Kabbalah and Political Science: Messianic Consciousness After Gimel Tamuz – Part 2 – "Concealed" Consciousness

When our identification with Mashiach becomes so strong that it moves us to act on our own, our concern with Mashiach's identity takes on a new dimension. The awareness that it is necessary to identify Mashiach must flow out of the awakening of the spark of Mashiach within each individual. By identifying the Mashiach within, we will be able to identify and reveal the Mashiach without.

The Torah assures us that if someone says "I have toiled and I have found, he may be believed." The inner effort required of every Jew is to uncover his personal spark of Mashiach, his own power to boldly and powerfully act messianically. Of course, a chassiddraws his inspiration to do this from the Rebbe, but in such a way that he "internalizes" the Rebbe within him, so that the Rebbe's spirit–which is the spirit of Mashiach–will appear in him. Our sages said that Mashiach, like any true "find," comes unexpectedly, which means that the individual must first direct his attention away from seeking the collective Mashiach outside himself, and try to uncover the personal Mashiach within him. And further, in seeking his personal spark of Mashiach, he must direct his attention away from the attempt to identify this spark within himself, but rather focus entirely on doing Mashiach's work and spreading his teachings faithfully. The unanticipated "find" that results from this effort is the collective Mashiach, the redeemer of Israel, outside of the individual.

The two concepts of Mashiach's work and Mashiach's identity as they were before Gimel Tamuz (the 3rd of Tamuz), must now take on a new dimension. The Torah tells us that "the concealed things are the province of God, but the revealed things are ours and our childrens'…." Before Gimel Tamuz, Mashiach's work and identity were "revealed things"; the Rebbe gave explicit instructions and directions, producing in his followers a relative state of itkafia, in which he was simply obeyed. (Complete mental clarity about an issue also implies itkafia, since "the mind rules the heart"; if the mind is clear and strong, it forces the heart to submit to it.) In the terminology of Kabbalah and Chassidut, this level of "Mashiach's work" corresponds to the final hei of God's essential Name Havayah, and this level of "Mashiach's identity" corresponds to the letter vav of God's Name.

After Gimel Tamuz, however, these two concepts must manifest the level of the "concealed things." This is the level of ithapcha, where the soul in its deepest state of consciousness identifies naturally with Mashiach. (At this level the inner dimension of the heart rules the mind.) In the terminology of Kabbalah and Chassidut, this, higher level of "Mashiach's work" corresponds to the firsthei of God's Name, and the higher level of "Mashiach's identity" corresponds to the yud of His Name.