MOSHIACH HARDENS THE HEARTS OF OUR ENEMIES

In order to divert the Gentiles and to harden their hearts, after Moshiach is revealed he will be concealment again. Indeed, that is what happened in the exodus from Egypt. * From Chapter Fourteen of Rabbi Shloma Majeski’s Likkutei Mekoros. (Underlined text is the compiler’s emphasis.)

Translated by Boruch Merkur

Things got worse for the Jewish people in Mitzrayim from the moment [Moshe Rabbeinu] the First Redeemer approached Pharaoh and told him in the name of G-d, “Send My nation [free] and celebrate a holiday for Me in the desert.” Moshe’s message to Pharaoh was followed by further oppression and loathing, over and beyond what the Jewish people had suffered until then.

Our redemption, when the Final Redeemer will reveal himself, will be similar. Anti-Semitism will be on the rise among the Gentiles and the persecution against the Jewish people will intensify.

In order to divert the Gentiles and to harden their hearts, after Moshiach is revealed he will be concealment again. Indeed, that is what happened in the exodus from Egypt: Moshe appeared to them and then hid again.

Thus, our Sages teach on the verse, “They [a delegation of Jews ––Rashi] met Moshe and Aharon” (Shmos 5:20): “After six  months the Alm-ghty appeared [to Moshe] in Midyan and told him, “Go return to Egypt.” Moshe came from Midyan and Aharon came from [the capital city of] Mitzrayim, and the officers of the Jewish people met them as they emerged from their audience with Pharaoh.

So it is also taught in Midrash Chazis: “My beloved resembles a gazelle”: Just as a deer appears, withdraws and takes cover [in the forest], appears, withdraws and takes cover, so too [Moshe Rabbeinu] the first redeemer of the Jewish people appears and is concealed and then reappears. How long does he [i.e., the first redeemer] remain hidden from them? Rebbi Tanchuma said: Three months.

[Proof that Moshe and Aharon were first not readily visible to the Jewish people is] as it is written (Shmos 5:20). “They [a delegation of Jews ––Rashi] met Moshe and Aharon.” [That is, from “met” we infer that the meeting was uncommon or by chance. Prior to that meeting, Moshe and Aharon had not been available to the Jewish public, who lived in the Goshen region. Moshe had been in Midyan, and Aharon – being preeminent and having connections with the king – was in Mitzrayim, Pharaoh’s royal city. Thus it states in Shmos Rabba: Moshe came from Midyan and Aharon came from Mitzrayim, for they had not approached the Jewish people until then. ––Eitz Yosef. See Anaf Yosef to explain how this verse alludes to thirty days.] Yehudi son of Rabbi said: [His concealment was] intermittent (a term meaning erratic meeting schedule). [I.e., Moshe was concealed from them on several occasions, meaning several times or instances ––Eitz Yosef]. [Just as the first redeemer appears and disappears in this manner] so does the final redeemer [Moshiach] reveal himself to the Jewish people and then conceals himself from them [in order to confuse Gog and his military forces.

In short, this future redemption will follow the model of the exodus from Egypt in many respects. Thus the prophet said: “As in the days of your exodus from Egpyt, I shall show you wonders.”

(Rabbeinu Bechayei pg. 44)