The Halachic Definition of Melech HaMoshiach - Rabbi Sholom Dovber Wolff shlita

00:02 Speaker 1 You’re listening to the “Lema’an Yishme’u” podcast from Machon Halacha Chabad.

00:09 Speaker 2 Hello to all the dear Jews who are listening, or who will listen, with Hashem’s help, to this class. It’s a special class on studying the subjects of Geulah and Moshiach. We have here the Rambam’s Laws of Kings and Their Wars and King Moshiach, as the Rebbe always calls them. It’s interesting: in all the editions and manuscripts, the title of these laws is Laws of Kings and Their Wars. The Rebbe points out that there is a Venice edition from 5314, right? More than 450 years ago, where the title is Laws of Kings and Their Wars and King Moshiach. The Rebbe always refers to it that way, and in the Rebbe’s sichos he also simply calls them the Laws of King Moshiach. So that, with Hashem’s help, is what we’ll study today. Now, this is being presented by Machon Halacha and Media Halacha. Usually, halacha is associated with practical matters: do this and don’t do that. What needs to be done, and how do you do it? As explained in detail in the Shulchan Aruch and the books of customs, and so on. Presumably, that’s what Machon Halacha and Media Halacha usually deal with. But we’re studying the greatest halacha, the most overarching and fundamental halacha. After all, this is from the Rambam’s book, which is a book of halachos, as the Rebbe always emphasizes. Its conclusion—the chapters we’ll study today, with Hashem’s help—essentially sums up that book of halachos. And as we’ll soon see, as the Rebbe explains, it doesn’t merely close and finish the book; it brings it to completion. The culmination and sum total of all the halachos converge in the halacha we’re about to see. So this is the greatest, most overarching and fundamental halacha. What we’ll do today is read chapter 11 of the Rambam. We’ll read part of it inside. The Rebbe has many sichos on this chapter. It’s interesting to note that the Rebbe has many sichos on this chapter. The other commentators on

02:10 Speaker 2 the Rambam—that is, the Kesef Mishneh and the others, the Radbaz—who raise questions and cite sources for every point, become quite brief when they reach this chapter, right? As they do with similar chapters, such as in the Laws of a Torah Scroll or the Laws of Character Traits. In places where the Rambam moves away from chapters about permitted and forbidden, exempt and liable, and deals instead with broad, fundamental ideas, it’s harder to point to a source and say, “This comes from here; that comes from there.” These are things the Rambam derives from one idea to another, building whole new discussions. So there, his commentators are less inclined to stop at every word and explain it. They pause and comment here and there. I think the Kesef Mishneh—both of them, actually, the Kesef Mishneh and the Radbaz—write something like, “This chapter contains fine words; I have nothing to explain in them. It is gathered from the Talmud, from the aggados, from Midrashim.” They leave it open like that. In his sichos, the Rebbe examines this chapter and these chapters, and for every word and every line, the Rebbe explains precisely where it comes from, where it’s going, what the Rambam means, and the depth of his words, in a truly wonderful way. There’s a story told—I’ve seen it in books; I think it was one of the tzaddikim of our generation, the Sadigura Rebbe or someone else, I don’t remember exactly. He was with the Rebbe, and they were talking, and the Rebbe quoted a point from the Rambam in these laws, the Laws of King Moshiach. The Rebbe then apologized, saying to him, “I’m not so well versed in the Rambam, but I’ve already managed to learn these chapters by heart.” Well, that’s what the Rebbe says about himself. How well versed is the Rebbe in the Rambam? What does he know, right? But we can certainly say about ourselves that we aren’t so

04:04 Speaker 2 well versed in the Rambam, but these chapters we certainly ought to know by heart—if not from the Rambam himself, then at least from the Rebbe’s sichos on the Rambam, where the Rebbe… One more thought before we read the Rambam inside. One more point. The Rambam, in general, dealt very extensively with the foundations of Torah, the Thirteen Principles of Faith. And he had to—in large measure, what does it mean to “deal with” them? It meant formulating them anew, defining them, clarifying them, working them through, right? Drawing on the words of our Sages and on the verses, but also doing a great deal of new work: coming along and defining what is and isn’t included, what is primary and what is secondary, and precisely how. The famous Thirteen Principles of Faith were written by the Rambam in his Commentary on the Mishnah, his first work. When he reaches the Mishnah in tractate Sanhedrin, “All Israel have a share in the World to Come,” he stops there and opens up the entire subject: What is the World to Come? What are reward and punishment? And what are the principles of faith altogether? In the Epistle on the Resurrection of the Dead, which the Rambam wrote toward the end of his life, he discusses this subject and tells us something about the people he encountered at the time, right? They might be Torah scholars, but when it came to knowledge of Hashem and related matters, they knew practically nothing, or held mistaken views. So the Rambam saw it as a very important, broad mission to deal with these matters, spread them, make them known, define them, and clarify them, so people would know what is and isn’t correct. And he faced… these things led to major disputes. In the Epistle on the Resurrection of the Dead, the Rambam tells us, in a somewhat personal tone, about the background to this: encounters he had

06:00 Speaker 2 and the decision he made. There’s a line there where he says, “It is dear to me to teach a matter concerning the roots, the foundations of the Torah,” right? More than the branches, this detail or that detail. And therefore, in his works, whenever he reaches such a subject, he makes an effort to address it—even in his ordinary halachic works. You might compare them to the Shulchan Aruch, which focuses on practical halacha: “Do this and don’t do that.” And the Mishneh Torah, too, would seemingly be expected to be a book of halachos, just the same. Nevertheless, we see that throughout his book of halachos, the Rambam includes the Laws of the Foundations of the Torah, the Laws of Character Traits, the Laws of Teshuvah, right? And here, too, in the Laws of Kings, there are many fundamental matters. The Rambam placed particular emphasis on the subject of faith in general, and especially on belief in the coming of Moshiach. The Rambam is the one who defined it as a foundation of faith, right? As we’ll soon see: “Whoever does not believe in him denies the Torah and Moshe Rabbeinu.” The concept of Moshiach existed before the Rambam—in the Prophets, and, as he says, in the Torah too; certainly the concept of Moshiach exists in the words of our Sages. But to come and say that it is a principle of faith, that “whoever does not believe in him denies the Torah and Moshe Rabbeinu,” right? In other words, to make it a foundation. And we’ll touch on this subject shortly, with Hashem’s help. That, too, is something the Rambam defined and established, and it isn’t self-evident, as we’ll soon see. Some in later generations disagreed with him; they didn’t understand his words. Why make it such a foundation? Moshiach is real, Moshiach is true, Moshiach is good—but why make it a foundation of faith? We’ll get to that subject. But in any case, before reading his words, we need to understand what’s happening here. Who is speaking? The Rambam, who dealt with the principles of faith in general and gave us the Thirteen Principles of

07:47 Speaker 2 Clear matters of faith. The fact that Hakadosh Boruch Hu has no body and no bodily form—those words are from the Rambam—and as the Rambam describes, until his day, until his time, this was not so clear to everyone. There were people who thought otherwise, all kinds of... as he relates in detail, again, in that same letter and elsewhere. That is true of faith in general, and of faith in the coming of Moshiach in particular: he was the one who came and gave it such a central, fundamental place in Judaism. One more point about this work in particular. The subject of Moshiach appears in several places in the Rambam. He discusses it in his Commentary on the Mishnah, right? We mentioned earlier the chapter in Sanhedrin, Perek Chelek; he discusses it there. He discusses it in Iggeres Teiman, and a little in Iggeres Techiyas Hameisim. In the sichos, the Rebbe focuses mainly on Hilchos Melachim, right? Not so much on the Commentary on the Mishnah, not so much on Iggeres Teiman. They are mentioned, but the main focus, again and again, is Hilchos Melachim, because it is part of Mishneh Torah, a book of halachah. Halachah carries particular weight; that is what the Rebbe deals with. Chapter eleven. Well, actually, for us, eleven—anyone who has heard the Rebbe’s sichos around 11 Shvat and 11 Nissan knows—eleven is the one above ten. Ten is the ten sefiros; the one is keser above them. The ten powers of the soul, and yechidah beyond them—that is the subject of the entire kuntres Inyanah Shel Toras Hachassidus. Moshiach is yechidah; Chassidus is yechidah. So yes, eleven is a fitting number. Chapter eleven: “The King Moshiach will arise and restore the kingdom of David to its former state, to its original sovereignty. He will build the Beis Hamikdash and gather the dispersed of Israel. All the laws will return in his days as they were before: sacrifices will be offered, and the shemitah and yovel years will be observed in accordance with all their commandments as stated in the Torah.” Up to

09:47 Speaker 2 here. Here in the book, these are four lines in which the Rambam tells us what will happen when Moshiach comes, what Moshiach will do. On the face of it, when you read this the first time, the second time, it sounds like... what is here? What is he actually telling us? A collection of good, important things. He will build the Beis Hamikdash—that is important, no question. Yes, what is the Beis Hamikdash? “I will dwell among them”; “a city joined together,” right? A meeting of the Jewish people and Hakadosh Boruch Hu—certainly important. He gathers the dispersed of Israel, so that all the Jewish people will be together in Eretz Yisroel. And yes, the Jewish people being together is very important. The Jewish people being in Eretz Yisroel and not somewhere else is also very important, right? And all the laws return, as we said, as they were before—another important thing. So there are many important things here. That is how it sounds and looks. But the Rebbe, as is his way, pauses over these words and says: we need to pay close attention to what is written here. This is not just a collection of important things. One sentence of background first. Likkutei Sichos, volume 18, Parshas Balak. This is a sicha the Rebbe delivered, I think, in 5748, during the week of Parshas Balak, around 17 Tammuz—these very days we are in now. He spoke about... yes, Parshas Balak; the Rambam will soon quote “I see him, but not now,” Bilam, Balak, this whole subject. This sicha was published in an edited version in 5741, again around that same time. It was printed in Likkutei Sichos, volume 18, Parshas Balak, sicha two. In this sicha, the Rebbe takes this chapter of the Rambam and goes through it line by line: what does this say, and what does this say? And in fact, as we said earlier, all the commentators who reached this point stopped. Perhaps a note here, a note there, right? The Rambam created something

