Israel’s Blossoming Redemption

Our Sages told us that in the Days of Mashiach, Hashem will distract the world so that when Mashiach arrives, we will all be looking in a different direction. The process of how this can happen is encoded in the word itself. 

Blessed is Hashem, Who sprouts forth salvation. (Shemonei Esrei, the prayer for Mashiach) 

 
I feared a famine was looming in Israel. The path from my home to the local shul (synagogue) is lined with olive trees. I observed the branches, each one heavy with light green, pebble-like seeds. It’s miraculous how these small pods swell a hundredfold to become fully formed olives. Day by day, I watched them, nourished by sun, air, and soil, gradually growing bigger. 

One day, those tiny seeds burst into delicate white flowers. Then, the petals began to decay. For weeks, the branches were shrouded in a grim layer of withering petals. 

I feared the trees were diseased and that this year’s olive harvest would fail. And if olives were in peril, what other trees would falter? What bounties might vanish? 

Are we on the verge of a devastating calamity? 

Divine Distraction is Revealed 

Imagine how Israel’s blooming olives herald the Age of God! 

It was Shabbat. 
 
I strolled along the olive path to shul and took a detour to inspect one of the trees. What I saw was miraculous. Beside withered flowers stood a plump, round, dark green olive. Though only a quarter of its full size, it had the color, texture, and shape of a perfect olive. 

I glanced at the neighboring branch and found another mini olive! The entire tree was brimming with small olives, each well on its way to gracing our Sukkot table. The green seeds, the budding flowers, and the falling petals were all just distractions, cleverly diverting my gaze from what was truly happening: the miraculous emergence of the olives. 

Later, my wife and I walked by a pomegranate tree and witnessed the same spectacle. The tree was bursting with beautiful orange flowers. When we looked closer, we saw tiny pomegranates, each the size of a small marble, nestled inside. 

As the pomegranate buds began to grow, each crown sprouted a flower. The flower expanded, only to fall off and reveal the small sprouts within the fruit’s crown. At its most vulnerable stage, the flower shielded the baby pomegranate, protecting its insides as it matured. 

These wonders were right before our eyes, and the realization filled us with excitement and awe! 

An Emerging Hidden Redemption 

A hidden redemption is emerging behind the flowers of soldiers, shawarma, and silicon wadi.  

When you hear the word “Israel,” what’s the first thing that comes to mind – the army? High tech? Gal Gadot? 

Are these images why we refer to Israel in the “Prayer for Israel” as the first flowering of His promised redemption? Are the “achievements of Israel” mere flashes, flowers that mask the real fruit that is germinating below the surface? 

For 2,000 years, we’ve been praying for Mashiach. We’ve pleaded with Hashem to restore our Temple, Torah law, and the Sanhedrin. 

We didn’t ask for Checkpoint Software Technologies, Pharmaceuticals, or the Shtisel Netflix series. 

Yet, while the world is captivated by our shawarma and felafel, over 2 million religious Jews have made Israel their home. 

Recent projections¹ show 20 million Israelis by 2065, with a third of them Haredim. Today, Religious Zionist parties garnered 11.7% of the vote. Over the next 40 years, 45% of the population of Israel — and 56% of Israel’s Jews will be religious. A staggering 54 Knesset seats will want a Mashiach. 

Today, there are more synagogues and yeshivot in Israel than ever before. More Jews are returning to their faith than at any point in Jewish history. 

While the world is all looking at TikTok and television, the budding Jewish nation is praying for Mashiach with a louder voice. 

The Anointing Oil and the Sudden Rule of God on Earth 

Just like the olive that emerges from the chaos of charred flowers, our Sages teach us that Mashiach will arrive unexpectedly as with the shock of seeing a scorpion or finding a lost wallet. 

His coming will be sudden, but it’s the culmination of a process that has been unfolding quietly, right before our eyes, for a long time. 

What does the word Mashiach mean? It means “anointed.” And what will the next King of Israel be anointed with? 

The Age of God will be ushered in with the oil from an olive tree. 

The next time you see one, remember that this olive tree might hold the oil that will anoint Mashiach Ben David. 

May it happen speedily in our days. 

¹ “Israel’s population to reach 20 million by 2065”, Lidar Grave-Lazi, The Jerusalem Post, May 22, 2017 

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David Ben Horin lives in Afula with his family, millions of sunflowers, and Matilda, our local camel. David‘s Israeli startup, 300 Marketing Solutions, is a lean marketing agency for startups and small businesses that creates and promotes SEO-optimized ROI-driven to the right audience on LinkedIn to make your business the star of the show.