מדוע הרמב״ם אינו מזכיר את משיח בן יוסף?

00:01 Welcome to another share in Hilchas of Mashiach. This share is gonna be about Mashiach ben Yosef, but more specifically about Mashiach ben Yosef according to the Rambam. We find in the Gemara, Sukkah nun beis amalef, that the Gemara says, the Gemara is discussing over there that we find in the Beis Hamikdash, they instituted that there should be a balcony for the women in order that the men and the women shouldn't mingle together. And the Gemara asks, we can't it says about, about the building of the Beis Hamikdash that, that Ɣaḣol be-ktsam yayah Hashem elayhi yitsbo, that everything came from Hashem, and therefore, the, the whole structure of the Beis Hamikdash was made, it's coming from Hashem. We can't just build things, we can't just make things, uh, change things around in the Beis Hamikdash. So therefore, the Gemara goes on, that no, that we found the pasuk. The pasuk says there's a, there's a pasuk in Zechariah, uh, perek beis, pasuk beis. It says, it's-- The pasuk is talking about when Mashiach comes, it says that there, there gonna-- there's gonna be a big hesped. Um, it's gonna be each family for themselves. and the women are gonna be also, uh, for themselves. They're gonna be separate, um, making the hesped separately, they're crying separately. Um, and therefore, we see that there's the separation between the men and the women, and from there we s- the Gemara goes on and says, when they were gonna be Ɣaśik, we're gonna be occupied, it's gonna be a

01:47 hesped, a eulogy, and there's not gonna be Yetzer Hara. There's, there's not gonna be ruling over them. Nevertheless, the Torah says that the men and the women are gonna be separately. So over here, for sure, now we're to be Ɣaśik in their simcha, simchath Sheva, and there's a, there is a Yetzer Hara, so for sure we have to make... We're supposed to make a separation between the men and the women. Then the Gemara goes on and asks, "Wait, one second. Which, what hesped is this?" That the pasuk says there's gonna be a hesped when Mashiach comes. What's this hesped all about? So the Gemara brings two opinions. One says that it's a hesped on Mashiach ben Yosef that's gonna, that's gonna be killed, another one says that's a hesped on the Yetzer Hara. And this is one of the sources that we have the concept of Mashiach ben Yosef, because the truth is, in the psukim, in the Torah itself, the Tanakh, we don't really see clearly. It doesn't mention clearly Mashiach ben Yosef. We have many hints about it, but we find it clearly in the Gemara, and the truth is we find in the Gemara, there's the Zohar talks about Mashiach ben Yosef, there's a lot of Midrashim. Uh, the first one to, to really be mayrich about Mashiach ben Yosef is, is the Rav Saadia Gaon in, uh, Emunot v'Deot, in Ma'amar Ches, perek hey vav. So he goes on at length discussing what's the point, what's he supposed to do, Mashiach

03:18 ben Yosef, and it's, and we, and we-- it's brought down that there's a Kabbalah, that the Ḥakam had a Kabbalah, that there's gonna be this concept of Mashiach ben Yosef, and based on that, we explain various psukim that they're talking about Mashiach ben Yosef. And the Rav Saadia Gaon goes on and explains what's the main point of Mashiach ben Yosef. Mashiach ben Yosef, he's meant to come to prepare the world for Mashiach ben David. Um, that's, that's, that's his, that's his main thing. Um, and how does he do that? The, the, the real main thing is that he's coming to fight the wars. He's gonna, he's gonna do battle with the, with the Reshayim, with the Olam HaZeh, those, those, the enemies of the, of the Jewish people, especially Edom, um, 'cause he's Mashiach ben Yosef, he comes from Yosef, and we know Yosef is the one who's supposed to, who's supposed to defeat Edom. Uh, in some places it bring-- it's brought down also that it's gonna be, that he's also gonna conquer, uh, um, the Ishmael as well. It also says in, in, in, in, in Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer in some, in some editions. But his main thing it says is that he's gonna come, he's gonna conquer, he's gonna conquer the enemies of, of the, of the, of the Jewish people. And then it goes on that he's, he's first, he's gonna be And he's gonna fight the wars of, of Hashem, so then he's becheskes that, that he's Moshiach. And the

