Rebellion and reconciliation

Sin and its punishment, or repentance = rebellion and reconciliation. Out of the millions of different trees in Gan Eden, the Creator forbade man and his wife Eve to eat from only one tree; most importantly – a tree that gives man knowledge. Why? All animals are born with all the "knowledge" they need for their survival for the rest of their lives. As it is written, a "one-day-old bull" on the day he was born, is already considered a "bull". Man is the only creature born without a mind and helpless. And he needs many years of special care and upkeep, in order for him to be independent. Therefore the question arises as to why G-d has forbidden Adam and Eve to eat from this one tree, only this special tree – the tree of knowledge that could give him the mind he lacks. And [TY1] the answer is that man must be limited in at least one thing. A person who is not limited may think that there is no "landlord" and he is a "landlord." He is the "landlord" and he can do whatever he wants. All over the world it is customary for a king to punish a rebel in his kingdom with death. And so the Creator of the world said to the first man: On the day you eat the forbidden fruit you will die, immediately. Asking for forgiveness, repenting, a total giving over of oneself is the opposite of rebellion. How does a person express and achieve total submissiveness? When the person bows: lying down on the floor with the face facing the ground, he allows everyone to step on him and when a person is stepped on the back, his ribs are broken and he can not breathe and has no more chance of living. G-d gave man the opportunity to prove his submissiveness in a better way, by immersing in a mikva. What is the connection? And what does immersion in a mikva symbolize? Immersion in a mikva however is a greater level of submission, because before immersing in the mikva, a person must take off all of his clothing; clothing which instils in him a spirit of importance and pride! He must temporarily get part from his property, which instils within him a spirit of perverted confidence. And so man "without clothes", humbled, goes down to immerse in the water of the mikva. When he is covered with water for a short time, he runs out of air and stands at the gate between life and death and when man sees death before him, instinctively he calls out to his Creator and prays in his heart and asks for mercy, forgiveness and atonement. He promises he will not sin anymore and he continues to ask the Creator for help to overcome all the problems of life. After all, there is no person in the world without problems, even if he is healthy, strong, smart and rich. And why is there no person without problems? After all, the Creator of the world created a perfect world, the sun, the moon and the whole universe have been operating for thousands of years, tirelessly and without problems. Why precisely man who is the most perfect creature in creation, who also has the power of thought and speech, a gift no one else in the universe has, why is he precisely full of problems? One of the answers is because it is the Creator of the world who creates the problems for every person, at any time, according to his condition, so that he may repent and thereby become closer to his Creator! Since, usually, without problems people do not repent. Moshe Rabenu explains in Tehillim (90: 3): G-d brings man problems and asks - do you wish to live? Repent. Therefore when man immerses, he prays and begs in his words: "Please G-d save me, please". To open a new and more brilliant page in his life. In the First World War in 1914-18 there were defensive excavations along the entire border between Germany and France. When the war started and the cannons started bombing the excavations, all those who were in the excavations shouted: "G-d please save me" and in French: "O'Dieu s.v.p. sauvé moi" [TY2] There is an expression, "there are no atheists in foxholes"; in other words – "when the cannons are roaring, there are no atheists." Recently, in 2011 when two planes entered the two "twin" towers in New York and the buildings (of 101 floors) were on fire, all those who were there (especially on the upper floors) had a choice to either burn or jump out, likely to their death; 3500 people jumped out to their death, people from all different countries and nationalities. In the buildings there were black boxes everywhere which photographed and recorded what was happening. After cleaning all the debris of the burning of the towers, they found these black boxes and saw that everyone who jumped shouted in different languages the same words "Please G-d Save me, Please!" (See Article "A round-trip ticket - which every soul receives in order to descend from heaven to earth and back to heaven"). Every person, before his soul returns to heaven, cries out "Please G-d save me!" The first man sinned, but he did not die immediately. G-d said to him, "On the day you eat you will die." Why did he not die immediately? He lived another 930 years. What happened? The first thing he did on earth after sin - he went down to immerse in the spring mikveh of the Shiloah (Gichon water) which is currently located 