Mechakeh, The Waiting That Changes You

There are different levels of bitachon. A person can believe in Hashem. A person can hope. A person can lean on Him. But the Rambam’s formulation (as we say in Ani Ma’amin) points to a higher level, a sharper, more alive stance: “Achakeh.”

Achakeh does not mean “I know Mashiach will come eventually.”
Achakeh means: I am actively awaiting. Anticipating. Living in a posture of readiness, like this could happen any day.

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What Real Waiting Looks Like

It’s easy to say, “Of course I’m waiting for Mashiach.”
But someone once challenged that claim with a metaphor that cuts straight to the truth.

The Chafetz Chaim once asked Rav Avraham Kalmanovitch, the Rav of Rakaŭ, “Do you await Mashiach?” The Rav answered yes, and the Chafetz Chaim asked again, and again, until he finally said:

“No, no… To await Mashiach, one must wait like the mother waited for Yankel!”

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Waiting Like It’s Your Life

Think of a couple that waited years and years for a child. Every milestone is precious because they know what it means to wait. Now imagine that child goes away, and then there’s terrible news: he’s arrested, even though he’s innocent.

The mother’s heart is in her throat. She davens, she worries, she pleads, and finally word arrives: he’s being released and will be coming home.

So she goes to the train station early. And she waits. She scans every face. The train arrives and empties and he’s not there. Her world crashes for a moment, until she’s told: “Mother, you made a mistake. His train is the next one.”

And now comes the point:

She doesn’t go home.
She stays, and she waits the next six hours with the same intensity.

Because this is not theoretical.
This is her life.

That is what mechakeh looks like.

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Living Like Geulah Is Real

It’s why people talk about “having a bag packed for Mashiach.”
The question isn’t whether you’ve heard that line.
The question is whether you live like Geulah is real enough to prepare for.

And now the deeper point:

This kind of waiting is not passive.
It reshapes a person.

When you truly expect Hashem’s salvation, you start behaving differently. Your choices shift. Your courage grows. You stop living like an orphan in a random world and start living like a child who knows his Father is running the story.

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Parashat Bo: Redemption Requires Readiness

That’s exactly what happened in Mitzrayim.

And this is exactly Parashat Bo. After the makos, Hashem commands the first Korban Pesach, and He tells them to eat it “b’chipazon”, ready to leave.

Redemption was not just a promise.
It demanded readiness.

They had to live like they were going out now.

At the beginning, Bnei Yisrael were crushed. They were not on the level of mechakeh. They were barely surviving.

But Hashem began to reveal Himself again and again. Each makah was another exposure:
There is a Judge.
There is a Protector.
There is a Hand guiding history.

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From Fear to Freedom

And that repetition builds something powerful: confidence.
Not confidence in yourself — confidence in Hashem.

Until you reach a moment that would have been unthinkable earlier:

Every Jew takes a sheep, the Egyptian avodah zarah, ties it up publicly, leaves it there, and then slaughters it.

Not in hiding.
Not quietly.

Then they put the blood on the doorposts for all to see.
Then they roast it in a way you can smell across the town.

The message is unmistakable:

We are no longer afraid, because we are no longer alone.

That transformation is the definition of redemption.
Not only leaving slavery — but leaving fear.

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What Achakeh Really Is

So what is achakeh?

Achakeh is when your waiting becomes so real that it trains your soul.

Each time you notice Hashem carrying you, you grow steadier.
Each time you see protection, you get a little freer.

You become the kind of person who can stand at the “train station” of history and say:

I don’t just believe Geulah is coming.
I’m waiting for it like it matters.

And when a nation waits like that — with bitachon that’s alive — that kind of waiting itself becomes a vessel.