We celebrate Passover after about seven months of hard war, in which we lost precious victims. Throughout these months, we have been focused on efforts to deal with the challenges with national, rational tools. The best military and political experts are trying to find the right ways to defeat our enemies and ensure security throughout the country.
But on Passover we are called to lift our eyes beyond earthly and natural reality. Our sages say that by nature even a slave could not have escaped from Egypt, much less an entire people. But here the miraculous and divine element enters the picture, and we left Egypt with great miracles, and on the seventh of Passover we will celebrate the inconceivable miracle of the parting of the Red Sea.
The Watchtower – Rise and Do
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The Hasidic tradition divides Passover into two parts - the first days of the holiday are related to the redemption from Egypt, while the seventh of Passover is related to the complete redemption. Belief in redemption is a central element of the Jewish religion. The expectation of the coming of the Messiah is woven into the very soul of Jews throughout all generations. In the last holiday of Passover, we connect even more closely to the belief in the future redemption.
The phrase "waiting for the Messiah" is sometimes seen as an expression of passivity and inaction. Some see waiting for the Messiah as sitting idly by, doing nothing, believing that someone else will do the work for them and solve all their problems. This is, of course, a distorted view of the concepts of redemption and of man's role in this mission of the coming of the Messiah.
Sitting idly by is the complete opposite of waiting for the Messiah. One who sits idly by is not truly waiting for the Messiah. He is simply a person devoid of energy and the spirit of action. The expectation of the Messiah is a driving force. It pushes a person to act and do in order to realize this expectation and hasten its fulfillment.
Indeed, faith in Christ introduces a spiritual, supernatural element into our conceptual system. It is not content with an earthly analysis of reality and providing human solutions. The believing Jew knows that a divine redemption awaits us, which is part of a new world order and the correction of the entire world in the kingdom of God.
To be strengthened in faith
The expectation of the Messiah does not contradict human action, and the coping with challenges with rational tools. A Jew is required to act in the ways of nature.
If there is a medical problem - we go to a doctor. When there is a financial problem - we turn to a financial expert. In the face of a security challenge, we need to equip ourselves with the appropriate weapons and provide a defensive or offensive response as required.
But alongside all this, the Jew knows that true redemption will come through a divine move that transcends earthly and human systems. This is the redemption that our prophets promised us, and for which it was worth going through all the suffering and persecution that the Jewish people went through. This is the wonderful vision of the end times, which is the very soul of the Jewish faith.
And we are required to act so that this redemption will come one day earlier. It is not enough to expect and hope, but we must act to be worthy of it. We must pray for its coming.
Let us all therefore strengthen our faith in redemption, increase our hearts' anticipation of its coming, and work to make the coming of our righteous Messiah very soon.
