Forward Thinking

“My first visit to his court lasted almost an entire night,” writes Elie Wiesel, author, Nobel Prize laureate, and famed Holocaust survivor, in his Memoirs regarding how he came to Brooklyn, sometime in the early ’60s, in order to make the acquaintance of the Rebbe, Rabbi M.M. Schneerson.

"Rebbe,’ I asked, ‘how can you believe in G‑d after Auschwitz?’ He looked at me in silence for a long moment, his hands resting on the table. Then he replied, in a soft, barely audible voice, ‘How can you not believe in G‑d after Auschwitz'?”

By the end of the long soul-searching session with the Rebbe, Wiesel came to confess, or rather to discover, why he really came to see the Rebbe. “. . . You asked me what I expect of you, and I said I expect nothing. I was mistaken. Make me able to cry.”

Wiesel recalls how the death of his father in Buchenwald had traumatized his capacity for tears.

“The Rebbe shook his head.'That’s not enough. I shall teach you to sing'.”

Due to his traumatic experiences, Wiesel initially had no intention of marrying and building a family. But, after much encouragement from the Rebbe, he eventually found his soulmate and had his only child, Elisha.

“I have letters—one letter in which we speak about Jewish theology—seven, eight pages about theology. At the end, [of the letter] the Rebbe wrote, ‘And by the way, when are you getting married?’ As if the two had something in common. The greatest bouquet of flowers I ever received was from the Rebbe for my wedding.”

An entire generation, still recovering from the wounds of their horrific experiences during the holocaust, went on to rebuild their own lives and the Jewish communities which were destroyed during the war. The resurgence of vibrant Jewish life in Israel and around the world over the last 75 years is nothing short of miraculous.

While it is important to learn from our past experiences and challenges, we must not let it hold us back from living in the present and forging ahead. The first step to growth is discovering and understanding our heritage and where we have come from. But, more importantly, we must live in the present while building for the future.

Over the past two thousand years, the Jewish people have learned how to survive in a foreign environment which was often hostile to Jewish people and observance. However, we must not let that define our Judaism. In the current era, we must primarily focus on building Jewish life while looking towards the future redemption.

The festival of Passover, which gives us the inspiration and motivation to experience both our personal and universal freedoms, incorporates these two phases as well. During the Seder, which we conduct at the start of the festival, we recount the exodus from Egypt and internalize the lessons of freedom for our modern lives. On the final (seventh and eighth) days of Passover, we focus on the present and future redemption.

The seventh day commemorates the events that happened shortly after the exodus from Egypt. After finally escaping from slavery, the Jewish people found themselves trapped. They were surrounded by the sea of reeds in front of them and the fast approaching Egyptians from behind them who intended on bringing them back to Egypt as slaves.

According to the Midrash, the sea had not yet split when G-d told the Jews to enter it. The people hesitated, until the prince of the tribe of Judah, Nachshon ben Aminadav, jumped in. Only then did G-d tell Moses to raise his hand and split the sea. Nachshon knew that G-d had instructed the people to travel to Mount Sinai to receive the Torah. He was therefore singularly unimpressed with the obstacles that stood in the way. The fact that a sea stood between the people and their final goal did not faze him. If he had to jump into the sea and keep going until he would reach Mount Sinai, so be it.

As the Midrash explains, “he (i.e. Pharaoh) sent public officers with them (i.e. the Israelites), and as soon as they had reached the three days’ journey which he had fixed for them to go and return and they perceived that they were not going back to Egypt, they came and told Pharaoh on the fourth day. On the fifth and sixth they pursued after them: on the night of the seventh day they went down into the sea and on the following morning they (the Israelites) sang the Song of Praise and this was the seventh day of Passover. And that is why we read “The Song” (Exodus 15:1) as the Scriptural lesson on the seventh day of the Festival.”

The exodus from Egypt was not yet complete until the Jewish people experienced the splitting of the sea and fully detached themselves from their past slavery. As long as there was a remote option to return to Egypt, complete freedom was not yet guaranteed.

The same is true in our own lives. At times, we may feel moments of empowerment, inspiration or gratification for overcoming a challenge. But if we do not fully seize the opportunity and forge ahead, we run the risk of returning to our old negative habits, addictions or limitations. The key to personal freedom is to learn from our past while living in the present and preparing for the future.

Along with our personal liberation we also strive for universal redemption and liberty to the world at large. That is why the eighth and final day of Passover is traditionally associated with our hopes for the coming of Moshiach and redemption to the world. For this reason, the Haftorah read on that day contains many prophecies which refer to the era of the redemption. Among the best-known of these: “The wolf will dwell with the lamb; the leopard will lie down with a young goat”, which Maimonides describes as a metaphor that all nations of the world will live together in harmony during that era.

The Baal Shem Tov (1698-1760, Okopy, Ukraine- Medzhybizh, Ukraine) remarked that on the last day of Passover, the rays of the messianic redemption are already shining bright. He instituted that a special meal be held during the waning hours of the final day of Passover. It is traditionally called: “Moshiach’s Seudah (meal)”. The meal consists of eating Matzah and drinking four cups of wine accompanied by exchanging words of Torah inspiration along with song and dance, mirroring the Seders held on the first nights of the holiday.

But why do we mark this relationship between the final days of Passover and Moshiach by eating a meal?

Belief in Moshiach is a cardinal tenet of the Jewish faith, enshrined as one of Maimonides thirteen principles of belief: “I believe with perfect faith in the coming of Moshiach; and although he may tarry, I will wait for him every day that he shall come.” But abstract belief is not enough. Our intellectual awareness must be translated into concrete action — by eating of Moshiach’s Seudah. Moreover, the food from Moshiach’s Seudah becomes part of our flesh and blood, and our faith and yearning for Moshiach permeates not just the soul’s faculties but also the physical body.

The main ingredient of Moshiach’s Seudah was Matzah. The tasteless flatness of Matzah symbolize selfless humility, a desire to transcend oneself. Wine, by contrast, is flavorful and pleasurable, and thus symbolize the assertiveness of our individual personalities. Combining Matzah and wine in Moshiach’s Seudah teaches us that self-transcendence does not require that we erase our personal identities. Self-transcendence may be accomplished within each individual’s nature. A person can retain his or her distinctive character and identity, yet dedicate his or her life to spreading G‑dliness and performing acts of goodness and kindness instead of pursuing personal fulfillment.

May we celebrate Moshiach Seudah together this year in Jerusalem with the coming of Moshiach!