If we have a state it is because sinat chinam has moderated. Lessing, in fact, thought that we would never have one because we could not get along. When was the last time there was a fist fight in shul over whether to say some tefilla? However, if the state is imperfect and we don’t have the Bet haMikdash, we obviously have a long way to go.
This fable once appeared in Mishpacha magazine:
Once upon a time, in the year 5780, after millennia of Jewish praying and yearning, the Mashiach finally arrived at the gates of Jerusalem.
He tried to enter through the first gate, but the gatekeeper, who was wearing a kippah serugah, seeing that the gentleman who claimed he was the Mashiach was not wearing a kippah serugah, doubted his authenticity and concluded that he must be a false Mashiach. The gatekeeper denied him admission.
The Mashiach tried a second gate, but the gatekeeper, who was wearing a black hat with a three-inch brim, seeing that the gentleman who claimed he was the Mashiach was not wearing a black hat with a three-inch brim, doubted his authenticity and concluded that he must be a false Mashiach. The gatekeeper denied him admission.
The Mashiach tried a third gate, but the gatekeeper, who was wearing a shtreimel, seeing that the gentleman who claimed he was the Mashiach was not wearing a shtreimel, doubted his authenticity and concluded that he must be a false Mashiach. The gatekeeper denied him admission.
So it went at all the seven gates to Jerusalem. Each of the gatekeepers at each of the remaining gates was wearing a different head covering:
At the fourth gate, a turban;
at the fifth gate, a gray fedora;
at the sixth gate, a black velvet yarmulke;
at the seventh gate, a black hat with a one-inch brim.
Wherever the Mashiach was not wearing the precise duplicate of the gatekeeper’s head covering, he created doubt and suspicion, was considered a false Mashiach, and was denied admission. Thus was he not permitted to enter any of the seven gates to Jerusalem.
And there he stands, waiting patiently for someone to let him in.
What kind of head covering was the Mashiach actually wearing?
He was wearing none of the above.
That’s because he was wearing all of the above.
A fantasy? Perhaps. Perhaps not.
Meanwhile, the Mashiach and all his head coverings linger patiently at the gate.