Chesed Hashem in the Messianic Era

Originally posted in December 2008, during my Rabbi Sacks period. Please pardon the somewhat jargon-heavy writing style.

Artwork: Rush of Knowledge, by Eric Peterson

Chesed Hashem in the Messianic Era

The shortest perek (chapter) in Sefer Tehilim (The Book of Psalms) is perek 117, which says:

Praise Hashem, all peoples; praise Him, all the nations! For His chesed (kindness) has overpowered us, and the truth of Hashem is eternal, Halleluyah! 

The phrase "His chesed has overpowered us" is peculiar. We don't typically describe chesed as something that "overpowers" the one who receives it. "Overpowered" implies resistance on the part of the recipient. Why should there be any resistance to Hashem's chesed?

To answer this question we must define the term "chesed" and understand what chesed our pasuk (verse) is referring to. The Rambam [1] explains that the term "chesed" literally means "excess," and is typically used to denote an excess of tov (good). According to the Radak [2] this chapter is about the Messianic Era. What chesed (excess) will Hashem bestow upon humanity in the Messianic era?

The Rambam answers this question in two places in the Mishneh Torah. The first is in the Laws of Repentance [3]:

In those days [of the Messianic Era] there will be an increase of knowledge, wisdom, and truth, as it is stated, "For the entire world will be filled with knowledge of Hashem" (Yeshayahu 11:9), and it is stated, "They will no longer teach - each man his fellow, each man his brother" (Yirmiyahu 31:33), and it is stated, "I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh" (Yechezkel 36:26), because that king who will arise from the offspring of David will be a master of wisdom, greater than Solomon, and a great prophet, close to Moses our teacher. Therefore, he will teach all of the nation and instruct them in the path of Hashem, and all of the nations will come to hear, as it is stated, "It will happen in the end of days: the mountain of the Temple of Hashem will be firmly established as the head of the mountains" (Yeshayahu 2:2).

The second source is in the Laws of Kings: 

The chachamim (wise men) and the prophets didn't desire the Messianic Era so they could rule over the entire world, or to dominate the nations, or to be exalted by the nations, or so that they could eat, drink, and rejoice - rather, [they only desired the Messianic Era] so that they could be free to occupy themselves with Torah and its wisdom, without any oppressor or nullifier, so that they can merit the World to Come. 

During that time there will not be any famine or war, jealousy or rivalry, for the tovah (good) will be abundantly bestowed, and all pleasurable things will be available like dust, and the sole occupation of the entire world will be to know Hashem. Therefore, the Jews will be exceedingly wise and will know hidden and deep ideas, and they will apprehend the knowledge of their Creator to the extent that is possible for humans, as it is stated, "For the world will be filled with knowledge of Hashem, like water covering the sea bed" (Yeshayahu 11:9). 

What tov will be bestowed in excess during the Messianic Era? The tov of knowledge of Hashem. This is the chesed which we will experience as "overpowering," as the pasuk states, "For His chesed has overpowered us, and the truth of Hashem is eternal, Halleluyah!" This "truth of Hashem" is the  chesed (i.e. excess of tov) that will be bestowed in the Messianic Era.

In order to understand why this excess of tov will be experienced as "overpowering," we must delve a little bit deeper into the idea of tov. 

Our lives are governed by the pursuit of two different types of tov. The first type is the tov of Bereishis, as it is stated, "God said, 'Let there be light,' and there was light. And God saw the light that it was tov" (Bereishis 1:3-4), and "God saw all that He had made and behold - it was exceedingly tov" (ibid. 1:31). This is the tov of God's wisdom as expressed in His universe - the tov of lawful existence. Our tov, as human beings, is the contemplation of this wisdom, which we experience as the ultimate pleasure of ahavas Hashem (love of God) and the ultimate humility of yiras Hashem (awe of God).

But there is another tov: the tov of the nachash (snake), as it is stated, "The nachash said to the woman, ‘You will surely not die, for God knows that on the day you eat of [the fruit of the tree] your eyes will be opened and you shall be like gods, knowers of tov and ra.’" (ibid. 1:4-5). The tov of the nachash is the tov of the god-fantasy: the self-centered, deep-seated belief that the universe revolves around "the Great, Mighty, and Awesome Me." The tov of the nachash is the source of the drive for pleasure and the drive for success, as it is stated, "And the woman saw that [the fruit of] the tree was tov for eating: tempting to the eyes and desirable as a means to success" (ibid. 1:6).

Why will we experience the excess tov of Bereishis in the Messianic Era as "overpowering"? Because the tov of Bereishis is a threat to the tov of the nachash. To recognize the Sovereignty of the Creator in the universe is to forfeit one's own claim of divine sovereignty. To acknowledge the reality of the Supreme Being is to admit that one's own feelings of supremacy and greatness are rooted in fantasy and falsehood. To behold the lawfulness governing the entire universe is to confront the terrifying fact that one's own life is governed by that same lawfulness. The mind's encounter with the objective reality of lawfulness forces one to confront the harsh truth that reality doesn't conform to me, but I must conform to reality.

Contemplation of the wisdom in God's universe leaves no room for feelings of greatness, as the Rambam [5] writes in his explanation of yiras Hashem:

What is the way of loving Him (ahavah) and being in awe of Him (yirah)? When a person ponders His great and wondrous works and creations he immediately loves, praises, and extols and is filled with a great desire to know the Supreme Being, as David said, “My soul thirsts for the living God” (Tehilim 42:3). And when he contemplates these things he immediately is drawn back with great reverence and he realizes that he is a small, insignificant, unenlightened creature standing with a frail intellect in the presence of a Being Who is Perfect in Knowledge, as David said, “[When I behold Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and stars that you have set in place, I exclaim,] ‘What is frail man that You should notice him, [and the son of mortal man that You should be mindful of him?']” (ibid. 8:4-5). 

This experience of yiras Hashem - the realization of one's small existence in the reality of God's lawful universe - is utterly despicable to our inner-nachash, as it is stated, "Yiras Hashem is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline" (Proverbs 1:7). It is for this reason that influx of excess Bereishis-tov at the advent of the Messianic Era will be met with tremendous resistance and will be experienced as "overpowering" by all but the greatest chachamim.

But this struggle against reality will only be temporary, as the prophet states, "I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My spirit within you, and I will make it so that you will follow My decrees and guard My ordinances and fulfill them" (Ezekiel 36:26). What is this "spirit of Hashem"? "The spirit of Hashem will rest upon him - a spirit of wisdom and understanding, a spirit of counsel and strength, a spirit of knowledge and yiras Hashem" (Yeshayahu 11:2). Hashem will assist His servants by releasing us from the shackles of the tov of the nachash and guiding us in the light of the tov of Bereishis.

The Rambam writes that ideally, we should all yearn for the coming of the Moshiach. This perek of Tehilim reminds us that we must begin by acknowledging the part of us which does not yearn for the coming of Moshiach. So long as we are unwilling to face that part of ourselves, we cannot truly yearn for the redemption. 

[1] Rabbeinu Moshe ben Maimon (Rambam / Maimonides), Guide for the Perplexed 3:53

[2] Rabbeinu David Kimchi (Radak), Commentary on Sefer Tehilim 117

[3] Rabbeinu Moshe ben Maimon (Rambam / Maimonides), Mishneh Torah: Sefer ha'Mada, Hilchos Teshuvah 9:2

[4] ibid. Sefer Shoftim, Hilchos Melachim 12:4-5

[5] ibid. Sefer ha'Mada: Hilchos Yesodei ha'Torah 2:2