The Coming of the Mashiach

The Mashiach is one of the most complicated beings in Judaism. There are countless discussions about what the Mashiach is when he will come, if we know that he’s only one person, and furthermore. When God sees that we are all one nation, G-d will send us the Mashiach. This means that we aren’t speaking lashon hara about others, we aren’t fighting with our fellow brothers and sisters, and that we all love each other like we love ourselves. The Torah denotes the fact that Mashiach is a human being, although the actual spirit of the Mashiach will come from Gan Eden. Mashiach is Hebrew for “the anointed one”. It is said that only he can rebuild the temple and gather the Jewish nation from the corners of the earth, and afterward return them to the land that was once promised to us many years ago, known as Eretz Yisrael. Throughout the Tanakh and other commentary, the Torah and other sources give explicit examples describing the arrival of the Mashiach.

There are many examples throughout the Torah describing the arrival of Mashiach. The Rambam describes the importance in the belief of Mashiach in chapter 13 of עיקרי אמונה. He claims that it isn’t enough to believe in the coming of Mashiach, but you must also aspire for his arrival. Is it important to do this because throughout exile and the expulsion of the Jews in the Torah, yearning for the retrieval of the Jewish nation gave us the Emunah necessary to continue to prosper in a vigorous way. The belief in God's plan turned out great for the Jews in the end, like God had promised it would, and this is the reason why I am here today. Thus, longing for instead of believing in the Mashiach's arrival will make God want to carry out his mission even more. As Jews, we believe that our spiritual goals are unattainable in this world, and the mere fact that we do not feel death conveys the lack of cognizance of our spiritual capacity. Aspiring for the coming of the Mashiach will bring us together as a nation, making us ready for G-d to bring the spirit of Mashiach from Gan Eden. Another idea that is correlated with the coming of Mashiach is whether or not nature will change. In the book ויקרא כו:ו, G-d says that he will remove wild beasts from the land. The question raised here is what does this actually mean? According to R. Yehuda, as explained by Ramban, the removal of wild beasts will be an entirely innate occurrence. Rambam explains that when Mashiach comes, there will be so many blessings in the new world that the cities will be entirely populated, and there will not be enough room for wild animals, thus leaving them in this world. This clearly demonstrates that Rambam sides with the opinion that the nature of this world will not change when Mashiach comes. Another question derived from this source in the Torah is what will actually change if nature doesn’t? In הלכות מלכים פרק יב הלכה ד, the Rambam explains that we didn’t aspire and yearn for the coming of the Mashiach in order for us to have pleasure and reward in this world. When Mashiach comes, the thing that will change the most is that the Jewish people will be able to involve themselves in Torah learning without any distractions from this world. Only then will they find themselves to be virtuous and have the sanctity of living in the world to come. The Rambam explains that the Messianic Era will be characterized by the acknowledgment of God and it will provide exceptional opportunities for Torah study and appreciation of God. Overall, if we aspire for the arrival of the Mashiach when the time comes, we will find ourselves worthy of living eternally in the world to come.

There are many different possibilities as to how and when Mashiach will come. In ישעיה פרק ס:כב, the text states, “ In its time I will hasten it”. The Talmud comes to tell us that this means one of either two things: If the Jewish people aren’t ready, the Mashiach will come at a set time, and if they are worthy, he will come earlier. This verse elucidates that there is a set time pertaining to the arrival of Mashiach, however if it is merited, it will be much better. So now, the question we must ask ourselves is “what do we need to do to become worthy of the arrival of Meshaich''? In Shemot Rabba 25:12; Yerushalmi, Ta’anit 1:1, Gemara tells us that if the entire Jewish nation were to collectively keep just one Shabbat, we would be worthy of the arrival of the Meshiach. In my opinion, I think that this is very unlikely to happen because sadly nowadays many Jews choose to follow after the Goyim, and do not associate with Judaism in any way. Another way in which this can happen is by doing Tsheva. In Devarim perek lamed, the Torah states, “When you return unto G‑d, your G‑d, and will listen to His voice… He will restore and gather you from all the nations to which G‑d, your G‑d, has dispersed you” (Deuteronomy 30:2). Tshuva is one of the easiest and simplest ways to help bring the immediate arrival of the Mashiach. The simple yet sincere act of regretting sins made in the past and making a vow to better yourself is enough to get G-d to forgive you. Another simple way to bring the coming of the Mashiach is the mere act of tzedakah. When you are able to open up your heart to share a necessity to life that is valuable to you, G-d feels compassion. Another topic that is related to when Mashiach will come is the war of Gog u-Magog. The text in יחזקאל פרק לח describes this great war in the end of days. Gog, the leader of the country Magog will have a mission to annihilate the Jews in their own land. Mashiach will come in the midst of war to help lead us to victory, and G-d’s name will be glorified. To conclude, we as a Jewish nation should strive to be better by doing teshuva, keeping Shabbat, and giving tzedakah, so that we can hasten the arrival of the Mashiach for him to come in a greater fashion.

The Torah describes the holiness of Mashiach when he comes to save us. We could only wonder what Mashiach’s personality and character would be like when arises from the kingdom of heaven. In the book of Isiah, the Torah describes the Mashiach as being greater than all the kings that came before him, how his wisdom will exceed King Solomon, and that he will be the second greatest prophet in the history of the Torah, only second to Moshe Rabeynu. In Midrash Tehillim 2:3 and 87:6-7, the Torah explains how powerful Mashiach will be by saying that he can command all nations. This has never been done by anyone ever before in the history of mankind, and the fact that Mashiach will be able to do so will show the mightiness of G-d. He will bring new heights to the world of Torah that the Torah learned in this world wouldn't even be comparable to the Torah learned in the Messianic Era. With his arrival, there will be a new era of peace, with no war, crime, or even poverty in Earth. It will be a time of universal peace. We know that the Mashiach will be a human being because in Igeret Teyman, ch. 4, we see that the Moshiach is declared to be a living man in this world, and when the right time comes for his arrival, he soul will be bestowed upon a living tzadik. Altogether, there are many ways to bring about the coming of the Mashiach, but we must be ready for his greatness and the mightiness that G-d will command.

There are many sources throughout the Torah that describe the arrival of the Mashiach. The Rambam explains that it isn’t enough to believe in the coming of Mashiach: you must yearn for his arrival. The Rambam also believes that the thing that will change the most when Mashiach comes is that the Jewish people will be able to learn the Torah without any distractions from this world. The Talmud comes to tell us that if the Jewish people aren’t ready, the Mashiach will come at a set time, and if they are worthy, he will come earlier. The ways in which we can get Mashiach to come earlier is by either collectively keeping one Shabbat as a nation, doing teshuva, or giving more tzedaka. The Torah explains how powerful Mashiach will be by saying that he can command all nations, not only the Jewish nation. Our responsibility as Jews is to start taking something upon ourselves every day to be better. Not only will it benefit us in the long run, but the world will also be grateful for it.