that the Messiah would come in the year 1218 c. E. if the Jews were found worthy.25 3. The other is that of Joseph ben Isaac Bekor Shor (12 c., French Tosafist and exegete), quoted by Isaac Halevi in his Pa'aneaḥ Raza. He believed that the Messiah would come in the year 1403 c. E.26 4. Rashi (1040-1105) finds that Dan. 8.14 and 12.11-12 clearly point to the year 1352 c. E. as the Messianic year. Verse 14 of chapter 8 reads: "And he said unto me, Unto evening and morning 2300 years, then shall the sanctuary בקר and ערב . (עד ערב בקר אלפים ושלש מאות) "be victorious must be taken in their numerical (Gematria) value= 574. Add 2,300 and you have the figure 2,874. The terminus a quo is the beginning of the Egyptian captivity. The Jews were 210 years in Egypt; 480 years elapsed from the time of their deliverance to the building of the first Temple; the Temple stood 410 years; the Babylonian captivity lasted 70 years, and the second Temple stood 420 years. This gives you a total of 1590 years from Egypt to the second destruction. Dan. 12.11-12 says that 1290 years must elapse from the time that the continual burnt offering shall be taken away until the time of the Redemption. The offering ceased, according to Rashi, six years before the destruction, i. e. in the 1584th year since the Egyptian captivity; add 1584 and 1290 and you get the figure 2874, the figure of Dan. 8.14. The Temple was destroyed in 68 c. E. The Messiah, according to Rashi, is to appear 1290 years after the cessation of the burnt offering, which took place six years before the destruction (i. e. 62 c. E.). Rashi therefore expected the Messiah to come in the year 1352 c. E. In his commentary on San. 97b, he offers another figure in the name of Samuel ben David Halevi, basing his computation on Ps. 80.6: "And thou hast given them tears to drink in a threefold measure. He states that the present exile would last three times as long as the Egyptian 25 See infra, Bahya ben Asher. 26 See infra, Isaac ben Judah Halevi. (400 years) and the Babylonian (70 years) put together, i. e. 1410 years. In other words, the Messiah would come in the year 1478 c. E. 5. Judah Halevi (1080-1141). Jewish persecutions at the close of the eleventh and throughout the twelfth century were not confined to France and Germany. The Jews living in some of the Mohammedan lands fared little better. Halevi sums up the story thus: "From the midst of both Edom and Epher (Epher was one of the sons of Keturah, Gen. 25.4, hence Arabs) I cry bitterly unto Thee."27 Towards the end of his lifetime the followers of the Mahdi Ibn Tumart (d. 1128), founder of the Almohades, conquered Northern Africa, persecuted the Jews and instituted forced conversion. In his poems Halevi urges upon his brethern not to grow impatient nor to try to find surcease in vain speculations. This seems to be the first of a series of warnings emanating from that period. In his poem beginning bq: VIDI > P he sings: "Let thy heart be strong, awaiting thine appointed season (of Redemption). Why do you calculate the end of the captivity and grow disturbed? . . Thou hast done well to wait for thy Redeemer. Do not, therefore, be impatient; thou wilt behold the glory of My work."28 In another poem, -he doubts the possibility of discover ,יונה נְשָׁאתָה על כנפי נשרים ing the end. "And if I ask to know when will be the end of wonders, they (the people) answer: You have asked a difficult question about prophecies."29 Halevi knew of a belief commonly held by the generations which preceded his, that the Messiah would appear 1000 years after the destruction, i. e. 1068 c. E. This hope is intimated in Pirke de Rabbi Eliezer, chapter 18.30 "She 27 Poems, ed. Harkavy, I, p. 73. 28 Ibid., pp. 57-58, 29 Ibid., p. 65. ואם אשאל לראות קץ הפלאות יענו נבואות הקשות לשאול 30 See supra, p. 39. From the Arabic original of the Iggeret Teman, end, it is evident that there was an extensive Messianic movement in France about the year 1068. thought that a thousand years would be the length of her exile, but she was disappointed in all her expectations.31 In one of his poems, however, Halevi yields to the temptation of prognosticating the end. He had a dream, he says, in which he vividly saw the downfall of Ishmael. This would occur in the year 1130 c. E.: "In the year 1130 ( л all thy pride (Ishmael) will be shattered. Thou wilt be abashed and ashamed of the things which thou didst devise."32 He expresses the belief that Ishmael is the fourth kingdom mentioned in Daniel whose downfall would usher in the Redemption: "Art thou the miry clay in the feet of iron which came at the end and wast exalted?"33 The march of the Crusaders must have inspired Halevi with the hope that the collapse of the Islamic power was at hand. This hope was grounded in a tradition which prevailed for some time among the Jews in Mohammedan lands. Saadia had declared, basing himself on Rabbinic authority, that the Christians would be in possession of Palestine at the time of the Redemption.34 Hai Gaon (939-1038 c. E.) in his Responsum on the subject of Redemption had declared that the sure sign of the Messiah's coming will be when Edom (The Christians) again rule over Palestine35. This was one of the strong motives of the Messianic movements which abounded in the period of the Crusades. Halevi, in fixing upon the year 1130, follows a belief current in his day among Jews living in Mohammedan 31 In his poem, ny, n77) o'pin" nï (ibid., p. 60). Halevi is writing in the year 1132. 