Jewish eschatology Jewish eschatology is the area of Jewish philosophy, Jewish theology concerned with events that will happen in the Eschatology, end of days and related concepts. This includes the ingathering of the exiled Jewish diaspora, diaspora, the coming ...

Jews Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

Judaism Judaism () is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic, Monotheism, monotheistic, ethnic religion that comprises the collective spiritual, cultural, and legal traditions of the Jews, Jewish people. Religious Jews regard Judaism as their means of o ...

Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
. '' messiah is a king or High Priest of Israel traditionally anointed with holy anointing oil. However, messiahs were not exclusively Jewish, as the Hebrew Bible refers to

Cyrus the Great Cyrus II of Persia ( ; 530 BC), commonly known as Cyrus the Great, was the founder of the Achaemenid Empire. Achaemenid dynasty (i. The clan and dynasty) Hailing from Persis, he brought the Achaemenid dynasty to power by defeating the Media ...

, an Achaemenid emperor, as a messiah for his decree to rebuild the Jerusalem Temple. In Jewish eschatology, the Messiah is a future Jewish

king King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an Absolute monarchy, absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted Government, governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a Constitutional monarchy, ...

from the

Davidic line The Davidic line refers to the descendants of David, who established the House of David ( ) in the Kingdom of Israel (united monarchy), Kingdom of Israel and the Kingdom of Judah. In Judaism, the lineage is based on texts from the Hebrew Bible ...

, who is expected to be anointed with holy anointing oil and rule the Jewish people during the

Messianic Age In Abrahamic religions, the Messianic Age () is the future eternal period of time on Earth in which the messiah will reign and bring universal peace and brotherhood, without any evil (through mankind's own terms). Many believe that there will be s ...

and

world to come The world to come, age to come, heaven on Earth, and the Kingdom of God are eschatology, eschatological phrases reflecting the belief that the World (theology), current world or Dispensation (period), current age is flawed or cursed and will be r ...

. The Messiah is often referred to as "King Messiah" (, ). Jewish messianism gave birth to

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, which states that Jesus in Christianity, Jesus is the Son of God (Christianity), Son of God and Resurrection of Jesus, rose from the dead after his Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion, whose ...

, which started as a

Second Temple period The Second Temple period or post-exilic period in Jewish history denotes the approximately 600 years (516 BCE – 70 CE) during which the Second Temple stood in the city of Jerusalem. It began with the return to Zion and subsequent reconstructio ...

messianic Jewish religious movement.

Etymology

In Jewish eschatology, the term Messiah refers specifically to a future Jewish king from the

Davidic line The Davidic line refers to the descendants of David, who established the House of David ( ) in the Kingdom of Israel (united monarchy), Kingdom of Israel and the Kingdom of Judah. In Judaism, the lineage is based on texts from the Hebrew Bible ...

, who is expected to save the Jewish nation and will be anointed with holy anointing oil and rule the Jewish people during the

Messianic Age In Abrahamic religions, the Messianic Age () is the future eternal period of time on Earth in which the messiah will reign and bring universal peace and brotherhood, without any evil (through mankind's own terms). Many believe that there will be s ...

. The Messiah is often referred to as King Messiah. In a generalized sense, messiah has "the connotation of a savior or redeemer who would appear at the end of days and usher in the kingdom of God, the restoration of Israel, or whatever dispensation was considered to be the ideal state of the world." Messianism "denotes a movement, or a system of beliefs and ideas, centered on the expectation of the advent of a messiah." Orthodox views hold that the Messiah will be a blood descendent from the

Davidic line The Davidic line refers to the descendants of David, who established the House of David ( ) in the Kingdom of Israel (united monarchy), Kingdom of Israel and the Kingdom of Judah. In Judaism, the lineage is based on texts from the Hebrew Bible ...

through his father, and will gather the Jews back into the

Land of Israel The Land of Israel () is the traditional Jewish name for an area of the Southern Levant. Related biblical, religious and historical English terms include the Land of Canaan, the Promised Land, the Holy Land, and Palestine. The definition ...

