[Avodah] Moshiach Ben Yosef

[Micha Berger via Avodah]

On Thu, Mar 03, 2016 at 02:56:52PM -0500, Zev Sero wrote:
: But Bar Kochva didn't come back to life. If he does he can start over,
: and if he does as much as he did the last time he will once again be
: bechezkas Moshiach, and if he finishes the job he will be vadai Moshiach.
...
: And of course once someone has done everything he's meant to do, and
: has become vadai Moshiach...

I don't understand the language being used, and since it's common around
Chabad circles, I'll ask.

Whether something is a safeiq or a vadai isn't really a change in the
cheftza, it's a change in my knowledge of it. So, here is the way I
would read the Rambam.

It is claimed that Reb X is mashiach. On day 1, we have no reason to
believe it, and a rov against (most men who think they're from beis
David aren't mashiach), so we don't.

If we are mevareir the question of his being from Beis David, he thinks
about Torah and is busy in mitzvos like David haMelekh according to TSBK
and TSBP, and gets "all" (kol is often rov) of Israel to follow it even
in details and fights Hashem's wars, we have a chazaqah that such a man
is mashiach. So we can presume he is, as a halachic working assumption.
(Melakhim 12:4)

If he succeeds at the above, subdues the surrounding nations, builds
the BHMQ and gathers the exiles, then we know it for sure.

But if he fails or is killed, we know for sure he wasn't. I took the
rambam to mean failed at those things that we based our chazaqah on other
than the warring, and killed being the only way we know that he failed
at his last bettle fighting Hashem's wars. And that losing one battle
(think Yehoshuav and Ai) or even a string of them would not qualify as
a rei'usa in the chazaqa. But I won't stand on that point.

As Lisa noted, there isn't even a chazaqah to assume he is mashiach
until he leads an army and fights literal wars. Nor does the chazaqah
hold while the majority of Jews are not observant. But that too wasn't
my intended thesis.

I just wanted to note that the Rambam talks about "bechezqas shehu
mashiach", "harei zeh mashiach bevadai". No one is ever labeled "bechezqas
mashiach" or "vasai mashiach", there is a chazaqah or a vada'us that he
has the label. When the chazaqah is broken, we know he never was mashiach,
and while halakhah told us to act as though he was (in the absense of
better knowledge), now we know he always was "just" another Jew.

Tir'u baTov!
-Micha

-- 
Micha Berger             It is our choices...that show what we truly are,
micha at aishdas.org        far more than our abilities.
http://www.aishdas.org                           - J. K. Rowling
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