Lesson 6: Before Mashiach — When the Veil Begins to Thin

What this lesson is about

The prophets describe the destination. The Talmud asks what the road looks like just before we arrive.

The texts

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“In the footsteps of Mashiach”

Mishnah Sotah 9:15

In the footsteps of Mashiach, chutzpah will increase and prices will soar… the government will turn to heresy, and there will be no one to accept rebuke… the wisdom of scholars will decay, those who fear sin will be despised, and truth will be missing… the face of the generation will be like the face of a dog. And on whom can we lean? On our Father in Heaven.

Step by step

Read the whole mishnah below. It is the last mishnah of tractate Sotah — a long list of how things decline over the generations, ending with the time “in the footsteps of Mashiach.”
The Bartenura (English below) explains its difficult phrases one by one.
Notice the ending. After the whole bleak list, the Mishnah does not say “and then calculate the date.” It asks: “On whom can we lean?” — “On our Father in Heaven.”

Two attitudes — Sanhedrin 98b

Ulla: “Let him come, but let me not see him” (he feared the hardships). Rav Yosef: “Let him come, and may I merit to sit in the shade of his donkey’s dung.”

Two paths — Sanhedrin 98a

“I, Hashem, will hasten it in its time” (Isaiah 60:22): if they merit — I will hasten it; if not — it will come in its time.

A warning — Sanhedrin 97b

“May the bones of those who calculate the end rot” — for when the date passes, people say he is not coming.

The practical answer — Sanhedrin 98b; Shabbat 118a

What should a person do to be saved from the birth pangs of Mashiach? Occupy yourself with Torah and acts of kindness. And keep the three meals of Shabbat.

Think it through

Did any line sound familiar? Now — would it have sounded familiar in 1300? In 1650? In 1938? Is this a prediction, a recurring pattern, or a spiritual description?Think about it first — then tap for discussion notes

Every generation has heard itself in this mishnah. That does not make it wrong — it suggests the list describes a kind of time rather than a single date. The Talmud’s own response (97b) is to forbid calculating, and its practical advice (98b) is Torah, kindness and Shabbat.

Key takeaways

Sotah 9:15 describes decline — and ends with leaning on Hashem.
If we merit, redemption is hastened; if not, it comes in its time.
The Talmud condemns calculating the end.
The practical answer: Torah, kindness, Shabbat.

Up next · Lesson 7 · MashiachThe Opening of WisdomThe Talmud gave us darkness before dawn.

← Lesson 5: What Do the Prophets Actually Predict?

“In the footsteps of Mashiach”

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