A Seat at the Head Table | Rabbi Moshe Perlstein

So Moshiach is here. The famous feast, the wild ox and Leviathan. And you come inside and you're looking at what was once very, very popular, the table that has the place cards. And you're looking for your name and you're looking and you see it says, And you're like: Table number 1? That sounds like it's the head table. Maybe there's a mistake. Let's check it out. You walk into this grand ballroom. Oy, the way Chazal give us to understand a little bit this unbelievable feast. The wild ox, the Leviathan, the preserved wine. It's heaven. Everybody's there, the holy forefathers. And you're holding your card and you're like: Table 1, table 1... And all of a sudden, you're about to faint. You look at table 1, you see over there Moshe Rabeinu, R’ Shimon bar Yochai, Hillel Hazaken. And you're like: Actually, I think there's a mistake. And all of a sudden, the guy that’s walking around making sure everybody's comfortable, he tells you, No. You? In between the Arizal and the Baal Shem Tov, that’s your seat. And you're like: How? I'm a regular guy. Maybe sometimes even not so okay. And they tell you, One second. What generation are you from? You're from 2026 and you were able to strengthen yourself against the Nisyonos of 2026. You're at the levels of the Tanaim and Amoraim. Table 1 is your seat. That's what the holy Chofetz Chaim tells us in the beginning of צפית לישועה. Could you imagine how much easier it is today to reach that level of Tzaddik? These are his words. In the beginning of times, there were such great Tzaddikim. The Nisyonos were different. They were much less. But in today's days, where the Yetzer Hara, he looks like he won. He looks like he won. Ribono shel Olam, what do you want from me? Look, there's Nisyonos all over the place. How do I have a chance? It looks like we're over. But Chazal tell us the opposite. It's a chicken without a head. He's getting his last licks. But any second, he's plotzed out. And therefore, if we just hold on tight, and we realize that I can make it. I don't have to do as much as they did in the previous generations, I don’t know, fasts and who knows, and whatever they were able to reach. In our generation, just be yourself. Hold on to Vayimaen. Hold yourself back. You have the strength. Because if you realize, the holy Piaseczner gives us to understand, The purpose of life, it says: And I shall dwell among them. As it says in the holy books, that the Aibishter wanted a dwelling place in the lower realms that there’s no realm lower than that. Exactly where your Nisyonos are, the Aibishter says, that's where I want you to strengthen. And therefore, every single time that the Nisayon comes your way, and you remember, Wow, here’s my chance to be like Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakai. Here's my chance, truly, to prove that I can do it and I can make it and I will. The Aibishter in Heaven is looking and saying, Look at what a joy my children bring me. Look what spiritual light my children are, that even with these Nisyonos that they have today, they know how to hold themselves strong. The Aibishter should give us the strength to hold on tight.