, usher in an era of peace, build the Third Temple, father a male heir, re-institute the Sanhedrin, and so on. However, the word ''Mashiach'' is rarely used in Jewish literature from the 1st century BCE to the 1st-century CE. The Jewish tradition of the late or early post-Second Temple period alludes to two redeemers, one suffering and the second fulfilling the traditional messianic role, namely ben Yosef and ben David. Messiah unqualified refers to ben David. Belief in the future advent of the Messiah was first recorded in the

Talmud The Talmud (; ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of Haskalah#Effects, modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the cen ...

and later codified in

halakha ''Halakha'' ( ; , ), also Romanization of Hebrew, transliterated as ''halacha'', ''halakhah'', and ''halocho'' ( ), is the collective body of Judaism, Jewish religious laws that are derived from the Torah, Written and Oral Torah. ''Halakha'' is ...

by

Maimonides Moses ben Maimon (1138–1204), commonly known as Maimonides (, ) and also referred to by the Hebrew acronym Rambam (), was a Sephardic rabbi and Jewish philosophy, philosopher who became one of the most prolific and influential Torah schola ...

in the '' Mishneh Torah'' as one of the fundamental requisites of the Jewish faith, concerning which it has been written: "Anyone who does not believe in him, or who does not wait for his arrival, has not merely denied the other prophets, but has also denied the

Torah The Torah ( , "Instruction", "Teaching" or "Law") is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. The Torah is also known as the Pentateuch () ...

and Moses, our Rabbi."

Origins and history

Pre-exile Jewish eschatology (8th–6th cent. BCE)

The roots of Jewish eschatology are to be found in the pre-exile prophets, including Isaiah and

Jeremiah Jeremiah ( – ), also called Jeremias, was one of the major prophets of the Hebrew Bible. According to Jewish tradition, Jeremiah authored the Book of Jeremiah, book that bears his name, the Books of Kings, and the Book of Lamentations, with t ...

, and the exile prophets Ezekiel and Deutero-Isaiah.Jewish Virtual Library
''Eschatology''
/ref> The main tenets of Jewish eschatology are the following, in no particular order, elaborated in the books of Isaiah,

Jeremiah Jeremiah ( – ), also called Jeremias, was one of the major prophets of the Hebrew Bible. According to Jewish tradition, Jeremiah authored the Book of Jeremiah, book that bears his name, the Books of Kings, and the Book of Lamentations, with t ...

and Ezekiel: * End of world (before everything as follows). * God redeems the Jewish people from the captivity that began during the

Babylonian captivity The Babylonian captivity or Babylonian exile was the period in Jewish history during which a large number of Judeans from the ancient Kingdom of Judah were forcibly relocated to Babylonia by the Neo-Babylonian Empire. The deportations occurred ...

, in a new Exodus * God returns the Jewish people to the

Land of Israel The Land of Israel () is the traditional Jewish name for an area of the Southern Levant. Related biblical, religious and historical English terms include the Land of Canaan, the Promised Land, the Holy Land, and Palestine. The definition ...

* God restores the House of David and the

Temple in Jerusalem The Temple in Jerusalem, or alternatively the Holy Temple (; , ), refers to the two religious structures that served as the central places of worship for Israelites and Jews on the modern-day Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusalem. Accord ...

* God creates a regent from the House of David (i.e. the Jewish Messiah) to lead the Jewish people and the world and usher in an age of justice and peace * All nations recognize that the God of Israel is the only true God * God resurrects the dead * God creates a new heaven and a new earth

Second Temple period (516 BCE–70 CE)

Early in the

Second Temple period The Second Temple period or post-exilic period in Jewish history denotes the approximately 600 years (516 BCE – 70 CE) during which the Second Temple stood in the city of Jerusalem. It began with the return to Zion and subsequent reconstructio ...