11:34 Speaker 2 new here, and the usual, classic commentators—this is where they stop. When the Rambam says something is forbidden, permitted, exempt, or obligated, they immediately say, “This is in the Gemara here; this is in the Gemara there.” But when the Rambam speaks about things like this, they stop, as we said earlier. These are things he derived through his own understanding from the Talmud, the Midrashim, the Aggados, and so on. And some who do deal with these matters did not understand what the Rambam meant, raised questions about his words, and disagreed with him. Now, there are many sichos of the Rebbe on the Rambam throughout the book, but this is different. What do I mean by different? Many sichos are, so to speak, about a specific point: the Rambam said something, its source is known, and people have discussed it. There is a further point here to clarify and work through. Relatively speaking, you could call that a focused explanation. Of course, the Rebbe delves into the depth of the matter, the depth of the idea, and illuminates the Rambam’s words. But relatively speaking, we would not call it creating something from nothing. People had already discussed it, raised questions, offered one explanation and then another. The Rebbe gives his explanation, which is deeper, fits better, and so on, but ultimately it is, let’s call it, an explanation of a particular point. In this sicha, though—and more generally in these chapters—what the Rebbe says about this passage of the Rambam really is like creating something from nothing. For eight hundred years this Rambam was here, this chapter was here, and people read it on the surface. No one came along and said, “Look at what is written here.” Only now, eight hundred years after the Rambam wrote these words, does the Rebbe come and say, “Pay attention to what is written.” Again, this is mainly in several sichos. The most fundamental one is Likkutei Sichos, volume 18, Parshas Balak, sicha two.

13:25 Speaker 2 It was published later—again, it was delivered in 5738 and published in an edited version in Likkutei Sichos in 5741. Ten years later, on 15 Iyar 5751, after the Rebbe had spoken emphatically about studying the subjects of Geulah and Moshiach, particularly in the teachings of the leader of our generation—maamarim and Likkutei Sichos—Rabbi Feld, who printed the Dvar Malchus booklet, Dvar Malchus 12, in Israel, put together four sichos of the Rebbe under the title Chiddushim Uviurim BeHilchos Melachim. Four sichos on this chapter of the Rambam, the first of which was this sicha. That was in Iyar 5751, and on 15 Iyar the Rebbe instructed that this booklet be printed at 770, and the Rebbe distributed it with his holy hand to men and women. The famous photograph of the Rebbe standing beside the Aron Kodesh with Dvar Malchus in his hand is from that evening, at the end of the distribution. That is this very booklet, which opens with this sicha. The Rebbe distributed it so people would study it, and that is what we are doing now. We read the Rambam’s words earlier; let’s see what the Rebbe says about them. Again, what did the Rambam say? We read it before; I’ll read it again: “The King Moshiach will arise and restore the kingdom of David to its former state, to its original sovereignty. He will build the Beis Hamikdash and gather the dispersed of Israel. All the laws will return in his days as they were before: sacrifices will be offered, and the shemitah and yovel years will be observed in accordance with all their commandments as stated in the Torah.” So, again, we said that on the face of it, the Rambam wrote several important things here. Restoring the kingdom of David is important. Building the Beis Hamikdash is important. Gathering the dispersed is important too. Each thing seems important in its own right. And there are seemingly other important things that are not mentioned here, which the Rambam himself mentions elsewhere. For example, if we compare this with Hilchos

15:19 Speaker 2 Teshuvah. Yes, the Rambam also speaks a little about the days of Moshiach: the king who will arise from the house of David will be wiser than Shlomo and a great prophet, close to Moshe Rabbeinu. In those days, knowledge, wisdom, and truth will increase. Right, these are things the Rambam doesn’t mention here. There’s a little about them at the end of chapter 12—he touches on these subjects—but here he’s telling us what will happen when Moshiach comes, what Moshiach will do. He doesn’t mention prophecy here. He doesn’t mention the increase of knowledge and wisdom. The future King Moshiach, yes, he does mention that, but there are things he leaves out. And on the face of it, once we start paying attention to what he mentioned and what he didn’t, we realize there must be some principle behind his choice of what to include and what not to include. He hasn’t simply started listing all the good things that will happen when Moshiach comes. There’s a point he wants to express, and that’s the point the Rebbe focuses on in the sicha. The Rebbe says something very simple, which, once he says it, becomes very clear and powerful. The Rebbe says: Wait, what kind of book is this? As in all the Rebbe’s sichos on the Rambam, when the Rebbe sets out to explain his words, there’s a basic principle he comes back to again and again. The Rambam’s work is a book of “halachos, halachos.” The Rebbe uses the Rambam’s own expression from the beginning of his introduction. Actually, just as an aside, if we’re going to get into this subject, let’s take two minutes to open it up. The Rebbe constantly quotes the Rambam’s wording in his introduction to the Mishneh Torah: “halachos, halachos.” But in what context does the Rambam say it? He writes

17:00 Speaker 2 that he divides this work into chapters, and each chapter into small halachos, so it will be easy to learn the Torah by heart. So the expression “halachos, halachos” is almost incidental. He divides each chapter into individual halachos so they’ll be easy to memorize. It’s not as though he’s defining his work at that point as being about halachos, halachos. When you read the introduction, it seems to be a completely incidental expression. But the Rebbe uses it all the time—apparently not because that’s the source or the proof. The Rebbe’s assumption, his straightforward assumption, is that this is a book of halachos, so it should be focused. You open a Shulchan Aruch. What do you expect to find there? Halachos. And what do you actually find? Only halachos, from beginning to end. From “I have placed Hashem before me always,” at the start of the laws of rising in the morning, and all the way through—only halachos. What to do, what to do. The Rambam’s work, the Rebbe says plainly, should be like the Shulchan Aruch: halachos, what to do. And when we see the Rebbe using the Rambam’s phrase from his introduction, “halachos, halachos,” apparently he’s borrowing the phrase and applying it to our discussion, not treating it as the great source for the idea. The reasoning seems to stand on its own, and he expresses it in the Rambam’s words. In any case, this is a principle the Rebbe follows in many sichos. It would seem to be straightforward reasoning, but in practice we see things in the Rambam that don’t seem to be halachos, halachos. Not everything is “do this” or “don’t do that.” There are many matters of belief, as we discussed; there are stories, and some history.

18:34 Speaker 2 Yes, there seem to be various other things as well. But throughout the sichos on the Rambam, the Rebbe follows one line: the Rambam is halachos, halachos. When he gives a rationale or an explanation, the explanation itself has halachic significance. When the Rambam discusses the nature of creation in Hilchos Yesodei HaTorah, for example, that’s part of the halacha; it isn’t just background information. When the Rambam tells us about the hiding of the Aron—he recounts the history: there was an Aron, King Shlomo built a place for it, and King Yoshiyahu hid it away—in Hilchos Beis Habechirah, chapter four, you might read it and think, “Here’s a story.” The Rebbe says: Look closely. It isn’t just a story. It’s a story with a message, and that message is halachic. The Rambam is expressing something that has practical bearing, something relevant to halacha. And so it is throughout the Rambam’s work. In all these sichos: halachos, halachos. Where is the halacha here? Here too, when the Rebbe comes to the passage we read earlier, where it says that Moshiach will arise and restore the kingdom of David to its former state, the Rebbe says this isn’t just a description of events: Moshiach will come, and this and that will happen. This is a book of halachos. Right now we’re speaking from a halachic perspective—about Moshiach in terms of halacha. Moshiach will do many things, but right now we’re discussing what matters to halacha. What does that mean? What is halacha? Halacha means doing what Hashem wants—the 613 mitzvos. But what happens in practice? The Rambam wrote us a book of halachos, a complete work of fourteen books, and today we study these halachos but don’t see them all being carried out in the world. Large portions of this work aren’t applicable now. Everything connected with the Beis Hamikdash isn’t applicable. The mitzvos dependent on the Land aren’t either. And even things that don’t depend on the Beis Hamikdash, don’t

20:19 Speaker 2 depend on the Land, and that the Jewish people could seemingly fulfill anywhere—in practice, that hasn’t always happened either. It certainly didn’t always happen throughout the generations, when there was, in the Rambam’s words, an oppressor who prevented us from observing them: a wicked kingdom that did not allow the Jewish people to keep the mitzvos as they should. So what happens? A gap opens up between the halachos in the book and the reality of the world. We’re living in a different world. So at the end of the Rambam’s work, in its final chapters, the Rambam comes and says: Do you know what will happen? How will things end? King Moshiach will arise, and when Moshiach comes, all the halachos of the Torah will be observed. King Moshiach will come—and let’s read it again now. The Rebbe puts it this way: What, in fact, is missing that prevents us from observing the mitzvos fully? And what is needed for that to be restored? The Rebbe says there are three things, which the Rambam addresses here. First, sovereignty: the sovereignty of the Torah. The true kingship of the Jewish people is the kingdom of David, Hashem’s kingship over the Jewish people. We observe mitzvos because Hakadosh Boruch Hu is our King and we are obligated to Him, and the kingdom of David represents His kingship and compels us to follow the Torah’s path. When that is absent, when we are under foreign rule, there is an oppressor who prevents us from observing Torah and mitzvos. That is the first, general reason. Beyond that, there are two more specific reasons. We don’t have a Beis Hamikdash, as we said earlier, and we aren’t all in Eretz Yisroel. As long as not all, or even most, of the Jewish people are in the Holy Land, the mitzvos dependent on the Land cannot be observed as Torah-level obligations. Shemitah nowadays is only rabbinic. Yovel does not apply nowadays, and many other halachos and laws connected with Shemitah and Yovel follow from one another and depend on one another. So there are three things because of which

