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But in fact, these blessings were a consolation prize for what he wanted to give them. Yaakov wanted to tell them when Moshiach would arrive (See Rashi 49:1).

At first glance this is not clear. The blessings he gave to his sons were wonderful; How could revealing the date of Moshiach’s arrival be better than that?!

And why is knowing when Moshiach will arrive important at all?

Exactly the opposite. One of the major forces that would hold the Jewish people intact through their thousands of years of suffering in exile would be the hope that Moshiach would come immediately. If they knew that redemption was at a distant date it might be destructive to the Jewish spirit.

But on the other hand, if the date of Moshiach is a good thing (which it is), then why didn’t G-d let Yaakov reveal it?

To understand this here is a story.

Evening was falling. In another few minutes would be Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the year, and the large room was filled to capacity.

But a strange unearthly silence filled the Synagogue. No one seemed to move. The congregants either looked down at the floor, or straight ahead, as though they were more dead than alive, like some sort of strange black and gray picture.

The year was 1945 just after the war, the place; a refugee camp somewhere in Germany. Jews fresh out of concentration camps were gathered in a barracks-turned-Synagogue to pray.

The unanimously chosen “Rabbi” of this one-time congregation was none other than the famous Kloisenberger Rebbe. His holiness and erudition were unquestionable, but even more amazing, he had retained it all even after losing his wife and 11 children to the Nazis.

The minyan (congregation) was composed of all sorts of Jews. From ultra-orthodox, to those that had never been in a Synagogue before. But they all had one thing in common; only they knew how incomprehensibly horrible was what they had been through.

The Cantor began the prayers and the congregation followed. There was much genuine weeping that night, until they got to the confession prayer called “AL CHAIT” where we request forgiveness for ‘the sins we did with our eyes, our hands etc. through brazenness, through callousness etc’.

One of the congregants stood and stamped his foot. “NO!!” He screamed “NO!”

Everyone turned and looked. One or two tried to gently calm him down. “NO!” he looked at them and yelled.

“What?! I should ask forgiveness to G-d for sins I did with my eyes or my hands?!! I should ask forgiveness??!!

“These eyes saw my children murdered These hands had to work for those German devils day and night!

“What? I was brazen?! I didn’t dare lift my head for three years! I was callous? I gave my last bread to people I didn’t know!

“NO NO!! I’m not saying I’m sorry! IF anyone has to ask for forgiveness …. It’s G-d!!! G-D has to ask!!!

“THAT’S RIGHT! G-D SOULD ASK ME FOR FORGIVENESS! He gave the Nazis eyes to see and hands to torture, and brazenness and callousness to rape and kill. So let Him ask forgiveness from us!”

The entire minyan fell silent again, and all eyes filled with tears turned to the Kloisenberger Rebbe. He was a genius!! He must have an answer. What would he say?

After several seconds of pregnant silence, the Rebbe cleared his throat and said…

“You…are…right”

And everyone burst out in uncontrollable weeping. Men fell to their knees, and others just put their faces in their hands and wept and wept and wept.

After the crying had subsided and the room fell quiet once again, the Rebbe continued where he had left off.

“But I want to tell you why I asked G-d for forgiveness

“In our camp the guards used to amuse themselves every morning by playing a sadistic game. They would line us all up in the courtyard and pick five inmates. These unfortunate souls would be forced to carry a load of bricks up a steep flight of stairs in front of everyone. If one brick would fall, they would add another in its place, and if the prisoner himself fell, they would beat and torture him to death before our eyes. And anyone that didn’t watch would also be beaten.

“So it was every morning. True, the rest of the day wasn’t much better. It was unbearably cold, our clothes were full of lice, we had almost nothing to eat, everyone was sick, prisoners were dying like flies. But the worst and most humiliating was that morning ordeal.

“So much so that the prayer each of us said before we went to sleep was,

“G-d, merciful G-d, please don’t let me wake up tomorrow morning. Please let me die in my sleep. ” And I used to say it also.

“That is what I just asked forgiveness for;

“It never entered my mind to ask G-d to set us all free! I forgot that there could be such a thing as being FREE!”

After several minutes the prayers resumed.

This answers our question why the Patriarch Jacob couldn’t reveal the date when Moshiach was to arrive.

The Rambam explains in the end of his all-encompassing 14 volume work that when Moshiach arrives, everyone will see the true oneness of G-d, and be interested only in the truth. work (Hil. Melachim 11:1)

In other words, the world will be FREE of all falseness and people will be FREE to serve HaShem. Things will be like they are supposed to be. Just as we were set free from Egypt, even more so will be the freedom of the future redemption. (Micha 7:15) Then the entire world would be aware of G-d (in greater revelation than at Mount Sinai) and all possible blessings would be revealed ….. certainly more than all the blessings their father could give them.

But as important as it is, this goal seems impossibly far away (even for those as righteous as the sons of Yaakov) people forget they can be free to the degree that they don’t want freedom.

That is why Yaakov wanted to reveal that Moshiach is an actual real human being that actually WILL come.

And, additionally, because the arrival of Moshiach can be hastened by our efforts (Rambam Laws of Tshuva 7:5). It was important for Yaakov to reveal it to his sons to encourage them to work all the harder.

But why did G-d prevent Yaakov from revealing it?

The only possible answer is, as we saw in our story, that for some reason G-d wants to squeeze every possible drop of service, faith and self-sacrifice from the Jewish people. Expecting Moshiach every moment and working to hasten his arrival despite the constant delays and terrible exile …. requires great self-sacrifice and true devotion. Perhaps it is positivity in the face of uncertainty that G-d desires.

But that was almost 4,000 years ago. For sure now. after 4,000 years of uncertainty the time of Moshiach has arrived.

It all depends on us.
We are standing on the merits of thousands of years of Jewish hopes, prayers and suffering. Now it could be that just one more good deed, word or even thought will bring ……  

Moshiach NOW!!

Rabbi Tuvia Bolton
Yeshiva Ohr Tmimim
Kfar Chabad, Israel

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