Yearning for Mashiach, and discussing what it really means, is a topic that often shows itself to be as timely as it is timeless. Rightly so. After all, it touches on one of the thirteen primary principles of faith. And this topic seems to have gained particular prominence over the most recent few years, what with the tremendous upheaval of COVID, unrelenting social unrest both in the USA as well as in Israel, seemingly non-stop terrorism, intense 
world financial woes, and so much more. Understandably, there are bound to be many amongst us who feel that these significant world events mean that Mashiach is just around the corner. Particularly regarding COVID, there was even a sentiment voiced claiming, “nothing like this has ever happened before”.
Now, while the abrupt lockdowns and travel bans that the COVID era generated seem to be without meaningful precedent on the stage of world history – after all, normal life effectively coming to a grinding halt all across the globe within a span of a few months does seem to be an unprecedented historical event – that notwithstanding, one could hardly claim that such events represent a degree of import that is unmatched by any other, previous world events. The upheaval and turmoil caused by even relatively recent world events such as WWI and WWII far outpaces the upheaval and turmoil caused by COVID.
In any event, the more sagacious and level-headed amongst us often make a point to issue a reminder that “Mashiach fever” is something that has struck the Jewish People, in all too negative a way, time and time again throughout our winding, tumultuous odyssey. In addition, there have been clarion calls for ensuring that children are taught to understand that yearning for Mashiach is not about longing for a quick-fix to our petty problems, but about regaining our relationship with our Father in Heaven, as well as the physical, spiritual, and structural wholeness of our nation.
While this is indeed an exceedingly important missive, and one can only hope that the educational system will pick up on it post haste, it would seem that a bit of elaboration and nuance is nevertheless important to include in this discussion.
For starters, let’s consider the following story about Rav Yaakov Kaminetzky zt”l, which appears in Rabbi Jonathan Rosenblum’s biography, Reb Yaakov (Artscroll), on pages 288-289.
In 1943, certain groups began circulating predictions of Mashiach’s imminent arrival. A non-religious storeowner in Toronto, who had until that time remained open even on Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur, was swept up in enthusiasm, and decided to close his store on Shabbos in anticipation of Mashiach’s coming.
Reb Yaakov called the man in and explained to him the sanctity of Shabbos and the necessity to remain closed for business regardless of when Mashiach comes. He then told the man that while we pray and hope that Mashiach may arrive any day, there was absolutely no more reason to believe that he would arrive in the near future than that he would delay another fifty hears.
Reb Yaakov’s son-in-law, Rabbi Hirsch Diskind, asked him why he had disillusioned the storeowner, since the man would now in all likelihood give up Shabbos observance. Reb Yaakov answered that while the violation of the Sabbath is compared to the violation of the entire Torah, nevertheless, one who believes in the coming of Mashiach still has a place in the World-to-Come, even if he violates the Sabbath. “If Mashaich doesn’t come as predicted, he’ll lose his belief in Mashiach, too, and I couldn’t take responsibility for depriving him of his Olam Haba.”
Clearly, then, “Mashiach Fever” is an illness that we need to do our utmost to obviate.
However, it would seem entirely unrealistic to suggest that we could somehow eradicate the phenomenon of some people experiencing a sense of excitement whenever there is a major shake-up down here on Earth, that it may be a reflection of a major shake-up in Heaven and a harbinger of enduring change that will conclude with Mashiach’s imminent arrival. It would seem that there will always be such people. So the question is, what is the ideal way to deal with them? Should leaders, educators, and influencers see it as their job to simply pop those balloons of excitement whenever they begin to inflate, or can there perhaps be a certain, restrained degree of tolerance?
Without a doubt, there is an acute need to ensure that this type of excitement should never reach a feverish pitch. The numerous false Mashiach movements that have occurred throughout our history (and continue to occur) always fed off of such ecstatic, emotion-driven excitement and longing. That type of feverish excitement is the breeding ground for bad things to happen. Really bad things.
But, at the same time, perhaps we can allow a certain amount of room for a controlled degree of sympathy for the excitable ones, even if the more rational mind may reject such things outright.
Consider the following anecdote.
A talmid of Rav Moshe Twersky, Hy”d, once posed to his rebbi the following query. “People are saying that a certain famous, elderly mekubal revealed that the arrival of Mashiach is imminent. So, what am I supposed to make of these rumors? I mean, if Mashiach really is coming soon, I should seriously ramp up my efforts in avodas Hashem, right? I should conduct myself as if it were Elul, no?”
