in the world from which they came. Those who were spiritually inclined were born with Jewish souls, the rest with gentile souls. He was visibly disturbed; he had never heard such a concept.
THE TWO TRACKS: Every Jew carries a holy, unique Jewish soul (Neshama). To be a Ben or Bat Yisrael (Son and daughter of Israel) is to live on two parallel tracks:
THE NATION: We are a people with a specific culture, land, language, goal orientated future, and yes even a holy army, and bound by deep devotion to one another.
THE CONNECTION: We are linked to the Creator through the Mitzvot that Hashem commands and we obey.
These two tracks coalesce in the Holy Land of Eretz Yisrael.
Shabbat HaGadol, prior to the holiday of our freedom, reaffirms our identity as the Jewish nation. Shabbat Shuva reaffirms our identity as a God-centered people.
When Rabbi Shimon spoke of two Shabbatot, I suggest that he was referring specifically to these two Shabbatot. And that If we internalize the messages they proclaim, we will be immediately redeemed.
May we all realize that we are living in monumental times that will decide the fate of nations and continents. Our soldiers and for the entire Jewish nation are now living in Biblical times. These days are ushering in the Messianic era and all that it promises for us and for all of humanity.
Shabbat Shalom.
Pesach Kasher V’samayach.
Rabbi Nachman Kahana is a Torah scholar, author, teacher and lecturer, Founder and Director of the Center for Kohanim, Co-founder of the Temple Institute, Co-founder of Atara Leyoshna - Ateret Kohanim, was rabbi of Chazon Yechezkel Synagogue - Young Israel of the Old City of Jerusalem for 32 years, and is the author of the 15-volume “Mei Menuchot" series on Tosefot, and 3-volume “With All Your Might: The Torah of Eretz Yisrael in the Weekly Parashah" (2009-2011), and “Reflections from Yerushalayim: Thoughts on the Torah, the Land and the Nation of Israel" (2019) as well as weekly parasha commentary available where he blogs at https://NachmanKahana.com