Hello Everyone,
The twelfth principle of the Rambam is the belief in the redemption of the Jews by the Messiah. This may be the only principle that is actually questioned in the Talmud. A certain Rabbi Hillel (not to be confused withe the famous Hillel about whom so many stories are told) taught “There is no Messiah for Israel.” This teaching of Rabbi Hillel appears on page 98b in masechet Sanhedrin and is rejected on page 99a.
Despite its being rejected, the very fact that a sage of the Talmud did not believe in what the Rambam held to be a “principle” led many to examine more closely what exactly is a “principle.”
There is another fact which differentiates this principle from the others in the Rambam’s list. In the Talmud itself there is a debate as to what exactly we may expect to experience with the Messianic redemption. Will it be an era of miracles or will it resemble our current existence to a great extent.
Today we will begin a discussion of the this principle of the Rambam.