The Gemara (Shabbos 31) teaches: "Rava said that when a person stands for judgment in the heavenly court, they will ask him, 'Tzipisa l'Yeshua? Did you anticipate and wait for the salvation?'" Every person will be asked if he waited for the coming of Moshiach.
During the days of selichos, at the end of the year ה"תשל, a tzaddik said to my grandfather, Reb Moshe Mordechai of Lelov zt'l, "Perhaps we will merit that Moshiach will come next year because Reb Isaac of Kamarna zy'a predicted that Moshiach will come in the year ו"תשל." My grandfather replied, "I'm still waiting for Moshiach to come in the year ה"תשל."
Story of the Night Watchman
There was a city whose residents eagerly awaited the coming of Moshiach. They hired someone to stay awake every night, and if Moshiach arrived in the middle of the night, he would blow a shofar and ring bells to wake everyone up, so they could go out and greet Moshiach. Once, he saw someone coming late at night and thought it was Moshiach. He blew the shofar and rang the bells, and the entire city woke up. But it soon became clear that it was a meshulach, coming to collect funds.
Later that night, the meshulach said to the night watchman, "I see you are talented. Come with me, and we will collect money together." The man replied, "Nothing doing! I am staying at my post! Collecting money will indeed earn me more money than I earn now, but that is a job for a few more years. What will I do when I become older and it becomes hard for me to walk around, from one city to the next? But with the job I have now, I'll have parnassah for a very long time!"
This story illustrates how people wait for Moshiach, but deep in their hearts, they don't expect Moshiach to come anytime soon. We must genuinely wait for Moshiach, and in that merit, Moshiach will come speedily in our days.
Belief in Moshiach
The first of the Aseres HaDibros is (Shemos 20:2), עבדים מבית מצרים מארץ הוצאתיך אשר אלקיך 'ה אנכי. The Sma'k says that two mitzvos are hinted at in this pasuk: (1) to believe in yetzias Mitzrayim and (2) to believe in the coming of Moshiach. מצרים מארץ הוצאתיך אשר is our obligation to believe that Hashem took us out of Mitzrayim. אלקיך 'ה אנכי, "I am Hashem your G-d" is our obligation to believe that just as He freed us from Mitzrayim, Hashem remains our G-d, and He will free us from the present galus.
Rebbe Dovid'l of Tolna zt'l once came late to his tish and explained that he was late because he had a conversation with Moshiach. Moshiach asked Rebbe Dovid'l for advice, whether he should come immediately to redeem the Jewish nation or wait until all the Yidden were ready. Moshiach explained his question: "If I redeem the Yidden now, some neshamos will never be rectified." Rebbe Dovid of Tolna advised Moshiach to wait until all neshamos were ready.
One of the chassidim at Rebbe Dovid's tish asked, "Rebbe, isn't it better that Moshiach comes now? Why should we wait for the few shleppers and unfortunate souls who aren't yet ready?" The Tolna Rebbe answered, "You are one of those souls. If Moshiach comes now, you will never be rectified."
People gathered and spoke with the Brisker Rav zt'l about the tzaros the Jewish nation was suffering. Someone said, "We need Moshiach to come quickly to save us." One of the men present whispered, "Moshiach isn't coming so fast." The Brisker Rav became very upset. He called this man to another room and said, "How can you say that? How can a Yid say such a thing?" The Brisker Rav showed him a Rambam, "Whoever doesn't believe in Moshiach and doesn’t await his arrival, not only doesn't he believe in the Nevi'im – he doesn't believe in Moshe Rabbeinu's Torah as well!"
Reb Shmuel Wosner zt'l notes that the Rambam begins his sefer (החזקה יד) with the obligation to believe in Hashem, and he concludes the sefer with belief in Moshiach. Between these two beliefs, he writes all the halachos of the Torah. This teaches us that the entire Torah is dependent on these two beliefs.
The Jewish community of Brisk desired that the Beis HaLevi zt'l be their Rav, but the Beis HaLevi turned down their offer. Representatives from Brisk came to the Beis HaLevi and said, "Twenty-five thousand people live in Brisk, and they all want you to come be their Rav. Will you turn them all down?" Immediately, the Beis HaLevi agreed to accept the position in Brisk. The Chofetz Chaim zt'l said, "The Beis HaLevi didn't want to turn down 25,000 Yidden. If thousands of Yidden yearn for Moshiach, Moshiach will certainly not turn them down, either."
