Waiting for Moshiach

Copyright Rabbi Eli Hecht
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In our rich history we find different levels of waiting for Moshiach. In the past our feelings of  "waiting for Moshiach" only increased during the bad times.  When we experienced the Churban of the Bais Hamikdash, the destruction of the Holy Temple, when the Jewish people could not make a life for themselves, or at the time of physical persecutions, our waiting for Moshiach increased.

There are two Chassidic stories that my give great insight to "waiting for Moshiach."

When a great Rebbe was told that Moshiach had arrived he quickly went to the window, stuck out his head, took a sniff and said, "It doesn't smell like Moshiach." A question was asked, "Why did the Rebbe have to go to the window and stick out his head? He should have felt it lacking from his room!"

The answer given was that he already had the feelings of Moshiach in his own room. What he needed was that the world should feel Moshiach and for that he waited!

The Maggid was once overheard praying, "Master of the Universe, you must send Moshiach now. If not, there will be no Jews left to for him to meet," meaning that things were so bad. There could be no more waiting.

Yet, perceptions are different for people. For a charitable organization it is when they can balance the payroll on time; for a housewife it is when she gets a new dishwasher or a maid; and for a toddler teacher it is when she gets all the two-year-olds potty trained - that's Moshiach. To further prove the point I offer you a funny story of two tailors who heard that Moshiach was coming.

Tailor A says that when Moshiach will come when we will have plenty of work because the dead will rise and they will need clothes.

Tailor B says, "That sounds good, but there also will be tailors who rise up from the dead so we will not get all the work."

"Ah, don't worry," says Tailor A, "Only we will know the modern styles!"

Last, but not least, there are people worried of a Yom Hadin, a day of judgment, so they may not really want or wait for Moshiach.

Leaders and Moshiach!

Every generation has great leaders like Moshe and Aaron. There may be great Rebbes, Rosh HaYishevas and Maggidim but only one is worthy of being Moshiach! We find in the Talmud where each rabbi said that their teacher was Moshiach. Rabbi Akiva went so far as to have said that Bar Kochba was Moshiach and he was proven wrong! Today as we search and find the Moshe and Aaron of our generation we ought to remember that Moshiach for whom we have been waiting may very well be that person.

Moshiach of a generation feels the purity of the Mitzvahs and if the world is worthy. He can recognize and reveal himself but how does this happen? If happens through Teshuva, returning to Orthodox roots; Torah, making more time to study, Tzadakah, giving as much charity as possible; and Achdus, expressing unity of the Jewish people through love of your fellow Jew.

The time is fast approaching as we witness: the ingathering of the Jewish people to Israel, a new religious adherence in the world (a recent Newsweek report quoted that close to 70 percent of people take time to pray in one form or another), the disintegration of atheistic governments (e.g., U.S.S.R.), and the punishment of great dictators (e.g., Romania and Iraq). So it seems that the time is now.

There is a story told to us by the Rebbes of Lubavitch concerning the redemption. The holy Baal Shemtov met Moshiach and asked, "When will You come?" He answered, "When you will spread out the teaching of Chassidus, then I will come!" According to Chassidim, Moshiach will come when Jews return to Yiddishkeit by increasing mitzvahs and the study of Chassidus. This, too, is happening in unprecedented measure.

Yakkov, our Patriarch, saw that in the spelling of the names of his 12 children the Hebrew letters of Ches or Tes were not founds, for when these letters are put next to each other, they spell Chet meaning Sin. Yakkov, sensing that they had no sins felt he could bless the children and tell them when Moshiach would come. However, he soon realized that the Hebrew letters Kuf and Tzadik were also lacking in their names, for when these two letters are put together they spell "Ketz" translated as the time for Moshiach's revelation. Therefore, Yakkov could not reveal the time of Moshiach's revelation and, subsequently, we wait to this day.

In the past we sorely waited for Moshiach because our existence was very desperate. Now we are being taught that it is a mitzvah to want and wait for Moshiach even when things are relatively good. Yes, now more than ever, is the time for us to increase our mitzvahs and rid ourselves from Chet (sin) and become worthy of the Ketz, Moshiach's revelation.

When we do our part of imbuing the air with holiness, then we will see the Rebbe open the window and say, "Yes." The air outside my room feels like Moshiach, now lets go home to Eretz Yisrael.

As Maimonides says in the Thirteen Principles of Faith, "I firmly believe in the coming of Messiah; and although he may tarry, I daily wait for his coming."