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As we enter into the year 2000, many people are worried about Messianic Madness. There are plenty of nuts out there who are waiting for the immanent arrival of aliens, or a Messiah riding on a donkey or a star who will swoop out of the sky and save us. And there are religious fanatics plotting terrorist attacks in the name of apocalyptic visions and end of days beliefs. This is certainly something to be concerned about especially living in Israel like I do. Jewish history has shown a strong current of messianism, and many innocent people have been harmed by messianic hysteria, confusion and disillusionment.
On the other hand, it's not hard for me to understand how people are attracted to visions of a glorious paradises, of a better world that will be achieved in 'the end of days' when the Messiah comes. It is nice to have something to look forward to. And it is good to have visions that guide us to brighter days. Visions of future paradise however, are often preceded by visions of apocalyptic horrors, which are usually understood to be the necessary price that this world has to pay in order to achieve universal salvation and eternal bliss.
Even though we all want to see this world change for the better, it is important to be careful not think that the only way for this to happen is according to our own limited scripts and apocalyptic scenarios. It is possible for this world to change for the better in an infinite amount of ways. In fact, this world is changing all the time, whether we're aware of it or not. I'm basically an optimist, and I believe that the world is ultimately changing for the good, that it's 'getting better all the time'. And scientific data do show a creative, evolutionary drive in nature that organizes and guides the world toward greater complexity and ever-higher orders of consciousness. There are many pessimists out there, however, who believe that things are just getting worse, chaos and entropy reign, 'it can get much worse'.
I have the sense that this world is so vast, complex, dynamic and interconnected that the change that is happening at any moment of time cannot be fully conceived by us. It's something that is just way too big for us wrap our heads around. Unfortunately, some people are suffering so much in this world and are so desperately in need of salvation, that they think they know they know 'the only way to fix things' and are thus willing to die or kill in order to bring it about. They thus sometimes carrying out violent and hateful acts against anything that they perceive as preventing and standing in the way of the coming of their exclusive (and false) Messiahs.
Now I'm not against people believing in the Messiah. As an observant Jew, I believe it to be an important tenant of faith. But is there an understanding of the Messiah in Judaism that is grounded and healthy - not fanatical and exclusive, members-only affairs? The kabbalistic writings of Rabbi Moshe Chayim Luzzatto present Messiah not merely as one enlightened being that will lead us into salvation, but as higher consciousness that gradually pervades humanity more and more as we evolve and learn, 'it's getting better all the time'. According to this optimistic vision, Messiah is not so much a person, but a messianic era which is the culmination of one huge evolutionary learning process that was conceived with the universe, born with the emergence of life, and becomes mature at the time that humanity easily achieves Divine Inspiration. As the prophet said in the Name of God, "And it shall come to pass afterwards, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy. Your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions" (Joel 3).
According to Luzzato, just as life gradually evolved from inanimate matter, and humans evolved from life, humanity is collectively evolving. Humanity is gradually becoming wiser and more compassionate, and is slowly learning the truth about how incredibly complex, beautiful and awe-inspiring all living systems are. Messiah is Divine Inspiration, Ruach Hakodesh, a higher consciousness that is wise, compassionate and revering of life that we humans are gradually realizing more and more.
This Spirit has been pouring itself into the universe, life, and humanity from the very beginning of time. Even when the earth was chaos, confusion and darkness, not yet born, this Spirit of God, Ruach Elohim was hovering over the face of the waters (Genesis 1), protecting this world from the destructive forces of entropy and guiding it toward life and order. And this same Ruach, the Spirit of Messiah flows through all of life, and expresses itself in a myriad of different ways that always change, as we learn, grow and evolve.
Now the verse from the prophet Joel quoted above continues with apocalyptic wonders and signs, "And I will exhibit wonders in the heavens and on the earth - blood and fire, and pillars of smoke; the sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the coming of the great and the terrible day of the Lord" (Joel 3). Unfortunately, these kind of signs are common now, as the song says, "these are the days of miracle and wonder", and this last century has produced an incredible amount of darkness and horror - smoke, fire and blood. Modern weapons in the hands of hateful people, and our over-consuming and polluting have made this ancient apocalyptic vision into a very real nightmare. And the alternative to this darkness of destructive madness is for mankind to act from a place of higher consciousness. To be more in touch with God's Spirit, Ruach Hakodesh. To become more enlightened.
