28 Nissan - 5751 Ad Masai!

It was a good few years ago.
It was one of those conversations I couldn't help but overhear.
It was from a man who was did not look like a Chossid.
It was about Lubavitch.

"We have to take care of our business and Hashem will take care of his business..."
"Why should we get involved in something outside our control...?"
"Let us just worry about Torah and Mitzvos and leave this whole Moshiach situation up to Hashem..."
"Does Hashem really need an alarm clock with a snooze button to remind him that we want Moshiach...?"
"I never really got this new 'We Want Moshiach Now' slogan..."

I cringed. I was shocked. These were tough words to hear. But I was a visitor in this shul. And I was young. So I kept quiet.

But if I was given the chance again, I wouldn't hold my silence. And perhaps, the conversation would go something like this:
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1) The logical answer: Would you apply the same logic in other situations? Suppose you knew someone who was C"V very ill? Imagine if a good friend of yours was having difficulty with Parnasa? Would you still say that this is Hashem's business and not yours?

How do you explain the entire concept of Tefila? Do we not believe that we have the power to change a heavenly decree? How do you translate the words 'Yehi Ratzon'? Don't they mean that Hashem empowered us with the ability to alter or even create his will?

2) The historical answer: Throughout the Chumash and Tanach, we read of Hashem listening to the requests and tefilos of his people. In fact, the first Geulah only occurred after "Hashem heard their cries... " Why would the final Geulah be any different?

But better yet, why not ask the same question to Noach?

Noach did not enter the Teiva until he was directly told to do so by Hashem. Similarly, he did not leave the Teiva until receiving an explicit command. So why did he bother with sending all the ravens and doves? What a hassle! In fact, even when the dove failed to return that last time, he still did not leave the Teiva! Why not ask Noach the reason he sent these birds? Did Hashem need constant reminders that Noach was ready to leave the Teiva?

I doubt you would ask Noach this question. It is obvious that he wanted to show Hashem his eagerness to leave the dreary ark. His sending the birds displayed his readiness to enter the newly purified world. Noach believed that this act alone would prompt Hashem to expadite his redemption from the Teiva.

Wouldn't the same be true for us? Is Hashem not waiting for us to remind him that we are ready to leave our dark exile and enter the era of Moshiach?

"Ok. You have a point. Hashem wants to hear our Tefilos and is ready to act upon them. But that only makes sense for our physical needs! Moshiach is a totally different story! Geulah will allow us the oppurtunity to build a Beis Hamikdash, fulfill more Mitzvos, and see revelations of G-dliness. This is definitely something out of our league. When Hashem wants us to have the chance to do these Mitzvos, he'll grant us the oppurtunity. Consequently, until then, we are to sit idle..."

3) The Pesach Sheni Episode: The Halacha was quite clear. The Korban Pesach can not be brought by someone who was Tamei. Period.

And yet, a protest soon began. Crowds of impure people ran to Moshe, begging him for a chance to bring the Korban. Their logic? Their platform speech? "Lama Nigara!"

How did Moshe respond? Did he rebuke them for their Chutzpah? Nope. He submitted their request to Hashem. Their application was accepted and the Yom Tov of Pesach Sheni was born.

Apparently, we are allowed and even encouraged to ask Hashem for the oppurtunity to do a Mitzva.

(But the story gets even better! For the next 39 years, there was no Korban Pesach offered by any of the Jews. In fact, Halacha actually dictates that the Korban Pesach was not to be offered in the desert, but rather was to resume when the Yiddin entered Eretz Yisroel. It was only that first Pesach in the desert, the one recorded in Parshas Beheloscha, that was the exception to the rule.

Rashi (Bamidbar 9:1) tells us that story in Behaloscha is recorded out of place in the Torah. Chronologically, the story of that Pesach belongs in Parshas Bamidbar, and not in Beheloscha! He answers that it is quite embarrassing that this is the only Pesach the Jews observed in 40 years! Therefore, the episode was 'downgraded' and not placed at the beginning of the sefer.

But doesn't that seem bizarre? What's the embarrassment? It should come as not surprise that there was no Pesach the next 39 years! That is the Halacha!

The answer is profound: Indeed, according to Halachah there was not to be a Pesach for the next 39 years. But it is embarrassing that the Yiddin accepted this!

It is humiliating that the Yiddin came to terms with their situation.
It is humiliating that the Yiddin remained passive and not active.
It is humiliating that Yiddin did not beg Moshe for a chance to do the Mitzvah!

Apparently, it is considered embarrassing to sit idle and accept the fact that we are unable to offer a Korban. How much more does this apply to our situation in Golus, where we are unable to do the majority of the 248 positive Mitzvos!)

"Ok. I agree. Hashem wants to hear us ask for both our physical and spiritual needs. But if asking for Moshiach is so important, why did the slogans start only recently? Why did it take until the 1980's to hear the phrase "We Want Moshiach Now?"

4) It's all about linguistics: You're right. The slogan "We Want Moshiach Now" is relatively new. But that's only because the Jews in Israel, Bavel, France, Spain, Italy, Poland, Morocco, and Russia didn't speak English.

There is no shortage of requests for Moshiach in our liturgy! For thousands of years we have said "Es Tzemach Dovid Avdecha Meheira Tatzmiach" three times daily in Shemona Esrei. Every bentching, seder, and wedding is filled with numerous tefilos for Moshiach!

"We Want Moshiach Now" is nothing new. It is nothing new at all.
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It's been 16 long years since that Sicha. But the game plan has not changed.
The world still needs to hear the message of 28 Nissan, 5751.

We must demand "Ad Masai! with an Emes.
We must truly feel a longing for the Geulah.

It is not about slogans, songs, or bumper stickers.
It is about a genuine yearning for something we know and feel we are missing.

In order to want something, you must love it.
In order to love something, you must know about it.
In order to know about something, you must learn about it.

Learn it. Want it. Love it. Live it. Bring it!

(Based upon Sichos of the Rebbe. Feel free to leave a comment asking for a specific source)