The Rebbe's Rambam | Marking the completion of the entire set

Hilchos Melachim | Ch 11

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429

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Moshiach, David, who delivered the Jewish na tion from the hand of their enemies. And about the last Moshiach, who will arise from his descendants and deliver the Jewish people from the descendants of Eisav. And there he [Bilam] says: [114] “I see him, but not now,” this refers to David. “I behold him,

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.124 .çé¯æé ,ãë ,÷ìá¯øáãîá

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Pardes Hamelech

With this emphasis, the Rambam intends to further demonstrate the severity of one who denies Moshiach; not only is he denying the written Torah, he is also denying words of prophecy. To a certain degree, prophecy has a greater impact in the human dimension than Torah; hearing something from a prophet is equivalent to hearing it from Hashem himself, because the entire idea of prophecy is that it is Hashem’s message to be directly received by human beings. 374 It is due this reason that if one transgresses the words of a prophet, no matter how severe, he is liable for capital punishment; 375 he is considered to have acted rebelliously towards the King, regardless of the transgression. 376 This demonstrates that a prophecy — even in the Torah, and even if we did not hear it directly — carries a certain severity, in a sense even more than other segments of the Torah itself. This is the Rambam’s emphasis here; Moshiach is not only an idea recorded in the written Torah, it is also a prophecy, with all the gravitas that this entails. Likkutei Sichos vol. 34 pg. 120 & fn. 29, vol. 18 pg. 274 fn. 23 & margin-note 114. “I see him, but not now…” Mishneh Torah is a book of laws, 377 not a commen tary of Torah’s verses. With this in mind, this hala- .367 é"ò åðì é"ùä åãòéùå 'åë ãåã ïëå" (ã"î ã"ô) úåáà î"äéôá òîùî ïëå ä"ìùî øéòäìå ."ì"æø åøàéáù åîë á÷òéî êøã øùà áëåëä àåäå åðéáø äùî ."íòìá úùøôå åøôñ áúë äùî" (á ,ãé á"á) 'îâä éôá (á ,áñù ÷ìá 'ô) .(åðù 'éñ) åôåñá ã"åé ñ"úç ú"åùî øéòäìå .368 â"ô äáåùú 'ìä ìéòì äàø) äùî úàåáð ììëá àéä äøåú íâù óà .(ç"ä .369 .à ,ã úåëøá ô"ò .370 .æ"ô 'ä úåøåáâ åøôñá íâ äàøå .ç ,áì çìùéåì à"åâ .366 ."íòìá úùøôå åøôñ áúë äùî" (á ,ãé á"á) ì"æç úùâãä ô"ò èøôáå .íù ï"áîøäì äìåàâä øôñ íâ äàøå

113. “There, he prophesied…” Why does the Rambam emphasize that this verse was originally said as a prophecy? Isn’t any verse in the Torah legitimate, regardless of the context? 366 One potential explanation is that the Rambam is in fact referring to Moshe Rabbeinu, the prophet who notified us about what Bilaam said. 367 According to this explanation, this second proof is evidence that denying Moshiach is tantamount to denying the proph ecy of Moshe Rabbeinu, while the first proof is evi dence that it is tantamount to denying the written Torah. 368 Another potential explanation can be offered based on the approach of the Gur Aryeh , who opines that while a guarantee recorded in the Torah may be rescinded due to sin, 369 a prophecy can never be rescinded. 370 Perhaps the Rambam is emphasizing that the prophecy of Moshiach will never be rescinded. 371 However, this is clearly not the Rambam’s approach, as the Rambam elsewhere states that even a prophecy may be rescinded due to sin, and only a prophecy intended for the public is guaranteed to come to fruition. 372 Furthermore: as explained elsewhere, 373 the Rambam’s intent here is not to prove Moshiach’s arrival, but to prove the essential nature of this belief; this does not seem to be proven by emphasizing that Moshiach is foretold in a prophecy as well. The explanation: .371 .ïàë (è"éáîäì) øôñ úéø÷î øéòäìå .372 .î"äéôì í"áîøä úîã÷ä .373 'ôá óà" íéìéîä ìò ìéòì êìîä ñãøô äàø) 273 'ò ç"éç ù"å÷ì .("íòìá .374 'ìä äàøå .'åä ãåñéä ÷ìç 'ôì äîã÷ä î"äéôáå ,æ"ôø ú"äåñé 'ìä .êìéàå 85 ò"ñ â"ëç ù"å÷ì äæá äëåøàá äàøå .ç"ä â"ô äáåùú .375 .á"ä è"ô ú"äåñé 'ìä ìéòì

.376 .ç"ä â"ô íéëìî 'ìä í"áîø äàø .377 .äôåñá åúîã÷äá í"áîøä éøáãë