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TORAH
U'MESORAH M'SINAI
Teaching &
Tradition from Mt. Sinai
The Home of Torah-Based
Outreach to Yidden
Around the World
And He said unto me: 'Thou art My servant, Yisroel, in whom I will be
glorified.' ...Yea, He said: 'It is too light a thing that thou should be My
servant
to raise up the tribes of Ya'akov, and
to restore the offspring
of Yisroel; I will also give thee for a light of the nations, that My
salvation may be unto the end of the earth.'
Yishayahu (Isaiah) 49:3, 6
The State of Lubavitch Today
Past Messianic
Movements
Comparing and Contrasting False/Failed Messiahs
& Those Who Believed In/Followed Them
The Details
(Footnotes)
Torah (Teachings)
Referring to the Messiah/Messianic Age
The word
Mashiach (Hebrew for Messiah, or "Anointed") is found thirty-nine times in
the Jewish scriptures, yet, according to the Jewish understanding of their
scriptures, the word is NEVER used to refer to the one descendant of King David
(through King Solomon) who will usher in the Messianic Age, which
includes:
1) Returning all Jews to
Torah Observance
2) Ingathering the Jews
to the Promised Land
3) Building the Third and
Final Temple
4) Defeating the Nations
who will attack the Land of Israel in the end-times
5) Bringing about
World-wide acknowledgement of the G-d of Israel
6) Bringing about an
all-inclusive Peace throughout the world
7) The Resurrection of
those amongst the dead who will populate the
"World to Come".
However, while the Mashiach is never referred to
by that title in the Jewish scriptures, he, and most importantly the condition
of the world in the Messianic Age, are defined....
The desire that G-d send His Mashiach is ever-present on the minds of Torah-Observant Jews. In fact this desire is enumerated as one of Rabbi Moshe ben Maimon's "Thirteen Principles" -- the failure to "believe-in" and "live according to" these "principles" designates one as an apostate. However, the desire that the Messianic Age begin, has led to many episodes of false Messiahs, and dashed hopes. According to the Jewish scriptures, one of the signs that the Messianic Age is about to begin is that the Jewish people will be experiencing times of destitution and persecution. Thus the worse things seem to be, the more the Jew hopes for G-d's salvation in the form of the Mashiach, and with him, the Messianic Age....
Judas the Galilean (a.k.a. Judas of Gamala)
Around 6 c.e. Judea was annexed to
the Roman Empire, and a census for taxation purposes was commenced. This
"procurement" of the Holy Land into the Roman Empire was met with almost
immediate resistance. The leader of this resistance was Judas the
Galilean. Judas is thought to have been killed early in the fighting, but
the revolt he authored became the guerrilla movement known as the Zealots.
The Zealots refused to recognize Roman rule, or to pay taxes to the Empire.
Their goal was to rid Judea of her Roman occupiers, and restore ruler ship to
her G-d appointed rulers. Josephus referred to the Zealots as "Lestai"
("brigands") or "Sicarii" ("dagger men"), the later after the knives they
used to carryout political assassinations.
Jesus of Nazareth
Jesus of Nazareth, a
would-be messiah who came on the scene at a time that the Jews desperately
desired salvation by G-d's Mashiach, inspired one of the longest running
messianic movements, and -- more than that -- was the impetus for founding the
Christian faith, the single largest "break-away" sect in the history of
Judaism....
Theudas
After almost a
half-century of Roman occupation, the Jews has suffered so much that they were
susceptible to any and all "self-proclaimed" messiahs. Thus, in 46c.e., a
man named Theudas had little trouble convincing some four hundred Jews to follow
him the the River Jordan where he promised to "part the waters" and allow them
escape from Roman rule. The Romans, who quickly learned of the planned
escape, killed or captured the vast majority of Theudas' followers -- including
the proclaimed Mashiach himself, thus quelling another would-be Messianic
want-to-be.
Menachem the Zealot
The First Roman War, also
called the "Great Revolt", was lead by the grandson of Judas the Galilean,
Menachem the Zealot. Menachem masterminded the capture of Masada, King
Herod's fortress at the Dead Sea, and, because of his victories, gave the
impression that he was indeed the Mashiach. Menachem was killed by the
followers of Eleazer -- because Menachem had killed Eleazer's father, Ananais --
and then those remaining of Menachem's followers joined Eleazer and his men at
Masada where they all committed suicide rather than being taken captive.
It seems as though many in Jerusalem opposed the Messianic pretensions of
Menachem, and this aided in his downfall.
Bar Kochba
Bar Kochba led the Jews
of Judea during the Second Roman War (132-135 c.e.). This Second Roman War
was the result of continuing oppressive Roman occupation, coupled with reneged
promises by the Roman Emperor Hadrian. Hadrian seemed to have learned from
the mistakes Rome had made in the past regarding Judea, pledging to rebuild the
Temple that had been destroyed circa 70 c.e. However, in the end, he
decided against rebuilding the Temple, and instead renamed Jerusalem "Aelia
Capitolina" (after the name of his family: Aelia), and planned to erect a
temple to the god Jupiter. Thus the "Second Great Revolt."
Little of Bar Kochba's
past is known, and he seems to have been in the "right place at the right time"
as the leader of the Jewish forces at the beginning of the conflict....
Shabbatai Tzvi (1626-1676 c.e.)
