Then the Messiah will say to the children of Israel: “Go and assemble all your brethren from all the nations.” And they will go and assemble all Israel and bring them to stand before the Messiah, as it is said, And they shall bring all your brethren out of all the nations as an offering to Yahweh (Isa. 66:20).
This myth describes the emergence of the Messiah at the End of Days. The Messiah has been imprisoned, but the time finally comes when he is set free. Then the first thing he does is remind God of his suffering and that of the people of Israel, and he sets out to accomplish the first of the messianic requirements—the Ingathering of the Exiles. See “The Suffering Messiah,” p. 489 and “The Chains of the Messiah,” p. 492 for myths about the suffering of the Messiah.
Sources:
Hekhalot Rabbati 6.
625. UNTIL THE REDEMPTION
Before his death, the Rabbi of Riminov let it be known that he would not set foot in the Garden of Eden until the time of the Messiah had come. After his death, the angels sought to convince him to enter, for he had long been awaited, but he refused. They sought to lure him into the Garden by showing him many wonderful things, but their efforts were in vain. Still, it was not yet time for the Messiah to come. So they asked King David to play on his harp, and when that haunting music drifted out of the Garden and reached the Rabbi of Riminov, he followed after it as if in a trance, and in this way he was lured inside at last.
Likewise, Rabbi Shalom Rokeach, the Belzer Rebbe, once said, “One time I dreamt that I was brought to Gan Eden and shown the walls of Jerusalem. The walls were in ruins and a man was walking on them. I asked, ‘Who is that man?’ I was told that this is Rabbi Israel Ba’al Shem Tov. He has sworn not to come down from there until the Temple is rebuilt.”
There are quite a few stories about rabbis who vowed not to enter Gan Eden until the Messiah had come, but were somehow seduced into entering the Garden. The Rabbi of Riminov and the Belzer Rebbe (1779-1855) are both great Hasidic masters, and, of course, the Ba’al Shem Tov is the founder of Hasidism. Their links to this tale of the refusal of the heavenly reward were intended to emphasize their great hope in the coming era of the Messiah, which would have to include the rebuilding of the Temple.
Among others who refused to enter the Garden of Eden was the Rabbi of Ujhely, who was finally lured into the Garden by an invitation to give a d’var Torah, a sermon. Because awareness of time doesn’t exist in the Garden, he is said still to be speaking. See also “The Pact” in Gabriel’s Palace, pp. 256-257, about three rabbis who make a vow to force the coming of the Messiah.
Sources:
Pe’er ve-Kavod 16a-b; Rabbi Yisrael Ba’al Shem Tov by Menashe Unger.
626. THE CONCEALMENT OF ELIJAH
Elijah has gone into hiding and will reappear only at the advent of the Messiah.
Elijah is often identified as the herald and precursor of the Messiah. Here Elijah is said to have gone into hiding until the advent of the messianic era. The point is that just as the Messiah is hidden, waiting for the time when his footsteps will be heard, so too is Elijah concealed until it is time for him to fulfill his role in the messianic drama.
This myth runs contrary to the widespread appearance of Elijah in the rabbinic, folk, kabbalistic, and Hasidic lore.
Sources:
Seder Olam Rabbah 17; B. Eruvin 43b;
627. FORCING THE END
In every generation there are three sages who together possess the power to force the coming of the Messiah. In the time of the ancient sages, it was Rabbi Hiyya and his sons. Elijah the Prophet was a regular visitor to the synagogue of Rabbi Judah ha-Nasi, but one day he was late. When they asked him why, he said, “I had to waken Abraham, wash his hands, let him pray, and return him to sleep; likewise with Isaac and with Jacob.”
They asked him, “Why couldn’t you waken them together?” Elijah answered, “If they were to pray together, their power could bring the Messiah before his time.” They asked, “Are there any like them in this world?” Elijah replied, “Only Rabbi Hiyya and his sons.”
That day Rabbi Judah ha-Nasi decreed a fast and let Rabbi Hiyya and his sons lead the prayers. When Rabbi Hiyya said, “He causes the wind to blow,” the wind began to blow. When he said, “He causes the rain to fall,” rain began to fall.
