The horror of October 7. The Jewish people’s great spiritual awakening in Israel and the Diaspora. The complete destruction of Hezbollah leadership in the span of a few weeks. Ballistic missile attacks from Iran. And last but not least – the glorious pager attacks! Over herring at kiddush, my friends and neighbors increasingly ask: “Is it happening? Are we living through the end of redemption, Mashiach itself?”
Traditionally, Jewish thinkers warned against speculating about the end of days. Chazal warn against going down the rabbit hole of calculating dates for Mashiach’s arrival. “Blasted be the bones of those who calculate the end, for they would say, ‘Since the predetermined time has arrived, and yet [Mashiach] has not come, he will never come’” (Sanhedrin 97b). Similarly, Maimonides writes that “Neither the order of the occurrence of these events nor their precise detail are among the fundamental principles of the faith. A person should not occupy himself with the narratives and homiletics concerning these and similar matters, nor should he consider them as essentials, for study of them will neither bring fear or love of G-d” (Hilchot Melachim 12:2).
Maimonides was deeply concerned about misguided messianic fervor and the despair people inevitably experience when their predictions do not come to fruition. Still, Chazal emphasized that actively yearning for redemption is not merely one commandment among many, but rather a litmus test of faith. “Whoever mourns for Jerusalem will merit to see it in its joy” (Ta’anit 30b). The degree of pain a Jew feels over the exile of Israel is a sign of his sensitivity – or lack thereof – to G-d’s will. “The harder it is for one to bear the air of exile… this is a sign that one has absorbed more deeply the holiness of the Land of Israel” (Rav Kook, Orot 6).
In contrast to Maimonides’ concern about excessive speculation, some contemporary thinkers worry that we are not thinking enough about redemption. According to Rav Hanan Porat, Maimonides’ fear no longer applies in our generation. “Out of a belief that we are living in the era of the ‘beginning of the redemption,’ which comes through our efforts here below – and we are called to be a part of it and work together with G-d to hasten its coming – it is incumbent upon us to deeply understand the times we are living through and to understand which stage of the redemption we are experiencing… Studying and clarifying these matters is the key to making practical decisions, and in light of this study we will mark the way forward” (Mashiach ben David, Mashiach ben Yosef, and the Secret of their Combination, 53). It is essential to recognize that we are living through redemption, for doing so is the necessary first step to taking action and speeding its arrival.
Without prophecy, no human being can precisely predict G-d’s plan. However, while we must avoid specific predictions, we have an obligation to carefully consider the meaning of current events through the lens of Torah. As Rav Soloveitchik writes, “Just as yesteryear’s primitive fighters would put their ears to the ground to listen for the rumbling caused by the enemy’s cavalry, so, too, must we incline our ears to the present to perceive the historical convulsions caused by the almighty winds of Providence… The Master of the Universe is strolling through the garden, and we must hear His footsteps” (Return to Zion, 115–116). We can – and must – apply the words of the prophets to our own time.
What makes our generation uniquely positioned to understand these matters? Daniel himself provides guidance: “But you, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end; many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased” (Daniel 12:4). Because Daniel knew that the redemption was in the very distant future, he said that the “matter of redemption” should be sealed until the end of times. But as the end times draw closer, uncertainties about the redemption will be clarified. According to Chazal, the redemption must come before the 7th millennium, and so the closer we get to that date, the more our knowledge of the redemption will increase (Malbim, Daniel 12:4).
We are currently in the year 5785, only a few hundred years before the 7th millennium. More than any of the generations that came before us, we are blessed to witness G-d’s plan for redemption unfold. If our great-grandparents wondered when and how the promises of the prophets would come true, we no longer need to wonder. We have witnessed the miraculous return of the people of Israel to the Land of Israel. We are watching, in real-time, as G-d fulfills one prophecy after another, with front-row seats to the redemption of the world. The Torah speaks to every generation, but it speaks more clearly now than it ever has before.
Rabbi Elie Mischel is the Editor of HaMizrachi and the author of The War Against the Bible: Ishmael, Esau and Israel at the End Times (2024).