Eighteen years ago, a near-death experience altered the course of his life. Once a secular, tattooed Israeli, involved in the corrupt pursuits of secular culture, Alon Anava is now an Orthodox rabbi who speaks worldwide about the Messianic era.

Starting with the premise that we are already living in the time of the arrival of Moshiach (Messiah), Rabbi Anava recently spoke in detail about what life will be like after Moshiach arrives and how we can best prepare ourselves, to ensure a smoother transition to the Messiaic era.

Rabbi Anava described how, during his near-death experience at age 26, he foresaw specific ways the world will change when Moshiach arrives. As part of his return to religious observance, he spent a long time looking for evidence of his experience in the Bible and other holy Jewish books.

Rabbi Anava emphasized that there are two opinions about how Messianic events will ultimately play out – in a positive way or in a negative way.

The negative way “means it’s going to come in a disastrous way, massive war that sources call Gog [and] Magog… where two-thirds of the world will be destroyed. Option number two is that Moshiach is coming k’heref ayin (in the blink of an eye), but for that, we need a lot, a lot of merit.”

Once Moshiach arrives, there are various opinions about how fast the prophesied changes will happen. According to Rabbi Anava, in most opinions, it will be a process. “A man will appear, and he will, of course, have to fight the wars of Hashem (God). Not everyone is going to accept the coming of Moshiach, and not necessarily the Nations.”

The fights of Moshiach “are not necessarily physical. It can also be in the political arena. It can also be in faith. It not necessarily [the case] that everyone will be convinced that he is the Redeemer.”

He equates the potential lack of immediate acceptance of Moshiach with what happened when Moses first came to Egypt to redeem the Israelite slaves and was not recognized as their redeemer.

and they said to them, “May Hashem look upon you and punish you for making us loathsome to Pharaoh and his courtiers—putting a sword in their hands to slay us.” Exodus 5:21

“When Moshiach is going to come, one thing we should expect is only good. A lot of people are afraid of a change, but it’s going to be a change for the best. We’re looking at a perfect world. No hate and no anger and no diseases, which will mean no hospitals and no pharmacies and no lawsuits. So we don’t need doctors and we don’t need lawyers and we don’t need pharmacists and we don’t need many things.

“One of the first things that’s going to happen is that we are going to rebuild Beit HaMikdash (the Holy Temple). To most opinions, the Beit HaMikdash is going to come down from shamayim (heaven) and we’re going to all stand with our jaws down.”

He quotes a rabbinic source that says “What you have seen when I took you out of Mitzrayim (Egypt) is nothing compared to what you’re going to see when Moshiach is going to come.” He goes on to explain that Moses and Aaron will appear with Moshiach.

“All sources are saying that Moshiach is going to appear in the Galil (Galilee) in the north of Israel… then make his way down to Yerushalyim (Jerusalem). One of the first things we’re going to do is slaughter the red heifer. We do have a red heifer already, which is one of the many signs that Moshiach is already here.”

Rabbi Anava further explained that the ashes of the red heifer will be used to remove the spirit of impurity from the Land, as it says in Zechariah.

On that day, too—declares the lord of Hosts—I will erase the very names of the idols from the land; they shall not be uttered any more. And I will also make the “Neviim” and the unclean spirit vanish from the land. Zechariah 13:2

“We’re going to be woken up from the state of impurity that we are in. So right away, things like hate and anger and resentments and depression and all these characteristics that we deal with are going to be removed.”

On a more practical level, Rabbi Anava spoke about how we won’t need passwords or keys or insurance to protect our belongings and our accounts because, in the time of Moshiach, no one will even think to take something that doesn’t belong to them.

He also said that the food we eat will change from being heavily processed to being real food, without genetically modified ingredients, chemical supplements and other harmful additives. In this context, the existing Real Food Movement can be seen as a messianic precursor.

Looking ahead, Rabbi Anava explained that the world will rely on solar energy after Moshiach comes. “That’s where you see the evolving of the world, preparing for the coming of Moshiach. Everything is being gradually introduced. So cars are becoming electrical cars. This is one of the many changes – our energy will be clean.”

He elaborated about the changes in our financial lives. “One thing that’s going to happen very soon, we’re not going to have an economy, we’re not going to have currency. We’re not going to have banks when Moshiach is going to come.

“The way it’s going to work is that every country will produce different things. One country will produce rice. One country will produce tomatoes and cucumbers and everyone is going to be sharing.” Rabbi Anava explained how the Israeli kibbutz, where economic responsibilities and benefits were shared, was itself a foreshadowing of the Messianic era.

“When Moshiach is going to come, slowly, slowly the world is going to evolve to become about truth, about honesty, about helping. We’re looking at a world that is the exact same world that we have now, just functioning much, much better.”

The entire lecture runs 78 minutes and can be viewed on YouTube.