ICJudaism: A Teacher’s Guide to Judaism

      Hosted by ICTeachers                                                                Formerly: Mike’s Rough Guide to Judaism

Disclaimer:

The contents of these pages represent the author’s personal views, experience and understanding.
There are bound to be some things here that some Jews would disagree with.

 

The Messiah

The English word messiah may derive from the Hebrew term Moshiach (pronounced mo-she-uch), meaning The Anointed One (referring to the ancient custom of anointing the head of a king with oil on his accession). However, it is much more likely that the word messiah derives from the Hebrew word moshiah (saviour). The two words may look almost the same in transliteration but are significantly different in the original Hebrew.

In Jewish thought the term Moshiach has a meaning and significance which is quite different from the commonly understood Christian usage of the word Messiah.

In Jewish thought, Moshiach is the one who will be king at the "end of days", ie the time to come, when the whole world will follow God's rule and there will be peace and harmony. In Jewish thinking Moshiach:

 

• will not be an earthly incarnation of God or in any other way divine,
• will not be a saviour who redeems humanity through suffering.
• will be a normal human (to Jews we are ALL sons or daughters of God).
• will be a charismatic political and military leader, a person of great learning and wisdom, well versed in Torah and Jewish Law.
• will be a great judge who will make righteous decisions.
• will be descended from King David - traditionally orthodox Jews often referred to him Moshiach ben Dovid - Moshiach, son of David).

The differences of understanding of the nature of Moshiach are indicative of significant differences between Judaism and Christianity in interpretation of the scriptures (especially, I think, of the Book of Isiah).

The coming of Moshiach is not mentioned in Torah. The concept seems to have been introduced to Jewish thought during the time of the prophets.

In Jewish thought, when Moshiach comes he will establish the Olam HaBa (The World to Come) which will be characterised by:

• The restoration of temple worship in Jerusalem;
• Spiritual and political freedom for the Jewish people;
• All the peoples of the world recognizing God as the only God;
• Peaceful coexistence of all people and an end to war and hatred;
• The return of Jewish exiles to Israel.

Whilst some of the biblical prophets predicted the coming of Moshiach and the establishment of Olam HaBa, they did not specify clearly when he would come. There are 2 basic views about when Moshiach will come:

• Moshiach will come when the world is in most need need (ie when it is most sinful);

Or

• Moshiach will come when the world is ready (ie when it is most good).

The key to recognising Moshiach is the establishment of Olam HaBa. There have been many claimed messiahs but, since we patently do not live in Olam HaBa, none of them can have been the real thing.

A belief in the coming of Moshiach is one of The Rambam's 13 principles, and is a key feature of the beliefs of many Jews (especially Chassidic Jews). For many Jews, however, Moshiach is seen as being of little consequence or importance, a metaphorical idea and no more.

(In writing this page I have leaned heavily on Tracey Rich's Messiah page on her site: Judaism 101. If you want to learn more about the Jewish Messianic ideas why not click on the link?)