King Solomon, the wisest of men, said (Ecclesiastes 12:1), "And there shall come days of which you will say that you have no use for them." What did he mean? The Gemorra in tractate Shabbat (151b) explains that the "worthless days" are the days of Messianic times, when people won't have either reward or punishment for their deeds, because everyone will automatically behave according to G-d's laws. Without a context of free choice and spiritual opposition (the Yetzer Hora, or Evil Inclination), rewards and punishments are meaningless, like a football team bragging that they scored ten touchdowns, only the other team hadn't yet arrived at the stadium.
My esteemed teacher, the Melitzer Rebbe shlit'a, says that it was worth Hashem's efforts to create the world just to hear one Jew say, Baruch hu u'varuch shmo, or blessed is He and Blessed is His name. The Rebbe continues, and says that one Amen is worth a hundred times Baruch hu u'varuch shmo. One Y'he shmay raba in Kaddish is worth a hundred times Amen. That's not all: One word of Gemorra study is worth a hundred times Y'he shmay raba. Therefore, a single word of Gemorra study is worth a million Baruch hu u'varuch shmo; that means that Hashem is willing to create a million universes just to hear one word of Gemorra study. Now, if a person can say - learning slowly - 90 words a minute, then in one hour he accumulates 5400 million reasons for Hashem to continue to sustain the universe. As you can see, the rewards for Torah learning are mind-boggling.
Now, imagine the rewards of a rabbi who devotes his life to learning and outreach, helping others to learn Torah and fulfill its commandments. In addition to his own merits, he reaps dividends from the merits of those he has taught and influenced, along with their offspring until the arrival of Moshiach. The accrued mitzva value for such a "Mezakeh rabim" is beyond human comprehension.
With the above in mind, one would think that such leaders of the Tshuva movement as Rabbi Amnon Yitzchak, Rabbi Shalom Arush, and Rabbi Uri Zohar - may Hashem bless them and all the mezakey rabim, wherever they may be - would be protesting day and night the arrival of Moshiach. Sure, the current spiritual wars are so tough that our holy sages were afraid of what Messianic times hold in store, but the spiritual paydirt is Fat City for those who remain faithful to Hashem and his Torah. If so, you ask, then who the heck needs Moshiach?
We all do. But why?
1. To stop the chilul Hashem, or defamation of Hashem's Holy Name: Every day, some new politician or journalist sprouts like an unwanted weed here in our beloved holy homeland to sling filth about Hashem's loyal sons and daughters, while trampling Hashem's Holy Name G-d forbid, the Torah, and Tzaddikim G'Dolei Yisroel (the righteous leaders of Israel). The chilul Hashem (defamation of Hashem's name) must stop immediately; only Moshiach can put a stop to it.
2. In Israel alone, 1.5 million children are totally ignorant of their Judaism, and don't know the meaning of kriat shma. The Teshuva movement, which all its might, has succeeded in solving a mere 7% of the problem with their dedication-fueled meager resources, bringing about 100,000 children into religious education; even with our greatest efforts, we're not cutting the mustard. Only Moshiach can save all these kids from a dismal spiritual future.
3. Never since the holocaust, has there been such evil decrees as the current one threatening to expel tens of thousands of Jews from their homes, here in the heartland of Israel, Heaven forbid. Only Hashem knows what the future holds in store. For the future of the people of Israel in the Land of Israel, we need Moshiach now!
4. Despite Boro Park and Stamford Hill, the numbers of Jews in the diaspora are rapidly decreasing because of assimilation and intermarriage, which together comprise a spiritual holocaust that only Moshiach can prevent.
A devout Torah scholar can't sit in the comforts of his Williamsburg home and say, "I don't care about the others - my Olam Haba (world to come) is set!" Sorry, pal - Klal Yisroel is like a ship; you may have a berth on the luxury deck, but if someone down in the hold drills a hole in the floorboards, you're going to sink with everybody else.
Looking at our own expected rewards is utterly egotistical. Every single one of has has to bleed and tear his or her clothes at the sight of Chilul Hashem. Every single one of us must pour his or her heart out in prayer that a fellow Jew doesn't lose his home - anywhere - and especially in Eretz Yisroel. Every single one of us has to do everything in his or her power to support Jewish outreach and to spread emuna in the world until every Jewish child in the world carries Shma Yisroel on his or her lips. Every single one of us has to beg Hashem to send Moshiach now in order to stop the spiritual holocaust, and to raise the Holy Shechina (the Divine Presence) from the dust of diaspora, speedily and in our days, amen.
