MESSIANIC CALCULATIONS

! , Episode Twenty-Nine After exhaustively documenting the importance of actively awaiting the Geula, in the previous Episode we dealt with a surprising Talmudic imperative suggesting the opposite: a need to be mindless, rather than mindful about Moshiach's arrival. We went on to illustrate the critically important distinction between focusing on Moshiach (which is praiseworthy and encouraged) and focusing on the time of his "ordained" arrival (which is unhelpful and should be discouraged). Accordingly, the first is said to actively accelerate the Redemption, while the latter can delay Moshiach's coming. In this Episode we will pick up where we left off, because truth be told the said explanation doesn't fully solve the problem. For whilst such calculations may be superfluous, or even unhelpful, how would they deaccelerate, and actively delay the redemptive process? Clarifying this conundrum will require additional background. The reconciliation of seeming contradictions of prophetic statements and competing Talmudic schools of thought will include a clarification on our obligations to Hashem, and different possible scenarios for Moshiach's arrival. This all ultimately leads us to a more satisfying understanding of the bigger picture and provides a fuller answer to our question. This is the Twenty Ninth Episode in an ongoing study series on The Geula, our final Redemption generally referred to as the Coming of Moshiach (The Messiah).