THE NAME OF MELECH HA’MOSHIACH

By Rabbi Nissim Lagziel

A Joke to Begin With…

During the Sukkos holiday, the village residents saw Itzik, a Jew overburdened with financial debt, concentrating with extra kavana as he shook his lulav and esrog. He closed his eyes and shook the Dalet Minim to the right, to the left, in the middle, up and down with amazing fervor. “Itzik,” they asked him, “what exactly do you think about so intensely when you shake your lulav?”

“I don’t know what you think about when you shake your lulav,” Itzik told them, “but as for me, I cry out to G-d in my heart: ‘Ribono Shel Olam! I have debts to my right, debts to my left, and debts in front of me… Please, Master of the Universe, take my debts up to the higher spiritual realms, and let no vestige of them remain down here…’”

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The holiday of Sukkos is symbolic in its representing “The Time of Our Rejoicing”, the joy of Alm-ghty G-d in the Jewish People, the joy of every Jew in Hashem, His Maker, and the unique mitzvos of the holiday. These include within them many insightful concepts shedding considerable spiritual light on the profound connection between the Jewish People and Hashem, a connection that leads us directly to the coming of Moshiach and the era of the Redemption.

Rabbi Shmuel Eliezer HaLevi Eidels, more famously known as “the Maharsha”, teaches us (in his commentary on the Gemara, Pesachim 5a) that there is an interesting connection between the fulfillment of the mitzvos of the Sukkos holiday and the Redemption. He explains that the reward for taking care not to perform forbidden labor on the Yom-Tov of Sukkos will be the building of the Beis HaMikdash, while the reward for fulfilling the mitzvah of taking the Dalet Minim will be “the name of Moshiach.”

It would seem that this requires some explanation: What is the connection between these mitzvos and their respective reward? Why will fulfilling the mitzvah of the Dalet Minim bring us “the name of Moshiach”? Will the Moshiach be called “esrog” or “hadas”?

The Maharsha explains how reward is bestowed in a manner of “measure for measure.” During Sukkos, the Torah commands us to dwell in booths, commemorative of the clouds of glory Hashem spread over us at the Exodus from Egypt and during our journeys in the wilderness. When a Jew refrains from labor on this holiday, leaving his home and dwelling in a sukka, he demonstrates his faith and recognition of those clouds of glory symbolizing the holy Shechina. In the merit of dwelling under the Shechina in this world, i.e., in a sukka, we will merit that G-d will spread his sukka over us again at the building of the Third Beis HaMikdash, when the Shechina will dwell upon it in the most revealed manner!

Similarly, we find in connection with the mitzvah of Dalet Minim: The Torah states that this mitzvah is especially connected with simcha (“And you shall take for yourselves on the first day, the fruit of the hadar tree… and you shall rejoice before Hashem, your G-d”). By fulfilling the mitzvah with joy today, the Maharsha explains, we will merit the great simcha at the coming of the Moshiach.

MOSHIACH Has Many Names…

However, something remains unclear: If the Gemara would say that the reward for taking the Dalet Minim will be the coming or the joy of Moshiach, that would be all well and good… But what is the connection between fulfilling this mitzvah and specifically “the name of Moshiach”?

Here, the Maharsha comes with a literally prophetic statement, concise and succinct, teaching us much about the period and the generation in which we find ourselves today.

“And he was precise in saying regarding the name of Moshiach that his name is Menachem, for he will comfort us and bring joy to us, as is stated, ‘Cause us to rejoice according to the days that You afflicted us.’”

The name of something teaches us about its essence. The name of Melech HaMoshiach teaches us a great deal about the true essence of the Redeemer. Moshiach – his name is Menachem, so named due to his special task: “Comfort us and bring joy to us.” Through the simcha of fulfilling the mitzvah of taking the Dalet Minim, we will merit the true and complete joy of the image of Moshiach, called by the name so appropriate for him – Menachem!

A Happy Shake-Up

However, why is it that the joy of Yom-Tov will not produce the long awaited reward? Why does the simcha of fulfilling all the other mitzvos not bring “the name of Moshiach”? What is so special about “the simcha of the lulav” that it specifically will bring the revelation we have been waiting so long to see?

