Based on the Dvar Malchus of Shabbos Parshas Shmos, 5752
The parsha starts with the words, "And these are the names of B'nai Yisrael that came to Egypt... Reuven, Shimon, Levi, and Yehuda." The Midrash says and even proves how each of the names is connected to the geula. Before they actually went to Egypt, the tribes remembered and mentioned the eventual exodus and redemption from it!
The same Midrash on the pasuk says also hints to the true and complete redemption which we are all waiting for by explaining the connection between Yosef's name to the geula. Yosef's name in Hebrew looks and sounds like the Hebrew word for addition, hosafa. In other words, in the future Hashem will add on to (the geula from Egypt) but this time will completely redeem the Jewish nation from the evil government.
At this point in the farbrengen, the Rebbe Melech Hamoshiach Shlita asks, "How can this pasuk (according to the Midrash) be talking about the complete redemption when we see clearly that it only talks about their descent into Egypt?"
Another question that the Rebbe asked on numerous occasions is, "The Torah isn't a history book. The word Torah in Hebrew comes from the word horaa, a directive (a lesson for us to learn from in our daily avodas Hashem). When we learn this pasuk once again in the year 5767, what should we learn from it? How will the contents and meaning of this pasuk change and influence our lives?"
The galus is part of the geula
The Rebbe Shlita answers both questions with a new Torah insight. "...When the pasuk says that the Jewish nation came to Egypt, it was in essence their redemption. We see superficially that the Jewish nation did in fact descend into Egypt. However, when we look at the matter from the inside, how things really are, we can say that not only is the descent for the sake of the eventual ascent and redemption from Egypt, it is also part of the ascent, part of the true and complete redemption. The Midrash therefore says, 'And these are the names of B'nai Yisrael that came to Egypt... the names are mentioned here because they refer to their redemption...also referring to their future redemption...'
What does the Rebbe mean with the above explanation? How is that so? We will explain shortly.
Leaving Egypt – even during the galus
The Mishna quotes the pasuk, "In order that you should remember the day you left Egypt for the rest of your life. The words 'for the rest of your life' include the yimos hamoshiach." From here we can understand that we recite the words in the krias shma "...I am Hashem your Hashem that took you out of the Land of Egypt..." in the daytime as well as the night.
The Rebbe Melech Hamoshiach Shlita explains that our exodus from Egypt is a mighty foundation and a strong pillar in our Torah and belief. Essentially speaking, from a spiritual point of view, leaving Egypt means overcoming the evil inclination, leaving the restrictions and limitations of the body and doing what the good inclination tells us what to do, such as learning Torah and doing mitzvos, thereby connecting ourselves to Hashem.
The Mishna emphasizes that we also mention our leaving Egypt at night. This teaches us that even when we encounter difficult situations (night), even during the galus when Hashem's light doesn't illuminate the way for us and we get all confused as if walking in the dark, we are able to overcome such situations when we leave our own personal spiritual Egypt and connect with Hashem, as we did when we first left Egypt and will do in the yimos hamoshiach.
We feel the geula in the middle of the galus when we leave our "Egypt". Rabbi Elazar ben Azarya taught this Mishna on the day he became the nasi of the Jewish nation. The Rebbe Melech Hamoshiach Shlita explains that the nasi's job is to connect the Jewish nation with the geula while still in galus. Therefore Rabbi Elazar ben Azarya taught the above Mishna on the day he became the nasi, because it talks about every Jew's connection with the geula.
This is precisely why the Rebbe Melech Hamoshiach Shlita nisi doreinu, upon becoming Rebbe, said the maamar "Bosi Ligani" on Yud Shvat, because it discusses our shlichus of bringing Moshiach in actuality mamash.
The answer – even today everything is centered on geula
Let's go back to the question we asked at the beginning of the "Dvar Malchus" why those names who the Torah says "...came to Egypt..." are called so because of the geula. The purpose of "leaving Egypt" is in order for us to feel the geula even in a time when things are spiritually dark. Being that the case, we can say that the Jewish nation is already connected to the geula even at a time when they already came to Egypt, because this descent into Egypt, coming to Egypt, is part of the complete geula!
What are we suppose to learn from all of this and apply it to our own lives? The Rebbe teaches us what to do by bringing one of the 12 psukim, "Bichol dor vador chayav adam liros es atzmo kiilu hu yatza mimitzrayim". Every day in galus is considered as if we are in Egypt. We have to leave our Egypt and proceed on to the complete redemption.
Now that it's clear to us that coming to Egypt is part of the geula, we will know how to change this current galus and show that in reality we aren't in galus, but instead are in the midst of the geula!
Tachlis
(After discussing the matter, what should we do?) The Rebbe says, "...Our avoda is '...to bring about the yimos hamoshiach...' – to already reveal immediately how '...they came to Egypt...', being in galus, is really the Jewish nation's geula..."
How do we do this? "...By preparing ourselves and others to be in the yimos hamoshiach..." The Rebbe explains that this is done being part of and helping others learn Rambam on a daily basis (his yom hahilula is on the 20th day of Teves). Children can learn the Rambam's Sefer Hamitzvos. Special emphasis should be placed on learning those mitzvos that are related to the Melech Hamoshiach.
ורבינו מורנו אדוננו יחי ועד לעולם המשיח מלך!
לזכות כ הוד"אדמו ק"שליט המשיח מלך ר"א ויגאלנו יגלה מהרה!
