We explained in a previous post that Yaakov Avinu came to realize that the Geulah is dependant on those who are farthest from Hashem. One facet as to why this is so is because the Tzadikim are already living an existence that is Geulahdig, redemption-esque.
A story to bring out this point:
A group of people once came to the Pri HaAretz, R' Menachem Mendel of Vitebsk and told him with much fanfare that Moshiach had finally come! Without losing his cool, he walked over to the nearest window, calmly opened it and stuck out his head to take a whiff of the air outdoors. He promptly declared the news to be a fallacy. If Moshiach was here the air would smell differently.
The fact that the air of Moshiach's time carries a unique scent is understandable. We see that Har Sinai and the Yerushalayim in the time's of the Beis HaMikdash created wonderful aromas. But why would R' Menachem Mendel need to stick his head out the window to pick up the scent? Surely the scent that Moshiach brings would penetrate into his room as well.
The answer is that in the chambers of the Pri HaAretz, zy"a - and in the environs of all the true Tzadikim - it already smells like Moshiach! Their holiness elevates their surroundings allowing for an aura of Moshiach to descend into the present. Thus he needed to stick his head outside to see if the scent was there, filling the whole world too.
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