The Future, Now!

When the Holy One wants to rescue the Jews from exile, He draws upon them a system of divine providence from the future edge of time; for in the future, nature [as we know it] will be utterly nullified…

~ Rabbi Nathan of Nemirov (LH, Netilat Yadayim 2)

I listened to a lecture by Rabbi Yuval Asherov. He explained that there are two ways to reach beyond the natural order in one’s divine service. One is through self-sacrifice, as happened in the time of Chanukah. The other is through tremendous happiness, as happened in the time of Purim. Both these Holidays are reputed to still be considered something special even after the Messiah arrives.

Considering the quote from Rabbi Nathan of Nemirov (above), it seems that in both these cases, we were rescued from the then state of exile by drawing spiritual light and power from the future edge of time, the deep messianic era; the time right before all of nature as we know it is nullified by being assimilated into a spiritual system beyond nature. In the case of Chanukah, we reached it through self-sacrifice and in the case of Purim, we reached it through tremendous happiness.

Based on this, it’s not surprising that these two Holidays of salvation will stand out as special even in the messianic era; as they are both from the messianic era itself. In that time they won’t be considered part of the past system of divine providence, but recognizably part of the current one. They will fit in nicely with the soul of the times.

What this means to me today as we enter the month Adar is that our happiness can attract the tremendous blessings of the future today. If sustained, it’s possible to even transform today into the future era, especially since we are so close to it anyways and the vessels for such blessings are certainly more developed today than they would have been during the times when the events of Chanukah and Purim happened. So, today it should be easier to attract such blessings than it was then and once attracted there’s a greater chance that they will be here to stay.

The Lubavitcher Rebbe taught that if this generation really wants the messianic era and works for it, it will happen. We’re so close. As we enter Adar, let’s serve our Creator with the happiness to help bring it about. Then not only will we be blessed, but so will the rest of humanity as well.

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