The Messiah is Coming, Sunday!
You have heard the statement Think Globally Act Locally. The cynic in me says yeah right. I’ve been thinking globally and acting locally since I was a child but have I changed the world? I like to believe that I am contributing to some level of positive change in the world, but will I ever really change the global picture? And even if my efforts will change the world in three generations time, do I want to be dedicating my life to changing the world for my grandchildren? And finally, where is the small payoff for me today?
We just celebrated the Pesach Seders where we commemorate and relive the Exodus from Egypt. We commemorate this holiday by retelling the story, and relive because we are instructed in the Haggadah that it is incumbent upon each of us to see ourselves as if we left Egypt. So now that we experienced the Exodus what do we do with this new found freedom?
Jewish mysticism teaches that our personal liberations – overcoming our personal challenges is the local act that brings us to a global redemption. Namely, the coming of a utopian era and a transformation of the physical world in the messianic era. Now before you think I’ve gone off the deep end let me elaborate.
Each of us lives between the world of who we want to be in our core and the way we actually live due to the limitations of the world. For example we may want to dress in casual, but the etiquette of the business world requires suit and tie. We may want to speak a certain way but know that we would lose our job if we did. We may want to express our true feelings for another but know that it would be too much for them.
The same is true when we look at the physical world. Do we really see the essence of each experience or physical object, or are subjected to the surface and external experience?
In the Messianic era all the limitations of the physical world fall down and expose everything for what it really is, the essence is expressed. In the Messianic era we will see how Think Globally but Act Locally is not only a nice motto but also how our local actions have actually CHANGED the global picture.
To close out the Passover holiday there is a Chabad tradition to celebrate our new found freedom with an eye on the future redemption with a feast. Please join Rabbi Sollish Sunday evening April 27, at 7:00pm for the traditional Moshiach Feast @ Chabad Intown. Please RSVP to RabbiAri@chabadintown.org.
