Who will be Messiah?
On Parshas Balak and the connection between Bilam, his donkey, and Mashiach
The accompanying shiur is available on the Orthodox Union's parsha learning app: All Parsha.
It is very challenging for contemporary Jews to talk about Messiah (Mashiach) in a serious way. It is basically the only major area of Jewish thought where it is perfectly acceptable to have a third-grade education, if that. Nowadays, I think even well-educated Jews know more about mayim achronim than Mashiach.
I’ve asked Jews who I consider properly educated basic questions about Mashiach, and usually, all I get in response is a shrug emoji.
Is believing in Mashiach one of the 613 mitzvos? Is belief in Mashiach written about in the Torah? Will people go OTD (off the derech) in the times of Mashiach? How old will Mashiach be?
It is not entirely surprising that most Jews have such a shallow grasp of the concept of Mashiach. As Rav Lopiansky once wrote in an article entitled, “Sometimes Mashiach is Not the Solution”:
When we describe Mashiach as solving our health issues, shidduch crisis, legal issues, and so on, we are looking for a solution to a personal issue. Our yearning has nothing to do with Mashiach; it has to do with our blood pressure, our bank account, the IRS, or our child waiting for a shidduch.
Mashiach is not a stand-in concept for sorting out your personal issues. But the truth is that the religious idea of Messiah is indeed hard to consider in this modern world.
As Professor David Shatz explains in his thought-provoking article, “The Muted Messiah: The Aversion to Messianic Forms of Zionism in Modern Orthodox Thought”:
In short, Messianic consciousness as we have defined it does not gain much traction in Modern Orthodoxy. Consideration of Maimonides gives some support to carrying a Messianic consciousness, but this almost certainly runs contrary to Maimonides’s intention. Whereas Maimonides’s naturalistic Zionism was used in a Messianic fashion years ago, the current Modern Orthodox tide in America and among Israelis associated heavily with Modern Orthodoxy is decidedly not Messianic.
And as uncomfortable as belief in the coming of Messiah may be for some, it finds its roots in our parsha. Rambam writes that we learn about the very unfolding of Messiah from the prophecies of Bilam found in our parsha.
אַף בְּפָרָשַׁת בִּלְעָם נֶאֱמַר וְשָׁם נִבֵּא בִּשְׁנֵי הַמְּשִׁיחִים. בַּמָּשִׁיחַ הָרִאשׁוֹן שֶׁהוּא דָּוִד שֶׁהוֹשִׁיעַ אֶת יִשְׂרָאֵל מִיַּד צָרֵיהֶם. וּבַמָּשִׁיחַ הָאַחֲרוֹן שֶׁעוֹמֵד מִבָּנָיו שֶׁמּוֹשִׁיעַ אֶת יִשְׂרָאֵל [בָּאַחֲרוֹנָה]. וְשָׁם הוּא אוֹמֵר (במדבר כד, יז) "אֶרְאֶנּוּ וְלֹא עַתָּה" זֶה דָּוִד. (במדבר כד, יז) "אֲשׁוּרֶנּוּ וְלֹא קָרוֹב" זֶה מֶלֶךְ הַמָּשִׁיחַ. (במדבר כד, יז) "דָּרַךְ כּוֹכָב מִיַּעֲקֹב" זֶה דָּוִד. (במדבר כד, יז) "וְקָם שֵׁבֶט מִיִּשְׂרָאֵל" זֶה מֶלֶךְ הַמָּשִׁיחַ. (במדבר כד, יז) "וּמָחַץ פַּאֲתֵי מוֹאָב" זֶה דָּוִד. וְכֵן הוּא אוֹמֵר (שמואל ב ח, ב) "וַיַּךְ אֶת מוֹאָב וַיְמַדְּדֵם בַּחֶבֶל" (במדבר כד, יז) "וְקַרְקַר כָּל בְּנֵי שֵׁת" זֶה הַמֶּלֶךְ הַמָּשִׁיחַ שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר בּוֹ (זכריה ט, י) "וּמָשְׁלוֹ מִיָּם עַד יָם". (במדבר כד, יח) "וְהָיָה אֱדוֹם יְרֵשָׁה" זֶה דָּוִד. שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (שמואל ב ח, יד) "וַתְּהִי אֱדוֹם לְדָוִד לַעֲבָדִים" וְגוֹ'. (במדבר כד, יח) "וְהָיָה יְרֵשָׁה" וְגוֹ' זֶה הַמֶּלֶךְ הַמָּשִׁיחַ שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (עובדיה א, כא) "וְעָלוּ מוֹשִׁעִים בְּהַר צִיּוֹן" וְגוֹ':
