[Avodah] Rambam on False Messiahs

[Micha Berger]

On Tue, Aug 27, 2013 at 04:08:28AM +0000, shalomyitz at comcast.net wrote:
: In Mishneh Torah Melachim uMilchamot 11, the Rambam writes that if a
: ruler arises and he isn't successful in building the mikdash and
: gathering the exiles, or he dies, then he isn't the Moshiach, and
: "HKB"H caused him to arise only to test the many".

I think it's "if he didn't succeed [before dying] or if he was killed
[even though he did succeed in everying else]." After all, until his
petirah, we can't rule out his succeeding at leading Jews to Torah and
upholding all its halakhos, fighting Hashem's battles, creating a global
Pax Judeicus, building the bayis shelishi and qibutz goliyos. So that's
the death case, and the other possibility that would rule out a possible
mashiach is "o neherag", not "o meis".

: But what, according to Rambam, is passing the test?

I think it's evidently your third possibility -- following him when
the halakhah says we should assume he's mashiach, and not treating him
as kind when it says we can rule out that assumption.

More on why I conclude that below in my response to Lisa's email.


On Tue, Aug 27, 2013 at 10:18:43AM -0500, Lisa Liel wrote:
> I think that's going too far.  I don't think there's anything here about  
> a "claim".  A leader of the Jews is supposed to do certain things.  If  
> he does the first part of those things, *we*, rather than he, determine  
> that those actions made him presumptive Mashiach.  If we don't make that  
> determination...

If I may play logician... The predicate is "he is mashiach". We don't
determine the truth of the predicate "he is bechezqas mashiach", we have
a chazaqah that the predicate "he is mashiach" is true. In the Rambam's
words (Melakhim 11:4), "harei zeh bechazaqas shehu moshiach".

I think this distinction is more than just in wording, which goes to the
original question. It's not that anyone ceased being a "chezqas mashiach"
if he dies with the job incomplete, it's that we change our assumptions
about which halakhos apply to our relationship with him.

Tir'u baTov!
-Micha

-- 
Micha Berger             The purely righteous do not complain about evil,
micha at aishdas.org        but add justice, don't complain about heresy,
http://www.aishdas.org   but add faith, don't complain about ignorance,
Fax: (270) 514-1507      but add wisdom.     - R AY Kook, Arpelei Tohar