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

Hilchos Melachim | Ch 11

mikln zekld

434

â çéLnä CìnäL ,Ezòc ìò äìòé ìà © © ¤ £© § § © © ¦ ¨ © ¤ ¤ © ¤ éøö Lcçîe ,íéúôBîe úBúBà úBNòì C ¦ ¨ £© ¦ § ¥ © § àöBiëå ,íéúî äiçî Bà ,íìBòa íéøác ¦ ¨ § ¨ ¨ ¦ ¥ ¤ © § ¥ © § ïéà ;íéøîBà íéLthäL elà íéøáãa ¦ ¨ § ¦ ¥ ¦ § ¦ © ¤ ¦ § ¥ ìBãb íëç äáé÷ò éaø éøäL !ïk øácä ¨ ¨ © ¥ ¨ ¨ ¨ ¦ £ ¦ © ¥£ ¤ ¨ åéìk àNBð äéä àeäå ,äéä äðLî éîëçî ¨ ¨ ¨ § ¦ ¥ § © ¥ § ¨ ¨ ¨ ¥ ¥ ,åéìò øîBà äéä àeäå ,Cìnä àáæBk ìL ¤ ¨ § § ¤ ¤ © ¨ ¨ ¨ ¨ ¥

[122] Do not let it enter your mind that the King Moshiach must perform signs and wonders, and innovate new matters in the world, or resurrect the dead or anything like these matters which the fools have stated. This is not the case. For, Rabbi Akiva was a great sage among the Sages of the Mishnah, yet [123][124] [125] he would carry the clothes of Kozvah the King [Bar Kochba] , and

 they are truly filled, i.e., even those sections which don’t seem to be on this topic, or that might even seem to contradict it, are actually suffused with the message of redemption. By delving into those verses, we can discover the redemption hidden inside them. This reflects the idea that the words of exile and redemption in Hebrew — golah and geulah — consist of the very same letters, with the exclusion of the Aleph from the word golah. This indicates that the redemp tion emerges from the golah itself, by revealing within it the hidden Aleph, which represents Hashem, “Alufo shel Olam.” As the Rambam explains in the next chapter, redemption will not fundamentally change reality, but rather bring change into the physical reality of our world — because the redemption emerges from within the exile. Acharei-Kedoshim 5751. Sefer Hasichos vol. 2 pg. 504 122. “Do not let it enter your mind that the King Moshiach must perform signs and wonders” The Rambam makes two points in this halachah: 1. Moshiach’s task does not entail performing miracles 401 (and he is therefore not legitimized through miraculous activity). 402 2. The Torah is eternal. The fact that they are both included in the same halachah indicates that they are related; it seems to imply that expecting Moshiach to perform miracles is tantamount to changing the Torah. The obvious ques tion is: what is the connection between these two points? How is this erred belief tantamount to chang ing the Torah? Furthermore: Elsewhere, when the Rambam states that a Jewish prophet is not expected to perform miracles, he makes no mention of the unchanging nature of Torah. 403 This is notwithstanding the fact



Pardes Hamelech

that a prophet is expected to predict the future (which Moshiach is not expected to do either). Why are these points mentioned together with regard to Moshiach? The explanation: As explained in Segment 98, the function of Moshiach is not to create something new, but rather to usher in a wholesome era during which Torah and mitzvos can be fulfilled in a perfect manner. In other words, he represents the completion of the Torah itself. With the first two proofs, the Rambam intends to reinforce this idea by proving that Moshiach is, in fact, mentioned within the Torah itself. In this halachah, the Rambam is explaining the practical application of this idea. Moshiach will not perform miracles, as that has no relation to the perfor mance of mitzvos. In fact, if one expects miracles from Moshiach, he is essentially reversing his function; Moshiach is all about the completion of the Torah, which is eternal and unchanging , in direct contrast to miracles which change natural order. This is why expecting miracles is tantamount to changing the Torah. This is also why miracles are not the test for Moshiach’s authenticity: just as a prophet is proven by performing his primary function — which is foretelling the future 404 — Moshiach is tested by his primary function (as explained in the next halachah): the complete observance of the Torah. Likkutei Sichos vol. 18 pg. 275 123. “He would carry the clothes of Kozvah the King” How was such a great Sage permitted to behave in such a manner? A precedent for this behavior can be found with David Hamelech. Although David Hamelech was a

.404 äàøå .'åë åðì ãîåò àéáðä ïéàù úãîì àä :â"ä é"ô ú"äåñé 'ìä äàø .á"ä è"ô .æ"ôñ íù

.401 .äàáä äøòä äàø ìáà .åðåùì úåèùôî äøåàëì òîùîãë .402 .àáéæåë ïáî 'éàøäî äøåàëì òîùîãë .403 .é"ôø äøåúä éãåñé 'ìä