The following is a freely translated excerpt of an address delivered by the Rebbe at a farbrengen held on Shabbat Parshat Pinchas, 5744 (July 14, 1984):
…In regard to what has been discussed above—the Redemption and the era of Moshiach—there are those who wonder (though, for obvious reasons, they do not openly express their amazement): How can a person appear in public, week after week, and repeatedly speak of one subject—the coming of Moshiach? Furthermore, this person always stresses that he is not merely speaking of the concept, but of the actual coming of Moshiach, here on physical earth, and immediately, on this very day—Shabbat Parshat Pinchas, 5744! He then instructs, on each occasion, to sing “May the Holy Temple be rebuilt speedily in our days,” emphasizing that “speedily in our days” should not be understood as “speedily, tomorrow,” but as “speedily, today”!
Certainly, every Jew believes that Moshiach can come any moment—after all, “I await his coming every day” is one of the fundamental principles of the Jewish faith. Still—they wonder—to sense that Moshiach will come at this very moment is hardly consistent with the reality of our lives. So why does this man speak incessantly about this, on every occasion, and with such single-minded intensity, as if to forcefully ram the idea into the minds of his listeners?!
Their conclusion is that all this is a nice dream (and, as we say in our prayers, “May all my dreams be positively fulfilled for me and for all of Israel”[14])—nice, but not very realistic. So what’s the point of speaking, in such length and frequency, about one’s dreams?
The truth, however, is the very opposite.
In a maamar (discourse of chassidic teaching) based on the verse, “When G-d returns the exiles of Israel, we shall be as those who have dreamed,”[15] Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi explains that our current state of galut (exile) is comparable to a dream, in which a person’s sense of perception can tolerate the most contradictory and irrational things.[16]
In other words, our current “reality” is a dream, while the world of Moshiach is the true reality. In a single moment, we can all wake from the dream of galut and open our eyes to the true reality of our existence—the perfect world of Moshiach. It is in the power of each and every one present in this room to immediately wake himself from his dream, so that today, Shabbat Parshat Pinchas, 5744, before we even have a chance to recite the minchah prayers, indeed this very moment, we all open our eyes and see Moshiach, in the flesh, with us, here in this room!
Adapted from the teachings of the Rebbe by Yanki Tauber
[14]. Yehi Ratzon recited during the priestly blessing on the festivals.
[15]. Psalms 126:1.
[16]. Torah Ohr, Vayeishev 28c.
