Let’s imagine we somehow know that if a certain twenty people finish a certain masechta, Mashiach will arrive. At some point, there is a message informing the twentieth member of the group that the other nineteen members have already finished the masechta. Everything now depends on him completing his task. How will he respond? I think we can all agree: there’s no Jew in the world who wouldn’t learn that masechta with all of his strength.
By contrast, when we think about the millions of Jews in the world who all have to perform 613 mitzvos, we don’t feel that Hashem is waiting for us. We have difficulty believing that our mitzvah will make a difference. This apathetic feeling undermines our emunah in hashgachah pratis and in the coming of Mashiach.
This is why we are supposed to say העולם נברא בשבילי – The world was created for me. Each of us must understand that when we fulfill our role in Hashem’s world, we bring the Geulah that much closer. We have our own individual tafkid, and if others have their own assigned parts to play, that doesn’t make our contribution any less important.
We must tune in each day to the heavenly voice that calls out to us: “If you repair certain aspects of your life, the Geulah will come sooner.” If we truly internalize this reality, we will work on that needed tikkun with all our strength.
