As I have stated before, there is almost no topic about which there is only one Jewish view. Does Judaism make belief in a Messiah a cornerstone of its ideology? Then why is it not mentioned specifically in the Torah? There are several places...
Comments
1 Likes
Nearly all rabbinic opinions about the Messiah is to be found in a few pages of the Talmud, Tractate Sanhedrin. I am reproducing them here in their entirety. Please pay special attention to the vast differences of opinion inherent in these...
Comments
Likes
The section of Talmud which I brought in part 2 could be the basis of hundreds of books. Let's look at some of the themes, and their Biblical backgrounds. We tend to lump things together, that aren't necessarily connected; or...
Comments
Likes
Before we go any further, a word about the term "Mashiach". It simply means "anointed", which can also be interpreted as "appointed". Kings and High Priests were usually anointed with the holy oil described in Exodus 30. In some cases, balsam oil...
Comments
Likes
Views of the Messianic Era vary greatly, both between rabbis of the Talmud and later authorities. While the view of Maimonides as to the identity of the Mashiach are fairly widely accepted, what he will accomplish is hotly disputed. Not all agree...
Comments
Likes
Despite RAMBAM's apparent opposition to the Temple Service expressed in his main philosophical work, and his opposition to visiting graves expressed both in his philosophical and legal works, he nevertheless wrote in glowing terms of his visit to...
Comments
Likes
At times of great upheaval, "Mashiach Fever" always breaks out. With the expulsion from the Iberian Peninsula of the late fifteenth century, with it's forced conversion and public burnings, Mashiach was expected imminently, to punish the wicked...
Comments
Likes
The idea of the suffering Messiah, promulgated by Shlomo Molcho, became a major factor a century and a half later, in the drama of the false Messiah, Shabbetai Tzvi (1626-1676). A Turkish Jew, he suffered from what we now call bipolarism. In his...
Comments
Likes
I "became" Sepharadic in the Spring of 1991. Two months later, I was in a Sepharadic synagogue for the Shavu'ot holiday. Special prayers were said at the opening of the Ark. I was reciting them, when I suddenly stopped in my tracks. One line of...
Comments
Likes
There are numerous legends, theories, and interpretations of the rise and meaning of Hassidism. I have already gone into many of these in earlier posts. One approach, however, is that of the noted historian of Kabbalah, Gershom Scholem. Scholem...
Comments
Likes
