"If you are planting a tree,
and someone comes and says,
'The Mashiach is coming!'—
then plant!"
No matter what reasonable people
or foaming enthusiastic youths tell you:
this messiah or that messiah
is imminent—
plant!
The Mashiach is in no rush.
When you have patted down the last clods of dirt,
and watered your maple, your sycamore,
your elm,
he will still be wherever he is supposed to be,
and more than happy to admire the sapling with you.
Messiahs don't come to uproot things.
If he wanted to,
he could bundle Eretz Yisrael into a package
and bring it to you,
so you would not have to go wandering again
through many lands.
If he really is the Mashiach,
this One everyone pesters you about,
he can bring you Abraham,
who will sit by your tree
and dispense dates
and the flat bread of hospitality,
as in ancient days.
So plant it now, firmly,
water it well,
whether or not there is a Messiah
today or tomorrow. - Avot deRabbi Natan B,
Chapter 31,
Danny Siegel
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