This Shabbos we complete the fourth volume of the Torah, and when we complete a volume of Torah we announce, “Chazak, Chazak Venischazeik!” (“Be strong, be strong, and let’s be strong!”) This Shabbos is actually part of the Nine Days leading to Tishah B’Av, when we commemorate the destruction of the first and second Beis Hamikdash. It doesn’t seem to be a “strong” time. But really, the whole purpose of the destruction was to reach the greatness and perfection of the third Beis Hamikdash.
This week we read two Torah portions, Mattos and Masei. They represent two ways of strength in the face of opposition. Mattos (“staffs”) represents drawing down the unlimited light from Above, which can reach even places where there is opposition. Masei (“journeys”) represents elevating from below to above, even transforming the opposition itself into holiness. The ultimate strength is the combination of both, uniting the unlimited light with the world below, making the change permanent and everlasting. This is like the combination of the advantages of both the first and second Beis Hamikdash in the third Beis Hamikdash that we will soon have.
(See talk of the Lubavitcher Rebbe King Moshiach Shlita, Mattos-Masei 5751 (1991))
