Moshiach is Coming

12 Adar I 5782

“Even when his divine soul gathers strength within him to arouse his love of G‑d during prayer, this predominance of the divine soul is not altogether genuine, since it is transient and vanishes after prayer” (Lessons in Tanya, Likutei Amarim, middle of Chapter 29)

Nothing the beinoni does is really on the level of emet la’amito, absolute and lasting truth. Even in every mitzvah there is an element of self, a blemish and dirt. Even in his highest moments of prayer, he does not reach the actual truth, and soon after, when he loses his thread of divine consciousness, he returns to the lowest levels. This roller coaster can have tremendous impact on the soul, which is most sensitive to any degree of untruth or sinfulness.

“And the L‑rd said to Moses: ‘Take for yourself aromatics, [namely] balsam sap, onycha and galbanum, aromatics and pure frankincense; they shall be of equal weight.’” (Shemos 30:34)

Therefore, it is important to remember that it is by the Grace of G‑d that He accepts even our lowly service. As the Rashi explains, for this reason galbanum, “a spice with a vile odor,” was also included in the sublime spices to be offered up on the altar: “Scripture counted it among the ingredients of the incense [in order] to teach us that we should not look askance at including Jewish transgressors with us when we assemble for fasting or prayer. [The Torah instructs us] that they should be counted with us.”

Rashi obviously wrote this from his own perspective, including in the “we” himself and other righteous people of that generation, who were on a much higher level than any of us today. We today lean more towards the group of “Jewish transgressors” than Rashi’s “we.” Nonetheless, we are not excluded from them in mitzvos and prayer, because G‑d also does not exclude our mitzvos and prayer.

“As smoke is driven away, You will drive [them] away; as wax melts before fire, the wicked will perish from before G‑d.” (Tehillim 68:3)

All of the above should give us some consolation, but the real consolation is that Moshiach is coming. Soon this entire imperfection, this admixture of bad to every good, of sin to every mitzvah, of untruth to every truth, which pains our souls so greatly, will be over once and for all. All the smoke will be driven away and all the evil will perish. We need to increase our yearning for this time and direct all our efforts and frustration to the immediate end of our long exile, bepo’el mamosh.