WORDS
Unlike the previous 14 steps, this last and final step does not manifest itself in any prayer or action. We have reached a point that transcends words and praise. After we have completed our Seder service, we are accepted favorably – nirtzah by G-d.
THREE LEVELS OF INSPIRATION
In Chassidic literature we find that there are three levels of Divine inspiration:
The first is the inspiration that precedes our efforts, and is intended to give us a jump start. If we feel sudden inspiration, we know that it is a result of what the Zohar calls an “arousal from above.”
Once a person takes the initiative and works at internalizing that inspiration it generates a reciprocal inspiration from Above commensurate with the effort expended by those “below.”
When this cycle is complete the twin forces of inspiration create a “perfect” atmosphere. We have the benefit of the Divine inspiration that is engendered by our human initiative and effort.
A third, follow-up force descends from on High. It is infinitely more sublime than anything we could have generated by our actions alone. This force cannot be summoned; it comes only of its own accord.
The sole prerequisite is that there be a “perfect location” on which it can “land.
A SMOOTH LANDING
Perhaps, we can use the following analogy. A plane with supplies is sent to help a stricken area. But it cannot land because the terrain is too rocky. When it eventually finds a smooth area on which to land, it cannot be said that the supplies came because of the smooth land. Similarly, the third “arousal from above” cannot be generated by our efforts combined with the reciprocal arousal from above it generates. However, when these two energies are combined, they create the smooth landing space for this additional unparalleled Divine energy to manifest itself.
When we finish the Seder, we have essentially provided the perfect atmosphere and the ideal landing space, so that the most sublime Divine energies can manifest themselves. In one sense, we cause it; in another sense, it comes, as it were, of its own accord.
This is the meaning of Nirtzah. Our Seder is complete and we are now elevated sufficiently to receive that which was unattainable before.
CONCLUSION
Next Year or Now in Jeruslaem?
By the end of the Seder we have made the spiritual progression necessary to be ready for the final and complete freedom and redemption. This is why we conclude the Seder by declaring:
NEXT YEAR IN JERUSALEM!
The Previous Rebbe, Rabbi Yoseph Yitzchak Schneersohn explained that this declaration should not be understood as a suggestion that we will have to wait until next year to be in Jerusalem. Rather it means that we will be there imminently so that when we gather again next year to observe the Passover Seder we will already have been in Jerusalem.
Passover Never Ends!
Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi, the Alter Rebbe, did not include at the conclusion of the Haggadah the customary passage “the order of Pesach is concluded,” because the Passover Seder never truly ends. Instead, it continues throughout the year.
To be sure, the illumination of every festival radiates every day of the year; but Passover extends continuously.
Every day, we must leave Mitzrayim (meaning our boundaries and confinement), transcend our previous limitations and reach ever higher levels of holiness.
PASSOVER NEVER ENDS.
Even in the days of Moshiach, we will still remember the Exodus from Egypt the starting point for our march towards the future and final Redemption from Egypt.
Every time we observe Passover we come a step closer to experiencing the true and com112 plete Redemption, imminently.