500 meters from the Western Wall. And [TY3] he prayed, wept and begged the Creator of the world for 49 days and much of the water that surrounded him was his own tears. He asked G-d to give him, his wife and his descendants a second chance. Therefore G-d sweetened his punishment and instead of dying within 24 hours - which is a day of a human being, he continued to live for a "day" of the Creator of the world, which is equal to a thousand years of a human being, as it is written: "for 1000 years in your eyes today was yesterday" (Tehillim 90: 4) and indeed he was allotted to live a thousand years, of which he gave 70 years to King David. Since the King Messiah will descend from King David, of Messiah - who will correct the world, the correction of sin must come at the expense of the sinner. Were it not for the sin of the first man, man would have owed [TY4] as long as the world exists, as is written in the Gemara and the Midrashim, that this world was planned to exist for 6,000 years (Tractate R.H., page LV). Since the first man - every person who goes down to immerse in the mikvah immediately, instinctively meets the Creator and begs - give me a second chance, give me life, I promise not to sin anymore. He regrets the past and accepts to improve for the future. Therefore Mikva immersion is the easiest and most effective way to repent and continue life as required by the Creator of the world. The Hebrew language, unlike all other languages in the world, was not created by humans, but by the Creator of the world, who created this language thousands of years before the creation of the world and in this language the Holy Torah was created and served as a chart for the creation of the world. As it is written that the Creator of the world looked at the Torah and according to what is written in the Torah he created the world. And when the Creator created the first man, whose unique virtue is that he has the power of thought and the power of speech, in what language will he speak? All those who were created in the six days of creation, were created mature. Adam and Eve were created mature as adults of the age of 20 and spoke the holy language of Hebrew. Therefore, the word Mikva is also hope, because the Creator of the world wanted immersion in a mikva to create new hope for every person as well. It is also therefore important for every community to build a men's mikva, which does not have to be like a palace and the best place to build it is in the synagogue complex, so that it is possible a person to ascend directly from the prayer of his heart in the mikva to the heat of prayers in the synagogue. Because after immersion, each person thinks differently, prays and lives differently and all community life takes on a more serious character, of learning and keeping the commandments of the Torah and family purity is maintained as required and proper and all this brings a feeling of security, peace and happiness! It is quoted in the Midrashim that the Clouds of Honor in the desert blew men who did not immerse out of the camp (Pirkei D'Rabi Eliezer 44). And were defenceless from Amalek who was waiting to fight them. For 40 years in the desert they did not have to wash their clothes and did not have to buy new clothes. The babies and children who grew up over time, did not need bigger shoes and clothes because the clothes and shoes grew with them (as nails grow with the fingers); they lacked nothing. But when a person has everything he wants and needs, there is a danger that he will forget that there is a Creator. A child shouts to his parents when he needs them. When he has no needs, he does not shout. And outside the camp, Amalek was waiting for them, which made them want to return to the camp immediately and immerse every morning before their morning prayers. (Shemot 17: 8, Devorim 22: 17). Jewish people asked Ezra Hasofer: "Is there a Mikva for Israel"? Rashi translates: "Is there hope for Israel"? Accordingly: Mikva = hope (Ezra 10: 2). [TY5] Rabbi Rabi Akiva declares: Fortunate are you, O Israel, When the Temple existed, it would have saved the people of Israel from all troubles! And now that it has been destroyed and has not yet been rebuilt, do not despair; G-d is the Mikva = the hope of the people of Israel, as it is written in Jeremiah "The Mikva (Hope) of Israel is G-d" Immersion for men is not a sensitive issue and it is easy to persuade them to immerse in the Mikva, especially when the prophet Isaiah declares in the name of the Lord, "I do not listen to your prayers until you bathe (immersion in a mikva) to repent." No wonder so many Yidden immerse every morning before prayer and also before every prayer of special problems and requests. In some Hasidic synagogues, those who do not immerse in the morning before prayer cannot lead the prayers nor receive an Aliyah to Torah and special honors, so most Hasidic synagogues have a men's mikva in the basement. And when men use the mikva, all those who are required to immerse will certainly immerse. 13 Nisan 5722 (14.4.22) This email was sent by MikvaTikva · Israel · Bnei Braq 61000 · Israel Sent: Thursday, April 14, 2022 3: 47 PM From: mikva tikva Subject: Pesach Kasher VeSameach!