As he was about to say the line, “He resurrects the dead,” they said in heaven, “Who has disclosed this secret?” and the angels replied, “Elijah.” They brought Elijah before the heavenly court and gave him sixty lashes of fire. After that Elijah appeared in Rabbi Judah’s synagogue as a fiery bear, and chased everyone out.
Over the generations these three sages existed, but rarely did they live near each other, nor did they know that this great power could be theirs if they joined together. But the Seer of Lublin uncovered this secret and revealed it to the other two sages. All of them were filled with a terrible longing for the Messiah. So they made a pact to force the Messiah to come on Simhat Torah of that year.
Now it happened that just before Rosh ha-Shanah, Baruch of Medzibozh took sick and died. Twenty-two days later, on Simhat Torah, the news of Rabbi Baruch’s death had reached the Riminov Rabbi, but not the Seer of Lublin. The Riminov Rabbi recognized at once that he must not proceed in the plan to force the End of Days. But the Seer of Lublin knew nothing about it, so on Simhat Torah he danced with the Torah in his arms, and then he went to the second floor and prayed alone there for several hours.
Just as he reached the conclusion of his prayers, the Seer of Lublin suddenly felt a great force from behind push him out the open window. He would have met a certain death, but just before he struck the ground he felt as if a net had caught him. Looking up, he saw Baruch of Medzibozh standing there, and found that he had landed on his tallit, which Rabbi Baruch had spread out below. Then the Seer understood that Rabbi Baruch must have died, and that he had come back from the Other World to save him. And he understood as well that the time had not come for the footsteps of the Messiah to be heard in this world.
Not long afterward the Seer of Lublin also took sick, and he died on the Ninth of Av of that year, the day the Temple in Jerusalem was destroyed.
Both of these accounts, one talmudic and one Hasidic, describe how three rabbis, the greatest of their generation, attempted to force the coming of the Messiah. In the first, Elijah inadvertently reveals one of the key secrets of heaven—that Rabbi Hiyya and his sons have the righteousness and purity of the patriarchs, and therefore have the power to force the coming of the Messiah. This they attempt to do by reading prayers that cause the actions they describe to take place. This causes consternation in heaven, for they are on the verge of forcing the coming of the Messiah. So Elijah is sent to earth as a fiery bear, chasing them out of the synagogue before they can complete their invocation.
The second tale identifies three great Hasidic rabbis, the Seer of Lublin, Reb Menachem Mendel of Riminov, and Baruch of Medzibozh, as the ones in their generation with such great power.
These three rabbis agree to use a mystical secret to force the coming of the Messiah on Simhat Torah, but the death of Baruch of Medzibozh ends their plan. When the rabbi of Riminov learns of this, he does not attempt to bring the Messiah. But because the Seer of Lublin does not receive word of Baruch’s death in time, he does make the attempt, which almost costs him his life, when he is pushed out of a window. This clearly demonstrates the anger in heaven at this attempt. However, the Seer’s life is saved by the spirit of Baruch of Medzibozh, who sees to it that the Seer lands on his tallit. And the Seer of Lublin understands at that moment that Baruch must have died, and that his spirit had come back from the World to Come to save him. Both tales demonstrate the dangers of attempting to hasten the coming of the Messiah, as well as the strong impulse to do so among the rabbis. Both also explain why the Messiah has not yet come.
An interesting parallel to this tale is found in Sefer Eliyahu in Beit ha-Midrash 3:68-78. Here the prophet Elijah comes to Rabbi Yose’s House of Study,
and tells Rabbi Yose of hearing God and the Messiah discussing the messianic prophecies of the prophet Isaiah. Just then Samael, the Accuser, came and accused the Israelites of being guilty. This caused Elijah to be dejected, but Rabbi Yose grows angry at Elijah, for he sees it differently, perceiving a hint of the coming of the Messiah in the discussion of God and the Messiah. Then Rabbi Yose reinterprets Isaiah’s words, I will tell of your righteous deeds and all his works, but they will not help at all (Isa. 57:12), to mean, I will tell of the righteous deeds of Israel and all the works of Samael will not help at all. This transforms Isaiah’s expression of grief and hopelessness into a prophecy of messianic hope.
