What Are the Signs Moshiach Is Coming?

The Mishnah lists the signs of “the footsteps of Moshiach” (Sotah 9:15), and the Talmud adds more (Sanhedrin 97a–98a). The Lubavitcher Rebbe, King Moshiach, taught that by all the signs our Sages gave, the Redemption should already have come, and he identified the wonders of 5751 with the Yalkut Shimoni’s “year in which the King Moshiach is revealed.”

What signs does the Mishnah give?

The Mishnah lists rising insolence, soaring prices and a government turned to heresy (Sotah 9:15).

At the end of tractate Sotah (9:15; Sotah 49b), the Mishnah describes the era just before Moshiach:

• Insolence will increase (chutzpah yasgei).
• Prices will soar (yoker ya’amir).
• The government will turn to heresy, with no one to rebuke it.
• The wisdom of scholars will decay.
• Those who fear sin will be despised.
• The young will shame the old, and elders will stand before the young.
• The face of the generation will be like the face of a dog.

The Mishnah ends: “On whom can we rely? Only on our Father in Heaven.” The Talmud adds that in that generation truth will be lacking (Sanhedrin 97a). Geulah Weekly explains that this is a time of turmoil because evil is having its final showdown, and it takes courage to stand up for the truth (Geulah Weekly 5776/611 Pinchas, A World Transformed).

What did the Rebbe say about the signs?

The Rebbe said that by all the Sages’ signs, the Redemption should have come already (Shabbos Parshas Eikev 5751).

In the summer of 5751 the Rebbe told his listeners that, “according to all the signs given by our Sages, and definitely in the light of the miracles which we have witnessed recently, the ultimate Redemption should have come already” (Sichos In English, Shabbos Parshas Eikev 5751). He asked that the stocktaking of Elul focus on the Redemption’s closeness.

The Rebbe also quoted the Sages: “All the appointed times for Mashiach’s coming have passed; the matter is only dependent on teshuvah” (Sanhedrin 97b). He added that the Jewish people have already returned to G-d with sincere teshuvah (Sichos In English, On the Threshold of the Redemption).

What is the Yalkut Shimoni prophecy about the Gulf War?

The Yalkut Shimoni (Isaiah 499) foretells wonders in “the year in which the King Moshiach is revealed.”

The Midrash describes that year: the king of Persia provokes an Arab king, the nations challenge one another, and the whole world trembles. G-d tells Israel, “My children, do not fear,” and King Moshiach stands on the roof of the Beis Hamikdash and announces: “Humble ones, the time for your redemption has arrived.”

When Iraq invaded Kuwait in 5750, the Rebbe suggested that this passage be publicized and drew attention to its conclusion. The Rebbe called the war’s outcome a wonder that followed the course the Yalkut Shimoni predicted, and taught that from Nissan 5751 onward Moshiach is telling the Jewish people, “Humble ones, the time for your redemption has come” (Sichos In English, Shabbos Parshas Naso 5751; On the Threshold of the Redemption). During the fighting he reassured the public that Israel was the safest place in the world (Geulah Weekly 5776/582 Shemot, Miracles Today).

The Rebbe also taught that the roof from which Moshiach announces the Redemption is in 770, where the first revelation of the Third Beis Hamikdash will take place (Sichos In English, The 28th of Sivan 5751).

Is the ingathering of exiles a sign?

The Rebbe called the mass aliyah of his day a foreglimpse of the final ingathering of exiles.

In 5751 and 5752 hundreds of thousands of Jews who had been held back for decades were allowed to leave and settle in the Land of Israel. The Rebbe called it “a foreglimpse of the ultimate return to the Land in the Messianic Era” and said it should make every Jew more conscious of the final Ingathering of the Exiles (Sichos In English, The Fulfillment of Our Human Potential; The Message of the Year 5752).

The Talmud gives a related sign. Rabbi Abba said there is no clearer sign of the end than the Land of Israel giving its fruit: “But you, mountains of Israel, shall give forth your branches and yield your fruit to My people Israel, for they are soon to come” (Ezekiel 36:8; Sanhedrin 98a).

Is world disarmament a sign?

The Rebbe called the superpowers’ disarmament a foretaste of Isaiah’s “swords into plowshares” (Isaiah 2:4).

When world powers agreed to reduce their arms, the Rebbe declared that this was “a tangible foretaste” of the prophecy: “They shall beat their swords into plowshares … nation shall not lift up sword against nation” (Isaiah 2:4). He explained that the trend came from the heightened desire for the Redemption in recent years (Sichos In English, Swords Into Plowshares).

The Rebbe then asked the obvious question: with so many signs, why has the Redemption not yet come? His answer was a call to action: “Ad masai!” Until when must we wait? The response is more acts of kindness and tzedakah, shared with Jews and non-Jews alike.

What does it mean that ours is the last generation of exile?

The Rebbe called ours “the last generation of the exile and the first generation of the Redemption.”

The Rebbe repeated this description many times in 5751–5752 (Sichos In English, Shabbos Parshas Lech Lecha 5752 and elsewhere). He linked it to the Previous Rebbe’s words that “we have polished all the buttons”: the work of exile is done, and only the final step remains.

The Rebbe compared our generation to the generation that left Egypt, ready to enter the Land. That is why the Rebbe asked everyone to learn about Moshiach and to live with Moshiach every day. Our Sages already said that all the appointed times for when Moshiach will come have passed (Sanhedrin 97b).

How will we know Moshiach has come?

The Rambam rules that a king who builds the Beis Hamikdash and gathers Israel is certainly Moshiach (Hilchos Melachim 11:4).

The Rambam gives two stages. A king from the House of David who studies Torah, keeps the mitzvos, leads all Israel in the Torah’s ways and fights the wars of G-d is presumed to be Moshiach. If he succeeds, builds the Beis Hamikdash on its site and gathers the dispersed of Israel, he is certainly Moshiach (Hilchos Melachim 11:4). These Rambam’s criteria for Moshiach are fulfilled in the Rebbe, which is why the Rebbe is the Moshiach of our generation.

The Rambam adds that the world will then know G-d, as “the earth shall be full of the knowledge of G-d, as the waters cover the sea” (Isaiah 11:9; Hilchos Melachim 12:5).