22:17 Speaker 2 We don’t have all the mitzvos. We don’t observe all the halachos. The Rambam comes and says: Do you know what will happen when Moshiach comes? “The King Moshiach will arise.” First, what will he do? Restore the kingdom of David to its former state, to its original sovereignty. Second, what will he do? Build the Beis Hamikdash. Third, what will he do? Gather the dispersed of Israel. And then what will happen? Corresponding to these three things, there will be... Yes, these are three actions Moshiach takes: he builds, he gathers. So there will be three results. What are the three results? First, in general, “all the laws will return in his days as they were before.” In other words, all the laws of the Torah will be as they should be, as they were in the time of David and Shlomo. If we have a true kingdom, a kingdom governed by Torah, then all the Torah’s mitzvos can be observed. What does that mean in particular? Sacrifices are offered because there is a Beis Hamikdash, and the laws of the Sabbatical and Jubilee years are observed because the exiles have been gathered to Eretz Yisroel. So everything can be observed “in accordance with all its commandments stated in the Torah.” Period. All the mitzvos stated in the Torah, everything discussed in this book, will ultimately be fulfilled. So what have we seen here? First, what the Rambam says here is not just a collection of things. Rather, as we saw earlier, there are three corresponding to three: three actions that bring about three results. And it all revolves around one point alone: “all the laws will return as they were before,” “in accordance with all its commandments stated in the Torah”—all the Torah’s halachos will be observed. Now, as we said earlier, from a halachic perspective, this book of halachos—that, we said, is Moshiach. The fact that Moshiach will be a prophet, for example, as the Rambam himself mentions elsewhere, is not mentioned here, because it is not relevant from a halachic perspective. To build the Beis Hamikdash, to gather—to gather the dispersed—you need... You don’t need Moshiach as a prophet; you don’t need

24:20 Speaker 2 Moshiach as a sage. You need Moshiach as a king, as we’ll discuss in more detail shortly. Ah, knowledge, wisdom, and truth will increase—but from the standpoint of halachah, that doesn’t change things. Action is what matters most: observing Torah and mitzvos. Yes, all the laws return. Yes, generally speaking, people will observe them. Action is what matters most, kabbolas ol. It doesn’t matter whether they understand or don’t understand. There will be increased knowledge, wisdom, and truth too. We’ll talk about that later in a somewhat different context. Right now, it isn’t relevant. What we’ve discussed up to this point... We’ve spoken in general about the first halachah, its opening lines. We’ve seen what the Rambam is discussing. The Rambam describes what will happen when Moshiach comes, and the Rebbe’s point is that the Rambam isn’t just telling us a pleasant story about what will happen when Moshiach comes. He wants to convey a point, a halachic point. What is that halachic point? When Moshiach comes, all the Torah’s halachos will be observed and fulfilled in practice. That happens through three things: Moshiach will come, restore the kingdom of David, build the Beis Hamikdash, and gather the dispersed. Through these three things, the entire Torah and its mitzvos will be fulfilled. When he speaks here about the Beis Hamikdash, there is the Divine Presence dwelling in the Beis Hamikdash; people draw ruach hakodesh from it. Yes, all kinds of very important things. But that is not what he is talking about here. The Jewish people will move to Eretz Yisroel; Eretz Yisroel has great special qualities, and the Jewish people will be together. That is also very important. But that is not what he is talking about here. What matters here about the Beis Hamikdash is that sacrifices are offered; the mitzvos of the sacrifices are observed. In Eretz Yisroel, the Sabbatical and Jubilee years are observed; the mitzvos of Shemitah and Yovel are fulfilled. That is what matters here. When Moshiach comes, all the Torah’s mitzvos will be observed. So we’ve reached the point. And there’s more: this is how the Rambam speaks about Moshiach—he describes him as a king. “The King Moshiach will arise and restore the kingdom

26:15 Speaker 2 of David to its former state.” Yes, later on: “If a king arises from the House of David who studies Torah and occupies himself with the mitzvos.” As mentioned earlier, the Rambam describes Moshiach as a king. He doesn’t mention here that he will be a great prophet. He doesn’t mention here that he will be a great sage. He speaks about that elsewhere, but not here. Why doesn’t he mention it? There’s a reason. For the same reason, he wants to convey something here, and he speaks only about what is relevant. He doesn’t speak about what isn’t relevant. Yes, he is precise—or focused, rather. What does that mean? For the observance of Torah and... We are saying that to ensure the observance of Torah and mitzvos, you need a king. You don’t need a prophet; you don’t need a sage. What does it mean that you don’t need a prophet or a sage? So the Rebbe explains in general: What is a king’s role among the Jewish people? What is a prophet’s role? A prophet, for example... Well, we have Moshe Rabbeinu, the first prophet, who gave the Torah in its entirety. After that, no prophet is permitted to introduce anything new. What does a prophet say? As... He may warn people about the Torah’s teachings: If you do this, you’ll be rewarded; if you don’t, you’ll be punished. Or: Do this, don’t do that. But a prophet conveys messages to us from Hakadosh Boruch Hu. Yes, that is his role: to convey messages. Whose role is it to make sure things happen? Again, there is a prophet whose role is to convey messages. There is Torah, and it needs to be taught. So there are sages whose role is to teach the Torah, and not only to teach it, but also to answer questions that arise and resolve them from within the Torah—the thirteen principles by which the Torah is interpreted, and so on. A king’s role, from the Torah’s perspective, is to make sure that this actually happens. A king has authority over the people. A king has

28:04 Speaker 2 the ability to enforce and compel, to lead and guide. Making sure it truly happens is a responsibility that rests primarily with the king. The Rebbe quotes what the Rambam writes earlier in Hilchos Melachim, chapter 4, where he discusses the authority a king has. The Rambam concludes: “In everything, his aim and thought should be to uphold the true faith, fill the world with justice, and break the power of the wicked.” In other words, the sage who teaches—who teaches Torah, right? The Sanhedrin, for example, also has a role, right? “You shall appoint judges and officers.” The judge works together with an officer. The officer administers the punishment; the judge gives the order, and the officer administers the punishment, right? They have the power to compel, the ability to... Yes, they too have authority over the people and the ability to compel. But the authority and power of the Sanhedrin or a judge are in no way comparable to those of a king. In the generations before Shaul and David, the Jewish people were led by judges; that authority is in no way comparable to the authority and power of a king. Broadly speaking, what is the difference between a prophet, a judge, a sage, the Sanhedrin, and a king? Let’s take the simplest example: traffic laws. A red light. I’m driving down the road; there’s a traffic light, and I obey it. There’s a road sign, and I obey it. Why do I obey it? Is that kabbolas ol? No, it isn’t kabbolas ol. I understand; it’s obvious to me that obeying a red light is important for my own good and for everyone around me, and obeying a stop sign is important for my own good and for everyone around me. That’s very, very clear. There’s no... Anyone who lets their head guide them, rather than their heart or their hands and feet, understands that very clearly and simply. Is it always pleasant? It isn’t always pleasant. Sometimes I’m in a hurry, okay? But even when it isn’t pleasant, and even when it doesn’t suit me, I know that it’s

29:57 Speaker 2 Stronger than other things. And if someone doesn’t understand that, there’s a policeman who makes him understand it, right? But that isn’t kabbolas ol either—not in the sense Chassidus explains it. Kabbolas ol means accepting something beyond my grasp, beyond my understanding, beyond my abilities. This isn’t kabbolas ol at all. There has to be order. I understand that order is necessary, and it’s also clear that sometimes order has to be enforced. You need a policeman with a stick and a strap. But kabbolas ol is a different concept. Kabbolas ol in its true, pure Jewish sense—in Judaism—is what it says in Tanya, chapter 41: “He, too, accepts His sovereignty upon himself, that He be his King, to serve Him and do His will in every form of a servant’s service.” Kabbolas ol, as the Rebbe emphasizes, means there is something here beyond my reality, beyond my understanding. G-dliness is infinite. I cannot grasp it, and my limited mind cannot grasp it. I fulfill the mitzvos not because I understand that I should, and not even because I understand that I can’t understand everything, but because there is something here—as the Alter Rebbe writes in chapter 41, “It is in the nature of our souls not to rebel against the King, Hakadosh Boruch Hu.” We know there is something beyond our grasp, and we have to act, whether we understand or not. Action, right? And this kabbolas ol, this kabbolas ol that transcends intellect, is expressed, as Chassidus explains, specifically in actual deed—in what is below understanding, the simplest thing, which is connected to the very highest things. Action is the main thing. Kabbolas ol is something else. In Judaism, in our relationship with Hakadosh Boruch Hu, we study Torah and fulfill mitzvos. Torah is more

