Perek Shira: Rav Chaim Kanievsky - The Desert Is Hashem's Showcase
The
desert is hot, dry, and lifeless. Yet it takes up around one third of
the Earth's land surface. Why did Hashem make a world with so much
"dead space"? Rav Chaim Kanievsky says that Hashem made the desert
because from here we can understand that in the future Hashem will make
the desert bloom. Obviously if Hashem made it, it will not stay barren
forever.
The Radak says that Eretz Yisroel, Yerushalayim, and
the Bais HaMikdash in their destruction are like the desert. They one
time all bloomed, as the rain or Shefa from Hashem poured down on the
world through this wonderful place. As the rain from Shamayim
nourished our gashmiyos and ruchniyos, we grew to become big strong
trees reaching the Shamayim with our avodah.
The desert says, "Yisusum Midbar V'tzia
V'Sagel Arava V'Sifrach K'Chavatzeles", the wilderness and the parched
land shall be glad, and the desert shall rejoice and blossom as the
rose (Yeshaya 35:1). Desert plants can survive through the harsh desert climate, but they do not grow very tall. The day will yet come when the Bais HaMikdash will once again bring the
rains down on our dried out neshamos, which have managed to survive all these years on a few drops of rain. When that happens, Am Yisroel will once again stand tall, covering the land and reaching the heavens. We will be Hashem's showcase.