The highest level of Teshuba (repentance) is when one regrets the mistake he or she made, immediately, before repeating it. In this way, a person will be preventing that incorrect behavior from becoming a habit. When someone does not repent of his mistake immediately and repeats his wrong behavior, he faces a different and perhaps greater challenge,  which Rabbi Abohab calls: the second level of Teshuba: changing bad habits. How are habits formed? When someone persists in a certain behavior, this attitude is normalized –however wrong it may be– and the habit is formed. Once installed in the brain, habits are difficult to change. We get used to doing something wrong to the point that we no longer evaluate it. And when a behavior becomes a habit and we want to change it, it is no longer about changing what we do, but about changing what we are.

The first time I say a bad word or a vulgarity, I would notice it, realize my mistake immediately, repent (apologize if I use this language towards another person), and make the decision not to make the same mistake again. But when this process does not happen, when I ignore the first warning of my moral conscience (which is the most important one!) and I repeat the same bad words over and over again, I get used to my new vocabulary, and little by little I tolerate it more and more, to the point that I no longer realize that it is wrong. And at some point, this fatal transformation happens: the bad words become part of me. And from being “a decent person who uses bad words”, I become a “unpolite individual”

Psychologists explain that habits, both good and bad, are formed when our brain learns something new and, through repetition, the brain becomes “comfortable” with it and stops evaluating or judging the new behavior. This happens to us in many areas of our daily lives: eating or drinking excessively, smoking, etc. and also in more subliminal areas that affect our spirituality and morality. “Man is an animal of habit,” said the famous English writer Charles Dickens. When an immoral value becomes routine, the conscience no longer awakens by itself. It falls asleep and requires an external stimulus to wake up.

In the Hebrew calendar, the month of Elul is precisely when we dedicate ourselves to this type of deep repentance, that is, to evaluate not only our wrong actions but also our bad habits, which have been “normalized” because we did not do Teshuba on time, that is, when we were wrong the first time. Identifying my own bad habits is not an easy task. Because it’s not enough to look in the mirror. I have to be able to see myself as others see me, from the outside,  “from the balcony”, in order to identify the bad habits that are already part of my personality and put all my effort into changing them. 

 By Rabbanit Coty Bittón

When our oldest son was five, we were fortunate to live in the Jewish quarter in Yerushalayim, the Old City. We used to spend our afternoons together with his three siblings in the park. I remember one time when we were planning to leave the house, and I realized that we had forgotten his tricycle in the park the previous day. My son was obviously very upset. And so was I since we had just bought it for his birthday. We went back to look for it in the park but it wasn’t there, and we considered it lost. It was very disappointing!

A couple of days later my husband came home and told my son that they were going for a short trip to town. Although I did not like the idea since our child was already in his pajamas and ready to sleep, I trusted my husband; he told me they would be back soon. Indeed, half an hour later the “three of them were back home: my husband, my son and his tricycle. There are no words to describe my son’s happy face!

It happened to be that on his way home my husband read on one of the neighborhood’s boards (luach modaot) a note saying that a tricycle was found and that whoever lost it could recover it, by giving a matching description. We took the opportunity to explain to our children about the Mitzva that appears on this week’s Perasha, Ki Tetse. It is called “hashabat abeda” , returning a lost object. We all appreciated how wonderful it is when you belong to a society where you know that everybody cares about everybody else!

In any other culture or civilization, you transgress the law when you steal or damage your fellow’s property. And, as long as you don’t cause any harm, you are a model citizen. Our Tora demands much more from us. It is not enough to abstain from damaging others. I have to CARE about someone else’s property as if it were my own.

If for example, I find a lost object I must take care of it and “find” the owner. In a Jewish society when you find something lost that can be identified (a 10 dollars bill, for example, cannot be “identified”; but a wallet, can), you can not keep it. You have to bother and pick it up, take it home, write the note, post it on the neighborhood’s board and be willing to welcome all those who would come and claim for their lost object until someone can identify it (simanim) beyond a reasonable doubt.

In Moreh Nevukhim, Maimonides explains that the primary purpose of this Mitzva is to positively affect the character of the individuals of the Jewish people. The Tora trains us and helps us to develop a degree of sensitivity towards others, which will make us walk with our eyes open to detect the needs of others. Is there anyone here who needs my help? We respect the privacy of others, but we must be careful that this does not lead us to a level of indifference. “It’s not my business” should be applied to many privacy issues in the lives of my friends and acquaintances, but not in situations where my assistance is needed. As in the case of hashabat abeda, I have to be willing to offer help, even when it has not been requested.

