Who is the Messiah in Judaism?

Question

do we know ? has he/she been to earth before (like Jesus) ?

Answer 1

Judiasm claims their messiah has not come except for sects like messianic jews(who believe Christ was the Messiah)

Answer 2

the big difference between the jewish and christian perceptions of the messiah is that christians judge their messiah on who he will be, and jews judge the messiah on what he will DO. if a person claiming to be the messiah doesn't fulfill the prophecies of what the messiah will DO, then he is not the messiah. the scriptures give very clear descriptions of what the messiah will DO - he will bring world peace, he will destroy all weapons of war, he will rebuild the temple, he will bring all the jews back to israel, he will be a strict follower of the laws of the torah, and he will rule at a time when all jews will know the torah without needing to study it.

there are a few prophecies regarding who the messiah will be, namely, a descendant of david and solomon, as human as anybody else, but there are millions of descendants of david and solomon in the world. we will know which one of them is the messiah by the concrete changes he makes in the world - changes that we will easily be able to see have happened. we know that jesus was not the messiah because not only did he not do any of the things the messiah was supposed to do, but he also contradicted many of the prophecies, the most obvious being that he did not follow the biblical laws (he in fact encouraged people to disregard them), he was not a paternal descedant of david and solomon, and even if he WAS a paternal descendant of david and solomon it wouldn't matter, because he is also a descendant of jeconiah according to the book of matthew, and in the book of jeremiah G-d curses jeconiah's line and declares that none of jeconiah's descendants can ever be king. therefore, jesus is immediately disqualified from being the jewish messiah.

we know that our messiah has not yet come. we know this because there is no world peace and never has been, weapons of war are constantly being built, the temple is still destroyed, there are more jews outside of israel than inside, and jews constantly study the torah but still do not know it perfectly.

also, our messiah will only come once. he will get things right the first time around - there are no biblical prophecies about a second coming. if a person doesn't fulfill every single messianic prophecy the first time around, then there is only one conclusion - he was not the messiah.

Answer 3

The term "Messiah" is from the Heberw word "Moshiach" meaning simply, "annointed." The name "Christ" derrives from the Greek equivalent. Hence, in scripture and in prayers, you may see several people referred to as "moshiach". In fact, in at least a couple of verses in our liturgy make reference to King David as "meshichekha" - "Your (G-d's) annointed".

That being said, observant Jews believe strongly in the coming of the Messiah, but also that it has not occurred.

A few things about the Messiah for you:

1) He'll be Jewish

2) He'll be of the tribe of Judah (note that tribal affiliation from biblical times all the way to today is a matter of patrilineal descent), and a direct descendant of King David (this alone disqualifies Jesus according to Christian claims, since, if he was the product of immaculate conception - which was never a part of Torah teaching, then he can't have that patrilineal link to tribe or ancestor, and, even if he was the son of Joseph, the Gospels give two conflicting family trees for Joseph, one of which doesn't go through David at all).

3) He will reign at a time of universal peace, in which the Jewish people will be gathered into their land (many people see the re-establishment of the State of Israel therefore as the first flowering of our redemption) and the Temple will be rebuilt.

In any event, contrary to what missionaries would have one believe, Jesus only met one of the messianic criteria - that of being Jewish. But that makes me, or two thirds of my friends, or every Jew in the history of the world just as qualified.

For a list of the basic criteria for Messiahship (Messiahood?), click here: http://www.jewsforjudaism.org/web/faq/general-messiah-criteria.html

For a list of the basic criteria for Messiahship including commentary that explicitly explains why, logically, Jesus couldn't possibly fit the bill, click here:
http://www.jewsforjudaism.org/web/faq/general_messiah-criteria02.html

For an explanation of Jewish teachings about the Messiah and the Messianic Age, click here: http://www.jewsforjudaism.org/web/faq/general-messiah-belief.html

And for a basic refutation of Christian missionary claims, click here: http://www.jewsforjudaism.org/web/faq/general-messiah-jewishresponse.html

For further information, I would recommend any of the following websites:

http://www.jewsforjudaism.org
http://www.messiahtruth.com
http://www.simpletoremember.com

I hope this helps.

PS: When the Messiah comes, "faith" won't be necessary. The changes to the world will be so profound (can you conceive a world with universal peace and harmony? I can, but it takes a LOT of imagination.) You won't need to believe in the messiah to "be saved," any more than one has to "believe" that the sky is blue or the world is round. It'll just be obvious.

Answer 4

The Jewish messiah has not yet been revealed, although, according to tradition, someone with the potential to be the Messiah is born into every generation. The Messiah will fulfill all the messianic prophesies within his lifetime as there is no prophecy of a second coming.

Answer 5

The Jewish Messiah will be a man who will gather the Jewish people from exile and bring them to Israel. He will rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem, and will rule at a time of world-wide peace.
The Messiah has not been here yet; we are still waiting for him.

Answer 6

The Jewish messiah has not come yet, so I cannot give you his name. He has not come already. We do not know if this messiah exists at all. (It's like trying to prove God exists. You can't do it. We won't know if the messiah exists until he comes.)

This messiah will be a descendant of King David on his father's side of the family. When he returns, diseases will no longer exist, the dead will be resurected, and the Temple (in Jerusalem) will be rebuilt.

Answer 7

They do not have a Messiah yet. But Moses was a very important man.

Answer 8

In Judaism they are still waiting for their savior. This being, because they already killed him on the cross and don't want to admit it. The one who came and fulfilled their own prophecies was nailed to a cross. But they accused him of breaking the law. The Pharisees (Jews) didn't want to except him as the messiah and in turn killed him. So they denied Christ his true label as king of the Jews, and nailed him to the cross as a law breaker. But, he broke no laws. So, they shut the doors to the past and say it never was true. But the truth is, Jesus was here and his tomb is still in Jerusalem. You can see it, its real. Plus it is the site where the greatest miracle of all happened. It is in their own backyard and they still deny it. So they are still waiting on his arrival,while we are awaiting his return. This is why their is so much conflict between Christianity and Judaism. Christians except Jesus as the king while the Jews still are afraid to admit they were wrong in killing their own king. So they denounce Christianity as a whole. Still, thousands of Christians flock to Jerusalem to visit the holy land and visit their saviors tomb every year. Kind of a catch 22 huh? Oh yeah, one more thing. The messiah they are waiting for will be the anti-christ the Bible speaks of. When Jesus comes and takes us home, the anti-christ will be the false king. He will claim to have rid the world of evil and be recognized as the savior.This will only be for a little while. Then all of us will return to destroy the false king and give Jesus his rightfull seat as KIng. Don't believe me? Well you just wait and see then.....

Answer 9

They don't believe their messiah has come yet.

Answer 10

In judaism, the messiah has yet to arrive. thus we have no idea who it is. (though we could tell you who its not!)

cheerio

http://www.JewsForJUDAISM.org