Reference to Mashiach is also made in the portion of Bilaam who prophesies about two anointed kings: the first anointed king, David, who saved Israel from her oppressors; and the final anointed king who will arise from his descendants and save Israel in the end of days. That passage Numbers 24:17-18 relates:
'I see it, but not now' - This refers to David;
'I perceive it, but not in the near future;" - This refers to the Messianic king;
'A star shall go forth from Jacob' - This refers to David;
'and a staff shall arise in Israel' - This refers to the Messianic king;
'crushing all of Moab's princes' - This refers to David as II Samuel 8:2 relates: 'He smote Moab and measured them with a line;'
'decimating all of Seth's descendants' - This refers to the Messianic king
Strangely enough, Bilam—the non-Jewish prophet hired by Balak, the King of Moav—is perhaps the most central source in the Torah for the idea of Messiah. His prophecies serve as the foundation for our conception of the Messianic Age.
Why would such an essential part of Jewish faith be transmitted by someone so wicked and despicable as Bilam? And why would a revelation about Messiah come in the context of someone who is trying to curse the Jewish People?
To understand all this, let’s explore some of the key moments of Messianic fervor in the history of the Jewish People
It is not entirely clear (to me at least) when the anticipation for Messiah became a part of the public consciousness.
During the times of Moshe were the Jewish People awaiting a Messiah? Some sources seem to indicate that had Moshe entered the land of Israel, he would have been the Messiah himself. But what about during the entire miraculous period of the First Beis Hamikdash? We had a Temple in Jerusalem, we had the Land of Israel, a King, and we had open miracles and prophecy. Were the Jewish People awaiting Mashiach during that period?
What is certain is that Messianic expectations exploded into popular consciousness following the destruction of the Second Temple. Let’s explore some of these movements and their contemporary relevance.
Bar Kochba
Just over a half-century after the destruction of the Second Temple by the Roman Empire, Shimon Bar Kochba led a Jewish rebellion to regain control of the Land of Israel. Scholars are not entirely clear why the Jewish settlement in the Land of Israel decided to mount a rebellion against the Roman Empire following a period of relative peace. Professor Peter Schäfer discusses three possible reasons:
The Roman Government retracted their previous permission to rebuild the Temple.
Construction of the Roman city Aelia Capitlonia was built over the ruins of Jerusalem, as well as a Temple to Jupiter on the Temple Mount.
Hadrian prohibited Jewish circumcision.
Regardless of the precise causes, it is clear from the Talmud that Bar Kochba was seen as a potential Messianic figure by none other than Rebbe Akiva himself. The Talmud Yerushalmi records a tradition that Rebbe Akiva proclaimed Bar Kochba the Mashiach and even renamed him Bar Kozevah, based on the Bilam’s prophecy.
תַּנֵּי רִבִּי שִׁמְעוֹן בֶּן יוֹחַי. עֲקִיבָה רִבִּי הָיָה דוֹרֵשׁ דָּרַךְ כּוֹכָב מִיַּעֲקֹב. דָּרַךְ כּוֹזִבָּא מִיַּעֲקֹב. רִבִּי עֲקִיבָה כַּד הֲוָה חֲמִי בַּר כּוֹזִבָּה הֲוָה אֲמַר. דֵּין הוּא מַלְכָּא מְשִׁיחָא.
During the rebellion, Bar Kochba was given the title of Nasi Yisroel, a term that some speculate may have had Messianic undertones as well. Bar Kochba even minted coins during the revolt. Written on each coin was the inscription of the year of redemption, “shanah achas l’geulas Yisroel,” one year since the redemption of the Jewish People.
