bds@homxa.UUCP (B.STERMAN) (11/08/84)
> How can one pray for the coming of the Mesiah?
This Messiah business is a difficult concept, but a crucial
one to Judaism nonetheless. Allow me,if you will, to air my
views on the nature of this notion of 'Messiah'. It also has
something to do with this week's parsha , so, consider it a
small D'var torah.
Maimonides records thirteen principle beliefs that he
considers to be the axioms of Judaism. The twelfth of these
is paraphrased as follows. "I believe with perfect faith in
the coming of the Messiah, and though he may tarry still I
wait for him that any day he might arrive." Folklore is
replete with stories of those great sages who slept with a
packed suitcase next to their beds in constant anticipation
of the Messiah's arrival.
This idea, however, is a very strange one. There is no
mention of the Messiah in the Pentateuch, and, in the rest
of the Bible the references are vague and inconsistent.
Philosophically, there seems to be nothing in Judaism that
so critically requires the belief that one man will one day
come and redeem the world. Practically, this type of
miraculous event is difficult to imagine and the obligation
to accept it is taxing to one's faith. Perhaps one out of
fifty involved, devoted modern Jews, honestly believes that
the Messiah could come tomorrow. Is this then the case,
that the overwhelming majority of dedicated Jews are to be
considered heretics (according to Maimonides), especially
when the belief itself is based on ambiguities? Allow, if
you will, an alternate explanation.
According to the tradition the Messiah will come from
the house of David. Examination of the ascribed genealogy of
David might afford a clue as to the nature of the Messiah
himself. David's grandmother was Ruth, a Moabite. The Bible
records the circumstances surrounding the birth of Moab.
When Sodom and Gemmorah were destroyed, Abraham's nephew Lot
was saved along with his two daughters. His daughters,
witnessing the destruction of their world, assumed that they
were the sole survivors left on Earth and took it upon
themselves to repopulate the world. They got their father
drunk and took advantage of his condition to become pregnant
with his seed. One of the children born of this union was
Moab.
Another story in the family history of David is that of
Yehuda and Tamar. Yehuda's son married Tamar and then died.
His second son married Tamar and died. Yehuda told Tamar to
wait until the youngest son had grown up and then they would
be married. As time went on, however, Tamar realized that
Yehuda had no intention of marrying off his son to her. She
decided to take things into her own hands and dressed up as
a prostitute. She waited for Yehuda to come by and when he
did she played her part and Yehuda impregnated her without
realizing who she was. Later, when Tamar became noticeably
pregnant and was sentenced to be killed as an adulteress,
she showed Yehuda the staff he had given her as payment.
Yehuda admitted then that Tamar was not at fault. She
ultimately gave birth to twins from whom came David and the
Messiah.
The Bible chooses to record these stories in order to
teach us something about the Messiah. Tamar and Lot's
daughter had something in common. They both wanted children
to such an extent that they were willing to compromise even
their morality to get them. In Tamar's case, she put her
life on the line to accomplish her goal. The desire for
children is not necessarily strange. What is so unusual is
that they wanted children in spite of their past histories.
Lot's daughter had just seen her world destroyed. The town
she grew up in was leveled by fire and brimstone. In fact,
the town itself was a place of debauchery and sin. Lot's
daughter had no reason to assume that the future would be
any different. The nature of the people she had known was
basically evil, and, as far as she could know, future man
would probably be the same. Even then, the possibility of
utter destruction was ever-present in her mind, that God
might destroy the future world as he did her past one. Yet,
in spite of the overwhelmingly pessimistic prospects, Lot's
daughter chose to bring children into the world with the
hope and the faith that the future would be brighter.
Tamar as well had every reason to doubt the benevolence
of fate. She lost both her husbands. In her grief and
despair she was abandoned by their family and dismissed with
the unfulfilled promise that they would one day remember
her. Nevertheless Tamar had an unyielding passion to bear
children, to bring another soul into the world with the
dream that her child's life would be better. Tamar believed
in the future so, that she was even willing to risk her life
for it.
This concept is at the root of the entire idea of
Messiah. The belief in the future, that history has
direction and purpose, and that the individual must
constantly act to bring about the fulfillment of that goal
is at the very core of Jewish thought. (Incidentally, the
messianic idea in Judaism has strong ties to bearing
children. The Medrash says that the Messiah will come when
all of the potential souls have been born. This is one of
the reasons why religious Jews are into having many kids.)
Judaism, as opposed to other religions is concerned
primarily with this world. The goal of Christianity or Islam
is personal salvation. The goal of Judaism is to make this
world a better place. LeTaken olam bmalchut ShaDY. Sitting
back and presuming that someone else will come and change
the world utterly defeats the purpose of religion to the
Jew. The Bible says "And you shall walk in His [God's]
ways." The medrash tells us "Just like He is merciful, so
you should be merciful... Just like He creates worlds, so
you should create worlds." This concept is found in detail
in great Kabalistic writings.
Messiah may or may not be an individual. Fundamentally,
however, Messiah is the personification of a concept, a
time, a cosmic situation where the world exists at peace and
in harmony. Defining Messiah in those terms we can reread
the statement of Maimonides' principle by putting the comma
in a different place. "And though he may tarry, nevertheless
I wait for him every day, that he might [eventually] come."
Not that I wait for him because he'll be here tomorrow, but
rather I wait for him, I prepare for him, I spend each day
trying to perfect the world, so that ultimately, one day,
that goal will be realized.
This dream is a characteristic of the Jew even among
those alienated from the religion. Jews are
disproportionately involved in community organizations,
civil rights groups, and almost any cause that claims to be
working towards a better life. Perhaps the greatest example
of a messianic movement is that of secular Zionism, where
many of the founders didn't even believe in God. The true
Jew is obsessed by this notion and constantly acting
according to this imperative, namely, doing all that one can
do to make this world a better place.
I would appreciate comments on this idea.
Baruch
ihnp4!homxa!bds
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