The Messiah and the Jews: Three Thousand Years of Tradition, Belief and Hope

For some Jews, coping with the ills of the world means adhering to the principle of faith set forth by Maimonides, which requires belief in awaiting the coming of the Messiah. Glickman (Sacred Parenting), a Reform rabbi, approvingly cites Maimonides and reviews many little-known sources in a systematic exploration of the contemporary meaning of this conviction. She differentiates Jews from Christians who believe in Jesus as the Messiah, and she reviews the sad history of others who have claimed to be the Messiah. Glickman elucidates several ideas associated with faith in advent of the Messiah, such as the resurrection of the dead, the feast of the righteous, and the “suffering servant” spoken about by the prophet Isaiah before dealing with the conviction held by many Hasidim that the late Rabbi Menahem Mendel Schneerson of the Chabad Lubavitch movement was the Messiah. Finally, she explores Reform Jewish notions about the Messiah, leaving the subject open while reiterating Maimonides’s assertion that “we await the Messiah every day.” (May)