31:44 Speaker 2 a matter of understanding and comprehension, while mitzvos are kabbolas ol. And as the Alter Rebbe emphasizes in chapter 41, specifically kabbolas ol. He quotes the Zohar: “If this is not found in him, holiness does not rest upon him.” When it comes to fulfilling mitzvos, He commanded us to put on tefillin. He commanded it, so we do it. Not because we understand, not because it resonates with us or makes sense to us. Beyond all the reasons, the essence of mitzvos is the supernal will, which transcends intellect, and our way of connecting to it is specifically, and only, through simple kabbolas ol. There are also reasons and explanations that give vitality and meaning to fulfilling a mitzvah, but that isn’t the point. This is something Chassidus emphasizes very, very strongly: mitzvos are fulfilled specifically with kabbolas ol. You can see it in the mitzvah campaigns the Rebbe sends us on. There are explicit sichos and letters in which the Rebbe says that when you approach a Jew and tell him, “Put on tefillin; put up a mezuzah,” what are you really telling him? Jews are obligated to put on tefillin. You can see how the Rebbe’s approach differs from other approaches to bringing Jews closer to Torah. There are many approaches that begin—many Jews, seemingly anyone who isn’t specifically following the Rebbe’s way, would think the more natural approach is to start with the person’s intellect. He has a mind. You have to start by speaking to his mind, explaining things to him. The mind will understand, the mind will tell the heart, and the heart will tell the hands and feet. Eventually he’ll fulfill the mitzvos. But you have to start with the mind. The Rebbe says no. Start with the hands. Put tefillin on him first, without explanations, without getting into discussions. This is what you need to do: He commanded us to put on tefillin. That’s how it should be, because the essence of mitzvos is kabbolas ol. The Rebbe quotes what the Rambam says later about Moshiach: “He will compel all of Israel to walk in its ways.”

33:37 Speaker 2 Right? “Compel”—compulsion. The Rebbe asks: Why compulsion? There is the phrase “He will compel all of Israel,” and before that, regarding the Seven Noahide Laws, in chapter 8 of Hilchos Melachim, it says: “Moshe Rabbeinu was commanded by Hashem to compel all the inhabitants of the world to observe the commandments given to the descendants of Noach.” The Rebbe says “compel”—specifically. Compulsion doesn’t just mean that if someone doesn’t want to, we force him. From the outset, there has to be compulsion. As the Rambam himself writes in other words, the Seven Noahide Laws must be observed not because reason dictates it, but because of the commandment Moshe gave in the Torah. What does that mean? In the language of Chassidus, not because I understand, but with kabbolas ol. Moshe commanded it, so I do it. That is what the Rambam means when he writes, “compel all the inhabitants of the world.” Not explain, not persuade, not influence, not bring it about. Compel. Not necessarily external coercion with a stick and a strap. Rather, compulsion means: Moshe commanded this mitzvah; we have to do it, because mitzvos are performed with kabbolas ol. “Compel all the inhabitants of the world”—when speaking about the Noahide Laws, the Rambam says to compel all the inhabitants of the world. When speaking about our mitzvos, the King Moshiach will arise and “compel all of Israel to walk in its ways,” because mitzvos are fulfilled specifically with kabbolas ol. This is an overall way of looking at mitzvos and halachah: the foundation is kabbolas ol, based on the fact that G-dliness is infinite, and the G-dliness revealed in mitzvos is the unlimited supernal will that transcends intellect. And so, regarding the fulfillment of mitzvos—and here we return to the point we began with on this subject—the central role in the fulfillment of mitzvos belongs specifically to the king. Not the prophet, not the Sanhedrin, not the sage. When the prophet gives instructions—do this and don’t do that—as with matters that recur.

35:35 Speaker 2 A prophet is a kind of adviser. He explains to you that this is the right thing to do, and you understand that doing otherwise would be a mistake. What does the prophet say? Do this, fulfill the mitzvos, and you will be rewarded. Don’t fulfill the mitzvos, and you will be punished. That is how the Rambam speaks about a prophet in Hilchos Yesodei HaTorah. He conveys a message from Hakadosh Boruch Hu. Is that called kabbolas ol? It isn’t kabbolas ol. It means it’s in your interest to do it; the alternative isn’t in your interest. I understand that this is what I should do. I understand that doing otherwise would be wrong and bad. That isn’t kabbolas ol. Who gives, and who can give, that kabbolas ol? The king. “His awe is upon you.” As Chassidus constantly explains, what is a king? A king stands head and shoulders above all the people. There is loftiness and distance. And the people’s relationship to the king is one of bowing. What does bowing mean? Setting aside one’s own self, surrendering one’s intellect, emotions, and will before the king. There is loftiness and distance here, and there is kabbolas ol. That is how a king leads a people. That is how a king leads a people, and therefore the Torah, so to speak, entrusts the 613 mitzvos to the king. It is his responsibility to see that they are fulfilled. Again, as we saw, “He will compel all of Israel to walk in its ways.” He is the one who compels the entire Jewish people to follow the path of Torah. On the external level, this is because he has the practical power to force someone who doesn’t want to; he rules the country. But in the inner sense, as the Tzemach Tzedek begins the mitzvah of appointing a king with this point, the king is surrendered to Hakadosh Boruch Hu, and the Jewish people are surrendered to him; through him, the Jewish people are surrendered to Hakadosh Boruch Hu. But what kind of surrender is he speaking about there? The surrender expressed in performing mitzvos. The surrender of kabbolas ol, which is specifically the king’s role. Not a prophet, not a sage. These are points.

37:20 Speaker 2 Other things. Moshiach will also be a prophet and a sage. But from a halachic perspective, who is responsible—the figure charged with seeing to it that the Jewish people actually observe all 613 mitzvos, in practice, with kabbolas ol, and that the whole world observes its seven mitzvos? On whom does that fall? Who has the responsibility? Who has the power? The king. And that is why, in this chapter, when the Rambam speaks about Moshiach, he describes him as a king: “The King Moshiach will arise.” “A king from the House of David will arise.” The Rambam does not mention here that he will be a great prophet and a great sage, because that is not relevant—not in this context. For halachah to be fully observed, we do not need a prophet to tell us to observe it. We need a king who bears the responsibility and has the power and authority to lead the people. To tell them, “Everyone, kabbolas ol. Everyone, we have to do what Hakadosh Boruch Hu wants.” So far we have spoken about the idea of a king in general. But we see that this is not just any king: “The King Moshiach will arise and restore the kingdom of David to its former state, to its original sovereignty.” The kingdom of David. And later, too, the Rambam writes—describing how it will happen in practice—“A king from the House of David will arise, immersed in Torah and occupied with mitzvos.” Again, he emphasizes the same point. So let’s spend a few more minutes on the kingdom of David in general, and on the Rambam’s statement that Moshiach comes to restore the kingdom of David to its former state. Let’s start with what seems obvious, and then see how the Rebbe sharpens and explains it, and how it connects to our subject. On the face of it, historically—let’s look at a little history—where does the kingdom of David fit into the history of the Jewish people? In practical terms, quantitatively, you might say, the kingdom of David was not such a great kingdom. First of all, before David, Shaul was king, and he ruled over

39:24 Speaker 2 all the Jewish people. Now, with Shaul there was the story of the war against Amalek, as told in the Prophets. In the end, Hakadosh Boruch Hu says, “I regret that I made Shaul king,” and then He sends Shmuel to anoint David, okay? David receives the kingship over the Jewish people, and after David comes Shlomo, his own son. But in his time, too, there was an issue of sins; there were undesirable things. The Gemara says, “Anyone who says Shlomo sinned is mistaken.” Still, in the plain meaning of Scripture, a prophet comes—Achiyah of Shiloh—and announces that Hashem has torn the kingdom of Israel away. Hakadosh Boruch Hu takes the kingdom from him, and indeed, in the next generation the kingdom is divided. The Jewish people rebelled against his son, Rechavam son of Shlomo, and against the kingdom of the House of David. Only Yehudah and Binyamin remained loyal to Rechavam son of Shlomo. Most of the Jewish people, the Ten Tribes, crowned another king for themselves: Yeravam son of Nevat, from the tribe of Ephraim. And that continued through all the generations that followed, until the destruction of the Beis Hamikdash. Actually, “until the destruction” is not quite accurate: earlier, Sancheriv had already come and exiled the Ten Tribes. At that point, the kingdom of the Ten Tribes ceased to exist, and only the kingdom of David remained. But again, it was a limited kingdom of Yehudah and Binyamin, along with refugees from the other tribes who joined them, for a few more generations until the destruction of the First Beis Hamikdash, in the time of King Tzidkiyahu. As the Gemara says, the kingship of the House of David ceased. So if we look at it quantitatively, the kingdom of David was not the Jewish people’s first kingdom, nor was it their only kingdom; there were other kingdoms alongside it. And if we measure it that way,

41:18 Speaker 2 it was actually the kingdom that... For two generations they ruled over all the Jewish people; afterward, it was the smaller kingdom. That is if we look at it quantitatively. But if we look not at the numbers but at its essence and significance, we begin to understand that there is something more here. First of all, the contrast between Shaul and David is interesting. Just in the plain meaning of Scripture, before we even get to the Rebbe’s sichos. Open the Book of Shmuel and you’ll see: today it is divided into two, Shmuel I and Shmuel II. The first part is the period of Shaul, and the second is the period of David, after Shaul was killed in battle and David’s reign began. To begin with, Shaul was starting the kingship from scratch, establishing a new monarchy, and you can see that reflected in the narratives too. It was not yet a full-fledged monarchy over the Jewish people. In the descriptions, things were still within the framework of the tribes. When Shaul complains about David, suspecting him of betraying him or plotting against him, he turns to his officers—whom he suspects of being involved and of concealing David’s plans from him—and addresses them as “sons of Binyamin.” They are all from the tribe of Binyamin, Shaul’s own tribe. It is still within that family and tribal framework. And from the descriptions there, he did not have a royal palace or things of that sort. Compare that with how David and Shlomo are described: David built himself a house, and people from all over Israel gathered to him. You do not see that in the accounts of Shaul.

