The twelfth of the Rambam's Ikkurim is as follows:
I believe with
complete faith in the coming of Moshiach, and although
he may tarry, nevertheless, I wait every day for him to come.
A number of us actively articulate that We want Moshiach Now, and the majority that is somewhat more
reserved on this want still lives
very much in anticipation of his coming. And so we wait and wait and still nothing.
In EmunahSpeak: A
Burning Need we pointed out the difference between wants and needs as
follows:
Wanting is passive and, as such, it’s not
wired for tachlis. If it so happens that that which was wanted actually
comes to be, the fruition of that want
was not in response to it. A need, by contrast, is proactive and, by
virtue of its fiery nature, it can (and usually does) clear a path for itself.
If you go through life merely wanting to do, nothing will ever get
done. But if, with a soul on fire, you take that journey needing to do, nothing will ever get
in your way.
And so we
concluded that the reason Moshiach is not
here is because we want
Moshiach now as opposed to we need
Moshiach now. In its terminal passivity, the wanting of Moshiach in and of itself will do nothing to bring
the Geula. If he comes, he comes. If not, we’ll keep on wanting until he does, whereas the need for Moshiach will inevitably
push Klal Yisroel in innumerable directions that will create the conditions to
bring the Geula ever so closer, speedily in our days.
And one of those
directions in which it should push us is within ourselves. Hashem has placed the ticket that will bring
Moshiach in our hands. If we write it He'll
punch it.
All we have to
do is to prioritize the burning need that we spoke about in EmunahSpeak: A
Burning Need, and we begin by taking a second look at the Rambam's words:
I believe with
complete faith in the coming of Moshiach, and although
he may tarry, nevertheless, I wait every
day for him to come.
So how do we wait?
Do we wait with the same anticipation and excitement that we
manifest for our favorite team to win the world series? Or do we wait with the same longing that a
thirty-four year old girl waits for the phone to ring with a call from a
shadchan?
And if we were to answer yes to these roll calls it still
wouldn't cut it because the bottom line here is: do we wait for Moshiach more than the way we wait for
something that we really want whether we
need it or not?
And when we do we'll get our ticket punched speedily in our
days.
