Don't Forget to Still Cry Out!

We are embarking on a new journey for the world.  It is a day that many have been waiting for for many years.

I'm of course talking about the coming of Mashiah.

But, yes, the inauguration of Donald J. Trump is, on a much lesser scale, something to celebrate for the hope and promise it brings for the world.  As opposed to the false "Hope" signs that the 44th President brought along with him, this incoming President actually imbues real hope.

And true to his true self - the Par'oh from Sefer Shemot - President Obama increased the burden upon the Jewish people close to his own demise.  His abstention at the UN, sending his attack-dog Kerry to speak against settlements and lead a group of 70 nations to do the same, and his latest defense of his stab-in-the-back position are some of the ways he is withholding straw and demanding more heavy-lifting from the Jewish people in his final days as President.  And note what the Keli Yakar writes at the end of the Parasha (quoting myself from a previous post):

The Keli Yakar is bothered how Hashem's answer of עתה תראה [Now shalt thou see] answers Moshe Rabbeinu's question of למה הרעתה [wherefore hast Thou dealt ill]. He answers that עתה תראה is telling Moshe Rabbeinu the idea that the darkest part of night is right before dawn, and therefore the harshest part of Galut comes right before the Redemption and is a sign of its imminent arrival.

Now, as I also said earlier, we don't start trusting in the new administration to help matters.  We trust only the Creator of the world.  And this is why it is essential not to get complacent - even if things are going well.

The parasha says:

כג  וַיְהִי בַיָּמִים הָרַבִּים הָהֵם, וַיָּמָת מֶלֶךְ מִצְרַיִם, וַיֵּאָנְחוּ בְנֵי-יִשְׂרָאֵל מִן-הָעֲבֹדָה, וַיִּזְעָקוּ; וַתַּעַל שַׁוְעָתָם אֶל-הָאֱלֹהִים, מִן-הָעֲבֹדָה.	23 And it came to pass in the course of those many days that the king of Egypt died; and the children of Israel sighed by reason of the bondage, and they cried, and their cry came up unto God by reason of the bondage.
כד  וַיִּשְׁמַע אֱלֹהִים, אֶת-נַאֲקָתָם; וַיִּזְכֹּר אֱלֹהִים אֶת-בְּרִיתוֹ, אֶת-אַבְרָהָם אֶת-יִצְחָק וְאֶת-יַעֲקֹב.	24 And God heard their groaning, and God remembered His covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob.
כה  וַיַּרְא אֱלֹהִים, אֶת-בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל; וַיֵּדַע, אֱלֹהִים.  {ס}	25 And God saw the children of Israel, and God took cognizance of them. {S}

Rav Berger's latest newsletter notes that the Ramban comments that even though the time for the Israelites to be redeemed had come, they only merited to be redeemed via their crying out, and if not for that, they would not have been redeemed.  Rav Berger then tells us that Rav Yosef Yitzchak of Lubavitch said on one Seder night that the same applies nowadays regarding the Final Redemption.  All that's missing is that we need to cry out to Hashem to redeem us.

So, while we welcome the new administration, let's remember that our exile is not over.  Even if וימת מלך מצרים, we still need ויזעקו.  Only then will we have וישמע, ויזכר, וירא, וידע.  May those steps come speedily in our days, Amen.