Do We Want Moshiach Now??

As a child I was raised on the song "We want Moshiach now". As an adult I am not so sure....

WHAAAATT???

The Rambam rules that one who doesn't believe in the coming of Moshiach or doesn't anxiously anticipate his coming is in the category of a KOFER BI-TOIRAS MOISHE. In simple English - a denier of the Torah, a heretic, an oisvarff. [Why this is so is not our subject and would be a good topic for a future post]. So how can I, a believer in Torah, say that I am not so sure that I want Moshiah now. And what about "vi-aaaaaaaaaffffff alllllllllll piiiiiiiii, she-yisssssmaaaaaahhhhhmmmmeeeeyyyaaaaaaaa" etc. How can I say something that flies in the face of such a beautiful song??

Let me explain.

When my wife is expecting a baby, I always feel - why does it take so long?! Why can't the baby just come out already??! The answer is that if it would come out to early it would be .... let's say "not-so- alive". The fetus must first DEVELOP before it is viable.

When I look at the world I ask myself - did we make the tikkun and fix all of the spiritual cancers that caused the destruction of the beis mikdash? I am not so sure. The Yerushalmi says that their sin was that they LOVED MONEY excessively and hated each other. Have we fixed that??

Another gemara says that they didn't say a bracha before learning Torah which the Ran interprets as meaning that the Torah wasn't important enough in their eyes to warrant a bracha. Do all of the Jewish People appreciate the importance of Torah. Many boys are not allowed to return to Yeshiva for a second year to learn more Torah. I enjoy asking boys who finished their first year of graduate school "Are you allowed to do shana bet?" I haven't gotten a "no" yet. Graduate school is very this-worldly" [albeit important because Hashem wants us to support ourselves in this world and asking for tzedaka when not absolutely necessary is considered a sin by Chazal]. Torah is [in the eyes of many] not valuable in this world and a colossal waste of time when more "important" things can be accomplished.

So sweet friends - OF COURSE I want to see a perfected world with the coming of Moshiach and I daven for it daily but I wonder if we are ready.

Am I ready to greet the Moshiach??

Are you?


This is not meant to be a קטרוג against the Jews but maybe a wake up call...

:-)