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Yaakov Avinu in this week’s parsha gathers his children and promises to tell them what will happen to them in the end of days. According to Chazal, his intention was to reveal the exact arrival date of the Messiah’s coming, yet Hashem denied him ruach hakodesh at the appropriate time, the time of Messiah’s arrival remaining concealed forever. The Zohar asks on this account, why is Yaakov’s promise to reveal the future written in the torah, if it never actually took place? It should have been left out considering that Hashem prevented this revelation!. The Zohar’s answer is quite puzzling: Yaakov did reveal the end of days, in a hidden way. Where did he do such a thing? What exactly did he allude to in his words?

The Netivot Shalom answers with a Chassidic interpretation of the text. Instead of understanding Yaakov’s words as “gather and I will tell you what will happen (yikre) at the end of days”, he reads “Gather, for this will be valuable (yakar) to you in the end of days”. Yaakov was revealing to his children not when mashiach will come, but something even more important – how the mashiach will come! Even if the Jewish people are deemed unworthy, by gathering as one nation, loving each other, helping each other, connecting ourselves with the fate of the entire Jewish nation, we can bring the Mashiach, even before “his time”.

We in Amit hope that our students’ year in Israel will be one of connection to the community of the nation of Israel, a connection that will never be broken.