PARSHAT BEREISHIT When G-d created the first human, He called him Adam. Adam's soul compounded within it the souls of all his descendants, all mankind. The Hebrew word for "man" thus is Adam. Mystics note that adam is an acronym for the names of three central figures: Adam, (King) David, and Moshiach. The Baal Shem Tov derives from this that there is a spark of the soul of Moshiach within every single Jew, and concludes that it is incumbent upon every individual Jew to perfect and prepare that part of the spiritual stature of Moshiach to which his soul is related.

Moshiach is able to redeem the entire Jewish people because he is bound up with the entire people, because there is a part of him within every Jew. On the other hand, for this very reason, every Jew is also able to hasten and bring about the actual manifestation of Moshiach. One can do so by means of Torah and mitzvot. For, Torah and mitzvot effect a purification of the world, gradually reducing its impurity until "I shall remove the spirit of impurity (altogether) from the earth." (Zechariah 13:2) This will be with the coming of Moshiach who shall reveal goodness and holiness in the world, culminating in "The earth shall be filled with the knowledge of G-d as the waters cover the sea!" (Isaiah 11:9) (From: Insights to Geula, Chabad in Cyberspace)

"Let there be light"(1:3) In 1907, when Rabbi Sholom DovBer of Lubavitch was staying at the health spa in Wirtzburg, Germany, a group of chassidim came to spend a Shabbos with the Rebbe. Among them was Reb Yosef Yuzik Horowitz, his son-in-law Reb Feivel Zalmanov, and Reb Elimelech Stoptzer. The Rebbe prayed for many hours that Shabbos morning, as was his manner. Meanwhile, the chassidim made kiddush and consumed a respectable quantity of `l'chayim's. Later, when the Rebbe had finished and they sat with him to the Shabbos meal, Reb Yosef Yuzik asked: "Rebbe, what is a chassid?" Replied the Rebbe: "A chassid is a lamplighter. The lamplighter walks the streets carrying a flame at the end of a stick. He knows that the flame is not his. And he goes from lamp to lamp to set them alight." Asked Reb Yosef Yuzik: "What if the lamp is in a desert?" "Then one must go and light it," said a lamp in a desert, the desolation of the desert becomes visible. The barren wilderness will then be ashamed before the burning lamp." Continued the chassid: "What if the lamp is at sea?" "Then one must undress, dive into the sea, and go light the lamp." "And this is a chassid?" Reb Yosef Yuzik asked. For a long while the Rebbe thought. Then he said: "Yes, this is a chassid." "But Rebbe, I do not see the lamps!" Answered the Rebbe: "Because you are not a lamplighter." "How does one become a lamplighter?" "First, you must reject the evil within yourself. Start with yourself, cleanse yourself, refine yourself, and you will see the lamp within your fellow. When a person is himself coarse, G-d forbid, he sees coarseness; when a person is himself refined, he sees the refinement in others." Reb Yosef Yuzik then asked: "Is one to grab the other by the throat?" Replied the Rebbe: "By the throat, no; by the lapels, yes." (From: Once Upon a Chassid by Yanki Tauber)

The Torah views man's domination of woman as a curse, something to be avoided. Just as no one walks barefoot in the forest in order to help the snake fulfill its curse of "you will bite his heel," so must a husband strive to avoid being the cause of the curse "he shall rule over you." So, when a husband lightens his wife's curse by not behaving like a despot, Hashem also lightens his punishment - "by the sweat of your brow, you shall eat bread." Instead of having to work hard for a living, Hashem sends him riches, lightening the amount of sweat it takes to put bread on the table...and his credit card remains without a dent. (From:Ohr Somayach web site, Rabbi Mordechai Druck, heard from Rabbi Calev Gestetner)

The Answer to a Prayer: The Shelah writes: "There is something puzzling about the statement of the Sages that `The A-mighty does not spurn the prayer of a multitude.' Our own eyes testify otherwise, for three times a day the entire Jewish people pray the Shemoneh Esreh, which speaks of the Redemption several times.... Yet we are still in exile after over 1554 years!" To resolve this, the Shelah explains that "G-d acts in keeping with the nature of this request. For every day there is a redemption: ...the nations of the world rise up against us to destroy us, and G-d saves us."The Rebbe adds the following comment: "The Alter Rebbe explains in Tanya that when a Jew requests something of G-d in the course of a blessing, this request is certainly fulfilled `without the faintest vestige of doubt, ...[for] we are forbidden to recite a blessing of doubtful obligation, for fear that it be pronounced in vain.' We are forced to conclude, therefore, that the Jewish people's request for the Redemption is in fact fulfilled." (From: From Redemption to Exile, From talks of the Rebbe Shlita on Shabbos Parshas Va'eira and Shabbos Parshas Bo, 5744 [1983-84])

-King Solomon