Messiah

==Judaism==
{{Main article|Messiah in Judaism}}
{{See also|Jewish eschatology|Judaism's view of Jesus|Jewish Messiah claimants}}
The literal translation of the Hebrew word ''mashiach'' ({{Lang-he|מָשִׁיחַ|translit=|label=none|lit=}}, messiah), is 'anointed', which refers to a ritual of [[consecration|consecrating]] someone or something by putting holy oil upon it. It is used throughout the [[Hebrew Bible]] in reference to a wide variety of individuals and objects; for example, kings, priests and prophets, the altar in the Temple, vessels, unleavened bread, and even a non-Jewish king ([[Cyrus the Great]]).<ref>[[Tanakh]] verses:
*{{Bibleverse|1 Samuel|10:1–2|HE}}
*{{Bibleverse|1 Kings|1:39|HE}}
*{{Bibleverse|Leviticus|4:3|HE}}
*{{Bibleverse|Exodus|40:9–11|HE}}
*{{Bibleverse|Numbers|6:15|HE}}
*{{Bibleverse|Isaiah|45:1|HE}}
</ref>

In [[Jewish eschatology]], the term came to refer to a future Jewish king from the Davidic line, who will be "anointed" with holy anointing oil, to be king of [[God's kingdom]], and rule the Jewish people during the [[Messianic Age]]. In Judaism, the Messiah is not considered to be God or a pre-existent divine [[Son of God]]. He is considered to be a great political leader that has descended from King David, hence why he is referred to as ''[[Messiah ben David]]'', 'Messiah, son of David'. In Judaism, the messiah is considered to be a great, charismatic leader that is well oriented with the laws that are followed in Judaism.

Though originally a fringe idea, somewhat controversially, belief in the eventual coming of a future messiah is a fundamental part of Judaism, and is one of [[Maimonides]]' [[Jewish principles of faith#Maimonides' 13 principles of faith|13 Principles of Faith]].<ref>{{cite book | chapter-url=https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/maimonides/ | title=The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy | chapter=Maimonides | date=8 August 2023 | publisher=Metaphysics Research Lab, Stanford University }}</ref> Maimonides describes the identity of the Messiah in the following terms:{{Blockquote|And if a king shall arise from among the House of David, studying Torah and occupied with commandments like his father David, according to the written and oral Torah, and he will impel all of Israel to follow it and to strengthen breaches in its observance, and will fight God's wars, this one is to be treated as if he were the anointed one. If he succeeded and built the Holy Temple in its proper place and gathered the dispersed ones of Israel together, this is indeed the anointed one for certain, and he will mend the entire world to worship the Lord together, as it is stated: "For then I shall turn for the nations a clear tongue, so that they will all proclaim the Name of the Lord, and to worship Him with a united resolve (Zephaniah 3:9)."<ref>Mishneh Torah, Laws of Kings 11:4</ref>}}

Even though the eventual coming of the messiah is a strongly upheld belief in Judaism, trying to predict the actual time when the messiah will come is an act that is frowned upon. These kinds of actions are thought to weaken the faith the people have in the religion. So in Judaism, there is no specific time when the messiah comes. Rather, it is the acts of the people that determines when the messiah comes. It is said that the messiah would come either when the world needs his coming the most (when the world is so sinful and in desperate need of saving by the messiah) or deserves it the most (when genuine goodness prevails in the world).

A common modern [[rabbinic literature|rabbinic]] interpretation is that there is a ''potential'' messiah in every generation. The [[Talmud]], which often uses stories to make a moral point (''aggadah''), tells of a highly respected [[rabbi]] who found the Messiah at the gates of [[Rome]] and asked him, "When will you finally come?" He was quite surprised when he was told, "Today." Overjoyed and full of anticipation, the man waited all day. The next day he returned, disappointed and puzzled, and asked, "You said messiah would come 'today' but he didn't come! What happened?" The Messiah replied, "Scripture says, 'Today, if you will but hearken to his voice.'"<ref>{{Bibleverse|Psalms|95:7|HE}}</ref>

A [[Kabbalah|Kabbalistic]] tradition within Judaism is that the commonly discussed messiah who will usher in a period of freedom and peace, Messiah ben David, will be preceded by [[Messiah ben Joseph]], who will gather the children of Israel around him, leading them to Jerusalem. After overcoming the hostile powers in Jerusalem, Messiah ben Joseph, will reestablish the Temple-worship and set up his own dominion. Then [[Armilus]], according to one group of sources, or [[Gog and Magog]], according to the other, will appear with their hosts before Jerusalem, wage war against Messiah ben Joseph, and slay him. His corpse, according to one group, will lie unburied in the streets of Jerusalem; according to the other, it will be hidden by the angels with the bodies of the Patriarchs, until Messiah ben David comes and brings him back to life.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |title=Messiah |encyclopedia=Jewish Encyclopedia |url=http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/10729-messiah |year=1906 |access-date=2 May 2014}}</ref>

