Let’s close out the Passover holiday together with a special farewell meal. Enjoy wine and matzah, discuss words of Torah and inspirational stories, sing Chassidic melodies, and find out why this day has a special energy related to the coming of Moshiach.
April 13, from 7:30 pm at Chabad
What Is the Moshiach’s Meal?
Following a tradition instituted by the Baal Shem Tov, Jews all over the world celebrate the waning hours of Passover with Moshiach’s Meal (Moshiach’s Seudah in Yiddish), a feast celebrating the Divine revelation yet to come.
Why Do We Celebrate This Meal?
On the last day of Passover, we read verses from the book of Isaiah as the haftorah.1 This reading includes many wondrous prophecies about the era of Moshiach.
The prophecy foretells of a leader upon whom “the spirit of the L‑rd shall rest, a spirit of wisdom and understanding, a spirit of counsel and heroism, a spirit of knowledge and fear of the L‑rd.”
In addition to bringing peace to mankind (“he will judge the poor justly, and he shall chastise with equity the humble of the earth”), the new peace and G‑dly understanding will extend to all of G‑d’s creatures: “And a wolf shall live with a lamb, and a leopard shall lie with a kid . . . and a small child shall lead them.”
The Baal Shem Tov, the founder of the chassidic movement, was the first one to celebrate this meal, with an open door, allowing anyone who wished to partake.
The sixth Lubavitcher Rebbe explained that on the last day of Passover the radiance of Moshiach is already shining.
When Is the Moshiach’s Meal
Moshiach’s Meal is held following Minchah (the afternoon service) on the eighth day of Passover. In Israel, where Passover is seven days long, Moshiach’s Meal is held on the seventh day.
The celebration customarily extends past nightfall, ushering out Passover amid song, words of Torah and inspiration.
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