On a crowded subway platform in New York, a young Jewish professional scrolls through the news, toggling between headlines of rising antisemitism and messages from friends checking in. Pride and fear coexist. Strength and exhaustion, too. It’s a feeling many Jews have struggled to articulate since October 7, and more recently, the Bondi shooting – how to move forward while carrying so much at once.
That tension is not new. Parshas Shemos, read this week, describes a people crushed by exile yet on the brink of redemption.
In a powerful sichah delivered by the Rebbe on Shabbos Parshas Shemos 5752 (1992), the Rebbe frames galus and geulah not only as eras in history, but as realities that can overlap in the same moment -and even inside the same person. Yetzias Mitzrayim becomes the ongoing work of stepping beyond those limits through Torah, mitzvos, and actions that reveal geulah within the present.
This perspective anchors “Paradox,” a downloadable learning segment from the Moshiach Mindset series, produced by The Moshiach Office at Merkos 302. It’s designed for individuals, classrooms, and small groups looking for language that can hold contradiction without collapsing into despair or denial – especially now, when antisemitism and emotional overload have become part of daily life for so many Jews.
The Paradox booklet is available for free download here.
For readers seeking a Torah-rooted way to understand galus and geulah – not as abstractions, but as lived experience – this learning offers a good place to start.
