The Birth of Moshiach

Our sages of old tell us where Moshiach will be born and even when. Let's look at the Tanach to start with. Michoh perek ה, posek א,:

וְאַתָה בֵית לֶחֶם אֶפְרָתָה צָעִיר לִהְיוֹת בְאַלְפֵי יְהודָה מִמְךָ לִי יֵצֵא לִהְיוֹת מוֹשֵל בְיִשְרָאֵל ומוֹצָאֹתָיו מִקֶדֶם מִימֵי עוֹלָם:

Rashi interprets this posek as follows: "And you Beislechem Efrosah from where Dovid emanated, as it is stated (Shmuel א perek יז, posek נח,): "The son of your servant, Yishai from Beislechem." And Beislechem is called Efros, as it is said (Bereshis perek מח, posek ז,): "On the road to Efros, that is Beislechem." you should have been the lowest of the clans of Yehudah: You should have been the lowest of the clans of Yehudah because of the stigma of Rus from Moav in you. from you shall emerge for me the Moshiach, ben Dovid, and so Tanach says (Tehillim perek קיח, posek כב,): "The stone the builders had rejected became a cornerstone." and his origin is from of old "Before the sun his name is Yinnon" (Tehillim perek עב, posek יז).*

*Actual translation of Tanach is in bold.

From the posek it is clear Moshiach must be born in Beislechem. As you can see Rashi is one of many sages to agree. (See also Talmud Yerushalmi Berachos ב/יז) As we know today Beislehem is in the Palestinian Territories and is a city without yidn. Does this mean Moshiach should have been born already? HaNovi Daniel helps us with this in perek ט, psukim כז-כד.

שָׁבֻעִים שִׁבְעִים נֶחְתַּךְ עַל עַמְּךָ וְעַל עִיר קָדְשֶׁךָ לְכַלֵּא הַפֶּשַׁע וּלְחָתֵם {וּלְהָתֵם} חַטָּאות {חַטָּאת} וּלְכַפֵּר עָוֹן וּלְהָבִיא צֶדֶק עֹלָמִים וְלַחְתֹּם חָזוֹן וְנָבִיא וְלִמְשֹׁחַ קֹדֶשׁ קָדָשִׁים: וְתֵדַע וְתַשְׂכֵּל מִן מֹצָא דָבָר לְהָשִׁיב וְלִבְנוֹת יְרוּשָׁלִַם עַד מָשִׁיחַ נָגִיד שָׁבֻעִים שִׁבְעָה וְשָׁבֻעִים שִׁשִּׁים וּשְׁנַיִם תָּשׁוּב וְנִבְנְתָה רְחוֹב וְחָרוּץ וּבְצוֹק הָעִתִּים: וְאַחֲרֵי הַשָּׁבֻעִים שִׁשִּׁים וּשְׁנַיִם יִכָּרֵת מָשִׁיחַ וְאֵין לוֹ וְהָעִיר וְהַקֹּדֶשׁ יַשְׁחִית עַם נָגִיד הַבָּא וְקִצּוֹ בַשֶּׁטֶף וְעַד קֵץ מִלְחָמָה נֶחֱרֶצֶת שֹׁמֵמוֹת: וְהִגְבִּיר בְּרִית לָרַבִּים שָׁבוּעַ אֶחָד וַחֲצִי הַשָּׁבוּעַ יַשְׁבִּית זֶבַח וּמִנְחָה וְעַל כְּנַף שִׁקּוּצִים מְשֹׁמֵם וְעַד כָּלָה וְנֶחֱרָצָה תִּתַּךְ עַל שׁוֹמֵם:

“Seventy weeks are decreed as to your people, and as to your holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make atonement for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the Most Holy. Know, then, and understand that from the going out of a word to restore and to rebuild Yerushalayim, to Moshiach the Prince, shall be seven weeks and sixty two weeks. The street shall be built again, and the wall, even in times of affliction. And after sixty two weeks, Moshiach shall be cut off, but not for himself. And the people of a coming ruler shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. And its end shall be with the flood, and ruins are determined, and war shall be until the end.”

In posek כה, we learn that the events of the psukim כו & כז must come after Yisroel has filled up (or restrained) her transgression, and after sin has been sealed and iniquity atoned for, to bring in everlasting righteousness. During this time prophecy and visions will be sealed and the Most Holy One will be anointed. (The Moshiach or in the Beis HaMikdosh, but in the light of the next psukim it seems much more likely to refer to Moshiach).

As we go onto the next psukim we see that 49 years is prophesied for the streets and moat of Yerushalayim to be restored and then 434 years prophesied between the completion of this task and the arrival of Moshiach. The decree to restore Yerushalayim was issued in 457 BCE, the streets, walls and moat completed in 408 BCE. This means that Moshiach should become known about 27 CE.

Then we read that Moshiach will be cut off or killed, and that afterwards a ruler will come and destroy the city. This means our sin will be atoned for in an everlasting manner through Moshiach who will become known in about 27 CE. Moshiach will then be killed and afterwards the Beis HaMikdosh and the city destroyed by another people, which we know happened in 70 CE. Could it be Moshiach has come already? Could it be that he did make atonement for our sin? Could it be this atonement resulted in his death but that it lasts forever?

We have some final clues. The Talmud tell us in Yoma ב/לט that for forty years before the destruction of the Beis HaMikdosh there were signs that this method of atonement was no longer sufficient before HaKadosh Baruch Hu.

...ארבעים שנה קודם חורבן הבית לא היה גורל עולה בימין ולא היה לשון של זהורית מלבין ולא היה נר מערבי דולק והיו דלתות ההיכל נפתחות מאליהן עד שגער בהן...

Could the reason be that Ribbono Shel Olam provided the promised atonement through the promised Moshiach already? If so, who could this Moshiach be? From the psukim from the Tanach which we've seen above, we learn Moshiach must be born in Beislechem, became public around 27 CE, make atonement and bring in a way for everlasting righteousness. Then we learn he is killed before the Beis HaMikdosh and the city are destroyed in 70 CE.

more>>