The Coming of  the Messiah 

ביאת המשיח

The Sages address the identity of the messiah. From where will he arrive? What will be his name? Likewise, they portray his exalted status.  

Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi found Elijah the prophet standing at the entrance to the burial cave of Rabbi Shimon ben Yohai…. Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi asked Elijah: When will the messiah come? Elijah said to him: Go and ask him. Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi asked: Where is he sitting? Elijah answered: At the entrance to the city of Rome. Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi asked: And what is his identifying sign? Elijah answered: He is sitting among the poor who are suffering from illnesses. All of them untie all their bandages at once and then retie them, but the messiah unties one bandage and reties it, and only then another one. The reason is that the messiah says [to himself]: Perhaps I will be needed [to bring the redemption. Therefore, I will never untie more than one bandage, so] that I will not be delayed. 

Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi went to the messiah and said to him: Shalom to you, my rabbi and my teacher. The messiah replied: Shalom to you, ben Levi. Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi asked him: When will the master come? The messiah answered: Today.

Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi later came to Elijah, who said to him: What did the messiah say to you? He told Elijah that the messiah had said: Shalom to you, ben Levi. Elijah said to him: He thereby guaranteed that you and your father will enter the World to Come.<footnote data-num="63"/> Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said to Elijah: The messiah lied to me, as he told me that he will come “today,” but he did not come. Elijah said to him: This is what he told you: “Even today, would you only heed His voice” (Psalms 95:7).<footnote data-num="64"/>

What is the messiah’s name? The school of Rabbi Sheila says: Shilo<footnote data-num="65"/> is his name, as it is stated: “Until Shilo arrives [and to him, nations shall assemble]” (Genesis 49:10). The school of Rabbi Yannai says: Yinon is his name, as it is stated: “May his name endure forever. May his name be praised [yinon] as long as the sun shines” (Psalms 72:17). The school of Rabbi Hanina says: Hanina is his name, as it is stated: “As I will not grant you clemency [hanina]” (Jeremiah 16:13). And some say that Menahem ben Hizkiyya is his name, as it is stated: “For a comforter [menahem], restorer of my soul, has grown distant from me” (Lamentations 1:16). And the Rabbis say that the leper of the house of Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi is his name, as it is stated: “Indeed, he bore our illnesses and carried our pains, and we regarded him as plagued, struck by God and afflicted” (Isaiah 53:4).

Rav Nahman says: If the messiah is one who is among the living in this generation, he is a person such as me…. Rav says: If the messiah is among the living in this generation, he is a person such as our saintly Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi. If he is among the dead,<footnote data-num="66"/> he is a person such as Daniel, the beloved man.<footnote data-num="67"/>

“Behold, My servant will succeed; he will be elevated and raised and will become very lofty” (Isaiah 52:13).<footnote data-num="68"/> This is the anointed king [the messiah]…who will be more “elevated” than Abraham…and “raised” higher than Moses, and loftier than the ministering angels.

In the case of a king of flesh and blood, no one else wears his crown, and yet the Holy One, blessed be He, will in the future place His crown on the anointed king. 

The Torah that a person studies in this world<footnote data-num="69"/> is relatively insignificant in comparison to the Torah that the messiah will teach. <source>(Sanhedrin 98a–b; Yalkut Shimoni 2:476; Shemot Rabba 8; Kohelet Rabba 11) </source>