Since we are in the middle of the Three Weeks, we begin with the question of what we should focus on to bring the Redemption and Mashiach. We say in our prayers that because of our transgressions we have been exiled from our land, meaning that we are responsible for the sad state that the Jewish people are still in without a Temple, without a redeemer, the world is not in its ideal state. There is suffering in reality. The first question is: Who is to blame? The obvious answer is that “I am to blame.” Every individual must take responsibility for the state we are in. This is the contemplative meditation we should perform during the Three Weeks.
There is a famous saying from the sages, that any generation in which the Temple has not been built is like it has been destroyed in their generation. That is the usual way it is quoted. But, in the original quote in the Talmud, it does not say that, but rather “that it is as if we ourselves destroyed it.” Some sources even place the burden on every individual: Whomever the Temple has not been built in his days, it is as if he himself destroyed it. That is a very strong saying.
Going back to the first saying that we have been exiled because of our sins. The sages say that the all-inclusive sin for which we are in exile is baseless hatred. Therefore, the rectification is the very opposite. What we need to do to bring Mashiach is to reach a state of unconditional love. Just as the sin was unconditional hatred, so the rectification is unconditional love.
Are there other practical things we can do to bring redemption? In the Zohar, it says that the way to bring about redemption with kindness and compassion is by disseminating the teachings of the Zohar itself. Raya Mehemna (the soul of Moses) says to Rashbi, “with your teachings, the entire world will come out of the exile with mercy and compassion.” This took on even deeper meaning after the Ba’al Shem Tov asked the soul of Mashiach, “When are you coming?” And Mashiach replied, “When your wellsprings spread to the furthest possible extremes.” That is a condition. For Rashbi it was a question of the manner in which the redemption will come. By the Ba’al Shem Tov it was even clearer: the only way that Mashiach will come is when your teachings—the inner soul of the Torah—will spread far and wide, to everyone. That is the second thing we can do to bring Mashiach.
A third thing we can do to bring Mashiach is described in the Torah’s revealed teachings. The Rambam says that at the end of exile, the Jewish people will do teshuvah, and immediately they will be redeemed. Meaning that the Redemption depends only on teshuvah. The simple meaning of teshuvah is at a personal level, taking an account of what I am doing wrong relative to the Torah’s teachings and commandments. If we all think about our actions and regret what we have done wrong, and decide to never repeat it again and live up to this decision, then the Mashiach will come. This is the simple revealed condition for the Redemption to come. Every person should do this before Rosh Hashanah and make a decision that tomorrow I will be a new person.
