ב"ה

Moshiach Myths and Misconceptions

What Does Judaism Really Believe?

Autoplay Next

Moshiach Myths and Misconceptions: What Does Judaism Really Believe?

Rabbi Simon Jacobson dispels various popular misconceptions about Jewish belief in Moshiach and clarifies some of the basic ways in which the advent of the Messianic Era is brought about.

Audio:	Listen to Audio \| Download this MP3
Topics:	Moshiach and the Future Redemption

By Simon Jacobson

Rabbi Simon Jacobson is the author of the best-selling Toward a Meaningful Life: The Wisdom of the Rebbe (William Morrow, 1995), and the founder and director of the Meaningful Life Center.

Join the Discussion

Sort By:

NewestOldest

25 Comments

Sabrina Paradis Alberta, Canada January 24, 2021

It sounds all good. But this Jew thinks that as Jews let's be realistic. Jews are once again a target for hatred. It’s 2021. When are we all going to hug and dance? Maybe after Hashem wipes out the enemies of his people? Jews need to stop adjusting Torah to suit the times. Why not tell the hard truth? Afterall, do we hug every every Jew hating terrorist? The world of Judaism lost their best during the holocaust. What about the Zohar’s messiah? Reply

Eliezer Zalmanov for Chabad.org January 26, 2021

in response to Sabrina Paradis :

We certainly should not be hugging and dancing with Jew-hating terrorists. I don't think anyone said or implied that we should. Reply

Marie Pierre Warren montreal April 9, 2018

Thank you Rabbi for this share. You clarify certain questions that I had concerning the idea of Messiah. Reply

Anonymous April 4, 2018

rabbi Jacobson you suggest we become musical notes and flowers and turn the world into a garden of Moshiach. What is the point ? If we are mortal and temporary what is the point in building any kind of world. The Egyptians are gone, the Romans are gone. What if the Messianic age happened as you describe and for arguments sake a giant asteroid hit the earth 100 years after the Messianic age began and destroyed all life on planet earth.
Look at it like this instead:
What if each man's heart is a clump of 'new earth'. If the seed in this new earth can be turned into a Moshiach garden patch with a spring welling up in it and this heart can have eternal life and all the clumps form a garden then the garden can go on forever in the presence of YHWH without being destroyed by nature. Reply

Sharon Elizabeth Kerr Ontario Canada April 14, 2018

in response to Anonymous:

G-d is in Charge of all things G-d is in charge, He didn't create the world to have it obliterated by an asteroid. G-d is not a man that He should lie, nor is He a mortal Reply

Noah USA July 8, 2019

in response to Anonymous:

Anonymous. Just read your comment. Not sure i get the point - are you setting up a problem with an alternative solution or are you, say like in Mishle, presenting a materialistic point of view and then answering that from an eternal one/point of view? Either way, after reading it I wanted to stress, that ultimately the purpose of Moshiach, is to complete the tikkun of this world - heaven and earth together - not an eternal reality separate from the material. Reply

Randy Kleine Cincinnati April 3, 2018

"Fan" is not the abbreviated form of "fanatic." "Fan" is the short form for "fancier." Reply

Gabi NJ April 10, 2018

in response to Randy Kleine:

According to Wikipedia, it is.
But either way, his point still remains Reply

Karen Kletter NYC December 19, 2019

in response to Randy Kleine:

Not according to my dictionary. Reply

shira south Africa November 25, 2016

thank you Rabbi Jacobson, I thank you for providing such profound logic and insightt. My heart is so much fuller today. My you be blessed eternally.
Shira Reply

anonymous June 23, 2016

not in a bad way. what does someone like you say to a bochur? Reply

zeynep November 2, 2013

Dear Rabbi Jacobson This is my first time with you. And your shining Jewish heart has touched me profoundly. Thank you for having it tended so impeccably. Reply