Rav Twersky gave him the following answer.
“To tell you the truth, whenever I hear such things, I don’t believe them at all. I just don’t. Of course, we know that Mashiach can come at any moment. Any moment! But to think that these rumors are ‘it’, I just don’t believe it. But that doesn’t mean that hearing them can’t be an opportunity for you.
“For someone upon whom these stories have no effect, okay, fine. For them it’s nothing. But if you find yourself experiencing a certain spiritual awakening, then don’t lose the opportunity! Why not utilize it? Make the most of it.
“To conduct yourself as though it were Elul, that’s a bit much. But to take advantage of the opportunity to make some chizuk in your avodah, for sure! The fact that you intellectually realize that you shouldn’t invest these stories with much credence doesn’t mean that you can’t harness the emotional effect it had on you to strengthen your avodas Hashem. Whenever you have a sense of spiritual awakening, don’t let it pass you by!”
It would seem, then, that so long as we can ensure that the rational intellect always remains firmly with its hands on the steering wheel, perhaps it is not necessarily correct to quash any and all maybe-Mashiach-is-just-around-the-corner excitement. In as much as it would seem that some people do not neatly fit into the fully rational archetype – and are instead more inclined towards excited, emotional responses to events – perhaps it would be ill 
advised to attempt an utter negation of their temperament. Perhaps a more nuanced approach, wherein the rational outlook is clarified and carefully imbued, while still allowing for a controlled degree of emotional, excited expression, would be more effective and beneficial in the long run.
A further point that is perhaps in need of nuanced elaboration pertains to the particular motivation behind an individual’s yearning for Mashiach. In this context, it is important to note that, when the Rambam discusses the topic of Mashiach, in addition to describing the main events that will take place, the Rambam explicitly addresses the nature of yearning. In Hilchos Melachim chapter twelve halacha four, the Rambam writes as follows:
The sages and prophets did not long for the days of Mashiach so that they could reign over the world, lord over the Gentiles, gain world prominence, or indulge in eating drinking and merriment. Rather, they longed for the days of Mashiach so that they could be free to engage in Torah and its wisdom, without anyone oppressing or disturbing them, so that they can thus merit the life of the world to come.
I don’t think that this statement is in contradiction with the assertion that we are meant to long for Mashiach so as to experience the healing and wholeness of our nation and relationship with Hashem. After all, being fully engaged in Torah and mitzvos and meriting Olam HaBa is all about reaching completion, both on national as well as individual level, in our relationship and connection with Hashem.
Note, though, that the Rambam is talking about “the sages and the prophets”. In other words, the highest echelon of the Jewish nation. The clear implication is that this lofty level of motivation behind yearning for the days of Mashiach is only to be found, generally speaking, in that highest echelon of “sages and prophets”, and that everyone else is holding on a lower level of motivation.
And what exactly is that lower level of motivation?
It would seem that the Rambam made that quite clear, didn’t he? After all, the Rambam writes that it is the sages and prophets for whom “reign over the world, lording over the Gentiles, gaining world prominence, and indulging in eating drinking and merriment” is not what motivates them to yearn for Mashiach. The implication, then, is that, for everyone else, that is what motivates them to yearn for Mashiach.
Although clearly not ideal, the Rambam does make it clear that it is nevertheless a valid channel of yearning for Mashiach. That those who are excited and yearn for the days of Mashiach because of the great benefits that we will personally and nationally accrue, are not violating the fundamental tenant of emunah of awaiting Mashiach.
Furthermore, it seems clear that this dichotomy of motivations vis a vis yearning for Mashiach parallels the dichotomy of motivations in avodas Hashem in general. In fact, the Rambam juxtaposes the two in the final two chapters of Hilchos Teshuva. The ideal to which one should aspire, writes the Rambam, is to serve Hashem lishmah, out of love. To follow the truth simply because it is the truth. And that serving Hashem lo lishmah, out of fear – in order to avoid negative consequences and gain positive outcomes – is a much lower level which is appropriate for the general population. It is the level of those who are of a limited intellectual development and education.
At the same time, the Rambam explicitly says that serving Hashem out of love and following the truth simply because it is the truth “is an incredibly great level, and not every sage merits to achieve it”. The Rambam also refers to this level of serving Hashem out of love as a “secret” which can only be introduced to the general populace bit by bit, and regarding which the great sages would privately exhort the wisest and most understanding of their students.