32 Poems, II, p. 151. 83 Ibid. ותחשוב אלף לקץ מועדה אך חפרה מכל אשר שָׁעֲרָה ושנת תת"ץ מְחַץ לך כל גאוה תבוש ותחפר מאשר זָמָמְתָ .(5 ,Emunot, VIII) ותחלתם שאדום יכבשו בית המקדש בעת הגאולה 34 35 לפיכך כשאנו רואים ששלטה אדום בארץ ישראל אנו מאמינים שהתחילה ישועתנו .pp. 59a-61a ,1854 טעם זקנים lands, that the Messiah would come 500 years after the rise of Mohammed. In the century preceding Halevi, the belief was held that the Messiah would come 400 years after the Hegira (i. e. 1022 c. E.). Jacob ben Reuben, Karaite commentator of the eleventh century, author of Sefer ha-'Osher, mentions this belief: "And it is likely that the Redemption will occur at the end of 400 years of the rule of the little Horn (Islam).36 When this hope vanished the period was advanced to 500 years. This is borne out by the statement which 'Abd al Mumin, head of the Almohades, made to the leader of the Jews of Morocco when he conquered that country: "I know that your fathers said that your Messiah would come 500 years after the rise of Mohammed, and now the time is past and your Messiah has not yet appeared."37 It was not long after Halevi's putative year of Redemption, in 1147, the year of the Second Crusade, that 'Abd al Mumin crossed into Spain and inaugurated a decade of frightful persecution. Synagogues and academies were destroyed, women and children were sold into slavery, the property of the people was confiscated, and many Jews were forced to accept the faith of Islam. The bitter irony of it. 6. Abraham bar Hiyya (d. 1136), contemporary of Halevi, Spanish-Jewish astronomer, mathematician and philosopher, plays an important rôle in Messianic speculation. His book, Megillat ha-Megalleh, which has but recently been edited and published shows the author to have been among the first to have engaged in Messianic speculation on a vast and comprehensive scale. He is more thorough than Saadia, the only other author preceding him whose elaborate Messianic calculations have come down to us. Bar Ḥiyya, who seemingly digested all the literature on the subject which had appeared up to his day," 36 See Pinsker, noτp 'vip, p. 82. 37 See Graetz, Heb. ed., IV, p. 198. Somewhat earlier, Yusuf ibn Teshufin, founder of the Almoravid dynasty in Southern Spain (1086), demanded apostasy of the Jews of Lucena on the same grounds (ibid., p. 126). 38, ed. Adolph Poznanski, Intro. by Julius Guttmann, Berlin, 1924. 39 Ibid., pp. 2, 83, 84. influenced to a great degree many of the subsequent Messianic speculations, especially those of Naḥmanides and Abarbanel. Abraham bar Hiyya launches upon his subject with a bold defense of Messianic calculation. It is legitimate. It is sanctioned by the Torah. It finds precedent in the Talmud and in the later Rabbis. It is helpful in that it strengthens faith and enhances the morale of the people.1o He also vigorously defends his methods of calculation.11 His calculations derive from four sources: (1), the Creation account in Genesis, (2) the rest of the Torah, (3) the Book of Daniel, and (4) Astrology.42 He lays greatest value upon the first two, less on the third, and very little on the last, which he utilizes only as a means of convincing those who are given to this science and would not otherwise be convinced, The world was created solely for the sake of Israel.48 Every cycle in the Creation story, therefore, is symbolic and prophetic of the history of Israel." The Creation week signifies that the world will last 6000 years, the seventh being the Millennial Sabbath.45 Each Creation day points to a 1000 years of the world's cycle; for a day in the sight of God is 1000 years, or to be exact, 85714 years, for it is written, "For a thousand years are in Thy sight as yesterday when it is past plus a watch in the night.”46 A watch in the night is equal to a third of a night or four hours. 47 A day of God is therefore equal to 64 of 1000 years, or 85714, and the seven days of Creation equal 6000 years.48 Each day is again divided into seven parts and each part (c. 122 years) is equal to one generation.49 40 Ibid., pp. 1-2. 41 Ibid., pp. 74 ff. 42 Ibid., p. 3. 43 Sab., 88a. ואם העולם כלו נברא בשבילם ראוי הוא שיהיה כל מעשה .21-29 .pp ,6. ה. 44 .(74 .p)בראשית רמז עליהם ויהיו הדורות המנוים מאדם הראשון מסורים כנגד הקורות להם 45 Ibid., p. 19. 46 Ps. 90.4. 47 Ber. 3a. 48.1. p. 20. 49 Ibid. |