Interestingly, if you look at the coins, you can clearly see the image of a lulav accompanied by one hadassah and one aravah. Rav Meir Berlin suggested that there is only one aravah and hadassah (as opposed to two and three respectively) because Bar Kochba ruled according to the opinion of his rabbinic supporter, Rebbe Akiva, who only required one of each. It is clear that Bar Kochba observed Jewish Law—a letter was found where Bar Kochba requests daled minim (the four species taken on Sukkos) as well as a reminder to separate maaser (tithes).
After 3 years, the revolt was finally quashed by the Roman Army in their stronghold in Bethar. The legacy of Bar Kochba, however, continues. When Vladimir Zev Jabotinsky founded his Revisionist Zionist youth movement in 1923, he named it Bethar after the final stand of the Bar Kochba movement. In 1910, 24-year-old David Green published his first article in the Jerusalem paper HaAchdut. Instead of his actual name, he signed with a pseudonym taken from a Jewish general who served alongside Bar Kochba: David Ben-Gurion.
David Reuveni
There have been many Messianic claimants throughout Jewish history. Most did not cultivate much of a following, and the vast majority have been forgotten by history. But some have been remembered—either because of their relative success or the sheer fantasy of their claims. Some had both, and the story of David Reuveni and Shlomo Molcho is definitely one such example.
David Reuveni appeared in Europe around 1523, claiming to be a prince and military leader from a lost Jewish kingdom in Arabia. He declared that his mission was to gather Jewish forces to fight against the Ottoman Empire and restore Jewish sovereignty in the Holy Land. Recorded in detail in the diary of his journeys, Reuveni traveled across Europe, seeking support from various monarchs and Jewish communities. His charismatic presence and grandiose claims attracted attention, and many were taken in by the prospect of a renewed Jewish kingdom.
Shlomo Molcho, initially a converso named Diogo Pires, was profoundly influenced by Reuveni. Inspired by Reuveni's Messianic vision, Molcho returned to Judaism and took on the name Shlomo Molcho. He began to preach about the imminent arrival of the Messiah and performed symbolic acts that he believed would hasten the redemption. Molcho traveled extensively, spreading his message and gathering a significant following. His bold proclamations and mystical visions captivated many but also drew the ire of both Jewish and Christian authorities. Shlomo Molcho was eventually arrested by the Inquisition and later burned at the stake by the Catholic Church after his suggestion to form a Jewish-Christian army was rebuffed.
The story is almost too unbelievable and his life inspired Rav Yosef Karo, who seems to reference Molcho explicitly in his works. As Werblowsky writes in his biography on Rav Yosef Karo, Joseph Karo, Lawyer and Mystic:
In Karo’s mind, Molcho’s death at the stake assumed the significance of a coveted privilege and supreme realization, and throughout his Maggid Mesharim, the maggid repeats the promise “and thou shalt be privileged to rise as a burnt offering before me and to be burned for the sanctification of my name.
Shlomo Molcho’s deep engagement with Jewish mysticism set up a precedent that lasts until today between Jewish mysticism and Messianic yearning. This synthesis between Kabbalah and Messianism, each deriving strength from the other, would reach its culmination with the next major Messianic claimant and certainly one of the most infamous personalities in all of Jewish history.
Sabbateanism
The story of Shabbetai Tzvi has filled up many books and articles. Far be it from me to even attempt to distill the incredible details and lasting significance of this movement in such a small space. For those interested in the details of the story, the obvious starting point is Gershom Scholem’s magnificent and imposing biography. For those intimidated by the nearly thousand-page volume, you can also consult the far more accessible account, The Imposter, written by Avner Gold.
Shabbetai Tzvi, a 17th-century Jewish mystic, led one of the most significant Messianic movements in Jewish history. Born on Tisha B’av in 1626, he proclaimed himself the long-awaited Messiah in 1665, and with the help of Nathan of Gaza, a well-reputed mystic, he gained a vast following across the Jewish diaspora, promising imminent redemption and the restoration of Israel. His charismatic presence and kabbalistic teachings captivated many, leading to widespread fervor and anticipation. However, his movement faced a dramatic collapse when, under threat of death from the Ottoman Sultan, Shabbetai Tzvi converted to Islam in 1666. This shocking turn of events left his followers disillusioned and had profound repercussions on Jewish communities, influencing subsequent attitudes towards Messianic claims and movements.