When we teach our children about this Mitzvah, we train them to be sensitive. “Is your friend sad? Is he going through a difficult time? Ask if you can help.”  “A new student came to school. Open your eyes, ‘see’ her. She might be scared or embarrassed. She does not know the teachers or other students. Try to approach her and be her friend.”

 

To fulfill the Mitzvah of hashabat abeda you cannot close your eyes and ignore what happens around you. You must develop a special sensitivity to identify the needs of others and be willing to invest your time and effort to help and assist.

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SHABBAT SHALOM

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Rabbanit Coty Bitton is a certified marriage and family counselor. Her weekly Tora classes are rich in relationship advice and home improvement. Her Shalom Bayit and parenting workshops combine modern psychology and Torah knowledge. Her email address for referrals and consultations is: cotybitton@yahoo.com

I received many questions from Halakha of the Day readers on the subject of Mashiach. Today I am going to address two of these questions, and in a future article on this topic B”H we will address the others.

1. Are we close to the times of the Mashiach?

INTRODUCTION

I confess that until I read Maimonides many years ago, I had many doubts and was very confused about the Mashiach and the messianic times. I think I also got a somewhat magical or childish vision on the subject. It was thanks to Maimonides and his intelligent Judaism that I was able to clarify many of those doubts. I also realized that I was suffering from a psychological problem that may be affecting other jews as well: The description of the messianic times, according to Maimonides, is so close to our own reality that it is challenging  for us to appreciate it. It seems to be an inexplicable resistance to acknowledging that we are living in privileged times. This is a mental phenomenon that was already identified by our Sages: “An individual who experiences a miracle does not perceive it” אין בעל הנס מכיר בנסו. 

Maimonides’ Mashiach is based on two very important characters in Jewish history: King David and Shimon Bar Kokhba. King David represents the ideal model of a Jewish ruler, whose mission is that we Jews follow the Divine Law.  1200 years later, a descendant of King David, Bar Kokhba, wanted to restore” Jewish sovereignty in the land of Israel, so that the Tora would once again become the Law of the Jewish people, but he failed.  The most characteristic thing about the Mashiach, which Maimonides suggests when mentioning these two historical figures, –and the point that the average Jew ignores the most–  is the «historical» and «national» and not mythological character of the Jewish Messiah, who is completely different from the Messiah represented by non-Jews. We must overcome the psychological barrier to hope for an  “imaginary magical future” and be able to be infinitely grateful to Bore Olam “shehecheyanu, vekiyemanu vehigiaynu lazeman haze” for the opportunity to live in this present time, that is so close to messianic times, as we will explain below.

Let’s see what we have accomplished and what we lack, regarding the Mashiach

SHIABUD MALKHUIYOT

We already have a sovereign Jewish State: Medinat Israel. Let us not forget that according to Maimonides, the great difference between the messianic days and our days is that we Jews are not going to be under the yoke of the Goyim, as was the case, for example, in the Bar Kokhba times and in during the following 1800 years.

SHALOM

After 75 years of wars against our enemies, thanks to the recent “Abraham accords”, almost miraculously, we have peace treaties with countries that were our fiercest enemies. And it seems that there are going to be other peace agreements soon (Qatar? Saudi Arabia?). In the times of the Mashiach we would reach peace even with countries like Iran and other nations that today hate Israel. How will this happen? According to the Sages (see text below), in the days of Mashiach the nations will recognize and serve HaShem, and will see Israel as the people of God. This will bring about an era of peace and freedom, with no corruption. We are not there yet, but it would seem that we are closer than five years ago.

TORA AND OR LAGOYIM

At the present time, the State of Israel does not have a written constitution. And part of our messianic aspirations is that the Jewish State will embrace once again the Tora as its Constitution. We are not that far away from that point! In modern Israel there are legal areas, such as marriages and divorces, that are already governed by Tora Law. And in many areas of civil law, one may opt for a legal process carried by a rabbinical court or Bet Din. In addition, the demographics of the Jewish state are changing, and I think that there are more and more observant people. With the help of HaShem the Tora will become slowly as the only Law of Israel. Once this happens, the Jewish people will be OR LAGOYIM, the light of the peoples, the model of observance of God’s will to be followed by the other nations of the world, who will recognize the God of Israel and serve him.

