Write your original short story between 1,500 and 4,500 words in length. Your story should be based on, or touching upon, the following theme:

In the time of Moshiach, the children of Israel will all be prophets, as stated by the prophet Joel (3:1-2):

I will pour my spirit on all flesh, and your sons and daughters will prophecy, your elders will dream dreams, and your young will see visions.

Please note that the commentator Rabbi David Kimchi (1160-1235) explains the outpouring of spirit to apply to all mankind, but the gift of prophecy to apply only to the Jewish people.

Click here to download a copy of the story that won the 2008 contest. Please note that it was based on a different theme.

To submit an entry, send an email to moshiachstory-at-earthlink.net

Your email must be sent no later than May 12, 2009, and must include:

• your name
• the title of your story
• your age
• your contact telephone number
• your email address
• how you heard about this contest

Your story should be sent as an attachment to the email.
The file format should be Microsoft Word (.doc) or Rich Text Format (.rtf).
The title of your story must be included at the top of the first page.
Do NOT include your name in the story. All entries will be judged without identifying the author.

The Moshiach Awareness Foundation (MAF) will acknowledge valid submissions within two weeks. We will not notify authors of entries that fail to meet the above specifications.
The MAF will be the sole judge of validity of entries, and of winners.
Winning authors retain all rights to their own stories, except that MAF may post any entries on the internet (with due credit given to the author).

Criteria for judging will include creativity, originality, subtlety, and evocation of hope and faith in the principles of Jewish faith, such as the coming of Moshiach.
Let your creativity guide you. Don't write the same story that you think everyone else will write. The story plot does not have to be on the above theme.
For example, it could be a story about a stockbroker who has a dream about a worldwide financial crisis, awakens, and utters a heartfelt simple prayer that the economy keeps going. Then, brightened by his own hope, he does an act of kindness to a stranger, which has a ripple effect to stimulate positive thinking and behaviors around him, thereby averting an impending downturn of the world economy. The plot is the world economy, and the main theme is the power of prayer and positive action and thought. But this story would qualify because of a side theme, namely the man's prophetic dream. Additionally, such a story does not need to refer specifically to Moshiach, since the theme of worldwide prosperity is an indirect reference, being one of the features of the times of Moshiach. (See Maimonides, Mishneh Torah, Laws of Kings, Chapter 12, Halachah 5.)