The power of the moment

Is it a dark conspiracy or perhaps part of some vast eternal plan that we spend weeks preparing for the physical aspect of Pesach - cleaning, cooking, running errands - to the point where we reach the Seder and are so exhausted that we can barely enjoy the experience?

How much time do we spend on the spiritual preparation? Whether it's the avoda of bedikas chometz, or learning the Haggadah so that our Seder can be more meaningful. Or do we sit back, conk out from exhaustion and wine, and attempt to pay attention as our children expound and affirm our decision to send them to good Jewish schools?

We *really* want Moshiach now

Slogans are all very good, but if we are bombarded by them, or just with the passage of time, they can turn into clichés that no longer serve their original purpose. Other things can happen, like they can start to mean different things to different people (e.g. insiders vs outsiders), which again cause them to be ineffective or worse.

We sing "We want Moshiach now" and put slogans on yarmulkes and elsewhere but what does it really mean? Indeed, we mention it so often in shmone esrei that most people just rush through it without thinking twice, and others need convincing that the desire for Moshiach is not exclusively Chabad's. Certainly saying something (different) about Moshiach & Geula on a regular basis can help break the rote patterns and actually get us thinking.

Pesach and Moshiach

Sorry it's been so long since I last posted - there are a few things floating around that I should get to shortly. In the meantime, in order to get into the habit of posting as soon as possible after something comes to me ...

While Pesach celebrates the initial and prototypical geula and our formation as a Jewish nation, Achron Shel Pesach is about the future geula that we are all waiting for. The Pesach narrative is very much the story of the entire Jewish history - bchol dor vador - in every generation they try to destroy us, and yet we prevail. The last couple of thousand years have been a constant cycle of threat & redemption. Rinse and repeat. But what happens after the redemption?