L’chaim – May We Be Like the Cow!
This was sometimes the blessing given by the mashpia during a farbrengen.
And now, in all my Hutzpah, I offer this same blessing to you, my dear friends:
Be like the cow.
On various occasions, we read material, attend lectures, or even go to farbrengens to learn how to become better givers—how to be better parents to our children, how to support our partners in life, how to uplift those who work with us or for us. We seek and learn tools to influence in better, healthier ways.
But sometimes, we need to learn from the cow.
When a cow grazes in the pasture, chewing healthy grass—when she eats, she isn’t thinking about the milk she’s producing to give to others. She eats for herself, for her own health. And as a result, the milk comes forth naturally—and it’s good, healthy milk.
There are times when we too must pause and nourish ourselves—for our own sake.
Only then can we continue to be a source of strength, hope, faith, and security for those who are influenced by us.
The Feast of Moshiach is one of those moments.
This coming Sunday (in Israel it takes place on the upcoming Shabbat in the evening), the last day of Pesach, toward evening, is a uniquely auspicious time in the world—a time when the light of Moshiach shines. These are moments that can impact anyone who makes themselves a vessel for redemptive influence—personally, and from there, globally.
How does one make themselves a vessel? It’s quite simple:
Eat matzah. Drink four cups of wine—four cups of redemption.
This is a time to take a bit of wine, to set aside our usual assumptions, familiar paradigms, comfortable conventions, and common conceptions—and be willing to listen with curiosity and inner openness to a redemptive consciousness.
From experience I can tell you—it’s life changing.
And the impact on our surroundings? That will come naturally.
And it will be healthier, more authentic, and more effective.
L’chaim, fellow Jews! Moshiach Now!
Shabbat Shalom and Chag Sameach,
Rabbi Zalman Wishedski