Modern science is showing us more and more how nature creatively forms ever new dynamical systems that keep this world dancing upon the incredibly complex edge between chaos and order, the revolving double-edged sword of life and death. Modern kabbalists who walk in the footsteps of Luzzatto, are optimists who have faith that the consciousness of humanity is slowly and gradually maturing and growing with the wisdom that it learns and the compassion that it practices. And they believe that as we move into the future, deeper and more profound manifestations of this Spirit of Messiah, Ruach Hakodesh, will become more and more common. These are inner experiences of non-dual Oneness that pour Goodness upon us like the Light of the first day of Creation that "God saw that it was Good". They believe that this inspirational primordial Light is becoming more and more available to us all the time, the more we learn to accept and appreciate this world exactly as it is.
There have always been visionaries and prophets who have been inspired by the Spirit of God. But in the past these kinds of experiences were rare. The more humanity learns, grows and evolves, the more higher consciousness experiences and perspectives become more common. As we move into the 21st Century, the amount of wisdom that is available to us because of the global information explosion is staggering. The mind-blowing discoveries of the modern sciences like cosmology, relativity, quantum mechanics, chaos and complexity, present us today with a holistic view of a universe that spans billion of light-years and is infinitely creative, innovative, and self-regulating. In our modern world-view, sub-atomic particles, atoms, molecules, cells, creature, planets, stars, galaxies, space and time all partake in a cosmic, complex and beautiful dance upon the edge of order and chaos, life and death.
We now also have access to wisdom that comes from many different of spiritual disciplines and traditions of contemplative practices from all over the world - wisdom which at one time was a closely guarded secret known only by a chosen few. This includes spiritual worldviews and integrative practices like Kabbalah, Buddhism, and Yoga. These help us to learn to revere life and to realize that we are all interconnected and interrelated. These disciplines can help us to become more compassionate and kind, and to be more accepting of whatever challenges the universe presents us with. This is a higher consciousness perspective that is traditionally associated with the Spirit of Messiah. The availability of all of this information now, both the objective data of scientists and the subjective experiences of saints and sages throughout history, make Messiah consciousness much easier to attain now, and for more people than ever before.
So, according to Rabbi Moshe Chayim Luzzatto, Messiah is not one fantastic event that happens in only one moment of time (a white knight swooping down out of the clouds, who instantly saves the day and even makes our laundry bright) but one great evolutionary learning process that is constantly unfolding in every moment of time. In this way, every moment of time is a fantastic event. There is no crystal-clear blast of trumpets that will herald this great event to everyone all at once. It is up to us to see the currents of the messianic Spirit as they flow through each and every moment of time.
I believe that being aware of this is the first step to entering into a grounded messianic vision. It prevents the unstable frenzy and confusion that is often involved in trying to find the revelation of the Messiah in just one moment of time. Has it already happened? Will it only happen in the distant future? Or maybe it will happen in the very next moment, or maybe tomorrow...aaahhh! The second step is opening up to the possibility or there being a great many Messiahs, not just your favorite one.
Another great kabbalist who was greatly influenced by Luzzatto, Rabbi Eliyahu of Vilna, the Vilna Goan presented a messianic vision in which there are many Messiahs. In fact, he teaches that there are three levels of Messiah. The first level is not a person at all. It is a spiritual evolutionary process, the messianic Ruach discussed above. This Spirit of Messiah has been riding in the universe and guiding it from its inception to its enlightened conclusion. The second level of Messiah are the great leaders and visionaries that are able to embody a large amount of this messianic Spirit. The proof of this is the amount in which their thoughts, words and actions have a great influence in the world and how they help it move towards enlightenment. The third level of Messiah is the Spirit that rests in everybody's heart. The amount that we embody of this Spirit is according to what each of us thinks, says, and does to help bring about a better world.
The Vilna Gaon had a specific practical plan for the redemption of the people of Israel, that is recorded in a highly controversial document called Kol Hator (the Voice of the Turtledove). Rabbi Eliyahu from Vilna, the great 18th century talmudic and kabbalistic genius, sent pioneers from Lithuania to the Holy Land, at a time when Palestine was desolate, to establish collective settlements based on Truth and Equality. These early orthodox, scholarly settlers came with a five-hundred-year plan, a gradual kabbalistic messianic process that has complimentary halves - two Messiahs - Messiah ben Joseph, who takes care of the material needs of the redemption and Messiah ben David, who takes care of the spiritual needs of the redemption.
Although most of the world is primarily focused on completing two millenniums (and the fireworks celebrating this on January 1, 2000 were, thank God, just an entertaining spectacle and not Armageddon), according to the Hebrew calendar, we are in the sixth millennium - the 5760th year since the birth of Adam. Kabbalistically these six millenniums correspond to the six days of the week. Then comes the seventh millennium, Shabbat, the day of rest. The Vilna Goan's five-hundred-year messianic plan was for the five hundred years immediately preceding Shabbat, 5500 - 6000 (1740 - 2240). According to this, being in the year 5760, we are slightly more than halfway through these five centuries of Messiah.
