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What Is It?

The Messiah

Jewish Scholars Program: The Messiah

THE MESSIAH WHAT I S T H E ME S S I AH ?

SETTING THE STAGE :

ANSWERS.YAHOO.COM

Question: Are the Jews still waiting for their messiah?

You'll have to excuse me because I suppose this is kind of a dumb question but I have always wondered about it. They did not accept Jesus as their messiah. So does that mean they are still waiting for their messiah?

Answer: Technically, yes, but most Jews really aren't.

It's more like, "If it happens it happens, but I'm not holding my breath."

Of course, there are some Jews who are waiting.

KENNETH SEESKIN, PROFESSOR OF JEWISH

CIVILIZATION, NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY

On the one hand, the idea of messiah has probably produced more difficulty than any other single concept. In some sense, it was the issue of messianism that led to the break-‐off of Christianity from Judaism.

The real question in Judaism is what the Messiah is supposed to be, what kind of model do we want? Is the Messiah going to be a warrior who throws off oppression of other nations? Is the Messiah going to be a scholar, a teacher of the Torah? Is the Messiah going to abrogate the Torah? Some scholars think the Messiah will come when the Jewish situation is so awful that

we can’t stand it anymore. Some rabbis think the Messiah will come when we’ve perfected ourselves. So there really isn’t much of a consensus.

QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER

! WHAT IS THE MESSIAH IN YOUR OPINION?

! DO YOU THINK THE MESSIAH IS AN ESSENTIAL PART OF JUDAISM?


ENGAGING THE TEXT: WHAT IS THE MESSIAH?

RAMBAM (MAIMONIDES), THIRTEEN PRINCIPLES OF FAITH, #12

I believe with complete faith in the coming of the Mashiach, and even though he may delay, nonetheless I anticipate every day that he will come.

SHEMONEH ESREI PRAYER, BLESSING #15 (SIDDUR)

May You speedily cause the offspring of Your servant David [i.e. the Mashiach] to flourish, and enhance his pride through Your salvation, for we hope for Your salvation all day long. Blessed are You, G-‐d, Who causes the pride of salvation to flourish.

RAMBAM, HILCHOT MELACHIM 11:4

If a King arises from:

1) The house of David, who is 2) learned in Torah; and 3) is involved with mitzvot like David his ancestor, according to both the Written and Oral Torah; and 4) if he persuades all of Israel to follow the path and strengthens their observance; and 5) if he fights the wars of G-‐d – then he is presumed to be Mashiach.

6) If he continues and is successful and defeats all the surrounding Nations; and 7) builds the Beit HaMikdash (Temple) at its location; and 8) gathers all the Jews exiled around the world to the Land of Israel – then he is certainly Mashiach.


! DO YOU BELIEVE THE MESSIAH WILL COME?

! WHY DO WE ASSUME THAT HE WILL DELAY? WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO ANTICIPATE THAT HE WILL COME?


ENGAGING THE TEXT: UNDERSTANDING THE MESSIAH

BEREISHIS (GENESIS) 25:18-‐19, WITH BAAL HATURIM

“… and he [the descendants of Yishmael] fell before all his brothers. And these are the generations of Yitzchak (Isaac) …”

Baal haTurim [These two phrases are placed next to each other] to teach that when Yishmael [from whom the Arabs are descended] will fall at the End of Days, then the son of David [Mashiach], who is descended from Yitzchak, will arise.

RABBI ARYEH KAPLAN, THE REAL MASHIACH, PGS 83, 89-‐90

If one looks with an unprejudiced eye at the world today, he will see that we are living in an age where almost all the Jewish prophecies regarding the prelude to the Messianic Age are coming to pass … Religious studies will be despised and used by nonbelievers to strengthen their cause; the government will become godless, academies places of immorality, and the religious will be denigrated [Sotah 49b, Sanhedrin 97a, Derech Eretz Zuta 10]. Judaism will suffer greatly because of these upheavals. There is a tradition that the Jews will split up into various groups, each laying claim to the truth, making it almost impossible to discern true Judaism from the false. This is the meaning of the prophecy (Isaiah 59:15), “truth will fail” [Sanhedrin 97a]. It has also been predicted that many will leave the fold of Judaism completely … [Rambam, Igeres Teiman 1]. Of course, there will be some Jews who remain true to their traditions... There are numerous traditions that Jews will begin to return to the Land of Israel as a prelude to the Messiah. There is also a tradition that the land will be cultivated at that time, based on the prophecy of Yechezkel.

RABBI YISSACHAR FRAND, RABBI FRAND IN PRINT, PG. 241

Rabbi Shimon Schwab gave a beautiful parable for our state of being without Mashiach, as well as for our own blithe unawareness of the situation we are in. Imagine you are at a wedding. Everybody is well-‐dressed, the band is playing, the photographers are snapping away, the smorgasbord is wonderful. Everyone is having a grand time. Only one thing is missing: the bride has not shown up. No matter how attractive the surroundings, most of us realize that a wedding without a bride is nothing. Well, a world without Mashiach is a wedding without a bride. Only one difference: We don’t even realize that the bride isn’t here.


ENGAGING THE TEXT: THE MESSIANIC PERIOD

RAMBAM (MAIMONIDES), COMMENTARY ON THE MISHNAH, INTRODUCTION TO SANHEDRIN, CHAPTER 10

The great benefit which will be in those days [of the Mashiach] is that we will rest from our subjugation to the non-‐Jewish governments, which is what prevents us from fulfilling all the mitzvot. Wisdom will increase, as the verse states, “The world will be filled with knowledge of G-‐d as water covers the sea bed” (Yeshayahu 11:9). War will cease, as the verse states, “They shall beat their swords into ploughshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nations will not lift up sword against another, and neither shall they learn war any more” (Ibid. 2:4). In those days there will be ultimate perfection and we will merit the life of the World to Come.

