In the religious world, it is taken for granted that this present world is incomplete, unfinished, that we will not complete our cosmic journey until the Bet Hamikdash is rebuilt and Moshiach comes.
And so we - rightly - end all our drashot (sermons) with a call to rebuild the Temple "speedily and in our day" and we pledge our determination to "believe in Moshiach and eagerly anticipate his imminent arrival."
But do we really want the Bet HaMikdash, or Moshiach? Yes, we mouth all the right words and sing all the appropriate slogans. But deep down, does it really make a difference in our lives? Do we turn our attention to creating the environment that will sustain a Bet HaMikdash, do we nourish the spiritual soil in which a Moshiach will sprout, or do we rather work overtime to improve the material world in which each of us dwell?
How many of us bother to even think about it? To think about what we are missing in our imperfect Universe and how much better it could be? I know that until someone told me recently that it is only with the advent of T'chiat HaMetim (resurrection of the dead) that I would be reunited with Ari, z"l [the rabbi?s son, killed by Arab gunmen in Shechem last year - ed.], I had little or no kavana while saying the bracha of "M'chayey HaMetim" three times a day. It just wasn't... relevant.
Some years ago, Moshe Tannenbaum (Moishe of Moishe & the Mitzva Men fame) related to me how he had been performing for a group of Day School children and was leading them in a rousing rendition of the song "Am Yisrael have no fear - Moshiach will be here this year!" One of the rabbis suddenly pulled him aside and angrily reprimanded him: "How can you tell these children Moshiach will be here this year? When he doesn't come, how will you explain it to them?"
Moishe was stunned. Didn't this rebbe daily recite "with each day I await his coming"? What was his problem? Then it dawned on him: when Moshiach comes, we'll study with him, and with Eliyahu, and with all the great sages. This rebbe won't enjoy the privileged position he holds today. So, maybe he's not so anxious for Moshiach to come... Maybe "he wants Moshiach - soon!"
But not quite now.
The rabbis cryptically say that "he who does not rebuild the Bet HaMikdash in his generation is considered as if he destroyed it." Now I think I understand: If you don't want - really want - a Bet HaMikdash, or Moshiach, you're not part of the solution, just another part of the problem.
And so we - rightly - end all our drashot (sermons) with a call to rebuild the Temple "speedily and in our day" and we pledge our determination to "believe in Moshiach and eagerly anticipate his imminent arrival."
But do we really want the Bet HaMikdash, or Moshiach? Yes, we mouth all the right words and sing all the appropriate slogans. But deep down, does it really make a difference in our lives? Do we turn our attention to creating the environment that will sustain a Bet HaMikdash, do we nourish the spiritual soil in which a Moshiach will sprout, or do we rather work overtime to improve the material world in which each of us dwell?
How many of us bother to even think about it? To think about what we are missing in our imperfect Universe and how much better it could be? I know that until someone told me recently that it is only with the advent of T'chiat HaMetim (resurrection of the dead) that I would be reunited with Ari, z"l [the rabbi?s son, killed by Arab gunmen in Shechem last year - ed.], I had little or no kavana while saying the bracha of "M'chayey HaMetim" three times a day. It just wasn't... relevant.
Some years ago, Moshe Tannenbaum (Moishe of Moishe & the Mitzva Men fame) related to me how he had been performing for a group of Day School children and was leading them in a rousing rendition of the song "Am Yisrael have no fear - Moshiach will be here this year!" One of the rabbis suddenly pulled him aside and angrily reprimanded him: "How can you tell these children Moshiach will be here this year? When he doesn't come, how will you explain it to them?"
Moishe was stunned. Didn't this rebbe daily recite "with each day I await his coming"? What was his problem? Then it dawned on him: when Moshiach comes, we'll study with him, and with Eliyahu, and with all the great sages. This rebbe won't enjoy the privileged position he holds today. So, maybe he's not so anxious for Moshiach to come... Maybe "he wants Moshiach - soon!"
But not quite now.
The rabbis cryptically say that "he who does not rebuild the Bet HaMikdash in his generation is considered as if he destroyed it." Now I think I understand: If you don't want - really want - a Bet HaMikdash, or Moshiach, you're not part of the solution, just another part of the problem.