Moshiach and Geulah

The following is a free translation of part of a talk which the Rebbe delivered on the 15th of Shevat 5739 (February 12, 1979).

Many Jews are dejected, exhausted from the difficulty of exile. And our protest is justified—ad mosai (how long must we wait)?! …

There is a well-known analogy which Chassidim repeat in the name of the Maggid, Rabbi DovBer of Mezritch, that the exile is comparable to a father who conceals himself from his son. The reason is not that the father does not want to be together with his son, but rather to awaken in the son a desire and yearning to find his father. After all, when the son is constantly in the presence of his father, his desire to be with his father is not revealed, for “continuous pleasure is not pleasure.”

There arises a situation, however, when the son ceases searching for the Father… He claims that “our signs [of redemption] we have not seen… and there is none among us who know how long” (Psalms 74:9). Therefore he concludes that G-d must have forsaken us and he loses hope and discontinues his search for G-d.

When the Father sees that the son is no longer seeking him… then the exile truly begins. As long as the son is searching for the Father, this constitutes a preparation, a beginning, and a spark of the redemption - for this is what is occupying the son. But when the son stops searching, then we have the fulfillment of the verse “and I will conceal, indeed I will conceal, My face on that day” (Deuteronomy 31:18). The Baal Shem Tov explains that then the concealment itself is concealed, for the son is unaware that the Father is hiding.

Practically speaking, he doesn’t think about G-d, he thinks about worldly matters. True, he does everything in a kosher manner as dictated by the Code of Jewish Law, he even studies Torah properly. But he has stopped thinking about the Giver of the Torah or about conducting business honestly because G-d alone is the one who “gives you the strength to amass wealth.”

(The Rebbe was weeping uncontrollably while speaking these next few paragraphs)

And when someone criticizes the son he responds, “Why do you complain to me?… The complaint should be directed to G-d… How long can we sit in exile?...”

Indeed, it is true that the father must conceal himself from his son in order to awaken within him a yearning for his father… But what should the son do when the father places him in an incredible darkness?… And especially if he is on such a low level, as it says “if our ancestors were like angels we are like humans compared to them, and if our ancestors were like humans then we are as donkeys – and not even like the donkey of Rabbi Pinchas ben Yair*.” And then He demands of us that he should constantly search… Sunday search… Monday search…

And when we search through the Holy Books for an explanation, we find that the Talmud explicitly says (Sanhedrin 97b), “all the designated times [for Moshiach’s arrival] have already passed, and now [his arrival] is contingent on repentance. Furthermore, it is a clear halachah that through thinking a thought of Teshuvah one becomes a Tzaddik, and there is no Jew who hasn’t thought penitential thoughts, not once, but many times!

So how can one lodge a complaint against a mortal of flesh and blood who is finite and limited – this is how he was created by G-d, this is not his fault! How can one criticize him because he is not constantly thinking about the Redemption… it is not possible… G-d Himself says, “I only ask commensurate to their capabilities,” but He has not given us the strength…

Therefore we must increase in light, and not just any light, but specifically the light of simcha (joyousness). Since simcha “breaks all boundaries and limitations,” it breaks through the person’s limitations, the limitations of this world, and the limitations imposed by this dreadful darkness…

*The Talmud relates that Rabbi Pinchus ben Yair, a Tannaic sage, owned a donkey which refused to feed from fodder which wasn’t properly tithed!

Doing things in a joyful manner has a tremendous effect. This is evident from the verse which says that the punishments of exile came, "because you did not serve Hashem with joy." Additional joy therefore nullifies the exile.

Eve Of The 12th Day Of Sivan, 5743

One thing only: One must be firm in one's trust, and one must do so joyfully. For it is taught in the Zohar, Parshas Tetzaveh (page 184b): This lowly world of ours receives its entire flow of beneficence from Above. If down here [people live their lives] with joy and with light, then the world Above reciprocates in kind, with light and with joy. Moreover, it is written that one must "serve G-d with joy." Hence, if a Jew is joyful, this joyfulness down here calls down upon him a corresponding joy from Above.

Igros Kodesh, Vol. 5, p. 204, Letter 1405

Despite the darkness of Galus we can “serve G-d with joy,” and serve Him in a manner which encompasses every moment of our lives and every aspect of our behavior, even our sleep.

On the surface, it seems impossible for us to be happy when we are living in Galus. In the midst of our service to G-d we are conscious of Galus. However, we must realize that our service consists of turning darkness into light, and bitterness into sweetness, and that through our service we will bring about the revelation of the messianic age. Furthermore, our service, which brings about the Messianic revelation, possesses an advantage over the revelations itself, as our sages declared, “one moment of Teshuvah and good deeds in this world is better than the entire life of the world to come.” We must view ourselves as a person who owns a locked chest of precious jewels and also possesses the key. From this we can feel great joy.

