The Death of Mashiach ben Yosef

King Hezekiah MBY

 

“The Holy One wanted to make Hezekiah the Mashiach and Sancheriv Gog and Magog. But the aspect of judgment said before the Holy One: Master of the World! You did not make David, who said before You many songs and praises, the Mashiach. Will you then make Hezekiah, for whom You did all these miracles and who did not sing before, into the Mashiach?! Therefore it was sealed.” (B. Sanhedrin 94a)

There are those who say that the war against Gog and Magog will occur before the coming of Mashiach. Others contend that first Mashiach will come, and only afterwards will the war against Gog and Magog will take place (Midrash Rabba 96:15, 6; Maharsha Sukka 52a, ‘Al,’ and Rambam, Hilchos Melochim 12:2.

“Israel is destined to enjoy two Meshichim. R’ Yosef said: This is obvious, for who else will enjoy it?
This is different from R’ Hillel, who said: Israel has no Mashiach, for they already enjoyed it in the days of Hezekiah.

 

The Plot

The Sages say: He is called ‘the leper of the house of Rabbi.’ Said R’ Nahman: If he is from the living, he is like me. Said Rav: If he is from the living, he is like R’ Yehudah haNassi. If he is from the dead, he is like Daniel.” – (Sanhedrin 98b).

This is puzzling passage becomes clear if we understand it as referring to Mashiach ben Yosef. Before Mashiach ben David comes, MBY will be revealed. We are confident that through the multitude of our prayers and all our suffering during the long exile, the MBY will not be killed by the wicked Armilas. Israel will enjoy his personal greatness and the miracles that are wrought for him.

R’ Hillel opines that “Israel has no Mashiach” – that is, no MBY; rather, Israel will enjoy only the coming of MBD – “for they already enjoyed it in the days of Hezekiah.” At that time, the soul of MBY descended to earth as the tzadik King Hezekiah, and the archenemies of the pre-Messianic era, Gog and Magog, descended as King Sennacherib of Syria. Sennacherib encamped around Jerusalem with his mighty army. On the first night of Pesach, an angel smote the entire army, and the Jews awoke in the morning to find their enemies dead (II Kings 19:35).

The Sages say the Mashiach is called “the leper of the house of Rabbi.” “Rabbi” was the title given to the Sages of the Holy Land; those in Babylon were called “Rav.” The MBY suffers illnesses and afflictions to atone for the people of Israel and for the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple. He is called “the leper of the house of Rabbi,” meaning, the one who suffers for Israel and Jerusalem.

The MBY sits near the Gan Eden (outside the gate of Rome), suffering for the people of Israel. In every generation, a spark of his soul enters a tzadik. Thus R’ Hayyim Vital writes that his mentor, the Arizal, had in him a spark of MBY. The Arizal instructed his disciples that when they prayed, “May you speedily establish the throne of David within [Jerusalem]” (Shemoneh Esreh), they should have in mind the MBY, who is called the “throne of David” (Sha’ar HaKavanot 37a) because the tzadik whom the spark of MBY would enter is from the seed of King David.

R’ Nahman was married to the daughter of the exilarch, who was a descendant of King David. R’ Nahman said: “If he is from the living, he is like me” – the spark of the MBY enters a tzadik not only if he is of the direct male lineage of King David, but even if he is like me in that his wife is a descendant of King David.

Rav said: “if he is from the living, he is like R’ Yehudah haNassi,” who was a descendant of King David only through his mother. R’ Yehudah therefore said that were Rav Huna, the exilarch, to come to the Land of Israel, R’ Yehudah would place the exilarch’ seat above his own, for the exilarch was a direct descendant of King David through the males, whereas R’ Yehudah was a descendant only through the females (Yerushalmi, Kilayim 9:3).

R’ Yehudah suffered great afflictions in order to protect the people of his generation. Rav was saying: if we find a tzadik from the seed of King David suffering affliction, he probably contains a spark of the MBY.

“If he is from the dead, he is like Daniel,” who also suffered for Israel, as it is written, “In those days, I, Daniel, was mourning three whole weeks. I ate no fine bread, and meat and wine did not come into my mouth, neither did I anoint myself at all” (Daniel 10:2-3). Then an angel came to him and said, ‘From the first that you set your heart to understand and to afflict yourself before your G-d, your words were heard” (Daniel 10:12) [Days of Peace, Ben Ish Hi, Ben Yehoyada, pg.129-131].

