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From: baral@ihuxu.UUCP (Elliott Baral)
Newsgroups: net.religion.jewish
Subject: re: Aliyah/Messiah
Message-ID: <310@ihuxu.UUCP>
Date: Tue, 15-May-84 18:28:45 EDT
Article-I.D.: ihuxu.310
Posted: Tue May 15 18:28:45 1984
Date-Received: Wed, 16-May-84 04:40:41 EDT
Organization: AT&T Bell Labs, Naperville, IL
Lines: 20

It was asked,

     "Does waiting for the clear presence of the Messiah before
     making aliyah show any faith or courage?"

Loaded question (particularly in its original context).  Let's take
a specific example - today.  Do today's current events clearly
indicate the presence of the Messiah?  No?  Then it requires
honesty to deny that the Messiah has arrived, it requires faith to
continue to assert that he will despite popular despair, and it
requires courage (i.e., strength of will) to express the truth in
the face of public derision and indifference.

I have heard it said that that the Messiah is present in every
generation, but that he does not reveal himself unless the
generation merits it.  If this is true, then making or not making
aliyah has nothing to do with showing faith or courage.

                    Elliott Baral
                    {ihnp4,pegasus}!ihuxu!baral