Q&A: Waiting for the Messiah
Waiting for the Messiah
Question
Hello Rabbi,
There is the well-known Mishnah in Sotah (9:15)
which says: “In the footsteps of the Messiah, insolence will increase, and prices will soar.
The vine will yield its fruit, yet the wine will be expensive.
The government will turn to heresy, and there will be no rebuke.
The meeting place will become a place of promiscuity, the Galilee will be destroyed, and the Gavlan will be desolate,
and the people of the border will wander from city to city and will receive no mercy.
The wisdom of scribes will decay, those who fear sin will be despised,
and the truth will be missing.
Young people will shame the old, and old people will stand before the young.
A son will disgrace his father, a daughter will rise against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law, and a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.
The face of the generation will be like the face of a dog, the son will not be ashamed before his father;
and upon whom do we have to rely? Upon our Father in Heaven.”
Now, I know the Rabbi is less fond of dealing with these kinds of things.
But still, I would be glad to ask, because many of the things here were not true until a few decades ago, and then suddenly, in a relatively short time, we see everything (or at least most of it) being fulfilled before our eyes, like a prophecy.
Can anything be inferred from this about our times?
Because what are the odds that everything written there would happen now within a very short period?
Answer
If it is truly clear-cut, then perhaps one could draw conclusions from it. I am very doubtful how clear-cut it really is.