, hopes for a better future are described in the Jewish scriptures. After the return from the Babylonian exile, the Persian king Cyrus the Great was called "messiah" in Isaiah, due to his role in the return of the Jewish exiles. Some messianic ideas developed during the later Second Temple period, ranging from this-worldly, political expectations to apocalyptic expectations of an end time in which the dead would be resurrected, and the Kingdom of Heaven would be established on earth. The Messiah might be a kingly "Son of David," or a more heavenly " son of man", but "Messianism became increasingly eschatological, and eschatology was decisively influenced by apocalypticism", while "messianic expectations became increasingly focused on the figure of an individual savior." According to R. J. Zwi Werblowsky, "the Messiah no longer symbolized the coming of the new age, but he was somehow supposed to bring it about." The "Lord's anointed" thus became the "savior and redeemer" and the focus of more intense expectations and doctrines." Messianic ideas developed both by new interpretations ('' pesher'', ''

midrash ''Midrash'' (;"midrash"
. ''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''. ; or ''midrashot' ...

'') of the Jewish scriptures but also by visionary revelations.

Apocalypticism

=Messiah in apocalypticism

= Religious views on whether

Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
. '' The reading of messianic attestations in passages from Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel is

anachronistic An anachronism (from the Greek , 'against' and , 'time') is a chronological inconsistency in some arrangement, especially a juxtaposition of people, events, objects, language terms and customs from different time periods. The most common typ ...

because messianism developed later than these texts. According to James C. VanderKam, there are no Jewish texts before the 2nd century BCE that mention a messianic leader, though some terms point in this direction. Some terms, such as the servant songs in the Book of Isaiah, were later interpreted as such. According to Werblowsky, the brutal regime of the Hellenistic Seleucid emperor

Antiochus IV Epiphanes Antiochus IV Epiphanes ( 215 BC–November/December 164 BC) was king of the Seleucid Empire from 175 BC until his death in 164 BC. Notable events during Antiochus' reign include his near-conquest of Ptolemaic Egypt, his persecution of the Jews of ...

(r. 175–163 BCE) led to renewed messianic expectations reflected in the Book of Daniel. His rule was ended by the Maccabean Revolt (167–160 BCE), and the installment of the Hasmonean dynasty (167–37 BCE). The

Maccabees The Maccabees (), also spelled Machabees (, or , ; or ; , ), were a group of Jews, Jewish rebel warriors who took control of Judea, which at the time was part of the Seleucid Empire. Its leaders, the Hasmoneans, founded the Hasmonean dynasty ...

ruled Judea semi-independently from the Seleucid Empire from 167–110 BCE, entirely independently from 110–63 BCE, and as a Roman

client state A client state in the context of international relations is a State (polity), state that is economically, politically, and militarily subordinated to a more powerful controlling state. Alternative terms for a ''client state'' are satellite state, ...

from 63–37 BCE, when

Herod the Great Herod I or Herod the Great () was a History of the Jews in the Roman Empire, Roman Jewish client king of the Herodian kingdom of Judea. He is known for his colossal building projects throughout Judea. Among these works are the rebuilding of the ...

came to power. The belief in a messianic leader further developed with the end of the Hasmonean dynasty. According to James C. VanderKam, the apocalyptic genre shows a negative attitude towards the foreign powers which ruled Judea. Rejection of these powers was not the only cause of the development of the apocalyptic genre. VanderKam states, "the vast majority of Second Temple texts have no reference to a messianic leader of the endtime." The Animal Apocalypse of Enoch 1:85-90 (c. 160 BCE) is the first to do so. After that time, only some apocalypses and some texts which are not apocalypses but do contain apocalyptic or eschatological teachings refer to a messianic leader. According to VanderKam, the lack of messianic allusions may be explained by the fact that

