Q:
The Rambam writes in peirush hamishnayos that even if someone believes in Moshiach, it’s not enough. You have to desire he should come, otherwise you’re an apikoris. Why is this so?
A:
The Rambam, this man says, considers a man an apikoris if he doesn’t desire Moshiach.
And the answer is that it states: חכה לו – Wait for him (Habakuk 2:3). It says it openly in the Neviim. Hope for him. Hope for Moshiach.
Now, if a person doesn’t hope for Moshiach, he doesn’t believe in Moshiach. If a person knew that Moshiach is something as portrayed by the neviim, a time of k’vod Shamayim, that ביום ההוא יהיה ה’ אחד ושמו אחד – The whole world will finally agree that we are right, ה’ הוא האלוקים, and this man is not desirous that it should happen then, then certainly he is a man full of faults.
We have to yearn for that time! You walk in the street today, you see people without hats. We have to yearn for the time when all the Jews wear black hats. That’s what we want. Every Jew should wear black hats! All the women should have their head covered, with sheitlech or whatever it is.
We want everybody to be frum. Everybody without exception. Once upon a time it was that way. Yes. Once upon a time, every Jew was a frum Jew. Yes, there were people with bad middos; they didn’t train themselves, amei ha’aretz. But everybody was an observant Jew. That’s the minimum that will happen when Moshiach comes.
So why shouldn’t a person long for Moshiach? Now, I’m not saying I do. That’s what we should do however. We should long for Moshiach because at that time, the glory of Hashem will be reestablished in the world.
October 14, 1999