Sources:
B. Bava Metzia 85b; Pesikta Rabbati 36:1-2; Rashi on B. Sanhedrin 98b; Midrashei Geulah 307-308; Tzidkat ha-Tzaddik 153; Likutei Moharan 1:118.
Studies:
“Not All is in the Hands of Heaven: Eschatology and Kabbalah” by Rachel Elior.
628. THE CAPTIVE MESSIAH
For many generations the Messiah has sat captive, chained with golden chains before the Throne of Glory. Elijah has tried to release him many times, but he has never succeeded. So Elijah descends to earth and explains that in order to break the chains of the Messiah, he needs a magic saw whose teeth are the deeds of Israel. Every deed adds a tooth to this saw, but every sin takes one away. When there are twice as many good deeds as there are sins, then the saw can be used. That is why it is said that the Messiah will not come until we bring him.
A number of texts describe the Messiah as bound in chains. According to Pirkei Hekhalot Rabbati, for example, God will tie up the Messiah hand and foot for eight years, and during the years that the Messiah is fettered, God will hide His face from him. This is a reminder that the decision of bringing the End of Days, which the Messiah will herald, does not belong to the Messiah, but to God, or to the people Israel, whose good deeds will make it possible. Adding to the complexity, there are even myths in which God Himself is in chains. See “Mourning over the Shekhinah,” p. 58.
Sources:
IFA 6928.
629. THE SLEEPING MESSIAH
Eighty years ago, in a Polish yeshiva, there were two students who were filled with a longing for redemption. Both of them were eager to travel to the Holy Land, and they especially wanted to see King David’s tomb. They dreamed about it day and night, and at last they decided to set out on the journey, even though they didn’t have any money. On the way they met with many obstacles, but at last they arrived at the Holy City of Jerusalem. They were thrilled to have arrived there safe and sound, but they did not know how to find King David’s tomb. While they were wondering where it was, Elijah the Prophet appeared before them in the form of an old man and showed them the way. And when they reached the foot of Mount Zion, Elijah said:
“Now my sons, ascend Mount Zion until you reach the entrance of King David’s tomb, and enter there and go down the steps, until you reach the bottom of the tomb. There you will be blinded by visions of gold, silver, and diamonds. These are only illusions, set to
tempt you from your purpose. Ignore them and search for the jug of water at the head of King David. That jug contains water from the Garden of Eden. Pour the water from that jug over the hands of King David as he stretches his hands toward you. Pour the water three times over each hand, and then King David will rise up and the footsteps of the Messiah will be heard in the world. For King David is not dead, he lives and exists. He is only asleep and dreaming, and he will arise when we are worthy of it. By your virtue and merit, he will arise and redeem us. Amen, and may this come to pass.”
When Elijah finished these words, he disappeared. The young men then ascended Mount Zion, and went down into the depths of King David’s tomb. Everything was just as Elijah had said it would be. They saw King David stretched out on a couch, with a jug of water at his head. And when they reached King David, he stretched out his hands to them. But just then the young men were blinded by all the riches they saw in that tomb, and they forgot to pour water onto the king’s outstretched hands. In anguish his hands fell back and immediately the king’s image disappeared.
The young men were startled when they realized that they had let the opportunity for redemption slip through their fingers, and now it was too late.
This is one of many tales about King David being alive. All of them grow out of the saying, David Melekh Yisrael, hai ve-kayyam—“David, King of Israel, lives and exists”—taken from the Talmud (B. RH 25a) into a song that remains very popular among Jews to this day. Here King David’s role as a great king and founder of Jerusalem is blended with messianic prophecy, and it is King David himself who is identified as the sleeping Messiah, waiting for someone righteous enough to pour water from the Garden of Eden over his hands so that he will wake up. This tale, like so many others concerning the Messiah, explains why the Messiah has not yet come. For another example of such a tale, see “The Ladder of Prayers,” p. 490.
