Have you noticed that all around us we are seeing "record breaking" everything lately?

Let's see: Gas prices, Real Estate values, The Dow Jones index, even the amount of consecutive games an NBA star can score 50 or more points per game. To me, it's really getting boring. The next time I hear that someone "shattered" the hot dog eating contest at Nathan's I'm gonna scream!

But that's not all. Recently, someone sent me an article titled "50 is the new 30"! Is that so? Wasn't it just last week that they said "40 is the new 20"? Boy, that one went down in a hurry. Still, considering that I am pushing 46, Bez"H, it was very heartening.

The bottom line is that what we thought till now was the "outer limits" of our ability, has become the "jumping off" point from which we ought to start.

Which brings me to this week's Parsha and calendar.

This past week we celebrated the "eighth" day of Passover known as "Moshiach's" day. This week's Torah Portion is Shemini, another reference to the "eighth" day. This coming week we will celebrate Bais Iyar, the Birthday of the Rebbe Maharash, who was known for his famous motto of Melechatchila Ariber.

All of creation revolves around the number 7. Per force, the number eight represents an emanation which transcends creation. To actualize Moshiach, we need to access G-dly revelation from a source which is "above" us. The two sons of Aharon attempted, in this week's Torah portion, to access this energy without preparing the proper vessels. As a result, they "fried" in the process. And the Rebbe Maharash insisted that we ignore obstacles and go "over" them. Natural process is not what we are about. A neat package of all the events and teachings with which we "live" this week.

None of this is new to any of you. I have spoken about it a hundred times in the past years. However, today, I would like to add something a little extra.

It seems to me, that we are selling ourselves a little short in the transcendence department. Way back in 1983, the Rebbe spoke about a particular Shliach, who had "leapt" so high over the obstacles that he "forgot" to land on the other side. While the Rebbe felt that this sort of behavior needed to stop, the Rebbe credited him with getting others to "at least lift their feet" to jump, after watching his "out of this world" vault.

Since that time, things have changed. Today, if we want, the "inspiration" to leap comes from all around us, even, lehavdil, from the world at large. No longer is "lifting the feet" considered an act of leaping over obstacles when the whole world is growing and expanding at a neck-breaking, record-shattering, pace. Today, to feel "eight" like, and to be in "over the obstacle" mode, you gotta really go for it.

This is really great news! Just a short time ago, the idea that the revelation of Moshiach is imminent, that the world was really going to change for good and that you and I could make that happen, was a sheer fantasy.

Not anymore! Today, 50 year olds think they're 30! The Dow Jones laughs at 12,000 and you and I need to jump and jump high. You and I need to expand our connection to Hashem and His Torah in ways we only fantasized before. We need to touch souls. Our own, our families, our friends and our communities. We need to know in our hearts that one real leap will bring us down on the other side of the walls of Golus and we will see the revelation of Moshiach Now!

You got my back?