IT MAY BE GLATT KOSHER, BUT WHAT DOES IT HAVE TO DO WITH THE REDEMPTION?!

This person has not given any thought to the concept of redemption. His mind is steeped in other things. Naturally, kosher – even glatt kosher – things, but matters that have nothing to do with the redemption … He is simply not at all accustomed to thinking about the redemption. Thus, when all of a sudden he is faced with the news that Moshiach has arrived – for him, that is the greatest possible wonder.

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THE ELUSIVE PURSUIT OF TRUTH

Moshiach is one whose entire being is permeated with Torah. His inside is just like his outside. As such he will usher in the age that will be deluged with the knowledge of G-d. No part of the human being will be left outside of the water. This knowledge will totally permeate our entire being. This coincides with the letter Mem of the word Emes.

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THE ESSENTIAL, REBELLIOUS JEW

The rebellious Jew may also go so far as to deny his or her identity as a Jew. However, no matter how many times one may try to deny his or her essence it cannot change that essence. A Jew remains a Jew notwithstanding strident protests. Thus, every time someone denies his or her essential identity it constitutes a new violation.

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UTOPIA 7.0

Clearly, we are at odds with ourselves. On the one hand, those who believe that human effort can and will lead to such a transformation will be alienated by the concept of Moshiach, a G-dly redeemer – hence the flourishing of secular messianic ideologies in the past two centuries. On the other hand, those who believe in the Jewish approach could reason that if the final transformation will only come about through Moshiach, then why bother with our own efforts to create change?

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THE FIVE EXPRESSIONS OF REDEMPTION

Why should the fact that the same Exodus is described with four expressions necessitate drinking four cups? There was only one Exodus, so shouldn’t there be an obligation to drink only one cup of wine?

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NAMES, LANGUAGE, SLANDER AND CHASTITY

When we become slaves to our passions and our morals are loose, we lose our status as inherently free people. * Moshiach gains mastery over his material interest. This means that to cultivate the internal Moshiach—which is the catalyst to reveal the external Moshiach—we must exercise control over our inner “donkey.”

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MARKETING CHASSIDUS & MOSHIACH FOR THE TOURIST TRADE

The Center for Kabbala, which is run by R’ Eyal Reiss, is not your typical Chabad house. It spreads the wellsprings of Chassidus, albeit in an atypical package.

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FOREVER ALIVE

What does Rav Yitzchok gain by saying, “there should be no talk at meals,” while in the very same breath with which he states this rule (at the meal) he seems to be breaking it? * Yaakov is beyond the natural limitations of the world; he is not confined by the laws of nature which insist that there must be death in the world.

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SWORDS AND BOWS

For thousands of years the Jewish people have been subjected to the worst forms of tyranny and oppression – the inner Esau – culminating with the Holocaust and the spread of Communism in the last century. The primary challenge we have today comes from our over indulgence in the material world – representing the inner Yishmoel.

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THE ROYAL YESHIVA

The question is even more pronounced when we consider the role of Yehudah as the progenitor of royalty. Yehuda was the ancestor of King David and of a long line of kings and leaders that occupied leadership positions throughout Jewish history to this very day. And, indeed, one of Moshiach’s—the ultimate leader and king—qualifications is that he descend from the Davidic line that traces itself back to Yehudah. Royalty and scholarship, while not mutually exclusive, do not necessarily complement each other. Why then the emphasis on Yehudah, the leader, being the one to establish a center of Torah learning?

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LIGHTING UP THE EXILE WITH THE OIL OF TORAH

All the while that Moshiach Tzidkeinu has still not arrived – tangibly and overtly – one’s days are incomplete, his life is truly lacking. Yaakov expresses this sentiment by saying that even the 130 years of his life were seen as but “few” [meaning lacking], for the redemption had not yet been realized in the world.

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WHAT ARE YOU SCREAMING ABOUT?!

When a Jew cries out “enough with exile!” the Evil Inclination approaches him and argues: What are you screaming about? The Jewish people have demanded that before, but to no avail; the exile continued. Why is it that you think that you will be any different and succeed in securing your demands?!

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EVEN DIMINUTIVE DEEDS BRING THE REDEMPTION

It is possible that a minor action done by a little child should be the final “blow of the hammer” that will bring about the redemption! * At first glance though, how could we be hopeful that another small addition in Torah and Mitzvos will change anything? The Jewish people have been awaiting the coming of Moshiach for thousands of years, and throughout all the generations they have already done a huge quantity of Torah and Mitzvos!

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