I’ve used this analogy before, but I do not know who is reading my material for the first time. Besides, how many people remember what I have written before?
Landing redemption is like landing an airplane. Sometimes it can be smooth, sometimes there is turbulence which makes it rough and scary. In geulah talk, that translates into achishenah and b’ittah, early redemption and safe passage to the Messianic Era, and last-minute redemption via the War of Gog and Magog (Sanhedrin 98a).
In the first scenario, mankind fixes itself. People wake up and do teshuvah. Not necessarily everyone, but enough people for God to say, “Okay, good enough. You deserve the Messianic Era peacefully.” That’s when redemption lands so perfectly and cleanly that you barely even realize it has occurred until after.
Only God knows how many people that means, but so far we haven’t seemed to reach that number. Out of almost eight billion people, it doesn’t even seem like we’re close. If anything we seem destined for scenario two, and now with Russian invading the Ukraine and strong arming the rest of the world, history seems to agree.
God set a deadline for the period of free will back at Creation, and it is immutable. Moshiach is just meant to be a guide to the next era of history during which God reveals Himself to the world to such an extent that evil can no longer exist (Succah 52a). Denying His reality will be as difficult as convincing someone it is nighttime while the sun is high in the sky, even harder.
That can happen one of two ways. Either the world uses its brain and realizes this on its own, effectively eliminating the need for free will. Or, the world misses the point completely, so God creates a situation that teaches it to the world, the point of the War of of Gog and Magog.
We’re supposed to believe that this is possible every moment of history, but clearly some moments are more advantageous than others. For example, three weeks ago, no one was talking about World War III. Thanks to Russia, they are. We didn’t plan this, and we certainly don’t want it, but here it is anyhow, the chance for the world to once again lose control of its destiny and fall into a deadly and destructive war. We’re talking major turbulence.
Does it make sense? Does it make a difference? If we knew the final deadline for history, we’d have no questions. We’d know exactly what is happening and why, and this might help us figure out what to do. That’s why Ya’akov Avinu wanted to reveal it to his sons before he died (Bereishis 49:1).
But we don’t, try as we might. In the meantime, the situation is worsening, people are dying, destruction is occurring, and there is world-wide fear of escalation. Once again the world is in a “damned if you do, damned if you don’t” situation, and is choosing the latter by default.
Landing a plane is dangerous business on a good day. So much can go wrong, so we are told to sit down, fasten our seatbelts, and put our tray tables back in their upright position. We’re told to stow our carry-on luggage and to stop using portable devices. There is a certain amount of danger in landing a large flying cigar tube that cannot be avoided, so the least we can do is to minimize the kinds of dangers we can control.
Landing in turbulence means the same thing with one major difference. You’d be surprised how many people offer a personal prayer to God when they realize the plane has an increased chance of crashing. They pray for a smooth landing.
We have to do the same. It’s called praying for a geulah b’rachamim, a merciful redemption. War may be inevitable. Moshiach may be moments away from revealing himself. A year from now the world may look completely different, in a good way. But in the meantime, we are fastened into our seats and waiting with bated breath for the plane to finally land, and as safely as possible.
We’re hoping for, or at least we should be, a merciful and final redemption.
We should be asking for, no, begging for it too.