The Thousand-Day Shabbat
The third Lubavitcher Rebbe, known as the Tzemach Tzedek, points out that on the one hand there are Torah sources that state that the reward for our Divine service will be in the seventh millennium,10 while on the other hand, Rav Ketina states that the world will be desolate in the seventh millennium. How can both be true?
He explains that when the Talmud compares those thousand years to Shabbat, it is explaining the nature of the "desolation." The word "Shabbat" itself can mean either "rest" or "annulment"—and in this case it means both.
When the Talmud says the seventh millennium will be "desolate," it means that there will be such a great spiritual revelation during that period that we will have no physical needs, like eating and drinking. Thus, all physical work that comes along with our physical needs, like plowing and planting, will be "annulled." Instead, the souls will delight in the Divine glory.11
Nevertheless, the ultimate goal is the eighth millennium, when the physical itself will be refined to the point where the physical world and the great spiritual revelation will be integrated.12
May we merit the coming of Moshiach speedily in our days!
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