Of the 613 mitzvot, less than half can be observed while the Jewish people are in exile. Over one hundred commandments relate to the service of the Temple and its sacrificial offerings. Dozens more concern agricultural laws that can only be properly fulfilled in the Land of Israel when the majority of the nation reside there. Laws of ritual purity and impurity, the priestly service, the cities of refuge—entire categories of Divine commandments remain dormant, awaiting the proper time and place for their fulfillment.
The Missing Piece
The Torah views facilitating G-d's purpose for creating the world via mitzvah observance as the ultimate human endeavor. Each mitzvah represents a unique channel of connection with the Divine, a specific way to draw G-dliness into the world. From this perspective, exile’s limitations on mitzvah fulfillment is profound.
Aside from the commandments on hold today, the Rambam specifies one mitzvah that has never been completed in all of Jewish history. The Torah commands the establishment of protected cities for accidental murderers seeking refuge from the revenge of their victim’s relatives. Six such cities were established during the first settlement of Israel post-Exodus. “But when the Land of Israel will expand,” Moshe tells the Children of Israel prior to his passing, “you will establish three more such cities.” When will this final mitzvah be fulfilled? Only when Moshiach comes and the Holy Land extends its borders again.
This, the halachah implies, is the most compelling reason to yearn for Moshiach—the opportunity to observe the Torah completely, as G-d intended from the very beginning. But why must it wait until then?
נָוסחְ תפילת מוסף לשבת
The liturgy of the Musaf prayer recited on Shabbat and festivals expresses a great yearning for the restoration of the complete Temple service:
May it be Your will, Hashem our G-d and the G-d of our fathers, that You bring us up in joy to our Land, and plant us within our borders. There we will offer before You the sacrifices we are obligated to bring—the daily offerings in their proper order and the additional offerings in their proper manner. And the additional offering of this Shabbat—we will perform and present before You with love in accordance with the commandment of Your will, as You have written for us in Your Torah through Moshe Your servant, from the mouth of Your Glory.