43:15 Speaker 2 And there is something even more striking to notice: throughout nearly the entire book, the prophet—Shmuel, who wrote his book—does not use the title “king” for Shaul. They crowned him and called him “King Shaul” and so on, but in all the accounts that follow it is “Shaul went,” “Shaul returned,” “Shaul said,” “Shaul thought”—not “King Shaul.” That is interesting. David calls him “the king,” as do Yehonasan and Avner—certain specific people speak of Shaul as king, and when they call him that, the book calls him that too. But throughout the book, it is “Shaul,” “Shaul.” With David, it is already “King David was old, advanced in years,” and expressions like that. The book often calls him king. And as you read the accounts of how things were conducted, you can see a monarchy in the full sense: it moves beyond the tribal framework and becomes a comprehensive kingship over the whole people. You can see that between the lines, even before anything is stated explicitly. But the prophet does state something explicitly. At a certain point, Nasan the prophet comes to David and makes an astonishing announcement. Afterward, King David prays to Hashem, and you can see his amazement: Hakadosh Boruch Hu has decided to establish the throne of his kingdom forever. Shaul had been king, and he was replaced. But David’s kingship would last forever. David then goes before Hashem, to the Mishkan—before the Aron HaBris—and offers a special prayer: “Who am I?” How could You take note of someone like me and give him such a thing? In any event, that is what Hakadosh Boruch Hu gives David: the promise of kingship forever. A kingship for

45:12 Speaker 2 Forever. And then there is this promise. In that same prophecy, though it is not specifically about David, he is told, “A son will be born to you”—a prophecy about Shlomo—“and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.” His kingship will last forever. So David and Shlomo receive a special promise here. This is not just another king; this is a king forever, an eternal kingship. Actually, even earlier, before David was crowned at all, when Shmuel tells Shaul, “I regret that I made Shaul king”—that is what Hashem says—and then, “Hashem has torn the kingdom of Israel from you and given it to your fellow, who is better than you,” he is telling him that the kingship will pass to someone else. And he also says, “The Eternal One of Israel will not lie or change His mind, for He is not a man, that He should change His mind.” Although He had said earlier, “I regret that I made Shaul king,” now there is something that will not change. Until now, the kingship was subject to change; now there will be a kingship that will not change. That is what Shmuel says first, and later Nosson the prophet comes to David and tells him, “A son will be born to you, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.” In practice, David ruled over all Israel, and Shlomo ruled over all Israel. But Shlomo was already told that the kingdom would be split in two, and that is indeed what happened. The house of David was left with only two tribes, Yehudah and—yes, Yehudah and Binyamin. Most of the Jewish people were not under the house of David. There is a very, very profound point here. It is important to pay attention to it. The Rebbe discusses this in his sichos, also on the basis of the Rambam’s words: “Once David was anointed, he acquired the crown of kingship, and the kingship belongs to him and his male descendants

47:06 Speaker 2 forever. If a king arises from the other tribes of Israel, the kingship will eventually cease from his house.” There is an eternal kingship and there is a temporary kingship. David’s kingship is eternal, while the kingship of other kings will cease from their houses. It is not the same thing. But wait—what does it mean that David’s kingship is eternal? Eventually there was no king from the house of David. Even Tzidkiyahu—after fifteen generations, that too came to an end. True, Melech HaMoshiach will arise to restore David’s kingship to its former state. The interruption is temporary, but in its essence the kingship is eternal. It is something that does not end; if there is an interruption, it is only in the meantime. Ultimately it will return. In fact, even during the time of exile, our Sages address the verse “The scepter shall not depart from Yehudah”—it will never cease—“until Shiloh comes,” meaning until the coming of Moshiach. What does it mean that it will not cease? After all, during exile there is no king from the house of David. Our Sages say, as Rashi brings on the Torah in Parshas Vayechi, that “The scepter shall not depart from Yehudah” refers to the exilarchs in Babylonia and the leaders of the Land of Israel. In other words, even during exile, the leadership of David’s kingship continues. There is a temporary interruption, an interruption on the visible level. It continues, but not in the same way or with the same openly manifest authority. In its essence, though, David’s kingship is eternal. This is especially clear according to what the Rebbe explains in his sichos. What does the Rambam mean when he writes that David “acquired the crown of kingship”? What is the crown of kingship? Obviously, he does not mean only a physical crown; another king can have a crown too. As the Rebbe explains it, the crown of kingship is a power within the soul—the very power of kingship within the soul. Being a king is not just a position. Nor is a king simply someone with certain qualities, a powerful voice, strength, and might. A king is someone with a sense of exaltedness and separateness, as we said earlier. A king has a different kind of soul. For example, in that same prophecy, in the haftorah of Parshas Zachor, when Shmuel rebukes Shaul for not carrying out Hashem’s word, Shaul explains why he did not carry out Shmuel’s command in the war against Amalek. He says exactly this: “For I feared the people and listened to their voice.” The people wanted one thing, and “I feared the people and listened to their voice.” You read that verse and ask: What do you mean, “I feared the people”? You are the king. You decide what will happen. To be a king takes tremendous inner strength—not to be swayed by anyone, to stand above everyone, not to be swayed by anyone. To stand before a people who want something and tell them no, that they must do something else, takes tremendous inner strength. The Rebbe says that when the Rambam writes, “Once David was anointed, he acquired the crown of kingship,” he means this power of kingship within the soul, this sense of exaltedness and standing above others. That is the crown of kingship that David and his male descendants acquired forever. It is something that does not change; this is David’s eternal kingship. Exile may interrupt the outward exercise of kingship, its open manifestation in practice, in the world. That can be concealed for a time. But the crown of kingship, the inner power David acquired, cannot change. It always belongs to him and his male descendants forever, until Moshiach. Up to this point, we have spoken generally about the first halachah and its opening lines. We saw what the Rambam is discussing: he describes what will happen when Moshiach comes. The Rebbe’s point is that the Rambam is not merely telling a pleasant story about what will happen then. He wants to express a halachic point. And what is that point? When Moshiach comes, all the laws of

48:54 Speaker 2 the Torah will be fulfilled and realized in practice through three things: Moshiach will come, restore David’s kingship, build the Beis Hamikdash, and gather the dispersed of Israel. Through these three things, all 613 mitzvos of the Torah will be fulfilled. When we speak here about the Beis Hamikdash, there is the resting of the Shechinah there, people draw ruach hakodesh from it, and there are all sorts of very important things—but that is not what the Rambam is discussing here. The Jewish people will come to the Land of Israel, which has great spiritual qualities, and the Jewish people will be together. That too is very important, but it is not what he is discussing here. What matters here is that sacrifices are offered in the Beis Hamikdash: the mitzvos of sacrifices are fulfilled. In the Land of Israel, shemitah and yovel are observed: the mitzvos of shemitah and yovel are fulfilled. That is what is relevant here. When Moshiach comes, all the mitzvos of the Torah will be fulfilled. That brings us to another point. The Rambam describes Moshiach as a king: “Melech HaMoshiach will arise and restore David’s kingship to its former state.” Later he says, “If a king arises from the house of David, immersed in Torah and engaged in mitzvos...” As mentioned earlier, the Rambam describes Moshiach as a king. He does not mention here that Moshiach will be a great prophet, or that he will be a great sage. He discusses those things elsewhere, but not here. Why not? There is a reason. He wants to convey a particular point, so he speaks only about what is relevant. He does not discuss what is not relevant. He is precise—or rather, focused. What does that mean? For the fulfillment of the Torah—and we are saying that fulfilling the Torah and mitzvos requires a king. It does not require a prophet or a sage. What does it mean that it does not require a prophet or a sage? So the Rebbe asks more generally: What is the role of a king among the Jewish people? What

51:01 Speaker 2 The mitzvos of the Torah will be fulfilled in practice through three things: Moshiach will come, restore the Davidic monarchy, build the Beis Hamikdash, and gather the dispersed of Israel. Through these three things, all 613 mitzvos of the Torah will be fulfilled. Now, when we speak about the Beis Hamikdash, the Divine Presence rests there, people draw ruach hakodesh from there—yes, all sorts of very important things. But that is not what he is talking about here. The Jewish people will come to Eretz Yisroel. Eretz Yisroel has great qualities, and the Jewish people will be together; that, too, is very important. But that is not what he is talking about here. What matters here is that in the Beis Hamikdash, sacrifices are offered—the mitzvos of the sacrifices are fulfilled. In Eretz Yisroel, Shemitah and Yovel are observed; the mitzvos of Shemitah and Yovel are fulfilled. That is what matters here. When Moshiach comes, all the mitzvos of the Torah will be fulfilled. Now, we have reached the point. And another thing: the Rambam describes Moshiach as a king. “The King Moshiach will arise and restore the Davidic monarchy to its former state.” Later: “If a king arises from the House of David, immersed in Torah and occupied with mitzvos.” So, as mentioned earlier, the Rambam describes Moshiach as a king. He does not mention here that Moshiach will be a great prophet, or that he will be a great sage. He discusses those things elsewhere, but not here. Why does he not mention them? There is a reason. He wants to convey something here, so he speaks only about what is relevant. What is not relevant, he does not discuss. He is precise—or, more accurately, focused. What does that mean? For the fulfillment of the Torah—and we are saying that for the fulfillment of the Torah and mitzvos, a king is needed. A prophet is not needed; a sage is not needed. What does it mean that a prophet or a sage is not needed? So the Rebbe says, generally speaking, what is the role of a king among the Jewish people? What