06:07 Rambam goes on, if he does it and he's atziach and he builds the Beis Hamikdash, and he gathers the, the, the galus, the Yehudin, so then he's Moshiach vade. That's, that's what the Rambam says. Now, on this Rambam, so many point out, and I'll just to quote one of them, there's the, there's a Sefer called Aveidas Hama. It's not really on the Rambam, but it is brought, this there's a piece of it brought in, in the, in back of the Frankler Rambam, um, brings from the Aveidas Hama, Sha'areches Gulas Yisroel. So he has a whole long thing about this Rambam, that the Rambam seemingly doesn't mention anywhere the concept of Moshiach ben Yosef. He's only talking about Moshiach ben David coming, and we don't find anywhere that he talks about Moshiach ben Yosef. And therefore, he holds, he explains that the truth is the Rambam doesn't hold that there's gonna be Moshiach ben Yosef. There's only gonna be a Moshiach ben David. And he goes on and he says that in truth we find others, the, the Radak and others that seemingly don't necessarily hold of Moshiach ben Yosef, and they explain the different psukim that we find in Tanakh that others explain that they're talking about Moshiach ben Yosef, they explain it differently. 'Cause the truth is that this, that there's, there's, there's a Moshiach ben Yosef, and they were explaining all those psukim, there's no heck to say that the psukim are talking about Moshiach ben Yosef. We, since we know that there's

07:40 a Kabbalah, that there's Moshiach ben Yosef according to those opinions, so therefore we explain it that way. But doesn't necessarily mean that they're Moshiach ben Yosef, and therefore he holds that the Rambam doesn't hold of the concept of Moshiach ben Yosef. Now, the truth is, the fact that the Rambam doesn't mention it in Sefer Halakhahs is not that big of a question. It's a question, but not that big of a question because it could be that it's not so neguel halakha if that there's gonna be a Moshiach ben Yosef. 'Cause we find the, the Rav Saadia Gaon himself, who's the first one who's marech about, about Mos- about Moshiach, concept Moshiach ben Yosef, he says that it's not mukach that he's gonna come. It's only if, if the Yidin didn't do teshuva, so then we might need a Moshiach ben Yosef is gonna come and to, to prepare the world. But if we're all prepared on our own, uh, so then we don't necessarily need a Moshiach ben Yosef. So it's the Eish Laimar that the Rambam's saying what, what, how it needs to be. But if it doesn't need to be, the Moshiach ben Yosef mentioned there, so then he doesn't, therefore he doesn't mention, uh, Moshiach ben Yosef because it's not mukach. You don't have to say according to Halakha there's gonna be Moshiach ben Yosef. But, but the truth is the question is more than that. While, while the question of why he didn't mention it is, is, is, is, is maybe,

09:08 uh, not as big of a question, but as the Rebbe points out in, in, in a letter, uh, it's printed in the Likutei Sichos, in the page one eighty-four, one eighty-five. And the, the, the Rebbe over there says that on the Rambam and the end of Hilchot Melachim that and from this that is that is ma- mashma from the Rambam that everything is gonna be done through Moshiach ben David. Meaning to say, as, as others point out, that some of the things that the Rambam enumerates here that Moshiach is supposed to do, or even according to some, those are really things that are supposed to be done by Moshiach ben Yosef, not Moshiach ben David. And the Rambam is putting it all together as part of what Moshiach ben David is supposed to do. And so, so that, that's even more of a question. It's one thing that he just doesn't, doesn't talk about it, but over here he's sort of putting them all together. And based on this, on this letter, there's, there's lots of discussion and the kayfzim exactly what would we say is the shita of the Rambam and what is the Rebbe trying to say. Uh, there are some who try to answer based on this letter that the, that the Rebbe's saying that, that the Rambam would hold that it's, that it's one person, that there's one person, that he has some, some aspects of him we call him Moshiach ben Yosef and some aspects of him we call him

