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11.17.2006

MOSHIACH-----shitas chasam sofer

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shtickleofapickle
Posted - 27 November 2003 9:57


you asked if anyone wants to ask about the Chasam Sofer then you'll answer, so I’m asking about the Chasam Sofer?

MODERATOR Posted - 27 November 2003 11:22


The Chasam Sofer says that he cannot believe that belief in Moshiach is one of the Ikarim, because if Moshiach would be postponed indefinitely, and never come, Judaism would still be in effect.

The question is: The Chasam Sofer seems to say that it is possible Moshiach will never come!

The answer is: He didn’t mean that. The Chasam Sofer's point is to demonstrate that bias hamashiach cannot be one of the Ikarim. He is defining Ikarim the way R. Yosef Albo does in Sefer HaIkarim, that is, principles without which the religion would fall apart.

He is thus saying that theoretically, if Moshiach would not come, Judaism would still remain intact, as nothing would change from the situation today, and surely Judaism today has not fallen apart.

An almost identical statement is made by the Ramban in his disputation with the Christians. They claimed that without a Messiah there is no religion, and the Ramban answered that our job is to do Mitzvos, with or without a Messiah. He didn’t mean that Moshiach will not come, but rather that even if Moshiach would not be inevitably coming (even though in fact he is), Judaism would still function intact.



Punims Posted - 19 December 2003 18:19


So according to him, there are 12 ikarim?


MODERATOR
Posted - 19 December 2003 18:29


Well, he says first of all that he believes that everything in the Torah are Ikarim; there are no 12 or 13 or 14 that have a different status than anything else. Then he says that even if he was to accept the concept of Ikarim, he would not believe that the coming of Moshiach is one of them, since our religion and our practicing it can remain intact even if moshiach were not to come (please see my post above - he does not mean it is possible for moshiach not to come).

This is kind of an echo of a statement by the Ramban in his debate against the Christians that our religion does not depend on Moshiach - it depends on Mitzvos, and so even without moshiach, our religion is 100% intact. The Chasam Sofer is just adding that this applies indefinitely.


1 comment:

amolam said...

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