Spiritual Transformation in The Blink of an Eye
I remember the moment I heard that President Kennedy had been assassinated. I was just a child, but in the blink of an eye, my innocence vanished, replaced by the reality of life and death.
We all have transformative moments, the birth of a child or the loss of a loved one, when our reality shifts instantaneously.
The Jewish people experienced this in Egypt. As it says in the Torah portion Bo, they descended from freedom into 210 years of Egyptian slavery, only to be redeemed in the blink of an eye.
But as the saying goes: “It is easier to take the Jews out of Egypt than to take the Egypt out of the Jews.”
In Hebrew, the name for Egypt—Mitzrayim—shares a root with meitzarim, meaning "limitations." Real freedom isn't just breaking physical bonds; it’s transcending the limitations that hamper our spiritual growth.
God states in Leviticus 26 that He will never break His covenant with the Jewish people, even if they fail to uphold it. Furthermore, the prophet Jeremiah in chapter 31 speaks of a transformation which he refers to as a "New Covenant" when, in the messianic age, Jews will no longer break the Torah covenant with God.
Some Christian missionaries use Jeremiah to argue that the New Covenant abolishes the commandments, which the Torah says are eternal.
However, Ezekiel 36:26-27 clarifies that the New Covenant doesn't replace the Torah. It is a strengthening and fulfillment of it, where we keep the commandments while no longer being enticed to do evil, because God will replace our "heart of stone" with a "heart of flesh.”
As incredible as this spiritual transformation may sound, history proves that unexpected changes can happen instantaneously and when least expected.
Even the deepest darkness of exile can be transformed into the light of redemption, "in the blink of an eye."
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Bentzion Kravitz
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