On March 8, 2022, my dreams were shattered like an innocent wine glass that pathetically came tumbling off the kitchen counter after a 9 year old boy knocked into it. I am of course, referring to the day when it was announced that future hall of fame quarterback and super-bowl champion Aaron Rodgers would not be coming to the Denver Broncos, but would rather be staying in dark, dreary, and down-right frigid Green Bay.

After a full year of eager anticipation, hoping, and obsessing over the possibility that he would be the solution to our 7 years of abysmal play, I resigned myself to at the very least, another year of absolute misery.

And then, not two hours later, everything changed. My buddy Yisrael from Israel texted me a screen shot of an Adam Schefter tweet that future hall of fame, Super Bowl champion quarterback Russell Wilson was traded to the Denver Broncos. I was dumbfounded, shocked, and I frankly did not believe him. I did not wish to get my hopes up. Responded I, to my friend:

[11:42 AM, 3/8/2022] Danny Wolfe: Stop it
[11:42 AM, 3/8/2022] Danny Wolfe: Your messing with me
[11:43 AM, 3/8/2022] Danny Wolfe: Uch I know you are
[11:43 AM, 3/8/2022] Danny Wolfe: I had my heart broken once already today.

But he said he was in fact not messing, and this was real.

Despite everything going on that day– we were in the midst of our annual fundraiser in which we raised $600,000 — I stopped everything I was doing, made a TikTok– I am the RealTikTokRabbi after all– and called my Pops. My Pops was in a meeting, but when I called for the third time he finally picked up– sharing my euphoria as soon as I told him.

A full month and change later, I still pinch myself to make sure this is in fact not a dream. And in fact, it is not. Your and my Denver Broncos are back.

To me, this has absolutely everything to do with the Jewish holiday of Passover. The Jewish people were stuck in the lowest levels of impurity– having lost any hope of redemption, feeling completely un-worthy. And yet, after some time, everything changed. Our redemption, which once appeared so utterly hopeless, was now becoming a very real reality.

One of the reasons, Rabbi Leuchter explains, why we focus so intensely on the Exodus is to remind ourselves that just as G-d redeemed us out of the dark miserable hell of servitude in Egypt, He can, and will redeem us once again out of our long and painful exile in which we currently find ourselves. The story of Egypt strengthens our faith as we recall how He intervened in the world before to redeem us, and will do so again in the future.

If the Broncos were able to go from perennial pathetic losers to Super Bowl contenders in a matter of hours, by golly, we too can emerge from the immense dark times in which we find ourselves as we march towards our ultimate redemption, let it be speedily in our days.