Pesach - Salvation to Come

Rabbi Mordechai Silverstein USCJ Commentary 5765
How is this messianic vision to be interpreted? Traditional commentators offer three different interpretations of this seeming reversal of the natural order. The first approach, from the period of the Mishnah (Eretz Israel, 2nd century), takes this prophecy at face value, asserting that the very nature of animals will change: ”Rabbi Shimon said: ’He will cause them to refrain from doing harm’” (Sifra Behukotai ch.2:1). Rabbi David Kimche (Provance, 12th century) elaborated: ”In the days of the messiah, the nature of animals will change and revert back to the way things were at the time of creation of in the time of Noah’s ark…”
Kimche also presents an alternative interpretation: ”It is not the case that the nature of animals will change. Rather, God promised Israel that the predatory animals would not cause harm in all of the land of Israel, ’for the whole land will be filled with devotion to the Lord.’”
Rabbi Abraham Ibn Ezra (Spain, 12th century) interpreted this prophecy as a parable. The wild animals represent the wicked. In messianic times they will repent of their previous ways and dwell in harmony with the righteous. Maimonides puts it this way: ”The great evils that come about between human beings who inflict them upon one another because of differences in purpose, desires, opinions, and beliefs are all a consequence of …ignorance… Every individual according to the extent of his ignorance does evil to himself and to others. For through cognisance of truth, enmity and hatred are removed and the inflicting of harm by people on one another is abolished.” (adapted from the Guide to the Perplexed 3:11 – Pines translation pp. 440-1)
This kind of redemptive spirit should inspire our Pesach prayers.

The Messianic Reign in Isaiah 11:1-10: A Message to Foster Children, Post-Traumatic Growth
by Rev. Dr. Niveen Sarras
Isaiah takes his audience back in time to the Garden of Eden before Adam and Eve committed their first sin and the world fell under the curse. The world of Isaiah was chaotic, and he reversed the order. The creation is transformed and renewed. Isaiah talks about reconciliation between animals: prey and predators (v. 6.) The peace is secured so that a child can control the wild animals. This transformed and peaceful nature of animals point to Genesis 1:29-30. Isaiah's vision illustrates the removal of the curse and the enmity between woman and serpent (v. 8). The holy mountain, Zion, is the new Eden. Children will be safe on this mountain as Adam and Eve were safe in the garden of Eden. Isaiah 11 sensitively merges the imagery of children, and by doing so, intentionally identifies the source of a critical trauma of Israelites parents losing their children. What is clear is that they wish for a righteous king and a safe environment for their children....
The Old Testament is a product of traumatized Jewish scholars who survived Assyrian and Babylonian oppression and exile and used their faith to confront their trauma and to foster post-traumatic growth. The image of a safe environment for children in Isaiah 11 is a result of attempting to make sense of the traumatic events of the Syro-Ephraimite War and the Assyrian invasion of Israel and Judah. Isaiah encourages his traumatized community to dare to hope and he turns their hopeless situation around. The messianic vision of peace invites parents to imagine a scenario in which their children enjoy life without fearing Assyrian weapons of war. From the perspective of Isaiah, the failure of total destruction of Judah means survival. Isaiah dares to confront the traumatic event of the Syro-Ephraimite War and encourages his community to do so. Isaiah understands that his community is yearning for a better world to grow after trauma. He enhances his community resilience by inviting them to imagine a peaceful kingdom out of the traumatic devastation. By doing so, Isaiah restores his community resilience and identity and puts them on a healing path without forgetting the cause of suffering.
Survival and resilience are a painful process. They do not happen quickly and easily. Isaiah’s community worked together to survive and heal. Likewise, a community that lives in an anticipatory trauma environment needs each other to survive. When individuals and community are facing trauma such as war or gun violence, anxiety or depression, the values of community working together becomes a candle of hope and a tool to cope with the attack of trauma.

When Moshiach comes, men will help clear the table
BY DAVID A.M. WILENSKY 2018
The general format was this: Rabbi Ferris, seated at the head of the table, would call on various family members and Chabad yeshiva guys in town for the holiday to share a teaching relevant to Moshiach — the Jewish Messiah, literally “anointed one,” a reference to the ancient Israelite coronation ritual. The connections were at times quite tenuous. Periodically, the younger male contingent at the far end of the table would start up a niggun (melody) that never quite caught on at the rabbi’s end of the table where Yona and I sat.
Ferris explained the origin of the Moshiach Seudah. It was instituted by the Ba’al Shem Tov himself, the 18th-century founder of Hasidism. The first night of Passover is about the redemption from Egypt, but it concludes on a messianic note. Elijah, who arrives at the end of the seder, is said to be the herald of the Messiah, and the line “Next year in Jerusalem” expresses a messianic vision of the Jewish people gathered as one in the land of Israel. The Moshiach Seudah turns the end of Passover into a celebration not of Moses and the redemption from Egypt, but of the Messiah and the final ultimate redemption he will bring.
The Tzemach Tzedek, the third Chabad rebbe, puts it like this: “The last day of Pesach is our festival commemorating the final redemption, when the Holy One, Blessed Be He, will redeem us from the last exile through our righteous Moshiach, who is the final redeemer. The first day of Pesach is Moshe Rabbeinu’s festival; the last day of Pesach is Moshiach’s festival.”