Anticipation

Much, if not most, of life is spent waiting for something. Judaism wants us to utilize waiting for the right thing. Of all things the thing we should be eagerly anticipating is when the world will become sane and universal peace will reign. This is the belief in and anticipation for Moshiach and the Final redemption!

What’s the Point?

The Torah is filled with specific commandments; a total of 613. Yet every now and then the Torah will issue a general statement that does not appear to be adding anything to that which is already known in terms of a specific commandment.

One example of this appears in this week’s parsha. After listing a number of specific commands the Torah states:

And you shall keep My commandments and observe them, I am G-d.

The question arises, why is it necessary to add this statement? Isn’t it obvious that if G-d has given us many commandments that He intended for us to keep them and do them? Why then does the Torah insert these general statements that do not appear to add anything to that which was already known?

Making the Leap from Guarding to Studying

Rashi seems to have sensed the difficulty with this verse and he therefore translates it differently:

Instead of translating the word “ushmarted” as “you shall keep my commandments,” Rashi translates it as “you shall study My commandments.

Now, the question arises: The literal translation of the Hebrew word “ushmartem” is “you shall guard,” or, “you shall keep.” How does Rashi make the leap from guarding to studying?

The simple understanding of Rashi’s interpretation is that this verse is to underscore the importance of study of the Torah’s laws as a way to facilitate their observance. When one attempts to observe the commandments without constantly studying them, their observance would likely wane. Thus to “guard” and protect the observance of the commandments one must constantly study.

Indeed, the Hebrew word for study Rashi employs – Mishnah – also means “repetition.” Torah study requires constant learning and repetition.

Waiting for the Commandments

There is another interpretation of this verse “and you shall keep My commandments and observe them” based on a secondary translation of the Hebrew word ushmartem: “And you shall wait for the commandments.”

It is not enough for us to simply do what is expected from us. We must also look forward to doing a Mitzvah.

It is told of the great Chassidic Rabbi Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev, that he could not fall asleep the entire night following Passover and other holidays because he was so eager to once again put on Tefillin (the black leather boxes containing scriptural verses that men over the age of 13 strap on their arms and heads, as Biblically mandated) the next morning (we do not wear Tefillin on the Sabbath or on Jewish holidays).

When we view a mitzvah not as a burden or duty to be discharged and “get over with” but as an opportunity to get closer to G-d we will always eagerly anticipate the observance of the mitzvah.

And this first part of the verse to eagerly wait for the opportunity to do a mitzvah ties in to the second part of the verse: “and you will observe them”: If you show your eagerness to do a mitzvah, G-d will always give you more opportunities to do more Mitzvos.

Anticipating Sinai

The theme of anticipation is even more pronounced in the period between Passover and Shavuos, the anniversary of the giving of the Torah at Sinai. This period is called Sefirah, which means counting because this is the time when we are Biblically required to count the days.

According to the Midrash, this commandment is rooted in the way the Jewish people counted the days when they left Egypt as a way of showing their eagerness to receive the Torah. This entire period exemplifies the idea of anticipation.

But there is no area of Jewish life and belief where the idea of anticipation is more pronounced than in the belief in and anticipation for the coming of Moshiach who will usher in the Age of Redemption.

Our prayers are replete with expressions of hope, anticipation, yearning, pleading and even demanding an end to the Galus-exile and the onset of the true and complete Redemption through Moshiach.

So strong is the need not only to believe that Moshiach will come but also to eagerly await his coming that Maimonides states, One who does not believe in Moshiach, or one who does not anticipate his coming denies Moses and the Torah.

If one were to pay lip service to the coming of Moshiach but not await his coming it is an indication that their belief is skewed. How could one believe in something so incredibly positive and yet not yearn for it?

Moreover, according to the Chida (a great Sephardic authority of the 18th Century) the very act of anticipating Moshiach is the power that hastens his coming.

From the book Light from the Future: Parshas Emor by Rabbi Heschel Greenberg, published by the Jewish Discovery Center.