Question of the Week
Why do we have the Moshiach meal on the last day of Pesach?
Answer:
You often hear people say, "I wish Pesach would last another week."
Well, not so often.
But the Zohar teaches that when Moshiach comes, it will. Instead of just one week, Pesach will last a full fourteen days. The first seven days will celebrate Moses taking us out of Egypt, the mother of all redemptions. The second seven days will celebrate the coming of Moshiach, ending almost two thousand years of exile.
Before anyone starts to panic about fourteen days of Pesach, let's make things clear. We will still eat Matzah for the first week, to remember how we had to rush out of Egypt. And then, for the second week, we will eat bread. There will be no need to rush out of this exile. We will walk out calmly, with nothing to run away from. Evil will be vanquished. There will be no pharaohs chasing us anymore. We will finally have enough time for our bread to rise.
This is why we have the Moshiach meal at the end of Pesach. Because in the futuristic two week festival, day eight will be the first day of the second week, celebrating Moshiach's arrival. Even today, the eighth day of Pesach has a Moshiach air about it. The Moshiach meal we have today is a taste of the new Seder we will have when Moshiach comes.
And this just about sums up the Jewish view. We commemorate the miracles of the past, and we anticipate the wonders of the future. Our history teaches us to hope for a happier tomorrow. We got out of Egypt. We can get out of anything. Our story is not over. The best is yet to come.
Good Shabbos,
Rabbi Moss
Sources:
Tikkunei Zohar 21
Pri Tzaddik Pesach 54