The last day of Pesach, known as Acharon Shel Pesach, concludes the process of liberation and redemption from exile. While the first night of Pesach commemorates the redemption from Egyptian exile, the final day celebrates the future Redemption that G-d will bring about through Mashiach.[242]

The connection between the first and the last redemptions is also gleaned from the verse:[243] "As in the days when you went out from Egypt, I shall show you wonders [during the final Redemption]."

Our Rabbis ask:[244] Why does the verse say "As in the days when you went out from Egypt," when the Exodus took place on one day, as the verse states:[245] "Remember this day on which you left Egypt."

On the day the Jewish people left Egypt, they achieved the status of a free people.[246] This transition, however, is an ongoing experience, one that requires constant meditation on the concepts of slavery and freedom. A person's ruminations must have a positive effect on his daily conduct.

This is why spiritual redemption from all the straits and limitations that constitute one's spiritual Egyptian exile is an ongoing process, notwithstanding the fact that the Jews' physical Exodus took only one day.

This is expressed by our Sages when they state:[247] "In each and every generation and on each and every day, every man is obligated to see himself as if he had gone out from Egypt on that very day."

Additionally, viewing the exodus from Egypt as a continuous process will lead one to ongoing improvement in his daily conduct as well - the constant state of advancement that befits and is emblematic of a free man.

Both the first and the final redemptions involve the liberation of all the Jewish people. Just as the Exodus encompassed the entire nation and resulted from the Jews' collective service, so will the future Redemption liberate all Jews from exile, and it too will result from our collective efforts.

This collective liberation and effort came about during the Exodus as a result of the efforts of each and every Jew, each one of them first liberating himself from his own spiritual exile. So, too, with regard to the final liberation: the efforts of each and every Jew in redeeming himself from spiritual exile will result in the collective redemption of all Jews from the final exile.

In practical terms, the lesson from the above is that each and every Jew is entrusted by G-d with a unique mission that he, and he alone, is capable of accomplishing. He cannot rely on someone else to fulfill that mission for him, for the other individual is entrusted with his own personal and unique mission.

On the other hand, each person must also realize that he is part of a collective - the Jewish nation. His mission is thus of vital importance not only to himself but to all the Jewish people.

Fulfilling his mission as an individual thus helps the Jewish people fulfill their mission as a collective whole. Ultimately, each Jew's personal redemption from spiritual exile leads to the collective redemption of all Jews from the final exile.

Based on Likkutei Sichos, Vol. XXII, pp. 258-263.

   

Notes:

242. (Back to text) See Sefer HaSichos 5700, p. 72.

243. (Back to text) Michah 7:15.

244. (Back to text) Zohar III, 176a; maamar titled Kimei Tzeischa, 5708.

245. (Back to text) Shmos 13:3.

246. (Back to text) Gevuras Hashem, ch. 61.

247. (Back to text) Pesachim 116b; Tanya, ch. 47.