The Torah portion of Va’et’chanan always coincides with Shabbat Nachamu when we read about the consolation of the Jewish people after the destruction of the two Batei Mikdash which were recently commemorated on Tisha Be’Av.
The Haftorah begins with the words, “Be comforted, be comforted, My nation...” There are many interpretations as to the repetition of the word “be comforted.” Rabbi Yonatan Eibeshitz explains that in the Messianic era, despite the great joy of the redemption, the Jewish people will need to be comforted for the tragic deaths of two of their great leaders: King Saul, son of Kish, and Moshiach ben Yosef. According to Rabbi Eibeshitz, a descendant of our matriarch Rachel must always rule over the Jewish people before a king who descends from Leah can assume the throne. This is because Yaakov took the firstborn rights from Reuven (the son of Leah) and gave them to Yosef (the son of Rachel).
In addition, it is specifically the descendants of Rachel who have the power to defeat Esau, the arch enemy of the Jewish people. As such, King Saul (from the tribe of Benjamin, who was the son of Rachel) reigned before King David, and Moshiach ben Yosef will rule before Moshiach ben David. Just as King Saul battled Amalek (a descendant of Esau) so, too, Moshiach ben Yosef will battle the nation of Edom. Unfortunately, however, both of these leaders were destined to be killed in battle. This is a punishment for the slights on the part of our forefather Yaakov who deceived/took advantage of, Esau twice. Once by buying the firstborn rights for a bowl of soup, and a second time by dressing up as Esau to get the blessing of their father Isaac. Although Yaakov had good reasons for these deceptions, G-d judges the righteous very severely, and therefore Esau will be empowered to kill both of these leaders. It is for the loss of these two leaders that the verse says twice “Be comforted, be comforted, My nation.”
This article will focus on Moshiach ben Yosef, who, according to our sages, will lead the Jewish people in the war against Gog and Magog and will be killed in that battle.
Source in Tanach – the Great Eulogy
There is no explicit verse in the Tanach about Moshiach ben Yosef, but the Talmud interprets a verse in the Book of Zachariah to be referring to Moshiach ben Yosef. The verse describes the death of a leader who will die in the battle of Gog and Magog, as it says,
- “They will look to the one who was stabbed, and they will mourn for him as one mourns over an only child and as one mourns over a firstborn.” According to one opinion in the Talmud, “the one who was stabbed” is referring to the leader of the Jewish people known as Moshiach ben Yosef who will fall in the battle against Gog and Magog.
- The Malbim explains that at first the mourning will be like one who mourns over his only child since he will be the only leader at that time (comparable to an only child). In addition, even after Moshiach ben David is revealed as the next leader, they will still mourn Moshiach ben Yosef excessively because he was their first leader (comparable to a firstborn).
- The verse continues, “On that day there shall be a great mourning in Jerusalem, like the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon.” According to our sages, this refers to the eulogies for King Achav and King Yoshiyahu respectively, both of whom were killed in battle by the enemy soldiers while their armies remained unharmed. (Hadadrimmon refers to Ben Hadad son of Tavrimon, the Aramean king whose army killed Achav while Yoshiyahu was killed by the Egyptian army in the valley of Meggido.)
- The Chatam Sofer explained that the kings of the Ten Tribes of the northern kingdom were generally wicked (like Achav) while many of the kings of Judah were righteous, like Yoshiyahu. As such, the death of Achav (and the other kings of North) would have elicited mourning from his wicked followers while the death of Yoshiyahu (and other Judean kings like him) would have elicited mourning from his righteous subjects. When Moshiach ben Yosef dies however, both the righteous and the wicked will mourn him since by that time the wicked will have repented.
- The verse continues and says that “the family of the House of David” will mourn for this man (Moshiach ben Yosef). This is a hallmark of the Messianic era, that the house of David will mourn for a king from the tribe of Yosef, a sign of the unity between the different tribes who, in earlier generations, were sometimes antagonistic to each other.
One of Four Builders
Another verse in Zachariah describes four builders who will battle with the four main adversaries of the Jewish people. According to the Talmud, the identity of these four builders are:
- Moshiach ben Yosef
- And Moshiach ben David (both of whom will build the Third Beit HaMikdash).
- Elijah, the prophet who built the altar of G-d on Mount Carmel and who will herald the redemption.
