The Messiah and the Jews
Three Thousand Years of Tradition, Belief and Hope
-
- $16.99
-
- $16.99
Publisher Description
A comprehensive, inspiring and fascinating discovery of what Jews believe about the Messiah—and why you might believe in the Messiah, too.
"The conviction that the Messiah is coming is a promise of meaning. It is a source of consolation. It is a wellspring of creativity. It is a reconciliation between what is and what should be. And it is perhaps our most powerful statement of faith—in God, in humanity and in ourselves."
—from Chapter 1, “The Messiah Is Coming!”
The coming of the Messiah—the promise of redemption—is among Judaism's gifts to the world. But it is a gift about which the world knows so little. It has been overshadowed by Christian belief and teaching, and as a result its Jewish significance has been all but lost. To further complicate matters, Jewish messianic teaching is enthralling, compelling, challenging, exhilarating—yet, up until now, woefully inaccessible. This book will change that.
Rabbi Elaine Rose Glickman brings together, and to life, this three-thousand-year-old tradition as never before. Rather than simply reviewing the vast body of Jewish messianic literature, she explores an astonishing range of primary and secondary sources, explaining in an informative yet inspirational way these teachings’ significance for Jews of the past—and infuses them with new meaning for the modern reader, both Jewish and non-Jewish.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
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."
