WILL THERE BE GENTILES IN THE TIMES OF MOSHIACH?
June 29, 2012What will the non-Jewish people be doing? According to Chazal, they will be helping the Jewish people with all their physical chores, thereby allowing the Jewish people to serve Hashem…
Dear Reader sh’yichyeh,
In this week’s article we will begin a discussion about a very basic question: Will there be non-Jews in the times of Moshiach? And if yes, what role will they play?
GENTILES IN THE TIMES OF MOSHIACH
The Navi Yeshaya says (2:2-4): “And it shall be at the end of the days, that the mountain of the L-rd’s house shall be firmly established at the top of the mountains, and it shall be raised above the hills, and all the nations shall stream to it.
“And many peoples shall go, and they shall say, ‘Come, let us go up to the L-rd’s mount, to the house of the G-d of Jacob, and let Him teach us of His ways, and we will go in His paths,’ for out of Zion shall the Torah come forth, and the word of the L-rd from Jerusalem.
“And he shall judge between the nations and reprove many peoples, and they shall beat their swords into ploughshares and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift the sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.”
And the Navi Zephaniah says (3:9), “For then I will convert the peoples to a pure language that all of them call in the name of the L-rd, to worship Him of one accord.”
The Rambam (Hilchos Melachim 12:1) follows this line in the same manner. “Do not presume that in the Messianic age any facet of the world’s nature will change or there will be innovations in the work of creation. Rather, the world will continue according to its pattern.
“Although Yeshaya (11:6) states: ‘The wolf will dwell with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the young goat,’ these words are a metaphor and a parable. The interpretation of the prophecy is as follows: Israel will dwell securely together with the wicked gentiles who are likened to a wolf and a leopard, as in the prophecy Yirmiya (5:6): ‘A wolf from the wilderness shall spoil them and a leopard will stalk their cities.’ They will all return to the true faith (they will keep the 7 Mitzvos for B’nei Noach) and no longer steal or destroy. Rather, they will eat permitted food at peace with Israel, as Yeshaya (11:7) states: ‘The lion will eat straw like an ox.’”
What will the non-Jewish people be doing? According to Chazal, they will be helping the Jewish people with all their physical chores, thereby allowing the Jewish people to serve Hashem.
The Navi (Yeshaya 49:23) says: “And kings shall be your nursing fathers and their princesses your wet nurses; they shall prostrate themselves to you with their face on the ground, and they shall lick the dust of your feet, and you shall know that I am the L-rd, for those who wait for Me shall not be ashamed.” The Gemara writes: “Whoever is careful with the Mitzva of Tzitzis will merit having thousands of non-Jewish servants in the times of Moshiach.”
The interesting thing about this “slavery” is the fact that it will all be voluntary! Because of the revelation of G-dliness that will be in the times of Moshiach, it will be clear to everybody that the Jewish people are Hashem’s chosen people. It will be clear that if one wants to connect with Hashem, it is through connecting to His people. On their own initiative, they will ask to help the Jewish people serve Hashem.
CONVERSION TO JUDAISM IN THE ERA OF MOSHIACH
If the above – that the non-Jews will see the truth of Hashem – is true, why will they not want to convert to Judaism in the times of Moshiach?
The real underlying question is: Will the Jewish people be accepting converts in the times of Moshiach?
