14.בזאת יבא אהרן in the verse ב'ז'א'ת' is implied in the word 15ברגז רחם תזכור in the verse רחם Others believe that the word

refers to Abraham, the Gematria of whose name is equal to that of on (248). Concerning these matters it can truthfully be said that they are a form of ignorance which does no harm, and a form of wisdom which does no good. The worst feature about it is that some of them attempt by means of these methods to deduce the time of the end from the dates found in Daniel and in other books. The fact is that not even one of these calculations has come out right. . The recent computators took no counsel from the mistakes of the earlier ones, but each one followed his own bent and exceeded the limit without explaining anything. God does not hide a matter from His prophet and does not inform him that it is a secret, only to reveal it, through such feeble means, to men who are many degrees lower than the prophet."16

4. Judah Halevi (1080-1141), in his Kuzari, speaks frequently of the exile, but only sparingly of the Messiah. Halevi urges upon men to suffer the exile in patience.1 17 He who grows fretful and impatient is in danger of losing both worlds.18 He speaks of the purpose of the exile19 and of the cause of its long duration.20 The Kuzari reveals Halevi's passionate longing and love for the Holy Land, "the land where heart and soul are pure and clean, sanctified as it is by the presence of God," and of his great eagerness to go there.21

Halevi does not in the Kuzari indulge in Messianic computation. Perhaps the reason for it is to be found in the last paragraph of the book: "It is written, ‘Thou wilt arise and have compassion upon Zion, for it is time to be

14 Lev. 16.3.

15 Hab. 3.2.

16 See Halper's x¬ n^ 750, which is a Hebrew translation of Ibn Ezra's Kitab, pp. 165-166. Also. R. E. J., xxii, p. 71.

17 Op. cit., 3.11.

18 Ibid., 3.12.

19 Ibid., 4.23.

20 Ibid., 1.115.

21 Ibid., 5.23 et passim.

gracious unto her, for the appointed time is come. For thy servants take pleasure in her stones and love her dust.'22 This means that Jerusalem will really be rebuilt when the children of Israel will long for her with such perfect longing that they will take pleasure in her stones and her dust,' i. e. go there themselves and rebuild it.23

But as in the case of Maimonides, Halevi, too, could not resist the great temptation of discovering the specific year for the final Redemption.24 The times were full of trouble and unhappiness, and the people needed a definite promise to sustain and inspirit them.

5. Abraham ibn Ezra (1092-1167), while acknowledging that the Book of Daniel contains Messianic prophecies, nevertheless insists that neither Daniel nor anyone else knew or knows their true interpretation. That must remain hidden until the day of deliverance. In his commentary on Dan. 11.31, he broadly and categorically asserts that all the Messianic calculators, including Abraham ibn Alfakar, Solomon ibn Gabirol, Abraham bar Hiyya, Isaac ben Lev25 and all others who tried to discover the end by means of astrology and the mysticism of letters and numbers are "pursuing vanity and chasing the wind." Of Ibn Alfaker26 he says, "The son of the Potter composed a book on the appointed end, but I shattered his arguments like a Potter's vessel, proving that his expected end is already past."

Ibn Ezra, however, suggests certain interpretations of the visions in the Book of Daniel. He believes that the four kingdoms are Babylon, Persia, Greece and Ishmael. During the latter's reign, the deliverance of Israel will occur.27 "The time, times and half a time," are the three and a half years which will precede the end, during which

22 Ps. 102.14-15.

23 Op. cit., 5.27.

24 See supra, p. 68.

25 Probably Isaac ben Labi, Spanish liturgical poet of the eleventh century, whom Abraham Ibn Ezra quotes elsewhere in his Biblical commentary. His Messianic calculations are unknown to us.

26 Arabic ; Hebrew = The Potter, (a family name), died c. 1231. 27 Com. on Dan. 7.13.

period great suffering will come upon the Children of Israel, but no one knows when this period will begin.

The "days" mentioned in Daniel are to be taken throughout literally as days and not years.28 The "week," however, unless supplemented by the word "days" (as in 10.2) means seven years.29

The second vision of Daniel (chapter 8) leads up to Antiochus. The 2300 evenings and mornings (verse 14) are approximately the six years of Antiochus' cruel rule over Israel.30

The third vision (chap. 9) leads up to Titus and the destruction. The figure "70 weeks" he finds difficult to explain. He suggests that they may represent the number of years (490) from the time of this vision of Daniel to the second destruction. The seven "weeks" (verse 25) are the 49 years between the time of Cyrus' proclamation and the coming of Nehemiah to Jerusalem. The 62 "weeks" are the 434 years of the duration of the second Temple. The "one week" are the seven years preceding the destruction, during which time Titus made a treaty of peace with Israel. The "half week" are the three and a half years prior to the destruction, when the continual burnt offering was discontinued.32

