March 2003 The Messiah And You By Rabbi Alvin Kass If you read only one book this year, I urge you to make it Rabbi Robert N. Levine's controversial and provocative new work, There Is No Messiah And You're It. This fascinating reexamination of one of the most potent principles of religious faith may upset your belief system, but it will surely make you think. Most important, whether you agree with its basic premise or not you will recognize the heavy responsibility that rests upon all of us to bring about a better world. Jews have cherished messianic convictions throughout our history. Indeed, the worse things were, the more we looked forward to the arrival of a messianic personality who would put an end to the horrors that plagued our plight here upon Earth. The worst problem regarding the traditional belief in a messiah, as Levine sees it, is that it gets us off the hook when it comes to curing the ills of the world. Why should I worry about how bad things are if the messiah will straighten them out when he gets here? In short, messianism can be a "cop-out" if we regard ourselves as exempt from the task of improving our society.Ê While the author recognizes the pervasiveness of the traditional Jewish view of the messiah, he declares that throughout the millennia of our history, not even a "single definitive inheritor" of the messianic mantle has emerged. What's more, he argues that the Torah does not confer messianic duties upon one person to the exclusion of everyone else. The result of this uncertainty is that false messiahs have arisen from time to time who have wrought havoc and destruction upon the body and soul of the JewishÊ community. As a result of the horrendous disasters that false messiahs have brought upon the JewishÊ people, our sages urged caution in approaching this subject. Hence, we are taught in the Avot de R. Nathan that "if you are in the middle of planting a tree and word comes that the messiah has arrived, finish planting the tree, then go seek the messiah." Levine also quotes the story of a woman who became hysterical when she heard that the messiah was on his way. She commiserated with her husband that they had spent many years working hard to get the house of their dreams and to fix it up the way they wanted, and she now feared that the messiah would take it all away. Her husband reassured her: "Don't worry. We survived Pharaoh; we survived Haman. With God's help, we'll survive the messiah too!" Among some modern Jews, and Rabbi Levine is clearly in their ranks, belief in a personal messiah was replaced by yearning for a messianic era in which each human being would contribute to the emergence of a just and peaceful world. In pragmaticÊ terms, it seems to me that it really doesn't matter whether you hold on to the traditional Jewish view of the messiah or you adopt Rabbi Levine's position. Even if you're a traditionalist, as the Orthodox theologian David Hartman tells us, we still have the job of struggling to create a better society as we await the messiah's arrival. Rabbi Levine, the brilliant spiritual leader of Temple Rodeph Shalom has provided us with a first-rate summary of all the historical and philosophical literature relevant to the Jewish concept of the messiah. It should be noted that his controversial conclusion that each person is the messiah is not for him just an academic issue. In his role as vice president of the New York Board of Rabbis, he has also brought together the leaders of every race, religion, color and creed of our city in an effort to make New York a light to the world. Traditionalists and reformers alike would do well to emulate his example of self-sacrificing service to others. After all, we are all messiahs!