 This was very important because ultimately anything we want to say about religion, anything we want to say about Judaism, anything we want to say even about Messiah, of any religious principle. If you do not have the foundation, what's the point of talking about it? At best you may react and say, well, it's a nice theory, and now we know where you come from. You have to explain what Messiah means for Judaism, what it is in that, messianic redemption means for Judaism, but you know at the end of the day, how do I even know that this has anything to do with reality? So in effect ultimately, what I said so far is more important than anything I'm going to say now which relates to the topic. What is Messiah? It's not only God gave us a Torah, the Torah which elaborates first the divine will, God's commands of do's and don'ts, that God gives us a code of conduct, how we have to behave ourselves, how God says, this is how I want you to relate it to everything in the world, what you have to do with yourself, what you have to do with your community, what you have to do with my world. God said many other things also, acts of belief, acts of faith, what we call in Judaism for example, the certain principles of the faith, at least certain principles according to mymonities. The other accountings for it, some reduce them to four, some reduce them to three, some may take more than 13, but the most famous formulation of the fundamental principles of the faith are those of mymonities, who divided them into three groups, enumerating all together 13. The first group deals with God, A that God exists, A that is only one God, God is not a multiple personality, God is not split personality, multiple personalities, what have you, it's one, a Shemai, a Soil, a Hashem, a God is not a body, God is purely spiritual, God is not limited by space or time or anything like that, second group deals with revelation, that for religion to have any meaning, as I said earlier, there has to be revelation, God must communicate with man, otherwise there is no such thing as religion, no such thing, so first of all there's a principle that God does communicate with man, secondly that God did communicate with man, specifically speaking to Moses, specifically to revelation and so on, that the Torah is the word of God, and if the Torah is the word of God, the Torah and God are identical, God is Torah, Torah is God, what does that mean? Just as God does not change, so the Torah does not change either, just as God is inviolable, so is Torah, Torah becomes the criterion for literally everything that I can speak about, about ultimate reality and about truth, Torah is truth, truth is Torah, identical, these are synonyms, not different wordings, then comes the third category where if God gives us commandments, God gives us a list of do's and don'ts, I can have a list of do's and don'ts, when I go to my doctor I also get a list of do's and don'ts, and frankly between you and me, I have told him in his face, most of his do's and don'ts I do not observe, don't care for them, even discover that all the foods are like, I'm supposed to be allergic to it, allergic, allergic, what do I care, I eat them, I eat them, and I enjoy them, I've never had any serious effects of that, so my doctor may give me advice, and I know, no less than the doctor, that the doctor is speaking to me objectively, he has no axe to grind, he has nothing to gain, whether or not I take the needles, I take the pills, I take the medication, I'm not, he couldn't care less, he is there to advise me, look here, I'm the scientist, I'm the observer, and I'm telling you this and that, but then it's really up to me, I may decide why should I waste my money on the medication, why should I go through the pain and suffering of the medical treatment, it's my choice, and therefore maybe Torah is the same thing, therefore comes the third set of principles, it says, ah, it's not your choice, that once God has given you those rules, those do's and don'ts, you are held accountable, there's such a thing as retribution, there's such a thing as reward and punishment, there's heaven and hell, yes you can choose to do whatever you want, you have freedom of choice, you are free will, but I will hold you accountable, that is one principle, and then God goes a step further and says, not only do I hold you accountable, that is going to be a reward and punishment with regards to you as an individual, there's also such a thing as a reward for the world at large, that ultimately the world has to go through certain stages where mankind has to fulfill its mission and goal in life, and then when I see that you are following these guidelines, then the whole world will have a benefit and an enjoyment as a universal reward, and that is called the messianic era, the coming of Moshiach, moreover then comes the 13th principle, retribution as three principles, that is not only going to be a messianic age where the world shall be redeemed and being taken out of the misery of whatever goes on every day for so many years, but ultimately there's still the greatest reward of them all and that is the resurrection of the dead, because after all who is the one who abides by the divine code of conduct, not your soul, your soul can't do a darn thing, your soul is the driver in the car, but the driver in the car cannot do anything, he can only steer the car, it's the motor of the car that makes the car move. So yes, I have a soul in the summer which tells me what is right, what is wrong, which explains it to me and I understand by that, etc, etc, but who is ultimately doing the right or bad, the right or wrong, it's the body. Since the body is the one that really does the mitzvahs, so therefore it's not only the neshama that deserves a reward for instructing me correctly, but the body who did those mitzvahs, and therefore the body deserves a reward on the body's level, on the body's reality and that is the principle of resurrection of the dead, that your bodies will be revived and we'll be able to reap the benefits of whatever you've done in your lifetime when you went around the first time around. These are the principles of the faith. Now, this personal retribution, everybody can understand, like every country has its laws, you violate the law, you go through a red light, you go through a stop sign, there's a punishment, there's a ticket, there's this and that. Counties don't have the reward system somehow. So it doesn't give you a reward system, every mitzvah that you do, every good deed that you perform, there's a reward vouch saved for you as well. And then it's so far that since all of us are sitting in the same boat, and whatever everyone, any individual does affects not much just that individual, but every kind, all mankind. So therefore there's also reward that also affects all mankind, and that is an ultimate reward for the world at large. And what does messianic age, what does that mean? So the Torah, already from the very beginning, says that, yes, life is going to be a heavy struggle. It's an uphill battle. You'll be exposed to temptations and tribulations and tiles every day of your life. And how long can you carry on? So I was successful. So barely I saved my bones, my skin and my bones, big deal. Therefore God says, no, it's not just that you saved your skin and bones. It's not just that you're not going to go to the barbecue. It's not just that you'll dance with the angels up there in heaven. No, you will merit a reward, the whole world will merit a reward that you see when all these trials and tribulations will be taken away. I'll be sending to you an individual who will become a universal king, redeem the world and lead the world into an era, a stage of outright utopia. Outright utopia. But you first have to perfect the world to bring it to that stage. No freebies. Easy come, easy go. If it comes by itself, no one will appreciate, no one will even realize what it means. If you hand out to your children the reward, or your students the reward without them having to study and pass the test, it's a waste of time. So first they really have to study, first they really have to sweat over it, and slave over it, and they'll curse you out for it. Why do you have to go through all this? Later on, as they go older, then they will appreciate it. That is what messianic age is.