SOVEREIGN AND SOVEREIGNTY
We explained earlier (see here) that according to Maimonides the Messiah will be a monarch, a ruler of Israel, descendant of David’s dynasty. To understand a little better the topic of the renewal of David’s monarchy through the Messiah, we need to understand the following. The Tora, the Pentateuch, does not speak explicitly of a Messiah —and later we will understand why— but it does speak in Debarim chapter 30, 1-10 of two events that will occur in the Messianic times. (1) The return of the Jewish people (2) to their “sovereign” Israel (וירשתה). In messianic times, we Jews will not return to “Palestine”, that is, to the land of Israel that is under English, Ottoman or Roman. In the text we mentioned before the Tora anticipated that the Jewish people will return to “their” land, that is: Israel under Jewish sovereignty
SHIABUD MALKHUYOT
I will try to explain it better. The Talmud —and Maimonides— repeats again and again in the name of the great Rabbi Shemuel of Nehardea (165-254 of the common era) that the fundamental (“exclusive”, according to Shemuel) difference between the messianic times and the present times (that is: the times of Rabbi Shemuel) will be that in messianic times there will be no “shi’abud malkhuyot”, that is, the submission of the Jewish people to a non-Jewish nation, as happened for example when Israel, the land and people, were under the Romans which is when this concept, שעבוד מלכויות, was coined. Now it can be better understood how these two elements go hand in hand: the Messiah is the Jewish sovereign, because there is a sovereign Jewish state. Prior to 1948, the last time we had a sovereign Jewish State was in the time of the Hashmonayim, around 160 BCE. This national state existed for about 80-90 years. But for the following 2,000 years, Jewish sovereignty in Israel was an unattainable dream. Unlike today, B”H, that the necessary political conditions are met for the coming of the Mashiach.
THE SECOND CONDITION OF THE JEWISH MASHIACH
“When a king (1) would arise from the House of David who (2) diligently studies the Toras and observed its Mitsvot as prescribed by the Written and Oral Tora, as David, his forefather did, and he urges all the people of Israel to conduct themselves in the path of Tora, and corrects the Jewish people’s flaws in their Tora observance…”
MT, Melakhim chapter 11 : 4.
The second requirement for a monarch descending from David to be considered the Mashiach is that his personal behavior and his actions as the king are similar to that of his ancestor, king David. That is, he must be a scholar and a strict follower of the Tora. And in his role as monarch, he must ensure that the Tora be observed by his people. In other words: in the times of Mashiach, the Tora will become again into what it always was: The Constitution of the Jewish Nation. And to enforce its observance will be the responsibility of the Mashiach. Why is it important to mention this point? In the first place, because if we review the history of the kings of Israel, we will see that unfortunately most of the Jewish monarchs -even many of David’s descendants- were not loyal to HaShem, to His Tora, or to His prophets! Many did not enforce the observance of the Tora, personally or nationally. That is why Maimonides’ clarifies that the Messiah “must be like David”, the most faithful and loyal king to God.
CANCELLING THE TORA?
There is another additional reason that led Maimonides to clarify this point. In this context, and taking into account the Christian replacement theology, Maimonides clarifies that the Mashiach will NOT come to change the laws of the Tora. Quite the contrary: he will come to teach them, apply them and enforce them! (Melackim 11:3): “Our Tora, its precepts and laws, will never ever be superseded. Nothing will be added to its precepts and none will be annulled [even in messianic times]. And if someone suggests [in the name of God] to add or remove a precept, or to interpret it outside of what our tradition explains, we will know that it is an impostor or a heretic…».
In other words, if a candidate to be the Mashiach proposes to change even “one” of the laws of the Tora, we will know that he is a false Messiah. Here Maimonides also alludes to the two Biblical religions, which in theory accepted the Hebrew Bible, but changed, added or removed its precepts.
In this context, Maimonides mentions explicitly Yeshu (or Yeshu’a, Jesus), since he proclaimed himself the Messiah of the Jewish people. Maimonides explains why Yeshu represents the opposite of what the Mashiach should have been for the people of Israel.
Hilchot Melakhim, 11:4a.
«…Yeshua imagined that he was the Messiah and he was sentenced by order of the Jewish court. This had already been prophesied by Daniel, who said: “And the sons of the wicked of your own people will be exalted, and they will try to fulfill a prophetic vision [which they themselves falsely formulated], but they will fail” (Daniel 11: 14). And is there any failure greater than this? All the prophets said that the Messiah will save us [from our enemies], bring us back to His land, and strengthen Tora observance. And this [man, Yeshu] caused [just the opposite]: the death of the Jews by the sword, the exile of the Jews and their dispersion and persecution; he tried to replace the Tora, and deceived most of the world [making them] serve a god, other than HaShem»
To be continued
TALMUDIC REFERENCES TO YESHU HANOTSRI
There are several rabbinical sources that explicitly mention Yeshu and describe how he attempted to modify the Tora (see Hebrew references below). These rabbinical texts, the Jewish historiography of Yeshu, were not received with much enthusiasm by the Church and were cancelled for centuries. During the Middle Ages the Talmud was publicly burned many times to repress these texts (see document below). In some exceptional cases, the church allowed the Talmud to be reprinted, as long as the paragraphs that spoke of Yeshu were omitted. Something similar happened with the book of Maimonides. The paragraph quoted above, in chapter 11 of Hilchot Melakhim, was censored for centuries, but it survived in manuscript editions of the Mishne Tora produced in Arab countries. And just 20 or 25 years ago, this text was reprinted again in the new editions of the Mishne Tora.
From Hebrew Wikipedia
- “ישו בן פנדירא” מוזכר כמורהו של איש בשם יעקב, אחד מהמינין (“ישו בן פנדירא” בתוספתא מסכת חולין,[1] “ישו הנוצרי” בתלמוד בבלי, מסכת עבודה זרה, דף י”ז, עמוד א’)
- ישו, אחד מפושעי ישראל, אשר עם רוחו התייעץ אונקלוס לפני התגיירותו, ואשר נידון בגיהנם בצואה רותחת משום ש”הלעיג על דברי חכמים” (תלמוד בבלי, מסכת גיטין, דף נ”ז, עמוד א’).
- ישו, איש שהיו לו חמישה תלמידים, אשר נתלה בערב הפסח “על שכישף והסית והדיח את ישראל” (תלמוד בבלי, מסכת סנהדרין, דף מ”ג, עמוד א’).
- אותו אדם (ישו, ש”כישף והסית והדיח את ישראל”) מופיע גם בסיפור בתלמוד בבלי, מסכת סנהדרין, דף ק”ז, עמוד ב’, כתלמיד של ר’ יהושע בן פרחיה.
- ישו הנוצרי, דוגמה של “בן או תלמיד שמקדיח תבשילו ברבים” (תלמוד בבלי, מסכת סנהדרין, דף ק”ג, עמוד א’; מסכת ברכות, דף י”ז, עמוד ב’)
