The vavim of the columns. (Shemos 38:8)
This pasuk speaks of the ווי העמודים, the pegs that were on top of the columns in the Mishkan. In Hebrew, a peg of this type is called a vav because its shape is similar to that of the letter vav. Early Torah sources thus say that the whole Torah is like the ווי העמודים. This is because in the Sefer Torah, almost all of the columns begin with the letter vav. The most common letter in the Torah is vav.
Vav is not just the name of a particular letter. It also means “and.” So the Torah is full of “ands.” What does this signify?
It is actually a profound point. Unlike other languages, in which it is not usually correct to begin a sentence with “and,” the majority of the Torah’s verses actually begin with the letter vav. It says ויסע, ויבוא, ויאמר, and so forth.
This is because the whole Torah is one long continuous sequence. It begins with Bereishis, and goes on in a chain that connects one pasuk to the next, places brick upon brick, building forward unbrokenly. The first verse creates the second, the second creates the third, the third the fourth, from the very beginning through to the last pasuk of the Torah. This is why the Torah writes, “And Avraham,” “And Yitzchak,” “And Yaakov.”
From Avraham came Yitzchak, and from Yitzchak came Yaakov, all the way down to the Giving of the Torah and entering Eretz Yisrael. The entire Torah is built this way.
This stems from the idea that a thing’s end is tied to its beginning, נעוץ סופו בתחילתו. In every progressive sequence of connected steps, the end is tied up with the beginning. It is like a chain in which each part is interlinked, so the last part in the chain is linked up with the very first part. This basic principle enables us to understand many phenomena.
For instance, a child’s development. Sometimes we see an eight-year-old child who on the one hand already understands Gemara, but on the other hand he plays like a young child. This is because he takes on each stage of his development a little early. He takes on the coming stage of growth when the previous stage is still in him, and this stage doesn’t leave him until a little later. There is a point in the middle where the two stages interlink.
Another example is the fact that the kedushah of Shabbos spreads out into Erev Shabbos and into Motzaei Shabbos, thus going beyond its bounds while still retaining its identity. This is because it is a chain. It is all one unit. We can see that it is all part of the same main thing. Otherwise, the stages would be disconnected from each other, and each stage would be something on its own. It would not be kedushas Shabbos.
It is so also with the chain of time reaching into Yemos Hamashiach. The light of the days of Mashiach permeates backwards into the end of the period of Galus. Some claim that this is why we see the phenomenon of baalei teshuvah in our times. Someone who thinks about this phenomenon will realize that it is something that never happened before. It is so fitting to Yemos Hamashiach! People who were deep down in the forty-nine gates of tum’ah suddenly turn into impressive talmidei chachamim.
On the other hand, also the period of Galus permeates into Yemos Hamashiach. In other words, even after Melech Hamashiach will appear and take control of the world, there will still be terrible troubles called Milchemes Gog uMagog. Many nations and leaders will arise together to battle against Hashem and His Mashiach, as it says in Tehillim 2:1-2:
בוְּצַיְתִיק. יִ רּוּגְהֶים יִּמֻאְלּם וִיֹ גוּו שְגָה רָּמָ ל: ֹיחוִׁשְל מַעְל ה’ וַד עַחָ יּדוְסֹים נוִנְזֹרוְץ וֶרֶי אֵכְלַמ
This passage in Tehillim teaches us that we should not make the mistake of thinking that the moment Mashiach comes, everyone will understand that he is Mashiach and will recognize his rulership and accept Malchus Shamayim, and all the troubles of Galus will immediately come to an end. It doesn’t work that way. The wars will go on until the Ge’ulah Sheleimah comes.
