In the Talmud (Sanhedrin 99), various opinions of the sages regarding the days of Moshiach are presented. Rabbi Eliezer states that the days of Moshiach will last 40 years, Rabbi Elazar ben Azaria believes that they will last 70 years, while Rabbi Hillel asserts that the Jewish people will not have a Moshiach at all. The Lubavitcher Rebbe supports yet another opinion: Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi claims that the days of Moshiach will span three generations. This is likely because Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi was considered the Moshiach of his generation and was simply called “Rebbe,” just as the Lubavitcher Rebbe is simply referred to as “Rebbe.”
In his addresses in the year 5752, the Rebbe, King Moshiach, repeatedly drew our attention to these three generations.
In the collection “HaYom Yom” on 2 Nissan, it is mentioned that Rebbe Rashab began his leadership with a discourse (i. e., a Chassidic “maamar”) starting with the words “They will crown you with a crown...”, and his final discourse was “The beginning of the nations is Amalek.” Rebbe Rayatz began with the discourse “The beginning of the nations is Amalek” and concluded his leadership by releasing the treatise “I have come into my garden...” The Rebbe began his leadership with the discourse “I have come into my garden.”
On 20 Mar-Cheshvan 5743, the Rebbe explained that the first discourse delivered by a new Rebbe serves as his “anointment with oil,” marking the moment he becomes the leader of the Jewish people.
Indeed, the three commandments given to us upon entering the Land of Israel were: to appoint a king, to obliterate the descendants of Amalek, and to build the Temple.
We see a clear connection between these three commandments and the first three public discourses of the heads of Chabad:
1. The commandment to appoint a king corresponds to Rebbe Rashab’s discourse “They will crown you with a crown...”.
2. The commandment to fight Amalek corresponds to Rebbe Rayatz’s discourse “The beginning of the nations is Amalek”.
3. The commandment to build the Temple corresponds to the Rebbe, King Moshiach’s discourse “I have come into my garden,” which speaks of completing the work in the seventh generation.
It should be noted that the Rebbe explicitly mentioned this connection in the last note to “Dvar Malchut” on the Torah portion “Mishpatim” in 5752, where the rabbis’ decree states that the Rebbe is Moshiach. The Rebbe writes that Moshiach must come immediately and the word “MIYAD” (“immediately”) is an acronym for the names of the three heads of the generations: “MEM” for Moshiach, whose name is Menachem (the Rebbe’s name!), “YUD-YUD” for Yosef-Yitzchak (the name of Rebbe Rayatz), and “DALET” for Dovber (the second name of Rebbe Rashab).