Acharon Shel Pesach: Taxes or Moshiach: Which is More Real?

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Published: 4/22/17

DEATH AND TAXES OR MOSHIACH: WHICH IS MORE REAL? MAKING OUR DREAMS COME TRUE

On this day two polar opposites converge: The last day of Pesach, which offers us Isaiah’s vision of the beautiful world of redemption, and April 18, which this year is tax day in the USA, reminding us of Benjamin Franklin’s famous idiom: in this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.

What are you more certain of – death and taxes or the belief in the coming of Moshiach in the final redemption?

This last day of Pesach captures the ultimate Jewish message: The absolute belief that our dreams will come true. That we will indeed make the world a better place. That we will certainly see a world at peace and harmony, with nations living peacefully with one another, with famine and disease eradicated – a world with no more evil and destruction because it will be filled with divine knowledge as the waters cover the sea.

On this day we are compelled to ask: What is more real for us – death and taxes or a vision of a better tomorrow? What is truer to us – materialism or spirituality? Our struggle for survival or our dreams of transcendence? Displacement and dissonance or redemption and unity?

What is more realistic for Jews – the extraordinary or the ordinary, nature or miracles?

Humorous anecdotes, moving stories and the Baal Shem Tov’s instituting Moshiach’s Feast on this last day of Pesach, with fascinating details about the evolution of this custom through the generations – all come together and weave a tale that empowers us with tools to turn abstract faith into tangible reality; and infuses us with the absolute belief that our dreams can and will come true!

[This sermon includes plenty of interesting history and materials about Moshiach’s Seudah, which can be shared at your Moshiach’s seudah].