When will Moshiach come? The Talmud's surprising instruction!

whenever somebody has a problem and they crave normaly the reason is because they've sampled that normaly you can't crave something you haven't sampled so if somebody's depressed and they crave happiness they say I want to be happy you know why because they've been happy you can't crave happiness if you've never been happy you can't crave sobriety if you've never been sober the truth is the world has sampled already this Messianic era okay friends The Story begins we are going to explore a fascinating uh section of the talmud tractate Sanhedrin 98 a towards the bottom this is a section in tractate Sanhedrin which discusses the coming of Messiah a big portion of trait Sedin is dedicated toward discussing the whole concept of Messiah when is mhia going to come what does it take to bring mhia what does it take to bring the Messiah what is the Messiah so the talmud tells us a story RAB yahushua B Lei found Elijah the prophet yahu who was standing at the entrance of the barrel Cave of RAB shim B RAB shim is buried in Maron right Rua Ley says to him to eliahu to Elijah will I be privileged to come to the world to come will I be privileged to be welcomed into Paradise uh by the way just side thing I think this is important when we say world to come uh there's a debate what that actually means is that referring to Paradise is that referring to the Messianic era what is that exactly talking about that's a later debate among the commentaries but what does Elijah respond to him he says to him if this master meaning God the Holy One V be he will wish it so if God wants it then you will rabu and Ley says two I saw El yahu and myself and the voice of three I heard as the divine presence was also there and it was in reference to him that Elijah said if his master R wish it so they felt the presence of God there okay the story continues RAB Yeshua B Ley says tell yah Navi to Elijah when will the Messiah come when will Messiah come Elijah says to him go and ask him rabu Leia asked where is he sitting where can I find him Elijah said to him at the entrance of the city of Rome now commentaries many commentaries take this to not be literal uh but to have some sort of spiritual representation because Messiah has not yet arrived he obviously isn't in Rome right so but I means some sort of spiritual Realm at least According to some commentaries Ru and Le asked him and what is his identifying sign by me Signs by which by means of which I can recognize him how am I going to know who Messiah is what's he wearing how's he dressed Elijah answered alahu answers he sits among the poor who suffer from illnesses and all of them untie their bandages and tie them all at once but the Messiah unties one bandage and ties one at a time he says perhaps I'm I'll be needed to serve to bring out the Redemption right what if I'm called to come and I'm in the middle of dealing with bandages therefore I'll never untie or tie more than one bandage so I'll not be delayed Mah is like ready so he says how do I identify Messiah he's going to be that guy dealing with the bandages but he's doing in a way that's more efficient in a way that he can pause any moment and actually be ready to come when called upon okay so now the story continues RAB Yeshua bin Ley went to the Messiah and he says to the Messiah greetings to you my Rabbi my teacher right in the Hebrew it's shalom the Messiah says to him greetings to you by son of Ley Ru Ley says to him when will the master come he's been waiting for this moment to finally ask Messiah when are you coming the Messiah says to him the Messiah says to him today later sometime later rabu and Ley comes to Elijah Elijah said to him what did the Messiah say to you when is he going to come he says that the he said to Elijah that the Messiah said greeting shom to you by Levi Elijah said to him he thereby guaranteed you that your father will enter the world to come as he greeted you with Shalom RAB Yeshua Ley said to Elijah the Messiah lied to me as he said to me I'm coming today and he didn't come I asked him when is he G to come he say today he ain't here Elijah says to him that this is what he actually said to you this is what he meant he he said that he will come quote today but he was quoting a verse in the Book of Psalms and he has to finish the verse today if you'll listen to his voice to the voice of God mashia will come when today today today if you listen to his voice okay so this is the story Rua wants to know if he's goingon to enter the world to come alavi says that's up to God he says when's Messiah gonna come go ask him he goes he asks him Mah says today he says well why isn't he here and El clarifies today if you listen to his voice in other words implying that the Jewish people got to be better listeners in order to bring mashiach okay we're left with a number of questions here a number of ambiguities here um one thing which is not today's topic not what I wanted to get into today but I think it's just interesting to mention the sign of Messiah is him being with a bunch of poor and wounded people that's the sign of Messiah it reminds me of one of the things the re had taught in hayy that one of the one of the greatnesses the great attributes of Messiah is that he's going to be the great of the grade he's going to be a teacher to even Moses and to even the Patriarchs yet he's going to be able to be relevant and relatable to us regular folk can connect with everybody that's one of the signs of mhia but what is this whole business of he's coming today it it sounds misleading why is Messiah being so deceptive why can't he just say I'm gonna come today if like I'll come when you guys listen like why is he doing that whole I'm coming