Shabbetai Tzvi’s movement made newspaper headlines around the world. Even Spinoza, following his estrangement from the Jewish community, was apprised of Shabbetai Tzvi’s emerging Messianism. Henry Oldenburg, an acquaintance of Spinoza and secretary of the Royal Society, wrote to Spinoza:
As for politics, there is a rumor everywhere here concerning the return of the Jews, who have been dispersed for more than two thousand years, to their native country. Only a few here believe in this, yet there are many hoping for it. May it please you to communicate to a friend what you have heard regarding this matter and what you think of it.
In the famed memoirs of Glueckel of Hameln, she provides a detailed account of her father-in-law’s excitement about the newly proclaimed Messiah:
About this time people began to talk of Sabbatai Zevi [the Messianic pretender]. But woe unto us that we have sinned and never lived to see what we had heard and nigh believed. When I think of the repentance done by young and old my pen fails me—but the whole world knows of it!
O Lord of All Worlds, hoping as we did that Thou hadst shown compassion on Israel and redeemed us, we were like a woman who sits in labour and suffers mighty pangs, and thinks once her suffering is over she shall be blessed with a child; but it was only hearkening after a wind. So, dear God and King, it befell unto us. Throughout the world, Thy servants and children rent themselves with repentance, prayer and charity; for two, yea, for three years Thy beloved people Israel sat in labour; but there came forth naught but wind. It was not enough we were unworthy to behold the child for whom we had laboured and in whom our hope was sure; we were left, in the end, abandoned. Still, my Lord and God, Thy people Israel despair not; daily they trust that in Thy mercy Thou wilt redeem them. Though redemption be deferred, yet every day I hope upon its coming. When it will be Thy holy will, Thou wilt in truth remember Thy people Israel.
Our joy, when the letters arrived [from Smyrna] is not to be told. Most of them were addressed to the Sephardim who, as fast as they came, took them to their synagogue and read them aloud; young and old, the Germans too hastened to the Sephardic synagogue.
The Sephardic youth came dressed in their best finery and decked in broad green silk ribbons, the gear of Sabbatai Zevi…Many sold their houses and lands and all their possessions, for any day they hoped to be redeemed. My father-in-law left his home in Hameln, abandoned his house and lands and all his goodly furniture…for the old man expected to set sail any moment from Hamburg to the Holy Land.
While the mass public Messianic movement dissipated after Shabbetai’s conversion to Islam, it continued strongly underground for over two centuries. Long after Shabbetai Tzvi passed away on Yom Kippur in 1676, the Messianic movement continued clandestinely. Much of the secretive character of Sabbateanism was in response to a letter that many scholars agree was written by Shabbetai Zvi himself which urged his followers to “bury your faith in me”—meaning that faith in his Messianic character should never be publicly revealed. This made it especially hard in the years following his conversion and death to even identify who followed Shabbetai Tzvi. For instance, the Dönmeh community, crypto-Jews who publicly identified as Muslims, followed a strict code of silence, as discussed by Cengiz Sisman in his work The Burden of Silence: Sabbatai Sevi and the Evolution of the Ottoman-Turkish Dönmes. Similarly, when Rav Yonason Eybeschutz was publicly accused by Rav Yaakov Emden of being a follower of Shabbetai Tzvi, based initially on evidence from amulets written by Rav Eybeschutz, it became very difficult to definitively verify whether he actually held such views.
Sabbateanism not only changed the very notion of Messianism within the Jewish community, but for many it changed the very character of Judaism itself.
How did it do that?
