Well, I get a mazal tov. We just had a baby boy on Tuesday, thank G-d! (we Chassidim say Thank G-d not just when getting through danger, but whenever we see a blessing in our lives). He is 6 pounds and beautiful and I am so grateful we got through fine. Every baby is truly a miracle. According to our tradition, we do not officially give a boy a name until the baby is circumcised, eight days after birth. But I will speak about the name and naming in general when this day arrives G-d willing after next Tuesday.
I read a lovely article in a magazine last Shabbat about how giving birth is like bringing the Geulah, (sometimes translated as Redemption) or the Ideal Era. This is the time when the Jewish Messiah will come and the world will revert to the way G-d created it, before the fall in Garden in Eden, when there will be no war or suffering. The Lubavitcher Rebbe says this time will occur in our generation and is indeed happening now, in spite of all the problems that we see in the world. He said we need only “open our eyes” and see the Ideal Era is happening now.
The time we have gone through and are going through now is compared to the “birth Pangs of the Messiah.” The arrival of the Jewish Messiah is like a baby being born, but the wars, the horrible occurrences we read about in the papers, are like the contractions. My labor coach explained that when we have a contraction, the tendency is to tighten up, to fight against the pain, to close our eyes, clench our fists and narrow our vision. The real way to deal with a contraction is to use the pain to open the body, to accept the suffering but not passively, to work with it rather than against it.
We can use the pain and suffering we feel and see every day to see this Ideal Era and bring it to fruition. If we remember every pain we feel is meant to create an opening for the Messiah and the Ideal Era, we do not have to passively accept misfortune but use it constructively.
Then there is the pushing phase. This can be the toughest. We are open. The baby’s head is ready to come out. And yet, we think we are finished. This time, my strength was absolutely spent by this phase. I felt I couldn’t push! The Lubavitcher Rebbe teaches that this is like the phase we are in now. The work is done, all we have to do is to reveal the fact the Messiah is here. But somehow, something is holding us back. The inclination to stop must be resisted, and we must push on through the final, most difficult pain, because the baby is almost delivered.
Incidentally, remember the word for this Ideal Era is Geulah in Hebrew? When my midwife arrived, I was meditating on this concept, and she said “I’m going to be your midwife. My name is Geulah.”
I kid you not!