The more that he actualizes his potential to redeem the world, deepen his relationship with G-d, and learn of the inner dimension of the Torah, the more he feels the urgency for redemption and intensified anxiety over its delay. E very answer to life's anomalies offered by the Torah gives rise to another, deeper question in its wake, since the Torah is infinite and therefore the understanding of life it gives those who study it is also infinite. Each level of understanding is challenged and replaced by a succeeding, deeper level. T his ongoing dynamic of tension and resolution is necessary for an individual's continued spiritual growth. For with every answer, every new, comprehensive understanding of reality gained, comes a sense of satisfaction at having achieved it.
Nothing aggrandizes the ego more than the feeling that one possesses all the answers.
It is therefore necessary to prevent this aggrandizement of the ego by sensing a new, deeper question immediately upon finding the answer to the previous question. O f course, the infinity of this process does not mean that it never reaches any conclusion. It is taught in Hassidism that when a certain critical mass of the collective individual sparks of Mashiach is revealed, it will cause the general Mashiach to be revealed and the ultimate, final Redemption will occur. T he anxiety over the delay in Mashiach's coming, the feeling of helplessness in the face of the enormity of the world's incompletion, is the submission phase of the Mashiach spark. O ur sages teach us that Mashiach will come when he is not being thought about.