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Remarks were delivered overnight by Rav Reuven Elbaz, Rosh Yeshiva of Ohr HaChaim and a member of the Moetzet Chachmei Hatorah of Shas, as he addressed the condition of Klal Yisroel and the dramatic period through which we are currently passing. In his words, Rav Elbaz expressed absolute confidence in the nearness of the geulah, speaking with sharp and unequivocal language. “My heart is certain,” the Rav said. “We are not talking about distant times. Not months. We are in moments, in hours, in days — and perhaps in the coming weeks — before the revelation of the true light.” |
There is a strange and dangerous epidemic spreading through parts of the Jewish world: rabbis without sechel—without basic intellectual honesty, without humility before history, and without fear of embarrassing Heaven—publicly predicting the exact time of Moshiach and the Final Redemption as if they were announcing the arrival of a FedEx package.
This is not emunah. This is not mesorah. This is not even old-fashioned Jewish foolishness. It is spiritual malpractice.
Judaism has survived for millennia not because of date-setters, but in spite of them.
The Gemara does not whisper. It screams: “Tippach atzman shel mechashvei kitzin”—“May the bones rot of those who calculate the End” (Sanhedrin 97b). Not “they might be mistaken.” Not “they should be cautious.” May their bones rot.
That is not poetic flourish. That is Chazal diagnosing a disease. A disease where ego dresses itself up as prophecy, and ignorance masquerades as holiness.
Yet here we are, centuries later, with bearded men livestreaming kabbalistic numerology like day traders hawking crypto scams. “This month.” “No—this week.” “No—this Shabbos.”
Every failure is followed by a shrug, a new calculation, and an audience too polite—or too frightened—to ask the obvious question: If you were wrong last time, why should anyone trust you now?
The Rambam could not be clearer. In Hilchos Melachim, he warns against obsessing over the mechanics and timing of redemption. Moshiach will come, he says—but the details are unknowable, and speculation only weakens faith when predictions collapse.
And collapse they always do.
False certainty does not strengthen emunah. It poisons it. Because when redemption is promised on a date and fails to arrive, the people do not blame the rabbi. They blame God. That damage lasts generations.
Let us speak plainly. Predicting the time of Moshiach is not theology—it is psychology. It thrives in chaos. It feeds on fear. It flourishes when people feel powerless.
A frightened public wants certainty. A weak rabbi wants relevance. So he delivers “secret knowledge,” coded charts, hidden gematrias, whispers from “great mekubalim,” conveniently unverifiable and eternally flexible.
This is not prophecy. It is religious populism. And like all populism, it collapses when confronted with reality—then reinvents itself under a new slogan.
Our history is littered with the corpses of kitzin. Shabbtai Tzvi. Jacob Frank. Endless medieval “calculators of the End.”
Every one of them claimed Torah. Every one of them cited Zohar. Every one of them destroyed lives. And still, modern rabbis repeat the same arrogance, as if Jewish history reset itself because they have a WhatsApp group.
The audacity is breathtaking.
What happens when these proclamations go viral? The outside world laughs. The inside world fractures. The young walk away.
Judaism begins to look like a doomsday cult rather than a civilization of law, ethics, learning, and restraint. A rabbi who announces exact dates for redemption is not bringing Moshiach closer. He is pushing thoughtful Jews further away.
That is not zeal. That is chilul Hashem with a microphone.
Real Jewish leadership sounds boring to those addicted to drama. It says we do not know the timetable. It says we are commanded to act morally regardless. It says redemption is built through responsibility, not riddles. It says Torah is not a crystal ball.
It says what Chazal said: “Im yavo—achakeh lo.” If he comes, we will be ready. If not, we will still live like Jews.
No hysteria. No countdown clocks. No spiritual gambling.
The bitter irony is that those screaming loudest about Moshiach often ignore the very behaviors Chazal say delay redemption: corruption, dishonesty, cruelty, arrogance, and the silencing of dissent.
You cannot bully the Jewish people into redemption. You cannot frighten them into holiness. And you certainly cannot spreadsheet your way to divine intervention.
Moshiach is not summoned by bravado.
The Jewish people do not need more predictions. We need more sechel. More integrity. More leaders brave enough to say: I don’t know.
Because a rabbi who admits uncertainty may lose followers—but he saves Judaism.
And if Moshiach does arrive tomorrow, he will not ask who guessed the date correctly. He will ask who preserved truth when lies were easier.
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| REPUBLISHED |
https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/the-epidemic-of-rabbis-without-sechel/
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