Halacha Date: 24 Tammuz 5773 July 2 2013
The Gemara in Masechet Sanhedrin states: “Rabbi Shmuel ben Nachmani said: May the spirit of those who calculate the End of Days cease.” This means that those individuals who make all sorts of calculations in order to decipher when our righteous Mashiach will arrive shall be cursed.
The reason for this is because when one begins making calculations when the Mashiach will arrive (which is indeed hinted in the book of Daniel), he is, in essence, causing the Jewish nation to give up hope, for all will think that he will not arrive in the coming years.
It is well-known how much the Jewish nation suffered approximately three-hundred years ago when the false Mashiach, Shabtai Tzvi, performed miracles and wonders and convinced everyone that he was indeed the Mashiach of Israel. Since everyone believe that the true Mashiach ben David was materializing before them, they began to quickly repent and fast for their sins and perform good deeds, for the Days of Reckoning were upon them when Hashem would reward the righteous and punish the wicked. Thus, everyone began to greatly strengthen their service of Hashem. Afterwards, when the humiliation of Shabtai Tzvi became apparent and he was proven not to be the Mashiach after all when he converted to Islam out of fear of the king, the hearts and spirits of the Jewish nation were broken when they realized that the Mashiach had indeed not arrived.
After this incident, a revolution began in the lands of Europe where several students of the wicked Shabtai Tzvi began to imitate their teacher by doing things which should not be done. As a result, several tremendous luminaries and truly pious individuals were suspected of belonging to the cult of Shabtai Tzvi and were thus wrongfully shamed in public because they were accused of being something they were not. The honor of the Torah thereby faltered in Europe and this gave way for the “Enlightenment” movement to take hold and spread all kinds of heretical ideas throughout the Jewish nation. This, in turn, caused many other tragedies to follow suit.
This teaches us the dangers of Messianity and calculating the End of Days, for the results of these kinds of things are unfathomable and one who values his spiritual life should stay far away from this.
Hagaon Rabbeinu Meir Leibush Malbim, however, did indeed calculate the End of Days in his book. When he was asked how he could have done so in light of the words of Rabbi Shmuel ben Nachmani, he replied that this is only forbidden when the End of Days is far off, such as in the times of the sages of the Talmud, in which case, people will give up hope because it is in such a long time. However, now, when we are close to the arrival of our righteous Mashiach, one may indeed calculate the End of Days and there is no prohibition to do so. Maran Harav Shlit”a quotes all of this in his Derashot.
Nevertheless, one should use great judgment before doing so and not to publicize new findings on the arrival of Mashiach every day, for on the contrary, this can cause the public to lose trust in these matters and that will truly be unfortunate. We must nonetheless expect and long for the Final Redemption which we hope will be speedily and in our days. This is indeed contingent on our actions, for if we merit having many individuals who repent fully before Hashem, whether they are individuals who never before observed Torah and Mitzvot or those who are called religious or “Charedi” (who must likewise repent, every individual on a personal basis), Hashem will surely hasten our redemption. This is also contingent on the extent of our anguish regarding the destruction of the Bet Hamikdash and our physical and spiritual exile, for due to our numerous sins, darkness is rampant in our generation and every day is more difficult and sorrowful than the previous. We must certainly beseech the Heavens for Hashem to redeem us speedily in our days with much kindness and mercy, Amen.
Approximately twelve years ago, Maran Shlit”a recounted that he had seen Mashiach ben David at the Kotel (Western Wall) in his dream. Maran asked the Mashiach, “When will your honor come and redeem the Jewish nation?” The Mashiach replied, “Thank G-d, there are a great many ‘Ba’alei Teshuva’ (individuals who have repented fully). If more people repent fully before Hashem, I will soon be able to come and redeem the Jewish nation.”
We must therefore all try our hardest to convince others to repent fully before Hashem so that we may indeed merit the Ultimate Redemption, speedily in our days, Amen!
