Little By Little - The Big Picture

A major principle of the Keitz Meguleh is the idea that all comes little by little. Everything that we will have at the end of the road has its beginning. In our generation of instant gratification, this is an essential perspective shift that we must take. Looking at our current status and then dreaming of the steps between here and the end of the Geulah is daunting. One might want to say:

1. All the Jews living in Israel? Look at how many Israeli's leave!
2. Sanhedrin? The majority aren't Shomer Shabbat!
3. Build the Beit HaMikdash? What would the Arabs do?!

But step back, see the big picture.

1. When the students of the GR"A arrived in Yerushalayim in 1812, there weren't even 10 Ashkenazi Jews. Everyone went to the Sefardi shul (forced unity due to lack of numbers). Today, there are more than 5 million Jews in Israel.
2. Just 100 years ago, the Torah center of the world was Europe. Now, Baruch Hashem, it is Yerushalayim.
3. Yerushalayim is massive city, with dozens of neighborhoods, hundreds of thousands of Jews. Up until late in the 19th century, whether or not there was water was a serious issue on a yearly basis.

The general principle is that Moshiach ben Yosef starts, Moshiach ben Dovid finishes.

Moshiach ben Yosef is the miraculous working force for the physical Geulah, whereas Moshiach ben Dovid is the miraculous force working for the spiritual Geulah.

Now, do not think that the conclusion being Moshiach ben Dovid detracts from the importance of the physical side of Geulah. The physical Geulah is the "seat of David" that we have in our daily prayers. The Ariza"l taught (in Sha'ar HaKavanot) that on the words "and the seat of David your servant quickly set up within it (Yerushalayim)" we should be thinking that Moshiach ben Yosef shouldn't die. Moshiach ben Yosef is the preparation for Moshiach ben Dovid.

As such, we should appreciate the realization of this in our world. We see the physical has made seemingly great advances, and we see that the spiritual seems to lag behind. The events of 1948 and 1967 were not missed opportunities. They were Appointed Times that advanced the physical Geulah. The things that tend to really let down a religious Jew looking at these events (the actual text of the Israeli Declaration of Independence, handing over Har HaBayit to the Waqf, etc) were a function of where we stood on the road to spiritual Geulah.

Taking this perspective, of little by little, and seeing the big picture, we can understand that we have made great advances, and that there is still what to be done in our day to ease our path to perfection.