Bringing the Messiah - On Our Own Terms
September 1999
Several weeks ago, the Southern Baptists developed an initiative to encourage Jews to convert to Christianity during the High Holy Days. In other words, they were looking for us to accept their Messiah.
My initial reaction was anger -- but my reasoned response was different. The Messianic ideal has evolved throughout the years. For the Jew, the Messiah has not yet come. Some Jews are content to wait passively for him to arrive. They believe that humanity can remain inactive because God can send the Messiah any time He wants. He can -- but He won't.
As a Jew, I believe that the coming of the Messiah does not depend on my belief that he will come, nor does it rest solely in God's hands. I believe it remains our task to bring the Messiah -- that he will arrive only when we are in a state of readiness to bring him, to welcome him, to appreciate him. Salvation must be earned. And thus it is what we do, as Jews, that will determine the time of the Messianic arrival.
The unique message of Jewish Messianism is that with courage, commitment, hope and effort, a corrupt world can be righted, a sick world can be healed. Messianism gave our ancestors a light in the darker times of our history. But Jewish Messianism also put responsibility into the hands of the people. We must not attach ourselves to a magical, mythical vision with unrealistic hopes that the Messiah will spontaneously appear and save us from our folly.
Jewish tradition tells us that the Messiah will be a descendant of King David and will rule the Land of Israel. In addition, the Messiah will gather the Jews from the four corners of the earth, bring them to Israel, and then restore their commitment to living the values, guidelines and commandments of the Torah. Finally, the Messiah will bring real and everlasting peace to the entire world, following a period of great upheaval.
Our history is replete with individuals (such as Simon Bar Kokhba and Shabbetai Zevi) who were regarded by the Jewish community as potential Messianic figures. Yet normative Judaism has always been dubious of the possibility of an individual being sent by God to solve the world's problems and bring eternal peace. Yochanan Ben Zakkai, a first-century scholar, told his students (somewhat cynically): "If you should happen to be holding a sapling in your hand when they tell you that the Messiah has arrived, first plant the sapling and then go out to greet the Messiah."
No doubt, the current growth in Messianic fervor has been stimulated by the coming secular new year. For the Christian world, it is a celebration of major magnitude -- marking two millennia after Jesus' birth. When we referto the millennium, we are referring to this Christian religious anniversary, the birth of their Messiah, who, according to Christian theology, was sacrificed by God so that salvation would be possible for believers in subsequent generations.
As Jews, we focus on a different type of sacrifice during our New Year. Abraham was called upon to sacrifice his son, Isaac. But, why is Abraham asked to do this? The Torah tells us that "V'ha Elohim Nisah Et Avraham, God put Abraham to the test." Abraham was God's devoted servant. Why would He have to test such a loyal individual -- especially if everything is foreseen?
Sforno, a 15th-century Biblical commentator, offers a simple, yet profound explanation. He says that "God's intention was that Abraham should translate his love and reverence for God from the potential to the actual." In other words, God was not testing Abraham to determine whether he would sacrifice his son. Rather, the test was to help Abraham grow -- just as tests in school motivate the student to learn. Through this test, God drew forth the potential inner powers of faith and trust which were latent in Abraham and translated them into actuality.
In a sense, a Jewish solution to the world's problems is summed up in Sforno's interpretation of God's request of Abraham to sacrifice his son. God wants us to translate our love and reverence from the potential to the actual. There are things we can do to make the world better. The challenge is for us to act as God's agent to fashion a life and a world that we want. When the Messiah comes, it will be because we have brought him.
There is another difference between the Jewish view of the Messiah and that which is prevalent in Christianity. For us, the Messiah has not yet come; we continue to long for him. At each B'rit Milah -- and often when a girl is named in modern times -- we set a chair aside for Elijah, the Prophet who, according to tradition, will usher in the Messiah to the world. The presence of that chair at the naming signifies the hope that each new child might be the one to fix the world. Thus, each one of us might be the potential Messiah.
If we want the Messiah to come, we must act Messianic. If we see strife in the world and we do nothing to bring peace, we delay the Messiah. If we see people in pain and do nothing to help them, we obstruct the Messiah's arrival. In a sense, we are being tested each day. The exam has but one question: "Will we use our potential to be the Messiah?"
Few can change the entire world, but each of us can contribute. We just have to want to do it. If we are looking for a Messiah, we must look in the mirror.
God tests us each day by challenging us to help others use their potential to become the Messiah. That is our real contribution. If the potential Savior is sitting next to us, right now, how should we react? If we tell our children how much we appreciate them, perhaps their hidden skills will be revealed. If our friends sense the importance to us of their support, their contribution to others may grow. If we help our spouses remember what drew them to us, those qualities may reawaken. In short, if the potential Messiah is sitting next to us, our task is to help cultivate that potential. What we do makes a difference.
Still, there is great hype about January 1, 2000. But January 1 does not begin my new millennium. It is not a significant religious date for me. I worry about the date -- but only insofar as it will affect my computer. The Jewish Calendar, which is my religious schedule, indicates that January 1, 2000, happens to be a special Shabbat, the one that begins the Book of Shemot, Exodus, the Book of Torah that poignantly reminds me of the potential of my salvation. It teaches me that how I live makes a difference. And it provides a formula for my behavior.
While the Baptists have chosen to spend their time praying that we will embrace their Messiah, I would like to suggest that we engage in a different kind of prayer. Let us pray instead that God will give us the strength to engage in tikun olam, helping to create a society that will reflect our dreams. It is only in this way that we may truly do our part in creatingthe world to come.
Rabbi Epstein is the Executive Vice -President of The United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism, the association of Conservative congregations.
