English translation — מאמר והחרים ה' תשמ"ט

B"S.

Acharon Shel Pesach 5749*

"And Hashem will utterly destroy the tongue of the Sea of Egypt, and will wave His hand over the River with His mighty wind..."1

And the Admo"r Maharash explains this

(initially, going over)

at length in the continuation of "Vehacharam",

that in addition to that in the future there will be "Vehacharam etc. the tongue of the Sea of Egypt" analogous to the Splitting of the Red Sea which was at the Exodus from Egypt,

there will also be "and He will wave His hand over the River etc.",

for the splitting of the river is on a higher level than the splitting of the sea,

as explained there at length2.

And the main innovation of the future is that then there will be the splitting of the river.

And as it is written3

"He turned the sea into dry land; they will cross the river on foot",

"He turned the sea into dry land" is in the past tense, referring to the Splitting of the Red Sea which was in the redemption of the Exodus from Egypt,

"they will cross the river on foot" is in the future tense, referring to the splitting of the river that will be in the future redemption4,

and "they will cross the river on foot" — this is the main innovation that will be in the future redemption.

B)

And it can be said,

that this — that "Vehacharam etc. the Sea of Egypt" leads to this, and immediately "and He will wave His hand over the River etc." — indicates that from the Splitting of the Red Sea and its concept, which were in the redemption of the Exodus from Egypt, one can come immediately

(without any interruption)

to "and He will wave His hand over the River etc." which will be in the future.

And particularly on Acharon Shel Pesach,

on which we recite the haftorah concerning the future redemption,

and we eat the Meal of Mashiach,

and this comes in continuation of the Seventh Day of Pesach5,

the Splitting of the Red Sea,

through which the connection of the Splitting of the Red Sea with the revelation of the future redemption is made even greater.

And since this proximity is part of the Torah which is an inheritance for every single Jew, as it is written6

"Torah was commanded to us by Moshe, an inheritance for the congregation of Yaakov",

there exists the power for every single Jew,

men, women, and children,

to come from the Splitting of the Red Sea,

immediately and instantly, to the future redemption,

without any delay even for the blink of an eye7.

And this — that it is within the power of every single Jew to come immediately to the revelation of the future redemption — is also emphasized in what is written

(in the haftorah of Acharon Shel Pesach)

"And the spirit of Hashem shall rest upon him..."8,

for "him" refers to Mashiach

("And a shoot shall emerge from the stem of Yishai..."9),

and nevertheless they instituted that every Jew should say on Yom Tov

(in the prayer recited at the opening of the Ark)

"and may the verse that is written be fulfilled in us: 'And the spirit of Hashem shall rest upon him' etc.",

meaning that in each individual Jew

(as an individual)

there will be this revelation, and in the manner of "and the spirit of Hashem shall rest upon him etc." with all the details of these verses,

including also "and He will wave His hand over the River etc.".

3)

And the matter depends only on our actions and our service,

for through performing a mitzvah as it ought to be,

redemption is brought about,

the personal redemption of the one who fulfills the mitzvah,

that he finds himself in a state of true freedom,

as understood from what is explained in Iggeret HaKodesh

in the interpretation of the verse,

"He redeemed my soul in peace."

And one may add,

that the personal redemption

("He redeemed my soul in peace")

that is brought about through the fulfillment of a mitzvah as it ought to be, is not only at the time of fulfilling the mitzvah, but it continues also afterward.

And analogous to what is explained in Tanya

regarding the unification that is brought about through the fulfillment of a mitzvah,

that this unification above is eternal forever and ever,

and this

(the unification above)

also affects the person below,

so too is it regarding the matter of "He redeemed my soul in peace" that is brought about through the fulfillment of a mitzvah,

that it is an eternal matter above and also below

[and analogous to the saying of our Rabbis, of blessed memory,

"Whoever engages in Torah brings peace to the heavenly retinue and to the earthly retinue"],

that the personal redemption through the fulfillment of the mitzvah continues and acts throughout all the days of his life,

in his daily life.

And from this one also comes to the general redemption,

"And the kingship shall be Hashem's"

in all of existence entirely,

both above and below.

4)

And behold, in addition to this that all the matters of Torah and mitzvot

(our actions and our service)

bring near and bring about the future redemption,

there is a special virtue in those matters that are more explicitly connected to Moshiach.

And among them,

eating the Meal of Moshiach on the last day of Pesach and drinking the four cups at this meal.

For just as the four cups on the first nights of Pesach correspond to the four expressions of redemption

(the redemption of the Exodus from Egypt),

so too is it regarding the four cups of the Meal of Moshiach on the last day of Pesach, which are connected to the future redemption.

And one may explain this based on the explanations of the connection of the future redemption to the four cups,

to the four expressions of the redemption of the future,

and the future redemption will be from the four corners of the earth.

And perhaps one may add,

that this—that in the Meal of Moshiach there is the same number of cups as on the first nights of Pesach—is a hint that it is within the power of every single Jew to come immediately from the redemption of the Exodus from Egypt

(the four cups of the first nights of Pesach)

to the future redemption

(the four cups of the last day of Pesach),

a redemption in its simple sense

below ten handbreadths.

And especially since our actions and our service now are like a dwarf atop a giant,

because they come after and in continuation of the actions and service of our Rabbis, our leaders,

the Alter Rebbe, the Mitteler Rebbe, the Tzemach Tzedek, the Rebbe Maharash, the Rebbe Rashab, and my master, father-in-law, the Rebbe,

surely and surely it is within the power of our actions and our service,

including eating the Meal of Moshiach and drinking the four cups on the last day of Pesach,

to bring the redemption immediately,

in the blink of an eye, literally.

5)

And may it be His will that all this be in actual revelation, in a manner that each one points with his finger and says, "This!"

— analogous to the feast of Moshiach, where they point with the finger at the matzah and the wine,

and in the inner dimension—analogous to the matzah and the cups of the feast of Moshiach, which become blood and flesh like his flesh,

and out of joy and goodness of heart,

and immediately, forthwith,

that it should not delay even for the blink of an eye.