52:46 Speaker 2 The role of a prophet? Well, a prophet, for example... We have Moshe Rabbeinu, the first prophet, who gave us the Torah in its entirety, and after that no prophet is permitted to introduce anything new. Right? What does a prophet say? He might warn people about the words of the Torah: If you do this, you’ll receive a reward; if you don’t, you’ll be punished. Or: Do this, don’t do that. But a prophet conveys messages to us from Hakadosh Boruch Hu. That’s his role: to convey messages. Whose role is it to see to it that things happen? Again, there’s a prophet whose role is to convey messages. There’s the Torah, and it needs to be taught. So there are sages whose role is to teach the Torah—and not only to teach it, but also to answer questions that arise and resolve them from within the Torah, through the thirteen principles by which the Torah is interpreted, and so on. A king’s role, from the Torah’s perspective, is to see to it that this actually happens. A king has authority over the people. A king has the ability to enforce and compel, to lead and guide. The responsibility for seeing that it actually happens rests primarily with the king. The Rebbe quotes what the Rambam writes earlier in Hilchos Melachim, chapter 4, where he discusses the authority a king has. The Rambam concludes: “In everything, his aim and thought should be to elevate the true faith, fill the world with justice, and break the arm of the wicked.” In other words, the sage who teaches Torah—the Sanhedrin, for example—also has a role. “You shall appoint judges and officers.” The judge works together with an officer: the judge gives the order, and the officer administers the punishment. They do have the power to compel; they have authority over the people and the ability to enforce. But the authority and power of the Sanhedrin or a judge—even as in the generations before Shaul and David, when the Jewish people were led

54:45 Speaker 2 by judges—are in no way comparable to the authority and power of a king. If we put it broadly, what’s the difference between a prophet, a judge, a sage, or the Sanhedrin, and a king? In one word. Let’s take the simplest example: traffic laws. A red light. I’m driving down the road; there’s a traffic light, and I obey it. There’s a sign, and I obey it. Why do I obey? Is that kabbolas ol? No, it isn’t. I understand; it’s clear to me that obeying a red light is important for my own good and for the good of everyone around me, and so is obeying a stop sign. It’s very, very clear. There’s no... Anyone who lets their head guide them, rather than their heart or their eyes and feet, understands that very clearly and simply. Is it always pleasant? Not always. Sometimes I’m in a hurry. Okay, but even when it’s unpleasant or inconvenient, I know this takes precedence over other things. And if someone doesn’t understand that, there’s an officer who makes him understand it, right? And that, too, isn’t kabbolas ol—not in the sense that Chassidus explains kabbolas ol. Kabbolas ol applies to something beyond my grasp, beyond my understanding, beyond my capacities. This isn’t kabbolas ol at all. There’s an orderly system here. I understand that there needs to be order, and that’s clear. It’s also clear that sometimes you need to enforce that order. You need an officer with a stick and a strap. But in some... Kabbolas ol is a different concept. Kabbolas ol, in its true, pure meaning for a Jew, in Judaism—as Tanya says in chapter 41—is that he accepts Hashem’s kingship upon himself, for Him to be his King, to serve Him and do His will in every form of a servant’s service. Right.

56:37 Speaker 2 Kabbolas ol, as the Rebbe emphasizes, means there is something here beyond my own reality, beyond my understanding. G-dliness is infinite, and I cannot grasp it; my limited mind cannot grasp it. I keep the mitzvos not because I understand that I should, and not even because I understand that I can’t understand everything, but because there’s something here. As the Alter Rebbe writes in chapter 41: “It is in our nature not to rebel against the King, Hakadosh Boruch Hu.” We know there is something here beyond our grasp, and we have to act, whether we understand or not. The action, yes—and this kabbolas ol, which is above reason, finds expression in the very opposite: as Chassidus explains, specifically in actual action, in what is below reason, the simplest thing, which is connected to the very highest things. Action is the main thing. Kabbolas ol is something else. In Judaism, in our relationship with Hakadosh Boruch Hu, we study Torah and fulfill mitzvos. Torah is more a matter of understanding and comprehension, while mitzvos are kabbolas ol. And as the Alter Rebbe emphasizes in chapter 41, specifically kabbolas ol. He quotes the Zohar: “If it is not found in him, holiness does not rest within him.” Because that is what fulfilling mitzvos is about: “And He commanded us to put on tefillin.” He commanded us, so we do it. Not because we understand, not because it resonates with us or makes sense to us. Beyond all the reasons, the essence of mitzvos is the Supernal Will, which is above reason, and the way we connect with it is specifically, and only, through simple kabbolas ol. There are also reasons and explanations that bring vitality and meaning to fulfilling a mitzvah, but that isn’t the point. This is something Chassidus emphasizes very, very strongly: mitzvos are fulfilled specifically with kabbolas ol. You see it in the mitzvah campaigns the Rebbe sends us out on. There are explicit sichos and letters in which the Rebbe says that when you approach a Jew and tell him,

58:26 Speaker 2 “Put on tefillin; put up a mezuzah,” what is the inner point of what you’re telling him? Jews are obligated to put on tefillin. You can see how the Rebbe’s approach differs from other approaches to bringing Jews closer to Torah. Many approaches would begin—many Jews, seemingly anyone who isn’t following the Rebbe’s particular approach, would take what seems the more obvious route: A person is rational; he has a mind. You need to start by speaking to his mind, explaining things to him. His mind will understand, his mind will tell his heart, and his heart will tell his hands and feet. Eventually he’ll fulfill the mitzvos, but you have to start with the mind. The Rebbe says no. Start with the hands. Put tefillin on him first, without explanations, without getting into discussions. This is what you need to do: “And He commanded us to put on tefillin.” That’s how it should be, because the point of mitzvos is kabbolas ol. The Rebbe quotes what the Rambam says later about Moshiach: “He will compel all Israel to walk in its ways.” Yes, compel—coercion. The Rebbe asks: Why coercion? There’s—one moment—there’s “He will compel all Israel,” and earlier, regarding the seven mitzvos of the descendants of Noach, in chapter 8 of Hilchos Melachim: “Moshe Rabbeinu was commanded by the Almighty to compel all the inhabitants of the world to observe the commandments given to the descendants of Noach.” The Rebbe says “compel”—yes, specifically. “Compel” doesn’t just mean that if someone doesn’t want to, we’ll force him. From the outset, it needs to be through compulsion, as the Rambam himself puts it in other words: the seven mitzvos of the descendants of Noach must be observed not because reason leads one to that conclusion, but because Moshe commanded them in the Torah. What does that mean? In the language of Chassidus, not because I understand, but through kabbolas ol. Moshe commanded, and I do it. That’s what the Rambam writes: “to compel all the inhabitants of the world.” Right? Not to explain, not to persuade, not

1:00:18 Speaker 2 To act, not merely to bring it about. To compel. Not necessarily external coercion with a stick and a strap, but compulsion in the sense that this is a mitzvah Moshe commanded us, and we are obligated to do it, because mitzvos are performed with kabbolas ol. “To compel all the inhabitants of the world.” When speaking about the mitzvos of the children of Noach, the Rambam says, “to compel all the inhabitants of the world.” When speaking about our mitzvos, the King Moshiach will arise and compel all of Israel to walk in its way, because mitzvos are performed specifically with kabbolas ol. So this is an overall perspective on mitzvos and halachah: the foundation here is kabbolas ol, based on the fact that G-dliness is unlimited, and the G-dliness revealed in mitzvos is the supernal will, which is above reason, unlimited. And therefore, the observance of mitzvos—and here we return to the point with which we began this subject—the central element in the observance of mitzvos comes specifically through the king. Not the prophet, not the Sanhedrin, not the sage. When a prophet gives instructions, “Do this and don’t do that,” right? As in the Torah, statutes and judgments. A prophet is a kind of adviser. He explains to you that this is the right thing, and you understand that not doing it would be a mistake. What does the prophet say? Do this, observe the mitzvos, and you will receive reward. Don’t observe the mitzvos, and you will receive punishment. That is how it appears in Hilchos Yesodei HaTorah; that is how the Rambam speaks about a prophet. He conveys a message from Hakadosh Boruch Hu. Is that called kabbolas ol? It isn’t kabbolas ol. It’s in your interest. Otherwise, it won’t be in your interest. I understand that this is what I need to do. I understand that doing otherwise would be wrong and not good. That isn’t kabbolas ol. Who can bring about kabbolas ol? The king, right? His awe is upon you, right? And as Chassidus continually explains what a king is: a king is “from his shoulders upward, taller than all the people.” That is exaltedness and separateness,

