Acharon Shel Pesach Haftora Part II: The Ingathering Of The Exile

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In the Haftora of Acharon Shel Pesach it tells about the ingathering of the Jewish people in the time of Moshiach, "And it shall come to pass bayom hahu (on that day), that G‑d shall set His hand again the second time liknos (to acquire) the remnant of His people, that shall be left, from Assyria, and from Egypt, from Patros, and from Kush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Chamas, and from the islands of the sea." 

Bayom hahu means on that day, this phrase is repeated several times in the Haftora, it refers to the day that Moshiach will come. However, if you look at the word hahu, the prefix ha means the, meaning that the thing that you are referring to is revealed and known, the house, the president, the Torah, etc. etc., hu, on the other hand, means he or it, which denotes something hidden. How can hidden and revealed be in the same word? 

In Chassidic thought it is explained that bayom hahu means, that on the day that Moshiach comes, what was hidden from us, will be revealed. 

The verse continues, "G-d shall set His hand again the second time liknos (to acquire) the remnant of His people." What is the meaning of, "the second time"? When was the first time? The commentaries tell us that the first time was the Exodus from Egypt. Why not the other times we were freed from exile, like from the Babylonian exile, from which we returned to Israel and rebuilt the Temple? The commentaries tell us that all the other times we were freed from exile it wasn't complete, because all of the Jewish people didn't return, and we remained under the sovereignty of another nation. But this leaves us with a question. Why remind us of the Exodus altogether, it could have simply said that Hashem would acquire the remnant of His people? 

Another question. Why does it use the term "liknos (to acquire)," to mean that He would gather us? 

To acquire something means that it is not a new creation, rather that it is something that already exists and you are taking possession of it. In general, there are two kinds of acquisitions, you can acquire the products that an item will produce, or you can acquire the item itself. When it comes to acquiring the product, there are two opinions as to whether it is considered a true acquisition or not. When it comes to acquiring the item, everyone agrees that it is a true acquisition. 

In our verse it has to be talking about something that everyone agrees is a true acquisition, so it must be talking about an acquisition of the item itself. 

On a deeper level, the acquisition of the product is the service of the average Jew, which is most of us, to Hashem. We produce Torah, mitzvos and good deeds, taking from the mundane physical world and raising it up to Hashem, making it holy, but we constantly struggle with our bodies, fighting its urges and desires. We have acquired the products, but we haven't been able to acquire the item, the body isn't in our total control. On the other hand, a Tzadik is in complete control of his body, he has acquired the item itself. 

Every one of us can strive to be the optimal average Jew, which the Tanya calls beinuni, who constantly struggles with his body, but has no sins because he bends the will of the body to follow Hashem's will. But not everyone is cut out to be a Tzadik. 

And that is the unique thing about the future redemption, that it will be like the Exodus from Egypt. All the other redemptions weren't complete, they couldn't be called a true acquisition. However, the Exodus from Egypt was complete in that it ended with the giving of the Torah, at which time all "their impure ways ended." The same will be when Moshiach comes, Hashem says, "I will remove the impure spirit from the land," all evil will cease to exist. Like the Exodus, the future redemption will be complete, the Exodus being first, making the future redemption second. 

May we merit to be part of the ingathering of our people soon, with the complete redemption, just as we were redeemed from Egypt, a true acquisition of our bodies, as the verse says, "Your nation are all Tzadikim, they will inherit the land forever." 

And as our verse continues with a bunch of places where Hashem will gather us from and concludes, "And from the islands of the sea." This includes the Americas and Australia. May it happen soon.

Dedicated to our son Eli Chaim who celebrates his birthday on Acharon Shel Pesach. We are so proud of you, may Hashem give you a successful year.