Birthdays and Redemption

As we approach the Holiday and season of freedom, Passover, we recall the statement of our sages, G-d will yet show us even greater miracles with the coming of the ultimate redemption, Moshiach.

One of the 13 principles of faith, includes our yearning and hope, every day, that G-d will take us out of this current exile and redeem the world from its darkness and confusion.

In the books of our prophets, the final redemption is compared to a birth, and the time leading up to it, is likened to birth pangs. The anointed one Moshiach, on the day he comes, it is as if he where born on that day, because his spirit will be like that of a new person.

The question is asked. Why do we celebrate the birth of a child?? According to our sages, the child in its mother’s womb gets to study the whole Torah with a special angel and its soul is pure and unblemished. When it is born, it forgets all that it studied and now there is the possibility and it is almost inevitable, that it will make wrong choices and hurt itself. So why the celebration?

The celebration, is over the fact that the child now becomes an independent being. While it is true that everything was provided for the child without any effort of its own while in its mother womb, and it was taught concepts of G-ds wisdom, all this was granted to the soul without earning it.

When a person receives something for nothing this is not the ultimate good. Things that are free, are not truly cherished. They remain superficial and not truly connected to the person. Since the person did not work for it and did not earn it, he can not truly feel, appreciate and enjoy the real value of the object .It was handed to the person superficially from the outside, and is not the result of an effort that comes from the inside. Since G-d desires the ultimate best for a person, and this can only come through a person’s hard work, G-d made the possibility for independence, for choices and hard work, and the birth of an individual.

The celebration of a new child is not just for the parents. In truth, it is a celebration more for the child himself that this possibility of his own life, was granted to him.

The ultimate redemption for the world, and for each person individually, will come as a result of a persons preparation leading up to it. A person reaps that which he sows. The place and reward we receive, is in line with the toil and effort we invested for this very special time. That is why the redemption in our own lives, and that of the world, is compared to a birthday, because, just like a birthday represents the responsibility of the individual and the opportunities that come as a result, the same is also with the ultimate redemption and internal freedom. It comes only when we make wise choices and do what is right in the eyes of G-d.