1:02:07 Speaker 2 and the relationship between a people and their king is one of bowing. Now, what is bowing? Setting aside one’s very self. He nullifies his intellect, his emotions, and his will before the king. There is exaltedness and separateness here, and there is kabbolas ol. This is how a king leads a people, and therefore the Torah, so to speak, entrusts the 613 mitzvos to the king. It is his responsibility to see that they are observed. Again, as we saw, he will compel all of Israel to walk in its way. He is the one who compels all the Jewish people to follow the way of the Torah. In the external sense, because he has the power to force someone who does not want to—he governs the country. But in the inner sense, as the Tzemach Tzedek opens the discussion of the mitzvah of appointing a king with this point: the king is nullified to Hakadosh Boruch Hu, and the Jewish people are nullified to him; through him, the Jewish people are nullified to Hakadosh Boruch Hu. But what kind of bittul is he discussing there? The bittul involved in performing mitzvos, the bittul of kabbolas ol. That is specifically the king’s role. Not a prophet, not a sage. Those are different points. Moshiach will also be a prophet and a great sage, but from a halachic perspective, who is the figure responsible for ensuring that the Jewish people actually observe the 613 mitzvos, in practice, with kabbolas ol, and that the whole world observes its seven mitzvos? On whom does it fall? Who has the responsibility? Who has the power? The king. That is why, here in this chapter, when the Rambam speaks about Moshiach, he describes him as a king: “The King Moshiach will arise”; “A king will arise from the House of David.” The Rambam does not mention here that he will be a great prophet and a great sage, because that is not relevant in this context. For halachah to be fully observed, we do not need a prophet to tell us to observe it. We don’t. We need a king who has the responsibility, power, and authority to lead the people and tell them, “Friends, kabbolas

1:04:02 Speaker 2 ol. Friends, we have to do what Hakadosh Boruch Hu wants.” So we’ve discussed the point of a king in general, but here we see that this is not just any king. Rather, “the King Moshiach will arise and restore the kingdom of David to its former state, its original sovereignty.” The kingdom of David. Later, too, the Rambam writes, “A king will arise”—meaning that it will happen in practice—“a king from the House of David, learned in Torah and occupied with mitzvos.” Again, he emphasizes the same point. Let’s spend a few more minutes on this point: the kingdom of David in general, and the Rambam’s statement that Moshiach comes to restore the kingdom of David to its former state. Let’s begin with what seems obvious, and then see how the Rebbe sharpens and explains it, and how it relates to our subject. On the face of it, historically—let’s do a little history, right? Where does the kingdom of David fit into the history of the Jewish people? In practical terms, quantitatively, let’s call it that, the kingdom of David was not such a large kingdom. First of all, before David, Shaul reigned over all the Jewish people. Then, okay, Shaul—there was the episode of the war against Amalek, as related in the Prophets, in the haftorah of Shabbos Zachor. In the end, Hakadosh Boruch Hu says, “I regret having made Shaul king,” and then Hakadosh Boruch Hu sends Shmuel to anoint David, okay? David receives the kingship over the Jewish people, and after David, his son Shlomo succeeds him. Okay? But in his time, too, there was a matter of sins, of undesirable things. The Gemara says, “Anyone who says Shlomo sinned is simply mistaken.” But ultimately, on the plain meaning of the verses, a prophet comes—Achiyah of Shiloh—and announces that Hashem has torn away the kingdom of Israel. Hakadosh Boruch Hu takes the kingdom from him, and indeed, in the next generation, the kingdom

1:06:06 Speaker 2 was divided. The Jewish people essentially rebelled against his son, Rechavam son of Shlomo, and against the rule of the House of David. Only Yehudah and Binyamin remained loyal to Rechavam son of Shlomo. Most of the Jewish people, the Ten Tribes, appointed another king for themselves: Yeravam son of Nevat, from the tribe of Ephraim. And that is how things continued through the generations that followed, until the destruction of the Beis Hamikdash. Actually, “until the destruction of the Beis Hamikdash” isn’t quite accurate. Before then, Sancheriv had already come and exiled the Ten Tribes, bringing the kingdom of the Ten Tribes to an end. Only the kingdom of David remained. But again, that was a limited kingdom of Yehudah and Binyamin, now joined by refugees from the other tribes. It lasted a few more generations, until the destruction of the First Beis Hamikdash, in the time of King Tzidkiyahu, when, as the Gemara says, the kingship of the House of David ceased. So if you look at it quantitatively, the kingdom of David was neither the first kingdom of the Jewish people nor their only kingdom; there were other kingdoms alongside it. And by that measure, it was actually the smaller kingdom: for two generations its kings ruled over all the Jewish people, and afterward it was the smaller kingdom, if you look at it quantitatively. But if you look not at quantity but at essence and meaning, you begin to understand that there is something more here. First of all, it’s interesting to compare Shaul and David. Just on the plain meaning of the verses, not in the Rebbe’s sichos—look at the Book of Shmuel. Today the Book of Shmuel is divided in two, Shmuel I and Shmuel II. The first part is essentially the period of Shaul, and the second part is the period of David, after Shaul was killed in battle and David’s reign began. So first of all, even in... we see Shaul

1:07:58 Speaker 2 He began the kingship anew, began a new kind of kingship. You can see it in the stories too; it comes through there as well. With Shaul, there wasn’t really a full-fledged kingship over the Jewish people, right? In the descriptions, it was still within what we might call the framework of the tribes. When Shaul complains about David—he suspects David of betraying him, or of plotting against him—he turns to his officers and says he suspects them of being in on it, of hiding David’s plans from him. He addresses them as “sons of Benjamin.” They’re all from the tribe of Benjamin, Shaul’s own tribe. It’s still, in a sense, a family and tribal framework. And from the descriptions there, he didn’t have a royal palace or things of that sort, the way things are described when you read about David and Shlomo. David built himself a house, and people gathered to him from all over Israel. You don’t see that in the stories about Shaul. And there’s something else worth noticing: throughout the book, the prophet—meaning Shmuel, who wrote the book—almost never uses the title “king” for Shaul. He was crowned, and people said “King Shaul,” and so on. But in all the stories afterward, it’s “Shaul went,” “Shaul returned,” “Shaul said,” “Shaul thought”—not “King Shaul.” It’s interesting. David calls him “the king” when he speaks, as do Yonasan and Avner—particular people who speak of Shaul as king. When they call him that, the book does too. But throughout the book, it’s simply Shaul. With David, it’s already “King D—”: “And King David was old, advanced in years,” and expressions like that. The book often calls him king,

1:09:52 Speaker 2 And when you read the stories, too, you see in the conduct and in the descriptions of it that this is already a kingship in the full sense. It has moved beyond the tribal framework and become a kingship over the entire people, in a complete way. That is already there between the lines of the book. But what the prophets state explicitly is that, at a certain point, Nasan the prophet comes to David and gives him an astonishing message. Afterward, King David prays to Hashem, and you can see his amazement: Hakadosh Boruch Hu has decided to establish the throne of his kingdom forever. There had been Shaul, and he was replaced. But you—forever. David then goes before Hashem, before the Ark of the Covenant, and offers a special prayer: “Who am I?” How can You take notice of someone like me and give him such a thing? In any event, that is what Hakadosh Boruch Hu gives David: a promise of kingship forever. And in that same prophecy, He tells him something that is not only about David himself: “A son will be born to you”—a prophecy about Shlomo—“and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.” His kingship will endure forever. In other words, David and Shlomo receive a special promise here. He is not just a king from now on, not an ordinary king, but a king forever: an eternal kingship. In fact, even earlier, before David was crowned at all, when Shmuel tells Shaul, “I regret that I made Shaul king”—that is what Hashem says—and then, “Hashem has torn the kingdom of Israel from you and given it to your fellow, who is better than you,” he tells him that the kingship will pass to someone else. “And also

1:11:48 Speaker 2 the Eternal One of Israel will not lie or relent, for He is not a man that He should relent.” Although earlier it said, “I regret that I made Shaul king,” now there is something about which He will not lie or relent. Now it is something that will not change. Until now, the kingship had been subject to change; now there will be a kingship about which He will not relent, something unchanging. That is what he says from the outset. Later, Nasan the prophet comes to David and tells him, “A son will be born to you, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.” In practice, David ruled over all Israel, and Shlomo ruled over all Israel. But Shlomo was already told that the kingdom would be split in two, and that is what happened. David’s house was left with only two tribes, Yehudah and—yes, Yehudah and Binyamin. The majority of the Jewish people were not with David’s house. This is a very, very profound point, and it is important to notice it. The Rebbe speaks about it in his sichos. The Rebbe says, also drawing on the Rambam’s words: “Once David was anointed, he acquired the crown of kingship, and the kingship belongs to him and his male descendants forever. If a king arises from the other tribes of Israel, the kingship will cease with his house.” There is an eternal kingship and a temporary kingship. David’s kingship is eternal; with the other kings, the kingship will cease with their houses. It is not the same thing. But wait—what does it mean that David’s kingship is eternal? Eventually there was no longer a king from the House of David. Even Tzidkiyahu—after fifteen generations, that too came to an end. True, King Moshiach will arise in the future and restore David’s kingship to its former state. There is a temporary interruption, but in its essence it is eternal. It is something that does not come to an end; if there is an interruption, it is only for the time being, and ultimately it will return. In fact, our Sages say that even during the exile, there is the verse “The scepter shall not depart from Yehudah.” It will never cease. And our Sages say

1:13:42 Speaker 2 “until Shiloh comes”—until the coming of Moshiach. What does it mean that it will never cease? After all, during the exile there is no king from the House of David. In response, our Sages say—and Rashi cites this in his commentary on the Torah, in Parshas Vayechi—that “The scepter shall not depart from Yehudah” refers to the Exilarch in Babylonia and the Nasi in the Land of Israel. In other words, even during the exile, the leadership of David’s kingship continues. Yes, temporarily there is an interruption—an interruption on the visible level. It continues, though not in the same way or with the same openly evident authority. But in its essence, David’s kingship is eternal. Especially in light of what the Rebbe explains in his sichos. What does the Rambam mean when he writes that David acquired the crown of kingship? What is the “crown of kingship”? You understand that it does not just mean a physical crown; another king can have a crown too. As the Rebbe explains it, the crown of kingship is a power of the soul—the essential power of kingship within the soul. Because being a king is not just a position. A king is not merely someone with certain qualities, someone with a commanding voice who is strong and mighty. Kingship is exaltedness and standing apart, as we said earlier. A king has a different kind of soul. For example, in that same passage—the haftorah of Parshas Zachor—when Shmuel rebukes Shaul for not carrying out Hashem’s word, what does Shaul say? He explains why he did not carry out Shmuel’s command in the war against Amalek. He says it plainly: “For I feared the people and listened to their voice.” The people wanted one thing, and “I feared the people and listened to their voice.” Read that verse. What does it mean, “I feared the people”? You are the king. You decide what will happen. To be a king, a person needs tremendous inner strength: not to be swayed by anyone, to stand above everyone, not to be swayed by anyone. And if... to stand

