King David’s response serves as a precedent for all of the apparent irreverent behavior, the “wild” gestures and gesticulations that accompany special holiday celebrations. It is not considered to be degrading and demeaning. Rather, it is our way of displaying our passion for G-d and His Holy days.
To be sure, the King is in the field. G-d—and His chosen human redeemer, Moshiach—is here and is waiting for us to seize the opportunity to do our part in making the Redemption a tangible reality. Moshiach is waiting for us to say, “We are ready for Moshiach!” And we express that readiness by accepting Moshiach as our leader, following his directives for an enhanced commitment to Torah and its commandments, permeated with a passionate desire to usher in the Era of Redemption.
We need to forget the nonsense of the machlokes of “Meshichist” and “Anti.” We need to join together as a unit committed to carrying out what the Rebbe wants. Just as the Chassidim of the Rebbe Rayatz, who knew that when they went to start an underground school it might land them a sentence of twenty years of hard labor, and yet this did not stop them, so too we must nullify ourselves to the Rebbe and announce the Besuras Ha’Geula to the world. * A passionate speech delivered by Rabbi Mordechai (ben Rochel, for a refua shleima) Gal, shliach in Ramat Gan, during a Melaveh Malka farbrengen in Kfar Chabad.
By focusing on hiskashrus, the Rebbe’s promises are fulfilled. The Rebbe will fulfill the promises he made to each person, including the general promise that he made to the Jewish people at large, “Immediately to t’shuva brings to immediate redemption,” and he will lead us to Moshiach.
Since it is said of the Jewish people that “they are My slaves,” and since “One who acquires a slave has acquired for himself a master,” G-d must fulfill the will of His “master” (the Jewish people), and the will of the Jewish people is to get out of exile!
Especially during the summer, we need to be careful about the time for reciting the morning Shma. Since it’s so easy to miss the time, the Alter Rebbe paskens that one should say the Shma ¾ of an hour before the actual time limit! * Is this stringency only for the Shma or for any time-bound mitzva or custom? To what extent can we rely on the accuracy of our clocks? What did the Rebbe add in a yechidus with a bachur and why, because of this paragraph in the Shulchan Aruch, were decrees against the Jews in Russia postponed? * On this and more in the following article.
When I was in front of the Rebbe, someone said “This is the lady who had the dream.” The Rebbe immediately responded, “It wasn’t a dream, it was reality!”
Not just those who pray in the shuls and those who learn Torah in the battei midrashos will be taken to Eretz Yisroel when Moshiach gathers the exiles to the Holy Land, not just the Torah and Mitzvos done there and the Torah scrolls housed therein will go, but also the very stones of the buildings of the shuls and battei midrashos, as well as the wood and the earth – all of it will be taken to Eretz Yisroel, to the place of the Holy Temple on Mount Moria. * How much more is this true of 770.
As we approach the Messianic Age, the Torah exhorts us to cease struggling with evil in the conventional way of trying to contain it. Stop circling the enemy. It is now high time for us to go north.
The wall of exile is not fully intact; it has windows, cracks, splits, and holes. Through these windows and cracks, Moshiach Tzidkeinu gazes and watches. Moshiach stands behind the wall and eagerly awaits and looks, wondering when will he finally be able to come! Of course, he does not suffice with a passive role, just observing. Rather, Moshiach’s gaze has an actual impact in bringing about the redemption. * Part 2 of 2
There are selfish reasons why we pray for Moshiach. Moshiach will bring peace, tranquility, prosperity, good health and all the other material blessings we are so lacking in the period of exile. To desire Moshiach for those selfish reasons is not bad, but it is not the ideal motivation for Redemption…
It is not correct to say that the thought of redemption in the time of exile is a dream, but the exact opposite: when we think about exile – that is the dream! * It is specifically when one accepts the illusion of exile, that it is a dream; it is only during the (dream of) exile that one fools himself into thinking that it is reality!
“B’hesech ha’daas” cannot mean “unexpectedly,” its literal meaning, for one of the 13 Pillars of Jewish Faith is that “I await his arrival [the coming of Moshiach] every day.” Clearly, anticipating the redemption is something that is encouraged by our Sages, contrary to the literal interpretation of this saying… * The time of the redemption is something that necessarily transcends daas, a quantum leap over all rational calculation.
September 7, 2012