=== Chabad ===
{{further|Chabad messianism|Chabad-Lubavitch related controversies|List of Jewish messiah claimants}}
[[Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn]] (r. 1920–1950), sixth ''[[Rebbe]]'' (hereditary chassidic leader) of Chabad Lubavitch,<ref name="LubavitcherFalseMessiahs"/><ref name="MS-HabadMinuth"/> and [[Menachem Mendel Schneerson]] (1902–1994), seventh ''Rebbe'' of Chabad,<ref name="SHandelman">Susan Handelman, [http://www.tabletmag.com/jewish-news-and-politics/177352/lubavitcher-rebbe#undefined The Lubavitcher Rebbe Died 20 Years Ago Today. Who Was He?], Tablet Magazine</ref><ref name="ASteinsaltz">Adin Steinsaltz, ''My Rebbe''.  Maggid Books, p. 24</ref><ref name="DHorn">Dara Horn, 13 June 2014 [https://online.wsj.com/articles/book-review-rebbe-by-joseph-telushkin-and-my-rebbe-by-adin-steinsaltz-1402696458 "Rebbe of Rebbe's"]. The Wall Street Journal.</ref><ref name="ALichtenstein">Aharon Lichtenstein, [https://www.scribd.com/doc/111005773/Rav-Aharon-Lichtenstein-s-Hesped-for-the-Lubavitcher-Rebbe-English Euligy for the Rebbe]. 16 June 1994.</ref><ref name="NYT-Agudas_Chasidei_Chabad">The New York Times, Statement From Agudas Chasidei Chabad, 9 Feb 1996.</ref> are [[List of messiah claimants|messiah claimants]].<ref name="vosiz">{{cite web| url = http://www.vosizneias.com/31329/2009/05/06/crown-heights-ny-rabbi-menashe-klein-messianic-group-within-chabad-are-apikorsim/| title = Famed Posek Rabbi Menashe Klein: Messianic Group Within Chabad Are Apikorsim| date = 7 May 2009}}</ref><ref name="TBMag">{{Cite web|url=https://thebeaconmag.com/2013/04/opinions/on-chabad/|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150219223222/http://thebeaconmag.com/2013/04/opinions/on-chabad/|url-status=dead|title=On Chabad|archivedate=19 February 2015|website=The Beacon}}</ref><ref name="RAFeldman">Public Responsa from Rabbi Aharon Feldman on the matter of Chabad messiansim (Hebrew), 23 Sivan, 5763 –  http://moshiachtalk.tripod.com/feldman.pdf. See also Rabbi Feldman's letter to David Beger: http://www.stevens.edu/golem/llevine/feldman_berger_sm_2.jpg</ref><ref name="DBerger-TRtMatSoOI">{{cite book|last=Berger|first=David|title=The Rebbe, the Messiah, and the Scandal of Orthodox Indifference|isbn=978-1904113751|publisher=Littman Library of Jewish Civilization|year=2008}} ''For further information see the article: [[The Rebbe, the Messiah, and the Scandal of Orthodox Indifference]]''.</ref><ref name="LubavitcherFalseMessiahs">{{cite web|last1=Bar-Hayim|first1=HaRav David|title=The False Mashiah of Lubavitch-Habad|url=http://machonshilo.org/en/eng/list-ask-the-rav/31-general/424-the-false-mashiah-of-lubavitch-habad|publisher=Machon Shilo (Shilo Institute)|access-date=17 June 2016|archive-date=25 February 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110225055436/http://machonshilo.org/en/eng/list-ask-the-rav/31-general/424-the-false-mashiah-of-lubavitch-habad|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="MS-HabadMinuth">{{cite web|last1=Bar-Hayim|first1=HaRav David|title=Habad and Jewish Messianism (audio)|url=http://machonshilo.org/en/eng/list-audio-shiurim/41-audiohalakha/475-habad-and-jewish-messianism|publisher=Machon Shilo (Shilo Institute)|access-date=17 June 2016|archive-date=9 January 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150109015103/http://machonshilo.org/en/eng/list-audio-shiurim/41-audiohalakha/475-habad-and-jewish-messianism|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="WH-MB-JCP">William Horbury, Markus Bockmuehl, James Carleton Paget: ''Redemption and resistance: the messianic hopes of Jews and Christians in antiquity'' p. 294 : (2007) {{ISBN|978-0567030443}}.</ref>

