If you have a sapling in your hand and someone should say to you that the Messiah has come, stay and complete the planting, and only then go greet the Messiah. (Avot d’Rabbi Natan 31b)
Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakkai, in whose name the above text from the Mishnah is taught, was one of the founders of rabbinic Judaism after the fall of the Second Temple in 70 CE. While so many during his time prayed for the messianic era, a mystical moment when the world would finally be at peace, Rabbi Yochanan understood well that passive waiting would never bring about redemption. His words teach us that we must continue the task at hand, that our good deeds and choices in this moment—rather than simply waiting for an abstract time in the future when life will offer us something better or easier— will bring us closer to a feeling of personal and communal redemption.
Throughout this past year, we all understandably hoped that our personal and shared troubles would magically lift and that the plagues and burdens we faced would disappear. While we may not have the power to wish away the brokenness around us, I find so much inspiration in Rabbi Yochanan’s words, which remind us that everything we do today is an opportunity for us to be God’s partners in making the world a place we want to see it become. With every good deed, with every choice that we make to ensure the care and safety of the other, with every call we make to uplift a lonely family member or friend, with every patient moment we spend with a child or spouse, and with every new tree planted we bring our world a bit closer to redemption, to wholeness, to hope, to peace.
— Cantor Emma Lutz