Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz, a Torah scholar best known for his translation of the Talmud into modern Hebrew, served as the keynote speaker at the Rae Kushner Yeshiva High School Siyum Tanach on Feb. 11. Photo by Johanna Ginsberg
February 14, 2008
In every age, there is at least one person with the qualities necessary to become the Messiah, according to Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz.
But having the qualities and qualifications makes that person just a potential Messiah, the famed Talmud scholar explained to a crowd of 250 at the Rae Kushner Yeshiva High School on Feb. 11.
“To be the actual one, the spirit of God will descend on him. This person will be transformed from being potential to becoming the actual Messiah,” said Steinsaltz. “When will it happen? When the will of God will give the person the spirit of prophecy and power — the ability to be the ruler of the world.”
Steinsaltz, perhaps best known for his modern Hebrew translation of the Talmud, served as the keynote speaker for the Livingston yeshiva’s second annual Siyum Tanach, or celebration upon students’ completion of a cycle of Bible study.
Steinsaltz serves as the director of the Institute for Jewish Studies in Jerusalem and of Mekor Chaim, a network of schools in Israel. RKYHS is affiliated with the Mekor Chaim Young Ambassadors program.
His discursive talk, nominally on the Book of Isaiah, attracted an audience from across the denominations.
At times Steinsaltz took a reprimanding tone with parents.
“Just because you are not school age doesn’t mean you are exempt from reading the Bible or from being Jews,” he said. “It is not enough to send your children to a Jewish school while you are free to behave in whatever way you can.”
He also chided teachers: “You know, Jews have a theology; they don’t teach it in schools because they are afraid of it.”
And he admonished the audience for suggesting the study of the Messiah was not relevant.
“How is it pertinent? It is not. It’s about really gigantic notions of what is the real tomorrow. Don’t just ask how is it relevant to your own little miserable life. Try to ask, ‘what is the great picture?’” he said, adding that the answer could be found in learning Jewish texts in general.
Steinsaltz reviewed the different visions of the coming of the Messiah, and how the world will be different.
“From the time of the Messiah we are advancing farther on to what we can call the olam haba, the next act in the history of the world.”
All children, he said, at some time dream of being the Redeemer.
“The desire to be the Redeemer of the world is what makes the Jewish child special,” he said.
But as they grow, this dream is replaced by more mundane dreams — of university degrees and careers and marriage.
“Look, young men, old men, women — you possibly had this dream. Please remember you once had these dreams. Some harbor them, some forget, and some annihilate them,” he said. “But this dream is how the Messiah will come. If you forget it, how will the redeemer come?”
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