A stone shall cry out from the wall

The Prophecy "A stone shall cry out from the wall" is one of the designations of the Redemption where physical inanimate matter will be permeated with the Creator's reality, will feel and recognize, and will oppose actions that contradict the Creator's will.

This designation is one of the main aspects of the Messianic Era which, according to Chassidic explanations, is about revealing Divinity in the most perfect way within the physical creation.

This state is a direct result of the Jewish people's service beginning from the Giving of the Torah through Torah study and fulfillment of mitzvos, whose content and purpose is drawing down and revealing Divine light in the physical and material creation.

Its source

In his prophetic vision, the prophet Habakkuk describes:

"For a stone shall cry out from the wall, and a beam from the wood shall answer it." — Habakkuk 2:11

On a simple level, his prophecy dealt with the redemption of Israel from the Babylonian exile. However, the Sages in Midrash Tehillim expounded: "In the future, if a person goes to pick a fig on Shabbos, it will cry out saying 'Today is Shabbos'... In the future, if a person wants to go to his wife who is niddah, the stone will cry out saying 'She is niddah'." Similar to this idea, the Sages in Tractate Taanis expounded: "A person's stones and beams of his house testify against him, as it is said: 'For a stone shall cry out from the wall, and a beam from the wood shall answer it.'"

Its meaning: Revelation of Divinity within created beings

Its Essence: Revelation of Divinity in Physical Creations

On the future era it is written:

"A stone from the wall will cry out, and a beam of wood will answer it." Currently, inanimate objects are silent - people step on them and they remain quiet. But there will come a time in the future revelation when inanimate objects will begin to speak and tell stories. They will demand to know why, if during one's walking one did not think about or discuss words of Torah, did they step upon it.

The ground upon which people walk, which for thousands of years since the six days of creation has been trodden upon by various living creatures, until a Jew walks upon it, or two Jews, and they discuss words of Torah. And if not - it says: You are like an animal! — Hayom Yom, 15 Adar I

This prophecy is among those describing the state of physical matter during the Redemption, similar to the prophecies of Isaiah: "For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of Hashem" and "All flesh together will see that the mouth of Hashem has spoken." As explained in Chassidic teachings, the precise wording in these prophecies indicates that the 'earth' and 'flesh' themselves will radiate with divine revelation. These latter prophecies contain the essence and purpose of the Messianic era and the coming of Moshiach, when in this physical world the reality of the Holy One, blessed be He, will be revealed as part of fulfilling the purpose of creation - to make a dwelling place for the Creator in the lower worlds. It will be recognized and felt in every detail of creation that their entire existence depends on divine light and energy. This revelation will penetrate and be felt even in the lowest creations, such as inanimate objects. Those creations capable of understanding will comprehend divinity, while other creations will see and feel it. Therefore, at that time, any action contradicting God's will would contradict the reality of even a stone, causing the stone to cry out against it. (The meaning of this outcry is not merely that human intellect will oppose actions forbidden by Torah, but that nature itself will oppose them. For example, just as a person doesn't put their hand in fire not only because of logical reasoning but because the natural heat of fire naturally causes one to withdraw their hand, similarly in the future era, creation's nature itself will naturally distance actions that oppose Hashem's will.)

On a deeper level, this prophecy contains an advantage over the prophecies "For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of Hashem" and "All flesh together will see." This is because those prophecies describe divine revelation in creations that originates from outside the created beings. However, the prophecy "A stone from the wall will cry out" means that the stone itself cries out and reveals divinity. The Rebbe explains that this is rooted in Chassidic teachings about the source of life in physical existence. The divine source that creates physical reality is higher than all divine and spiritual revelations, because the root of physicality is in God's Essence (Atzmut), which alone has the power to create physical beings something from nothing (yesh me'ayin). However, this power is concealed and not felt within the creation. In the future, lofty revelations will be manifested in created beings (described in the verses "For the earth will be filled..." and "All flesh will see..."), and additionally, the root source of physical existence will be revealed, which is higher than all creations - the power of God's Essence (described in the verse "A stone from the wall will cry out" where it itself becomes the source revealing divinity). According to this understanding, the physical reality becomes the influencer and source of divine revelation.

Result of Our Actions and Service

This divine revelation began at the Giving of the Torah. When Hashem said: "I am Hashem your God," the Torah states that it was "a great voice that did not cease." The Sages explain that this voice had no echo. The Rebbe explains that an echo is created when sound waves collide with an object, causing the sound waves to return (similar to reflected light). However, at the Giving of the Torah, Hashem's voice penetrated creation without "colliding" with it. As explained by our Sages (in the Midrash), all of creation was silent ("When the Holy One gave the Torah, no bird chirped... the sea was not agitated... rather, the world was quiet and still, and the voice came forth: 'I am...'"). This silence in creation occurred because when Hashem spoke, created beings heard, understood and accepted the words. In other words, the divine revelation that happened at the Giving of the Torah did not contradict their existence despite their physicality, but rather penetrated them and their reality. (This was possible because the divine light was a "great voice." Spirituality is not normally perceived in physicality, but the divine light that was revealed transcends all definitions of both spiritual and physical, and therefore can illuminate even within the physical.)

The Giving of the Torah empowered human actions to penetrate and affect the inanimate reality around them. Indeed, this is the meaning of the Sages' statement that in the future era, the beams of a person's house will testify about their actions, because one's actions influence them both for good and for bad. Through Torah study and fulfillment of mitzvot, a person reveals within them a divine light that will be fully revealed in the future. In a person's divine service, this means that Torah study should permeate one's entire being and guide all actions, so that every detail of life is infused with Torah and mitzvot. This prophecy also expresses the eternal nature of mitzvot despite their future nullification, since the nature of mitzvot in the future will not be as commands from one to another, but rather a complete connection and unification between the commander and the world - where the world itself naturally conducts itself according to the Creator's will.

External Links

• All articles on the topic of Geula and Moshiach on the Geula website
• Mitteler Rebbe, Toras Chaim Shemos Part 1 page 185 (see chapter 16) beginning with "Tipol Aleihem Eimasa Vafachad." Published by Kehot, 5763 (2003), Brooklyn NY.
• The Rebbe, Likkutei Sichos Vol. 4 page 1092 and onward, discourse on Parshas Va'eschanan, published by Kehot, 5766 (2006), Brooklyn NY.
• The Rebbe, Igros Kodesh Vol. 10 letter 3,175, published by Kehot, Brooklyn NY. On the Chabad Library website.
• The Rebbe, Toras Menachem Vol. 25 page 225, farbrengen of Acharon Shel Pesach 5719 (1959), published by Kehot, Brooklyn NY, on the Chabad Library website.
• Stones in the Service of Moshiach on the Geula website