First, it is important to emphasize that following the death of Shabbetai Tzvi, the enduring movement was not so focused on him as an individual but rather on the very idea of faith and belief itself. As Scholem explains in his essay, “The Holiness of Sin”:
Ultimately, too, the disappointing course of external events had a telling effect. Though he possessed the heroic soul of the warrior Bar Kokhba, Sabbatai Zevi had not gone forth to do battle on the Day of the Lord. A yawning chasm had appeared between inner and outer realities, and once it was decided that the former was the truer of the two, it was only to be expected that the value of the latter would increasingly come to be rejected. It was precisely at this point that Messianism was transformed into nihilism. Having been denied the political and historical outlets it had originally anticipated, the new sense of freedom now sought to express itself in the sphere of human morality. The psychology of the “radical” Sabbatians was utterly paradoxical and “Marranic.” Essentially its guiding principle was: Whoever is as he appears to be cannot be a true “believer.” In practice this meant the following:
The “true faith” cannot be a faith which men publicly profess. On the contrary, the “true faith” must always be concealed. In fact, it is one’s duty to deny it outwardly, for it is like a seed that has been planted in the bed of the soul and it cannot grow unless it is first covered over. For this reason every Jew is obliged to become a Marrano.
Again: a “true act” cannot be an act committed publicly, before the eyes of the world. Like the “true faith,” the “true act” is concealed, for only through concealment can it negate the falsehood of what is explicit. Through a revolution of values, what was formerly sacred has become profane and what was formerly profane has become sacred.
This inversion of true faith also had important implications for Jewish practice. Professor Ada Rapoport-Albert in her work Women and the Messianic Heresy of Sabbatai Zevi 1666-1816 convincingly demonstrates that the Sabbatean movement ushered in a movement towards egalitarianism. One of Shabbetai Tzvi’s earliest Messianic acts was publicly calling a woman to the Torah. One progressive rabbi has recently written that the contemporary non-Orthodox progressive movement should look towards Sabbateanism for inspiration rather than condemnation! Scholem considered Sabbateanism a horseman of the Reform Movement—many early reform leaders were Sabbatean—as well as the template for what is now called “Secular Judaism.”
Lubavitch
From its inception, there has always been a Messianic component to the Chassidic movement. Born in 1698, just over a decade after the death of Shabbetai Zvi, Rav Yisroel Baal Shem Tov founded the Chassidic movement that continues today. In one of the few authentic writings that have survived from the Baal Shem Tov, a letter to his brother-in-law, Rav Gershon Kitover, the Baal Shem Tov recalls that during a transcendent experience he met the spirit of Messiah:
ושאלתי את פי משיח, אימת אתי מר, והשיב לי, בזאת תדע, בעת שיתפרסם למודך ויתגלה בעולם ויפוצו מעיינותיך חוצה מה שלמדתי אותך והשגת, ויוכלו גם המה לעשות יחודים ועליות כמוך, ואז יכלו כל הקליפות ויהיה עת רצון וישועה.
“When will you come,” the Baal Shem Tov asked Messiah.
“When your wellsprings will burst forth to the farthest bounds,” the Messiah responded.
Messianic fervor further accelerated during the 20th century following the Holocaust and the establishment of the State of Israel. Is this the final redemption, many wondered? Still, no one explicitly couched a movement in Messianic terms quite like the Lubavitcher Rebbe. Really from the outset of the movement, but with growing emphasis and urgency, the Lubavitcher Rebbe implored his followers to do their utmost to usher in the Messianic Age. In 1991, the urgency of the Rebbe regarding Mashiach reached a fever pitch. He spoke with uncharacteristic defeat, almost sadness:
What more can I do to motivate the entire Jewish People to clamor and cry out, and thus actually bring about the coming of Mashiach? All that has been done until now has been to no avail. For we are still in exile.... All that I can possibly do is to give the matter over to you. Now, do everything you can to bring Mashiach, here and now, immediately.... I have done whatever I can: from now on, you must do whatever you can....”
On March 2nd, 1992, the 27th of Adar the Rebbe suffered a stroke while visiting the burial place of his father-in-law, the sixth Rebbe of Chabad, and lost the ability to communicate. Messianism within the movement continued to accelerate until his eventual passing on 3 Tamuz, June 12, 1994.
