What Kind of World Are We Building?
Living with the Times
Dvora Kravitz Jun 23, 2026
AI is changing how we write, search for information, learn, operate businesses, and communicate. Every week there seems to be a new breakthrough. AI is increasingly capable of producing human-like writing.
The question is, what are we building here? What is real and what is fake? We can fabricate images, videos, voices, articles, and conversations.
The question of destination is not unique to technology. Historians have explored the trends, patterns, and directions of human history at least since the time of Herodotus in ancient Greece.
This week’s Torah portion contains a prophecy about the future of the Jewish people and the world. Balak, the King of Moab, is trying to spiritually weaken and militarily destroy the Jewish people so that he can drive them out of the region. He recognizes that the strength of the Jewish people is beyond nature, and his strategy is to use words to destroy us.
Bilam, the agent of Balak, intends to curse. Instead, he becomes the vehicle for one of the Torah’s most far-reaching prophecies about the future. Why does the prophecy end up speaking about David and Mashiach?
The Rebbe, in a sicha on this portion, asks: Why does the Rambam choose this prophecy as the halachic source for Mashiach? Why David? Why two Mashiachs (redeemers)?
The Rambam does not cite Bilam’s prophecy merely as evidence that Mashiach will come. He chooses this prophecy because it establishes the relationship between David and the future redeemer. Bilam’s words speak of two figures: David, who establishes Jewish sovereignty and prepares the way for the Beis HaMikdash, and the future Mashiach, who completes that mission.
The Rambam is not describing two unrelated leaders separated by history. He is defining a single process. David is the first embodiment of Torah kingship, and Mashiach is its fulfillment. By beginning with Bilam’s prophecy, the Rambam shows that redemption is not the creation of a new order but the restoration and completion of the Divine purpose already revealed through David.
What legal issue is the Rambam trying to clarify? To understand the question, we need to define halacha.
Halacha is the structure by which the Torah brings the will and wisdom of the Creator into the physical world. It is the structure by which we live our lives as observant Jews and connect to G-d in family life, eating, business, agriculture, kingship, prayer, and every aspect of life.
If halacha is the way Torah becomes embodied in the physical world, why would redemption appear in halacha?
According to the Rambam, redemption (Geulah) is not defined by miracles or supernatural revelations. It is the restoration of a world in which Torah can function completely: Davidic kingship returns, the exiles are gathered, the Beis HaMikdash is rebuilt, and all aspects of Torah life can once again be fully realized.
The Rebbe asks: Why are these the defining features rather than miracles? Why does the Rambam start with King David and link him to King Mashiach?
The Rambam could have defined Mashiach through wonders, supernatural signs, or dramatic revelations, but he doesn’t do that. The Rambam defines redemption as a time when the Davidic kingship is restored, the exiles are gathered, the Beis HaMikdash is rebuilt, and the full life of Torah can once again be realized.
Redemption is not defined by an escape from the physical world. Redemption is the transformation of the physical world into a place where Torah can be fully lived.
David represents the first historical embodiment of Torah sovereignty. He established Jewish sovereignty and prepared for the building of the Beis HaMikdash. David created the model of Torah kingship. Mashiach does not replace that model; it restores and perfects it.
The future redemption is not a break from Jewish history but the completion of a process that began with David.
Mashiach is the fulfillment and completion of David’s kingship. Through this process, creation itself moves toward the purpose for which it was created.
Using the Rambam’s framework, exile is not about suffering, dispersion, and persecution, even though he experienced these personally and the story of exile includes them.
Exile is a condition in which Torah cannot reach complete expression.
We have no Temple, no sovereignty, no complete public expression of Torah.
The Rambam defines redemption through legal realities because Torah seeks expression in the physical world. Redemption is not an escape from reality but the transformation of reality into a place where Divine purpose can be fully revealed.
What kind of world are we building?
The Rambam’s answer is concrete. We are building a world in which Torah can once again find complete expression: a people gathered in its land, the restoration of Davidic kingship, the rebuilding of the Beis HaMikdash, and the full realization of Torah in every dimension of life.
What are we actually waiting for?
We are not just looking for miracles or the end of our personal and collective suffering.
We are looking for the realization of the purpose already embedded within Torah. Redemption is not only the cessation of exile. It is the full embodiment of Torah in the physical world.
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Dvora Kravitz is a lifelong learner, wife, mother, grandmother, and Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist exploring psychotherapy, lived practice, and the work of stability and meaning.