BET HAMIQDASH

In 1967, at the end of the Six Day War, we had the opportunity to recover the Temple, and we missed ti…. This, in my opinion, was one of the worst national sins and mishaps we witnessed in our long history. When the Imams of the Waqf handed us the keys to Har HaBayit and unbelievably, a well-known Israeli general returned them to the Waqf!   See here  https://jcpa.org/al-aksa-is-in-danger-libel/al-aksa-is-in-danger-libel-temple-mount/ I believe that since the time of Jerobam ben Nebat we have never made such a tragic and tremendously consequential historical mistake. May God forgive us!  In any case, we are still close to the possibility of rebuilding the Temple. Why? Because we already have Yerushalayim; it is our beloved and beautiful capital, and in theory, we have sovereignty over the Har HaBayit, the Temple Mount, which is where B”H we should build the Bet HaMiqdash.

In sum, and focusing on the first question, the ground is more ready than ever for the arrival of the Mashiach. But to appreciate this, it is necessary to first know what to expect from messianic times. And furthermore, and this is really important, we should understand that for Maimonides the messianic events will unfold naturally and gradually, as we say in the Berakha in which we pray every day for the Mashiach: מצמיח קרן ישועה, the redemption of the Jewish people “will sprout and flourish”, that is to say, it will happen thru a development of historical events, part of which we are B”H already witnessing with our own eyes. 

2. What differences will there be between our times and the days of Mashiach?

I left for the end this important event that should happen in messianic times: KIBUTS GALUYIOT, that is, the return of the Jews to the land of Israel. But how will this return to Israel be implemented?  Sometimes I ask myself if the Mashiach is going to take us to Israel “by force” or we will leave to Israel by choice.  Why do I say this? Because I think (but I could be wrong) that the process of our future redemption,  GEULA, might be similar to Yetsiat Mitsrayim: the redemption from Egypt. We Jews had the opportunity to leave Egypt, but HaShem, or Moshe, did not “force us” to leave. In fact, one of our Sages said something that sounds shameful for the Jewish people: that 80% of the Jews chose to stay back in Egypt!  This makes me think that perhaps also at the time of Mashiach some Jews will voluntarily miss the opportunity to return to Israel….   

Following Maimonides’ opinion as seriously as possible, I believe that one of the greatest differences between our days and the days of Mashiach is going to be noticed in housing prices. While in all the cities of the world where Jews live, properties prices will fall precipitously, in Israel, housing — that is already very expensive— will go up at least 5, 10 times more!  I always say, a little jokingly, a little seriously, that if a Jew proclaims right and left that he or she believes the Mashiach is coming NOW, he should put his money where his words are, and invest everything he has in buying a property in Israel! And if he doesn’t, he shouldn’t be taken too seriously when he talks about it .

Be a true believer: invest in Israel today.   🙂      

MAIMONIDES

Mishne Tora Hilkhot MT Melakhim, chapter 12

א אל יעלה על הלב שבימות המשיח, ייבטל דבר ממנהגו של עולם, או יהיה שם חידוש במעשה בראשית; אלא עולם כמנהגו הולך. וזה שנאמר בישעיה וגר זאב עם כבש, ונמר עם גדי ירבץ, משל וחידה. עניין הדבר—שיהיו ישראל יושבין לבטח עם רשעי העולם, המשולים בזאב ונמר: שנאמר זאב ערבות ישודדם—נמר שוקד על עריהם ויחזרו כולם לדת האמת, ולא יגזולו ולא ישחיתו, אלא יאכלו דבר המותר בנחת כישראל, שנאמר ואריה כבקר יאכל תבן אמרו חכמים, אין בין העולם הזה לימות המשיח, אלא שיעבוד מלכייות בלבד.

Let it not occur to one to think that in the days of the Messiah something will change in the physical and natural laws established since the time of Creation: in reality, the world will follow its natural order. And what is said in Isaiah “And the wolf will dwell with the lamb, and the tiger will lie down by the goat” (Isaiah 11:6), [which apparently suggests that carnivorous animals will become herbivorous and stop chasing their prey] is a parable and a metaphor. And what it means is that Israel [the lamb that the predators wish to devour] will live in peace with the nations of the world, which [because of their permanent aggression and threats towards Israel] were compared to wolves and tigers [regarding the lamb: Israel]….    all nations will return to the true religion, and there will be no robbery or corruption…

…. The sages said, that there will be no difference between this world and the days of the Messiah, except the yoke of the nations [the oppression of Israel; that in messianic times it will end].

