Why Wait for Mashiach?

Today in Jerusalem, I was walking down the street when an Israeli helicopter flew overhead. I still react with a happy shiver whenever I see a Jewish helicopter soar by up in the sky.

“Baruch Hashem,” I said. “Thank you, Hashem, for giving us Jewish helicopters and rescuing us from the lands of the Gentiles.”

I spent over thirty years in New York, and New England, and California, and an assortment of other places in America, and I never saw a Jewish helicopter. Moments later, as if to reward me for my enthusiasm and gratitude, Hashem sent three Israel Air Force jets streaking through the sky over Jerusalem. “Thank you, Hashem,” I said once again, “For giving us Jewish fighter planes and Jewish pilots.”  After all, as I mentioned, I spent over thirty years in America and I never saw a Jewish fighter plane. It just isn’t possible. Why? Because America isn’t Jewish. America belongs to Esav, our arch enemy.

These past few weeks, we have been reading in the Torah a capsule blueprint of world history. First, we met Avraham, the father of the nation chosen by God to bring God’s word to the world through our living a life of holiness in the Land of Israel. Then we met Yishmael, the wild beast of a man, whose descendants, the Arabs have been contesting our right to the Land of Israel, right down to this very day. Then, we met the hairy red ape, Esav, or Esau, as he is called by English translators. From the very womb, he has been contesting our place as the Divine chosen nation, doing everything in his power to usurp us from our God-given role. Esav is Edom. His descendants became the Romans, and the Germans, the Russians, and the Americans. Edom is Christianity and the whole Christian world, including the USA. Take a good look at the architecture of the US government buildings in WDC. Roman columns and frescoes. Edom also means red. That’s why Santa Claus wears red. The jolly old fellow is Edom/Esav in disguise.

So when a Jewish helicopter flies overhead, I get goose pimples, and remember to thank God for all of His kindness and goodness that He has rescued us from the lands of Edom and returned us to our own Promised Land. To me, that’s the greatest miracle there is. The ingathering of the exiles is the greatest revelation of Hashem in the world - just as He promised our forefathers in the Torah, and through Israel’s Prophets, He has returned us to our Land. There is no greater historic evidence of God’s existence than this. The Rambam teaches that the ingathering is a sign that the spirit of Mashiach has already awakened. The State of Israel, with all of its problems and challenges, is the greatest sanctification of God in the world, and the best is yet to come. Why linger in foreign lands? Mashiach is already busy at work. Just open your eyes and see.