Why Doesn’t Judaism Accept the Christian Messiah?

The Lubavitcher Rebbe, King Moshiach, taught, following the Rambam, that Moshiach is a human king from the House of David who keeps the Torah unchanged and is known by his deeds (Hilchos Melachim 11:4). The Christian messiah did not meet these criteria, and the Rambam rules that he was not Moshiach.

What does the Torah require of Moshiach?

The Rambam rules that Moshiach is a Davidic king who leads Israel in Torah and rebuilds the Temple.

The Rambam sets out the criteria in two stages (Hilchos Melachim 11:4). If a king arises from the House of David who:

1. is immersed in Torah and keeps the mitzvos like David his ancestor, according to the Written and the Oral Torah,
2. compels all Israel to walk in the Torah’s ways and repair its breaches,
3. and fights the wars of G-d,

then he is presumed to be Moshiach. If he succeeds further, builds the Beis Hamikdash on its site and gathers the dispersed of Israel, he is certainly Moshiach. He will then perfect the whole world to serve G-d together (Tzefaniah 3:9).

Geulah Weekly explains that these are two stages in one process. In the first stage he is called “son of David,” and in the second, when his work is complete, he is called “David” (Geulah Weekly 5782/914 Vaeschanan). Moshiach’s wars, Geulah Weekly adds, are fought with spiritual weapons, to remove whatever stops the Jewish people from keeping the Torah (Geulah Weekly 5780/789 Yisro). Every criterion is a deed done for the Torah, not a title, and together they define who Moshiach is.

Is the Christian messiah Moshiach according to Jewish law?

No; the Rambam rules that one who fails or is killed was not the promised Moshiach.

The Rambam writes: if he did not succeed in all this, or was killed, it is known that he is not the one the Torah promised (Hilchos Melachim 11:4). In the full, uncensored text of the same law, the Rambam names the Christian messiah as one who imagined that he was Moshiach and was put to death by the court. The Rambam adds that this caused Israel to be destroyed by the sword and scattered, the Torah to be changed, and much of the world to err and serve something other than G-d.

The facts the Rambam relies on are plain:

• The Second Beis Hamikdash was destroyed and has not been rebuilt.
• The Jewish people were scattered, not gathered.
• “Nation shall not lift up sword against nation” (Yeshayahu 2:4) is still awaited.
• The Torah’s laws were set aside by his followers rather than strengthened.

Can Moshiach change the Torah?

No; the Rambam rules that the Torah’s laws stand forever, with nothing added or removed (Hilchos Melachim 11:3).

The Torah commands, “You shall not add to it, nor take away from it” (Devarim 13:1). The Rambam rules that a prophet who says a mitzvah has been cancelled is a false prophet (Hilchos Yesodei HaTorah 9:1). Moshiach comes to restore the laws that exile suspended, not to remove them (Hilchos Melachim 11:1).

The Rebbe taught that Moshiach will reveal depths of Torah never known before, until the Torah we learned in exile will seem like nothing beside it. Yet the change is only in the depth of our understanding. “The Torah itself, with all its laws and precepts, will not change” (Likkutei Sichos vol. 35, p. 209, as brought in Geulah Weekly 5781/840 Terumah).

The Talmud says that “mitzvos will be nullified in the future.” The Rebbe explained that this does not mean we stop keeping them. It means they will no longer feel like commands from outside. We will be so united with G-d that keeping the mitzvos becomes our own nature (Geulah Weekly 5781/834 Shemos).

Is Moshiach divine in Judaism?

No; Moshiach is a human being descended from Yehudah, a king of flesh and blood.

The central verse of Jewish faith is “Hear, O Israel, the L-rd is our G-d, the L-rd is One” (Devarim 6:4). The Torah says, “G-d is not a man” (Bamidbar 23:19), and the Rambam rules that G-d has no body or form (Hilchos Yesodei HaTorah 1:7–8).

The Rebbe taught that in every generation there is “a person from among the descendants of Judah who is worthy of being the Mashiach of Israel” (Sichos In English, “Mashiach in Every Generation,” Vayeira 5752). The Rambam proves the coming of Moshiach from Bilaam’s prophecy, the one passage in the Torah about a flesh-and-blood king who will redeem the people (Hilchos Melachim 11:1; Geulah Weekly 5773/454 Pinchas). Moshiach is a man, not an angel, and his greatness is complete devotion to G-d and His Torah.

Does Moshiach need to perform miracles?

No; the Rambam rules that Moshiach does not need to perform signs or wonders (Hilchos Melachim 11:3).

The Rambam writes that Rabbi Akiva and the Sages of his generation considered Ben Koziva to be Moshiach without asking him for any sign. The Raavad disagrees, and the Rebbe discussed both views (Likkutei Sichos vol. 13, p. 297, note 14; vol. 27, p. 200, note 69, as brought in Geulah Weekly 5785/1058 Naso). The Rambam also rules that the natural order does not change in the days of Moshiach; the difference is the end of our subjugation to the nations (Hilchos Melachim 12:2), a law the Rebbe quoted in 5751.

So the test of Moshiach is never wonders. It is the deeds the Torah lists: the Torah kept, the Beis Hamikdash built, the exiles gathered and the world at peace. These are the Rambam’s laws of King Moshiach, which the Rebbe asked every Jew to study (Sichos In English, Shabbos Parshas Vaeschanan 5751), and by which the Jewish people judge every claim.

Why does the Rambam say other faiths prepare the way for Moshiach?

The Rambam writes that these faiths spread the idea of Moshiach, preparing the world for King Moshiach (11:4).

In the uncensored text, the Rambam writes that G-d’s thoughts are beyond human understanding. Christianity and Islam serve only to smooth the path for King Moshiach. Through them, the world has been filled with the idea of Moshiach and with words of Torah and mitzvos. One says the mitzvos were true but their time has passed; the other says they have hidden meanings and were not meant literally. When Moshiach comes, they will all realize that they inherited falsehood (Geulah Weekly 5777/651 Behar-Bechukosai; Yirmiyahu 16:19).

Geulah Weekly draws the lesson. The nations are mistaken about the identity of Moshiach, yet the idea of Moshiach is now rooted across the world. When the true Moshiach is revealed, it will be easier for the nations to accept him, since Moshiach is not a foreign idea. Truth is stronger than falsehood, and only the truth of the One G-d will remain.

What does Judaism ask of non-Jews?

The Torah asks every non-Jew to keep the Seven Noahide Laws, not to convert.

The Rambam rules that a non-Jew who keeps the seven laws because G-d commanded them through Moshe is one of the pious of the nations and has a share in the World to Come (Hilchos Melachim 8:11). The Rebbe made the teaching of these laws a worldwide campaign, preparing every nation for the role of non-Jews in the days of Moshiach. The Jewish people still wait for Moshiach every day, and the Rebbe taught that the time of the Redemption has arrived.