- Malki Tzedek, king of Shalem, who was Shem, the son of Noach, who helped his father build the Ark.
Punishers of Four Groups of Nations
According to the Aruch LeNer, these four righteous men correspond to the four elements (fire, water, wind and earth) and each of them will bring punishment to the pagan nation that is correlated with the element that is associated with them. Specifically,
- Moshiach ben Yosef, who corresponds to fire, will punish the nations associated with Sodom and Amorrah (which were destroyed by fire).
- Moshiach ben David, who corresponds to wind, will punish the nations which correspond to the generation of the dispersion who were spread out like the wind.
- Elijah, the prophet, who corresponds to water (since he stopped the rain from falling), will punish the nations associated with the sins of the flood.
- Malki Tzedek, who corresponds to earth, will punish the Egyptians whose ancestors were swallowed by the earth after the splitting of the sea.
Purpose
There are several reasons given by the commentaries why there must be a leader from the tribe of Yosef and why it’s not sufficient to have just Moshiach ben David.
- Destroy Edom
According to our sages, it is specifically the tribe of Yosef that has the power to destroy the nation of Edom (i.e., the descendants of Esau). As such, the leader in the battle against Edom (in the war of Gog and Magog) must be a descendant of Yosef. - Atone for the Sins of the Generation
Some say that the purpose of Moshiach ben Yosef’s death is to atone for the sin of the generation of Moshiach. In this sense, his death is similar to that of King Yoshiyahu (see above) who was also killed because of the sins of his generation. - Atone for the Sins of the Northern Kingdom
According to the Chatam Sofer, the death of Moshiach ben Yosef is to atone for the sins of the Ten Tribes, who in the era of the first Temple were mostly wicked and idolatrous.
Descendant of Aviyah, son of Yeravam
According to the Zohar, Moshiach ben Yosef will be a descendant of Aviyah, son of Yeravam ben Nevat, the first king of the Ten Tribes. This can explain why he will be called Moshiach (the anointed one) as he will be a descendant of Yervam who was anointed by the prophet Achiyah HaShiloni. In light of this Zohar, some say that the death of Moshiach ben Yosef will atone for the terrible sins of Yeravam ben Nevat.
Descendant of Menashe
According to the Midrash, Moshiach ben Yosef will be a descendant of Menashe. This seems to be at odds with the Zohar (above) since Yeravam was from the tribe of Efrayim.
Can be Saved
Despite the above-mentioned prophecies about the demise of Moshiach ben Yosef, many commentaries explain that if the Jewish people are meritorious, Moshiach ben Yosef will be spared. In fact, the Arizal instructed his students to pray for the survival of Moshiach ben Yosef every time they recited the Amidah. He explained that Moshiach ben Yosef is referred to as the “chair of Moshiach ben David” since he will prepare the way for the final redemption with Moshiach ben David. As such, when saying, “And the chair of David, Your servant, prepare swiftly within it,” one should pray that Moshiach ben Yosef remain alive.
May have Already Happened
Some say that Moshiach ben Yosef need not appear specifically right before the revelation of Moshiach ben David but can instead appear many years or even generations earlier. As such some say that Moshiach ben Yosef has already appeared (and was already killed).
Here are some of the tzadikim (righteous men) who may have been Moshiach ben Yosef, many of whom died violent deaths.
- Yonah ben Amitai
- Bar Kochbah (He was killed in battle by the Romans)
- Rabbi Shimshon of Ostrapolya (He was killed by antisemitic mobs during the Khmelnicky uprising.)
- The Arizal. (He died from a plague at a young age.)
- Rabbi Shlomo of Karlin (He was killed by a Cossack.)
- The Chozeh of Lublin (He died after a mysterious fall from his window.)
- Rabbi Dovber Shneuri, the second Lubavitcher Rebbe. (He died of an illness soon after being imprisoned by the Russian Czar.)
Rambam Doesn’t Mention it
It has been pointed out that the Rambam doesn’t mention Moshiach ben Yosef in his chapters about Moshiach. It is possible that the Rambam left it out since, as mentioned above, he may have already appeared. In addition, the details of this matter are very obscure and there’s no way to know how it will happen until it happens.
May we soon merit to see Moshiach ben Yosef and Moshiach ben David and may they both live forever!
Wishing you a Shabbat Nachamu Shalom UMevorach!
Copyright 2024 by Rabbi Aryeh Citron