today today if you listen to his voice why the whole roundabout answer and I'd like to share with you three different explanations which I think gives um insight into what we can do to bring mhia what we can do to actually make this world a better place now let's take a step back what is mashiach Messiah is there there's two points in Messiah there is the um technical concept of who mashiah is as a person but together with that there's a larger era and time that it comes with the function of mashiah on the most technical level Messiah is a king from the dynasty of David essentially King David was like mssiah right he was leading the Jewish people into a peaceful time in the land of Israel that is the role of mhia mhia is a king from the House of David is going to lead the Jewish people back to their land and we're going to be able to serve God properly that's on the most basic level with that comes a whole spiritual significance of the world being exposed to the truth of God and this is what Isaiah describes in his prophecies that in that time in the Messianic era the world will be filled with the knowledge of God and when is this going to happen today and commentaries explain that the word today is a euphemism a euphemism for knowledge for clarity today as opposed to tonight night because night is a euphemism for Darkness for confusion for a lack of clarity and today is a euphemism for knowledge and Clarity and connection and understanding you like your relationship to be a today relationship not a tonight relationship a relationship that has light not a relationship that is dark and confusing so that's why mashiach says when you're coming he says today and Al yahu clarifies today if you listen to his voice to the voice of God how do you get the clarity that today how do you get the knowledge The Connection by being better listeners by listening to the voice of God um apparently the word in Hebrew shama which is listen has another meaning in Hebrew doesn't this doesn't uh apply in English um you see this by the way in the Torah in the book of Deuteronomy where the Torah cites the line Shay Israel hero Israel the Lord Is Our God lord is one and commentaries point this out what does the word shma mean apparently the word shma also means has a dual meaning means to listen or to hear it also means to gather When We Gather ourselves when we align ourselves with the day when we align ourselves with that connection here's something interesting I I thought this was fascinating starting from Passover which was like the first Passover was like the sampling of of mashiach because that was like the first Redemption of the Jewish people and starting from Passover all the way until the holiday of Shabu where there are a gap of 50 days we count the Omare right every single night we count anticipating the giving of the Torah again the giving of the Torah was an incredible Revelation at sin that's a sampling of what we're going to experience when msia comes but we have to count up toward that we have to anticipate that we have to work our way toward that and every night we work on ourselves we become a little bit better through counting and what do we say when we count the OM we say whatever it is LA today is whatever day it may be to the OM but when are you supposed to count the OM do you actually count the OM in the day you count the OM at night in fact if you're counting in the daytime you're not even supposed to say AB so we're counting the OM at night yet we're using the term today because even when we're in the dark even when it's nighttime we have to align ourselves with light anticipate light gather ourselves Orient ourselves and when we do that mhia says I'm I'm going to come I'm going to come when it's today when there's light going back to this story RAB yeshu Ley asking mhia when are you g to come there's a parallel story that took place almost 1500 years later with bov there's a book called kto which is a collection of teachings of the BM the BM did not write down his teachings but these are teachings that people had heard from the B had been written down and in the introduction of this book it tells the famous story of the bmov and his visit to mhia the bmov used to travel he used to travel around all over the world or all over the region really trying to engage Souls because Jud is becoming very action oriented which it is it's an actionable religion but people were forgetting about the soul of Judaism and when you forget about the soul of Judaism Judaism becomes competitive who's doing more Mitzvah who knows more Torah but when it comes to the soul we're all connected we're all equal and B is trying to reiterate that connection and part of that is our relationship with God and the bmov was in his trans prayer State and he'd be visiting different places spiritually while praying and the B writes he writes this in a letter to his brother and it's printed in cmto bmov says I would visit in the heavens I've gone through chamber to chamber and he describes how he's going through this chamber and through that chamber and he's meeting this Sage from the talud and these sages from the mishna he says I finally arrived at the Chamber of the mashiah this is what B says and I said to the Messiah he asked the same question RAB Le asked the mhia when are you coming and the Messiah answered me that when you spread your wells Springs outward I'm going to come you take the Wellsprings of the B which is the unconditional value and love of every single Jew and their connection to God in a nutshell that the the true principles of and we share that with the world Mia is going to come if we have that Clarity if we have that light if we have that passion and love and we share that with the World We Gather that we