From: jem@datum.nyo.dec.com (Jem Steinberg)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.jewish
Subject: Metzora: Musings on Mashiach (R. Riskin)
Date: 7 Apr 92 18:06:24 GMT
Organization: Digital Equipment Corporation





Shabbat Shalom: Metzora (Shabbat Hagodol) by Shlomo  Riskin

Efrat,  Israel -- With all the dust being raised  by  the  Lubav-
itcher  Hassidim  that  the messiah's arrival  is imminent,  this
particular Sabbath, a week before Passover, could prove to  be  a
day we'll never forget.

Called the Great   Sabbath, it   comes to herald  the  redemption
of the Jewish people,not only the past exodus from Egypt, but the
ultimate redemption as  well.  This   is  why the Haftorah  read-
ing  ends  with G-d's promise, "Behold I will send you Elijah the
prophet before the coming of  the great   and   awesome   day  of
G-d..."[Malachi 3:24]. Had the messiah tried to come five decades
ago, he probably couldn't have  gotten past   the  doorman. Since
then  the  world has turned upside down.  Not only was the Jewish
state created after 2000 years of   exile,  Jerusalem  liberated,
Jewish refugees returned home, but who could have dreamed up such
a bloodless end to the Cold War!   Communism was  not  just   the
enemy  of the free world, but the most visible threat to a belief
in One G-d. And  when  forty-two  scuds   fell during   the  Gulf
War  and  killed  only one person, in addition to everything else
that had happened, the sense   of   the   miraculous  was    felt
keenly  in  Israel, leading many to wonder what else may be going
on.

Certainly Lubavitch believes in the ripeness of  the hour,    and
that  the  forty year old effort of the Rebbe and other religious
leaders to revive Torah  values  amongst   a   generation  disil-
lusioned   by  the  Holocaust,  has helped bring us closer to our
messianic potential. And messiah consciousness is  spreading  far
beyond   Crown  Heights. Under the Rebbe's inspiration, Israel is
humming with newsbriefs, the message of  redemption  on   flyers,
bumper stickers, and colored booklets. On the road to Efrat, like
in countless other sites, a yellow Lubavitcher billboard bids  us
to prepare for the coming of the Messiah.

But a backlash exists. A red flag of danger is  being  raised  by
Rav  Eliezer  Shach and   his followers.   In  his latest attack,
he describes those who follow the messianic  Lubavitchers  as  no
better  than pork eaters,  strong words  from  the  Rosh  Yeshiva
of the world renowned Ponevezher yeshiva. How are  we  to  under-
stand  two  giants with  such  opposing views   on  the  messiah?
What  is  truly the Jewish position on redemption and messianism?

First of all, it must  be  noted   that messianism   is fundamen-
tal to Jewish theology. We understand how the endless repetitions
of seasons may have been behind  the  ancient    world's   belief
that  because time is  seasonal, history is cyclical. The myth of
Sisyphus, the tragic figure  condemned   to roll   a  boulder  up
a   mountain  only for it to roll back down again, with this pro-
cess repeating itself eternally, is the Greek expression  for its
vision  of history: after reaching an apex, it reverts and starts
all over again.

Judaism's vision is  the  exact opposite,   emphasizing   not   a
circular  but  a linear image. There *is* light at the end of the
tunnel, giving purpose to the    historical    process    whereas
the  Greek tunnel becomes a maze, and a minotaur prevents our es-
cape. Judaism, after ridding  the   world of  minotaurs, is a re-
ligion  that  promises a way out, that posits an eventual utopia.
And  our  City  of  G-d   is   a   this-worldly  Jerusalem,   our
salvation must be accomplished not in heaven but on earth !

The  Torah  itself  points  toward  redemption  in  the  end   of
days."....Then   the  Lord your G-d will turn your captivity, and
have compassion upon you, and will return and gather you from all
the   nations,  amongst  whom  the  Lord  your  G-d has scattered
you..." [Deut. 30:3-4]. This theme pervades much of   the    pro-
phetic  writings,    and   is central tothe Jewish experience. In
his Thirteen Principles of Faith, Maimonides, the  most   ration-
al   of   all Torah   giants, declares: "I believe with a perfect
belief in the coming of the Messiah, and although he may tarry, I
daily   wait for   his  coming."  [Principle  #12].

If  we  compare  the codex of Maimonides to other codices of Jew-
ish  law,  we   find   a    startling  truth   hidden  within its
structure. Whereas the universally accepted codex of  R.   Joseph
Caro,  the  _Shulhan  Arukh_, begins   with laws of getting up in
the morning and ends with the laws of mourning, defining the Jew-
ish  experience  as   guiding    us from  sunrise  to  nightfall,
from cradle to grave. The codex of  Maimonides  begins  with  the
theology of Judaism (belief in G-d  as the   ground  of  all  ex-
istence)  and  ends with the laws of the renewal of the house  of
David.   In  other words, Maimonides  understands  Jewish culture
and law as transcending the natural rhythm of life. Judaism  must
arise  from  the  context of G-d and must lead to  world  redemp-
tion.   Beginning,  recognizing  G-d's   role  in  the  universe,
Maimonides  doesn't  conclude his code with laws  affecting   the
individual  mourner, but with the laws affecting all  of  Israel,
listing  the  specific  requirements  for the  messiah  king, and
the     dream    for    world    peace    which    the    Messiah
heralds.

