Adapted from: Yearning for Redemption by Rabbi Daniel Glatstein

How can we realistically yearn for and await the coming of Mashiach when he has not come for so many generations preceding ours? How can we possibly expect him to arrive now, if those who were much greater than us did not merit the Geulah? 

The Chofetz Chaim answers this question by comparing the later generations, who despite their lower spiritual stature can nevertheless bring Moshiach, to a dwarf riding on the shoulders of a giant. Picture a giant of immense height. Try as he may, he will not be able to reach the top of a building that is just beyond his reach. If he were to take even a dwarf who is only a few feet tall, and place him on his shoulders, the dwarf will be able to reach the top of the building with ease.

However, from the Chofetz Chaim’s elaboration in Tzipisa L’Yeshuah about the resilience of the later generations, another perspective emerges. The Chofetz Chaim explains that the challenges confronting the later generations, and the powerful allure and temptations so widespread in our time, surpass many of the difficulties faced by earlier generations. 

R’ Ovadiah Yosef relates a beautiful mashal that highlights this point:

A princess resided in the palace and exerted great influence over the king. When someone desired an audience with her father, it was the princess who would make the arrangements — if she were so inclined. If someone needed a favor from the king, the princess could make it become reality.

Naturally, anyone who sought a favor from the king would do his best to befriend the princess, trying to win her over so she would take up his cause. They would bestow lavish gifts on the princess, hoping that whenever they might need help from the palace, she would recall the gifts fondly and agree to assist them.

The princess lacked nothing, so a simple gift would not have impressed her. For a present to catch her attention in a memorable way, it would have to be luxurious, opulent, and extravagant. Anything ordinary would not have the desired effect.

One day, after residing in the palace for many years, the princess fell victim to the slander of those who were jealous of her. The fabricated charges resulted in her banishment from the palace. Cast into a cold, dark dungeon, she remained imprisoned there for some time, suffering greatly at the hands of the warden. The meager prison meals provided insufficient nutrition, and she became extremely weak.

A concerned citizen who lived near the prison took pity on her and smuggled bread and water into her cell. She ravenously devoured the food he brought, consisting of items she never would have considered consuming while residing in the palace.

Ultimately, the princess was proven innocent and the king realized that the libelous accusations spread about her were false. He ordered the princess to be released from prison and reinstated in the palace.

From then on, any gift she received, irrespective of value, paled in comparison with the meager meals she had been given while languishing in prison. The gifts that forever remained most dear and meaningful to her were the bread and water she received when she would otherwise have died of starvation.

Rav Ovadiah holds when the Beis HaMikdash was standing and Hashem’s Presence there was obvious to all, Hashem treasured only those mitzvos done properly.

Now, however, Rav Ovadiah emphasizes Hashem is no longer in His palace. Shechinta b’galusa, the Divine Presence is in exile. When God is in exile, even the smallest mitzvah can find favor in His eyes. A small mitzvah performed in our times may be more valuable to Hashem than the combined mitzvos of an entire generation of several hundred years ago.

Perhaps then, it is for this precise reason that it is our lowly generation that has the power to bring Mashiach and can merit Mashiach more than any generation before us. To some degree, we are not simply dwarves standing on the shoulders of giants; rather, we can be likened to the tallest of giants standing on the shoulders of the giants who preceded us.

The arrival of Mashiach, the coming of the Geulah, is dependent on us. And if the Ribono shel Olam has left it up to us, then He trusts that we are fully capable of rising to the challenge. 

Watch our Inside ArtScroll interview: Tzipisa L’Yeshuah, Yearning for Redemption