10:53 Moshiach ben David, maybe because he comes from, from Yosef, from, from, from his mother's side, and, and so on. So there's different things that Moshiach does. That's, that's how some wa- wanna answer it. Some wanna answer it that we find later that the Rambam brings different opinions of the, uh, of different days of whether the war with Gog uMagog is gonna be before Moshiach, after Moshiach, and so on. And yesh leimar that the war with Gog uMagog is gonna be through Moshiach ben Yosef. So that itself is included in this, that, that he doesn't mention Moshiach ben Yosef by name, but it's, he's talking about the Gog and Magog and when it's gonna be, but it could be later. Um, as, as again, Rav Saadia Gaon says also one of, one of the options that Rav Saadia Gaon gives is that Moshiach ben Yosef is gonna come later. So that, there's a-- we could say that. That's why the Rambam doesn't mention it. Uh, another explanation that I saw some say that the wh-- this whole concept that the, the, the Rambam writes, there's a Cheskas Moshiach, a Moshiach vadei So the Chesed Shel Moshiach, that's talking about Moshiach ben Yosef, and now because we don't really find this concept of Chesed Shel Moshiach. So he says that that's-- some explain that that's in, in-- In other words, that this is-- that's where the Rambam gets it about Moshiach ben Yosef, and that is Chesed Shel Moshiach. And meaning Chesed Shel Moshiach is not the

12:18 Moshiach Mashiach, just like Moshiach ben Yosef is gonna be killed, and then we have Moshiach ben David. These are all different explanations in the Kevatim, and people try to explain the Rambam based on what the Rebbe means, and so on. But the truth is, as the Ram-- the Rebbe here is not saying an answer. The Rebbe is actually saying a question on the Rambam. Um, there's Mashma the whole thing. And furthermore, we find that the Rebbe in, in a number of places does talk about Moshiach ben Yosef, and he talks about the Moshiach ben Yosef is gonna be the one that's gonna prepare the world for, uh, for Moshiach ben David. Uh, for example, we find in, uh, the Se-- Sichas Chelek Chaf Heh, uh, page two fo- two fifty-nine. Uh, uh, the Rebbe says it's gonna be Moshiach ben, ben Yosef. Uh, it's not gonna be-- it's, it's not gonna-- He's-- it's not gonna be coming together with Moshiach ben David. It's first gonna be Moshiach ben Yosef, and then there's gonna be, um, Moshiach ben, ben, ben, ben David. Um, another thing interestingly we find, uh, the Rebbe, the Rebbe in a, in a, in a, in a letter, in Iggros Kodesh, Chelek Beis, uh, page Yerushalayim Dalet. So there, it's a, it's a letter the Rebbe's discussing about Ani Maamin. So we have the, in the, the Nusach Ani Maamin, even though we don't-- it's not our minhag to say it, but nevertheless, the Rebbe does talk about it. And the Rebbe's

13:50 answering why people say it even on Shabbos and Yom Tov. 'Cause seemingly we know that it says Moshiach is not-- he can't come on Shabbos and Yom Tov without getting too much into the... This is a topic for a different share. But y- so, so the person asked, "If so, if it says that he can't, he's not gonna come on Shabbos and Yom Tov, so why do we say Ani Maamin on Shabbos and Yom Tov?" So one of the explanations there that the Rebbe gives is that all these things that we say that he can't come 'cause, 'cause of, uh, the Tum, Chof Shabbos, and so on, all those issues are only have to do with Moshiach ben David. However, Moshiach ben Yosef, um, he doesn't have to come to every-- to all the Yidden on one time, like the, like the Im Yaakov explains on the Im Yaakov on, on, on, on the, on the, on, on the Gemara in Eruvin Gimel, Amid, Amid Alef. So in other words, he's just gonna come to one specific place. So therefore, yesh l'imer that the nusach of Ani Maamin that we say, we just say Ani Maamin be-Yesh Moshiach. We don't say which Moshiach. So it could be the kavana is on the beginning of the Geulah, which is also including Moshiach ben Yosef. And he could come on Shabbos and Yom Tov. Because Chol HaYom days, there's no issue with him coming Shabbos and Yom Tov. So that's one place where we see that we're

