“I thought wars were out of style!” my daughter told me the other day. “Like, something from the history books, not something that is happening anymore.”
“I thought so, too,” I replied grimly.
We are in the 21st century, you know? This was supposed to be the era of flying cars and colonizing Mars; instead, we are dealing with plagues and wars, as if we were still living in the medieval era!
The moral of the story is that the world is still very much a work in progress.
Don't get me wrong: Not all is bleak. From a historical point of view, our world is a much better place than it used to be. Consider how little appetite there is for war. Almost all nations do their best to resolve conflicts through negotiations, and there is widespread revulsion for the brute aggression being rained down on Ukraine today.
Nonetheless, we are far from where we should be.
And we are too tolerant of that.
Our internal Chabad WhatsApp groups looked like war rooms over the past few days.
“We are organizing a convoy to evacuate hundreds of people, please pray that everything goes well!”
“The situation is getting worse. Bombs are now landing in residential areas.”
And then:
“We have 73 beds in our Chabad house for refugees from Ukraine ... they will be treated like royalty, please PM or call my cell.”
“Any refugees who make their way to Israel, please contact ... We have apartments ready and our Chabad volunteers can't wait to welcome them!”
This week, I watched my colleagues in Ukraine in awe. Their selfless commitment to their communities, insisting on staying until the last minute to help every Jew, was nothing less than heroic.
Then the Chabad families in Europe and Israel showed their own selflessness by jumping into action to welcome the tens of thousands of refugees with warm beds, fresh meals, welcoming smiles and open hearts.
For me, they are a living example of the Rebbe's vision. That was what the Rebbe had in mind when he asked to establish Chabad Houses around the world. He wanted to be there for all Jews, physically and spiritually. He wanted every Jew to be cared for, and it's beautiful to see how this vision is implemented.
But before we celebrate this achievement, another part of the Rebbe’s lifelong dream has yet to be realized: The coming of Moshiach.
People often think of the coming of Moshiach in fantastic terms, where money grows on trees and fantastic miracles occur.
But for the Rebbe, Moshiach was about finally reaching our goal.
We are so used to living in a world filled with pain and conflict that it is difficult to imagine one without it.
It is not supposed to stay this way.
When G‑d created our imperfect world, he asked (and tasked!) us to do something about it. He gave us the tools, energy and wisdom to slowly but surely move it in the right direction.
Think about it this way:
The world was created dark, and our role is to illuminate it. Every time we do a mitzvah, big or small, we bring more light into the world.
Brought a smile on someone's face? You have added some light. Did you wrap tefillin today? Thanks to you, we have more light. Lit Shabbat candles? Well, with this mitzvah it is easy to see how the world is becoming brighter, literally.
The list goes on and on.
The Rebbe was passionate about adding more light, while keeping his eyes on the prize promised to us in the Torah: the moment when the world will finally be darkness-free. Finding solutions to individual problems, while always striving for the ultimate cure.
This war is another reminder that we are not there yet, and we should not be OK with that. The world’s status is still unacceptable. We must keep at it, keep adding light, keep doing good, while praying to G‑d:
Please, G‑d, enough is enough. Yes, the world is in a much better place than it once was. Still, the remnants of darkness are too much for us to handle. It's time for You to shine Your light and bring us home.
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