 

Gog U Magog

Hezekiah and Gog U Magog

When the Talmud refers to Sennacherib as Gog and Magog, it means the entire force that he assembled to destroy Jerusalem at that time. Indeed, that seems to be one of the main criterion of the War of Gog and Magog, as the Leshem (Rabbi Shlomo Elyashiv) explains:

“After Mashiach comes, a major war will be instigated against Israel, as mentioned in the Holy Zohar (Shemos 7b), and in Parashas Vayaira (119a) and Toldos (139). This is the war of Gog and Magog spoken about in Yechezkel (38, 39) and Zechariah (14), as well as in Midrash Tehillim (Mizmor 118:9). There it says: ‘Three times in the future Gog and Magog will come against Israel and go up against Jerusalem, and assemble and anger the nations with him to go up to Jerusalem…” (Sha’arei Leshem, pg.491).

The Malbim wrote (Ovadya 1:1), “Edom caused harm to Israel during the destruction of the first Temple when they rejoiced over Israel’s downfall and the destruction of the Holy Temple. Afterwards, the Second Temple was destroyed by the Romans, who are called Edom because the city of Rome was settled by the descendants of Edom… And, after that, their well-known faith [christianity] spread.

The kingdom of Gog and Magog represents specifically Edom as explained in the (Zohar, part 2, 7b; Zohar Chodosh, Balak; Shaarei HaLeshem, part 2:11) mainly because it is the primary source of those who display arrogance with their power.

 

And they shall look upon him whom they have pierced…

Yeshu’a ben Yosef and Rome (Gog U Magog)

“When morning came, the chief priests and the elders of the people conferred together against Yeshu’a in order to bring about his death. They bound him, led him away, and handed him over to Pilate the governor.

Then the (Roman) soldiers of the government took Yeshu’a into the government’s headquarters, and they gathered the whole cohort around him.

After mocking him, they stripped him of the robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him away to crucify him.” (Matthew 27:1-2, 27, 31).

Also we read in the gospel of Yochanan:

“But when they came to Yeshu’a and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. Instead, one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once blood and water came out.” (Yochanan 19:33-34; Zech.12:10).

Yeshu’a of Nazareth was the MBY of his generation, Caesar/Pilate was Gog and Rome was Magog. Yeshu’a was a descendant of David and could have initiated the complete Geulah two-thousand years ago but his generation was not ready, they did not merit the ‘hastened’ Geulah (Sanhedrin 98a). His fame grew greatly as all Israel heard of the pious Rabbi from Nazareth, his wisdom and all the great signs which G-d was doing through him.

“And when he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred up, saying, “Who is this?” And the crowds said, “This is the prophet Yeshu’a, from Nazareth of Galilee.” – (Matthew 21:10-11)

Yeshu’a ben Yosef

The Sitra Achra (the Other Side) broke loose against the Nazarene with great opposition, and a company of corrupted Saduccees plotted against him and raised false witnesses and sold him to Pilate to be executed.

It is a fact that Yeshu’a was indeed MBY, it is clear from his life, teachings and deeds. Furthermore a few authorities have made this same connection. Rabbi David Valle, a colleague of the Ramchal (Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzatto) says of Yeshu’a in his work (Sefer Likutim, vol.1, pg.241-242):

“And this was in fact the prince of the armies, because Mashiach ben Yosef is the one who does battle, and Mashiach ben David comes to make peace in the world, not war. This is opposite of Yeshu haNotzri , who said of himself, “I did not come into the world to make peace, but war” (Matt.10:34; Lk.12:49-53). And also he himself was certainly the mystery of Mashiach ben Yosef, even though he was an illegitimate child, because a student of the Sages who is a bastard precedes the High Priest who is unlearned (Mishna Horaot 3:8). However, since it was not yet the proper time, because there was baseless hatred (sinat chinam) in Israel, he was corrupted and held by Samael, who destroyed him, and he was crucified.” [A few others say that Yeshu’a was MBY: Rabbi Shimshon Ostropoli, Rabbi Abraham Abulafia].

Rabbi David Valle wrote the following in his Italian/Hebrew manuscript, (I Sette Giorni della Verità): “There was a whole fabrication about the danger of the teachings of that man (Yeshu). It was created with false dogmas and it was done in a repugnant manner. Through him a lot of nations were going to know G-d, and now we have to fix those mistakes.”

The Sinat Chinam (baseless hatred) which came against Yeshu’a was the cause of his death, it was also the cause for the destruction of the second Temple and subsequent exile to this day (B.T Yoma 9b). Aryeh Silver says in his book of Yosef haTzadik, (The Haggadah for the Generations, pg.189):

“The Midrash explains that the cause of the exile to Egypt came about from the sale of Yosef haTzadik. During Pesach we start off the Seder with something that reminds of the ultimate cause of enslavement in Egypt. It is important for us to remember this lesson today in our Seders because the brothers sold Yosef out of sinat chinam, hatred towards each other, and that is something that we still suffer from today. So until the sin of selling Yosef is completely erased and there is no more sinat chinam amongst our people, we will remain in exile. However, when all of sinat chinam is gone and the Jewish people have unity, that is when Mashiach will come.”

