The Aliyah Train

This is a beautiful analogy that was posted by "melech" from Hashkafah.com:

The Jewish people have been on a train whose terminus is Yemot HaMashiach, may he come speedily in our days, since the Destruction of the Beit HaMikdash, may it be speedily rebuilt in our days. If someone jumps on my train and tries to take it over, that person may possibly be able to speed it up, or slow it down. The anti-Zionists are rightfully concerned that the train will derail so they jump off and wait at the nearest shtetel for the next train to come along that will eventually overtake what they expect will be a derailed train and a massive train wreck. The Religious Zionists are willing to stay on the train and work together in a symbiotic way and use the skills of the hobos who jumped on the train without paying. True, the hobos might not know what they're doing, and may do more harm than good, but the Religious Zionists expect that the train will stay the course and may even be able to realize some benefit from the hobos. Maybe if the Religious Zioinists are patient with the hobos, and take the time to explain how the train works, and go through the instruction manuals, and what to do in case of an emergency, then maybe the train will actually get to its terminus a little quicker.

Now if I think the train is going in the right direction toward Yemot Ha-mashiach, it's nice to be actually on the train, but the train also needs auxillary personnel to provide fuel and repair the tracks and make sure the signals are working properly and all the other things that are important for its smooth operation. Of course, the auxillary personnel need to time things just right because they too don't want to be left behind down stream when the train does indeed reach its final destination. They can't stay off the train forever, and when the circumstances are right and there aren't competing obligations, the auxillary personnel will climb aboard. But at least they didn't just jump off and wait at the nearest shtetel for the next train that may never come.