Yeshiva University - Masmid Yearbook (New York, NY)

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10 M A SM I D opposed, but as Arabic culture made its grad- ual impress on Jewish culture, astrology with its intricate and complicated means of divin- ing the future gained considerable credence among Jews of the Middle Ages. All of the vast number of calculators since the early centuries of the Common Era can- not enter so short a discussion. Let us rather review some of the most outstanding with a view to their methods and conclusions. One of the earliest of the long group is Judah Ha-Nasi (135-220 C. E.), the redactor of the Mishna. His calculation is comparative- ly simple alongside of some of the compli- cated efforts of later men. He believed that the Messiah would come 365 years after the destruction, (which was in 70 C. E.,) that is in the year 435 C. E. He bases his conclu- sion on the passage in Isiah 63.4: For the day of vengeance that was in my heart and my year of redemption are come. He assigned one year to every day in the solar year and in this fashion obtained his figures. The computations of the Gaon Saadia (d. 942) are much more involved. He uses the passage in Dan: 12.6.7: How long shall it be to the end of won- ders? And I heard the man clothed in linen who was above the waters of the river where he lifted up his right hand and his left hand unto heaven and swore by him that liveth forever that it shall be for a time, times, and a half. In verse 12 of the same chapter this is de- fined as 1335 days, the days to be considered as years. Times refers to the two periods of the existence of the Kingdom of Israel, the first being the 480 years up to the building of the First Temple, and the second period of 410 years until the destruction of this temple. This gives a sum of 890 years. One half of this sum is 445, thus times and a half would be 1335 years. By deft arrangement of the figures in Dan. 12:11 and 8:14 he makes this figure appear again and again. The ques- tion of a terminus a quo would then arise. He takes as a starting point the third year of the reign of Cyrus when the Jews were given permission to return to Palestine, and which according to old Jewish chronology took place in 367 B. C. E. According to Saadia. 1335 years after this date or 968 C. E., the Messiah was supposed to have come. This effort would seem to be complicated enough but that of Rashi (1045-1105) the Great Commentator, is even the more so, and involves a great variety of methods and chronological subtleties. He bases his results on Dan. 8:14. And he said unto me, unto evening and morning 2300 years, then shall the sanctuary be victorious. The value in Gematria of the words erev 2 V (evening) and boker 1P3 (morning) is 574. Add the 2300 mentioned in the text and you have 2874. In this case the starting point is the begin- ning of the Egyptian captivity. To trace the chronology from this point: the Jews were in Egypt 210 years: 480 years passed from the exodus to the First Temple; the Temple stood for 410 years; the Babylonian captivity lasted 70 years and the Second Temple stood for 420 years. Hence, from Egypt to the second destruction is 1590 years. Now in Dan. 12:11,12 we are told that 1 290 years must elapse from the time that the continual burnt offering shall be taken away until the time of redemption. Since the offer- ing ceased six years before the destruction, i. e. in the 1584th year from the Egyptian captivity as computed above, the addition of 1584 and 1290 gives us the figure 2874 of Dan. 8:14 spoken of before. According to Rashi the Second Temple was destroyed in 68 C. E. Therefore the burnt offering ceased in 62 C. E. Since the Messiah was to come 1290 years after, his destined arrival was scheduled for 1352 C. E. The preceding calculations give us an idea of the methods of attack and the line of thought and supposition followed. There were a great many others who tried their hand at this type of divination including such men as Maimonides, Judah Halevi, Nahmanides. Isaac Abarbanel and Isaac Luria. In general, we notice several outstanding characteristics running through all the com- putations. The first is their basis in scriptur- al passages, thus making the results the hidden expression of divine will. We notice, too, the constant recourse to mystic methods for the attainment of reasonable conclusions. We sec the frantic effort to garner something spe- cific, and assign a definite date to something intangible and beyond the pale of the capa- city of the human mind.

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M ASMID The End of Days By Abraham S. Guterman THE speculation as to the advent of the Messiah, and its attendant miracles, the resurrection of the dead, and the return of Jewish supremacy in the spiritual affairs of the world, is a very interesting side light of Jewish history. The almost univer- sal pastime of Jewish scholars in all climes and all ages has been to read into certain cryp- tic and enigmatic scriptural texts definite numerical significances, voluminous calcula- tions both mystic and mathematical which were finally twisted to fit some year in the Common Era. A natural consequence of this profuse speculation was that at various times men convinced themselves that they were Messiahs, destined to lead Israel back to the Promised Land, and to establish that vision- ary Utopia which legend has woven about the Messianic emancipation. In this rapid survey I shall discuss, first the forces behind these phenomena, second, the most import- ant methods of calculation, third, the more outstanding computations, and fourth, the most famous pseudo-Messiahs. The burning zeal for divining the advent of the Redeemer may be attributed to several factors. It was a combination of political aspirations, social emancipation, and religious and moral idealism. The Jews believed in the ultimate triumph of divine justice. They vir2 firm in the faith that the dictum of God promising national rehabilitation was invar- iable, and indelibly inscribed on the scrolls of destiny. Their unendurable hardships kindled the desire for freedom and rest, for a haven of refuge where their harassed and la- cerated bodies might find repose. An un- quenchable love of life dominated their spirit and aroused the desire for autonomy in a land of their own. Speculation was an insufficient bandage for their deep wounds, but a bandage it was, and though it healed only in parts, neverthe- less it mollified in a measure the degree of their pain, and its balsam refreshed the hope in the hearts of the people. As the burdens and terrors, the persecutions and tribulations of life increased, the Jew looked frantically about for some glimmer of hope, some ration- ale for continuing a rather painful and un- pleasant existence. The feeling that any day might bring the Messiah and an end to all his suffering filled him with the desire to live, so essential to the existence of a nation, and especially of a wandering nation. But he was unwilling to allow the advent of the Messiah to remain shrouded in mystery, to remain curtained behind the opaque veils of a divine promise. He groped about in the Scriptures and there by a great many methods he came to varied conclusions at different times and in different lands. It would be well to review briefly the vari- ous methods of calculation employed by the scholars and rabbis. The first and most im- portant source was the Book of Daniel. Seve- ral specific numbers of years are listed there- in, all of them indefinite and puzzling. In chapter 12 we encounter the greater part of these mystic symbols in which are sup- posedly hidden the secret of the final redemp- tion. Other scriptural texts scattered over the length and breadth of the Bible have also served as inspiration for speculative genius. Gematria or the assignment of a numerical significance to each letter of the Hebrew al- phabet, and the subsequent computations on this basis have been an important factor in many of the conclusions. Notarikon or the employment of each let ter of a word in the Bible as a series of first letters for the words in an improvised sentence gave many a mystic an opportunity for mental gymnastics. In- terpretation by the transposition of letters called Chiluf and the replacement of one letter by another called Temurah gave rise to many a startling prediction. It was a perfectly natural reaction that cal- culators should take cognizance of the length of former exiles and by the comparison of characteristics and support of scriptural texts establish mathematical relations to ascertain the end of days . Even more influence in this field was wielded by the science of astro- logy with its vast mystic background and the deep-seated belief in the minds of many that the stars were an open book for thos: that could read their ethereal language. In earlier centuries, both by Biblical and Tal- mudical dicta, this science was unalterably

