Yearning for the Final Redemption, Am I? - Part 4

How does one yearn for the Final Redemption on a practical level?

The prophet is very concerned about this. For he says, “She is Tzion – no one cares about her!”

If Noach didn’t believe that the Flood would come, then we certainly need ask ourselves, “Do I really believe that the Final Redemption will come or is it just a ‘concept’ that is in the subconscious part of my mind?”

How can I seek out Tzion? How is it possible for me, in the 21st century, to proactively arouse myself to yearn for the Beis HaMikdash – Hashem’s House on this world – which I never saw with my own physical eyes?

We wonder the same thing which we say on the night of Pesach:

The answer to this question can be given with a parable:

One day, Shmuel meets someone.

“What’s your name?” he asks the person.

“Yaakov” the guy responds.

They start conversing with each other and realize that they share very similar personalities. Over the years they establish a very close relationship.

One day, Shmuel finds out that Yaakov passed away suddenly. He attends his funeral and hears eulogies from various people that knew him. He naturally begins to cry. If you would ask him why he is crying, his response would not be because he misses Yaakov’s body rather, he misses the interaction he had with Yaakov’s soul - which was housed in a body. If the same Shmuel would never have interacted with Yaakov and created a relationship, he most likely would never have attended his funeral unless he was either his neighbor or lived in his community. That is just human nature.

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In the words of two great sages:

We say various prayers that show we yearn for the rebuilding of the Beis HaMikdash:

On Shabbos:

After counting the omeir during sefirah, we say:

On the night of Pesach:

What can we do proactively to show our anticipation for it?

Learn Days Are Coming by Rabbi Moshe Silberstein that has relevant halachos regarding the Beis HaMikdash.

Rav Yisrael Meir HaKohein had a special morning coat that he planned to wear to greet Mashiach and from time to time he put it on and sit in anticipation (The Chafetz Chaim volume 2 by Rabbi Moses M. Yoshor, pages 621 – 622).

You’ll tell me, “But I’m not the Chofeitz Chayim.” That’s true. Here’s the following story:

Another story that has unfolded more recently is told over by Shloime Zionce:

Let's analyze this story on a deeper level.

In both stories, Mrs. Leah Rubashkin and Mrs. Gitty Kleinerman put their money is. They did physical actions to show what they believed in.

I would recommend that a person should designate some type of article of clothing – i.e. suit, shirt, hat, belt or shoes, etc., that he/ she has designated to wear when Mashiach reveals himself.

Every Shabbos we say:

If you cannot access the video, click here.

What is the disadvantage of not having the Beis HaMikdash?

We continue to have ongoing tragedies – both on an individual and national level.

The Gra says that with the destruction of the Beis HaMikdash, genuine Torah knowledge became inaccessible (Ascent to Greatness by Rabbi Avrohom Yaakov Rodkin, page 9, note 26). We cannot fulfill most of the Oral Torah in its entirety (Tears of Hope, Seeds of Redemption by Rabbi Yehuda Y. Steinberg, pages 150 – 154).

Tosfos comments that when a person beheld the tremendous holiness of the Beis HaMikdash in Yerushalayim and the Kohanim engaged in the Divine service, he was inspired to direct his heart to the awe of G-d and the study of Torah (ArtScroll Bava Basra 21a, note 4).

Without the Beis HaMikdash, we have no karbanos. Rav Shimon Schwab zt”l says that today, no other Divine service has the potential to forge as close a bond with Hashem as does the service of karbonos… the word karban stems from the root word karov, close, denotes a service that, in its very essence, brings a person close to Hashem. In the absence of the Beis HaMikdash, prayer has become our only mode of direct communication with Hashem. But it is merely a substitute for the daily karbonos… a substitute, yes, but a poor substitute at best, an attempt to come close to Hashem in the absence of the optimum, which is bringing karbonos (Rav Schwab on Chumash by Rabbi Myer Schwab, page 41).

There is still a major difference between our tefillos and karbonos.

The Vilna Gaon explains that while tefillah and teshuvah for a transgression are accepted by Hashem as an atonement, the transgression still exists. However, a korban would completely eradicate the transgression, as if it never existed [Tears of Hope, Seeds of Redemption by Rabbi Yehuda Y. Steinberg, page 304 (see also Rav Schwab on Prayer, page 95)].

Click here for part 5.

Dedicated in memory of:

• Velvel Volf Zev ben Aharon - sanctified G-d's Name amongst Jews and non-Jews.

• Shimshon ben Meshulam Dov - exemplified living with happiness and did the same to others despite the challenges he was going through in his own life.

• HaRav Zechariah Shimon ben Yitzchak HaKohein - gave of himself both physically and spiritually on behalf of the Jewish People.

• Bryna Bracha bas Aryeh Yaakov - was a 🌟 in relationships with people and our Creator.

• Rav Meir Yaakov ben HaRav Aharon - revolutionized the transmission of the Written and Oral Torah on behalf of the Jewish People.

• Rav Yisrael Meir ben R’ Aryeh Zev HaKohein, Menachem Mendel ben Levi Yitzchak, Elchonon Bunem ben Naftali Beinish Hy”d.

• Reva Leah bas Dovid Yehoshua, Eliezer Moshe ben Avraham, Kayla Rus bas Bunim Tuvia, Rabbi Uri Zohar, Shmuel Aharon ben Nasan Nattah and Ezra Yonatan ben Gary.