It has been several centuries since the Jewish community had to contend with a deceased Messianic figure. Even within his lifetime, the Rebbe’s emphasis on Messianism was controversial within many parts of the Orthodox community. Now that he had departed, many people were concerned that Chabad would become a heretical sect of Judaism. Most notably, Professor David Berger, an observant scholar of the highest order whose previous scholarship focused on Jewish-Christian relations, published a book entitled, The Rebbe, the Messiah, and the Scandal of Orthodox Indifference, which served as “an indictment, a lament, and an appeal” for what he saw as a dangerous manifestation of Messianic expectations that fell far beyond the pale of normative Jewish thought. The book served an important purpose but it did not slow the growth of Chabad, which saw tremendous growth in the years following the Rebbe’s passing. To the substance of Professor Berger’s concerns, certainly not to be taken lightly, many responded—some politely, others less so. Rav Chaim Rapoport published a book-length response cleverly titled, The Messiah Problem: Berger, the Angel and the Scandal of Reckless Indiscrimination. In the subsequent printing of Professor Berger’s book in paperback, he addresses many of those who are concerned and clarifies his own approach.
Still, the work that I have found most influential both in understanding the Messianism of Chabad as well as the very notion of Mashiach in general is the book Open Secret: Postmessianic Messianism and the Mystical Revision of Menahem Mendel Schneerson by Professor Elliot Wolfson. For those familiar with Professor Wolfson’s style of writing, this book is no different in that it can be obtuse and difficult to understand. It is an extraordinarily challenging read. (He subsequently gave a lecture, available on YouTube, that clarifies his views).
At the heart of Professor Wolfson’s interpretation of the Rebbe’s thought is that Messiah is less about a specific person and more about a specific mode of consciousness—the realization by the collective Jewish People of God’s immanence within this world and in turn the redemption of the entire world.
This is how he explains it:
We have arrived at the spot where my approach diverges most conspicuously from the work of others. In my judgement, Schneerson was intentionally ambiguous about his own identity as Messiah, since the key aspect of his teaching involves cultivating a modification in consciousness with respect to this very issue. Simply put, the image of the personal Messiah may have been utilized rhetorically to liberate one from the belief in the personal Messiah…
The ultimate legacy of the seventh Rebbe’s Messianic aspiration, the encrypted message he wished to bequeath to future generations, lies in proffering an understanding of salvation as the expanded consciousness of and reabsorption in the inestimable essence, whose essence it is to resist essentialization, the moment of eternity for which we await in its fully temporalized sense, the advent of the absolute (non)event. True liberation, on this score, would consist of being liberated from the need to be liberated.
Accordingly, the Messianic Age will begin once the world, collectively, is able to apprehend, what Rav YY Jacobson called in a recent interview with me on 18forty, “Mashiach Consciousness.” In a certain sense, Wolfson’s approach to the Rebbe’s Messianism parallels the haunting remark by Franz Kafka on the arrival of Messiah:
The Messiah will come only when he is no longer necessary; he will come only on the day after his arrival; he will come, not on the last day, but on the very last.
And this brings us back to the question of Bilaam as the prophet of Messiah.
The midrash writes something fascinating: The donkey that Bilaam rode, you know, the one that talks, will be the very same donkey ridden by Mashiach.
השכים אברהם בבקר ולקח את ישמעאל ואת אליעזר ואת יצחק בנו עמו, וחבש את החמור, הוא שרכב עליו אברהם, הוא החמור בן האתון שנבראת בין השמשות, שנ' וישכם אברהם בבקר, הוא החמור שרכב עליו משה בבאו למצרים, שנ' ויקח משה את אשתו ואת בניו וירכיבם על החמור, הוא החמור שעתיד בן דוד לרכוב עליו, שנאמר (זכריה ט, ט) עָנִי וְרֹכֵב עַל חֲמוֹר.
Why is Bilaam so connected to the idea of Messiah? His donkey will be Messiah’s vehicle and his prophecy is the primary mention of Mashiach in the Torah!
When the Baal Shem Tov asked Mashiach when he would arrive, Mashiach responded, בעת שיתפרסם למודך ויתגלה בעולם ויפוצו מעיינותיך חוצה מה שלמדתי אותך והשגתת, when your teaching will become public and revealed in the world, and your wellsprings will burst forth to the farthest extremes, that which I have taught you and you have comprehended.
