The pike resembles the Leviasan, whose open mouth effortlessly devours the great sea serpent. * The feast of the Leviasan is G-d’s pleasure in us for completing our mission in the world, avodas ha’birurim, “zev yitraf – a clawing wolf.”
During the Passover Seder we drink four cups of wine. The Jerusalem Talmud cites several sources for this requirement.
When G-d told Moses to speak to Pharaoh to liberate the Jewish people, He used four expressions of liberation.
The Exodus from Egypt is the paradigm for the future Redemption. The Exodus introduced and instilled within our psyches the power of liberation for the future. Indeed, we mention the Exodus daily in our prayers for many reasons, including:
At the end of last week’s parsha, the intolerable Egyptian oppression had gotten worse as a result of Moshe’s demands of Pharaoh to let the Jewish people go.
You can have a ton of zeros, but it only matters if there is a different digit in front of all those zeros.
Everything is now ready for the feast, the feast of the Future Era (“a day that is entirely Shabbos and tranquility forevermore”), when there will be (after the preparations of Erev Shabbos are completed) the ultimate experience of eating fish, “the flesh of the Leviasan,” as well as Shor HaBar, and Yayin HaMeshumar.
That death, which has already occurred, is enough to fulfill the requirement on behalf of the rest of the Jewish people (with regard to death in the literal sense, G-d forbid). As a result, “death” is experienced strictly as a spiritual avoda. * From Chapter Seven of Rabbi Shloma Majeski’s Likkutei Mekoros
Shvat,” means “shivtei moshlim – the scepters of rulers.” This is especially evident in the rule of the Davidic dynasty, as it is said, “the scepter [of the dynasty] of Yehuda will never be withdrawn from (Dovid and his descendants – the rulers of the Diaspora in Babylon, who assert their dominion b’sheivet, with a scepter) until the advent of Shilo” (a reference to Melech HaMoshiach), regarding whom it is said, “A sheivet (a king, ruler, and dictator) will rise up among the Jewish people” – “this refers to Melech HaMoshiach.”
according to the teachings of Kabbala and Chassidus, Galus possesses a hidden dimension of G-dly energy that we cannot access until the time of Geula-Redemption. And precisely because these inaccessible energies are so powerful and elusive, they manifest themselves in negative ways. Redemption is, therefore, not a repudiation of exile but rather the actualization of its latent powers; we will then be able to internalize and wield these powerful energies in a totally positive fashion.
If you were to take a survey among the experts, you are likely to get a variety of opinions regarding how to approach contemporary Jewish outreach, how to break the ice and get to the point: “Moshiach is about to come any moment! What can you and I do right now to prepare?” * When you approach a Jew and shout “MOSHIACH NOW!” and you tell him, “listen, Jews simply must have Moshiach,” the inner part of his soul is revealed! And there is no need to find evidence and proof.
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?
January 14, 2021