How
Coronavirus
is associated with the Coming of Moshiach
The world is already transforming toward the Era of Moshiach. And quickly so.
The Coronavirus (COVID-19), and its impact on the world must therefore play an integral part of this process.
Here are some thoughts about the connection:
Materialism
Physical leisures have been hit hard:
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Entertainment (sport, live shows)
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Nightclubs
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Dining and other social activities
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Etc.
Down to physical essentials.
In line with the prophecy of (Isaiah 30:20)
"G-d will give you meager bread and scant water", which refers to when people will stop craving a hedonistic life-style and be content with simple necessities (Rashi).
What for?
This make room for spiritual pursuits.
Note Corona has not diminished any intellectual and spiritual entertainment.
That's a taste of the future.
More details on the impact of Moshiach on:
Social Distancing
Social distancing, lock-down, quarantine, isolation.
Obviously, all these are measures to contain the pandemic.
Indirectly, they have undermined the ability to influence. To change others:
Face-to-face contact allows intimating emotions. To create an atmosphere that will impact the other.
Change, inspiration, growth all exist in remote interactions but are done by personal choice. The recipient can always turn off any incoming feed.
All these physical restrictions are novel and unprecedented.
They are characteristic of a fundamental shift away from preparing (changing) the world for Moshiach, to welcoming Moshiach (novel outlook).
What does that mean?
Welcoming the Guest
Shabbat is likened to an important guest.
The weekdays are about enabling the house for the guest: Earning money, shopping, cooking, cleaning. This permeates our mindset, behavior, the way we dress etc.
Come Friday afternoon and the house is just about done. The guest is arriving soon. The focus then switches completely. It's now about the guest himself. Not only a shower and change of clothes. Our head is no longer in the soup or the vacuum cleaner:
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Who is this guest? Would be handy to know this before we start scrubbing the floor for him. But it's not essential then. However when the prep work runs out and this VIP is about to arrive, we better know more about this impending monumental encounter.
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We would then also appreciate the imminence of his arrival and anticipate it.
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And if the guest delays, we'd become agitated. We'll pick up the phone with frustration and scream at his driver.
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Ultimately we go outside and start singing with excitement, welcoming the guest. That's called "Kabbalat Shabbat".
Obviously while we turn our focus to the guest, we'll be also final-touching the house. Dressing the salad, aligning the glasses on the table (as long as we don't get dirty).
Welcoming Moshiach
Moshiach is also a guest. And he will usher in the Messianic (Sabbatical) Era.
All the dirty work was done by the past generations: Dealing with the coarse and evil world to make it less material, more spiritual, and develop some sensitivity to G-dliness.
That was all to enable the Messianic Revelations to penetrate the world.
It comes to a point when enough was done and Moshiach is about to arrive.
This would not only involve the cutting out of materialistic shopping sprees and attendance at the packed football stadiums. There's a growing introduction to Moshiach himself and that era:
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What is Moshiach about? You didn't need to know this when fighting for Jewish survival. But now when we are all somewhat withdrawn from dealing with the physical world, and Moshiach is actually around the corner, we better familiarize ourselves with this new reality.
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And then our anticipation for his arrival will increase.
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And so long that he tarries, we pray for him and demand the delay be brought to an end.
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Ultimately we greet him with song and joy as he arrives.
Yes, there's more work to do while all this is happening. With ourselves and the world. These are the final touches we still work on in the meantime. But it is done in a whole new setting, focused on Moshiach.
Laws of Purity
If you thought keeping kosher was complex enough, there's another thing coming, together with Moshiah.
Laws of Purity (טהרה/ Tahara) is a whole body of law we don't practice today.
It only* applies if one is to enter the Bet HaMikdash.
So we need to quickly catch up on these laws before it gets rebuilt and we go inside.
Preserving your purity status resembles Social Distancing to a great degree:
Possible Ways of Contracting Impurity
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Coming in contact with an impurity directly
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Coming in contact with objects (כלים / Kelim), food or clothes that came in contact with an impurity
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Being under the same roof as an impurity
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Impurity includes the spit from some impure people, hence requiring distancing
Sources of Impurity
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Dead person
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Menstruation and birth
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Dead animal or bird (unless slaughtered in a kosher way)
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Semen
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Idols
Cleansing from Impure Status
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Some impurities can be rid by nightfall
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Some after 7 days
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Some after 14 days
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All instances have to involve immersion in a body of water (Mikveh)
The world seems to be getting used to these concepts.
Very quickly.
Synagogues Closing
That's not the first time.
In the past, Synagogues and Houses of Study were at times closed down, or worse – burned down. Why? Due to the hostile antisemitic climate of the time. The world was far from ready for Moshiach then.
But why now, when everything is ready for Moshiach?!
This trend is also not new:
The world has been getting more and more ready for Moshiach, while the reverse is true for Exile (the antithesis). It's been getting thicker and darker. This trend is covered extensively in our introduction to the unpleasant signs of Moshiach.
The Bet Hamikdash is where the whole nations gathers to worship.
It is also where the whole world will gather to after Moshiach comes.
It stands for revelation from Above.
A Synagogue is a mini-Mikdash. Gathering of local Jews. Quasi-revelation.
Exile on the other hand is the antithesis. Scattering of Jews. Separation. Descent.
The inner purpose of Exile is to elevate the lower level of detail that would not be elevated from a centralized source (the Mikdash in Jerusalem).
The Jews were initially dispersed around the Land of Israel for centuries.
More recently, all around the globe.
But the model had always remained the same – communities powered by places of worship and study.
Now (thanks to Corona) – we were forced to descend yet further down to the next level of detail: Worship within the heart of each and every individual by praying at home. To gather all the different faculties within the person (there are 10) and get them to connect with G-d through prayer, influenced by the brain (the "Rabbi") and led by the mouth (the "Chazan").
This will achieve the ultimate purpose of Exile and thereby void its continuity, resulting with the rebuilding of the ultimate Mikdash and the in-gathering of all the exiles, together with all the details they've elevated.
The Police lose their Force
The Prophecy
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There's a prophecy about the time of Moshiach (Isaiah 1:26): "And I will bring back your judges as at first and your counselors as at the beginning".
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But the actual Commandment (Deut. 16:18) is to appoint Judges and Police?
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Why aren't police mentioned in the prophecy?
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Because they represent execution of judgements with force, and that will not be required anymore in the Messianic Era, as people will listen of their own accord. (Radak on Ibid)
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But the Commandment of appointing police is eternal...
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Police will be busy but providing friendly instructions and facilitating the observance of the law. (Sefer Hasichot 5751 Pt. 2 p.782 note 23)
Corona
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Covid-19 has promoted obedience to instructions and care for others on a massive scale.
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It also caused lock-downs and restrictions on population movements.
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This has in turn caused traditional crime levels to depreciate.
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The spare capacity of the police force has been used to inform and facilitate the novel laws of distancing.
Floyd
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The Floyd incident was the extreme opposite of the above: Use of ultimate, unnecessary, cruel force for petty crime.
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This has sparked huge protests in response, expressing the rejection of the "force" of police.
The underlying reason:
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Both Corona and Floyd demonstrate the world in general feels mature enough to follow the law without being forced to.
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The resultant looting (crime!) would thus be a temporary expression of the minority, who is not there yet (as with any novelty that's introduced to the world).