Shabbatai Tzvi led what
has, to date, been the most "successful" messianic movement since the
destruction of the Second Temple. But what makes Shabbatai Tzvi's
messianic claim pertinent to the current subject ("The State of Lubavitch
Today") is what happened AFTER his death.
"...[M]y aim was to
establish a basis for understanding the ideas which determined the character of
the movement as it developed after the apostasy of Sabbatai Sevi, and
particularly after his death. But direct contact with the sources has made
me realize that historians [and, perhaps, even the leadership of Klal Yisroel]
have never done justice to this great and tragic chapter in Jewish history,
either because they lacked the knowledge or because they lacked even the wish
for the knowledge." (Emphasis added by me.)
Gershom Scholem
"Sabbatai Sevi
The Mystical Messiah"
Preface
"If there is one general
factor underlying the patent unity of the Sabbatian movement everywhere, then
this factor was essentially religious in character... It was this
religious factor that set up the particular spiritual tension out of which
Sabbatian messianism could be born... A[nd] we are in the position to identify
and name this religious factor. It was none other than Lurianic kabbalism,
that is, that form of kabbalah which had developed at Safed, in the Galilee,
during the sixteenth century, and which dominated Jewish religiosity in the
seventeenth century.
Gershom Scholem
"Sabbatai Sevi
The Mystical Messiah"
Pg. 7
* * * * * * *
Midrash Rabbah -
Genesis 24:4
The royal Messiah will not come until all the souls which [God] contemplated
creating have been created. What is the proof? And the souls which I have made (Yishayahu/Isaiah
57:16)(1), i.e. for the sake of the souls Which I have
made.(2) And the souls are those referred to in the book
of Adam, viz. THIS IS THE BOOK OF THE GENERATIONS OF ADAM.(3)
Footnotes:
(1) Yishayahu/Isaiah 57:16.
For I will not contend forever, nor will I be always angry; for the spirit
and the souls whom I have made, should faint before me.
(2) The verse is now translated: For the spirit (i.e. Messiah, cf. supra, II, 4,
where ruach (spirit) is likewise referred to Messiah) shall be detained
before Me until the souls which I made have been created.
(3) Avodah Zarah 5a; Yevamos 62a (also Niddah 13b)
(3a) R. Assi stated: The Son of David [The Messiah] will not come before
all the souls in Guf [Lit., ‘body’, the region inhabited by the souls
of the unborn.] will have been disposed of, since it is said, For the spirit
that unwrapped itself is from Me etc.
(3a1) Yishayahu/Isaiah 57:16: For I will not contend forever, nor will
I be always angry; for the spirit and the souls whom I have made, should faint
before me. This being the reason for the duty of propagation, the
duty is fulfilled as soon as a child is born, i.e., as soon as his soul has
left the region of Guf irrespective of whether he survives or not.
(3b) Also, what of the teaching of R. Jose: The Son of David will only come
when all the souls destined to [inhabit earthly] bodies will be exhausted,
as it is said, For I will not contend for ever, neither will I be always wroth,
for the spirit should fall before me and the spirits which I have made?
(3b1) Yishayahu/Isaiah 57:16: For I will not contend forever, nor will
I be always angry; for the spirit and the souls whom I have made, should faint
before me. In face of the foregoing teachings how could it be stated that
had it not been for the sin of the golden calf, we should not have come into the
world?
Midrash Rabbah -
Genesis 75:6
AND I HAVE AN OX, AND AN ASS, etc. (Bereshis/Genesis 32:6)(1).
R. Judah said: From one ox may oxen came forth, and from one ass many asses came
forth.’ R. Nehemiah said: This is the common idiom: an ass, a camel.(2)
The Rabbis maintained: OX is an allusion to the one anointed for battle, as it
says, His firstling bullock, majesty is his (Devarim/Deuteronomy
33:17)(3)(4); ASS refers to the royal Messiah, for it says
of him, Lowly, and riding upon an ass (Zechariah 9:9)(5);
FLOCKS refers to Israel, as it says, And ye are My sheep, the sheep of My
pasture (Yechezkel/Ezekiel 34:31)(6)
Footnotes:
(1) Bereshis/Genesis 32:6 And I have oxen, and asses, flocks, and menservants,
and women servants; and I have sent to tell my lord, that I may find favor in
your sight.
(2) Eight kings are enumerated.
(3) Devarim/Deuteronomy 33:17 The firstling of his herd, grandeur is his,
and his horns are like the horns of a wild ox; with them he shall push the
people together to the ends of the earth; and they are the ten thousands of
Ephraim, and they are the thousands of Manasseh.
(4) The text and meaning of the whole passage are doubtful, and some emendation
is probably required. The point may be (on the present reading) that David
argued that if God did not fulfill the desire of those that feared Him and if He
left Jacob to his fate, what then could a righteous man claim to achieve?
(5) (Zechariah
9:9) Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem;
behold, your King comes to you; he is just, and victorious; humble and riding on
an ass, on a colt the foal of an ass.
(5a) Bamidbar/Numbers 12:6. And he said, Hear now my words; If there is a
prophet among you, I the Lord will make myself known to him in a vision, and
will speak to him in a dream.
(6) (Yechezkel/Ezekiel
34:31) And you my flock, the flock of my pasture, are men, and I am your God,
says the Lord God.