Hot answers tagged messiah
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Moses makes it clear that when the Jews enter the Promised Land, eventually one special place shall be chosen, and that will be the only place that animal sacrifices are authorized. That place is the Temple in Jerusalem.
Today the Temple does not stand; it's unclear exactly where on the Temple Mount area the altar stood; there are numerous uncertainties ...
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Here are the Rambam's instructions on how to recognize Moshiach: Melachim U'Milchamotahem 11
A Jewish King from the House of David who learns and observes the Torah (written and oral) and assures that Israel does as well can be presumed to be Moshiach.
If he does so and rebuilds the Beis HaMikdosh and gathers in the exiles he certainly is Moshiach.
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According to the Rambam (Laws of Kings 12:1), the natural world we know will continue to exist in Moshiach's times. So yes, marriages existing now will still be in effect when Moshiach comes.
Even according to the opinions that it will be an era of miracles and of a new natural order (Ramban), we'll still be physical creatures with bodies.
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The Rambam in Hilchot Milachim 12:1 says "OLAM KMINHAGO HOLECH." The world will continue as is including electronics.In fact the Chofetz Chaim said that most of today's technology it proves the point for example he said until phones no one could understand how Hashem could hear all so Hashem showed us an example.
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Just to note, Rambam (Mishna Torah; Hil. Melachim 12:2) writes that one should not over-contemplate the events that are to come about with the redemption, for the prophecies are intentionally vague and no one will know for certain their meaning until they come to be realized. Even the Rabbis of the Talmud only said about the redemption and the Messiah what ...
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For a complete treatment of the subject, see a work like this. There are anti-missionary sites that certainly go through the various Biblical descriptions of the Messiah; these aren't hard to find if you google around a bit.
In brief, here's how Maimonides codifies the job description of the Jewish Messiah, in Chapter 11 of his Laws of Kings & their ...
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The Zohar uses the term "erev rav" quite extensively, and yes, usually meaning the people opposed to the Torah scholars of their period. (It parallels the usage of "am haaretz" in Pesachim 49a-b, where it also means people who are hostile to Torah (rather than just ignorant of it, as is the usual usage of "am haaretz") - like R' Akiva, quoted there as saying ...
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No, and I'll explain why:
First, as per this list, only 42.5% of world Jewry was in Israel in 2010, so "most" of the Jews are not in Israel.
Second, the exile is a function of lost spirituality, not just physical presence. The return to Zion will end the exile when god decides we are on the spiritual level for the proper return. Simply moving there, while ...
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It's mentioned in the Gemara, Sukkah 52a-b. The Gemara there explains that the mourning described in Zech. 12:10ff is for Moshiach ben Yosef's death; it further identifies the "four smiths" (ibid. 2:3-4) as including "Moshiach ben David and Moshiach ben Yosef."
It is true, though, that the Rambam, in his description of Moshiach, his prerequisites, ...
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As mentioned in other answers, we don't offer sacrifices these days because once the Beit Hamikdash was established as the permanent House of G-d we are no longer allowed to offer Korbanot anywhere else. Although the Rambam holds that we do not need the Temple to be standing in order to offer Korbanot, the Korbanot still must be offerred on the Temple Mount. ...
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I will tell you something that has completely changed my avodas Hashem. You have to stop focusing on yourself and start focusing on God. This sounds very simple but in practice is very hard to do. That means coming to terms with the fact that, in whatever way we can understand this, God is (k'vayachol) pained or unhappy that his children are in exile and ...
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I think that the question presupposes that the coming of Moshiach is a reward for our work during the era of exile, and in that case that's a fair point, since we're supposed to do mitzvos "not in order to receive reward" (Avos 1:3).
However, the Lubavitcher Rebbe zt"l cites in this connection a statement by R. Schneur Zalman of Liadi (Tanya, ch. 37) that ...
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First you must define what it means that "the Torah cannot change" and what it means that Neviim and Kesuvim are "עתידין ליבטל".
That the Torah cannot change is the ninth of the Rambam's thirteen ikkarim. He defines it as the belief that no mitzvos can be added to nor subtracted from the Torah, nor can there be any "new" or "alternative" Torah.
Now, what ...
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The Gemara in Nedarim says that had the Jews not sinned, they would have just received the 5 book of the Torah and sefer Yehoshua:
אלמלא (לא ) חטאו ישראל לא ניתן להם אלא חמשה חומשי תורה וספר יהושע
בלבד שערכה של ארץ ישראל הוא מאי טעמא כי ברוב חכמה רב כעס
The ran explains that the main purpose of divrei neviim was to rebuke the Jews for their sins:
...
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In short, do Mitzvot. The Rambam writes (Teshuva 3:4):
Accordingly, throughout the entire year, a person should always look at himself as equally balanced between merit and sin and the world as equally balanced between merit and sin. If he performs one sin, he tips his balance and that of the entire world to the side of guilt and brings destruction upon ...
