From a distance He appeared to me

Avraham heard the call of God in a strange land.

Moshe saw the Presence of God, the impossible possibility in the wilderness of an alien land.

Yechezkel envisioned the holy chariot, the secret of the secret on the banks of a foreign river.

Rash”bi understood the light of the inner chambers in the cave of exile.

Ariza”l saw, heard and tasted the process of becoming, the becoming of the process on the shores of the Nile.

The Baal Shem Tov enflamed the world, initiated a holy rebellion from the dark mountains of a darker country.

Exiled, erring, constantly searching to rearrange ourselves, homesick from the travels, the missteps of exile, we find a certain point of ability. The ability to yearn and hope, to cry and dream.

When things are arranged, fixed, reorganized, the ability to yearn for the infinite, unimaginable redemption is weakened, shadowed by the built-ness of being at peace.

כן בקודש חזיזיך לראות עזך וכבודך
The Baal Shem Tov taught, hopefully we will grasp holiness in redemption as we do in exile…