What Is the Rebbe’s Message to the World?

The Lubavitcher Rebbe, King Moshiach, gave his message to the world on CNN on Sunday, 20 October 1991 (12 Cheshvan 5752): “Moshiach is ready to come now. It is only on our part to do something additional in the realm of goodness and kindness.”

What did the Rebbe tell CNN?

The Rebbe told CNN that Moshiach is ready to come now, and we must add goodness and kindness.

CNN correspondent Gary Tuchman asked the Rebbe for his message to the world about Moshiach, as Geulah Weekly recorded (issue #899, 5782). The recorded exchange runs:

CNN: Tell us the message you have for the whole world about the Moshiach.

The Rebbe: Yes, I have printed it. It was printed in all the press of all the countries. If you will repeat it, repeat it: The Moshiach is ready to come now. It is only from our part to do something additional in the realm of goodness and kindness.

CNN: So people should be doing goodness and kindness for him to come?

The Rebbe: At least a little more. Then Moshiach will come immediately.

The words are short and simple. They carry the whole of what the Rebbe taught in 5751 and 5752: Moshiach is ready, and the next step is ours.

When and where was the message given?

The Rebbe gave it on Sunday, 20 October 1991, at 770 Eastern Parkway in Brooklyn.

Every Sunday in those years the Rebbe stood for hours and greeted thousands of people one by one. He gave each a blessing and a dollar to pass on to tzedakah. The CNN crew came to that line. So the message to the world was given in the middle of the Rebbe’s own act of kindness to each person who passed.

Why did the Rebbe say Moshiach is ready to come now?

The Rebbe taught in 5751 that, as the Yalkut Shimoni says, “the time of your redemption has arrived.”

The Yalkut Shimoni (Isaiah 499) describes “the year in which the King Moshiach is revealed.” In that year, Moshiach announces to the Jewish people: “Humble ones, the time for your redemption has arrived.” When the Gulf crisis began in 1990, the Rebbe suggested that this passage be publicized. In 5751 he taught that its events had unfolded that year, and that from Nissan onward Moshiach is telling the Jews that their redemption has come (Shabbos Naso 5751).

The Rebbe gave another reason too. Our Sages said that “all the appointed times have passed; the matter depends only on teshuvah” (Sanhedrin 97b). The Rebbe taught that teshuvah has been done and the Jewish people have even “polished the buttons.” So Moshiach is not a dream of the distant future. In the Rebbe’s words, as adapted by Sichos In English, “we are standing on the threshold of the Future Redemption.” These are among the signs that Moshiach is coming.

What does it mean to be ready for Moshiach?

The Rebbe taught that all is complete and everyone should “stand ready” to receive Moshiach (Shoftim 5751).

On Shabbos Shoftim 5751 the Rebbe said that everything needed for the Redemption is complete, and all that is needed is that “all should stand ready,” and that this too has been done, “to receive Moshiach immediately.”

In the same talk the Rebbe said something must be publicized to everyone in this generation. G-d has chosen and appointed a person far greater than his generation to serve as its judge, adviser and prophet. This includes the basic prophecy “To Redemption immediately,” for “Behold Moshiach is coming.” With these words the Rebbe described his own mission. The prophet of the generation brings the prophecy that Moshiach is coming now, and the Rebbe is Moshiach.

What counts as goodness and kindness?

Goodness and kindness means adding any good deed: tzedakah, a mitzvah, a kind word or help.

The Rebbe asked for “at least a little more,” not perfection. The Rambam explains why a small addition matters. One deed by one person can tip the whole world to merit and bring it salvation (Hilchos Teshuvah 3:4). Geulah Weekly adds: “Even one good deed or kind word can transform the entire world and bring Moshiach.”

• Give tzedakah every day, even a coin. “Great is tzedakah, for it brings the Redemption near” (Bava Basra 10a).
• Greet people with a smile, and avoid hurtful words.
• Take on one of the Rebbe’s ten mitzvah campaigns, or do one more mitzvah than yesterday.
• Learn about Moshiach and the Redemption, which the Rebbe taught itself hastens his coming.

Is the message also for non-Jews?

Yes. The Rebbe taught that bringing the Seven Noahide Laws to all nations hastens the Redemption.

Geulah Weekly cites the Rebbe’s teaching (Likkutei Sichos vol. 7, p. 212): by bringing the message of the Seven Noahide Laws to all the nations, we exalt G-d’s name and bring the Redemption. The Rambam rules that Moshiach will perfect the whole world to serve G-d together (Hilchos Melachim 11:4).

The Rebbe also read world news in this light. In early 1992, world leaders announced cuts in arms budgets in favor of peaceful needs. The Rebbe called it a tangible foretaste of Isaiah’s prophecy: “They shall beat their swords into plowshares… nation shall not lift up sword against nation” (Isaiah 2:4). Sichos In English adds, from the Sages, that even laws of justice that people understand should be kept by Jews and gentiles alike because G-d gave them. That is the world Moshiach will complete, where all the nations serve G-d in peace.