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There a some stories Chazal bring about men who were potentially going to be mashiach. A couple that come to mind are Bar Kochba (who Rabbi Akiva said would be Mashiach) and the man Eliyahu Hanavi sends R Yehoshua Ben Levi to see (Sanhedrin 98a).

These men seem to have very little in common. Bar Kochba was a great Warrior and leader of men, whereas RYB”L’s man seems to be an old sickly beggar or something of the kind.

My question is, are there any specific requirements brought by Chazal or others that Mashiach must possess in terms of character traits/personality? And if not, how is it determined who’s worthy of being Mashiach?

I’m specifically looking for answers in regards to Mashiach’s character, not a description of the actions and accomplishments he’s destined to fulfill as those are relatively well known.

(This question is in regards to Mashiach Ben David, who’s most likely the one the stories are referring to)

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  • sefaria.org/Mishneh_Torah%2C_Kings_and_Wars.11.4?lang=bi
    – shmosel
    Commented Dec 9 at 20:24
  • One version of the story goes that mashiach will be able to “sniff out” who’s lying or not, but the rabbis tested bar kochba in this and he failed and then they killed him. But we see one of the traits is being able to know who’s lying or not
    – Curious Yid
    Commented 2 days ago
  • What do you imagine Bar Kochba looked like? Conan the barbarian?
    – Chani
    Commented 11 hours ago
  • @Chani I don’t recall asking about his looks, but he probably looked closer to Conan than to a sickly beggar perennially changing his bandages.
    – Reb Harvey
    Commented 11 hours ago

1 Answer 1

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He should be Jewish. And since he is Messiah he should be messianic. So he should be a Messianic Jew.

Follow me for more proof of my amazing reasoning powers.

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    Good answer for a purim Torah question during adar but this doesn't answer the question and it's off topic the rest of the year also
    – Dude
    Commented yesterday

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