518) Messianic Immunity—The Perfect Storm: The case of R. Avraham Baruch haRofeh

Responsa by R. Chaim Benveniste, 1743

Introduction

This article—based extensively on the research by Professor Abraham Ofir Shemesh[1]—examines an extreme case of messianic immunity. In the sixteenth century, a medical doctor, R. Avraham Baruch haRofeh, under the influence of the Sabbatian messianic movement of Shabbatai Tzvi, felt he could administer harmful drugs to non-Jews in order to kill them. Because he believed he was living in the stirrings of the messianic era, he also believed he could do so with impunity—if not hasten the full awakening of the messianic age as he saw it unfolding before his very eyes. 

While R. Avraham Baruch may have been an extreme case, unfortunately, due to the vicissitudes of a long and oppressive Jewish history, he did have some textual precedent to draw upon. We shall look at some of that precedent, but also show how many of the later rabbis contextualised those earlier rulings and declared that they were no longer applicable. 

507) The rise of contemporary Religious-Zionism

Torat haMelech: a work by a "fringe element," a "call to terror" or according to R. Dov Lior (a respected figure among many mainstream Religious-Zionists) “very relevant especially in this time”?

Introduction

This article—based extensively on the research by Professor Yoav Peled[1]—examines the rise of the Religious Zionist movement from relative non-dominance in 1948 to a position of unquestionable hegemony in the last decades. The Chabad movement is widely recognized for its messianic focus, yet the similarly fervent messianism of Religious Zionists often receives less attention. 

From Socialist-Zionism to a Labour-Zionism to Religious-Zionism

Two political scientists from Bar-Ilan University, Charles Liebman and Eliezer Don-Yehiya (1983:128-131),[2] show how two significant ideological shifts took place within two decades of the birth of the State of Israel in 1948. Both shifts profoundly influenced the so-called ‘civil religion’ or dominant mindset and worldview of the nascent Israeli society. 

457) “Religion – the greatest cause of wars” (Gersonides)

 

Torat haMelech published in 2009

Introduction

This article − based extensively on the research by Professor Menachem Kellner[1] dating back to 2014 − examines some extremist contemporary approaches to modern Jewish messianism. Kellner argues, instead, for a more rationalist approach to messianism, along the lines of Maimonides’ natural Messiah and his unusual vision of a non-supernatural messianic era and eschatology. 

If Gersonides^[2] is correct in his assertion that religion is the greatest cause of wars, then various forms of messianism and eschatology must surely be a significant component thereof.