Shabbath Shalom

Judges and Prophets are not subjects for history texts, but rather concepts particularly relevant to the present time. As a foretaste of the fulfillment of the prophecy: "And I will return your judges as in former times, and your advisers as at the beginning," in the age before Mashiach's coming, we have been granted judges and prophets to provide us with direction and guidance. And often these qualities have been personified in a single individual, as manifest in the outstanding leaders of chasidut until the present age.
These leaders have, like judges, given us a directive regarding the nature of the present time, when "all the buttons have been polished," and we are in the final moments before the Ultimate Redemption. And like advisers, they have provided us with the insight to anticipate the Redemption in our lives, and prepare a setting for this spirit to spread throughout the world at large.

Source: sichosinenglish.org