Our Sages say that the Jews were taken out of Egypt in the merit of the righteous women. The Lubavitcher Rebbe stated that the women of our generation are reincarnations of the women who brought the Jews out of Egypt. Therefore, it is we women who will bring about the final revelation of Moshiach speedily in our days.
What did the women in Egypt do that was so great that it was their merit alone which redeemed the Jewish nation from slavery? They used mirrors to beautify themselves and give their husbands strength and hope for a better tomorrow. They used their physicality and took care of themselves in order to soften their husbands’ hearts and show them that a greater future awaited them—a time of freedom.
It is our job, as the women of the final generation before the ultimate redemption, to learn from the women of Egypt and implement their lessons into our lives, so that we too can bring about a quicker redemption for the entire world. But how does this apply to us in modern-day times?
The Frierdiker Rebbe compared women to Shabbos. We work hard all week, but we receive the finest foods, dishes and clothing on Shabbos. So too, we women have the blessing to receive abundance, joy, peace and love for ourselves and our families.
Our job as women is to step into the role of being the receiver. Many of us are more inclined to give. It’s much easier to be the giver.
We naturally want to do everything we can for the people that we love. We go out of our way to please our husbands. We make sure our children are cared for in the best way possible. And oftentimes, it is we who are left feeling neglected.
When we understand that our role is to receive, and that the act of receiving itself will bring down an abundance of blessings for our families, we will literally see open miracles in our lives.
How can we open ourselves up to receive? The first step is to practice total self-care. We need to care for our physical, spiritual, mental and emotional needs.
It is important for us to eat three nutritious meals every single day and to drink 8 cups of water. This will give us the physical energy and mental clarity to be able to manage everything we have going on in our busy, beautiful lives without feeling completely exhausted and drained. Studies prove that water gives you much more energy than coffee.
In our super busy, modern lives, exercise is something that a lot of us don’t make time for. Many women think that it’s not important or that it is an “extra”. Chassidus says that when Moshiach comes, our neshamos will learn from our bodies, and that our bodies will actually be holier than our neshamos.
How is this so? Hashem’s deepest desire is for us to make the world a dira b’tachtonim—to use physicality and elevate it to spirituality. This can only be done when our neshama is brought down into this world in a physical body. Our deepest mission in this world is accomplished through our bodies.
Exercise is crucial because motion changes emotion. The simple act of moving your body will release stress and change your negative emotions into positive ones. This will help you to serve Hashem from a place of joy, as it says in Tehillim, “Ivdu Es Hashem B’simcha—Serve Hashem with happiness.” Joy is cultivated. Moving your body releases endorphins, the feel-good hormones.
Everyone experiences feelings of sadness, frustration and anger at times. Going on a walk, doing some yoga, or even some jumping jacks in place, will help you release those negative feelings so that you can move on to happier ones, and create a space of calm within. These exercises will help you maintain a healthier relationship with your husband and children, and will create an atmosphere of peace, love and joy in your home.
We women often don’t make the time to care for our spiritual needs either. We think that the very act of raising a frum family is enough. This usually ends up leaving one feeling empty.
Being that women are the more spiritual and intuitive half of a couple, we NEED a connection with Hashem just as much, if not more, than men. And because we are already so connected, we don’t need a shul to have a relationship with Hashem. We can speak to Him at any moment.
When we receive something we are grateful for, we can thank Hashem, either by thinking it in our minds, or even better, by saying it aloud in front of our children. This will instill in them an appreciation for Hashem. By developing an attitude of gratitude, we create a deeper level of connection with Hashem and open ourselves up to receive more.
We all have tremendous blessings in our lives. The fact that we were gifted life is a HUGE blessing in and of itself. We were given the ability to be here on this earth, and to fulfill our neshama’s greatest mission.
It’s easy to fall into a pattern of looking at all the painful things in our lives. When we thank Hashem in advance for handling these issues for us, and for giving us the strength to move through them, we become more connected to Him, and we can receive brachos because of these challenges. Hashem will open our eyes to see revealed miracles. It may come in the form of a new friendship, a class where the speaker is speaking directly to you and giving you clarity and strength, or a bigger tax return than you expected.
We all experience many emotions throughout our days. Even on the best days, we can feel moments of sadness, frustration or anger. It’s important to tune into our emotions and allow ourselves to feel all of them—even the negative ones.
It’s easy to want to push them aside. This doesn’t get rid of them. It just buries them in your subconscious—especially if they are emotions related to something very painful that you’re experiencing in your life.
These emotions can emerge at times when you least expect them. They may come out in the form having less patience with your children. Or snapping at your husband.
If you bury these emotions deep enough, they can G-d forbid lead to becoming disconnected from yourself. This leads to apathy toward other people and things that are important in your life and toward your yiddishkeit.
Embrace your emotions. Accept them as Hashem’s gift to help you process the pain and allow yourself to move through it.
It’s equally important not to cling to painful emotions. These can lead you to hold on to negative things from the past and blame other people or situations for your hurt or for any dysfunction you are experiencing presently.
Feel the feeling for as long as you need to, and then let it go. Your body will actually tell you when it is time for you to release the emotion.
The Alter Rebbe said that the women of the generation of Moshiach will recover their voice. They will become empowered to be true to themselves. The way that we access our deepest truth and open ourselves up to finding our unique gifts from Hashem is by taking the time to process our thoughts and connect within.
This can easily be done while taking a shower, driving in the car, or taking a walk alone. This will also strengthen our relationship with our husband and children. By accessing our deepest thoughts, allowing ourselves to be vulnerable, and sharing these ideas without worrying about what other people will think, we create a deeper connection to others and open ourselves up to more growth opportunities.
We can see what the Alter Rebbe was referring to if we look around at all of the amazing frum women of today who are stepping up and sharing their gifts and talents.
By learning to fully care for yourself and empower yourself, you move into a space of receiving. This will allow you to bring down all the brachos of abundance, joy and love. It will strengthen your shalom bayis and chinuch, and will bring about the ultimate revelation of Moshiach!!!
