HOW JEWS AND BNEI NOACH BRING MOSHIACH

One of the great questions of human life is simple and terrifying:

Is there a real purpose to life — or do we merely invent one to survive the emptiness?

Modern man often says: “Create your own meaning.” But that answer is not strong enough. If meaning is only self-created, then one person can find meaning in kindness, another in power, another in revenge, and another in cruelty. If there is no objective truth above human desire, then “purpose” becomes whatever the
strongest, loudest, or most passionate person declares it to be.

The Torah gives a radically different answer.

Life has purpose because the world has a Creator. Morality is real because man is created in the image of G-d. Human dignity is not a social agreement; it is a Divine fact. The mission of man is not to escape the world, nor to dominate it, nor to invent private meaning inside it, but to reveal the G-dly purpose hidden within creation.

This idea appears with unusual force in the double portion of Chukat–Balak.

Chukat begins with the Parah Adumah, the Red Heifer. The Torah introduces it with the words: “This is the statute of the Torah” — Zot chukat haTorah.¹ Rashi explains that this mitzvah is called a chok, a Divine statute beyond ordinary human reason, because the nations and the evil inclination challenge Israel and say: “What is this commandment? What reason is there for it?”²

The Red Heifer teaches humility: truth is not limited to what I understand.

Human reason is precious. The Torah respects wisdom, judgment, evidence, and responsibility. But human reason is not G-d. A civilization that recognizes nothing above human opinion will eventually struggle to explain why murder is objectively wrong, why the weak must be protected, why power must be restrained,
and why every human being has dignity. Torah begins elsewhere: “In the image of G-d He created man.”³ Therefore, the value of human life is not voted into existence by society. It is placed into existence by G-d.

But Chukat also teaches that Divine purpose demands human responsibility.

When the people thirst for water, G-d tells Moshe to speak to the rock. Instead, Moshe strikes it. Water comes out, but G-d tells Moshe and Aharon that because they did not sanctify Him before the people, they will not bring the nation into the Land.⁴

One lesson is clear: even the greatest human beings are judged by how they reveal G-d in the world. Moshe did not fail because he lacked greatness. He failed because in that moment, the opportunity was to reveal -holiness through speech, and instead the action appeared forceful.

There are two ways to live: by striking the world or by speaking to it.

A person can try to force reality, control people, dominate his family, frighten his employees, crush his opponents, and call it “leadership.” But Torah says the higher way is to reveal the water hidden inside the rock — to bring out the good in people and the world through truth, patience, discipline, and faith.

The question is not only: Did I achieve the result?

The question is: Did I reveal G-d through the way I achieved it?

Then comes Balak.

Balak hires Bilaam, a prophet of the nations, to curse the Jewish people.⁵ Bilaam is not a simple villain. He knows something about G-d. He has spiritual power. He speaks lofty words. Yet his spirituality is corrupt because it serves ego, money, honor, and destruction.

This is one of the Torah’s sharpest warnings: religion itself can be hijacked.

A person can speak about G-d and still be driven by hatred. A person can claim moral purpose and still seek to curse others. A person can use spiritual language while serving his own appetite for power.

That is why the Torah does not ask only whether a person has “meaning.” Bilaam had meaning. Balak had meaning. Many cruel people in history felt full of meaning. The Torah asks a higher question:

Is your meaning aligned with the will of the Creator?

Bilaam wants to curse Israel, but G-d transforms his words into blessings.⁶ He declares: “How goodly are your tents, O Jacob, your dwelling places, O Israel.”⁷ Rashi, based on the Gemara, explains that Bilaam saw the modesty and dignity of Israel’s homes — their tents were arranged so that one family would not look into another.⁸

This is not only a blessing for Jews. It is a message for civilization.

The foundation of a moral world is the home.

Not the state.
Not the market.
Not the media.
Not technology.

The home.

When family life is holy, society has a future. When modesty, privacy, loyalty, and respect are protected, human dignity survives. When the home collapses, politics becomes rage, entertainment becomes addiction, business becomes predatory, and freedom becomes chaos.

But Bilaam’s prophecy goes even further. He speaks not only about Israel’s tents, but about the final destiny of history:

“I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not soon. A star shall go forth from Jacob, and a scepter shall arise from Israel.”⁹

Rashi explains that this refers to a king rising from Israel. Onkelos translates explicitly that a king will arise from Jacob and Moshiach will be raised from Israel.¹⁰ The Rambam brings this verse as one of the Torah sources for Moshiach, explaining that Bilaam prophesied about two anointed kings: David HaMelech and Melech HaMoshiach.¹¹

So in the mouth of Bilaam — the man hired to curse Israel — the Torah places one of its clearest prophecies of Moshiach.

That itself is a message for all mankind: the end game of history is not destruction, chaos, or endless conflict. The end game is a world brought under the rule of Divine truth, where humanity recognizes the
Creator and lives with justice, holiness, and purpose.

The prophet Zechariah says: “Hashem will be King over all the earth; on that day Hashem will be One and His Name One.”¹² Maimonides writes that in the Messianic era, the occupation of the entire world will be to
know G-d.¹³ The Rebbe repeatedly emphasized that this universal mission includes spreading awareness of the Seven Noahide Laws — the Divine moral code for all humanity.¹⁴

But this mission is not theoretical.

Our actions bring the end game.

A Jew brings the world toward Moshiach by living as a Jew — through Torah, mitzvot, Shabbat, tefillin, mezuzah, tzedakah, family purity, kosher, Torah learning, and a life of holiness.

