Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi came upon Elijah the prophet while he was standing at the entrance of Rabbi Shimon bar Yohai’s cave. He asked Elijah, “When will the Messiah come?”
Elijah replied, “Go and ask him yourself.”
“Where is he?”
“Sitting at the gates of the city.”
“How shall I know him?”
“He is sitting among the poor covered with wounds. The others unbind all their wounds at the same time and then bind them up again. But he unbinds one at a time and binds it up again, saying to himself, ‘Perhaps I shall be needed: if so I must always be ready so as not to delay a moment.’
When Elijah had explained how we could find the Messiah sitting among the poor at the gates of the city, Rabbi Yehoshua, ben Levi went to the Messiah and said to him,
”Peace unto you my master and teacher.”
The Messiah answered, “Peace and to you, son of Levi”.
He asked, “When is the master coming?”
“Today,” he answered.
Rabbi Yehoshua returned to Elijah who asked, “What did he tell you?”
”He indeed has deceived me for he said, ‘Today I am coming and he has not come’.”
Elijah said, “This is what he told you, “Today, if you would only listen to his voice.” (Psalms 95:7)
He is waiting. For what? For you and I to be prepared and ready to receive him.
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