Experiencing Divine Revelation

…One who was in the Bais Hamikdash ("Holy Temple"] in Jerusalem) had a feeling of G‑dliness and didn’t feel his own existence at all, because being in the Bais Hamikdash was a revelation of the Ohr Ein Sof (Infinite Divine light)…it was like another world — the feeling of G‑dliness was felt by everyone as self-evident, matter of course, and there was no sense of temporal reality.

The experience in the time of Moshiach will exceed this, for then there will be a revelation of the Ohr Ein Sof, and it will be visible and revealed to every Jew….Similarly, the revelation of prophecy in the time of Moshiach will be experienced by every Jew. Not as prophecy was revealed to the prophets of the Tanach (Bible), when there were conditions and requirements and one had to be fit to receive the prophecy (being wise, of strong spirit, wealthy). If the conditions were met, prophecy was revealed to the individual as something astounding and supra-natural – to the point where the individual divested himself of materiality. The reason for this was that the revelation was above nature and nature was unable to accept it. Thus, there needed to be material divestment and nullification of the senses.

This will not be the case in the time of Moshiach, when prophecy will be a natural thing, even for young boys and girls. This is because the revelation of the concealed Divine Light, namely the level of Atzmut Ohr Ein Sof (the essence of the concealed Divine Light) – which is presently hidden – will illuminate in a truly revealed state.

The revelation of an inner light means that there will be various levels, similar to the way intellect varies from individual to individual, not all being equal…In the time of Moshiach, the revelation of prophecy in every Jew will also be in lesser levels like something natural…There will also be a comprehension and knowledge of the secrets of Torah by every Jew…It is known that the Torah study of the Melech HaMoshiach (the King Moshiach) – who teaches true knowledge to the people – will not be in the present form of classes and study, but rather he will show the essence of G‑dliness and everyone will see and know it. And it will not be as a wondrous thing, but rather something natural.

Just as now we grasp physical reality as something natural, in the time of Moshiach we will grasp G‑dliness as something natural. Not like the revelation of Torah secrets now, which comes only to select individuals like the Rashb"i (Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai) and his colleagues, as something astounding like an amazing wonder which stirs the heart of the one who sees it…but in the time of Moshiach there won’t be in an astounding way at all, and the secrets of the Torah will not be called by the name "secrets" nor by the name "wonders."

This will be the revelation of the future, when the essence will be completely revealed, and it will be seen and revealed to all and "all will know Me." A taste of this is experienced by great tzaddikim who have completely divested themselves from the physicality of their bodies, for they see with their eyes that G‑dliness manifests everything. They do not see physicality and the separateness of the world, but instead (they see) the G‑dliness that brings (the world) into being. And especially the Patriarchs, who tasted their Word to Come, and for them the revelation of G‑dliness was to such an extent that all their matters of physicality were actually G‑dliness.

A small example of the future was before the sin of Adam with the Tree of Knowledge (of Good and Evil), for in the Garden of Eden there was a real revelation of G‑dliness… Immediately after the sin the verse states, "and they heard the voice of G‑d walking in the Garden" – that the voice of G‑d would speak directly with the Man in the Garden of Eden, and similarly with Kayin/Cain. The beasts and animals were on a completely different level…The ox that Adam offered as an offering to G‑d had one horn in the middle of its forehead. The Rashb"a states that this indicated the unity as opposed to separation. And like the cows who carried the Aron Kodesh (the Holy Ark), who "walked straight without wandering" (see Samuel I, ch. 6) all this was an illumination of the revelation of G‑dliness without any tzimtzum (contraction), to such an extent that it was revealed to all, even to animals…

Presently, however, the situation is the complete opposite: that G‑dliness is not seen or revealed at all, and each revelation of light is a wondrous innovation; whereas what is grasped effortlessly and as a matter of course is the separateness of the world’s reality. Nonetheless, there is today a level of seeing up close – like the seeing of the wisdom of the G‑dly soul – in each and every Jew according to the level of his soul root above; he has a sense of seeing in his intellect, and he is able to come to true seeing of G‑dliness because the soul is called a candle of G‑d, and its source is in the level of Chochma (Divine wisdom), [which breaks into the words] koach mah (the power of "what"), on which it is said, "who is wise? One who sees what is born [what will be]". And like the seeing of wisdom, which sees as close something which will be [far] in the future, similarly with spiritual seeing which sees that which is born from non-being into being.

Now all this presently comes through great labor and effort, as it is known that specifically after true comprehension of G‑dliness and after the familiarity when one connects...more with the body (the point of comprehension), then it is possible for seeing to become true like a part of the intellect. Also, great refinement is required for this to occur…and via the effort in comprehension this "truing" [of one’s sight] can be generated. (And also the sight that is bestowed from above, like the sight of the Rashbi (Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai) and his colleagues – this is a result of the great effort and labor and preparation of their souls.)

Yet all this remains on a level of innovation in the world, astounding things. But seeing is only the level of the reality of G‑dliness, but not the true Essence of the Ein Sof (Eternal). (And…even the comprehension of the souls in Eden is only the level of a "ray" of the Shechinah, and similarly the revelation of Atzilut (the highest of the spiritual "worlds"), which is the level of seeing the Essence, is only the essence of the "ray".)

All of this cannot be compared to the seeing of the Essence which will be in the future, when all flesh shall see with the eye the true essence of the Ein Sof. And this will occur with each and every Jew. Namely, because the essence of the Ein Sof will be revealed, thus there will be the seeing of the true Essence by every Jew. This is not the case presently, when it is only manifest in select individuals through great effort and preparation.

[From "Yalkut Mashiah U’Geulah al Hatorah" by Rabbi Dovid Dubov of Princeton, NJ, where it is excerpted from Ayin Beis, Chelek B, p 936 (Shvi’I shel Pesach). Translated by Rabbi Yaakov Bock.]