Question:
The Chofetz Chaim writes that the Geulah (Redemption) will only come when we stop talking lashon hora and when we uproot sinas chinam from our midst. These are very common sins and it doesn’t look like there will be too many people who are truly deserving of the Geulah, according to the Chofetz Chaim’s words. The generation only seems to be getting less and less deserving of Geulah, because of yeridas hadoros (spiritual descent of the generations). Elsewhere, Chazal state that the Redemption will only happen when people separate from all of the luxuries and excessive pursuit of food when will be very dominant in ikvesa d’meshicha. There are also many such statements in Chazal that the Redemption will only happen based on certain conditions. These statements can make people give up on being zocheh to the Geulah! Are we forced to conclude that the Geulah will happen because of rachamei Hashem and not because we are deserving? Or will Eliyahu come and get everyone to do teshuvah…?
Answer:
The Geulah is able to come even when the generation is entirely undeserving of it, as the Gemara says [Talmud Bavli Sanhedrin 98b]. When that is the case, there are no conditions to be deserving of Geulah [i.e. we can merit the Geulah even if we don’t separate from the sins of lashon hora, sinas chinam, excessive pursuit of luxuries, materialism and food, etc.]. But even more so, the Geulah will be a spiritual illumination which is above comprehension. Since it cannot be comprehended, you should not try to understand how it will happen, as Chazal teach, “Mashiach will only with hesech hadaas” (absence of understanding). Therefore, there is no place for making any calculations regarding the Geulah, and all we need to do [with regards to the words of our Sages about the conditions necessary for Redemption] is to be strengthen ourselves and improve, but we must not use any of the statements of our Sages to make any calculations of when and how the Geulah will come.
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