The power of Klal Yisrael’s enemies will have grown to the point that they are apparently unassailable. It seems as if there is no hope. In the Talmud Sanhedrin 96a, Chazal derive from this pasuk that Moshiach will not arrive until the Jewish people have given up hope for salvation. Specifically when the future looks the bleakest, Hashem will “step in.” This is enigmatic! Is it necessary to forsake one of the thirteen principles of our faith, the belief in the advent of Moshiach, in order for him to arrive?
Horav Yaakov Kamenetzky, zl, addresses this question and offers an insightful response. He interprets Chazal’s statement as assuring us that Hashem will grant us the redemption only when we give up hope for receiving any form of help from the outside world. Our greatest mistake has always been our trust in man in place of Hashem. We repeat this error constantly, whether our great source of hope is in the guise of the United Nations, friendly foreign countries, or on a personal level, such as the physician who is nothing more than Hashem’s agent. True, we must be mishtadel, help ourselves to perform the endeavor, but we must remember that the only source of true deliverance is Hashem.
Horav Kamenetzky posits that this is why, after Hashem sent Moshe to Pharaoh demanding that he release the Jewish people from servitude, He hardened Pharaoh’s heart so that he would scoff at Moshe’s demand. It was necessary that Klal Yisrael realize that all natural avenues of release were closed, all hope for redemption non-existent. Then, they would turn to Hashem in prayer. Let us hope that the time has arrived when we finally acknowledge that it is only Our Father in Heaven Who can and will redeem us.
