Be careful what you pray for - The Jewish Standard

One of Maimonides’ core tenets of Jewish faith is the belief in the coming of the Mashiach — the messiah. Although he had critics regarding what constitutes essential Jewish belief, his views on the Mashiach and other matters of creed became so normative that Yigdal, sung in most synagogues, is essentially a poetic summary of his 13 principles.

Maimonides had a wealth of biblical sources supporting belief in the Mashiach, the most famous being Isaiah’s prophecy: “A shoot shall grow out of the stump of Jesse… The spirit of God shall alight upon him… Justice shall be the girdle of his loins… The wolf shall dwell with the lamb… Nothing evil or vile shall be done, for the land shall be filled with devotion to God as water covers the sea.” (Isaiah 11:1–10).

This vision of a perfected world, not in heaven but here on earth, is one of Judaism’s most daring and hopeful ideas. Even a rationalist like Maimonides refused to dismiss these biblical promises. A summary of his13 Principles of the Faith states, “I believe in the coming of the Mashiach, and even though he (the Mashiach) tarries, I will wait for him every day.”

Why did Maimonides the rationalist, who clearly saw the world’s imperfections, insist so strongly on the Mashiach’s coming? We cannot know for certain, but it seems he could not accept the idea that God would leave His creation unfinished. Therefore, suffering must end, peace must become universal, and justice must be perfect.

That being so, who would not want the Mashiach to come to our world as soon as possible?

Given the hardships Jews endured throughout history, it is unsurprising that every generation hoped for the Mashiach’s arrival. Biblical prophecies promised not only universal peace but also the end of exile, the restoration of Jewish sovereignty, and a just Jewish king ruling forever (Jeremiah 23:5–6; 33:14–17; Ezekiel 37:21–28).

In the second century CE, Shimon bar Koseba, renamed Bar Kochba (“son of the star”) by Rabbi Akiva, led a revolt against Roman rule. Akiva interpreted Numbers 24:17 (“a star shall come forth from Jacob”) as a messianic prophecy and believed Bar Kochba was the Mashiach (Lamentations Rabbah 2:4).

Indeed, Bar Kochba initially succeeded. Between 132 and 135 CE he recaptured Jerusalem from the Romans and reestablished an independent Jewish state. It took nine Roman legions to put down this rebellion. Over half a million Jews were slaughtered or enslaved once the Roman were victorious. This led Rabbi Yochanan ben Torta to say to Rabbi Akiba, “Akiba, you will die, and the Mashiach will not have come.” Given the Bar Kochba debacle, Rabbi Judah HaNasi called Bar Kochba Bar Koziba — “the son of the lie.”

Bar Kochba was only the first of many false messiahs. The most infamous were Shabbetai Tzvi in the 17th century and Jacob Frank in the 18th. Tzvi, charismatic and psychologically unstable, traveled widely with his “prophet,” Nathan of Gaza, who proclaimed him the Mashiach. Tens of thousands believed in him. When he reached Turkey, he declared he would overthrow the Ottoman Sultan and usher in the messianic redemption. Arrested by the Turks and given the choice of conversion to Islam or death, he chose Islam, shattering Jewish hopes for redemption and traumatizing world Jewry.

Jacob Frank’s story was stranger still. He claimed to be the reincarnation of Shabbetai Tzvi, the patriarch Jacob, and a messianic aspect of God — an unholy trinity. He taught that sin was a path to redemption, leading his followers into orgiastic rites and incest between fathers and daughters. Their behavior revived the blood libel among Christians and provoked persecution. Seeking protection by the Catholic Church, Frank and his followers converted to Christianity, repeating the catastrophe of Shabbetai Tzvi.

As usual, traditional Jewish sources debate the question of whether human action can bring the Mashiach.

Isaiah, for example, links redemption to social justice carried out by the Jewish people: “… share your bread with the hungry, take the wretched poor into your home. When you see the naked, clothe them, and do not ignore your own kinsmen.

“Then shall your light burst through like the dawn, and your healing spring up quickly; your Vindicator shall march before you, the Presence of God shall be your rear guard.”

Rabbinic Judaism taught that if Israel gained sufficient merit through observance of mitzvot, the Mashiach would come immediately, but even without such merit, God would bring him at God’s appointed time (Sanhedrin 98a). Some sages suggested that punctilious observance of certain mitzvot could hasten redemption; for example, “If Israel would observe the Sabbath properly twice, they would immediately be redeemed” (Shabbat 118b).

Other sages insisted that only God can bring the Mashiach. Human beings can prepare the way through repentance and good deeds, but they cannot force God’s hand. Rabbi Jonathan warned, “May the bones of those who calculate the End rot” (Sanhedrin 97b), and Maimonides included this position in his Code (Laws of Kings 12:2).

Rav Zera taught that God made Israel swear not to “climb over the wall” (Ketubot 111a). Rashi interpreted this as a prohibition against forceful mass return to the Land of Israel. The ingathering of exiles and the messianic era must be left to God. Today, this is the foundation belief of certain ultra-Orthodox anti-Zionist sects.

What has no support in the Jewish tradition is the claim that violence or ethnic cleansing to seize all of Eretz-Israel’s biblical territory will bring the Mashiach. Some so-called religious Zionists invoke Rav Kook or his son Rav Tzvi Yehuda Kook as supporters of these positions, but this is a distortion. Rav Kook taught only that the Jewish return to the Land was the beginning of redemption (atchalta d’geulah), which would, with God’s help, progressively lead to the coming of the Mashiach.

Rav Tzvi Yehuda radicalized his father’s views, interpreting the Six-Day War as God returning the Land of Israel to the Jewish people. According to him, this “miracle” was divine confirmation that the biblical borders of Eretz Israel were eternal, and Jewish political sovereignty was a mitzvah. But he never taught that sovereignty could be accomplished by violence, or that violence would bring the Mashiach.

Those who use Rav Kook’s and Rav Tzvi Yehudah’s teachings as the excuse for settler violence and ethnic cleansing by means of attacks — sometimes murderous — on Palestinians, their sheep, olive trees, and homes, do so as part of the well-known syndrome of victims turned victimizer. Theirs is a grotesque iteration of both religion and Zionism.

We are approaching the saddest day of the Jewish year, the 9th of Av. This 24-hour fast day commemorates the destruction of the First and Second Temples along with the many tragedies that befell Jews throughout Jewish history. For many Jews, this day is a day on which yearning for Mashiach’s coming becomes especially poignant. What Jew would not want the end of Jew-hatred and the violence and death that often accompanies it? But the messianic idea, as beautiful as it is, has also been the cause of much Jewish suffering

So if you pray for the Mashiach to come, be careful about how you wish him to arrive.

Rabbi Dr. Michael Chernick of Teaneck is professor emeritus at the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in New York. He received his doctorate from the Bernard Revel Graduate School and rabbinic ordination from the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary.

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