Where Would You Like to Be When the Messiah Comes?

Every morning, without fail (and sometimes in the afternoon if we run out of time), we recite the 13 principles of faith.

One of the principles is "I believe with complete faith in the coming of the Messiah, and even though he may delay, I await his coming every day..."

It always feels like I'm reciting the principles of faith and the Ten Rememberances automatically, although occasionally I stop and reflect. But usually, the need to accomplish more and more things as fast as possible makes me miss the beauty in these simple and profound words written in our amazing prayers.

But then, in sharp beats and blinding flashes, out of nowhere, comes a sense of belonging, strong faith, and love for the Creator to tears, and thus the principles of faith and their prayer companions tell me that no letter or word spoken by a Jew, with or without intent, goes unheeded.

It's etched in the soul and suddenly floods with all the intentions we didn't manage to direct and wanted so much.

It brings joy to the heart. This happened to me last week, a bit because of Rosh Chodesh Nisan, bringing with it the bell of redemption,

and also probably due to the general situation in our country, which constantly reminds us that we have no one to rely on - only our Father in Heaven. I don't know if this word resonates with everyone when they feel connected to a higher truth - amazement... I suppose everyone experiences it in one way or another, consciously or unconsciously.

There is no Jewish soul that has never known amazement. Often it arises in me, amidst all our everyday lives immersed in mundanity, what happens if now the announcement comes: here he is coming. The Messiah is coming. What situation do I see myself welcoming the Messiah and rejoicing in it? If Yinnon and Elijah suddenly appeared, I think most of the time I would be quite embarrassed to be caught in the middle of anger or gossip, or wasting time and getting offended or hurting someone... being critical of someone... Apart from the holy righteous of the generation, I don't think there is anyone free from these mistakes. So, what?

In what state would it be nice to be caught with the news of redemption? All kinds of speculations arise in me: in the middle of reading Tehillim, or the Amidah prayer, even meditation is a great time to receive the Messiah, during the Shema Yisrael, or Torah study, maybe during any blessing or separating challah... Men would surely think of the time of wearing tefillin and deeply studying a complex Talmud tractate, etc... or not.

It's true, we wish we could really be day and night occupied only in mitzvot and good deeds, but what can we do, we live in a world that demands from us mundane acts as well, commerce and even sleep... How scary it is to receive the Messiah from sleep?! But then, at the moment of amazement, the desire to do Hashem's will in the highest way possible, realizations come from lessons learned some time ago, which seem like we didn't remember anything from what was learned or at least not everything, and it arrives just in time. It's true that we deal with our daily business sometimes even more than the sacred, but still, if we follow the Halacha that the Torah teaches us, then no matter what we do - we fulfill a mitzvah. Because whoever earns a living and conducts his business with faith - fulfills a mitzvah.

Every simplest woman fulfills a lofty and difficult royal thing filled with sparks of holiness merely by cleaning her home, teaching her children values, striving to be a personal example for them.

Even when she fails in her attributes - if she has faith - her children learn that it's okay to fall and that nothing is perfect except Hashem, and what a joy that we are Jews and can fix... In every dish she cooks, she puts the desire to do good - Hashem's lofty desire: to do good to His creations! Every time a husband smiles at his wife and children - he fulfills a mitzvah. Every time we shop, within all the hustle and bustle, we clarify holy sparks - every item brought into our home contains sparks of ours that Hashem intended us to buy especially because only we can fix them!

But beyond actions, what is more difficult - is the thought. In what thought would we want to be caught when the Messiah comes? Surely we would not want to think thoughts of envy and competition, of hatred and strictness with one another... thoughts of anger and fear and other kinds of harm... And that is really hard. And now precisely, I paused in the previous paragraph and tried, with Hashem's help, to find some comfort on the matter of thought.

And Hashem in His great mercy and kindness sent me comfort: Trying to think well is beautiful and important, and we must make every effort to replace a bad thought with a good one, and Hashem knows it's hard for us, a little prayer and you see miracles in these things, no doubt! But beyond that, when a good thought comes into our consciousness, when we are in the middle or at the end of fulfilling such or other mitzvah, or doing something ordinary and simple but free from jealousy and quarrelsomeness, right at that moment, stop, lift up your eyes for a brief moment, and request: Hashem! Make the Messiah come now! (Don't wait to be caught but actually request it! Draw him to us).

Hashem! Make every Jew now engaged in something good, even if he is supposedly very far from you, but still, even someone who doesn't observe Torah and mitzvot - takes out the garbage for his mom from time to time, or greets a friend in the street, and "Shalom" is one of Your holy names! And likewise... Make that in a brief moment, like a baby coming into the world, thus bring us the Messiah. Of course, you don’t need the whole aforementioned speech, but utilizing the moment of a good thought and a good deed for requesting the Messiah, is a very opportune time! Every good deed tilts the scale in our favor, and we should use it! Today, my new nephew entered the covenant of our father Abraham, and the Mohel explained that Hashem forgives all the sins of the father, the Sandek, and the Mohel... and also the holy congregation. Even if they are distant and it's hard for them to come closer, let them think a good thought with a good desire to come closer to Hashem, and Hashem will combine thought with deed and forgive everyone. Isn't that powerful?! Let's all look for covenant ceremonies nearby and think good thoughts, there is a lot for which we can be forgiven... And this strengthened my understanding more. That Hashem combines a good thought with action, if once a day we intentionally think about how we would wish to be humbler, speak more purely, praise more, pray more, honor parents more, etc., if the Messiah comes at that moment, it’s as if we fulfilled the thought! There is no greater mercy than Hashem, our dear and beloved Father! So, even when we clean the house, we can say: For the sake of the mitzvah of peace in the home, for the mitzvah of honoring parents, for the sake of redemption... etc. When sending a nice email to someone or buying a gift, you can say: For the love of fellow Jews. When keeping quiet when someone is sleeping, you can say: For the mitzvah of loving your neighbor as yourself. And so on, each according to their perspective, Hashem will illuminate simple and lofty intentions for us to do His will with joy and a good heart. So I am a bit comforted, but still strive to be on guard because, if the Messiah comes now, I would most want to simply be - joyous...

Pure souls, may we merit redemption soon.

Amen.