As per [[Chabad messianism|Chabad-Lubavitch messianism]],{{efn|name="meshichists"}} Menachem Mendel Schneerson openly declared his deceased father-in-law, the former 6th ''Rebbe'' of Chabad Lubavitch, to be the Messiah.<ref name="LubavitcherFalseMessiahs"/><ref name="MS-HabadMinuth"/> He published about [[Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn]] to be ''"[[Atzmus]] u'mehus alein vi er hat zich areingeshtalt in a [[guf]]"'' ([[Yiddish language|Yiddish]] and [[English language|English]] for: "Essence and Existence [of God] which has placed itself in a body").<ref name="LikuteiSichosV2-p510">[[Likutei Sichos]], Vol 2, pp. 510–511.</ref><ref name="Identifying Chabad-p13">{{cite book|title=Identifying Chabad : what they teach and how they influence the Torah world.|date=2007|publisher=Center for Torah Demographics|location=Illinois|isbn=978-1411642416|page=13|edition=Revised|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-_4eAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA13|access-date=29 June 2016}}</ref><ref name="HaRavSinger-RebbeFailedMessiah">Archived at [https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/sPXE7P8Rcgo Ghostarchive]{{cbignore}} and the [https://web.archive.org/web/20200226082653/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sPXE7P8Rcgo&gl=US&hl=en Wayback Machine]{{cbignore}}: {{cite web|last1=Singer|first1=HaRav Tovia|title=Why did some expect the Lubavitcher Rebbe to Resurrect as the Messiah? Rabbi Tovia Singer Responds (video-lecture)|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sPXE7P8Rcgo|publisher=Tovia Singer Youtube.com|access-date=26 June 2016}}{{cbignore}}</ref> The gravesite of his deceased father-in-law Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn, known as "the ''[[Ohel (Chabad-Lubavitch)|Ohel]]''", became a central point of focus for Menachem Mendel Schneerson's prayers and supplications.

Regarding the deceased Menachem Mendel Schneerson, a later Chabad Halachic ruling claims that it was "incumbent on every single Jew to heed the Rebbe's words and believe that he is indeed [[Messiah in Judaism#Historical|King Moshiach]], who will be [[second coming|revealed imminently]]".<ref name="DVED-250">{{cite web|last1=Berger|first1=Rabbi Prof. Dr. David|title=On the Spectrum of Messianic Belief in Contemporary Lubavitch Chassidism|url=http://chareidi.org/archives5766/pinchos/olubavtchpnc66.htm|publisher=Shema Yisrael Torah Network|access-date=3 July 2016}}</ref><ref name=Psak>{{cite web|work=Psak Din|title=Halachic Ruling|url=http://www.psakdin.net/en/|access-date=22 March 2014}}</ref> Outside of Chabad messianism, in Judaism, there is no basis to these claims.<ref name="LubavitcherFalseMessiahs"/><ref name="MS-HabadMinuth"/> If anything, this resembles the faith in the [[resurrection of Jesus]] and his second coming in [[early Christianity]], and therefore, heretical in [[Judaism]].<ref name="ChFr">Freeman, Charles. ''[[The Closing of the Western Mind]]'', p. 133. Vintage. 2002.</ref>

Still today, the deceased rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson is believed to be the Messiah among adherents of the Chabad movement,<ref name="ASteinsaltz"/><ref name="DHorn"/><ref name="ALichtenstein"/><ref name="TBMag"/><ref name="DBerger-TRtMatSoOI"/> and his second coming is believed to be imminent.<ref name="DVED-250"/> He is venerated and invocated to by thousands of visitors and letters each year at the (''Ohel''), especially in a pilgrimage each year on the anniversary of his death.<ref name="queens">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2p8LnB_q9AYC&q=ohel+chabad&pg=PA20 |title=The Neighborhoods of Queens |pages=20&ndash;23 |first=Claudia |last=Gryvatz Copquin |year=2007 |publisher=Yale University Press |isbn=978-0-300-11299-3}}</ref><ref name="TNYO">''The New York Observer'', [http://observer.com/2014/07/rebbe-to-the-city-and-the-world/ "Rebbe to the city and Rebbe to the world"]. Editorial, 07/08/14.</ref>