Simple Faith and Anticipation
Reb Yosef Chaim Sonnenfeld zt'l studied in the Ksav Sofer's yeshiva in Pressburg, and he repeated an episode that shows how the simple people of that city sincerely anticipated the coming of Moshiach. A woman asked her friend, "What did you prepare for lunch today?" She replied, "Beblach (beans)." "And what are you planning to cook for tomorrow?" "Sha sha! Al tiftach peh l'Satan. [Don't imply that tomorrow will be a regular day]! But if chas veshalom, Moshiach doesn't come, I'll cook noodles."
This is how we should all wait for Moshiach. Every day, we should hope this will finally be the greatly anticipated day Moshiach will come. Waiting for Moshiach is an obligation. The Gemara (Shabbos 31) teaches: "When a person is brought for judgment [in heaven], they ask him if he waited for Moshiach." Shaarei Teshuvah (118) writes, "When one says היום כל קוינו לישועתך in Shemonah Esrei, he should think, 'I am from the people who wait for Moshiach,' because after one's passing, he will be asked whether he waited for Moshiach. Mahar'i Tzemech writes, 'In addition, [when I say these words] I have in mind that I am awaiting Hashem's salvation to save us from all bad encounters that can occur every day and every moment. I often found this to be very beneficial...'"
Yearning for Redemption
The Midrash tells us, "There was a woman who lost her young son and cried over him every night. Rabban Gamliel heard her cries, which roused him to mourn for the Churban. He cried so much until his eyelashes fell out. When Rabban Gamliel's students discovered what was happening, they arranged for that woman to move out of the neighborhood."
Why did this woman's tears rouse Raban Gamliel to cry for the Churban? Perhaps it is because all tzaros result from the Churban Beis HaMikdash. He heard her crying over her son and remembered the source of all her troubles: the Churban Beis HaMikdash.
Rebbe Nochum Chernobyler zt'l once stayed at the home of a simple couple. At midnight, Reb Nochum awoke, sat on the ground, and cried and mourned over the Churban Beis HaMikdash, as he would every night. The simple man asked Reb Nochum why he was crying and how he could help. "I am crying over the Churban Beis HaMikdash," Reb Nochum explained to him. "You probably also want Moshiach to come soon and take us back to Yerushalayim." The simple man replied, "I'm not sure about that. I'll have to ask my wife." After consulting with his wife, he told Reb Nochum that his wife said they can't go to Yerushalayim because who would take care of their hens and livestock? Rebbe Nochum told him, "We suffer from the goyim. Wouldn't it be better to leave and go to Yerushalayim?" The simple Yid said he would need to ask his wife’s opinion. He returned and said, "My wife says that Hashem should take the goyim, and bring them to Yerushalayim." This demonstrates the problem, that the mourning has left our hearts, and we don't realize what we are missing and how much we need Moshiach.
During the Nine Days, as they walked home from the Kosel Maaravi, Reb Shlomke of Zvhil zt'l asked his shamesh, Reb Elyah Roth zt'l, "Did you see? Even the stones of the Kosel were crying!"
Reb Shimshon Pincus zt'l (Galus v'Nechamah p.147-151) writes, "If someone isn't able to mourn and cry during Bein HaMetzarim for the Churban Beis HaMikdash and galus HaShechinah, he should sit on the floor and cry bitterly about his personal churban – which is that he is unable to cry and that he doesn't care and cannot associate with the mourning over the destruction of the Beis HaMikdash." He should recognize from this how far he is from where he should be.
The Yaavatz zt'l (Siddur Beis Yaakov, Tisha b'Av, 6:16) writes, "If this were our only sin, that we aren't mourning sufficiently for Yerushalayim, it would be reason enough to cause the galus to continue. In my opinion, this is the most logical and obvious cause for all the tzaros we encounter in galus. We are constantly suffering from the goyim in every country where Yidden live. It is because the mourning has left our hearts."
Reb Yonoson Eibshitz zt'l (Yaaras Dvash vol.1, p.253) writes, "We don't feel the Churban. We are like a fool who doesn't feel his pain. There were tzaddikim who understood well the terrible loss due to the Churban. If we understood how much we are missing, how much perfection we lack, etc., we would lose our appetite for food or drink, and we would roll in the earth in distress."