Judea Judea or Judaea (; ; , ; ) is a mountainous region of the Levant. Traditionally dominated by the city of Jerusalem, it is now part of Palestine and Israel. The name's usage is historic, having been used in antiquity and still into the pres ...

was governed for centuries by foreign powers, often without great problems or a negative stance by Jews toward these gentile powers. In the first century BCE, in the Qumran texts, the '' Psalms of Solomon'', and the Similitudes of Enoch, "both foreign and native rulers are castigated and hopes are placed on a Messiah (or Messiahs) who will end the present evil age of injustice. After the First Jewish–Roman War (66-70 CE), texts like 2 Baruch and 4 Ezra reflect the despair of the time. The images and status of the messiah in the various texts are quite different, but the apocalyptic messiahs are only somewhat more exalted than the leaders portrayed in the non-apocalyptic texts. Charleswoth notes that messianic concepts are found in the Old Testament pseudepigrapha, which include a large number of Apocalypses.

=Book of Daniel

= The Book of Daniel (mid-2nd c. BCE) was quoted and referenced by both Jews and Christians in the 1st century CE as predicting the imminent end-time. The concepts of

immortality Immortality is the concept of eternal life. Some species possess "biological immortality" due to an apparent lack of the Hayflick limit. From at least the time of the Ancient Mesopotamian religion, ancient Mesopotamians, there has been a con ...

and resurrection, with rewards for the righteous and punishment for the wicked, have roots much deeper than Daniel, but the first clear statement is found in the final chapter of that book: "Many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to everlasting shame and contempt." Without this belief,

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, which states that Jesus in Christianity, Jesus is the Son of God (Christianity), Son of God and Resurrection of Jesus, rose from the dead after his Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion, whose ...

, in which the

resurrection of Jesus The resurrection of Jesus () is Christianity, Christian belief that God in Christianity, God Resurrection, raised Jesus in Christianity, Jesus from the dead on the third day after Crucifixion of Jesus, his crucifixion, starting—or Preexis ...

plays a central role, may have disappeared, like the movements following other charismatic Jewish figures of the 1st century.

=1 Enoch

= The ''Book of Enoch'' (1 Enoch, 3rd-1st c. BCE) is a Second Temple Jewish apocalyptic religious work, ascribed by tradition to

Enoch Enoch ( ; ''Henṓkh'') is a biblical figure and Patriarchs (Bible), patriarch prior to Noah's flood, and the son of Jared (biblical figure), Jared and father of Methuselah. He was of the Antediluvian period in the Hebrew Bible. The text of t ...

, the great-grandfather of

Noah Noah (; , also Noach) appears as the last of the Antediluvian Patriarchs (Bible), patriarchs in the traditions of Abrahamic religions. His story appears in the Hebrew Bible (Book of Genesis, chapters 5–9), the Quran and Baháʼí literature, ...

.Barker, Margaret. (2005) 987 "Chapter 1: The Book of Enoch," in ''The Older Testament: The Survival of Themes from the Ancient Royal Cult in Sectarian Judaism and Early Christianity''. London: SPCK; Sheffield Phoenix Press. Barker, Margaret. (2005) 998 ''The Lost Prophet: The Book of Enoch and Its Influence on Christianity''. London: SPCK; Sheffield Phoenix Press. Enoch contains a prophetic exposition of the thousand-year reign of the Messiah. The older sections (mainly in the Book of the Watchers) of the text are estimated to date from about 300 BCE, while the latest part (Book of Parables) probably to the 1st century BCE. Enoch is the first text to contain the idea of a preexistent heavenly Messiah, called the "Son of Man".Joseph Jacobs, Moses Buttenwieser (1906)
''Messiah''
Jewish Encyclopedia 1 Enoch, and also 4 Ezra, transform the expectation of a kingly Messiah of Daniel 7 into "an exalted, heavenly messiah whose role would be to execute judgment and to inaugurate a new age of peace and rejoicing." He is described as an angelic being, who "was chosen and hidden with God before the world was created, and will remain in His presence forevermore." He is the embodiment of justice and wisdom, seated on a throne in Heaven, who will be revealed to the world at the end of times, when he will judge all beings. Some scholars contend that Enoch was influential in molding

