1 year ago

Do We Want Moshiach Now? Then We Need To Ask For It!

BEGIN WITH A GRIN Question: “How many physicists are needed to change a lightbulb?” Answer: “It depends on how fast the change is done and the mass of the lightbulb or vice versa. Of course, you can also leave the lightbulb and change the room. It’s all relative …” • Full Article

BEGIN WITH A GRIN
Question: “How many physicists are needed to change a lightbulb?” Answer: “It depends on how fast the change is
done and the mass of the lightbulb or vice versa. Of course, you can also leave the lightbulb and change the room.
It’s all relative …”

ASK FOR IMMEDIATE RESULTS
In these difficult times, we are all looking for sources of inspiration and spiritual/G-dly guidance. The Alter Rebbe
says that a Jew needs to live with the times, i.e. live with the parsha of the week, and learn the lessons derived from
there in order to implement them in daily life.
This week, we will focus on the central topic of parshas Chayei Sarah, the story of Eliezer, the servant of Avrohom,
being sent to find a wife for Yitzchok. This mission was so important that our Sages say, “The conversation of the
servants of the Avos is finer than the Torah of the children, for the parsha of Eliezer is repeated in the Torah and
many core teachings of the Torah were only hinted at.”
Everyone knows the story. Eliezer arrives at a well outside the city and prays to Hashem to send him Yitzchok’s mate.
He hadn’t even finished the prayer when, “Rivka came out.” His prayer was answered swiftly, like the blink of an eye.
The Medrash says that Eliezer is not the only one this happened to. “Three were answered in direct response to
what they said, Eliezer, Moshe and Shlomo.” With Moshe too, during Korach’s dispute, it says, “And it was, when he
finished speaking… and the earth split.” With Shlomo, at the dedication of the Mikdash it says, “And when Shlomo
finished praying to G-d, and the fire descended from heaven.”
But there is still a difference between the three prayers and how they were answered. Commentators on the
Medrash examine the wording of the verses and say there was something special with Eliezer’s prayer. Moshe and
Shlomo were both answered “as they finished speaking,” while Eliezer was answered “before he finished speaking.”
How is this possible? How could the prayer of Eliezer, the servant of Avrohom, be more effective than the prayer of
Moshe Rabeinu, master of all the prophets?
The Rebbe comes up with an electrifying explanation which can give us strength to overcome all tzaros, even in the
hardest times. The shidduch between Yitzchok and Rivka represents the greatest joining of opposites in history, On
the one hand, there was Yitzchok, the first to be circumcised at eight days, one called “a perfect sacrifice” by G-d,
and “outside Eretz Yisrael is not for him.” This is happening after the Akeida, when he was forty and he was on a very
lofty spiritual level. On the other hand, there was Rivka, “like a rose among thorns,” a woman who came from the
lowest of places in the world (yes, even lower than Gaza and Jabaliya), who grew up among wicked people known in
infamy by all (reminiscent of a certain terror organization) and they were going to marry… The highest of the high
with the lowest of the low. How was this possible?
In Kabbala, the joining of Yitzchok and Rivka represents the joining of the permutation of the divine name that
equals the number 45 (mah) and the permutation of the name equaling 52 (ban) which represents the goal of
creation. According to this, the goal of creation is to raise up the lower by connecting it to the higher. This is why G-d
gave the Torah. In simpler words, we have the spiritual and moral power to raise up even the worst of situations,
and connect them to something higher, something holy. As for us, when a Jew feels that he is in the deepest depths,
in the darkness of galus, he asks himself, “How can I go on like this? How can I fulfill my purpose in creation and how
can this be done joyfully when everything around is bleak, dark and miserable?”
DON’T JUST SIT THERE – START ASKING!
The answer is that Eliezer’s prayer was answered even before he completed it, in a loftier way than the prayers of
Moshe and Shlomo! Each of us is a son of Avrohom and surely our connection to Avrohom is no less than the

BH
connection of Eliezer and Avrohom. After all, Eliezer was just a servant, so if the servant of Avrohom was answered
so quickly, surely the son of Avrohom would be answered as quickly if not more so!
All that is needed is for a Jew to pray. That means that from Above, as it were, all they need is “our little finger.” We
just need to start to pray. We don’t even need to finish, just to start, and the moment a Jew puts his little finger into
the water, the moment he starts taking action instead of sitting, frozen, things change. One cannot sit in despair and
inactivity due to the situation, the news that we hear and read. We need to take action, even something little.
Some might say, if you’re talking about such lofty levels, the joining of upper and lower, Yitzchok and Rivka, mah and
ban, why does G-d need my little action? He can do it Himself!
The answer is, G-d wants our avoda down here. He doesn’t want to give us “bread of shame.” He wants us to be
active partners and not (just) beggars who get handouts. So, he gets us to feel part of the process by taking an active
role in bringing Moshiach! If it is possible to bring Rivka to (the level of) Yitzchok in the blink of an eye, it is surely
possible to bring us, in an instant, to the true and complete Geula.
TO CONCLUDE WITH A STORY
We will end with a terrific story about a prayer that was answered under the worst of circumstances, in an instant.
This story was published in Sichat HaShavua ten years ago. One erev Pesach, Rabbi Gavriel Holtzberg, Hyd, shliach in
Mumbai, went for a last round of the hostels to invite Jews for the Pesach Seder on the roof of one of the biggest
hotels in the city. He made his way among starving beggars and looked for Jewish faces. Time was passing, the sun
was close to setting and he had to get back to set up for the Seder.
Then he noticed a cheap guest house. He looked nervously at his watch and debated whether he should go in. His
heart didn’t allow him to forgo the opportunity. He asked the receptionist for permission to look at the guest book
and after some money exchanged hands he got the book. He saw an Israeli-sounding name and was told that the
guest was in a room upstairs at the end of the stairs.
He knocked on the door of the room and there was no answer. He tried again and again; no response. He was about
to go back down when he heard a door open. A man, woken up from a deep sleep, looked at him in surprise and
asked in Hebrew, “How did you get to me?”
“G-d sent me,” said the rabbi.
A tear glistened in the eyes of the stunned man. He asked the rabbi to wait while he got dressed and he would join
him. On the way to the hotel, the man said, “I arrived in Mumbai today. At the train station my wallet was stolen and
I was left with no money, no passport, and no identification papers. I sat down on a rock with feelings of despair. A
Jewish couple from France asked me why I was sad and they reassured me that ‘Today is erev Pesach and the Israeli
consulate is closed but after the chag you’ll take care of your passport.’ The man gave me some local money and
suggested I look for a cheap guest house until after the holiday.
“I came to this plain guest house and rented a room for two days. I lay down on the bed, looked at the ceiling, and
began talking to G-d. I said, ‘The Jew I met at the train station told me that tonight is the Seder. Elokim, my
connection with You isn’t great but if You are listening to me, give me a sign that You are with me.’ I fell asleep,
exhausted, and suddenly heard knocking at the door. I thought I was dreaming but the knocking went on. When I
opened the door and asked who sent you, you said, ‘G-d.’”
Good Shabbos!