Long ago in 1772, there was a kind and wise Rabbi named Menachem Mendel Horodoker. He and his friends went on a big adventure, leaving the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth to live in a special place called Eretz Yisroel - AKA Israel/The Holy Land.
One sunny day in Jerusalem, something exciting happened! A man climbed up a tall mountain called the Mount of Olives. At the very top, he blew a shofar. The sound was so loud that everyone in the whole city could hear it!
"WHOOOOOOOOO!" went the shofar.
All the people in Jerusalem started running around excitedly.
"Did you hear that?" they shouted. "The Moshiach has arrived! The world is going to change and become magical!"
The news spread faster than spilled juice on a white tablecloth! Everyone was talking about it.
Rabbi Mendel heard all the noise outside. He walked over to his window and opened it wide. Then he did something funny - he stuck his nose out and took a big, deep sniff of the air, like he was smelling for Kosher for Passover cookies baking.
After his big sniff, Rabbi Mendel smiled gently and shook his head.
"Not yet, my friends," he said. "When Moshiach really comes, the whole world will feel different. Everything will be filled with wonder and goodness, like the ocean is filled with water. We're not quite there yet."
Later his friend, Reb Gronem, explained: "Do you know why Rabbi Mendel had to stick his head OUT the window to check? Because inside his own little house, the air was ALREADY filled with that special magic of Moshiach! His room was so full of goodness and wonder that he couldn't tell the difference!"
This story is shared by Chassidim for over 200 years. But what is the message?
One message is that even before the global era of Moshiach, we can choose to live a life where exile, limitations, small minded thinking doesn't exist. So much so that our life inside is essentially messianic. To see if the global Moshiach has arrived, we need to open the window and smell the energy outside.
On the last day of Passover, we celebrate the possibility for this energy with the "Moshiach Meal". RSVP HERE The form will close once we are full or at noon on Friday.
Join us if you can. If you can't, ask yourself how can I make Moshiach energy more real in my life?
Rabbi Kushi Schusterman