RAMBAM (MAIMONIDES), HILCHOT MELACHIM 12:5

In that time there will be no famine or war, no jealousy or competition. Goodness will be bountiful, and every type of delicacy will be readily available. The task of the whole world will be purely and simply to know G-‐d. The Jewish people will have exceptional wisdom and understand the deepest secrets of existence. They will attain knowledge of their Creator as much as is humanly possible, as the verse states: “The earth will be filled with knowledge of G-‐d, as water covers the sea bed” (Yeshayahu 11:9).

RAMBAM (MAIMONIDES), HILCHOT TESHUVA 9:2

The Messiah, who will be a king descended from King David, will be even wiser than King Shlomo. His level of prophecy will approach that of Moshe’s. Therefore, he will instruct the entire Jewish people in the way of G-‐d. Furthermore, the world’s nations will come to hear him speak, as predicted by the prophet: “At the End of Days, the mountain of G-‐d’s house [the Temple in Jerusalem] shall be set over all other mountains and lifted high above the hills and all nations will come streaming to it. Many shall come and say, ‘Come, let us go up to G-‐d’s mountain, to the house of Israel’s God. He, the Messiah, will teach us his way, and we will walk in His paths…’” [Yeshayahu 2:2-‐3].


DEVARIM (DEUTERONOMY) 30:6 WITH RAMBAN (NACHMANIDES)

G-‐d will remove the barriers from your hearts and from the hearts of your descendants, so that you will love the Lord your G-‐d with all your heart and soul. Thus shall you live.

Ramban: Since the time of Creation, man has had the power to do as he pleased; to be righteous or wicked. This applies likewise to the entire Torah and at all times (that is, before Mashiach comes) so that people can merit reward by choosing good, and punishment for evil. But in the days of Mashiach, the choice of good will be natural; they will not desire the improper at all; people will simply not want it... Man will return at that time to the state he was in before the sin of Adam, when by his nature, he did what should be done, and had no conflicting desires... In the days of Mashiach, there will be no evil desire in man, for he will naturally perform the proper deeds and therefore, there will be neither merit nor guilt in them, for merit and guilt are dependent upon desire.

RABBI NOSSON WEISZ, DO WE WANT MASHIACH NOW?, AISH.COM

The fact that man failed the test did not alter the definition of his task. Reaching the World to Come still involves passing this same original test and reconciling himself to an eternity as G-‐d’s dependant. But Adam’s sin created a major obstacle. In order to face this test, man must first return to the sort of self-‐awareness he had in the Garden of Eden before his sin. It is the achievement of this sort of self-‐awareness that is the function of the Messianic age. The awareness of G-‐d that was the hallmark of human consciousness in the Garden of Eden before Adam’s sin is precisely equivalent to the clarity of man’s vision of G-‐d in the post-‐Messianic era.


! DOES THE MESSIANIC PERIOD SOUND LIKE SOMETHING WE SHOULD ACTIVELY HOPE FOR?

! WHAT MEANING WILL THERE BE IN LIFE WITHOUT DESIRES?


KNOW HOW TO ANSWER

RABBI YISSACHAR FRAND, RABBI FRAND IN PRINT, PG. 249

Prior to becoming the Rabbi in Brisk, the Bais Halevi, Rabbi Yosef Ber Soloveitchik, was the Rabbi in another town. His experience as Rabbi was not a happy one, and he determined never to become a Rabbi again. When a delegation from Brisk approached him to offer him the position of Rabbi of Brisk, the jewel of Lithuanian Jewry, he refused on the grounds that he was retired from the rabbinate. One of the members of the delegation from Brisk, however, was not so easily put off. “There are twenty thousand Jews in Brisk waiting for you to become Rabbi,” he said. “How can you refuse?” The Bais Halevi had no answer and agreed to become the Rabbi of Brisk.

When the Chafetz Chaim heard this story, he cried. “Do we imagine that Mashiach is less sensitive than the Beis Halevi? And if the Beis Halevi felt he could not deny twenty thousand Jews, how can Mashiach deny millions who pray for his coming? The answer,” the Chafetz Chaim concluded, “is that there are not twenty thousand Jews really waiting for Mashiach. And that is what we have to change.”

NCSY QUESTION AND ANSWER SESSION, YARCHEI KALLAH 2010

NCSYer from Cleveland, OH: Rabbi, I heard that if every Jew keeps one Shabbat then Mashiach will come. What if every Jew conspired to keep Shabbat only for the purpose of bringing Mashiach, but didn’t truly care about Shabbat? Rabbi Sobolofsky: If every Jew came together to do ANYTHING, that alone would bring Mashiach!

RAMBAM (MAIMONIDES), HILCHOT MELACHIM 12:2

These things will not be understood until they actually take place. For the prophets did not receive an explicit prophecy about them. Neither have our Sages received a tradition in these matters; they can only expound the verses in Scripture to the best of their ability. That explains the disagreement on several issues related to the Mashiach. Whatever the case, the sequence of future events is not a matter which should concern us and we should not spend time or energy pursuing it. One should not delve too deeply into the Midrashim which speak of these matters, for they do not lead to the fear or love of God. One must not attempt to calculate when the redemption is due... One is expected only to wait and believe that Mashiach will come.

ROLE PLAY Someone approaches you and says, “If you Jews don’t believe in Jesus being the Messiah, then who or what is the Messiah supposed to be?”

What do you respond?

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