Pesach Last Days: When Will the Mashiach Arrive?
In the Haggadah that we just read this past week, there is a turning point for the Israelites where their enslavement drastically changes for the better. Redemption is at hand (Exodus 2:23-25):
And it was during those many days that the king of Egypt died. And the people of Israel groaned from their enslaving labor and they cried out, and that cry ascended to God. God heard their moaning and He remembered His covenant with Avraham, with Isaac and with Jacob. And God saw the children of Israel and God knew.
The Jerusalem Talmud parses these verses to list five factors that were crucial to bring Redemption and Freedom for the Israelites from the hands of the Egyptians. Jewish tradition often links the Egyptian Redemption to the final or Messianic/Mashiach Redemption, as the Haggadah itself does in a few places, the most obvious one being at the end when we declare Next Year in Jerusalem.
As such, it is important to become familiar with these five elements that brought about Redemption 1 and thereby get a glimpse of future Redemption 2 with Mashiach.
1. “And it was during those many days” refers to the simple fact that time was up. Redemption both in Egypt and the future have time clocks. Avraham was foretold how long the Israelites would be enslaved and Jewish tradition says that the Mashiach has to arrive by the Jewish calendar year 6000. That is the latest when it arrives. We are in 5785 – so hold onto your hats.
2. “And the people of Israel groaned” refers to the pain the Israelites experienced in Egypt that caught God’s attention.
3. “and they cried out” refers to the expression of that pain and the resulting prayers.
4. “and He remembered His covenant with Avraham” refers to the merit of the Forefathers (and their wives). God made promises of the Land of Israel and Redemption to them all, and has to fulfill them. We are riding in on their coattails of those promises.
5. “And God saw the people of Israel and God knew” refers to Teshuva/Repentance.
The last one about doing Teshuva is the most difficult one to understand since there seems to be no connection to the verse from which it is taken. It doesn’t say exactly what God “saw” or what He “knew”. It seems quite vague and obscure.
The Torah Temimah (work by Rabbi Baruch Epstein 1902) points out a Midrash that fills in the blanks. It says that God saw the middle-of-the-road type Jews (baynonim in Hebrew) doing Teshuva/Repentance while the “bad” Israelites” (leaving aside who was bad) merely having thoughts and contemplations about doing Teshuva. Hence the wording “and God knew” is in reference to the latter group because only God knows someone’s thoughts. No one else is privy to that.
So when it comes to the final item on this list – Teshuva/Repentance – God saw some people improving their ways whilst others didn’t even do that but merely contemplated as much, which only God knew about since only He knows the thoughts of people.
And herein lies the key to what we have to do to bring Mashiach. Other than #3 – crying out and prayer – the only one in our control is the fifth one, Teshuva. But, as the Midrash indicates, it doesn’t mean that every single person has to become a full-fledged, card-carrying observant Jew, keeping every one of the meticulous mitzvot. No, there just has to be a significant critical mass of Teshuva-doing Jews that creates an overall awareness so the far-off Jews merely have to think about doing Teshuva.
Considering and thinking about doing Teshuva – no more, not even acting on it. This is what was good enough for God when it came to the Redemption 1 and ought to be good enough for Mashiach-Redemption 2. In Redemption 1 not every Jew became a super righteous, “Orthodox”, Torah-observant – whatever label you want to give it – Jew. The important thing is that there were just enough Teshuva-Jews to create a critical mass that put it in the minds of the rest who didn’t do Teshuva in action.
This is happening in our lifetime and I have personally witnessed it. When I first started studying Torah in earnest in 1977 at a “black hat” Yeshiva in Toronto when I was in high school, hardly anyone ever heard of someone from a non-Orthodox background taking the initiative to learn more about Judaism and Torah. I was a bit of an odd duck when I walked into Ner Israel Yeshiva with my jeans and red Jewfro – the whole place would stop and stare and wonder what I was doing there.
Fast-forward 48 years later and today everybody knows someone who has upped their Jewish observance. They may now keep Shabbat, keeps Kosher or have incorporated some mitzvot into their life that they hadn’t before. Every single Jew knows of someone who takes a Torah class, has Shabbat dinner, puts on tefillin, lights Shabbat candles or does some other mitzvot that they never did earlier in their life. What was unheard of 48 years ago is common-place today.
And this is the path and the direction we need to continue on. We need to do anything and everything in our power to expand this movement. Of course movements need their charismatic leaders, but they die if there are no followers and participants. Movements only happen when there is a groundswell of like-minded individuals doing their part to make it come about. That is why Rav Noach, the founder of Aish, used to urge every Jew, no matter what they knew about Judaism or what level they were at, to teach what they know to another. We need as many people as possible on board, on whatever level they’re at, to spread the word and plant a seed.
And once that happens and we reach a certain tipping point, then as Exodus testifies, “God will see and God will know.” God will see more of us following his Torah and Mitzvot and know that the rest are thinking about doing the same. And once God sees and once God knows, Mashiach cannot be far behind.
Good or bad baby
You can change it anyway you want
You can rearrange it
Enlightenment … it’s up to you
–Van Morrison