New Testament The New Testament (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus, as well as events relating to Christianity in the 1st century, first-century Christianit ...

doctrines about the Christ, the son of man, the messianic kingdom, Christian demonology, the universal resurrection, and

Christian eschatology Christian eschatology is a minor branch of study within Christian theology which deals with the doctrine of the "last things", especially the Second Coming of Christ, or Parousia. The word eschatology derives from two Greek roots meaning "last ...

.

=Messianic titles of the Dead Sea Scrolls

= VanderKam further notes that a variety of titles are being used for the Messiah(s) in the

Dead Sea Scrolls The Dead Sea Scrolls, also called the Qumran Caves Scrolls, are a set of List of Hebrew Bible manuscripts, ancient Jewish manuscripts from the Second Temple period (516 BCE – 70 CE). They were discovered over a period of ten years, between ...

: * Messiah - the Damascus Document, the Rule of the Congregation, the Commentary on Genesis, 4Q521 (Messianic Apocalypse), possibly 4Q246 (" Son of God Text") * Righteous One * Chosen One * Son of Man * Son (of God) * God's Servant * Prince of the Congregation * Branch of David * Interpreter of the Law * (High) Priest

=Messianic allusions

= Messianic allusions to some figures include to Menahem ben Hezekiah who traditionally was born on the same day that the Second Temple was destroyed.

Jesus

=Jewish Christianity

= Christianity started as a messianic Jewish sect. Most of Jesus's teachings were intelligible and acceptable in terms of Second Temple Judaism; what set the followers of Jesus apart from other Jews was their faith in Jesus as the resurrected messiah. While ancient Judaism acknowledged multiple messiahs, the two most relevant being ben Joseph and ben David, Christianity acknowledges only one ultimate Messiah. According to Larry Hurtado, "the christology and devotional stance that Paul affirmed (and shared with others in the early Jesus-movement) was not a departure from or a transcending of a supposedly monochrome Jewish messianism, but, instead, a distinctive expression within a variegated body of Jewish messianic hopes."

=Rejection of Jesus as the Messiah

= According to

Maimonides Moses ben Maimon (1138–1204), commonly known as Maimonides (, ) and also referred to by the Hebrew acronym Rambam (), was a Sephardic rabbi and Jewish philosophy, philosopher who became one of the most prolific and influential Torah schola ...

,

Jesus Jesus (AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Chris ...

was the most influential, and consequently the most damaging, of all false messiahs. However, since the traditional Jewish belief is that the messiah has not yet come and the Messianic Age is not yet present, the total

rejection of Jesus There are a number of episodes in the New Testament in which Jesus was social rejection, rejected. Jesus is rejected in Judaism as a failed Jewish messiah claimant and a false prophet by all denominations of Judaism. New Testament Hometown rej ...

as either messiah or

deity A deity or god is a supernatural being considered to be sacred and worthy of worship due to having authority over some aspect of the universe and/or life. The ''Oxford Dictionary of English'' defines ''deity'' as a God (male deity), god or god ...

has never been a central issue for Judaism. Judaism has never accepted any of the claimed fulfillments of prophecy that Christianity attributes to Jesus. Judaism forbids the worship of a person as a form of idolatry, since the central belief of Judaism is the absolute unity and singularity of God.

