Sefer HaBris (1:9:16) says that he has spent much time trying to understand why it is that we have been in exile for so long. In recent generations, he says (cir. 1790), there is much Torah being studied. Mishna, Gemara, Halacha and even Kabbalah, but Moshiach has not arrived. Many people daven with all their might, but they cry and are not responded to. People do countless Mitzvos and the time of redemption has not come. If we have all three of these in these generations and we have still not returned to our land, what else is there to do? We are clueless as to how to find favor Above.I concluded that there must be something that is weakening the power of these three activities, as one dead fly can ruin an entire gourmet meal. I realized that it is because all those engaging in these activities are only focused on themselves and their own good, rather than on releasing Hashem and the Schechina from Galus. Every Jewish person is after his own pursuits and all the Torah, davening and good deeds are intended to acquire for the person a prominent place in Gan Eden and the World to Come. They want to be successful in their this-worldly pursuits and to live a long life with their spouses and children. They want to make a good living, to build a nice large stone house that can then be bequeathed to their offspring who are born and bred in Exile. They want to die in old age and the Rov should eulogize him by the shul, and have a large crowd in attendance. These are the goals of Jewry in Exile.
They speak often of Moshiach, but it is only superficial and not with a full heart. After each holiday we say לשנה הבאה בירושלים. In our minds we think, "Not this year, next year." We push it off a full year as we have unfinished business here in Exile. None of these groups are doing anything to quicken the Geulah. They are only looking for their own good whether in this world or the World to Come and no one thinks of doing it for the sake of Hashem, to take his Schechinah out of Galus. Rachel, the Schechinah, cries over her exiled children. She wants to leave Galus with them, but no one hears her cry. No one redeems her.
As long as we are not concentrating during Torah, Tefilah and other Mitzvah actions that our intent is to take the Schechinah out of Galus, then Moshiach will not come. Hashem treats us measure for measure and says, "You only care about yourselves, and not about me. So, too, I will not care about you. We should not look to anyone, even to the Gedolim, and assume that their deeds will bring the Redeemer, because only the one who sees hearts knows who is truly great, not those who see with their eyes. Every Jew, even if he is uneducated, needs to fight on behalf of our Father in Heaven as well as to fight for our Fatherland.
