Mashiach!

MASHIACH/MOSHIACH Ve'af al pi sheyitmahmehah, Im kol zeh achakeh lo achakeh lo bechol yom sheyavo. Ve'af al pi sheyitmahmehah, Im kol zeh achakeh lo achakeh lo bechol yom sheyavo. Ani ma'amin, ani ma'amin be'emuno (emunah) sheleymo (sh'lemah) bevias (beviat) hamoshiach ani ma'amin. Ani ma'amin, ani ma'amin be'emuno (emunah) sheleymo (sh'lemah) bevias (beviat) hamoshiach ani ma'amin. Moshiach moshiach moshiach oyoyoyoyoy Moshiach moshiach moshiach oyoyoyoyoy		MESSIAH And even though he may tarry, Nonetheless I will wait for him I will wait every day for him to come. And even though he may tarry, Nonetheless I will wait for him I will wait every day for him to come. I believe, I believe with complete faith in the coming of the Messiah, I believe. I believe, I believe with complete faith in the coming of the Messiah, I believe. Messiah, messiah, messiah ohohohohoh Messiah, messiah, messiah ohohohohoh

Who will be the Messiah?

Some believe they know. This wonderful song was written in hopes that the Lubavitcher Rebbe might be him, but he passed away like all mortal men. It wasn't him. We continue to wait.

Sectarian faith aside, we do not objectively know the answer to this question. Thus far he has not come. That's all we can say for sure. We can say this because the Messianic Kingdom has not yet been established nor have the central requirements been met. Prophecy tells us a lot, but not everything. When Messiah is here we will all know it.

There's an old saying:

If you are working in your garden and hear that Messiah has arrived in the village,
    Finish your work, then go see him.

This is because he has his tasks to fulfill and you have yours.

According to Rambam's Thirteen Principles of Judaism we are to: "believe with perfect emunah in the coming of the Mashiach. However long it takes, [we are to] await his coming every day."

True, many have grown weary and no longer await his coming. Even in the face of Israel's miraculous rebirth some call his coming a fantasy or a false hope. Others have redefined his coming, speaking of a "Messianic Age" while sidestepping or even denying the Messiah who will establish it according to Tanach, Talmud, and traditional Jewish beliefs. They charge that this foundational Jewish belief, affirmed by Rambam and so many other solid Jewish sages and elders, is "too Christian" and should be abandoned! But, when has abandoning Jewish faith ever increased it?

No, HaMashiach will arise from amidst the Jewish people as the anointed prophets and sages have always taught! This is a critical part of our overall Hope. We continue to wait.

Many people hoped that Rebbe Nachman might fulfil the prophecies, he did not. Others looked to Jesus/Y'shua, to Rabbi Akiva, to the Lubavitcher Rebbe, to Ben Gurion, or to someone else and yet thus far NO ONE has met the biblical qualifications to be HaMashiach. As Rebbe Nachman of Breslov warned us:

On the evening following Shabbat Teshuvah, 5570 (1809), people were talking about the Messiah. People were saying that he would come that year.
But Rabbi Nachman did not agree. He said then that before the Messiah comes, people will generally not be crying out about faith. "Although there will be a number of tzadikim [i.e. righteous people] then who will be crying out in a great voice about faith as I am today [said he], until they become hoarse, it will not help" -- Source

The Talmud offers a bit more light:

Sanhedrin Folio 97a: ...Thus hath R. Johanan said: in the generation when the son of David [i.e., Messiah] will come, scholars will be few in number, and as for the rest, their eyes will fail through sorrow and grief. Multitudes of trouble and evil decrees will be promulgated anew, each new evil coming with haste before the other has ended.'

Sanhedrin 97b: ... Rab said: All the predestined dates [for redemption] have passed, and the matter [now] depends only on repentance and good deeds...
R. Eliezer said: if Israel repent, they will be redeemed; if not, they will not be redeemed.
R. Joshua said to him, if they do not repent, will they not be redeemed! [i.e. that is not so!] But the Holy One, blessed be He, will set up a king over them, whose decrees shall be as cruel as Haman's, whereby Israel shall engage in repentance, and he will thus bring them back to the right path.

HaShem alone is our hope and He will send our future King when He chooses. See my study here for more on this.

As we continue to wait for Messiah we must continue to tend our own 'gardens', our own anointed services to HaShem. Messiah will come but dark days may well precede him. Have emunah and continue gardening in the plot He has assigned to you.

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