The first minute plus 52 is very moving:
Zion Needs the Messiah
by Yosef Ben Shlomo Hakohen*
[Special to Artuz Sheva]
According to a teaching of Maimonides, the belief in the coming of the Messiah is one of the thirteen principles of our faith (commentary of Maimonides to Mishnah Sanhedrin, chap. 10). The following statement is the well-known summary of this teaching of Maimonides:
“I believe with complete faith in the coming of the Messiah, and even though he may delay, nevertheless I anticipate every day that he will come.”
The belief in the coming of the Messiah is deeply embedded within the consciousness of the Jewish people. Even those of our people who view themselves as “secular” have been affected by this belief. For example, the book World of Our Fathers, by Irving Howe, describes the messianic yearnings of an earlier generation of Jewish socialists and progressive activists who strayed from the path of Torah. Although their ideology was secular, their yearning, hope and striving for a better world was rooted in the ancient Jewish belief that the Messiah will eventually come and inaugurate a new age of universal justice, unity and shalom. [...]
A description of the messianic age of redemption and the role of the Messiah is found in Chapter 11 of the Book of Isaiah, and it opens with the following passage:
A staff will emerge from the stump of Jesse, and a shoot will sprout from his roots. The spirit of HaShem will rest upon him - a spirit of wisdom and understanding, a spirit of counsel and strength, a spirit of knowledge and reverence for HaShem. He will be imbued with a spirit of reverence for HaShem; and he will not need to judge by what his eyes see nor decide by what his ears hear. He will judge the destitute with righteousness, and decide with fairness for the humble of the earth. He will strike the world with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked one. Righteousness will be the girdle round his loins, and faith will be the girdle round his waist. (Isaiah 11:1-5)
In the above passage, it states: “The spirit of HaShem will rest upon him - a spirit of wisdom and understanding, a spirit of counsel and strength, a spirit of knowledge and awe of HaShem.” This verse clearly indicates that the Messiah is an enlightened human being who is in awe of HaShem, but who is not HaShem. This verse serves as a reminder that we are not to deify any human being, including a great Jewish human being.
It also states: “He will strike the world with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked one.” According to Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch, this verse reveals that the power of the Messiah will come from “the rod of his mouth” - the strength of his teachings. Through these teachings, explains Rabbi Hirsch, the conscience and power of goodness within the wicked one will be awakened; thus,
“the wicked one has certainly been killed,
but in his place,
a fresh pure human being has arisen anew.”
(Commentary on the Haftorot)
The prophet then describes an era of universal shalom and spiritual enlightenment:
The wolf will live with the sheep, and the leopard will lie down with the kid; and a calf, a lion whelp and a fatling together, and a young child will lead them. A cow and bear will graze and their young will lie down together; and a lion, like cattle, will eat hay. A suckling will play by a viper’s hole; and a newly weaned child will stretch his hand towards an adder’s lair. They will neither injure nor destroy in all of My sacred mountain; for the earth will be filled with knowledge of HaShem as water covering the sea bed. (Isaiah 11:1-9)
With the arrival of the Messiah, adds the Prophet Isaiah, HaShem will bring all our people home:
It shall be on that day that the Master of All will once again show His hand, to acquire the remnant of His people... He will raise a banner for the nations and assemble the castaways of Israel; and He will gather in the dispersed ones of Judah from the four corners of the earth. (verses 11,12)
The above prophecies reveal what the Messiah will accomplish after he arrives. We are therefore awaiting the arrival of the true Messiah, when all of these prophecies will be fulfilled. Even though he may tarry, we are not to lose hope, for when the hour arrives for the birth of the messianic age, he will not delay. In this spirit, the prophet Habakkuk proclaims:
For there is yet another hazon ("vision") for the appointed time; it will speak of the end and it will not deceive. Though it may tarry, await it, for it will surely come; it will not delay. (Habakkuk 2:3)
Related Teachings and Information and full article is here.
*Yosef Ben Shlomo Hakohen is the author of "The Universal Jew" (Feldheim Publishers) and the Editor of the Shema Yisrael network website, "Hazon: Our Universal Vision". Mr. Hakohen also serves on several advisory boards of the Root & Branch Association, Ltd.
No comments:
Post a Comment