This is the topic of an argument in the Gemara (Brachos 57b): “Our Rabbis taught: … If one sees a place from which idolatry has been uprooted, he says, ‘Blessed be He who uprooted idolatry from our land; and as it has been uprooted from this place, so may it be uprooted from all places belonging to Israel; and You shall turn the heart of those that serve them to serve You.’ Outside Eretz Yisroel it is not necessary to say ‘Turn the heart of those that serve them to serve You,’ because most of them are idolaters. R. Simeon b. Elazar says: Outside Eretz Yisroel also one should say this, because they will one day become converts…”
The accepted opinion is like that of the Chachomim (Rabbis). This is evident from the ruling in the Gemara (Yevamos 24b): “Our Rabbis learnt: No proselytes will be accepted in the days of the Moshiach. In the same manner no proselytes were accepted in the days of Dovid HaMelech or in the days of Shlomo. R. Elazar said: What Scriptural [support is there for this view]? ‘Behold he shall be a proselyte who is converted for My own sake (Or who is converted while I am not with you (Rashi), i.e. while Israel is in exile and forsaken by G-d), he who lives with you shall be settled among you’ (Yeshaya 45:15); he who only ‘lives with you’ in your poverty shall be settled among you; but no other.”
However, it is to be noted (Meiri on Yevamos) that this is only a general rule. If, however, a non-Jew is serious about his commitment to Judaism and is extremely persistent in his insistence upon conversion, he may be able to convince a Beis Din to convert him. Regarding the question of whether or not we will be accepting converts from Amalek, see the seifer Yemos HaMoshiach B’halacha Vol. 2 page 390.
The Gemara (Avoda Zara 2b-3a) describes in detail a discussion that will take place between the non-Jews and Hashem: “In the times of Moshiach, Hashem will give rewards to those who learned Torah and kept the Mitzvos. Since the nations did not accept the Torah, they will not receive that reward.
“The nations will then plead: ‘Offer us the Torah anew and we shall obey it.’ But the Holy One, blessed be He, will say to them, ‘You foolish ones among peoples, he who took trouble [to prepare] on the eve of the Sabbath can eat on the Sabbath, but he who has not troubled on the eve of the Sabbath, what shall he eat on the Sabbath? Nevertheless, I have an easy command which is called Sukka; go and carry it out.’ Straightaway will every one of them betake himself and go and make a booth on the top of his roof; but the Holy One, blessed be He, will cause the sun to blaze forth over them as at the Summer Solstice. And every one of them will trample down his booth and go away, as it is said, ‘Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us.’”
WHAT CAN WE DO TO PREPARE THE NATIONS OF THE WORLD FOR MOSHIACH?
The Rambam (Melachim 8:10) states: “Moshe was commanded by the Almighty [at Mount Sinai] to compel all the inhabitants of the world to accept the commandments given to Noach’s descendants.”
The Rebbe (Korach 5751) addresses a common concern: “One might still raise a question, as others have done. Even if one were to do one’s work to perfection, even reaching the level of ‘dissemination’ (which implies total commitment and self-abnegation), one might question to what avail is it, considering the fact that ‘you are the least among the nations’ and that there are the ‘seventy nations’ who so outnumber the ‘one lamb,’ Israel.”
In other words, what will be the world’s response to the Jewish efforts to “disseminate the wellsprings to the remotest reaches” in an effort to hasten the true and complete Redemption when they do not understand the meaning of these efforts? Granted, they are noble and sublime, but one might object: we have to consider the world’s reaction!
The answer is clear: The world is ready and completely receptive! When a Jew performs his work properly, transcending all limits and constraints, and simultaneously channels these efforts within the parameters of nature, he will see how the world, nature and the nations of the world will assist him in his work.
“This is particularly true now that so many of the impediments are no longer here. (And as was noted earlier, even the Soviet Union has undergone significant changes for the better.) On the contrary, we are witness to the miracles and wonders that have occurred, specifically in the last two years (of ‘miracles’ and of ‘wonders I shall show him,’ 5750 and 5751, respectively). The time has thus arrived – notwithstanding the need for supernatural changes (the miracles and wonders of the true and complete Redemption) – that these supernatural energies permeate the nature of the world itself, so that the world itself assists in the blossoming of the Redemption.”
Rabbi Avtzon is the Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshivas Lubavitch Cincinnati and a well sought after speaker and lecturer. Recordings of his in-depth shiurim on Inyanei Geula u’Moshiach can be accessed at http://www.ylcrecording.com.
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