Jewish eschatology Jewish eschatology is the area of Jewish philosophy, Jewish theology concerned with events that will happen in the Eschatology, end of days and related concepts. This includes the ingathering of the exiled Jewish diaspora, diaspora, the coming ...

holds that the coming of the Messiah will be associated with a specific series of events that have not yet occurred, including the return of Jews to their homeland and the rebuilding of the Temple, a Messianic Age of peace and understanding during which "the knowledge of God" fills the earth." And since Jews believe that none of these events occurred during the lifetime of Jesus (nor have they occurred afterwards), he is not the Messiah for them. Traditional views of Jesus have been mostly negative (see '' Toledot Yeshu'', an account that portrays Jesus as an impostor), although in the Middle Ages, Judah Halevi and Maimonides viewed Jesus as an important preparatory figure for a future universal ethical monotheism of the Messianic Age. Some modern Jewish thinkers, starting in the 18th century with the Orthodox Jacob Emden and the reformer Moses Mendelssohn, have sympathetically argued that the

historical Jesus The term ''historical Jesus'' refers to the life and teachings of Jesus as interpreted through critical historical methods, in contrast to what are traditionally religious interpretations. It also considers the historical and cultural context ...

may have been closer to Judaism than either the

Gospel Gospel originally meant the Christianity, Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the second century Anno domino, AD the term (, from which the English word originated as a calque) came to be used also for the books in which the message w ...

s or traditional Jewish accounts would indicate.

Post-Temple and medieval views

Talmud

The

Talmud The Talmud (; ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of Haskalah#Effects, modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the cen ...

extensively discusses the coming of the Messiah (Sanhedrin 98a–99a, et al.) and describes a period of freedom and peace, which will be the time of ultimate goodness for the Jews. Tractate Sanhedrin contains a long discussion of the events leading to the coming of the Messiah. The Talmud tells many stories about the Messiah, some of which represent famous Talmudic rabbis as receiving personal visitations from Elijah the Prophet and the Messiah.

Midrash

There are innumerable references to the Messiah in Midrashic literature, where they often stretch the meaning of biblical verses. One such reference is found in the Midrash HaGadol (on Genesis 36:39) where Abba bar Kahana says: "What is meant by, 'In that day the root of Jesse, who shall stand as an ensign for the peoples, of him shall the nations inquire, and his rest shall be glorious' (Isaiah 11:10)? It means that when the banner of the anointed king shall be lifted-up, all the masts of ships belonging to the nations of the world shall be broken, while all the lines ( halyard, downhaul and sheets) are cut loose, while all ships are broken asunder, and none of them remain excepting the banner of the son of David, as it says: 'who shall stand as an ensign for the peoples'. Likewise, when the banner of the son of David shall arise, all the languages belonging to the nations shall be made useless, and their customs shall be rendered null and void. The nations, at that time, will learn from the Messiah, as it says: 'of him shall the nations inquire' (ibid.); 'and his rest shall be glorious', meaning, he gives to them satisfaction, and tranquility, and they dwell in peace and quiet."

Maimonides

The influential Jewish philosopher

Maimonides Moses ben Maimon (1138–1204), commonly known as Maimonides (, ) and also referred to by the Hebrew acronym Rambam (), was a Sephardic rabbi and Jewish philosophy, philosopher who became one of the most prolific and influential Torah schola ...

discussed the messiah in his Mishneh Torah, his 14-volume compendium of Jewish law, in the section ''Hilkhot Melakhim Umilchamoteihem'', chapters 11 & 12. According to Maimonides,

Jesus Jesus (AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Chris ...

of Nazareth is not the Messiah, as is claimed by Christians. Maimonides, citing a reference in the Talmud (''Sanhedrin'' 91b), says: "There is no difference between this world and the days of the Messiah, excepting only the subjugation of kingdoms."

Spanish Inquisition

Following the expulsion of Jews from Spain in 1492, many Spanish rabbis such as Abraham ben Eliezer Halevi believed that the year 1524 would be the beginning of the Messianic Age and that the Messiah himself would appear in 1530–1531.

