The Future is Now

Predictions of the future, gloom and doom and cheer and beer (ok it was the only thing that I could think of that rhymed) are always being floated.  Imagine if we were in that future right now?!

We are! Listen (read) to this.

At the Seder – which we are introduced to the original Seder in this week’s Parsha – there is a lot of action around the middle Matzah.
1. We start with a single whole Matzah in the middle
2. We take it out and break it.  The larger part is put away for the Afikomen. The smaller part becomes a central part of the Seder.
3. We recite the Haggadah on the smaller part, uncovering it and covering it throughout the Seder.
4. At the end of the Seder we pull out the Afikomen from its hiding place and eat it as the grand finale of the Seder.

Oh and by the way, this middle Matzah represents the Levi.

As my kids might say; “what up?”.

Here is an insight presented By R’ Levik Schneerson, father of the Rebbe.  I share it and then bring home a relevant message to this Shabbos – 10 Shvat, 70th anniversary of the Rebbe’s acceptance of the Leadership of Chabad Lubavitch.

Moses was a Levi. Hence the middle Matzah which represents Levi carries messaging connected to the Torah which Moses received at Sinai. In fact the entire Exile and Exodus was designed as a preparation to Revelation that took place at Sinai 7 weeks after the Exodus.
1. The Torah was given in a single unified revelation at Mt. Sinai – we start with a whole Matzah
2. Then the Torah was broken in two general categories.  Small – Law and revealed application of Torah.  Big – The Mystical teachings of Torah. (The Talmud says that the small things are represented by the debates of Abaya and Rava, practical forbearers of applicable Jewish Law.  And the big things….
3. Most of our history, the journey of our People, what was practically relevant was tradition and Jewish law – the smaller part of the Matzah.
4. As we approach the end of the Seder, the end of Galus/Exile and in anticipation of a greater, Messianic world to follow, we take out the big part of the Matzah, the Afikomen (Tzafun which means hidden), representing the inner teachings of the Torah that began to be revealed with the Arizal and later with the Baal Shem Tov.  We saw this and continue to see this in the expansion of the teachings of Jewish Mysticism and Chasidus.

The Rebbe as a visionary saw the constantly changing landscape of world history, the intersection and role of the Jew in it.  As an empowerment the Rebbe taught us such profound teachings of the Torah that if we dip into it we are able to literally see the world through a different lens.

This Shabbos when we commemorate the leadership of the Rebbe, consider giving yourself a gift of a new pair of glasses.  Give yourself a gift of a new way of looking at the world.  Eliminate or at least minimize the anxiety, doom and gloom and negative outlook. Instead, rise above, and see the garden that G-d created and our role as gardeners and caretakers of the garden.

Some practical suggestions:
Sign up for a daily email thought from the Rebbe – https://www.chabad.org/tools/subscribe/default_cdo/jewish/Subscribe.htm
Visit this site – http://therebbe.org/
Join the 2nd year of the study cycle of all of the Rebbe’s edited talks https://projectlikkuteisichos.org/ (if you are new to text study, watch or listen to the 10 minute Sicha)

May the Rebbe’s vision and his merit impact all of our lives with better vision, good health and blessings for our children and loved ones.

With blessing and prayer,
Good Shabbos

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