The Footsteps of Mashiach   

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name isn’t just a label, it’s an identity. This is particularly true with names mentioned in the Torah; often they suggest characteristics unique to the bearer of the name. In sifrei Yirmiyahu and Zecharyah, Mashiach is called “Tzemach,” which is also the way he’s referenced in our brachah of Shemoneh Esreh, “Es tzemach Dovid avdecha meheirah satzmiach.” “Tzemach,” a plant, is a strange moniker for Mashiach; names alluding to deliverance and redemption would seem more appropriate.

When we plant a seed, it undergoes a process of decomposition. Exposure to water and soil causes the seed to fester and decay, and from this state of apparent disintegration, a new seedling emerges. Rav Chaim Friedlander (Sifsei Chaim) explains that the process of Mashiach’s arrival will follow an identical progression.

Ikvesa D’Meshicha, the Footsteps of Mashiach, is the period when Mashiach’s arrival is so imminent that we, as if, hear the echo of his approaching footfalls. Paradoxically, at this time conditions in the Jewish world will decline, and it will appear that we’re regressing away from a state of redemption, rather than approaching it. Conditions will continue to deteriorate until they reach a state that seems to portend utter disaster. And then, like the seed that seemed at the point of decay, only to yield a tender shoot, the destruction will sprout salvation. Ultimately, Geulah sprouts from decline.

This is the Tzemach we call upon in our tefillah, “Es tzemach Dovid.” We ask Hashem that the process of deterioration that presages the Geulah come to an end, and He bring Mashiach in its wake.