לע”נ הרב אליהו דב בן גיטל

GOD’S WARS 

We have already mentioned two elements that characterize the Messiah that we Jews expect :

(1) The Mashiach will be a Jewish monarch or political leader, a descendant of King David.

(2) His mission as a political leader will be to re-establish the Tora as the Constitution of the Jewish people.

The third element mentioned by Maimonides is that

(3) The Messiah will be “fighting God’s wars” (‘לוחם מלחמות ה’)

What does “the wars of God” mean?

This Hebrew expression is a clear allusion to the military battles that the Jewish people wages against their enemies. These battles are called God’s wars because the enemies of Israel are the enemies of God. Why? Because whoever attacks the Jewish people rebels against the will of God, who chose Israel as His people, and promised to protect them (this is the subject of the famous Psalm 2 of Tehilim).

THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN YESHU AND THE TRUE MESSIAH

Let us clarify that God’s wars are not “spiritual battles” or wars in a metaphorical sense. The Jewish Messiah is not going to be the head of a Jewish “Salvation Army” or something like that.  HaShem’s wars are real military battles that we Jews fight to regain or defend our sovereignty, as we have been doing in Israel since 1948 (see H. Melakhim 4:10, 7:15). In the text we are analyzing (see below) Maimonides explicitly mentions two historical figures in reference to the Messiah: King David and Bar Kokhba (ca. 90 -135 CE), both served as commanders-in-chief of the Jewish army and fought against Israel’s enemies. 

ALL ABOUT BAR KOKHBA

Let us explore now a little more in depth, what did the rabbis see in Bar Kokhba to consider him the Messiah. They saw that

1. He was a descendant of the house of David. If he had triumphed against the Romans, he would have been appointed (and anointed) by the Jews as a legitimate king of Israel.

2. The main intention of the Bar Kokhba rebellion was to restore the observance of the Jewish religion. In their times (125 – 138 CE) the Romans had prohibited under penalty of death the observance of any Tora commandment or ceremony: including the Berit Mila, Shabbat, etc.

3. Bar Kokhba was a warrior. He started, and he led the rebellion against the Romans, which at first was resoundingly successful, and he was able to restore Jewish sovereignty over the land of Israel for about three years. Bar Kokhba was the commander-in-chief of the last Jewish army, before 1948. But then he was defeated and killed. The defeat of Bar Kokhba is one of the five tragedies for which we mourn on the 9th of Ab. Bar Kokhba, Maimonides explains, initially had the support of Ribbi Aqiba, but he did not have enough merit to succeed in his mission ( נהרג בעוונות).   When that happened, the rabbis said that although Bar Kokhba was considered the Messiah, his death demonstrated that he was not. They called him then “Bar Koziba”, that is: “the one who caused disappointment” of those who believed that he actually was the Messiah.

WHAT DID BAR KOKHBA MISS?

For a Jewish leader to be declared, and appointed as the Messiah, he would have to:

(4) restore completely Jewish religious life in a sovereign Israel, that is: rebuilding the Bet haMiqdash.

(5) And once he achieves this, he should bring all the Jewish refugees, scattered around the world, into the land Israel (or at least, I think, Jews should have the opportunity to return to the land of Israel).

Now the picture of the Mashiach, I believe, should be a little more complete.  The true Messiah that we Jews are waiting for will be: a (1) political (2) religious and (3) military leader of the Jewish people.

WHY BAR KOKHBA?
The rabbis never wrote explicitly the conditions and characteristics of the Mashiach. On the other hand, Maimonides explains, the greatest rabbis of all time, such as Ribbi Aquiba and the Sages of his generation, “believed that Shimon Bar Kokhba  was the Mashiach”. And since there were no other personalities in Jewish history who have been considered a candidate for the Mashiach by the greatest rabbis (the case of the impostor Shabbetay Zevi -1626-1676- is a separate story that would deserve a long explanation) this rabbinical identification represents “a legal precedent”  to determine in the future the characteristics that we must find in a Jewish leader to consider him as the Mashiach (and / or to reject pseudo-messiahs).  Lastly, I believe that if we take seriously the figure of Bar Kokhba as the model for the Messiah, as Maimonides suggests, it would seem that the future Mashiach we are waiting for should be an “active” military leader in the Israeli army, or at least have authority over the army of Israel when Israel fights against its enemies.

