" Then the Moshiach will sit with a Sefer Torah on his lap and will say," All those who studies Torah let them come and claim their reward!" All the nations of the world arrive fighting to get to the front. The Moshiach tells them to line up and Rome is first. " We founded markets and bath houses and mined silver and Gold and everything we did was so that the Jews could study Torah" The Moshiach says " Shotim Sh'B'Olam ( Incredible fools ) everything you did you did for yourselves ." Then comes the Persians, " We built bridges founded cities and fought wars and everything we did was for the Jews so that they could study Torah. Again comes the reply " Shotim Sh'B'Olam everything you did was for yourselves
The astonishing thing in this account is the claim of the non Jewish nations. Here they are standing in front G-d. How can they hope to have their ridiculous claim accepted, who are they trying to fool? The Moshiach calls them Fools not liars. A fool doesn't know the truth but thinks he does a liar knows the truth but says he doesn't. The nations of the world are therefore telling the truth!
In Genesis Rashi says that the first word in our bible B'Reshis, "In
the begining" is shorthand for " B'Shvil Reshis " for the sake of
"Reshis". Reshis is a word which refers to the Jews and the Torah. The
message is that the world was created so that the Jews would learn, keep
and thereby inspire the world through Torah. When the Moshiach comes,
the end of human history (at least shaped by our choice ) occurs. When
we look back we'll see the pattern in history and how every innovation
and development ultimately contributed to the goal of creation the Jews
learning Torah. There is a Jewish tradition which illustrates this
beautifully. When the Jews were ejected from Spain in 1492 they queued
at the docksides hoping to find ships which would take them to any land
that would offer them shelter. As they waited to board ships the saw the
departure of three ships on there way to discover a trade route to
India, the Nina the Pinta and the Maria. Instead they discovered a
continent which would one day open it's doors to similar Jews fleeing
persecution and expulsion from other countries. At the time the Jews
could not know that this would be the outcome of that voyage.
When the Nations of the world come to petition the Moshiach they are
telling the truth as they now see how the entire fabric of history was
woven in that direction. When the Moshiach says they are fools it is
because you cannot claim reward for that which was the accidental
outcome of you actions. Their intentions at the time was for themselves
so no reward follows.
The nations of the world then petition the Moshiach for another chance
and are given the Mitzvah of Succah. Some how therefore a Succah is the
antidote to the failure pointed out to the nations of the world.
If we can remind the world that markets and silver and gold should only be vehicles for things that ultimately matter then we have done our job. It goes without saying that to convince others we have to actually believe it ourselves.