Invariably, messianism has a built-in  danger.  A   false messiah
can    lead    to  disappointment,  depression, even derangement.
When Shabbetai Zevi, hailed even by  major  Jewish   scholars  as
the  messiah,  converted  to  Islam in 1666, it rocked the Jewish
people to its foundation. Many went mad,  twisting  Judaism  into
a religion  which suddenly endorsed going to the depths of impur-
ity in order to change the world.

And so because of  the  dangers  inherent   in    a    messianism
which  may  sprout false leaves and which proved  disasterous  in
the  past, two  basic  strategies    have developed,   both   ex-
treme.   The  first, as explained by scholar-theologian Professor
Yehoshua Leibowitz,  rejects  messianism  as essential  to   Jew-
ish  belief - what is fundamental he argues is our _waiting_  for
the messiah; redemption must forever   be   anticipation    never
realized.

The other position has taken root among  the  ultra-orthodox  who
admit   to   believing  in the messiah's   coming,   but maintain
that since  such  Messianic  beliefs  in  the  past  have  proven
dangerous   (The   Pauline   heresy  surrounding  the founder  of
Christianity,   the   abortive   Bar  Kochva  rebellion)  -  it's
better  to   leave  everything to G-d. Indeed, they  cite  a  Mi-
drash  which  forbids  us  fom  climbing    the    ramparts    to
Jerusalem,   from   at-  tempting   even   the   first  stage  of
redemption  -  national sovereignty.

The   consequences  of  such thinking is that it prevents us from
helping ourselves even in the face of world anti-semitism, and it
robs Judaism of its vision to perfect the world. This may explain
why so many Jews abandoned the houses of study of Eastern  Europe
for   the  skies  of Israel  promising  sovereign  rain and  Jew-
ish wheat.

Maimonides would be the first to ask these  Jews  why  they  have
virtually   erased  the last two chapters of his codex which sets
forth what I believe is 'normative' Messianism. We dare  not cast
out  the  baby with the bathwater. According to Maimonides, blood
ruler, a philosopher-king, a Torah authority  who  will    influ-
ence   all  of  Israel to follow the Torah, conquer  the  enemies
surrounding  Israel,  build the Third Temple and return the scat-
tered  Jews back to Israel. He  will  lead  the  world  to  peace
[Mishnah  Torah,  Laws  of  Kings, Ch:  11,12].  A  human  being,
the messiah  lives in a world of recognizable realities  of  mil-
itary requirements  and  political  alignments. He must deal with
these  realities,  and  emerge  victorious within the constraints
that they engender.

Moreover, we must consider the words of the Hatam  Sofer,  quoted
in Rabbi Menachem Kasher's  work  _Arba  Roim_  that  the problem
is not merely in finding a personality  of   messianic   stature;
every  generation  produces someone worthy of being the  messiah,
but the  the  main difficulty arises because the nation   is  not
fit.  Messianism  expresses  a synthesis between leader  and  his
citizen, between teacher and disciple.

What we gather from this is that  we dare not lose our  heads  in
the   wake   of  contemporary  messianic  fervour. If a messianic
figure exists in every  generation,  then the  Lubavitcher  drive
should   be   to  make   our   generation worthy of meriting such
leadership. Indeed many of the signs seem to be pointing  towards
the  unique  nature  and opportunity  of the years which we live.
But to suggest that someone is the messiah before he   has   ful-
filled  the  list  of  requirements  necessary for redemption  is
Jewishly  impossible argues  Maimonides.  Were   the  Lubavitcher
Rebbe to come to Israel, and conquer the enemies from within  and
from without, then he may well emerge as the leading candidate.

The "common sense" approach  of   normative   messianism  insists
that   whoever   does what the messiah is supposed to accomplish,
ibso facto is declared as the Messiah. If he  doesn't,  he isn't.
It  is  equally incorrect to suggest that anyone is or is not the
Messiah before the Messianic program has actually come  to  pass.
Until   that   time,   we   must   undoubtedly   anticipate   and
prepare. Ultimately it is not only we who  are  waiting  for  the
Messiah. It is the Messiah who is waiting for us.

Shabbat Shalom
-- 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Yehoshua (Jem) Steinberg | Complacency is  tantamount 
jem@datum.nyo.dec.com    |      to  complicity.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Newsgroups: soc.culture.jewish