Jamie Moran [UK] December 22, 2012

Rabbi Simon Jacobson's presentation was moving and informative; he brings humanity, and sanity, to an area often captured, especially in Christianity, by fear and hate. To bring Light into that darkness is a redeeming deed in itself.. Simon Jacobson is someone I would like to meet and talk over these matters with.. However, I too think something deep was left out. The End Time will certainly be 'adult', not childlike, in its new Sacred Garden and Holy City. But more profoundly, the Mashiach in the 4 Slave Songs of Isaiah pays a cost for redeeming, not only a Sacrifice but a Reversal, that the Rabbinical account ignores. Thus, Salvation differs from Redemption. God 'does' both, and we cooperate with both, but the deed of Redeeming is costlier, and the process of Redeeming is stranger, in the deeps of the human heart, and in the deeps of the world process. Salvation is mind and soul, but Redemption is heart and spirit. Saving takes us out of, redeeming throws us in, and brings us through. Reply

Willy Nairobi, KENYA November 27, 2012

Thank you Rabbi! Thank you Rabbi for doing so well what Jews should do....teach us non-Jews about things which are G-d's. May HaShem's blessing be upon you as you continue to teach us. Reply

Chris January 17, 2012

Many thanks Tremendously well treated. My interest was part academic and part casual query. You easily influenced my third and sadly rarely satisfied quest for greater meaning and understanding. For that delight, I thank you greatly.
Live long and prosper : ) Reply

Keeli Leeba Kinseth December 25, 2011

Fantastic! I saw this posted on facebook as an answer to a question and gave the link a click. I appreciate your rationality and sensible explanation. May you continue to teach us good things. Reply

Phillip E. Ramsey Lexington, SC via chabadofsc.com August 27, 2011

Moshiach Myths and Misconceptions I learn by listening and adding to my understanding who I and others are.

Thank you for adding to this. Reply

tzipi glick Phila, PA August 24, 2011

Describing Yimot Hamoshiach Expressed beautifully!

This meassage has to be spread widely!

Mashiach Now!!! Reply

Rivkah Bergman Brooklyn, NY USA August 24, 2011

Simon Jacobson Moshiach Myths and Misconceptions Simply Brilliant! With such humility and sincerity!

Rivkah Bergman Reply

Meh August 24, 2011

if I may add All very nice, but I think you might have overlooked something. From a pragmatic point of view (rather than mystical), the story of the garden of Eden is the story of childhood - everything is provided for and you don't have a worry in the world. Then you get married and things become less rosy - you are on your own in a grown up world and you have to work for it - like the world has always been.
From that point of view, you have to differentiate between a messianic world that is equivalent to going back to childhood and a messianic world that is a grown-up messianic world - you don't want to go back to childhood, as that would be regressing, rather than progress.
That said, the major difference between atheists and believers is actually the notion of agency. One all pervading essence doesn't necessarily have 'agency' even if it is an all pervading essence. Reply

Anonymous clearwater, FL August 21, 2011

Moshiach Myths and Misconceptions Seems to me this is a great motivational and inspiring retoric, but spends very little time actually describing, according to Torah, whom the Messiah is and how he will be regarded at first and later on. Yeshaayahu or Isaiah Chapt 53 paints a pretty vivid picture. Read it for yourself. May Moshiach come in our lifetime. Shalom Reply

Anonymous USA August 18, 2011

Moshiach Myth and Misconceptions Thank you Rabbi Jacobson for a well thought out and concise Lecture on Moshiach! Reply

Catherine NY, NY August 16, 2011

different beliefs It seems to me that those who believe the world will be ending will bring about exactly what they believe. The Torah is telling those who will listen that for them the world will transition peacefully. Maybe those are the people who will be ushering in the new world of peace, and the others will just destroy themselves. Reply

Carmen August 16, 2011

Thank you very much too! Thank you very much too! Reply

Basha Cohen Avenel, New Jersey August 15, 2011

Moshiach Myths and Misconceptions I want to thank Rabbi Simon Jacobson, This lesson was very clear and detailed; it was motivating and moving with clear analogy. We wait for Moshiach in making the changes in our lives. Thank you once again. Reply

Moshiach Myths and Misconceptions: What Does Judaism Really Believe?

More in this section

You may also be interested in...

Join the Discussion