Sources:
IFA 966.
630. THE PANGS OF THE MESSIAH
When the time has come for the Messiah to arrive, all the kings of the nations of the earth will be at war with one another. All the nations of the world will be agitated and frightened. The wisdom of the scribes will become foolish, and those who shun sin will be despised. The meeting place of scholars will be laid to waste and given over to harlotry. Pious men and saints will be few, and the Law will be forgotten by its students. The young will insult their elders, and the elders will wait upon the young. Arrows of hunger will be sent forth, and a great famine will arrive, as it is said, “A time is coming,” declares Yahweh, “when I will send a famine upon the land: not a hunger for bread or a thirst for water, but for hearing the words of the Lord” (Amos 8:11). Then, all at once, they will all be seized with pangs like the pangs of a woman in labor. At that time Israel will cry out in fear, and God will reply, “My children, be not afraid. The time of your redemption has come.”
The struggles that will take place before the advent of the Messiah are known as the “Pangs of the Messiah.” These pangs are said to include a great war to be known as the War of Gog and Magog. For Rabbi Kalonymus Kalman Shapira, who experienced great upheaval firsthand in the Warsaw Ghetto, the purpose of the Pangs of the Messiah is to cleanse sins before the Messiah’s arrival. For him, these pangs make it possible for Israel to give birth to the Messiah. He links these pangs to God’s words to Eve, “In pain shall you bear children” (Gen. 3:16), and he observes that before a seed can bring forth a new creation, the seed must be annihilated. In the same way, the “Pangs of the Messiah” refers to the annihilation that must take place before the birth of a new creation. Israel must suffer birth pangs in order to give birth to the light of the Messiah.
Sources:
B. Sanhedrin 97a; B. Shabbat 138b; Pesikta Rabbati 26:2; Esh Kadosh pp. 106-107.
631. THE RAINBOW OF THE MESSIAH
Do not expect the Messiah until a rainbow appears radiating splendid colors throughout the world. At present, the colors of the rainbow are dull, serving merely as a reminder that there will not be another Deluge. But the rainbow that announces the Messiah will have brilliant colors and be adorned like a bride for her bridegroom. When this rainbow appears, it will be a sign that God has remembered His covenant with Israel, and that the footsteps of the Messiah will soon be heard.
In Genesis 9:12-13, God says about the rainbow: “This is the sign that I set for the covenant between Me and you, and every living creature with you, for all ages to come. I have set My bow in the clouds, and it shall serve as a sign of the covenant between Me and the earth.” The rainbow serves as a covenant between God and all living creatures that God will not bring on another Deluge, as in the time of Noah. The present myth of the rainbow of the Messiah identifies the rainbow as another kind of covenant, that of bringing Israel out of exile. This Ingathering of the Exiles is one of the requirements of the coming of the Messiah. Here the transformed rainbow, its colors restored to their heavenly p
erfection, becomes a sign of the impending arrival of the messianic era.
Sources:
Zohar 1:72b.
632. CALCULATING THE END OF DAYS
When there are signs that the Messiah is ready to come, many righteous individuals will raise their voices. They will scream until their throats become hoarse—and it will do no good. For whenever it is predicted that the Messiah will come at a certain time, it can be certain that he will not come in any manner whatsoever at that time. Furthermore, anyone who tries to calculate the End of Days will be severely cursed. For the Messiah will come only when the minds of men are distracted from thinking of him.
For many centuries, predictions were rampant about when the Messiah would arrive. Pious Jews always hoped it would be in their lifetimes. Of course, all of these predictions fell through. Here Rabbi Nachman suggests that it is time to give up making such predictions, for they inevitably fail. He even suggests that it is the prediction itself that causes the failure. This seems to be the application of the general belief that if we want something too much, we will never get it. It is remarkably parallel to Franz Kafka’s paradox that “The Messiah will not come until he is no longer needed.” In Rabbi Nachman’s version, the Messiah will not come until the people give up on waiting for him and instead live a pious life without constant thought of their reward. See “The Coming of the Messiah,” p. 518.
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