Noah’s Dove and Its Deep Connection to Mashiach According to the Zohar

THE DAILY CHIZZUK BY MOREINU HARAV ELIEZER BERLAND SHLIT”A

MONDAY, 19 SHEVAT 5785, PARASHAT MISHPATIM

These are his holy words:

We will read the Zohar about Noah’s dove, which explains who this dove is.

THE “KNOWN” DOVE – WHO IS IT REALLY?

“The dove returned.”  The Zohar asks, “Who is this dove?”

The Zohar says: I will reveal it to you.  This is the dove that is found in the chamber of Mashiach.  It will come with Mashiach.  When Mashiach comes to Hak’heil [the gathering around the Jewish king during Succot after the Sabbatical year, when he reads from the Torah], it will crown him.  This is the dove that will put the crown on King Mashiach at the mitzvah of Hak’heil.  All of this is written in the Zohar (daf 164).

THE CONNECTION BETWEEN THE DOVE AND THE “CHAMBER OF THE BIRD’S NEST”

“The dove returned” – it’s written with the definite article “heh (the)” – the “known” dove.  No one knows who this dove is and where it went.  “He sent the dove” (Bereishit 8:8).  Who is this dove?  Really, this dove is the dove found in the chamber of Mashiach, the “chamber of the bird’s nest,” and it will place the crown on King Mashiach.  “You set a crown of fine gold upon his head” (Tehilim 21:4).  “Splendor and majesty You bestow upon him” (ibid 21:6).

THE CROWING OF MASHIACH AT HAK’HEIL

When King Mashiach comes to read in the Torah scroll at the mitzvah of Hak’heil, on the night following the first Yom Tov of Succot, two eagles will come, bringing a crown and deliver it to the dove, and the dove will descend until the head of King Mashiach and place the crown on his head.

NOAH, THE LION, AND THE SPIRITUAL SIGNIFICANCE OF HIS BLOW

After he finishes reading from the Torah, the dove will take it and hand it over to the two eagles – “and a crown in its mouth.”  What does “an olive leaf plucked in its bill” mean?

“An olive plucked in its bill” is the soul of Mashiach.  Noah was in the ark and endured great hardship there.  He fed the animals and was struck by the lion.  It is written in “Zer Zahav” by a disciple of the Baal Shem, that this was the supernal lion, the lion of the Merkava (Divine Chariot).

He blemished the lion of the Merkava, so the lion gave him a blow.  We say that Noah delayed feeding the lion by two minutes, so he became a “ba’al mum (blemished)” [from the injury] and disqualified from bringing offerings.  It is written “tamim (perfect)” – that one must be without blemish.   Then how did he bring offerings?  Rather, Hashem brought the offerings and not him.  He only organized it.

WHO REALLY MADE THE BLEMISH?

It is written in “Pirkey D’Rabbi Eliezer” that Canaan committed this disgraceful act, the castration [of Noah]; therefore, Canaan was cursed.  Now we are reading in “Pirkey D’Rabbi Eliezer” that Canaan was afraid that Noah would bring King Mashiach now and it would be the end of the world.  That would be it; King Mashiach is the end of the world.  No one will commit transgressions anymore – [it will be] impossible!

CHAM’S FEAR AND THE CONNECTION TO THE SOUL OF MASHIACH

Cham was afraid that now it would be a new world without desires.  The one who committed the castration was Canaan, because Cham was afraid that Noah would bring the fourth child.  What do you care if there will be a fourth child?  What, is it impossible to divide the world between four people?

However, according to the Zohar, it’s possible to understand, because the Zohar says that this was mamash the soul of Mashiach, “But I am like an ever-fresh olive tree in the House of God” (Tehilim 52:10).  “Olive tree” is the soul of King David.  Hashem wanted to grant Noah the soul of Mashiach.  Then the Third Temple would have been built.  The Jewish people would have been revealed and they would have received the Ten Commandments.

Hashem also wanted to give the Ten Commandments in the generation of Adam HaRishon, also to the first ten generations.  Also during the generation of Noah, Hashem wanted to give the Ten Commandments, but they didn’t want them.  “They said to God, ‘Go away from us, and we did not desire knowledge of Your ways’” (Iyov 21:14).  Hashem wanted to give the Ten Commandments, but Canaan was afraid that Mashiach would come and it would be over, and there would be no more desires.

“AN OLIVE LEAF PLUCKED IN ITS BILL” – THE SOUL THAT WAS MISSED

The Zohar says that this was the “olive leaf plucked in its bill,” that Hashem wanted to give Noah’s dove the merit of bringing to him the soul of Mashiach ben David.  This is King Mashiach, the son of David, and is alluded to in “an olive leaf plucked in its bill,” because it wanted to bring the soul of Mashiach ben David, but Canaan ruined it.

Therefore, Canaan would be cursed for all time.

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