Contemporary Jewish views

Orthodox Judaism

Orthodox Judaism Orthodox Judaism is a collective term for the traditionalist branches of contemporary Judaism. Theologically, it is chiefly defined by regarding the Torah, both Torah, Written and Oral Torah, Oral, as literally revelation, revealed by God in Ju ...

maintains the 13 Principles of Faith as formulated by

Maimonides Moses ben Maimon (1138–1204), commonly known as Maimonides (, ) and also referred to by the Hebrew acronym Rambam (), was a Sephardic rabbi and Jewish philosophy, philosopher who became one of the most prolific and influential Torah schola ...

in his introduction to Chapter ''Helek'' of the Mishna Torah. Each principle starts with the words ''Ani Maamin'' (I believe). Number 12 is the main principle relating to ''Mashiach''. Orthodox Jews strictly believe in a Messiah, life after death, and restoration of the

Promised Land In the Abrahamic religions, the "Promised Land" ( ) refers to a swath of territory in the Levant that was bestowed upon Abraham and his descendants by God in Abrahamic religions, God. In the context of the Bible, these descendants are originally ...

:

Hasidic Judaism

Hasidic Jews tend to have a particularly strong and passionate belief in the immediacy of the Messiah's coming, and in the ability of their actions to hasten his arrival. Because of the supposed piety, wisdom, and leadership abilities of the Hasidic Masters, members of Hasidic communities are sometimes inclined to regard their dynastic rebbes as potential candidates for Messiah. Many Jews (see the ''Bartenura's'' explanation on ''Megillat Rut'', and the ''Halakhic'' responsa of The ''Ch'sam Sofer'' on ''Choshen Mishpat'' ol. 6 Chapter 98 where this view is explicit), especially Hasidim, adhere to the belief that there is a person born each generation with the potential to become Messiah, if the Jewish people warrant his coming; this candidate is known as the '' Tzadik Ha-Dor'', meaning ''Tzaddik of the Generation''. However, fewer are likely to name a candidate.

Chabad messianism

Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, the last Rebbe of Chabad-Lubavitch, declared often that the Messiah is very close, urging all to pray for the coming of the Messiah and to do everything possible to hasten the coming of the Messiah through increased acts of kindness. Starting in the late 1960s, the Rebbe called for his followers to become involved in outreach activities with the purpose of bringing about the Jewish Messianic Age,''The Encyclopedia of Hasidism'', entry: Habad, Jonathan Sacks, pp. 161–164 which led to controversy surrounding the messianic beliefs of Chabad. Some Chabad Hasidim, called ''mashichists'', "have not yet accepted the Rebbe's passing" and even after his death regard him as the (living) 'King Messiah' and 'Moses of the generation', awaiting his second coming. The "Chabad-Messianic question", regarding a dead Messiah, got oppositional addresses from a halachic perspective by many prominent Orthodox authorities, including leaders from the

Ashkenazi Ashkenazi Jews ( ; also known as Ashkenazic Jews or Ashkenazim) form a distinct subgroup of the Jewish diaspora, that Ethnogenesis, emerged in the Holy Roman Empire around the end of the first millennium Common era, CE. They traditionally spe ...

non-Hasidic Lithuanian (''Litvak'') institutions, Ponevezh yeshiva in Bnei Brak,

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

, and got vehement opposition, notably that of the Yeshivas Chofetz Chaim (RSA) in New York and that of the Rabbinical Council of America.

Conservative Judaism

'' Emet Ve-Emunah'', the Conservative movement's statement of principles, states the following:

Reform and Reconstructionist Judaism

Reform Judaism Reform Judaism, also known as Liberal Judaism or Progressive Judaism, is a major Jewish religious movements, Jewish denomination that emphasizes the evolving nature of Judaism, the superiority of its Jewish ethics, ethical aspects to its ceremo ...

and Reconstructionist Judaism generally do not accept the idea that there will be a Messiah. Some believe that there may be some sort of Messianic Age (the

World to Come The world to come, age to come, heaven on Earth, and the Kingdom of God are eschatology, eschatological phrases reflecting the belief that the World (theology), current world or Dispensation (period), current age is flawed or cursed and will be r ...

