The korbonos are in the merit of our Ovos. (Rashi, Bamidbar 28:19 in the name of Reb Moshe HaDarshon). The bulls are the merit of the chessed of Avrohom; the rams in the merit of the yiras shomayim of Yitzchok. Now we come to sheep, which are in the merit of Yaakov; as the posuk says, “Yaakov separated the sheep.” What characteristic of Yaakov does this posuk indicate? As we prepare for Shabbos Chazon, the climax of the Three Weeks, during which we should try to follow the midos of the Ovos in order to merit the third Beis Hamikdash, we need to know which midda of Yaakov was exemplified by his separating the sheep, in order to be zoche to bring korbonos again.
Separating the sheep was part of Yaakov’s deal with Lovon to fix his wages for all the years he worked for Lovon. It was, to our minds, the worst deal of the century. Yaakov separated the spotted and striped sheep from the plain ones. Spotted and striped offspring which would be born to those plain sheep will be the payment due to Yaakov. The chances of a plain sheep giving birth to spotted or striped sheep were almost zero so it looks as though Yaakov had been outwitted by the cunning Lovon. Nevertheless Yaakov was not deterred. Doing a certain amount of hishtadlus and placing his bitachon in Hashem, Yaakov accepted the deal. And the deal proved successful with many striped and spotted sheep born to the plain sheep. Yaakov had the proverbial “last laugh.”
“ Ba Chabakuk ve’he’emido al achas; tzaddik b’emunoso yichye.”(Makos 24a). In the end of days, our main challenge will be maintaining our emuna that Hashem is the Creator and Director of the universe. Since the Creation until recently, it was accepted by everyone that the world had a creator. People had the clarity and common sense to realise that a universe cannot create itself. Yes, certain people believed in different avoda zoros or garbled versions of the Torah, but that the world should have no creator was seen as farcical by a vast majority of people. In the final epoch before Moshiach, an amazing phenomenon will appear; intelligent people somehow believing that the universe created itself by some method which they themselves admit has not been discovered yet. (This is the nonsense which OFSTED demands our mosdos to teach).
In the last century particularly, events have challenged our emuna that Hashem runs the world. However, and this is precisely the tremendous zechus of those who maintain full emuna despite everything which has happened, we refuse to be sidetracked by events which we cannot understand. As I explain in my sefer The Hidden Light, (Menucha Publishing P18)
We have to decide what our belief is. If we maintain a childish belief in a god who has supernatural powers and is supposed to do anything we want at any time we demand it, we will have questions on our belief. Why didn’t he help when we needed it? If, however, we believe in Hashem who is the all-powerful Creator, responsible for the myriads of stars and every blade of grass; who provides food for every creature from the greatest to the smallest, who gives us strength for every step we take and every breath we breathe, we might still wonder why He allows certain events to happen. But to expect an explanation which we can understand pre-supposes that we are capable of understanding Hashem’s conduct. This is clearly a weak assumption. Such a Creator is so much greater than us in every possible way that there is no reason to assume that we will understand Him, His actions or His decisions. In fact if a person thinks that has the mental capacity to understand whatever Hashem does, he is contradicting himself. If we are equal to Hashem, why worship Him?
Another phenomenon raises questions on our emuna from the opposite angle. We see that Israel is a very successful modern state. Its economic level is equal if not superior to many western countries. It is a world leader in agriculture with many innovative methods of improving production, water purification and cyber-technology. It contributes, completely out proportion to its size and population, to medical science and international intelligence. World leaders queue up to meet the Prime Minister. International surveys testify that the citizens of Israel are amongst the happiest people in the world, especially in the religious areas. Unfortunately, most of those who govern and represent Israel are not religious Jews. Halacha has only a minor influence on state policy. It is hardly the Malchus Beis Dovid which we have been waiting for. So why does Hashem bless it so spectacularly? In the past our emuna was challenged by extreme suffering. Now our emuna is challenged by the success of those who transgress the Torah. Why is the State of Israel so successful?
I think this can possibly be explained in three ways. Firstly, the Meshech Chochma (on Shemos 6:13) interprets a Medrash to mean that the tribes of Reuven, Shimon and Levi were not enslaved in Mitzrayim. He says that because they had been demoted in importance by Yaakov’s brochos, were they to have suffered slavery, they would have left the fold completely. One blow after another would have too much for them and they would have sought a future outside of Klal Yisroel. After the destruction of the Holocaust, the morale of a vast majority of Jews was at an all-time low. Had they not seen an early return of Hashem’s blessings to the Jewish People, in material even if not in spiritual terms, many more Jews would have simply opted out of Klal Yisroel. Hence Hashem, in His wisdom, has seen fit to favour even a secular Israel with His blessings.
A second possible explanation is based on a Rashi at the beginning of Bamidbar (1:1). Rashi explains that when Hashem instructed that the Jewish People be counted, it was always an act of love. For instance after the sin of the golden calf Hashem counted those who had died in order to know the number of survivors and to express His love for them. (Sifsei Chachomim) The Jews were perhaps worried that because of their sin and subsequent punishment, Hashem no longer loved them. This show of love was a great comfort to them. Similarly after the Holocaust, many Jews may have deduced that Hashem doesn’t love them anymore. The spiritual renaissance and material successes that we have enjoyed since then, show that nothing could be further from the truth. For whatever reason, the gezeira of the Holocaust was necessary, but His love for us is as intense as ever.
A third possible explanation why Israel, despite being a secular institution led by secular Jews has enjoyed such unprecedented success is based on Kiddushin 36a. “The Jewish People are the children of Hashem; as the posuk says, “Bonim atem l’Hashem Elokeichem.” (Devarim 14:1). How do we know that even if the Jews serve idols they are stilled called the children of Hashem? Says the posuk, “Even if people say to you, (in golus) ‘You are not My people,’ it shall be said to them, they are the children of the living G-d.” (Hoshea 2:1). Hashem seems to be reminding all of us, that despite our sins, even our extreme sins, which are surely no worse than worshipping idols, we are still His children and a Father loves His children.
This emuna which we hold on to despite many challenges, is the emuna exemplified by Yaakov Ovinu when he separated the sheep and throughout the long and difficult years when he faced a succession of demanding tests. It is our unbreakable faith in Hashem that Chabakuk was referring to when he said, “Tzaddik b’emunoso yichye.” Through our emuna Hashem grants us life. And our emuna, despite the many years of golus, together with our emulating the other midos tovos of the Ovos will, hopefully, cause Hashem to zocher chasdei Ovos – remember all the righteous acts of our Ovos and meivi Goel livnei veneihem, bring the Redeemer to their children’s children, bimheira beyomeinu omein.