Being so close to Passover, and with little time due to the day's activities, it seemed appropriate to share a brief thought. We say at the end of the Passover Haggadah (the text recited on the first two nights of Passover) Le Shanah haBaah biYerushaláim - Next year in Jerusalem.
This phrase expresses the Jewish longing for the coming of Messiah, a foundation of our faith that permeates all its precepts. When we speak of foundations, despite having their own particular subject matter and specific definitions, they affect the entire structure. Just as the foundations of a building, located underground, may not be concerned with the same aesthetic aspects as other parts of the building but support the entire structure, in the same way, Messiah is the backbone of all of Judaism, influencing everything from waking up in the morning, through the entire day, until nightfall.
From a deeper perspective, being the end of the Passover Seder, it contains within it the conclusion of the entire Haggadah and the system through which we can bring forth Messiah.
The Hebrew word shanah, meaning year, shares its root with the Hebrew word shinui, meaning change. Our sages explain that the city of Jerusalem derives its name from the combination of two words: Ira and Shalem, whose respective meanings are fear and completeness. Combining these meanings, our phrase reads: "In the next change, in complete fear." What we mean is that the Passover Seder should affect us in some way so that we change, so that our attitude toward Judaism is different, so that our relationship with God is better, and so that we grow in our level of fear and reverence for God until we reach absolute completeness with the coming of the Messiah.
Pesaj kosher veSameaj!