In his sefer Or Rashaz on Vayikrah (Ma’Amar 463), the Elder of Kelm brings down what we have been discussing: Hashem has not found a utensil for blessing for the Jewish people other than peace.
He says that in order for a king to make a feast, it requires a place that is very spacious and well equipped with all the proper kingly preparations.
So too, when Hashem is going to do goodness on those that do His will, not every place is spacious enough to accept this, and this world is really not the place for that great Seuda. That is why it says in the Gemarah, “Today is for doing, and tomorrow is to receive the reward.” Only the tomorrow of Olam Haba is fit for that reward; As it says in the Hakdama of Mesilat Yesharim: This world is really not the world of reward. This world can’t possibly hold the reward.
In order for that great feast to be held, beside Olam Haba/the future, being the place, there is another aspect to this. He brings a pasuk from Yeshaya 11,6-9 where it describes the future:
וְגָר זְאֵב עִם כֶּבֶשׂ וְנָמֵר עִם גְּדִי יִרְבָּץ וְעֵגֶל וּכְפִיר וּמְרִיא יַחְדָּו וְנַעַר קָטֹן נֹהֵג בָּם:
The wolf will live with the sheep, and a leopard will lie down with a kid, a lion and a fatling will walk together, and a young child will lead them.
וּפָרָה וָדֹב תִּרְעֶינָה יַחְדָּו יִרְבְּצוּ יַלְדֵיהֶן וְאַרְיֵה כַּבָּקָר יֹאכַל תֶּבֶן:
A cow and bear will graze, Their young will lie down together, and a lion, like cattle, will eat hay.
וְשִׁעֲשַׁע יוֹנֵק עַל־חֻר פָּתֶן וְעַל מְאוּרַת צִפְעוֹנִי גָּמוּל יָדוֹ הָדָה
A suckling will play by a viper’s hole, and a newly weaned child will stretch his hand towards a viper’s lair
לֹא־יָרֵעוּ וְלֹא־יַשְׁחִיתוּ בְּכׇל־הַר קׇדְשִׁי כִּי־מָלְאָה הָאָרֶץ דֵּעָה אֶת ה׳ כַּמַּיִם לַיָּם מְכַסִּים
They’ll neither injure nor plague, in all My sacred mountain
Because the land will be filled with knowledge , as water covers the sea bed.
This is Yeshaya’s as description of the future.
Rav Simcha Zissel points out that this entire account is a description of tremendous extremes of peace-the animals getting along with each other is, of course, to be understood on a simple level.
But it also symbolizes the Jewish people getting along with the other nations.
(It’s interesting that the United Nations had this pasuk engraved on the front of their building. But they don’t realize that they are actually the opposite, on the Midrashic level- which refers to the Jewish people, and the other nations are the total opposite)
The Elder of Kelm asks why we need this extreme of peace, and answers that Olam Haba is the greatest of good, and in order to have the that greatest of good, we must have extreme peace.
The greatest blessing requires the greatest peace. That is the rule with everything: the more peace, the more blessing.
And he ends off with two words- ונפלא הוא
V’Niflah Hu
This is a wondrous concept!
May we all realize this important rule: the more the peace, the more the blessing. Have a wonderful day.