A non-Jew brings the world toward Moshiach by living as a righteous Ben Noach — accepting the Seven Noahide Laws, and his detials, as the Divine moral code given through the Torah of Moshe, and building a life of faith, justice, honesty, family dignity, respect for life, and compassion.

And we do not only fulfill our own mission. We help each other fulfill ours.

A Jew must inspire another Jew to keep mitzvot — Kol Yisrael areivim zeh bazeh, all Jews are responsible for one another.¹⁵ A Jew must also help non-Jews recognize their universal Divine mission through the
Seven Noahide Laws.

And a Ben Noach, too, has a role in awakening the world. He can inspire other non-Jews to live by the Seven Laws. And with respect, he can even encourage Jews to be faithful to their covenant.

Not by judging.
Not by policing.
Not by arrogance.
But by admiration.

Imagine a Ben Noach sitting on a plane next to a Jewish man and gently saying:

“I hope you don’t mind me asking. I am a Ben Noach, and I have deep respect for the mitzvah of tefillin. Did you have a chance to put on tefillin today?”

Or respectfully saying to a Jewish woman:

“I learned that Shabbat candles bring spiritual light into the world. Do you light before Shabbat?”

This is not a non-Jew telling a Jew what to do from above. It is something far more moving: a member of the nations recognizing the Jewish mission and saying:

"Please do not forget who you are. The world needs your light.”

That itself is a glimpse of the Messianic Era.

For much of history, the nations told the Jew: “Stop being Jewish.”

But in the direction of Geulah (= redemption), the nations begin to say: “Be more deeply Jewish — because your Torah brings blessing to us all.”

This fits with what our Sages teach about Sukkot. The Gemara says the seventy bulls offered in the Beit HaMikdash corresponded to the seventy nations. The Temple service brought atonement and blessing for all humanity.¹⁶ The Midrash adds that if the nations knew how much the Beit HaMikdash benefited them, they would have surrounded it with guards to protect it.¹⁷

In other words, if the world truly understood the Jewish mission, it would not weaken Jewish observance. It would protect it, encourage it, and be grateful for it.

This is also the meaning of the Chassidic story told about Reb Mendel Futerfas.

He once asked at a farbrengen*:

Who is the holiest person? What is the holiest place? What is the holiest time?

The expected answers were:

The Kohen Gadol. In the Holy of Holies. On Yom Kippur.

But the Chassidic answer was:

The holiest person for your mission is you.The holiest place for your mission is where you are.The holiest time for your mission is now.

For a Jew, that may mean putting on tefillin today, lighting Shabbat candles this Friday, giving tzedakah, learning Torah, or speaking to another Jew with love.

For a Ben Noach, it may mean choosing honesty in business, protecting the dignity of marriage and family, rejecting cruelty, speaking respectfully about G-d, establishing justice, or encouraging another human being to live with Divine purpose.

Sometimes the holiest place is an airplane seat.

Sometimes the holiest time is the few minutes before sunset.

Sometimes the holiest person is the one sitting next to you.

Because Moshiach is not brought only by prophets, kings, rabbis, or leaders. Moshiach is brought closer by ordinary people doing the right thing in the place where G-d put them.

The Jew becomes more Jewish.
The Ben Noach becomes more faithful to the Seven Laws and their details.
The nations recognize the Creator.
Humanity learns that freedom without responsibility is chaos, and purpose without G-d becomes dangerous.

The end game of history is not that man escapes the world, and not that man conquers the world, but that man reveals the Creator within the world.

That is why purpose cannot be a fantasy of imagination. True purpose must come from truth higher than man, and it must produce goodness lower than heaven — in speech, business, family, justice, compassion, restraint, and responsibility.

In the end, the question is not only:

What gives my life meaning?

La verdadera pregunta es:

Does my life reveal the One Who gave life meaning in the first place?

That is the purpose of life.
That is the mission of humanity.
That is the blessing hidden inside Chukat and Balak.
And that is how our actions bring the end game.

May we soon see the day when every Jew fulfills the mission of Israel, every Ben Noach fulfills the mission of humanity, and all mankind recognizes the One Creator.

May it be speedily in our days.

By Rabbi Avriel Rabenou

Sources and References

  1. 1. Bamidbar 19:2 — “This is the statute of the Torah,” regarding Parah Adumah.
  2. 2. Rashi to Bamidbar 19:2, based on Midrash Tanchuma, Chukat 7.
  3. 3. Bereishit 1:27; see also Bereishit 9:6.
  4. 4. Bamidbar 20:7–12.
  5. 5. Bamidbar 22:2–6.
  6. 6. Devarim 23:6.
  7. 7. Bamidbar 24:5.
  8. 8. Rashi to Bamidbar 24:5, based on Bava Batra 60a.
  9. 9. Bamidbar 24:17.
  10. 10. Rashi and Targum Onkelos to Bamidbar 24:17.
  11. 11. Rambam, Mishneh Torah, Hilchot Melachim 11:1.
  12. 12. Zechariah 14:9.
  13. 13. Rambam, Hilchot Melachim 12:5.
  14. 14. Rambam, Hilchot Melachim 8:10–11; see the Rebbe’s sichot on spreading the Seven Noahide
    Laws.
  15. 15. Shevuot 39a — Kol Yisrael areivim zeh bazeh.
  16. 16. Sukkah 55b — the seventy bulls correspond to the seventy nations.
  17. 17. Bamidbar Rabbah 1:3 — the nations would guard the Beit HaMikdash if they understood its
    benefit.

* A farbrengen is an inspiring Chassidic gathering in which participants learn together, sing, reflect, and encourage one another toward spiritual growth and positive action.

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