listen which means to gather mhia is going to come that's going to bring mhia inherently it it's not just that if you do this checklist and you earn enough brownie points God says okay you've earned Messiah it's not just a reward it's a it's a result the coming of Messiah the a of mhia a period in time as Isaiah describes that the world will get to know God is a result a direct result of us being open to that of us developing that Clarity within ourselves of us putting on those mashiach lenses that's explanation number one explanation number two Rua B Le asks mhia when are you coming he says today today if you'll listen to his voice and what does today mean the talmud says a different section of the tal that today is code word for Action because the Torah says today you should do the Mitzvah which means doing Mitzvah is associated with today the here and the now while you're alive and reward for Mitzvah is associated with the afterlife so perhaps when M when mhia tells him I'm coming today I'm coming when your focus is on the today when your focus focus is on the here and on the now if you remember what was rabi Yeshua ley's previous question prior to asking when is Messiah G to come he said am I going to go to the world to come am I going to be part of the afterlife his Focus was not on the here and the now his Focus was on reward on what am I going to get later so what is Mia say focus on the H focus on the Today Focus what you need to do now you're so worried about if you're going to get into the Afterlife you're so worried about is Messiah going to come we're so worried about the reward that's going to come the result that's going to come from what I'm doing focus on the here and on the now focus on what's happening right now this is fundamental to Judaism I I think this is literally what makes Judaism different than any other religion besides the fact that it's true and that ain't PC ain't it right I can't cancel for this one um but but but theologically or philosophically one of the biggest differences between Judaism and other religions is the focus on what you need to do versus what you're going to get because Christianity tries to bribe you and scare you if you do this you'll go to heaven if you don't do this you're going to going to go to hell you're going to enjoy this you're going to suffer from this it's focused on the future it's future focused and Judaism is here and now focused and mhia is telling R Le when he asks when are you going to come he says ha today focus on the Today focus on the here and on the now that's not to say that Judaism doesn't believe in reward and punishment but that's not the focus of Judaism because Judaism sees our service to God like a relationship ship a relationship doesn't focus on the future right what am I what am I going to get out of this how is this going to benefit me right that's that's a good question to ask when you're dating that's not a good question to ask once you're deep into the relationship once you're married you don't ask how is this going to benefit me it it it's a responsibility it's necessary it's a necessity whether it benefits you or not respecting and honoring the relationship will benefit you but focusing on how the relationship will benefit you won't benefit you and that's why he Mia tells him focus on the today then clarifies today if you listen to his voice to God's voice if you look at the word be they translate it let's see how they actually translate it hold on let me open this up here they translate it literally as you'll listen to his voice translations are dangerous you've heard me say this several times if you look in the Hebrew it says it doesn't say to his voice that's not what it says I mean that that's how it's translated because it needs to make sense in the English language but if you translate it literally what is the prefix mean in Hebrew in listen in his voice become sensitive to what God really wants that's what God tells us to do which is the Mitzvah that's listening to his voice but then there's the reason behind it there's the meaning behind it there's the motivation behind it that's in his voice sensitizing ourselves with God's true motivation what is God's true motivation the midis says that God created the world because he had a deep desire for this world to be a home for him a place where he could call home where he's comfortable or in the lingo of the mid a home in the lowest of Realms you have this place where God seems most absent and God says I want to be most present and and the greatest analogy for that is a home because when you're at home in contrast to when you're at work you kick off your shoes and the tie comes off and you're you're just you and God says I want to be comfortable here and when we honor the will of God by doing Mitzvah we we make him more comfortable that brings mhia when we focus on the Hy what we need to do today we make God more comfortable if we want to make people comfortable focus on what they want the Hy not what you're going to get from them which is the Mahar that's the tomorrow don't focus on how it's going to benefit you focus on what they actually want when we do that we make God comfortable that's the Hy that's the today explanation number three again RAB Yeshua B Ley asks mashiah hey what's with the delay when are you coming he says hay today Eli clarifies today if you listen to his voice what does this mean he's coming today I mean this was written 177,000 17 sorry 17,000 1700 years ago 1800 years ago or maybe 2,000 years ago so I read recently in a teaching from the this was in one of his talks um fiery talks in 1990 starting from 1990 really a little bit before but this is definitely apparent in the Rebus talks starting from 1990 to 1992 his talks became