15:11 now we're saying that there is gonna be Moshiach ben Yosef. Um, furthermore, we see the, the, the Arizal is brought in the, in the name of the, of-- it's brought in... The Arizal says it's-- we f- we find it in, in Pri Eitz Chaim, that he says that in, that in the, in the bracha in Shemoneh Esreh, when-- in, in, in, in, in, in Ben Yerushalayim, so we say, "Vechized Dovid Avdecha b'cheyd v'seicha tachin." So when you say, "Veseicha tachin," so you s- so when you're saying, "Vechized Dovid Avdecha b'cheyd v'seicha tachin," so you should have kavana on Moshiach ben Yosef that he should live and he shouldn't die in the, in the, in, in the war. So we see that there's, that seemingly we do-- we don't, we don't just do away with this concept of Moshiach ben Yosef. And it's like a question, why doesn't the Rambam mention it? But we're not just doing away with it. We're saying there is a concept of Moshiach, Moshiach ben Yosef. Even if you wanna say the Rambam is not mentioning it, if to say, just to say that he doesn't hold of it, is still a kasha because as we said, there's, there's Gemaras about it, there's Midrashim about it, and so on. So we find, so yesh l'imer that why the Rambam doesn't, why the, the Rambam doesn't, uh, not necessarily an answer why the Rambam doesn't mention it, but perhaps some explanation. We find, uh, and the Rebbe actually brings this, um, um,

16:40 in, in, in Sefer Taam, Taam Veyates. So he, he's, he brings that we find in Sefarim, meaning, meaning Chassidishe Sefarim, um, and we find this in, in Shem Mishmol, but it's in other places also, that he says that there's a Kabbalah from Rabbi Seimo HaKdesh. I mean, going back to the, to, to, the Tamidim of the Baal Shem Tov, that we are already niftar, we're already patur from the Milchamah Gog V'Magog, and, uh, and the, the whole Shivud, and, and, and, uh, and, uh, and the, the Inyan of, of Moshiach ben Yosef. This-- because of all the pain and the tzaros that we had in Galus, so even though we were supposed to have this, we're supposed to have the tzaros, we're supposed to have Moshiach ben Yosef comes, and there's gonna be tzaros afterwards, and he's gonna die, and so on and so forth. But through the tzaros of, of the Galus, we're already patur from that. And therefore, Moshiach ben Yosef could come a while before, before Moshiach ben David. And therefore, we're already patur from that, from this concept of, of, of we're yetzer this, this concept. And therefore, based on this, that we're already patur of Moshiach ben Yosef, who it was and what it was is already the different discussion, discussions in other places, but we were yetzer. So based on this, we could say that the, the Rambam is mashma with it, similar to what we said that, that the, that the, that Rav Saadia Gaon says that it's

18:07 not, it's not c-- there's different ways it could be. He's gonna come before us, some is gonna ca-come afterwards. And in fact, we find in other Sefarim, the Arieh Sher, Rabbi Chizkiyah Rashkas, he says he's just klal not getting into Moshiach ben Yosef since this-- that we don't know so much about it, and there's different days. So since it's gonna be before, he's not gonna mention it. So even though the Rambam does talk about, um, Moshiach coming in a way of, achi-- of, of, of, of Be'ita, not just Achishena, and Rav Saadia Gaon seemingly says that when is Moshiach ben Yosef, you know, there's i- it's tali, it's, it depends upon if he's gonna come Be'ita. So then if he's coming in his normal time, the normal course of things, so then we need Moshiach ben Yosef. But if he's gonna come not in the normal course of things, so then we don't, we don't need Moshiach ben Yosef, and we'll come-- we could go straight to Moshiach ben David. But based on what we said, that we're yetzer with the tzaros of the Galus, yesh l'imer even if you say Achishena, e-even if you say Be'ita, even if you say Moshiach's gonna come in the, in the proper time, we could still say that nevertheless, 'cause of the tzaros of Galus that we had, uh, we, we were still already yetzer with Moshiach ben Yosef, and therefore, we can go straight into Moshiach ben David. We don't have to have this whole Hagdama, or

19:29 we already have this whole Hagdama, we're already yetzer, and we can have the Geulah Shleima may it be speedily in our days. Amen.