It seems inescapable to conclude that the Rambam is not describing two binary options towards avodas Hashem, but a spectrum and continuum. There are many shades of gray between the two “black and white” extremes. The two overarching approaches of serving Hashem out of love versus 
serving Hashem out of fear comprise a broad spectrum and continuum of levels. Within each approach there are many rungs on the ladder which are available to the individual upon which to ascend along the journey of his life. And the degree to which each individual will ascend will generally be in accordance with the degree of his or her educational achievement, intellectual refinement, and wisdom absorption. The Rambam is primarily describing the outer extremities of the continuum and directing us to where aspirations need to be pointed, even if one is not yet on that level or anywhere near it.
In the context of this discussion, though, it is crucial to note that even those who are on the lowest level of serving Hashem out of the purely selfish motivation of wanting to “get stuff” and not get punished, they too are a fully valid part of the Nation of G-d. They too have a portion in the World to Come.
And just as selfish motivation is a valid, albeit not ideal, approach for avodas Hashem in general, so too, it only stands to reason (and, as pointed out above, seems quite clear from the words of the Rambam), is it a valid approach vis a vis yearning for Mashiach. The upshot of this is that even as we seek to elucidate what yearning for Mashiach really ought to be about, it is important that we make sure to clarify that what we are describing is that towards which our aspirations should be directed, and not a level which is to the exclusion of all else.
It is vitally important to not give people the mistaken impression that anything less than the ideal is invalid. As the Rambam makes clear, many (if not most) of the general populace are indeed holding at a place where their motivations are primarily about selfish interest. If we accidentally cause them to feel that their current motivations cannot really be called yearning for Mashiach, we may inadvertently cause them to lose all hope. If we are not careful, we may inadvertently cause many of the masses to conclude that they don’t really have a place in the World to Come since they aren’t really awaiting Mashiach.
And, as we see from the story of Rav Yaakov Kaminetzky, there could be no greater catastrophe than that.
Furthermore, I once saw written in the name of Rav Yisrael Salanter that even though Rav Chaim Volozhiner severely decried davening for one’s own needs on the Yamim Noraim because it is a time when one’s davening needs to be purely about increasing the glory of Heaven, that was then. But for us, Rav Yisrael Salanter reportedly insisted, the fact of the matter is that we, in general, are so caught up with our own needs, and are so focused on our selfish desires, that if we were to not daven for our own needs and desires on the Yamim Noraim, when all those things are hanging in the balance, it would express a lack of emunah! So, because of our generally low level, we in fact do need to daven for our own needs and wants on the Yamim Noraim. Given the reality of our b’dieved situation, that, Rav Yisrael Salanter reportedly said, is the l’chatchila thing for us to do.
Now, if that was true in the generation of Rav Yisrael Salanter, how much more so could it be applied to our own generation. In fact, Rav Yaakov Weinberg once said that even gedolei Torah of this generation do not have the tangible sense of schar v’onesh that was the basic experience of their great grandmother’s generation. Accordingly, it may not be an exaggeration to say that, for a great many of us, halevai that we would have a fraction of the yiras ha’onesh that the Rambam describes as being the level of the uneducated masses. And it may likewise not be an exaggeration to say that halevai that our emunah in Mashiach and its attendant benefits would be so concrete and tangible that we would selfishly anticipate his coming with bated breath.
Of course, this does not mean that we should therefore ignore the ideal and give up on aspiring towards it. What it does mean, though, is that, even while we do work on elucidating what yearning for Mashiach really ought to be about and point aspirations and educational efforts in that direction, it would seem impractical and incorrect to not concomitantly address the reality of where people are actually holding and create appropriate educational provisions therefor. As the Rambam says, the uneducated masses should in fact be instructed to serve Hashem out of yirah – selfish motivation – and that the ideal of serving Hashem out of love and doing that which is true simply because it is true should be introduced to them very gradually, bit by bit.
As we strive for the ideal, we don’t want to chas v’shalom lose that which we already have. Taking a more nuanced approach – wherein we embrace the ideal, do our best to aim ourselves and others towards it, but, at the same time, be real with who and what people are, where they’re holding, and not invalidate the valid non-ideal – seems to be the best recipe for success.