Before the Messianic Era, there is a resurgence of prophecy. * Being authentic and real is the consolation for exile and the gateway to geula.
By Rabbi Boruch Merkur
Moshiach was born just after the destruction of the Holy Temple, as our Sages teach: When a cow mooed once, the Beis HaMikdash was destroyed. When it mooed a second time, the savior and redeemer of the Jewish people was born.[1]
Here the word “born” is not meant literally - that at that moment, Moshiach was born to the world.* It means, rather, that just after the destruction of the Beis HaMikdash, Moshiach achieves pre-eminence, especially in terms of spiritual achievement, standing “head and shoulders above the nation.”
*It is not logical to interpret the phrase, “the savior of the Jewish people was born,” in the literal sense - that just after the destruction of the Holy Temple, Moshiach entered the world as a newborn - because as an infant, he would not actually be able to serve as “the savior of the Jewish people.” It is more reasonable to infer that at that moment, Moshiach achieved the stature of an adult. That is, following the destruction of the Holy Temple is the advent, the hisgalus (analogous to an actual birth) of “the savior of the Jewish people,” when he is capable and ready to redeem his people in the actual sense.[2]
Although just after the destruction of the Beis HaMikdash, Moshiach was ready to fulfil his mission, the exile persisted for a very long time. The intent, however, of this extended delay is to allow time for the geula to be comprehensive, in terms of 1) Divine inspiration, 2) how we thoroughly absorb and process that inspiration, as well as 3) how both initiatives integrate with each other.[3]
*
“נַחֲמ֥וּ נַחֲמ֖וּ עַמִּ֑י - Comfort, oh comfort, My people.” (Yeshaya 40:1)
“נחמו אתם נביאי נחמו את עמי - Console you, My prophets, console My people.” (Rashi on the verse)
The first part of this phrase, “Console you, My prophets,” describes how Hashem consoles the Jewish people with the experience of prophecy, which is defined as hamshachas ha’or p’nimi,” engaging the authentic, core consciousness.[4]
Our part in the consolation process, to heal ourselves from centuries of suffering and trauma, involves tuning in to the Divine state of consciousness called prophecy. By engaging our inner light and Divine core, we attain clarity of perception - and we heal.
Hashem takes it to the next level:
The second part of the phrase repeats, “console My people,” referring to consolation at the level of Supernal compassion, “אנכי אנחמכם – I shall console you.”[5] That is, experiencing HaOr Makif, transcendent Divinity, but as it shines literally within conscious awareness … Faith, which is Makif, beyond the reach of mind, is drawn into conscious awareness through the power of daas.[6]
*
Prophecy is destined to return to the Jewish people[7]: “There is no doubt that the resurgence of prophecy is the stage preceding Moshiach (as it says, “your sons and daughters will prophesy”[8]).[9]
The world eagerly awaits Moshiach. It is becoming obvious to all how imminent it is. The resurgence of prophecy is a forerunner to redemption. But does anyone relate to it at all? In our mild-mannered, down-to-earth existence, claims of prophecy are instantly dismissed as charlatanry.
Rambam describes how b’nei ha’n’viim, disciples of the prophets, dedicated themselves to this mystical goal. They sought inspiration by playing music, elevating themselves through joy, emptying their thoughts of everything – and immersing themselves in Hashem.[10] Rambam also describes what prophecy looked like: rapture, trembling, loss of bodily control.[11]
What congregation today would tolerate anything resembling that condition, no matter how holy? Today, prophecy is deemed totally out of reach, reserved for only the most spiritual, otherworldly, dedicated tzaddikim, if not totally lost to antiquity.
In a fascinating correspondence, the Rebbe is asked how a wicked person, Bilam, the heathen prophet, can achieve prophecy. Prophecy is defined by the state of battel b’metzius, a total surrender or transcendence of self. How can such a wicked person attain a totally spiritual, holy state of consciousness, the utter dissolution of ego?
The Rebbe points out that a stronger question could have been asked: Bilam, along with all Gentiles, are commanded to keep Sheva Mitzvos B’nei Noach, the Seven Universal Mitzvos. “Mitzva” means “tzavsa - to connect.” How can Bilam (or any non-Jew) achieve the total unity with G-d accomplished through Mitzvos?
The answer is that at the time of doing a Mitzva, a Gentile is battel. At that moment, he or she is in a deep state of devotion.[12] The same is true of prophecy, but with much stronger awareness, affecting one’s entire being, as it says of Bilam’s prophecy, “falling prostrate, but with unveiled eyes.”[13] See Rambam Laws of the Foundations of the Torah, Ch. 7, and Torah Or 19c.
There in Torah Or, the Alter Rebbe discusses how the great sages of secular wisdom, who were typically the elite, ruling class, would forgo all the delights of the world to pursue wisdom, deriving tremendous pleasure from it.
Not everyone is wired that way. Even many of those who are intellectually inclined to study wisdom fail to take pleasure in it. Those people would never make the required sacrifices, foregoing pleasure to devote time to acquiring knowledge.
Prophecy is fueled by the tangible experience of the Divine. Authentic religious experience - not just learning about Hashem but making faith real and internalized - is the consolation of redemption. Geula consoles and illuminates our suffering with meaning and purpose, to the extent that those abrasive experiences become our most precious moments of transformation.
Making it real is the gateway to bring the entire world to redemption.[14]
*
NOTES:
[1] Yerushalmi, Eicha Rabba
[2] Footnote 93
[3] Seifer HaSichos 5751, pg. 744
[4] Seifer HaSichos 5751, Ibid.
[5] Yeshaya 66:13
[6] Seifer HaSichos 5751, Ibid
[7] Igeres Teiman
[8] Yoel 3:1
[9] Seifer HaSichos 5751, pg. 788
[10] Rambam’s Laws of the Foundations of the Torah 7:4
[11] Ibid 7:6
[12] at least with regard to acting in line with G-d’s will.
[13] Balak 24:4
[14] Seifer HaSichos 5751, pg. 744, FN 91