The *final* ketz of Rashbi, in 2012!

Yeranen Yaakov brings us great news, from Rabbi Yekusiel Fish, that the final ketz of the Rashbi is 5772! Either way, this is good news. If if comes to be, then we have mashiach. And if not, people won't be able to drei with Zohar apocalyptic dates anymore.

Bli neder, I'll take a look at the substance of the Zohar proof later. But first I just want to note that according to Shadal, all the Zohar's times have already passed:

And what will you say in the matter of the fixed times {for redemption} which are stated in sefer haZohar? Behold, our Sages z"l said {see Sanhedrin 97b, where it is bones rather than souls} that Blasted be the souls of those who calculate the end {of days}. And the author of the Zohar is not concerned {nizhar} on setting nine ends, different one from the other, and all of them have already passed.

The other think that gives me some slight pause that this calculation of 5772 is accurate is this post on Yeranen Yaakov that mashiach will come in 5771 (as well as this one and this one detailing Rabbi David Katz's interpretations for the same); this one and this one for 5770; this one and this one and this one and this one for 5769; this one for 5768; this one for 5767; possibly this for 5766; and the blog does not go much further back than this. All of these are rather convincing, to why should I believe this year is the one? Maybe all those other posts were correct, and mashiach arrived; just we did not notice it. (Yes, I am being a bit snarky here.)

Here is where yaak and I might differ. He writes in this post:

The point of the article, I believe, is to spread awareness of the obligation to believe in Mashiah's coming any and every day.  As the Rambam writes, whoever doesn't expect his coming, not only denies the validity of the prophets, but even that of the Torah and Moshe Rabbeinu. 

I don't know that I would translate מחכה as "expect". I would render it more as hope, await. That is, one should always be hoping that this will be the day. (To be fair, yaak may simply mean 'expectantly wait'.) The idea is that although he tarries, we still believe that he is coming and are looking forward to it. The difference would be whether one must confirm in his mind, each and every day, that this is the day, such that he expects that this is the day to the exclusion of any other. The text of the Rambam:

ב  וכל מי שאינו מאמין בו, או מי שאינו מחכה לביאתו--לא בשאר נביאים בלבד הוא כופר, אלא בתורה ובמשה רבנו:  שהרי תורה העידה עליו, שנאמר "ושב ה' אלוהיך את שבותך, וריחמך; ושב, וקיבצך מכל העמים . . . אם יהיה נידחך, בקצה השמיים--משם, יקבצך ה' אלוהיך, ומשם, ייקחך.  והביאך ה' אלוהיך . . ." (דברים ל,ג-ה).  ואלו הדברים המפורשים בתורה, הם כוללים כל הדברים שנאמרו על ידי כל הנביאים.

Note also that 'every day' is not part of this Rambam; rather, it is part of the popularized version of his 13 ikkarei emunah, which is not as precise and was not authored by the Rambam.

I don't see the bechol yom sheyavo explicitly in the Perush Hamishnoyot (upon which this popularized version is based) either. Here is a summary / citation of what he says there:

העיקרון השנים עשר - האמונה בימות המשיח, "להאמין... שיבוא, ואין לומר שנתאחר אִם יִתְמַהְמָהּ חַכֵּה לוֹ" (חבקוק ב 3). ולפיכך אין לקבוע לו זמן, ולא לחשב את הקץ, ולהאמין בו ולהתפלל לבואו "בהתאם למה שנאמר בו על ידי כל נביא, ממשה ועד מלאכי". וימות המשיח הוא הזמן "שבו תחזור המלכות לישראל, ויחזרו לארץ ישראל", ומקום מלכותו של אותו המלך - ציון, ואתו יכרתו העמים "ברית שלום" - אבל: "לא ישתנה במציאות שום דבר מכפי שהוא עתה, זולתי שתהא המלכות לישראל". עם זאת, בימי המשיח "תוקל על בני אדם פרנסתם מאוד", ועם ישראל ישתחרר "משעבוד מלכות הרשעה העוצרת בעדנו מלעשות הטוב" וכן "ייפסקו הקרבות והמלחמות" (על פי ישעיהו יא 9) וגם יאריכו חיי בני האדם "בהיעדר הדאגות והצרות". לפי רמב"ם, הכמיהה לימי המשיח אינה נובעת מן הרצון "שירבו התבואות והנכסים" ושאר תענוגות החיים כפי שחושבים "מבולבלי הדעות" - אלא מן השאיפה למצב שבו יהיה " מקבוץ הצדיקים וההתנהגות הטובה והחכמה ויושר המלך וגודל חכמתו והתקרבותו לפני בוראו... וקיום כל תורת משה בלי דאגות ולא פחד" (על פי תהלים ב 7). 

Note the part I marked in light red. 'Therefore, as a consequence of awaiting for him every day, one should NOT set a specific time for him to come, and one should not calculate the end.' I don't, meanwhile, see mention of every day expecting him. Except perhaps this is just it. Don't set a specific time, because he can come any day!

Here, in a beautiful manuscript, is what the Rambam says in his Perush Hamishnayos:

What I underlined in red is: ומי שהסתפק בו או נתמעט אצלו מעלתו. Such a person is כפר בתורה. That is, doubt in his arrival, parallel to Mishneh Torah's וכל מי שאינו מאמין בו. And not thinking that Mashiach would be a great thing when it comes, parallel to Mishneh Torah's או מי שאינו מחכה לביאתו. Thus, this is anticipation, rather than expectation.

In fact, the Rambam did mention a ketz, in his letter to Yemen. But this was because they had a false mashiach on their hands, and he was trying to tell them that the ketz had not yet arrived, such that this was not yet the time for mashiach. This would work against expecting him to come any and every day.

So there is what to disagree with this formulation, especially if one will base it on the Rambam, and especially to argue that Rambam maintains that lack of such expectation "not only denies the validity of the prophets, but even that of the Torah and Moshe Rabbeinu." (But again, I should stress, I think it entirely probable that I am reading too much into his words.)

I wonder, also, BTW, about the binding of בכל יום. Yes, mashiach could come every day. But is the expectation / anticipation to be בכל יום, or to אחכה לו, that every day one should be invigorated and eagerly expecting his arrival? I can see it both ways, and find support both ways.