Eschatological Events
I am worried. It seems there are some people out there in the blogosphere (and in real life I guess) who are making bold predictions about the arrival of the Messiah, the impending war of Gog and Magog, etc. They are linking it to various world events, especially the upcoming disengagement plan.
I'm not going to delve into politics at all. I am just worried that such talk on a large scale can lead to mass hysteria and have damaging long-term effects for some parts of the Jewish religious world. I hope I am being totally hyper-sensitive to this kind of talk and my knowledge of Jewish history is not causing me to be overly suspicious when these "predictions" surface.
TRK
posted by TRK @ 1:03 AM
9 comments
9 Comments:
Well said.
The book "On Eagles Wings" by a Rabbi Hershel Brand, has a whole chapter devoted to exactly this point.
Thanks Jack. I was deliberating whether to delve into the history of Moshiach predictions by some very respected Rabbis, but decided against it. Does Rabbi Brand deal with this?
TRK
TRK,
Yep, he deals with that too. Basically, everything Chazal discuss about Moshiach, the Resurrection of the Dead, and the World to Come.
Jack,
Care to tell us how we are to view the dates predicted by famous rabbis?
TRK
My understanding of this topic (and I'm not touching the famous Rabbis question - not with a 10 foot pole) is that this is one of those things we are just not supposed to know. We are supposed to always be striving for Moshiach and if we knew he was going to come anyway on a specific date, we'd stop working toward it, which wouldn't work at all because the coming of Mochiach is based on us working on Torah.
So then the date would be pushed off (which incidentally is one explanation to the question i said I wouldn't touch - that the date they said was a possible date, but we messed it up and weren't ready).
Eli, I'll mention just one brief point here. The Rambam in Igeret Teiman states that we will find out post facto when Moshiach comes what all the predicitons and prophecies in Sefer Daniel meant.
Mirty, we'll have a whip round for your tickets to Israel. You deserve it. If we are lucky they will be one way tickets.
TRK
i think there is a gemara in shabbos that says something like if you try to figure out the date of when moshiach will come your bones will be burned or something like that.
chai,
doesn't ring a bell off hand, and even so it didn't stop MANY great Rabbis from doing so.
TRK
Moshiach fever sounds like a distraction from reality. Many people are bored with their lives and end up associating themselves with an exciting movement because they have nothing better to do with their miserable lives. If you are one of the people in question, either accept that Moshiach will come when he comes and all you can do is try to improve yourself, or just do the world a favor and admit yourself to the nearest psychiatric hospital.
[/end rant]
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