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

Hilchos Melachim | Ch 11

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435

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say about him that he is the King Moshiach. He and all the Sages of his generation thought that he was to be the King Moshiach, [126] until he was killed due to his sins. Once he was killed, it became clear to them that he was not the

 man of tremendous stature, the verse states: “[Shaul] took a strong liking to [David], and made him one of his arms-bearers.” 405 In addition, this instance occurred during a time of war, a time of real danger for the Jewish nation. Due to the risk posed to Jewish life, the regular rules of decorum were surely temporarily suspended. It would follow that Rabbi Akiva held his weapons and so on due to the dire situation, and not necessarily because he believed that Bar Kochba was Moshiach. One must therefore read the continuation of the halachah, “and say about him that he is the King Moshiach,” as an additional point, and not as an explanation for his actions. Likkutei Sichos vol. 27 pg. 199 fn. 68 & margin-note 124. “He . . . thought that he was to be the King Moshiach” How could Rabbi Akiva believe that Bar Kochba was Moshiach if he seemingly lacked many of the necessary qualities to be considered Moshiach? We must conclude that although Rabbi Akiva indeed maintained that Moshiach must possess all of the qualities listed earlier, he ignored Bar Kochbah’s lack of qualifications because he believed that it was merely the beginning of his revelation as Moshiach. Igros Kodesh vol. 27 pg. 302 125. “He . . . thought that he was to be the King Moshiach” The Rambam cites the story of Bar Kochbah as evidence that Moshiach does not need to perform miracles. However, this may also provide evidence for other details regarding the revelation of Moshiach: The Midrash states that Moshiach will be initially revealed and then go into hiding, and only then return to bring the redemption. 406 Another idea mentioned is that the Sanhedrin will be reinstated before Moshiach’s coming. 407 Both of these did not occur in the story of .409 .á ,âö ïéøãäðñ .410 .(ä"ä ã"ô úéðòú éîìùåøéá ä"ëå .á ,á ¯ ìîç àìå 'ä òìá ô"äò) ø"ëéà .411 .î"çì ,(éðù õåøéúá) æ"áãø ,äðùî óñë ,æåò ìãâî .412 êééçìá íéáùò åìòé àáé÷ò :àáé÷ò 'øì øîàù àúøåú ïá ïðçåé 'ø åîëå .àá àì ãåã ïá ïééãòå



Pardes Hamelech

Bar Kochbah, yet the Sages still assumed him to be Moshiach; this should seemingly imply that these details are not halachically accepted by the Rambam. However, this is not conclusive proof; Bar Kochbah did indeed go into hiding in caves during the course of his war, and there was an ordained Sanhedrin at the time. Thus, this narrative itself does not provide conclusive proof in this regard. Likkutei Sichos vol. 9 pg. 105 fn. 74 & margin-note 2 126. “Until he was killed due to his sins” In Hilchos Taaniyos , the Rambam describes the story of Bar Kochba as well: “They were ruled by a great king whom the entire Jewish people and the leading Sages considered to be the Messianic king. He later fell to the Romans and they were all slain…” 408 The Rambam evidently understands that he was killed by gentiles. However, the Ra’avad here questions this descrip tion, citing the Talmud which states that he was, in fact, killed by the Sages after they determined that he did not possess the quality of morach v’da’in (judging by smell), a quality said to be possessed by Moshiach. 409 The commentaries here support the Rambam’s view by explaining that the Rambam is relying on other Midrashic sources 410 which contradict this narrative and describe his death as the Rambam does. 411 The obvious question is: how can there be two opinions regarding a factual matter? Additionally, the Talmud implies that at least some Sages did not believe him to be Moshiach, while the Rambam states that they all believed in him. How could that be resolved? The explanation: All agree on the facts; his actual death was carried out by the gentiles. Additionally, all agree that at least several sages did not support him. 412 Bar Kochba himself felt that he was Moshiach

.405 .àë ,æ"è 'à ìàåîù .406 .å ,ä úåø .á ,à"é øáãîá .ë ,ä úåîù äáø ùøãî äàø

.407 êì àø÷é ïë éøçà äìçúáë êéöòéå äðùàøáë êéèôù äáéùàå" ù"îë .(â"î à"ô ïéøãäðñ) í"áîøäì î"äéôá î"ë ,(åë ,à 'éòùé) "...÷ãöä øéò .408 .â"ä ä"ô úåéðòú 'ìä