For as long as I can remember, I envisioned Moshiach in the same way many others do: an older, perhaps Yemenite man with a long white beard, riding on a donkey and blowing a massive shofar. He suddenly shows up one day, and that’s that.1
Lately I’ve been questioning this assumption and wondering, why do we all imagine the same thing? Who decided that Moshiach must be old? Who says he has to be alone?
Why can’t Moshiach be someone with a spouse and children? Maybe he is a regular guy down the block, the guy you nod to when you walk to the other shul, the guy people go to for advice or the guy who is folding the tablecloths in shul on Motzei Shabbos. We can only guess his family situation. He might have young children, grown children, or even grandchildren. It's also possible that he is actually an older single, divorcee or widow who isn’t married. We simply don't know.
The fact that we rarely even consider the question is telling in itself. When was the last time we actually thought about …
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