Greeting the Messiah
R. Yoḥanan ben Zakkai taught: If you are holding a sapling in your hand and someone says to you that the Messiah has come, stay and plant the sapling, then go to greet the Messiah.
Translated by Carol Bakhos.
Published in: The Posen Library of Jewish Culture and Civilization, vol. 2: Emerging Judaism.
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Engage with this Source
One of the famous teachings of the first-century rabbi Yoḥanan ben Zakkai is about how one should react to news of the appearance of the Messiah: first finish what you are doing, and then welcome the Messiah.
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