The transcendence of all limitations that will characterize the Era of the Redemption will be all-encompassing. Therefore, all entities will exist on an infinitely higher plane during that era than they exist at present. [This will affect both the world at large and the realm of Torah.] With regard to the world, there will then be a “new heaven and a new earth.”1 With regard to the Torah [the medium through which the world was created — “He gazed into Torah and created the world”2], “New [dimensions of] the Torah will emerge from Me.”3

This also applies with regard to the revelation of G‑dliness. In the Era of the Redemption, there will be an entirely new de­gree of revelation, infinitely higher than the present degree. All the revelations of the present era have their source in the external level of Atik, while in the Era of the Redemption, the revela­tion will stem from the inner dimensions of Atik.4

On this basis, we can understand why the Future Redemption will come about primarily through the divine service performed during the concluding period of the exile. Since all matters in the Era of the Redemption will be of an entirely new nature, the divine service that draws them down must be a new form of service as well.

To explain: In the time of the Beis HaMikdash, G‑dliness was revealed; “Ten miracles were wrought for our ancestors in the Beis HaMikdash.”5 There were miracles apparent to the naked eye, many of them beheld even by the common people. Therefore, the divine service of observing the Torah and its mitzvos was an outgrowth of man’s ordinary thinking processes. Then as well there was the command6 of “You shall love... [your G‑d], with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your might,” [and as explained in Chassidus, “with all your might” refers to an unbounded commitment, to the point of mesirus nefesh, “complete self-sacrifice”]. Nevertheless, since G‑dliness was palpably revealed, even the mesirus nefesh that existed in that era could be [understood7 by and therefore,] limited by man’s ordinary thinking processes. This concept holds true as well with regard to those periods of exile when the darkness [of unholiness] was not that overwhelming.

This is not the case in [the present generation], the generation that immediately precedes Mashiach’s arrival. For at present, the forces of darkness increase daily,8 and there are many challenges {that have to be overcome}, in particular, the challenge of “Do not be embarrassed by those who scoff.”9 This challenge is made especially difficult to bear by the fact that these scoffers are base and ignoble individuals.10 The ability to overcome these challenges stems from the divine service of mesirus nefesh that transcends [all] limitation and bounds.

This is why the divine service of the generation that immediately precedes Mashiach’s arrival — and within this generation itself, the divine service at the very conclusion of the period of exile — contains a (certain) dimension of superiority — and in this context, an incomparable advantage — over the divine service accomplished [by the Jewish people] in previous generations.11 It is so radically different, that it is considered a new divine service. For the divine service in previous generations was related to reason and logic (the limitations of our revealed [soul] powers). The divine service at the conclusion of the period of exile, by contrast, reflects mesirus nefesh which emanates from the innermost level of the soul.

Through our divine service in the time of exile in general, and especially through our service at the very end of the exile, at which time the service is from the innermost degree of the soul, we draw down influence from the innermost level Above, includ­ing the inner dimension of Atik. This will evoke a new dimension within the Torah as well, (“the new [dimensions of the] Torah that will emerge from Me”), i.e., a new approach to the Torah reflecting the connection to the Giver of Torah.

{It is possible to explain that this aspect as well is accomplished through the divine service at the conclusion of the exile. For when the service is in a manner of mesirus nefesh then one’s Torah study is lishmah, for its own sake.12}

The new dimension of Torah study will in turn lead to a novel aspect in creation as well (for “He gazed into Torah and created the world”), bringing about “a new heaven and a new earth.”

May it be G‑d’s will that this occur most speedily; that our present deeds and divine service13 hasten the time when we will greet our Righteous Mashiach. And then, we will witness the actual fulfillment of the prophecy, “As in the days of your exodus from Egypt, I will show you wonders.”