The Sages teach, “the actions of the forefathers serve as a portent for their descendants.”

 

Fighting the wars of G-d

 

MBY – his mission and Concealment

In both the Jerusalem Talmud (Brachot 5b) and in Midrash Rabba (Eicha Rabba) we find the story of ‘Menachem ben Hezekiah’ who was born on the day the Temple was destroyed, he is MBY. This youth (na’ar – Gen.37b) was plucked from his mother’s arms by the wind and disappeared with no trace.

It is written of this youth (na’ar), “The spirit of our nostrils, the Mashiach of G-d, has been trapped by their corruption, of whom we said we will live in the shadow among the nations.” What is the meaning of the verse, “he requested life from you’? This is a great secret, because of our many sins MBY will die as it is taught in (Raya Mehemna, Sefer HaZohar, 448).

MBY is killed in his battle against Gog U Magog which is a battle against the forces of the Other Side (Zech.12:10). Rabbi Tzadok HaCohen of Lublin says concerning this great battle:

“Mashiach ben Yosef who wipes out all traces of Amalek, the one who will be perfectly clean, dies during the end times at the hands of Gog and Magog… ‘They will look upon him whom they pierced’ means literally that Israel pierced him, although legally speaking he did not deserve to die…since his generation was not clean; however, he had to be killed in order to atone for the people of Israel” (Rabbi Tzadok HaCohen of Lublin, Poke Akarim, Letter He).

MBY does not come for his own sake, but for the sake of the Kingdom of David (MBD). He will offer up his life and pour it out unto death (Isa.53:12) and his blood will atone for his people (Rabbi Isaiah Horowitz, Shney Luchot HaBrit, 1724, pg.299b).

 

 

Victory even in death!

It is written in the Zohar, “A tzadik, even though he has passed from this world, is found in all worlds even more so than during his normal lifetime” (Zohar, Parshas Acharei 71b).

While hanging upon the cross, Yeshu’a said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do” (Lk.23;34). The common folk pitied this most recent victim of Roman occupation and oppression, though those who were Yeshu’a enemies were surely content. The rulers (Jewish aristocrats), jeered at him and remarked sarcastically, “If this man, who wants to save others, is the Mashiach, may he first save himself!” The Roman soldiers joined in the jeering. One even ran, and filling a sponge with vinegar, put it on a reed and gave it to Yeshu’a to drink (Mtt.27:48). The Sadducean priests also mocked Yeshu’a among themselves. Even one of the criminals, who was crucified next to him, added his own insults (Lk.23:39-43).

Finally, Yeshu’a cried out loudly, “Into Your hand I commit my spirit” (Psalm 31:6) and died. “And all the multitudes who had gathered to see the sight, when they saw what had happened beat their breasts – as an expression of mourning and returned home” (Lk 23:48).

For as long as Yeshu’a was still clothed in a physical garment, he is confined to only one place, but after he takes off his body and puts on a spiritual garment, he can literally be everywhere, as we know from the true tzadikim, that after they passed from the world, their words (teachings) revealed and publicized HaShem’s goodness. And through the Jew Yeshu’a haTzadik teachings the entire world has heard of the goodness of the Creator – the G-d of Israel.

Although he has ascended to Shamayim, his soul (intellect) is still found in our world to a greater degree than when he was physically alive, for in his teachings (soul) and through his disciples which he has left behind they will continue to publicize them to the glory of G-d.

 

B”H!

Notes:

[Targum Jonathan, Zechariah 12:10]:
“And I shall pour out upon the house of David and upon the dwellers of Jerusalem a spirit of loyal love and compassion. And they will inquire of me because they were exiled, and they will mourn for him just as they mourn for an only one and will be in bitterness over him like the bitterness over a firstborn.”

 

[Targum Tosefta, Zechariah 12:10]:
“And I shall cause to rest upon the house of David and upon the dwellers of Jerusalem a spirit of prophecy and true prayer. And afterwards Mashiach bar Ephraim shall go forth to engage in battle with Gog, and Gog will slay him before the gate of Jerusalem.
And they will look to me and inquire of me why the nations pierced Mashiach bar Ephraim, and they will mourn for him just as a father and mother mourn for an only son and will be in bitterness over him like the bitterness over a firstborn.”