The more I am looking at the Burgher and the Pauper, the more clues I’m picking up about ‘when Moshiach comes’.

Here are the notes written by Rav Natan Sternhartz, explaining some of the hints at the end of that story (from HERE🙂

Afterwards as well the old emperor had no greatness, for it [the trouble] was all because of him. The burgher had enormous greatness — he is the emperor’s father, who is the essential one [ikar, the root]. The sailor was smacked and smacked in the face and expelled.

Regarding Lot it says, “Ha’hárah himmalét/ to the mountain flee for salvation” (Gen. 19:17) — this is a burgher [a play on words: Yid. barg mountain, pl. berg < Ger. Berg mountain; ME burgh city < OE burg fortified town; O. High Ger. Burg fortified castle, all from Indo-European root *bhergh], and from him comes [Heb. is born] Mashiach. [Note: Rabbi Nachman’s surname was Horodenker, as his grandfather, also named Nachman, was from the Ukrainian city Horodenka, the name of which stems from Ukrainian gorod, city. Thus “Burgher” might be interpreted as an allusion to this name.]

Jews had, in Mitzrayim, signs who would be the Redeemer etc. [Heb. only: paqódh paqádh’ti (Ex. 3:16: “I have remember-remembered you;” alternately, “a chief I have appointed”?) — he who says to them these terms is the Redeemer. And it is an astounding thing, since all Yisrael knew of this — so then what is this sign? Possibly it was not transmitted except to the elders.] And upon the [Heb. final] Redeemer [Yid. to come] there are certainly signs [Yid. do, here] as well.

Mashiach will say to every Jew everything that has happened to him every single day [Heb only: to every member of Yisrael individually]. Tamar also lost the signs, as it says in the Midrash. Also when she was going to be burned the Samekh-Mem came and removed the signs from her, and the angel Gabriel came and returned them, as it says in Midrash; out from her comes Mashiach, speedily in our days, Amen.

All this the Rebbe discussed after the story so that one can make some kind of surmise how far the story reaches. So, good for one who is privileged to know the stories’ secret even in the other world!

Regarding that which is explained in the story, that every one comes with his song of desire and some are replied to via an emissary etc. as mentioned — so there are a number of great people who each do what they do [Heb. only: And each says songs and so forth] and each busies himself and wants to reach {Yid.: the truth; Heb.: the desired purpose. But there is none who attains the essential true purpose completely} — except the one who is worthy/ fit/ eligible [re’ui] for it. And some are answered via an emissary, or from under [Heb. behind] the wall, or they show them the face etc. as in the story.

However, in the end, when they leave this world, they answer them that they’ve still done nothing at all, like it is written in the story, how the beauty ultimately answers them, “Di vassern haben aber iber dir noch nit ariber gigangen,” until the right leader comes — speedily in our days, Amen! This too the Rebbe z”l discussed.

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Bkitzur, it’s a story of all the ‘false messiahs’ we’ve had to contend with, both the Jewish ones, and the not-Jewish ones.

But eventually, the real moshiach shows up, with all the authentic signs required, and:

Mashiach will say to every Jew everything that has happened to him every single day.

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It’s been so hard to hang ou to our emuna and our yiddishkeit the last few years.

So much never-ending ‘stress’, so even the most empathetic and kind-hearted amongst us are struggling to ‘feel’, and struggling to empathise, and struggling to have time to do what they need to do for themselves, never mind everyone else.

I feel myself, it can’t carry on like this too much longer – but of course, I’ve been saying that for years, already.

Me personally, I have had to batten down the hatches this past year, just to manage what’s going on day-to-day. That doesn’t leave a lot of ‘space’ to reach out to others, and I’m also missing the enthusiasm I used to have for spiritual matters.

We’ve all been stressed-out and dumbed down, and it’s going to take a while for the flame to reignite again.

But it will.

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Rebbe Nachman famously said, my fire will burn until the coming of the Moshiach.

When our own candles burn out, that’s where we can go to get them relit.

It’s the secret of Uman.

BH, more and more people are discovering it.

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PS: read these interesting articles, if you are one of those people who can still read, re: the dumbing down:

https://www.sott.net/article/507516-The-Great-Woke-College-Experiment-Is-Collapsing-Under-the-Weight-of-Reality

https://www.sott.net/article/507536-People-who-can-still-read-will-rule-the-world

Shabbos doesn’t only guard the soul and the person, it also maintains the person’s ability to read.

If they still keep it, and aren’t secretly on their phones pretending they are just ‘napping’….

(A big ‘if’ today, especially in Chul, and including all those frummer-than-frum communities where keeping up outside appearances is really where the main energy goes, while the inside, felt, experience of true yiddishkeit is nowhere to be found. More on that another time. Maybe.)