When the Messiah is seen as a Spirit that flows through history during such a long period of time, it is impossible for the Messiah to be just one individual. Many inspired people have a part, some larger and some smaller, in the way the world has developed, changed and evolved during the past two and a half centuries. Of profound significance for the Jewish people is the fact that it was during this time that they, who were exiled from their Holy Land almost two millenniums ago, finally fulfilled their dream of returning to Zion and were able to establish a Jewish State, Israel. Similarly, many enlightened people will be, no doubt, significantly involved in all the changes and developments that the next two and a half centuries will bring us.
Both the Vilna Gaon and Luzzatto were alive at the Hebrew year 5500 (1740), the beginning of this five-hundred-year process of redemption. The work that has to done during the first two hundred and fifty years of this messianic process, until the Hebrew year 5750 (1990), is gathering the exiled Jewish people back to their homeland, and building a collective, just and kind society of inspired, enlightened people who passionately seek Truth both through the revelations of the mysteries of the Torah (Kabbalah) and through the mysteries of the natural sciences. According to the Zohar, this Truth was prophesied to flood the world with Wisdom starting from the six-hundredth year of the sixth millennium, 5600 (1840), as the "wellsprings of the great deep (the secrets discovered through the natural sciences) burst forth and floodgates of the heavens (the secrets of the Kabbalah) are opened" (Genesis 7:11).
Although the Spirits of both Messiahs always exist in the world, they interact with each other in mysterious and hidden ways, that unfold the messianic drama. The Spirit that drives this beginning half of the messianic process, during the years 5500 - 5750 (1740 - 1990), is associated with Messiah son of Joseph; and the Spirit that completes this process, during the years 5750 - 6000 (1990 - 2240), is primarily Messiah son of David.
Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook (the first chief Rabbi of Palestine at the beginning of this century) also wrote about the Messiah as a gradual process with these two complementary halves. He related Messiah son of Joseph to Jewish nationalism, and Messiah son of David to a more complete messianic stage where Israel will join together with all other nations as one 'family' whose consciousness is finally mature enough to achieve a "purer language" (Ruach Hakodesh, Divine Inspiration), and "all call upon the Name of God" (Zefanya 3:9), each in their own way. He wrote that the lesson of the Messiah is that all peoples and all religions show recognize that they draw their Inspiration from the same Source. This Inspiration is then express through each nation's own unique histories, language, literature, art, etc. This world is richer because of all of this diversity, and there is no need to hate or war. Especially since we are all the same in that we all drink our Holy Spirit from the same Infinite Source.
Joseph and David are also traditionally associated with the two kingdoms of Israel that developed after the death of Solomon. The northern kingdom was ruled in Samaria by a king from the tribe of Joseph, and the southern kingdom, Judea, was ruled by a descendent of David who was from the tribe of Judah. The northern kingdom did not follow the Torah from the beginning, they even went so far as to worship golden calves. This kingdom (Joseph) was materially well organized and excelled in the more mundane aspects of governing and providing for the material needs of the people, while the southern kingdom was faithful to the Torah and excelled in spiritual pursuits. Unfortunately, throughout their rule, as recorded in the Book of Kings, these two kingdoms were mostly at each other's throats and divided.
One of the main biblical sources for these two messianic Spirits, Joseph and David has to do with uniting these two 'kingdoms' in the messianic era. It is where the prophet Ezekiel is told to take two sticks that represent Joseph and David and to "join them together into one stick, so that they are one in your hand" (Ezekiel 37:17). The prophet is told to say to the people of Israel, "Thus says God the Lord: Behold, I will take the children of Israel from among the nations into which they have gone, and will gather them on every side, and bring them to their own land. I will make them one nation in the land upon the mountains of Israel. One king will be king over them all, and they will no longer be two nations, and no longer divided into two kingdoms" (Ezekiel 37:21-22).
Now that Jews have returned to the land of Israel, it is unfortunate that we are again dividing ourselves into two 'kingdoms', one religious and one secular (or one nationalistic and one universalistic). Hopefully, we will learn to embody both complementary halves of the Spirit of Messiah and see that our spiritual aspirations need a strong material foundation, and that our material pursuits need the depth and meaning that are provided by a spiritual life, so that the two Messiahs can be brought together as one again. With the right kind of perspective and world-view we can begin to cure ourselves of the schizophrenic split that has caused such division among the Jewish people for so long, so that all forms of messianic madness will eventual be healed.
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