REBUILDING THE BEIT HAMIKDASH AND THE COMING OF THE MASHIACH

by Rav Hayim Yisrael Shteiner

(Translated by Aaron Halamish)

(originally published Yibane HaMikdash 111. See part one in Mikdash Build Vol I, no 20)

How can one observe "I shall await him every day that he should come"?

The twelfth principle according to Maimonides in his introduction to the chapter Helek (at the end of Tractate Sanhedrin) is the days of the Mashiach, that is to say, "To believe really that he will come. One should not say that he was delayed, if he lingers wait for him" (according to the version of Rav Kapach) and according to the version of "I believe" in our prayerbooks, one should wait for him every day that he should come. The source of "every day" is in the Talmud, Tractate Eruvin 43, referred to above (chapter 2): One who says, I will be an abstinent on the day that David comes - is forbidden to drink wine *every* weekday. And that is the ruling made by Maimonides in the Hilchot Melachim (Laws of Kings), 4.11.

On the essential quality of the Mashiach the Hatam-Sofer wrote (collection of Responsa, section 89):

Regarding the coming of Ben-David, I must make a suggestion and it is: As in the case of Moses our Teacher, who was the first redeemer, who reached the age of eighty and did not know or feel that he was to be the Redeemer of Israel, so it will be, G.W., in the case of the final redeemer. And from the day of the destruction of the Beit HaMikdash, another was immediately born, who was sufficiently righteous to be the redeemer. When the time comes, the Almighty will reveal Himself to him and will send him, and then the spirit of the Mashiach, which was previously hidden and secreted away above for his coming, will be revealed to him¼ and because of our numerous sins, many died, and we did not have the fortune that the spirit of the Mashiach was revealed to them, even if they were worthy of it, but the generation was not worthy. But when he comes, G.W., the Almighty will reveal Himself to him, as He did to Moses at the burning bush, and will send him - either to Israel by himself, or to a king like Pharoh, to say to him, "let my people go".

This principle of faith is based, is based pm Habakuk 2:3, "Though he will tarry, wait for him, because he will surely come, he will not delay."

It is true that we have already explained that two dates might be correct for the coming of the Mashiach, "in its time" or "I shall hurry it up", and even if they were not fortunate, we are promised that "when the time limit expires, it shall not be delayed further, and the end will finally come in any case" (the quotation is from the Malbim, Habakuk, ibid). "I shall await him every day that he shall come" - because perhaps today is "in this time" or perhaps today will be fulfilled the phrase "I shall hurry it up".

Maimonides also thinks that a sudden coming of the Mashiach is possible, but he believes that the process will occur naturally and in two stages. In the first stage - a kingdom or a government (not necessarily from the house of David) organizes the nation of Israel in the form of a state which is sovereign in its borders. Its task is to develop the spiritual power of the Torah and the physical power of the nation and to build the Beit HaMikdash. In the second stage the government will pass to the house of David. At the beginning of this turnabout, it may still not be clear that a Mashiach is involved. It is possible that only at a later stage of the revolution it will become obvious that he is the "real Mashiach". This Mashiach will be a learned man, the greatest of his generation in the Written and Oral Law, "like his father, David", and he will make all Israel act according to the Law and become strong immediately. He will fight the wars of the Lord. If the Beit HaMikdash has not already been built, he will be responsible for building it and ingathering all the exiles of Israel. By fulfilling these roles he will cause his influence to be made greater and he will cause all the world to worship the Lord together.

The second stage can also be a sudden turnabout, as Maimomides writes in his letter to the Jews of Yemen: "He (the Mashiach) will stand in the Land of Israel and there he will start to be revealed, as said by the prophet Malachi (3:1) "and he will suddenly come to his sanctuary". One should await this turnabout every day, that it should come. Regarding this stage, Maimonides states in the twelfth Principle in his introduction to the chapter Helek:

The days of the Mashiach - this is to really believe that he will come, and not to think that he will be delayed, even if he tarries, await him. And one should not fix a date and should not interpret the Bible in order to calculate the date of his coming. And the Sages say: "Those who make calculations of the final days will come to a bad end". And he should believe that he will be superior and more honoured than all the kings who came before him, and should make him great and love him and pray for him, as prophecized by all the Prophets from Moses to Malachi. And anyone who has doubts about him or thinks he will be less great - denies the Torah which referred to him in the portion of "Bil'am" and the portion "you are standing". And from this principle, that there is no king of Israel other than from the house of David and the seed of Solomon only. And anyone who disputes this family - denies the Almighty and the words of the Prophets.

It can be seen that even when Israel has a government or king, who is not from the house of David, one is obligated to believe truly that the Mashiach, the son of David, will come.