Bilaam is the archetype for the very secret that brings Messiah—he is the farthest extreme from the Jewish People, the ultimate חוצה, outside boundary, if you will. And it is specifically through Bilaam’s prophecy that we learn what brings Mashiach—Bilaam doesn’t bear the news of Messiah’s coming, he embodies the very secret of Messiah. Transforming an intended curse into a blessing, where God’s Kingdom is recognized even by the lowest of the low. A donkey is called a chamor (חמור) in Hebrew, which is the same word for material reality. And this donkey is the donkey of Messiah, meaning when even in the lowest material reality we can acknowledge, understand, and fully realize God’s existence in the world, that is the ultimate Messianic realization.
There is this show on Netflix, originally based on a book, called The Three-Body Problem. The basic plot of the show follows a group of scientists who realize that a powerful race of aliens plans on conquering Earth. It is a fascinating premise that imagines how society would react if our reality was upended in a serious way. In some ways, the entire show could be read as a reflection on God’s potential existence. What would happen to the world if we were confronted by the undeniable reality that God created the world? What if the sky, so to speak, winked at us? Would your life change if you were confronted with the irrefutable and undeniable existence of God? I know mine would.
And until such a time arrives, we continue to anticipate.
Bonus Material
For a richer understanding of the Rebbe’s thought, particularly as it relates to Messianism and Zionism, it may be worth watching my entire interview with Rav YY Jacobson:
Double Bonus Material!
As if this email was not long enough. I am really sorry friends, I do not know what got into me. But if you want an article that explores additional connections between Bilaam and Messianism and, you guessed it, Sabbateanism, you must read this article by Paweł Maciejko, entitled, A Portrait of the Kabbalist as a Young Man: Count Joseph Carl Emmanuel Waldstein and His Retinue.
Hmmm, what is he reading? Who is this?
I am not exaggerating when I say this might be the most exciting wow mystery article I’ve ever read.
If you are not familiar with the scholarship of Paweł Maciejko, I highly suggest reading his reader on Sabbateinism, Sabbatian Heresy: Writings on Mysticism, Messianism, and the Origins of Jewish Modernity, as well as his incredible book in the Frankist movement, The Mixed Multitude: Jacob Frank and the Frankist Movement, 1755-1816. He is one of the best scholars on Sabbateanism today.
Shabbos Reads — Books/Articles Mentioned
Sometimes Mashiach is Not the Solution, Aaron Lopiansky
The Muted Messiah: The Aversion to Messianic Forms of Zionism in Modern Orthodox Thought, David Shatz
Bar Kokhba Revolt and Circumcision: Historical Evidence and Modern Apologetics, Peter Schäfer
Joseph Karo: Lawyer and Mystic, R.J. Zwi Werblowsky
Diary of a Black Jewish Messiah: The Sixteenth-Century Journey of David Reubeni through Africa, the Middle East, and Europe, Alan Verskin
Sabbatai Ṣevi: The Mystical Messiah, 1626–1676, Gershom Scholem
The Imposter, Avner Gold
The Burden of Silence: Sabbatai Sevi and the Evolution of the Ottoman-Turkish Dönmes, Cengiz Sisman
Women and the Messianic Heresy of Sabbatai Zevi 1666-1816, Ada Rapoport-Albert
The Messianic Feminism of Shabbtai Zevi, Jericho Vincent
The Holiness of Sin, Gershom Scholem
The Rebbe, the Messiah, and the Scandal of Orthodox Indifference, David Berger
Introduction to the Paperback Edition, David Berger
Dorshei Yechudcha: A Portrait of Professor Elliot Wolfson, Joey Rosenfeld
Sabbatian Heresy: Writings on Mysticism, Messianism, and the Origins of Jewish Modernity, Paweł Maciejko
The Mixed Multitude: Jacob Frank and the Frankist Movement, 1755-1816, Paweł Maciejko
Check out All Parsha, where you can find weekly audio of Reading Jewish History in the Parsha, as well as other incredible presenters and amazing features that will enhance your Parsha journey!
Reading Jewish History in the Parsha has been generously sponsored by my dearest friends Janet and Lior Hod and family with immense gratitude to Hashem.