Pesach: Embrace the Light | Rabbi Naftali Reich

Some of us may worry at times, Moshiach is on his way and we're all familiar with the words of Chazal, A small fraction came out, but many perished in the plague of darkness. And we want to know, Will we be Zoche to leave? Let me share with you a story that I heard from my dear friend, R’ Shaya Ostrov. In the medieval times, the Church ruled supreme and they were extremely suspicious, dogmatic, superstitious. Anybody that countered their influence was immediately imprisoned and silenced. There was a fellow, a Renaissance man, a philosophical thinker, a musician, a mathematician, and the Church were intimidated by him, and they threw him into the dungeon in the city square, underneath the courthouse. It was a horrible place. Mold, rats. It didn't take long before he fell into depression. One morning, he woke up and he heard outside the prison cell the sound of amazing music. And he pushed the bed to the wall, he pulled the table on top of the bed and the chair on top of the table, and he climbed up, holding onto the bars of the prison window, and he beheld the most amazing sight. Outside there was a regiment of soldiers that were marching through the town plaza. And there was an army band next to them and the band was playing the most amazing march. And he was just lifted up by the march. And before long, another platoon of soldiers came marching by. They also had an army band accompanying them, but their music was like a waltz, and it was a dance. And he was just swaying at the bars, carried away. He forgot all about the cell. He was transfixed with the scene. And he realized that probably these soldiers are marching through to accompany the King from his winter residence to his summer residence. And sure enough, a few minutes later, there was the King in his gilded carriage, splendid robes and a gorgeous crown on his head. And the King was waving to everybody, and everybody was saluting him. Long live the King! And he stretched his hand through the bars of the cell, and he was waving to the King, smiling. And as the King's carriage rolled by, the King told his driver to stop. He saw him. Their eyes locked. The King looked at him, and the King smiled at him, and he smiled at the King. And they both waved to each other. It was a wondrous moment. Well, my friends, this is the story of life, because all of us, our Neshama is sequestered in our body. And sometimes our minds suck us down into a prison cell and we can feel hurt and depressed and trapped. And our job is to lift ourselves up, to push the bed to the wall and the table, and to recognize the streaming life and blessings that flow to us. Every morning, we wake up, מודה אני לפניך Wow! And if we do that every day, when Pesach comes, yes, we'll be Zoche to a Yetzias Mitzrayim. When we live every day, seeking out the light, like the Jews in Egypt, But for all the children of Israel there was light in their dwellings. Those Jews didn't look at the darkness around them. They embraced the light. Then we know we’re guaranteed we, too, will be Zoche לראות פני משיח צדקנו very soon.