MT, Melajim, 11.8

ח  ואם יעמוד מלך מבית דויד הוגה בתורה ועוסק במצוות כדויד אביו, כפי תורה שבכתב ושבעל פה, ויכוף כל ישראל לילך בה ולחזק בדקה, ויילחם מלחמות ה‘–הרי זה בחזקת שהוא משיח:  אם עשה והצליח, וניצח כל האומות שסביביו, ובנה מקדש במקומו, וקיבץ נדחי ישראל—הרי זה משיח בוודאי.

MT, Melachim, 11.8

8) And if (1) a king arose from the house of David, (2) a Torah scholar and observant of the precepts like David his ancestor, who followed both the written Torah and the oral tradition, and led all the people of Israel to walk in it, and strengthen the Divine law, (3) and fight the wars of God, then we can consider that he is the Messiah. And if he achieves [these goals], and is successful, and defeats all the nations around him, (4) and builds the Temple in its place, and (5) gathers the exiles of Israel, then we can be sure that this individual is the Messiah.

(Translation and numbers are mine) 

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.

“ישו בן פנדירא” מוזכר כמורהו של איש בשם יעקב, אחד מהמינין (“ישו בן פנדירא” בתוספתא מסכת חולין, “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’).

Tish’a BeAb and the mourning for Jerusalem are behind us. Now the Jewish people begin a period of happiness and especially consolation. This mood of comfort began even before the end of the 9th day of Ab. Indeed, this past Sunday, while we continued fasting and still dressed in mourning, we read some beautiful verses linked to the final redemption and the Messiah, for whom we usually pray so much. Following this same direction I would like to write a few lines about the Jewish Messiah, not only because it is the ideal timing, but also because it is one of the topics about which I constantly receive questions.

DISINFORMATION ABOUT THE MESSIAH

The problem with the topic of the Messiah is not lack of information: it is rather misinformation. Ideas coming from other religions that have “seeped”, so to speak, into our own religious vision, without us realizing it. The best example I can think of is the meaning of the word “Messiah”. If we ask an average man or woman, non-Jewish, or even Jewish (I did!) what “messiah” means, they will probably say that “Messiah” means “savior”, “redeemer”.  But that is not the literal nor Jewish meaning of Messiah. The Hebrew word MASHIACH,  משיח, does NOT mean “savior”. In Hebrew, “savior” is called moshi’a, and it is a term that in our Tefilot —prayers— we use exclusively in reference to God, not to another human being! As we say in the Amida מלך עוזר ומושיע ומגן. “God… Helps us, SAVES US (moshi’a) and protects us.” The association between Messiah and savior is not Jewish, but 100% Christian.

MASHIACH MEANS KING

In Hebrew, the word mashiach means “anointed”. In Biblical times (see Mishne Torah, Kings, 1: 7) the official coronation ceremony of a king was performed by pouring oil (in Hebrew: limshoach and shemen hamishchah) on the monarch’s head. The word mashiach then literally means “anointed” in the sense of “officially crowned king.” And why is it important to clarify that this leader of Israel will be an “anointed” king, and not just saying that he will be “a king”? Because there have always been impostors or charlatans who proclaimed themselves to be the leaders of our people. When we say “mashiach” then, we are clarifying that this will be the “official” leader, anointed / crowned, and accepted by the Sanhedrin, the Jewish Supreme Court of Justice. Any other leader who would not have this validation cannot be considered a legitimate Jewish monarch. The Messiah, then, is not a prophet or a miracle worker or even a rabbi. He is above all a political ( in the good sense of this word!) figure whose mission will be to lead the Jewish people to live again in their land, Israel, and follow the laws of the Tora, including the Mitsvot of the Bet. haMiqdash. The Mashiach simply said, will restore the Jewish monarchy, which it should be defined as a “semi-monarchy”. Why? Because in the nation of Israel the monarch of flesh and blood, even the Messiah, is a king with lower case “k”. And his role consists mainly of enforcing the laws of God, and crowning Him as The King with a capital “K”. This is, for example, what king David did.

MAIMONIDES AND THE REQUIREMENTS TO BE THE MASHIACH

In his monumental work Mishne Torah, in the penultimate of its 1,000 chapters (sic.) Maimonides explains that there are five conditions or requirements for a Jewish individual to be considered as the Messiah.

Of these five requirements, three are a priori and two a posteriori.