heavily mashiah focused which is fascinating because all the Reb's talks are mashiah focused but it took a new turn where the rebbi was really urging the world to like really get ready really get ready for mashiah and in this teaching the reab says why did Messiah tell rabu Le that he's ready to come ha today because From mashiach's perspective he's literally ready to come today it's literal forget all the euphemistic meanings he's literally ready to come today he's ready he's ready to come to this world he's ready to make this world a place that God wants it to be a place that can be filled with the knowledge of God filled with peace filled with love filled with connection filled with meaning and purpose filled with transparency the World by by by default is the epitome of uh what's the antonym for transparency op peness I don't know is that the right word lack of transparency the Hebrew word for for world means to conceal comes from the word hel concealment the world conceals God the world hides God and mhia and and the whole concept of is here to reveal that the world isn't actually hiding God the world isn't the deepest expression of God my clothing aren't hiding me my clothing are expressing me my body's not hiding my soul my body is expressing my soul The World Isn't hiding God it's expressing God but there has to be a certain sensitivity and transparency and when Mah comes and the world will become full the knowledge of God we're actually going to see this this is the whole purpose but for which God created the world in the first place and Messiah says ha I'm ready today then rabu Le says toi to Elijah mhia lied to me he's not coming today Andi says well he's ready to come it's your fault ha today if you listen to his voice you need to sensitize yourself you got to we we as Jewish people have to align ourselves msia is literally ready he's waiting to come what we need to do is just sensitize ourselves in 1992 which was um the last addressed public address the Reb had given to the thear every year get together there's the thead Ral convention and the re used to address them and the Reb's last address to them public address to them in 1992 the reab said in a very fiery teaching and that the only that's left the only job of is to get the world ready to to to accept and greet Messiah that's it right this this piece of tal says all Mia says I'm ready I'm here I want to come to this world if you guys want the world to be aligned with the vision that I wanted to be aligned with which is what God wants we're all on the same page if you're going to just listen to his voice we're ready we're ready to roll and the fascinating thing is the reason why mashiach is so ready I I mean in some ways it it could seem so foreign to the world the utop like description of of this Messianic era may seem quite foreign world peace and love and belief and faith and connection being so apparent and so um relevant and meaningful and accessible do you think we're closer to that or further from that than we've ever been it may seem like a foreign concept how is mashiah ready to come like why are you making it sound so simple and and the reason is because the world had sampled this before there is a rule and it's fascinating to me that modern psychology is catching up with this modern psychology and psychologists point out that whenever somebody has a problem and they crave normaly the reason is because they've sampled that normaly you can't crave something you haven't sampled so if somebody's depressed or anxious and they crave happiness and they come to their therapist and they say I want to be happy you know why because they've been happy there was a presence of the desired outcome at some point in their life which is why they crave that desired outcome you can't crave happiness if you've never been happy you can't crave sobriety if you've never been sober you can't crave a piece you know this this therapist I was listening to he gives an example he says when he meets couples instead of asking them what brings them here which is essentially saying tell me about the lowest point in your life tell me about the worst part of your marriage he says how did you meet right let's go in the past and look at the the best parts that you've already sampled and let's try to rebuild that so the truth is the world has sampled already this Messianic era first of all for from day one of creation the world was created in this perfect utopian like spiritual Zone I mean God was having open conversations with Adam and Eve Adam and Eve were totally naked because they weren't aware of of the concept of lust and negativity and and selfishness and self-awareness in in a negative way it wasn't until they sinned that all that changed but the world was essentially in this Messianic like State that's why the mid says that the sh the Divine Pres was literally here okay Adam and Eve in their sin and subsequent sins had driven that away but the world had sampled it already the world later sampled it 10 Generations later this week's Torah portion in the ark what took place on this Arc you have Noah you have animals you have a wolf and a lamb dwelling together in the same Ark isn't that the prophecy of Isaiah the world peace that messiah's going to come the Viper and the baby dwelling together there was this utopian this spiritual utopian this revelation of God in that artk the world was amidst the destruction amidst the rebooting of creation because of all the immorality there was some sort of sampling of sobriety to this world the world has tasted it and because the world has tasted it the world can actually expect it and the only thing we need to do is let's be ready today because Mia is ready today okay that's my story and I'm sticking to it