When will Mashiach come? That is up to us

One wonders whether the Mashiach (messiah) and the redemption he is meant to bring still have not come because we are still waiting for him, or because he is still waiting for us.

There is a story (not to be taken literally) concerning the coming of the Mashiach that has always puzzled me, relating to this week’s portion, Metzorah.

The Talmud (Sanhedrin 98a) relates that one day, Rabbi Yehoshuah Ben Levi was walking and “ran into” Eliahu HaNavi (the Prophet). After exchanging greetings, Rabbi Yehoshuah begs to ask a question: “Eimatai Ka’Ati Mar?” (“When will the Master [the Mashiach] come?”). A logical question, as the prophets tell that one day, Eliahu HaNavi will be the predecessor of the Mashiach, heralding his coming and ushering in a new age of redemption.

Elijah responds, “Ask him yourself!” Rabbi Yehoshuah asks, “But where can I find him?”

Elijah explains, “If you will go to the entrance to the marketplace, you will see that all the lepers sit at the entrance to the market, with their bandages removed so that the warmth of the sun can heal their wounds. However, pay attention and you will notice that there is one beggar who only allows himself to remove one bandage at a time, so as to be ready to move at a moment’s notice, in the event that he is called. This is the Mashiach.”

So Rabbi Yehoshuah goes to the marketplace, and indeed finds such a person sitting amongst the lepers. And of course, he asks him the question, “Eimatai Ka’Ati Mar?” (“When will the Master come?”).

To which the leper responds with one simple, yet powerful word: “HaYom.” (“Today”).

Can you imagine? Rabbi Yehoshuah, in that moment, has the answer to the question the entire world is asking: When will peace finally come? When will we at last sit together, all of us, as brothers? When will the guns and the bombs, the horror and the hatred, finally stop?

The Talmud doesn’t describe what Rabbi Yehoshua’s reaction was to this incredible news, but if you were one of the greatest rabbis in Jewish history, and you actually ran into Elijah, and he actually described to you where you could find the Mashiach, and you actually found him, and then this person who you now know to be the Mashiach actually tells you he is coming today, well, what would you do?