) in the sense of a

utopia A utopia ( ) typically describes an imagined community or society that possesses highly desirable or near-perfect qualities for its members. It was coined by Sir Thomas More for his 1516 book ''Utopia (book), Utopia'', which describes a fictiona ...

, which all Jews are obligated to work towards (thus the tradition of '' Tikkun olam''). In 1999, the Central Conference of American Rabbis, the official body of American Reform rabbis, authored "A Statement of Principles for Reform Judaism", meant to describe and define the spiritual state of modern Reform Judaism.

Karaite Judaism

Karaite Judaism Karaite Judaism or Karaism is a Rabbinic Judaism, non-Rabbinical Jewish religious movements, Jewish sect characterized by the recognition of the written Tanakh alone as its supreme religious text, authority in ''halakha'' (religious law) and t ...

holds to Elijah Bashyazi and Caleb Afendopolo's 10 principles of Karaite belief, with the tenth one being about the Messiah:

Calculation of appearance

According to the

Talmud The Talmud (; ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of Haskalah#Effects, modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the cen ...

, the

Midrash ''Midrash'' (;"midrash"
. ''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''. ; or ''midrashot' ...

,Pirke De Rabbi Eliezer, Gerald Friedlander, Sepher-Hermon Press, New York, 1981, p. 141. and the Zohar, the "deadline" by which the Messiah must appear is 6000 years from creation (approximately the year 2239 or 2240 in the

Gregorian calendar The Gregorian calendar is the calendar used in most parts of the world. It went into effect in October 1582 following the papal bull issued by Pope Gregory XIII, which introduced it as a modification of, and replacement for, the Julian cale ...

, though calculations vary). Elaborating on this theme are early and late Jewish scholars, including

Nahmanides Moses ben Nachman ( ''Mōše ben-Nāḥmān'', "Moses son of Nachman"; 1194–1270), commonly known as Nachmanides (; ''Nakhmanídēs''), and also referred to by the acronym Ramban (; ) and by the contemporary nickname Bonastruc ça Porta (; l ...

, Isaac Abarbanel, Abraham ibn Ezra, Bahya ibn Paquda, the Vilna Gaon, Menachem Mendel Schneerson, the Moshe Chaim Luzzatto,

Aryeh Kaplan Aryeh Moshe Eliyahu Kaplan (; October 23, 1934 – January 28, 1983) was an American Orthodox Judaism, Orthodox rabbi, author, and translator best known for his The Living Torah and Nach, Living Torah edition of the Torah and extensive Kabbalah, ...

, and Rebbetzin Esther Jungreis.

Notes and references

Notes

References

Sources

;Printed sources * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

External links

Jewish Encyclopedia: Messiah

Moshiach and the Future Redemption

by Jeffrey A. Spitzer

by the

University of Calgary {{Infobox university , name = University of Calgary , image = University of Calgary coat of arms without motto scroll.svg , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms , former ...

Videos on the Topic of Messiah by the Jewish Rabbis
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jewish Messianism

Etymology

Origins and history

Pre-exile Jewish eschatology (8th–6th cent. BCE)

Second Temple period (516 BCE–70 CE)

Apocalypticism

=Messiah in apocalypticism

=Book of Daniel

=1 Enoch

=Messianic titles of the Dead Sea Scrolls

=Messianic allusions

Jesus

=Jewish Christianity

=Rejection of Jesus as the Messiah

Post-Temple and medieval views

Talmud

Midrash

Maimonides

Spanish Inquisition

Contemporary Jewish views

Orthodox Judaism

Hasidic Judaism

Chabad messianism

Conservative Judaism

Reform and Reconstructionist Judaism

Karaite Judaism

Calculation of appearance

See also

Notes and references

Notes

References

Sources

Further reading

External links