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M A S M I D 11 In the hurly burly rush of modern times we cannot sense the mystic in Hfe, we cannot feel that contact with some divine spirit, that ecstatic liberation of the soul from earthly bonds and its soaring aloft in the realms of heaven. We are too preoccupied with mater- ial pursuits and mercenary efforts. To under- stand, then, the motives, the feelings of these men, the representatives of a race oppressed on all sides, we must remove them from the spot- light of modern times, and take ou rselves back to the slow-moving world of yesterday. And in so doing we can better understand the next phase of our subject — the Pseudo-Mes- siahs — and the readiness of great masses of Jews to follow a leader to the Promised Land and freedom. One of the earliest of this long list, a man named Moses, appeared in Crete about the middle of the 5th century and won a large following among the Jews. He indicated a date for general departure to Jerusalem, and on the assigned day he led them to a cliff overlooking the sea and ordered them to hurl themselves into the waves, with the hope of God ' s parting the waters. It is said that many perished in consequence of this misplaced faith. One of the most spectacular of the Pseudo- Messiahs was David Alroy who appeared about 1147 during the Second Crusade. He was an adventurer, a magician, and a war- rior, and gained a large following. Most of the stories told of him are legendary. The movement he set in motion resulted in his own death, and considerable persecution to the Jewish community of Bagdad. David Reubeni was a most extraordinary man, and combined within himself the at- tributes of patience, faith, and diplomacy. He came out of the East with a message of hope for all Jewry. He travelled over Europe and Asia recounting wonderful tales of a Jew- ish king who had under his command 300.000 men ready to march on Jerusalem. Although at first he made no pretensions to Messiahship, he gradually donned the cloak and gamed a great army of followers. Among these supporters was a young Maranno. Diogo Pires, elevated in the higher strata of society, who gave up his life and future, adopted Judaism as his religion, took the name of Solomon Molcho, plunged into the myste- ries of the Kabbala, travelled about preach- ing the advent of the Messiah, and designat- ing Reubeni as the Chosen One of the Lord. Reubeni himself treated him coldly, in the beginning, but the youth, unrestrained, con- tinued his studies and preachments. After many setbacks in their effort to gain support in capturing Palestine, Moicho and Reubeni pleaded their case together before Charles V. However they were imprisoned, the proselyte Molcho being burned by the Inquisition, and Reubeni incarcerated and later, it is thought, he was poisoned. What Reubeni lacked in enthusiasm. Molcho supplemented in fervor and faith in his mission. Reubeni was pa- tient and practical, and though steeped in mysticism, yet acclaimed in his time by many non-Kabbalists. The best-known of all the Pseudo-Mes- siahs is Sabbatai Zevi. While still a youth, he began to gain the attention of the Jews of Smyrna by his pleasing appearance, his secluded mode of life, and his ascetic habits. He delved into the mysteries of the Kabbala and gained admiration from many for his erudition and proficiency, a circumstance which turned his head. At the age of 22 in the year 1648, that epic year forecast in the Zohar as the Messianic year, Sabbatai revealed himself to his disciples as the redeemer of Israel. For violating the Talmudic dictum against pronouncing the ineffable name of God, he and his followers were excommuni- cated, and later banished from Smyrna. This persecution merely helped to strengthen his belief in his mission, and he assumed the at- titude that he had to undergo certain hard- ships before attaining recognition. After several years of wandering he came to Salo- nica. one of the centres of Kabbala. Here he continued his operations, and by means of several publicity stunts, seemingly leaguing himself with divine powers, he gained great support from many Jews. He took up his residence in Jerusalem where he awaited heavenly confirmation of his Messiahship. Such recognition not being forthcoming, he returned to Smyrna where he was accepted with open arms, the ban of excommunication being entirely forgotten, and with great fest- ivity and blowing of the shofar he announced himself Messiah, son of David. The excite- ment caused by this event spread through all