What Does Living With Moshiach Mean?
Living with Moshiach means letting the coming Redemption shape how we think, feel and act today. The Lubavitcher Rebbe, King Moshiach, asked everyone to “live with the Redemption,” and taught that we stand on its threshold, so we can already taste it now (Sichos In English, 5751).
What did the Rebbe mean by living with Moshiach?
The Rebbe asked men, women and children to live with the ideas of Moshiach and Redemption every day.
In the summer of 5751 (1991) the Rebbe explained this in steps. Sichos In English adapted it in the essay “On the Threshold of the Redemption.” First, the ideas should become relevant to us on an intellectual level. Then our understanding should move our feelings. In the end, our whole conduct should show that we are filled with an awareness of the Redemption as a reality about to happen.
This is not easy in exile. When Moshe brought the promise of redemption to the Jews in Egypt, “they did not listen to Moshe, because of broken spirits and hard labor” (Exodus 6:9). Exile makes it hard to picture any other reality. The Rebbe asked us to picture it anyway, and to live by it. As he taught, “living with the concept of Moshiach” itself hastens his coming.
How does this relate to “living with the times”?
The Alter Rebbe taught Chassidim to “live with the times”: to take daily direction from the weekly Torah portion.
The Rebbe often recalled this teaching (Sichos of Shabbos Bereishis and 3 Adar I, 5752). The Torah is eternally relevant, so each week’s portion holds a lesson for that week. Geulah Weekly describes the daily custom that grew from it: a section of the parsha with Rashi each day, together with daily Tanya and Tehillim.
The Rebbe taught that every era also has its own spiritual task, one that can hasten the Redemption. Ours is to prepare for Moshiach. So “living with the times” today means living with the Redemption. Sometimes the Rebbe tied this to one practice. On Shabbos Noach 5752 he said that careful observance of Kiddush Levanah, the blessing over the new moon, would hasten the Redemption.
What is a foretaste of the Redemption?
The Rebbe taught that, at the threshold of the Redemption, we can already experience a foretaste of it.
The Rambam describes that era: “There will be neither famine nor war, neither envy nor competition” (Hilchos Melachim 12:5). He closes with Isaiah’s promise that “the earth will be filled with the knowledge of G-d as the waters cover the ocean bed” (Isaiah 11:9). The Rebbe asked us to bring a taste of that world into our lives now.
His main example was love for every Jew. In the past, this love was needed to end the exile, since the exile came because of baseless hatred. But the work of the exile is complete. So today, the Rebbe said on Shabbos Mattos-Maasei 5751, love for a fellow Jew is “primarily a foretaste of the Era of the Redemption.” He based this on the Mishnah: “Be one of the disciples of Aharon, loving peace and pursuing peace, loving your fellow creatures and bringing them near to the Torah” (Avos 1:12).
The Rebbe also pointed to world events. In early 1992, world leaders announced cuts in arms budgets. The Rebbe called this a foretaste of Isaiah’s prophecy that nations will “beat their swords into plowshares” (Isaiah 2:4). Seeing such changes helps us sense the world that Moshiach will bring.
How do you live with Moshiach day to day?
The Rebbe’s directives include daily study about Moshiach, love for every Jew, tzedakah and joyful mitzvos.
- Learn about Moshiach and the Redemption. The Rebbe asked for this study, especially as it appears in Chassidus and in his own talks.
- Love every Jew. Treat others now the way people will treat each other in the Era of the Redemption.
- Give tzedakah. “Great is tzedakah, for it brings the Redemption near” (Bava Basra 10a).
- Study the Beis Hamikdash with anticipation. During the Three Weeks the Rebbe asked us to learn the laws of the Third Beis Hamikdash expecting it to stand very soon, the way a person learns the laws of tefillin he will put on tomorrow.
- Serve G-d with joy. The Rebbe asked that the Redemption be brought “in a spirit of happiness and with gladness of heart.”
Each of these is part of how we bring Moshiach. Done with the Redemption in mind, each one is also a taste of it.
What does the Ani Maamin teach about waiting?
The Rambam’s twelfth principle of faith says to wait for Moshiach every day (Commentary on the Mishnah, Sanhedrin 10).
The familiar version reads: “I believe with perfect faith in the coming of Moshiach. Even if he delays, I will wait every day for him to come.” The Rebbe explained that this does not mean waiting each day for some future arrival. It means waiting every day for Moshiach to come on that very day.
The Rebbe asked that the thought of Moshiach not coming today be “totally unthinkable.” Our Sages teach that one of the first questions a soul is asked in judgment is: “Did you anticipate the Redemption?” (Shabbos 31a).
Why live as if the Redemption is already here?
The Rebbe taught that the feast is ready, and all we need to do is “open our eyes.”
In the talks behind the essay “Open Your Eyes and See” (Sichos In English), the Rebbe said the Jewish people have finished the mission given to them. The world, too, shows signs of readiness: freedom has spread and hostile regimes have fallen. These are among the signs that Moshiach is coming.
On Shabbos Shoftim 5751 the Rebbe said that everything needed for the Redemption is complete, and that all should “stand ready” to receive Moshiach immediately, and this has also been done. Living with Moshiach is how we stand ready. Through living in the spirit of the Redemption, the Rebbe taught, “we will hasten the actual coming of the Redemption.”