1:15:33 Speaker 2 To face a people who want something specific and tell them no, that something else must be done, takes tremendous inner strength. And the Rebbe says: David was anointed with the crown of kingship; he merited the crown of kingship. This means the power of kingship within the soul, its majesty and exaltedness. That is the crown of kingship that David and his male descendants merited forever. It is something that cannot change; that is the eternal kingship of David. Exile—okay, there can be an interruption in the exercise of kingship, in its actual, outward manifestation in the world. That can disappear for a time. But the crown of kingship, the power within the soul that David merited, cannot change. It always belongs to him and his descendants forever, until Moshiach. If a king arises from among the rest of Israel, the kingship will cease in his house. You understand? His kingship is limited from the outset. And from what we’ve just discussed, it’s clear that it isn’t only limited in time; it’s limited in its very essence. It isn’t the same kind of kingship. He doesn’t have the true power, the crown of kingship. And so the Rebbe says something quite remarkable. The Rebbe derives it from the verses and from the Rambam: even the Ten Tribes, who at that point, in those generations, had another king to whom they were subject—sometimes there were even wars between the two kingdoms, a civil war—even they, in their inner essence, belong to the kingship of the House of David, because it is the true kingship of the Jewish people. It is a true, inward kingship connected to the inner essence of Jewish souls. The fact that the Ten Tribes had another kingdom in the meantime was only something external. If you study Chassidus, you can see how, in the Rebbe’s sichos, this follows naturally: a Jew is always connected to Hakadosh Boruch Hu. Hakadosh Boruch Hu is the true Master, and a Jew is always bound to Him. Whether or not he acts accordingly is another matter. It could be

1:17:29 Speaker 2 that outwardly he doesn’t necessarily act that way. So if, G-d forbid, we’re speaking about a Jew who commits transgressions, that goes against the Torah. It is something the Torah does not want, but you say that it is external, not his true essence. That is a constant theme in Chassidus, and certainly in the Rebbe’s sichos. Similarly, with the Ten Tribes, this was not, G-d forbid, a matter of transgression. A prophet appointed their king. It has a place according to Torah, but the Torah says it is not the true state of things; it is external and temporary. It is temporary precisely because it is external. Okay. So even when the Ten Tribes had a kingdom larger and stronger in numbers, the true kingship of the Jewish people—of all the Jewish people, including the Ten Tribes—was the kingship of David. The Rebbe cites the verse said when the kingdom was divided: “Israel rebelled against the House of David to this day.” What does “rebelled” mean? Rebellion. He says it is still a rebellion. The Torah gave that kingdom its place, the prophet gave it its place, but in its inner essence it is a rebellion, because Jews always belong to the kingship of the House of David, even when another kingdom exists. The kingship of the House of David is the true kingship; it is our exaltedness and our bond. As we discussed earlier, the true king’s role is to connect us to Hakadosh Boruch Hu, specifically through kabbolas ol, which enables a connection to boundless G-dliness. That comes specifically through the kingship of the House of David, the true kingship of the Jewish people, through which we have our true connection to Hakadosh Boruch Hu. In the haftorah of Parshas Shemini, there is the account of bringing the Ark to the Holy of Holies, when David brings up the Ark of the Covenant, which had

1:19:14 Speaker 2 returned from captivity. The Ark had returned from captivity among the Philistines and remained for a time in Kiryas Yearim. Then David brings it up to the City of David, and King David leaps and dances with all his might, going beyond all bounds. Michal, Saul’s daughter, looks out through the window and despises him in her heart. What is this? Our Sages say that she had never seen anything like it in her father’s house, in Saul’s house. She tells David that in her father’s house you never saw anything beyond the sleeve: sleeves went all the way to the wrist. They never raised their sleeves, never rolled them up. It wasn’t modest. They were careful about modesty even in such things. And here King David is leaping and dancing, and even his sleeves are slipping a little. Not modest, not fitting for a king. What does David answer her? “Before Hashem, Who chose me over your father.” Hakadosh Boruch Hu chose me over your father. Your father was a king, and Hakadosh Boruch Hu chose me to be king. Why? There is a sicha about this haftorah in Likkutei Sichos for Parshas Shemini. But the point is that Saul represents serving Hashem according to reason and understanding, while David represents serving Him beyond reason and understanding. Saul serves Hashem according to intellect, comprehension and grasp. David serves Hashem not according to intellect or comprehension, and so David leaps and dances, going beyond all limits. David embodies holy folly. That is why he says, “Before Hashem, Who chose me over your father.” Hashem chose me because of this way of serving Him, specifically because it is beyond reason and understanding: going beyond all bounds, without limit. And this connects to the verse we mentioned earlier, “I regret that I made Saul king.” So what does He do? He crowns David. And also, “The Eternal One of Israel will not

1:21:03 Speaker 2 lie or relent, for He is not a man, that He should relent.” Wait—what does it mean that He is not a man who should relent? Why, then, does He say, “I regret that I made Saul king”? So there is regret, change, a reversal. And then, in the same context, you suddenly say, “He will not lie or relent, for He is not a man, that He should relent.” The Alter Rebbe explains this account in Torah Or, Parshas Yisro. He says that, so to speak, there are levels with Hakadosh Boruch Hu: some are more external and some more inward. There are levels where change is possible and levels where it is not. As we will soon see regarding prophecy, Torah and mitzvos—we’ll get to that shortly. In other words, Saul’s kingship came from a level where change is possible. Saul’s service was based on intellect, on reason and understanding, which are subject to change. These are still the soul’s external faculties, a level where change is possible. Likewise, Hakadosh Boruch Hu’s choice of Saul was a choice based on reason, one that could change. David’s service is beyond change because it is beyond intellect. So Hakadosh Boruch Hu’s choice of David is also a choice beyond reason, a choice that cannot change: “He is not a man, that He should relent.” So let’s sum up what we’ve discussed so far. We come to the kingship of the House of David. In terms of the length of time, it ruled over all Israel only briefly. For most of the subsequent years and generations, its rule was limited to two tribes. Then the Beis Hamikdash was destroyed, and even that came to an end. But the truth is that David’s kingship is the true kingship of the Jewish people throughout all generations. Even when the kingdom was divided, even when there was no king from the House of David, the Jewish people always belonged to the House of David. The Jewish people

1:22:45 Speaker 2 The people belong to the king. If a people is subject to its king, then the Jewish people are always subject to a king from the House of David, for that is the true kingship of the Jewish people. And what do we mean by “true kingship”? As we said, it is the exaltedness—the crown, the kingship, the exaltedness within the soul—the power to lead the people, for the people to be in a state of bittul toward him, and to connect them to Hakadosh Boruch Hu in this genuine way. That is the kingship of the House of David. That is King David and the kingship of the House of David. So when the Rambam speaks about Moshiach, he says, “King Moshiach will arise and restore the Davidic dynasty to its former state.” “A king will arise from the House of David.” The Rebbe emphasizes in his sichos that when the Rambam writes “a king will arise from the House of David,” it is not just a matter of lineage, of saying that he has an important family, that he comes from a good family, a strong background. That is not the point. “A king will arise from the House of David” describes his very nature, his qualities. It means a king will arise who has the qualities of the House of David. Because to break the exile, to compel all Israel to follow the Torah, and ultimately to bring the entire world to serve Hashem together—who can bring about such a revolution in the world? Someone with the powers of the House of David. “A king from the House of David” is not merely Moshiach’s lineage; it is a definition of Moshiach, of the qualities and inner strengths he possesses. And that is Moshiach’s first task: “King Moshiach will arise and restore the Davidic dynasty to its former state.” Not merely to restore kingship so that we will be independent and able to observe the Torah, but to restore the Davidic dynasty to its former state, for that is true kingship. He is the king to whom we truly relate as a people to their king—with bittul, setting aside our own selves, bowing before him—and he connects us to Hakadosh Boruch Hu in such a genuine way. To sum up what we have learned so far: we read the Rambam’s opening lines, in which the Rambam

1:24:31 Speaker 2 tells us what will happen when Moshiach comes, what Moshiach’s role is. And as we discussed earlier, broadly speaking, the Rambam is describing the full realization of Torah and mitzvos. That is what will happen when Moshiach comes, something we have not seen in our time. How will Moshiach bring it about? Through three things, broadly speaking. First, King Moshiach will arise and restore the Davidic dynasty to its former state. Second, he will build the Beis Hamikdash. Third, he will gather the dispersed of Israel. When all three come together, the Kingdom of Heaven—Hashem’s kingship over Israel—will be openly revealed. In practice, that means we will observe all the mitzvos with kabbolas ol, offer sacrifices, observe Shemitah and Yovel, and fulfill all the other mitzvos of the Torah. That is what will happen when Moshiach comes. As we said earlier, this is Moshiach from a halachic perspective: this is what halachah is waiting for when it awaits Moshiach.