How one does apply this principle of faith? It seems that doubts and a lack of faith, and also denigrating the greatness of the Mashiach, involve denial of the Torah and the Prophets (as explained by Maimonides in his introduction to the chapter "Portion", there, and in laws of kings 11,1). It follows that the opposite of denial is concerning oneself with the matter of the Mashiach, to learn and to verify his coming according to the sources and to recognize his virtues. This is all part of the daily awaiting of his coming. However, it is not enough to believe that all these details will occur. One should attempt to act to implement them in practice according to the guidance of the greatest of the generation, and not to await passively and rely on the fact that the Mashiach will do it all himself. However, all this should be done with the awareness that what we do not succeed in doing will be completed by him, as we have shown above in the matter of building the Beit HaMikdash. Also regarding those things that we did not succeed in doing, we shall await him every day that he should come.

It appears that studying the question of the Mashiach should produce fear and love of the Almighty. Therefore one should avoid studying those details in which there is a dispute - such as the order of appearance of stages of the redemption (Mashiach - Eliahu). These details do not produce either fear or love and therefore one should avoid studying them.

However, regarding the other points - one should study them in depth, as Maimonides himself taught in "The strong hand". This study is a way of implementing "a principle from the principles" (the words of the RADBAZ, Laws of Kings 12,2) The SAMAK includes, in clause a, the precept of awaiting salvation amongst the precepts of faith: "And on this depends that which the Sages said, when a man is asked after his death, when standing in judgement: Did you await salvation? Where is this precept written? Now hear the proof that it depends on this: In the same way that I want you to believe that I brought you out [of Egypt], so I also want you to believe in Me, that I am Hashem your G- d, and I shall in the future gather you in and save you¼"

Part of the belief in the days of the Mashiach is the belief in the eleventh Principle: "That the Almighty rewards those who carry out the commandments of the Torah, and punishes those who disregard His warnings, and the greater reward is in the world to come". In Hilchot Teshuva (Laws of penitence) 9:2, Maimonides explained that the existence of reward and punishment and the world to come is the reason for the aspiration to reach the days of the Mashiach:

And why did all Israel, their Prophets and Sages, desire so much the days of the Mashiach, in order that they would be liberated from kingdoms who do not allow them to study Torah and precepts properly, and they will find peace and will increase their wisdom, in order to reach the life of the world to come. Because of such a time there will be an increase of knowledge, wisdom and truth¼ because the king that will arise from the seed of David, will be wiser than Solomon and a great Prophet close to Moses. Therefore he will teach all the people and instruct them in the way of Hashem. And all the nations will come to hear, as is written, "And it will come to pass, at the end of days, that the Beit HaMikdash Mount shall stand firmly at the top of mountains".

It transpires that the eleventh Principle is actually part of the twelfth Principle. Together with the thirteenth Principle (the belief in the quickening of the dead), these Principles are the peak of all the Principles: They give expression to the expectation and to the belief that a record period of belief in the Almighty and His uniqueness will come, a period in which there will be a great increase in study of the Torah in depth, and the tranquillity that shall fill the world will cause strengthening of the belief in the eternity of the Torah, in personal Providence and in reward and punishment. In this way the whole world will advance - through the means of all Israel and the King of Israel - to a record point in world history, "and the world shall be full of knowledge of Hashem as water fills the sea".

IN THE NEWS

GOVERNMENTT OFFICIAL TOURS TEMPLE MOUNT

Attorney-General Elyakim Rubenstein paid a short visit to the Temple Mount yesterday. He wanted to personally investigate the illegal construction being carried out by the Moslem Waqf at the site. Accompanying Rubenstein were his aide Atty. Noam Solberg, Old City Police Commander Meir Givati, and GSS representatives. The visitors were heavily guarded. Rubenstein, an observant Jew, immersed in a mikveh (ritual bath) before he entered the Mount, as required by Jewish Law. Members of Chai Vekayam, a movement which encourages freedom of Jewish prayer on the Temple Mount, expressed satisfaction that governmental figures were taking interest in the goings-on at the Temple Mount.

Rubenstein sent a secret letter a month ago to Prime Minister Netanyahu, in which he warned that the Waqf construction on the Temple Mount constitutes a danger to Israel's sovereignty there. Netanyahu promised that he would convene an urgent meeting on the topic, but has not yet done so. On October 30, Arutz-7 reported that the Supreme Court had rejected a petition demanding that the Attorney-General be ordered to execute his authority against the illegal construction; Rubenstein claimed in court that the construction does not damage the site, and is not in "substantial" violation of the building code.

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