6. Moses Maimonides (1135-1204) is very firm and definite in his insistence on the dogmatic character of the Messiah belief: "He who does not believe in him and who does not wait for his coming, denies not alone the later prophets, but the Torah and Moses himself."33 Faith in the Messiah is one of his thirteen articles of faith But he reduced the concept to its irreducible minimum. He strips of it all Midrashic adornments. Here, as elsewhere, he rationalizes with a vengeance: "Let not a man think that in the days of the Messiah the accustomed order of things will be changed. .. The world will go

.ודע כי ימים לעולם ימים ולא שנים 28

29 Com. on Dan. 9.24.

30 Ibid., 8.24.

(.9.24 .ibid) רק פירוש אלה השבועים השבעים קשה עד מאד 1

32 Com. on Dan., 9.24, 25.

33 Yad. Hil. Melakim 9.1.

on as usual. . . . Only Israel will be at peace with the nations of the world, and these will accept the true faith. . . . All else written of the Messiah are only by way of parables. . . . Some of the sages say that before the coming of the Messiah, Elijah will appear; but concerning this and all else like unto it, no one knows exactly how they will come to be, since they are hidden with the prophets, and even the sages, have no certain tradition on the subject... hence the contradiction in views. At best, the sages' attempted detailed presentation of the subject cannot be regarded as a fundamental principle of our religion. Furthermore, a man should not spend much time on the Aggadot and Midrashim which treat of this matter, nor regard them as important; for they lead neither to the fear nor to the love of God. Nor should a man calculate the end. He should wait and believe in the essential fact (of his coming, alone)." 34

Maimonides is particularly set against computing the end. In his commentary on Sanhedrin, he writes: "It is fundamental dogma to believe in the coming of the Messiah; even if he is delayed long, wait for him. But no one should attempt to fix the time, nor find Biblical texts from which to deduce the time of his coming."35

And yet Maimonides, too, under the strain and duress of his age, suggested a Messianic year.36 Maimonides apparently relents the rigor of his views. As a philosopher and Halakist, his Messianic opinions are thoroughly disciplined. But when he writes not abstractly but purposefully, aiming at strengthening the faith of his brethren and at comforting them in their hour of tribulation, as in the case of the Yemenites, he is far less austere and exact. In his letter to the Yemenites, while warning them against the dangers of pseudo-Messiahs, he nevertheless urges upon them an elaborate Messianic belief as a great fundamental of Judaism. He states that the Messiah will appear in the 34 Ibid., 21.1-2.

,10 .chap) ולא ישים לו זמן ולא יעשה לו סברות במקראות להוציא זמן ביאתו 35 .(היסוד שנים עשר toward end, under

36 See supra, p. 75.

hour of greatest oppression, when the sway of Edom and Arab will extend all over the world. The Messiah will be wiser than all men, greater than all the prophets (except Moses). He will perform miracles. At his appearance all the nations of the earth will be terrified and subdued.

7. Abraham ibn Daud (1110–1180) makes no mention at all of the Messiah in his Emunah Ramah, and the Messianic interpretation of Zech. 11.7, found in his Sefer haKabbalah, is not found in all the manuscripts and is not authentic.” In this latter work he interprets all the dates found in Daniel to refer to events preceding the destruction of the second Temple, thereby precluding all Messianic romancing on the basis of these figures.38

8. Judah ben Samuel He-Hasid (13 c.), author of the Sefer Hasidim, was a strong opponent of Messianic calculation. He refused even to mention the calculation of another man in his transcript of the account of the Travels of Petaḥia.39 In his Sefer Hasidim he is quite outspoken about the entire subject: "If you see a man prophesying about the Messiah, know that he is either a sorcerer or engaged in witchcraft. . . Demons come and teach him calculations and hidden things to his own confounding and that of the people who believe in him. For no man knows anything about the coming of the Messiah."40 Again, commenting on the closed letter Mem in the words

he remarks that the phrase refers to the 41, לס"רבה המשרה

Messiah, "whose end is hidden (closed) just as the Mem."42

9. Hayyim Galipapa (c. 1310-c. 1380), Spanish Rabbi and commentator, followed Moses ibn Gikatilla and Ibn Daud in ascribing the so-called Messianic passages of the prophets and of Daniel to events which occurred during the existence of the second Temple. He wrote a tract on 37 See Neubauer, Med. Jew. Chron., I, Pref. xiii.

See also Mann, “Early Karaite Bible Commentaries", J. Q. R., New Series, XII, pp. 450-51. 39 See infra, p. 259.

.49-51 .pp ,ספר הקבלה לרב אברהם בן דוד,.Ibid 38

כי אין אדם יודע על ביאת משיח 40

(see ''п ed. Wistinetzki, 1924, pp.

76-77, par. 212.)

41 Is. 9.6.

42 Op. cit., p.364, par. 509.