“Will we walk around like zombies when Moshiach comes?”
This is a real question I was asked by an intelligent and successful individual. I’ve heard this same question articulated in various ways from many - even from religious Jews. I think it’s a great question.
The concept of Moshiach or Messiah has been around for thousands of years and unfortunately most people have no idea what it’s all about. The Bible records numerous prophecies foretelling of a future redemption, but a concrete understanding of what this is all about has eluded the masses for millennia, giving way to egregious misunderstandings resulting in controversy and tragedy.
Another thing many struggle with is the idea that Judaism calls our reality today “exile.” Living in an era of unprecedented religious, social and economic freedom and prosperity can we honestly relate to the idea that we are currently in exile?
The Hebrew language is awesome in that the definition of any given thing can be distilled from its name and an analysis of the Hebrew word for redemption in contrast to the word for exile properly defines redemption in a mature and truthful manner.
Here are the two words in Hebrew and English:
גולה - Exile - Golah
גאולה - Redemption - Geulah
Notice that both words are constructed from the same letters, in the identical sequence with one difference: the word for redemption has the letter “Alef” in it. Alef is the first letter of the Hebrew Alphabet and represents G-d. (Does “Who knows one?” sound familiar?)
So here is the deal with exile and redemption. Everything in this world and every moment of our lives has a divine purpose. But we do not experience the urgency and inevitability of fulfilling that divine purpose, because we do not sense G-d’s presence in every detail of our lives. In fact, choosing right over wrong can often be an excruciating struggle.
“Exile” is a reality in which the “Alef” - G-d is not revealed. Redemption means that G-d will be revealed in the reality so familiar to us. Moshiach will not take us back to the age of camel riding and candle light, nor will he transform us into zombies and lead us into an epic space voyage. Life will continue, but the struggle to be good and to do right will be no more, because our divine purpose and calling will be as perceivable and relatable as the air we breathe.
When all humanity experiences this, there will be no possibility for war, hatred, hunger or competition; an era of true peace and tranquility for all. We will have the best of both worlds: everything good about life today and none of the bad. Can you resist such an offer?
The second of the two Torah portions we read this week “Kedoshim” opens with an instruction for us all to be holy and enumerates dozens of Mitzvot, most of which deal with day-to-day life and not religious rituals. This illustrates that holiness is not about escaping reality, rather revealing divine purpose within reality. This is what redemption is all about.
We can choose to live like that today, even before Moshiach comes. By tuning our senses to G-d’s presence and choosing right over wrong more often than not, we experience our personal redemption and pave the way for global redemption as well.