Eve Of Rosh Chodesh Nissan, 5740

The Jews should rejoice in their Maker. Every Jew should share in G-d's joy, who rejoices and is happy in His dwelling in this world. (Tanya ch. 33)

This means that G-d is happy with the world He made and Jews should be doubly happy for this. On this day the Rashbi also asked us to be more happy. When a person is happy he can accomplish a lot more than usual, so that from this day we go forward with rich optimism, certain of growth and accomplishment in Torah and mitzvos, with great happiness, and then G-d will bestow all His blessings upon us.

When Jews serve G-d with joy it increases G-d's joy. When a Jew rejoices that G-d is with him then G-d in even happier with His people. And through His people G-d is also happy with all His creations – the heavens, the earth and all their host which are blessed and continue to exist in the merit of "the breath of small children in which there is no sin." The Universe will then be blessed with the supreme blessing of peace which includes all other blessings – and engenders all other blessings, brilliantly and openly.

Shabbos Parshas Emor, 17th Day of Iyar, 5747

Being truly alive means that one's life should lack nothing of whatever you and your wife need materially and spiritually. However, it can happen (G-d forbid) that perhaps one does not deserve to receive such blessings from the Holy One, blessed be He. Concerning such a situation it is written in the holy Zohar: "If, from down here below, a person shows a luminous countenance, in the same way does a luminous Countenance shine upon him from Above [...]. In this spirit it is written, 'Serve G-d with joy': the joy of a mortal elicits upon himself another, Supernal joy. Similarly the world below, being thus crowned, draws down [blessings upon itself] from Above."

Igros Kodesh, Vol. 6, p. 266, Letter 1773

14 Elul 5748

There is no explanation why Moshiach hasn't come: it is certain that every Jew has done tshuva; the Tehillim of Dovid Malka Meshicha have been recited in the greatest quantity; many farbrengens have been held; the spreading of the wellsprings [of Chassidus] has been going on since the Baal Shem Tov, more than seven generations[...]

If so, the question is asked: what more can be done that hasn't already been done?!...

We could say that the thing which still wasn't done in order to bring Moshiach is -- the desired service of simcha [joy] in order to bring Moshiach.

In addition to the fact that "simcha breaks all limitations", including the limitations of golus [exile], there is a special segulah [hidden power] in simcha to bring the geulah -- as explained that Hashem's simcha atzmis [true, essential joy] will come with the building of the 3rd Bais Hamikdash, and we awaken this simcha atzmis through simcha shel mitzva, that the simcha shel mitzvah reaches higher than the mitzvah itself, and through it davka we awaken the simcha atzmis of the Time to Come.

Even though there was certainly simcha shel mitzvah in all the previous generations, since simcha shel mitzvah is a fundemental matter in serving Hashem, as it is written "serve Hashem with simcha", and "you served Hashem your G-d with simcha and goodness of heart"...nonetheless, in any case, in simcha shel mitzvah the main emphasis on the way of doing the service, that the service needs to be with simcha, and if we are speaking here about the simcha to bring Moshiach it is -- on the simcha itself pure simcha, the service of simcha for the sake of the goal and tachlis of the coming of Moshiach.

Since this is so, then we find that the way to bring Moshiach is by adding in simcha, pure simcha, simcha that will immediately bring Moshiach Tzidkeinu.

How could it be that over all the generations they didn't make an effort to bring Moshiach with simcha? They did all they could do to bring Moshiach, even crushing the Crown Jewel in the king's crown, etc. [a metaphor for the teachings of Chassidus], in order to get a drop in the King's mouth[...]

We could say as a simple explanation that when we are found in the doubled and redoubled darkness of golus, when all Yidden are in golus, and the shechina is in golus, it is understood that due to the amount of pain of golus, that pure simcha is not relevant.

But never the less, since in the end we are obligated to bring Moshiach--there is no choice but to bring Moshiach through simcha, pure simcha.

Regarding the difficulty to bring about a feeling of pure simcha in the darkness of golus--since we are obligated to bring Moshiach Tzidkeinu, then we must say that at the end of golus mamash--they give the special powers to be able to have pure simcha, and the explanation--this simcha is generated by contemplating that mamash immediatly Moshiach is coming, and then the entire world will be in ultimate simcha, and therefore, there is already a feeling of pure simcha (a taste and sampling of the simcha of the geulah).

And the main thing--that instead of lengthy discussion, etc., they will begin to actually do it: to go out and declare and announce about the special increase in simcha in order to bring Moshiach, and certainly through this Moshiach will actually come mamash, and with the createst alacrity, "in the blink of an eye". Try it and you will be convinced!!