User:Yaakov Wa./sandbox

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Jimbo_Wales/Statement_of_principles

Mashiach Ben Yoseff

Although "The term Mashiach unqualified always refers to Mashiach ben David (Mashiach the descendant of David)", there is a concept of a Mashiach Ben Yossef. Mashiach ben Yoseff is primarily attributed of having a politico-military nature. However, according to R. Saadiah Gaon, If the Jewish people attain enough merit, Mashiach Ben Yoseff may not appear and Mashiach Ben David will be the only redeemer. The Lubavitcher Rebbe makes note of the fact that Maimonides entirely omits any mention of Mashiach Ben Yossef and therefore suggests that Maimonides is of the view that all of the traditional Messianic roles will be fulfilled through Mashiach Ben David.

Halachically, there is no definite description of the role of Mashiach Ben Yossef. Therefore, due to the non-definite nature of Mashiach Ben Yoseff, R. Chasdai Crescas advises that since "no certain knowledge can be derived from the interpretations of the prophecies about Mashiach ben Yossef, nor from the statements about him by some of the Geonim;" there is no point, therefore, in elaborating on the subject.

The language above is very rough and needs to be edited to be precise. Some concepts are not yet accurately portrayed in above.

Qualifications

Presumptive Messiah

There are four requirements for the Presumptive Messiah, as Maimonides states, "a king will arise from the House of David who diligently contemplates the Torah and observes its mitzvot as prescribed by the Written Law and the Oral Law as David, his ancestor, will compel all of Israel to walk in (the way of the Torah) and rectify the breaches in its observance, and fight the wars of God, we may, with assurance, consider him Mashiach."

• The meaning of "a king will arise from the House of David וְאִם יַעֲמֹד מֶלֶךְ מִבֵּית דָּוִד" is that the Messiah must be born Jewish, and of direct patrilineal descent from King David through King Solomon. However, the Messiah is not immediately required to have the halachic status of king.
• The meaning of "who diligently contemplates the Torah and observes its mitzvot as prescribed by the Written Law and the Oral Law as David, his ancestor (הוֹגֶה בַּתּוֹרָה וְעוֹסֵק בְּמִצְוֹת כְּדָוִד אָבִיו כְּפִי תּוֹרָה שֶׁבִּכְתָב וְשֶׁבְּעַל פֶּה)" is that the Messiah is both a diligent Torah scholar as well as performs the mitzvos in an exemplary fashion.
• The meaning of "will compel all of Israel to walk in (the way of the Torah) and rectify the breaches in its observance וְיָכֹף כָּל יִשְׂרָאֵל לֵילֵךְ בָּהּ וּלְחַזֵּק בִּדְקָהּ" is that the Messiah will encourage religious Jews to increase in their observance as well as encourage non-religious Jews to become religious.
• The meaning of "and fight the wars of God וְיִלָּחֵם מִלְחֲמוֹת ה" is that the Messiah is working on removing obstacles to the observance of Judaism. The terminology "fight the wars of God" does not exclusively imply physical wars.

Definite Messiah

There are four requirements for the Definite Messiah in addition to maintaining his status of Presumptive Messiah as Maimonides then states "he succeeds in the above, is victorious over the surrounding nations, builds the Temple in its place, and gathers the dispersed of Israel, he is definitely the Mashiach." These qualities relate to removal of obstacles to observance and enabling Jewish people to fulfill all 613 commandments.

• This relates to qualification of encouraging Jewish observance.
• The meaning of "is victorious over the surrounding nations וניצח כל האומות שסביביו" is that the Messiah has successfully removed impediments to Judaism due to the Nations of the world.
• The meaning of "builds the Temple in its place וּבָנָה מִקְדָּשׁ בִּמְקוֹמוֹ" is that The Messiah builds the Third Temple in Jerusalem. This enables the Jewish people to "offer sacrifices (מַקְרִיבִין קָרְבָּנוֹת)".
• The Messiah will gather all the Israelites (including the Ten Lost Tribes) to the Land of Israel. This will enable the Jewish people to perform mitzvos that depend on being in the land such as Shmita and Yovel.

Disqualification factors for Messiah

There are two factors of which either disqualifies a Messianic candidate. As Maimonides states "If he did not succeed to this degree or was killed, he surely is not the redeemer promised by the Torah."

Not successful

The meaning of "If he did not succeed to this degree (וְאִם לֹא הִצְלִיחַ עַד כֹּה)" has some dispute over the meaning. The more popular understanding is that to disqualify a messianic candidate, his effects and actions must cease.

Killed

The meaning of "or was killed אוֹ נֶהֱרָג" implies killed by human beings.

Effect on Jews

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Effect on non-Jews

− The primary innovation of the Messiah is that he will influence non-Jews to serve God and keep the Noahide Laws. Additionally, during the Messianic era, non-Jews will "stream" in multitudes to learn divine wisdom from the Jewish people.

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Battling

− The Messiah first acts to remove obstacles to Judaism due to nations of the world.

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Subjugation

− The Messiah is successful and is in control of nations of the world. They do not pose obstacle to observance of Judaism.

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Transformation

− The Messiah transforms the nations that they will serve God. The nations Will remain as non-Jews because Non-Jews will still exist in the Messianic Era.