future tense MOSHIACH MUSINGS

The phrase “We want Moshiach now” expresses simply the desire for Moshiach to quickly arrive. But there are many different ways of expressing this besides the word “want.” By Divine Providence, children have chosen the word “want” to express their desire for Moshiach, and there is a profound lesson to be derived therein. To understand the differences in nuance, and the precise connotations of the word “want,” let us examine the same word (or a derivative of it) in a completely different context. The word is “wanting,” meaning lacking or missing, as in “some details are wanting.” Indeed, the dictionary definition of “want,” besides to desire or to wish, is “to feel a desire for, as for something absent, needed .. to feel the need of.” Thus a main difference in nuance between want and any other word expressing desire, is a connotation of deficiency.

This then is the cause of the apathy and complacency so prevalent regarding Moshiach. It stems from a basic misconception of their relationship to Moshiach and his coming. He and the redemption are viewed, at best, with the same desire that one would have for any pleasurable thing. Nice to have, adding the final touch to life, certainly worth waiting for — but something we can get along without. To such a person we present the clarion cry of “We want Moshiach now.” Moshiach is not a mere additional luxury, a future state of bliss to be smugly awaited in complacent serenity. Moshiach is an urgent want, a necessity, as basic as food and drink — without which we are wanting. Can we sit passively by and not do our utmost to fulfill this most basic of wants?