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Not a complete answer, but the first step is to truly learn about Moshiach and the Messianic era. Understanding the fundamentals about why Judaism necessitates a belief in Moshiach in the first place.
Yoel Kahan wrote a Sefer (book) explaining why Moshiach and the Resurrection of the Dead are two of the Rambam's 13 principles of faith. Why does he consider ...
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The Rambam (Hilchos Teshuva 9:2:) writes that Moshaich will be a prophet:
[These changes will come about] because the king who will arise from David's descendants will be a greater master of knowledge than Solomon and a great prophet, close to the level of Moses, our teacher.
See also Melachim uMilchamot 12:3, where he writes that Moshaich will have ...
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I used to be a Christian but converted to Orthodox Judaism more than 32 years ago. I have a website called: "A Primer: Why Jews Can't Believe in Jesus" that should more than adequately answer your question (although I actually designed it for Jewish education and not to combat missionaries). But let me just touch on the basics:
Not only isn't Jesus the ...
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In a translation of a talk by the Lubavitcher Rebbe from Shabbos Parshas Emor 5738 (1978), the Rebbe brings that most opinions hold that the Jews will be obligate to bring the Pesach Sheni, and points to the Minchas Chinuch. emphasis mine:
The original Pesach Sheni was instituted for those who were unclean or could not otherwise offer the Pesach ...
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Here is a 56 page pdf with different references to the Eruv Rav in the last generations.
The sources are mostly Kabbalistic. It starts with a mention of what the Eruv Rav were originally, and then explains how the spiritual Eruv Rav comes into existence.
I just skimmed it, but I didn't see any mention to the Eruv Rav being in control of the land ...
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The Lubavitcher Rebbe answers that we will need the Cities of Refuge for all the people who have killed inadvertently over the course of exile. They will need to go to the city of Refuge to protect themselves from the "blood redeemer" (Go'el Ha-dam). See there for the explanation of why the "blood redeemer" taking revenge is not incompatible with the Days of ...
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Based on the notion of R. Saadia Gaon, found in Emunos V'Deos 8:5. that the MBY is not a sure thing, I'll go with MBD.
http://www.sichosinenglish.org/books/mashiach/11.htm
"Quite significantly, R. Saadiah Gaon (one of the few to elaborate on the role of Mashiach ben Yossef) notes that this sequence is not definite but contingent! Mashiach ben Yossef ...
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The 13 principles of faith found at the end of the morning service are a revised version of Rambam's more detailed formulation of the of Foundations of the Faith, which he published in his commentary to the Mishna, as an introduction to Perek Chelek in Sanhedrin. This being the case, it is always worthwhile to check the original regarding any questions about ...
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Disclaimer: As recommended by @DoubleAA and mentioned above by @SethJ, the translation of "Moshiach" is "anointed". It has been used to refer to other people besides the final redeemer. Nevertheless, it has come to refer, nowadays almost exclusively, to the final redeemer. Herein I will use Moshiach to refer to the final redeemer, as is common.
The Tanach ...
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The Aruch Laner answers that natural death will no longer exists but if someone kills someone death will still happen.
The Chasam Sofer in Toras Moshe on Parshas Shoftim says that maybe you can answer that the Geirim (proselytes) that come to Klal Yisroel will not reach the level of death not affecting them, but will be only counted as Jews and ...
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There are many sources from Tanach, Midrash, and Gemara. The Amidah prayer that a Jew says 3 times a day written by the men of the great assembly (era ending 70C.E. aprox.) speaks of Moshiach in blessing 15. Request for Moshiach (scion of David) and salvation.
In the beginning G-d created the heavens and the earth... and the spirit of G-d hovered over ...
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The idea that the Halacha will be in accordance with Beis Shamai in the time of Moshiach comes from the Arizal. It is quoted in his name by Mikdash Melech to Zohar Parshas Bereishis 17b and in Likkutey Torah (Rabbi Shnuer Zalman of Liadi) Parshas Korach 54c. The Arizal interprets the Mishna in Pirkey Avos (5:19) that an argument for the sake of heaven such ...
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This source attributes your explanation to the Divrei Shmuel in the name of the Rebbe of Chortkov.
I also heard approximately this interpretation in a recent shiur on Parshas Vayechi by R' Fischel Schachter, who said he thought it was from the Chasam Sofer. He begins discussing this at around 11:30 into the shiur.
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R' Chaim Vital writes that he used "Practical Kabbalah" inappropriately, and there is a tradition that one who uses it inappropriately (like if one is ritually impure from a corpse) will either get sick (he or his descendant) or he (or his descendant) will convert out. He says that Rabbi Shlomo Molcho (emphasis mine) was an example of one who used "Practical ...
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