Question:

Will human growth and development stay the same in the Messianic era, or will it be enhanced?

Answer:

In the time of redemption children will develop and mature at an extraordinarily rapid pace.

The Midrash states that at the moment the Holy Temple was destroyed the redeemer was born. If the Jews had returned to G-d in complete repentance, the Redemption could have come at any time. Thus, from the first moment of exile there had to be a potential redeemer prepared to take the Jews out of exile.

However, according to the Midrash, the redeemer was born the day of the destruction. How could a one-day-old child possibly be ready to redeem the Jewish people?

It's possible to say that the Midrash is not referring to physical birth but to spiritual birth. When the Temple was destroyed, G-d granted to the future Messiah the spiritual powers necessary to redeem the people.

The Lubavitcher Rebbe, suggests that perhaps the Midrash could be interpreted literally. In the time of Redemption, it is possible that children will develop and mature at an extraordinarily rapid pace. The Midrash relates that in the era before the Great Flood, a child was born and went to fetch his mother a candle. On the way he encountered a spirit who tried to attack him. The newborn baby told the spirit: “You're lucky that my mother did not yet cut the cord, otherwise I would drive you out of this world!” This story in the Midrash implies in the era of the flood children matured at a much faster rate than they do now.

If so, we can say that on the day of the destruction the redeemer was indeed born. If the Jewish people had been worthy of Redemption on that day, the child would have matured at an accelerated rate and been prepared for his role of redeeming the Jewish people.