Let’s read Maimonides, Mishne Tora, Sefer Melakhim, Chapter 11, Halakha 4. (I added numbers and parentheses for better understanding YB)

“If a king (1) arose from the House of David who (2) diligently studied the Tora and observed its mitsvot as prescribed by the Written and Oral Torah, as David, his forefather did, and urged all the people of Israel to follow the path of Tora and correct the gaps in Tora observance [ie: fix what the Jewish people are doing wrong in terms of religious observance], (3) and would wage HaShem’s wars , this individual could be considered as the Mashiach. If he meets all of the above, and additionally (4) builds the Bet haMiqdash [=Temple] in its place [=Har haBayit, Jerusalem], and (5) gathers the scattered Jews in the land of Israel, then it can be affirmed without a doubt that he is the Messiah”.

REQUIREMENT NUMBER ONE

As we just explained, the true Jewish Messiah is a man, ”the future king of Israel.” Now, the Jewish monarchy was granted by God exclusively to the descendants of King David. The official title of the Jewish Messiah is “MELECH MASHIACH BEN DAVID”, “The anointed king, descendant of David”. This requirement, for example, would automatically exclude anyone who is Cohen or Levi, since David belonged to the tribe of Yehuda.

To be continued

DE MAL EN PEOR

After the death of Agrippa, the governor of Judea (Yehuda, Israel) between the years 41 and 44 of the common era,  a very difficult period for Am Israel began, which culminated with the destruction of Bet haMiqdash in the year 68.The Romans promoted the immigration of pagan heathen to Israel, exempted them from taxes and favored them with their laws. If a Jew, for example, did not pay the exorbitant taxes to the emperor, his lands were confiscated and handed over to the pagans for free. The Jewish population felt increasingly displaced and deprived of their lands. On the religious level the situation was no better: The provocations and humiliations against the Jews continued to grow more and more. Maimonides indicates that the offense of Apostomus, where for the first time the Romans publicly burned a Sefer Tora, took place in the time of Governor Cumanus (48-52). After Cumanus came Felix, who ruled Judea for 8 terrible years (52-60). Felix was a slave in his youth. And as governor, although he responded to the directives of the Roman emperor, he had a free hand to do everything he wanted in his province. Felix abused his power against the Jews. The Roman historian Tacitus denounced this attitude by saying that Felix: “… practiced all sorts of cruelty and abuses, using his power as a king [of the Jews] to unleash his slave’s instincts.”All this was part of a deliberate and orchestrated campaign by the Romans for Judea to cease to exist as Jewish territory, and for Jews to emigrate or become “normal” citizens of the empire. The situation was hopeless. The Jews did not have the power to change what was happening. And faced with this desperate situation the Jews, unfortunately, were more divided than ever.

JUDEA DIVIDED

Although the great majority of Jews followed the tradition of their parents, observing the written and oral Tora (Parushim) there was also an important group, related to the aristocracy and the priesthood, called Sadducees (Tsadoquim), who did not accept the traditional rabbinical leadership and traditions and were not very unhappy to live under the Roman Empire. There was another group called the Essenes, who were ascetics who retired to live in very closed communities in the desert and were separated from the rest of the people. There were also Jews influenced by Greco-Roman culture and philosophy, who were less strict in the observance of the Tora. In addition, the desperate situation of living under the Romans encouraged many Yehudim to harbor messianic hopes (as was also the case with Ribbi Aqiba in the times of Bar Kokhba, etc., in the 135).  Between 40-60 of the common era, several messianic groups were formed, and some ended up becoming antagonistic to Judaism (Christianity, for example).

FREEDOM!!!

Divisions were not limited to the religious sphere. Many Jews thought that the only possible way to survive as a people was to revolt against Rome, and they decided to take up arms, to entrench themselves in Jerusalem, to resist and fight against the Roman Empire, to restore an independent Jewish state. And while it is true that no people in antiquity had been able to resist, let alone defeat, the Roman Army,  Jews had the fresh memory of the Hashmonayim, under the leadership of Matitiyahu and his sons, we fought and defeated the Greek army! The memory of this epic triumph, which occurred only 200 years before, was very fresh in the minds of the people.

This idea gave rise to what was called: HAMERED HAGADOL, the “great rebellion” of the Jews against the Roman Empire. But this rebellion was unsuccessful, and culminated in the destruction of our Beth-haMiqdash. Why did we fail? Our Sages attributed this failure to a single factor sinat hinam, we were divided. Even those Jews who rebelled and were actively fighting against Rome did not agree on having a united leadership, and in fact the different militias fought against each other.… Our Sages explain that when we are divided, the Divine Presence stays away from us.

(To be continued….)