# When Will Moshiach Come? | Learn about Moshiach | Moshiach Life > No date is revealed; merit hastens Moshiach (Sanhedrin 98a). The Rebbe taught all set times have passed and on 28 Nissan 5751 asked us to bring Moshiach now. URL: https://moshiach.life/learn-about-moshiach/when-will-moshiach-come/ Language: en Site guide for agents: https://moshiach.life/llms.txt --- [Learn about Moshiach](https://moshiach.life/learn-about-moshiach/) # When Will Moshiach Come? ![The sealed Golden Gate in the eastern wall of Jerusalem’s Old City, 19th-century photograph](https://moshiach.life/assets/archive/learn-about-moshiach--welcoming-moshiach.webp) No date for Moshiach’s coming has been revealed: the Talmud forbids calculating it (Sanhedrin 97b) and teaches that merit hastens it (Sanhedrin 98a). The Lubavitcher Rebbe, King Moshiach, taught that all the appointed times have passed, and on 28 Nissan 5751 he told every Jew: “Do everything you can to bring Mashiach, here and now, immediately.” ## What did the Rebbe say on 28 Nissan 5751? On 28 Nissan 5751 the Rebbe gave every Jew the task of bringing Moshiach immediately. After a weekday Maariv, the Rebbe turned to the Chassidim and spoke to them directly. He asked how it is possible that Moshiach has not yet come, and said that if the cry of “Ad masai?” were sincere, Moshiach would surely have come already. Then he said: > “All that I can possibly do is to give the matter over to you. Now, do everything you can to bring Mashiach, here and now, immediately.… I have done whatever I can; from now on, you must do whatever you can.” That Shabbos, Parshas Shemini, the Rebbe explained what this means: each person must add in Torah study, both the revealed Torah and Chassidus, and fulfill the mitzvos with extra beauty (Sichos In English, Helping to Bring Mashiach). That night he also handed out money for tzedakah, “since it brings the redemption near.” ## Has the time for the Redemption already arrived? The Rebbe taught that all the appointed times for Moshiach have passed (Sanhedrin 97b). The Talmud quotes Rav: “All the appointed times have passed; the matter depends only on teshuvah” (Sanhedrin 97b). The Rebbe added that the Jewish people have already done sincere teshuvah. The Previous Rebbe said that only “polishing the buttons” remained, and the Rebbe said the decades of Torah work since then surely completed it (Sichos In English, On the Threshold of the Redemption). In 5751 the Rebbe identified the Gulf War miracles with the Yalkut Shimoni’s “year in which the King Mashiach is revealed” (Yalkut Shimoni, Isaiah 499). He taught that from Nissan onward, Moshiach is telling the Jewish people: “Humble ones, the time for your redemption has come” (Sichos In English, Shabbos Parshas Naso 5751). In his words, Moshiach’s coming “is no longer a dream of a distant future, but an imminent reality.” In Kislev 5752 the Rebbe went further. Our Sages compare the Redemption to a feast, and the Rebbe said the table is already set and we are sitting at it together with Moshiach: “All we need to do is open our eyes” (Sichos In English, Open Your Eyes and See; Shabbos Parshas Vayishlach 5752). These are the [signs that Moshiach is coming](https://moshiach.life/learn-about-moshiach/signs-moshiach-is-coming/) in our time. ## Why is the date of Moshiach’s coming hidden? The Talmud says Yaakov wished to reveal the end, but the Divine Presence left him (Pesachim 56a). The Talmud warns: “May the bones of those who calculate the end rot” (Sanhedrin 97b), and the Rambam rules that one should not calculate the end (Hilchos Melachim 12:2). Geulah Weekly explains the reason: if the date were known, people would assume nothing can hasten it and would stop working; and they would not truly anticipate Moshiach every day (Geulah Weekly 5776/611 Pinchas, Insights; Sefer Hasichot 5750, Shabbat Parshat Tzav). The Rebbe explained that Yaakov meant to reveal the earliest possible date, which was close, to spur his sons to bring it. G-d stopped him so that the effort would come entirely from the Jewish people. Yet Yaakov’s very wish gives us the strength to do our utmost (Likutei Sichot vol. 20, p. 228). ## Can we hasten Moshiach’s coming? The Talmud teaches that if Israel merits, G-d says “I will hasten it” (Sanhedrin 98a). Isaiah 60:22 says: “I, G-d, in its time I will hasten it.” The Talmud explains the two halves: if they merit, “I will hasten it”; if not, “in its time” (Sanhedrin 98a). There is a set date, but merit moves it forward. The Rambam teaches that a person should regard himself and the whole world as evenly balanced, so that one good deed can tip the scale and bring salvation (Hilchos Teshuvah 3:4). When a CNN correspondent asked the Rebbe for his message to the world, he answered: “Moshiach is ready to come now. It is only on our part to do something additional in the realm of goodness and kindness” (Geulah Weekly 5782/896 Tazria, Insights). That is [the Rebbe’s message to the world](https://moshiach.life/learn-about-moshiach/the-rebbes-message-to-the-world/), and its practical steps are the ways to [bring Moshiach](https://moshiach.life/learn-about-moshiach/how-to-bring-moshiach/). ## Can Moshiach come today? Moshiach told Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi he would come “today, if you will listen” (Sanhedrin 98a). Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi met Moshiach at the entrance of Rome and asked, “When will the master come?” Moshiach answered, “Today.” When the day passed, [Eliyahu Hanavi](https://moshiach.life/learn-about-moshiach/eliyahu-hanavi-and-moshiach/) explained that he meant: “Today, if you will listen to His voice” (Psalms 95:7; Sanhedrin 98a). The Talmud also says Moshiach comes “when the mind is distracted” (Sanhedrin 97a). The Alter Rebbe explains that this does not mean we should stop thinking of Moshiach, but that the Redemption will surpass every idea we had of it (Tanya, Igeres HaKodesh 4, as explained in Geulah Weekly 5779/766 Re’eh). ## What is the latest time for the Redemption? The Talmud teaches that the world exists six thousand years, then a millennium of rest (Sanhedrin 97a). The Talmud teaches that the world exists for six thousand years: two thousand of chaos, two thousand of Torah, and two thousand of the days of Moshiach (Sanhedrin 97a). It also compares history to the Shemitah cycle: just as the land rests one year in seven, the world rests one millennium in seven (Sanhedrin 97a). The Hebrew calendar now stands in the year 5787, so even the outer limit is close. The six-thousand-year count is a limit, not an appointment. The Rebbe’s teaching is that the appointed times are already behind us, and that [the plan of history](https://moshiach.life/learn-about-moshiach/the-grand-scheme-of-things/) now waits only for our deeds. ## Why do Jews wait for Moshiach every day? The Rambam counts awaiting Moshiach every day among the Thirteen Principles of Faith. The twelfth principle reads: “Though he may tarry, I wait every day for him to come” (Rambam, Commentary on the Mishnah, Sanhedrin chapter 10). Three times a day Jews pray, “May our eyes behold Your return to Zion in mercy.” And one of the first questions a soul is asked after life is, “Did you anticipate the Redemption?” (Shabbos 31a). The Rebbe asked that this anticipation become a way of life, that men, women and children study about Moshiach until it shapes their feelings and conduct (Sichos In English, On the Threshold of the Redemption). That is what it means to [live with Moshiach](https://moshiach.life/learn-about-moshiach/living-with-moshiach/).