yankel berel:
Neither, as it happens; it is you who is “badly mistaken”.
Rabbi Akiva thought that Ben Koziva was the Mashiach, not that he needed to do any actions to cause Mashiach to come. That’s irrelevant to this.
And it is not I who would have you believe that Hashem alone will bring the gedulah rather than any human being causing it (other than via Torah and mitzvos, etc.); the Satmar Rav brings down that and much more in his sefarim. He writes extensively about this topic in both his chiddushim al haTorah as well as the other well-known sefarim that he wrote. The midrashim are there for you to read for yourself. It’s not some invention with which you could argue.
From AI (I didn’t check the references, but I know they’re there from the Satmar Rav’s quotes of them – please feel free to learn it on your own and see that):
One key source is Deuteronomy 30:2–10, which describes how the people will return to G-d, and then He will gather them from exile, circumcise their hearts, and bring them back to the Land. The emphasis is on spiritual return rather than physical or political action:
“And you shall return to the Lord your G-d… and the Lord your G-d shall return with your returnees… and He will gather you…”
This suggests that man’s role is teshuvah (repentance) and devotion, while G-d performs the actual redemption.
Midrashically, this is reinforced in Pesikta Rabbati 36, and in Shemot Rabbah 15:2:
גאולה ראשונה על ידי משה ואהרן, גאולה אחרונה אני עתיד לגאול אותם בעצמי
“The first redemption was through Moses and Aaron; the final redemption I will redeem them Myself.”
The implication is that human leadership and effort were central in the Exodus, but in the future, G-d alone will act, and man’s role will be primarily spiritual—serving Him with sincerity and faith.
This reflects a broader theme in rabbinic literature: that the ultimate geulah (redemption) will be more direct, more miraculous, and more intimate between G-d and the people of Israel.”