The Pope, Yeshu HaMamzer & the Messiah

~R' Hayyim Vital: "The Last Supper was the Passover Seder"
Article by Rabbi Ephraim Sprecher, Dean of Students, Diaspora Yeshiva


Is it a coincidence that the Pope came to Mt. Zion, the site of the Diaspora Yeshiva, on Lag B'Omer? He came to pray in the room of the Last Supper, which is located directly on top of King David's Tomb, where the Yeshiva holds lectures and shiurim. We had a platoon of IDF soldiers stationed in our Yeshiva. We asked them to put on Tefillin and pray with us. Every soldier did so, with some of them telling us that it was the first time in their lives that they had donned Tefillin. G-d works in mysterious ways. The IDF thought they had come to our Yeshiva to guard and protect the Pope during his visit on Mt. Zion. But G-d's plan was to bring these soldiers to us to give them the opportunity to perform and fulfill the great Mitzva of Tefillin.

But why did this encounter with the Pope happen on Lag BaOmer, the Yahrzeit of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yohai, who, according to Jewish tradition, revealed The Zohar, Judaism's central mystical text of Kabbala.

Rabbi Haim Vital [16th century Master of Kabbala] also the Arizal's Scribe, expounded the verse D'varim 13:7 "If your brother, the son of your mother... entices you secretly, saying, 'Let us go and serve other gods' which you have not known... your hand should be first upon him to put him to death and afterward the hand of all the people."

This verse is talking about Jesus, who was born, said Rabbi Vital, to a Jewish mother and a non-Jewish father.

"Your hand should be first," refers to the Sanhedrin that sentenced Jesus to death, while the "hand of the people" refers to the Romans who carried out the death sentence. Also, "first" refers to Pessah, the first of the 3 pilgrimage festivals. Rabbi Haim Vital states that the Last Supper was the Leil HaSeder.

Perhaps, the most central Jewish text on Judaism's view of Christianity was written by Rambam {Maimonides} at the end of his Mishneh Torah in midst of a discussion on the Messianic Age. In most editions of Rambam's work published in Christian Europe in the past 500 years, this part was censored, due to the critical position he took against Christianity.

But Rambam's approach to Christianity was not totally negative for non-Jews. He saw in the Christian and Muslim faiths a positive, though false, step in the development of humanity toward the Messianic Era. As more and more people in the world embraced these two monotheistic faiths and abandoned direct idol worship, as he states: that through it "humanity's path will become straightened and the world will be perfected to the point where all humans can serve G-d together." (Laws of Kings 11:4). This will happen, according to Rambam, in the Messianic Era, after Muslims and Christians realize that their religions are false and distorted. מלכים יא,ד: אך מחשבות בורא עולם אין כוח באדם להשיגם כי לא דרכינו דרכיו ולא מחשבותינו מחשבותיו וכל הדברים האלו של ישוע הנצרי ושל זה הישמעאלי שעמד אחריו אינן אלא --- "לישר דרך למלך המשיח ולתקן העולם כולו לעבוד את ה' ביחד" - שנאמר: כי אז אהפוך אל אחד עמים שפה ברורה לקרוא כולם בשם ה' לעבדו שכם אחד
וכשיעמוד המלך המשיח באמת ויצליח וירום וינשא, מיד הם כולם חוזרים ויודעים ששקר נחלו אבותיהם ושנביאיהם ואבותיהם הטעום. ~הרמב"ם, הל' מלכים

Laws of Kings and Messiah 11:4: Nevertheless, the intent of the Creator of the world is not within the power of man to comprehend, for His ways are not our ways, nor are His thoughts, our thoughts. Ultimately, all the deeds of Jesus of Nazareth and that Ishmaelite who arose after him will only serve to prepare the way for Mashiach's coming and the improvement of the entire world, motivating the nations to serve God together as Tzephaniah 3:9 states: 'I will transform the peoples to a purer language that they all will call upon the name of God and serve Him with one purpose.'

How will this come about? The entire world has already become filled with the mention of Mashiach, Torah, and mitzvot. These matters have been spread to the furthermost islands to many stubborn-hearted nations. They discuss these matters and the mitzvot of the Torah, saying: 'These mitzvot were true, but were already negated in the present age and are not applicable for all time.'

Others say: 'Implied in the mitzvot are hidden concepts that can not be understood simply. The Mashiach has already come and revealed those hidden truths.'

When the true Messianic king will arise and prove successful, his position becoming exalted and uplifted, they will all return and realize that their ancestors endowed them with a false heritage and their prophets and ancestors caused them to err.

The Rambam closes with a quote from the Haftarah of B'hukotai, that all non-Jews will say in the Messianic Era:

"Only lies and falsehoods have our fathers passed on to us - and how could we be so foolish as to make a human being into a god" (Jeremiah 16:19-20). I.E, Jesus, the illegitimate child
אֵלֶיךָ, גּוֹיִם יָבאוּ מֵאַפְסֵי-אָרֶץ, וְיאמְרוּ אַךְ-שֶׁקֶר נָחֲלוּ אֲבוֹתֵינוּ, הֶבֶל וְאֵין-בָּם מוֹעִיל --- הֲיַעֲשֶׂה-לּוֹ אָדָם, אֱלקים? וְהֵמָּה, לא אֱלקים. ~ירמהיהו טז,יט

Is it a coincidence that this Haftara was read on the very week that the Pope paid us a visit?
from: http://www.ou.org/torah/tt/5769/bamidbar69/specialfeatures.htm
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The former chief Rabbi of Yerushalayim, Harav Moshe Hagiz ztz"l wrote in his book Parashat Eleh Mas'ei:

"The ARIZAL (Rabeinu Shlomo Luria ztz"l) was Moshiah Ben-Yosef and the SATAN withheld him from entering into Yerushalayim on the Mount of Olives with his sword withdrawn in his hand." He said: "You are Moshiah Ben-Yosef and you may not enter the gates of Yerushalayim."
And it was in the year 1570, when he saw the SATAN standing with one foot on Omar's mosque and the other on the sepulchre church [Yeshu's burial place]. And this was when he learned that the angel of death gets his power from these "two places."

-Harav Moshe Hagiz [of blessed memory], 1671-1750 in his book: on Parashat Matot-Masei, on the land of Yisrael
כתב הרב משה חג'יז זצ"ל: שהאר"י הקדוש זצ"ל, היה משיח בן-יוסף ובשנת 1570, הסטן עצר אותו בהר הזיתים מלהכנס לירושלים עם חרבו השלופה בידו. הוא אמר לו: "אתה משיח בן-יוסף ואסור לך להכנס לתוך שערי ירושלים." ורבנו ראה אותו עם רגל אחת על מסגד עומאר ורגל השנית על הכנסיה הארורה, ואז הוא למד: שמשם הסטן שואב את כוחו [עד כאן]. הרב משה חג'יז בספרו על פרשת מטות-מסעי, על ארץ-ישראל, ירושלים, בית המקדש והכותל המערבי. שנזכה לגאולה שלימה. ~אמן