The Rebbe explains that there is something special about the esrog, lulav, hadas and arava –something that no other mitzvah has…

Four Species of Unity

The Four Species, even before taking them for the purpose of a mitzvah, convey by their very existence the essential concept of Hashem’s unity. Each one of them represents this achdus through its unique style:

Lulav – “[All] its leaves are bound” – for the full length of the lulav’s spine, it is good and proper for them to be together.

Esrog – Called “the fruit of the hadar tree”, because it dwells (dar) on its tree during all seasons of the year. Each season gives it strength at the appropriate stage. This is an expression of unity with the tree where it grows.

Hadas – A kosher hadas must have “three leaves emerging from one place.” The three leaves meet at the root and grow from there.

Arava – Called “achvana” in the Gemara, derived from the word “achva” (brotherhood). Aravos grow near the river, together as brothers, each one attached to the other.

Even before using them to fulfill the mitzvah, they are united by their very nature, and therefore, they possess a special quality that does not exist in the other mitzvos.

Unity and Joy

We sometimes think that Moshiach will bring with him some lofty Divine revelation, through which he will “change” the existing state of the world and its reality forever. He will wave some “magic wand” over our heads, and then…everything will be good. He will extricate us from this wretched material quagmire, and he will take us to “another world”, a world where everything is good and holy… 

However, the exact opposite is true: Moshiach will not change nature, Moshiach does not wave any magic wand, and he is not part of a Divine “airline” offering vacation deals in the supernatural worlds…

Moshiach’s role is to reveal the truth, to reveal what was always here, the unity of G-d naturally existing in the world long before, since the Creation. Achdus Hashem is an integral part of the world since the moment it was created, except that it is hidden and concealed. All the wondrous revelations promised to us by the Prophets at the coming of Moshiach are a direct result of the revelation of G-d’s unity that will reign over the world at that time. When we will see the truth of “G-d is One, and His Name is One” with our own eyes, then automatically we will see no evil, endure no hunger, feel no sadness, because everything is truly good!

This task of Melech HaMoshiach is implied by his name – Menachem. True comfort is revealing that essentially…no evil has occurred because everything is truly good! Not only does a certain event bring a good and positive result, it is good even now! However, now in the time of the exile, we perceive such things as mere talk. Only in the days of Moshiach will it be revealed before our physical eyes, the G-dly (and always correct) truth that the inner essence of the exile is…the Redemption!

As we mentioned above, this matter is alluded to in the mitzvah of taking the Dalet Minim (representing the concept of Achdus Yisroel), which reveals within these four unique species the natural unity existing in the world. Therefore, through our performance of this mitzvah, we will merit the revelation of “the name of Moshiach”! Thus, through our shaking the lulav this year, we will remember Itzik and we will know that the ultimate kavana is to draw down the Divine truth, and we will see it even now from the highest to the lowest levels with our own eyes.

To Conclude With A Story

We will conclude with a story highlighting how our Rebbe’im see down here in this physical world what’s happening in the higher spiritual realms:

One of the local residents of Lubavitch, an innkeeper, was walking through the village on Erev Yom-Tov. He passed by the home of the Rebbe Maharash, as the Rebbe was sitting on his porch.

Since his inn was on the outskirts of the village, relatively far from the holy “chatzer” – the Rebbe’s court, he didn’t have many guests and the condition of his financial affairs was very poor. Worried and depressed, he looked for personal salvation from this sorry state.  

The Rebbe turned to him and asked why he was so sad, and the man explained.

The Rebbe replied that he sees numerous guests coming, and it would be appropriate for the innkeeper to prepare to greet them. The Rebbe even lent him a handsome sum of money to buy enough provisions for the many guests expected to arrive.

The innkeeper left happily. He then bought, cooked, prepared, and toiled for several hours…However, there were no guests on the horizon…

Then, just moments before Yom-Tov began, a group of Chassidim came barreling into the village. They had lost their way and managed to arrive literally at the last minute. The innkeeper dealt with all their needs and with some difficulty, what he had organized proved to be barely enough for everyone.

Naturally, he reaped considerable monetary profits from this venture. After Yom-Tov, when he returned his loan to the Rebbe Maharash, he dared to ask him, “How did the Rebbe see them early in the day when they only came close to sundown?”

“When you stand in a high place,” the Rebbe replied, “you see things far away…” ■

Good Shabbos and Happy Yom-Tov!

Based on Likkutei Sichos, Vol. 19, Chag HaSukkos.