Sunday, June 21, 2009

Speedily In Our Days

Even though G-d promised Avrohom that his descendants would be strangers in a land that was not theirs, and they would be oppressed for 400 years, according to the Torah we left Egypt 190 years earlier than we were supposed to, and only spent 210 years there. The reality is that we were meant to be in Egypt a full 400 years. What makes this even more interesting is the fact that we refer to the Final Redemption as קץ הימים, "end of days." However, if the words are read correctly, it should really say, "end of THE days." Which days are we referring to? The days remaining from the 190 years when we left Egypt early. Hashem spread out the terrible oppression of those 190 years over 33 centuries, but soon, any day now, any moment now, there will be an end of THOSE days. We always pray בּמהרה בימינו, that Mashiach and our final redemption should come speedily in our days. Speedily? It appears to be so late, our exile so long. Well, just as in Egypt, to the very second, when it was time to leave, the redemption came so fast. So too, when the DAYS of the 190 years have passed, at the exact second, our redemption will surround us and unfold "speedily." Thus, as you can see there is a great connection between the redemption from Egypt at the beginning of Jewish history, and the final redemption towards the end of the historical 6,000 year period that the world will last (as we know it). Perhaps now, we can understand the Passover Haggadah when it says that every Jew should feel as if he or she also left Egypt. And it's also interesting to note that the gematria of the word קץ (end), as in End Of Days, is amazingly 190.

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