[Avodah] Moshiach Ben Yosef

[Zev Sero via Avodah]

On 03/03/2016 08:18 PM, Micha Berger wrote:
> On Thu, Mar 03, 2016 at 03:42:31PM +0200, Lisa Liel via Avodah wrote:

>> First of all, yes, of course Mashiach has to be ben achar ben from
>> David HaMelech.
>
> In Divrei haYamim I 22:9-10, HQBH promises "... ki Shelomoh yihyeh shemo
> ... vehakhinosi kissei malkhuso el Yisrael ad olam."
>
> It looks like the mashiach will not only come from David, but through
> Shelomo in particular.

1. As I understand it, though, the descent from Shlomo does not need to be
in the male line.  If a female descendant of Shlomo married a male descendant
of one of his brothers, their descendants would be eligible.

2. In any case the Rambam doesn't seem to pasken like this.


On 03/03/2016 08:12 PM, Isaac Balbin wrote:
> The Rambam clearly says that someone who doesn't complete the job is
> NOT Moshiach. End of Story. Why would he tell us this AT ALL?
> He should have simply said whoever does a), b) and c) IS Moshiach. END.

His point is that one should not think his death shows that he was never
worthy, and we were wrong to have supported him in the first place.
No, says the Rambam, he remains a kosher king, and he may very well have
turned out to be Moshiach, but he didn't.  The reason he didn't could be
because we sinned and lost it, as may have been the case with Bar Kochva.

> According to other reasoning, Bar Kochba could still be Moshiach.

Not while he's dead.  If he comes back then sure, why not?  The Rambam
doesn't rule that out.  He isn't Moshiach now, but he could become
Moshiach in the future.
-- 
Zev Sero               All around myself I will wave the green willow
zev at sero.name          The myrtle and the palm and the citron for a week
                And if anyone should ask me the reason why I'm doing that
                I'll say "It's a Jewish thing; if you have a few minutes
                I'll explain it to you".