[Avodah] Rambam on False Messiahs

[Micha Berger]

On Wed, Aug 28, 2013 at 11:35:11AM -0700, saul newman wrote:
: if we use  rZS 's  example of  bar kochba [where there is no dissent to
: the thesis that he is NOT the messiah]  , was there a chiyuv to follow him,
: and believe in him; and at what point did that become assur....

I am not sure BK actually was a false messiah. After all, who am I to
question R' Aqiva, R Eliezer, R' Yehoshua, R Elazar b Azaria or R' Tarfon?
Nor could I question the opinion of Rabban Gamliel and the majority of
the Sanhedrin. So I'm agnostic.

Still, it's quite possible that the Divine decision that BK was not the
messiah was caused by our behavior during his leadership.

There are theological problems with saying when HQBH decides something.
However, we do assign a time for decisions, or at least when the effects
of Hashem's decisions are felt in the world, in order to preserve free
will. Hashem judges us for what we did; His actions do not reflect what
we *will* do.

In the same sense, one could say that decision that BK wasn't mashiach
wasn't made until about the time R' Aqiva left the cause. (... the effects
of that Divine Concept weren't felt until ...) And at the time he was
king, he actually was the nascent messiah.

Tir'u baTov!
-Micha

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