Waiting for Moshiach

Today is 21 Shevat, and in a week or so we will be entering the month of Adar 1.  The year 5784 is a leap year so there are two Adars, as we all know.   

There is a possibility that we will see the Kochav Yaakov on 25 Adar II or perhaps even 25 Adar I - as the prophecy says "the 25th day of the sixth month".  Technically Adar 1 is the sixth month, but we always celebrate the chagim in the second Adar, so if the sixth month is "Adar" then it is more likely to occur in Adar II.

But.... and there is a huge BUT here.... it may not happen that way.  

When the Torah says the "sixth month" it generally refers to Elul.   However, there is a question mark on this, as we really don't know until we get there.

We know that the Jewish year begins on the first of Tishrei—a day we observe as Rosh Hashanah, “the Head of the Year”—and ends twelve (or thirteen) months later, on the 29th of Elul. But if the head of the year is on the first of Tishrei, why does the Torah (in Leviticus 23:24) refer to Tishrei as the seventh month of the year? And why is the month of Nissan, occurring midway through the Tishrei-headed year, designated—in the very first mitzvah commanded to the Jewish people—as “the head of months, the first of the months of your year”? But like a sphere with two poles, the Jewish year has two “heads” or primary points of reference, each of which is equally its beginning. Our annual journey through time is actually two journeys—a Tishrei-to-Elul journey, and a Nissan-to-Adar journey. Every day on the Jewish calendar can be experienced on two different levels, for it simultaneously exists within these two contexts.  [Source - Chabad]

I've been blogging for a long time. I've expected Moshiach to arrive many times during all these years, and have been disappointed but I've always managed to pick myself up and remain hopeful. I'm not worried about my own feelings. I am worried about some of my readers, especially the younger ones.  This blog post is especially for YOU.  

I want to say to you: make sure you keep a part of yourself safe from disappointment.  You need to prepare yourself for the fact that things may not happen in the way we hope.  It is very important that you do this, because if you don't, you may feel as though it's all never going to happen at all and abandon your beliefs.

This is especially the case if you have a physical, financial, mental or emotional issue.  If you are depending on Moshiach to come and save you from any of these things, and then it doesn't happen as you had planned it to.... you could chas v'shalom be plunged into the depths of despair and even feel suicidal.  You MUST prepare yourself for the fact that it may not play out in the way that we are hoping it does.

This is a Geula blog... it didn't start out that way, I never intended it to be a Geula blog, but it seemed to have a life of it's own and it basically created itself.  I do not PREDICT Geula, I just blog about things that relate to Geula.   Some of those things may, or may not, happen.   

When Rav Zeira happened upon scholars who were engaged [in calculating the date of the coming of Moshiach], he told them, "I beg you, do not postpone it . . . for it has been taught, ‘Three things come when the mind is occupied otherwise: Moshiach, something that is lost, and a scorpion.' "(Sanhedrin 97a)  [Source: Do You Anticipate the Redemption?]

As we are definitely close to the time of Moshiach's arrival, were are allowed to talk about it and we are allowed to attempt to calculate the date.  However, have we reached the time where even children will be able to make the calculation????[see quote below]

The Maggid of Dubno : the Zohar even states that it is not God’s will to reveal the arrival date of the Moshiach, but when the date draws near, even children will be able to make the calculation [Bereishis 118a]

I'm just going to continue on blogging as usual, because I have asked a few people whether or not I should.....and the answer has always been to keep going.  We need to have a Moshiach consciousness. The more people who think about it and talk about it, the more it gains a Geula energy.  You need to be planting Moshiach seeds wherever you go.  Don't worry if people look at you strangely, or think you're a bit crazy..... just plant the seed and let Hashem take it from there.  You'd be surprised how these people, who never gave a thought to Moshiach previously, suddenly start thinking about it, and the next time they see you, they ask you where Moshiach is.  That happens to me all the time in real life.  But I'm just happy that they are giving some thought to a concept which they'd never acknowledged until I brought it to their attention.

....the Dark Side tries everything to prevent Moshiach's arrival, so Hashem must engineer it in such a way that catches the unholy spiritual opposition completely off guard. [Rabbi Lazer Brody - "The Seeds of Moshiach" click here to listen to "The Book of Ruth"]

As I was typing up this post and I read this,,,, On the first of Nissan, 2448 years after the creation of Adam, G‑d commanded His first mitzvah to the fledgling nation of Israel—to establish a calendar based on the monthly lunar cycle.....

I did a small calculation on my notepad: 2448 x 2 = 4896

Then I subtracted 4896 from the current year 5784.  The remaining total was 888.

I don't know if that's relevant to anything at all, but it was exciting for me to see because 8 is the number of Moshiach.  Our current world is a world of sevens, seven continents, seven seas, etc. but the world of Moshiach is the world of 8.