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The early targums by Jonathan ben Uzziel show that he clearly believed in a suffering Messiah.

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"Targum Jonathan - Date: 4th-5th century. . . "The official Babylonian Targum of the Prophets probably translated by Rabbi Joseph ben Hayya (c. 270-330), head of the academy of Pumbeditha (T.B. Baba Bathra 3b; Yoma 32b).

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Lets look at the Targum and compare it to a translation of the original passage. It will be easy to notice that this is not a translation at all. It is not a simple explanation of the verses. It is a Midrash, in the style we have just explored. The translation from the JPS is bold letters. The translation of the Targum is by Driver and Neubauer[13] as that is the one that is usually quoted from by the missionaries.

52:13 Behold, My servant shall prosper, he shall be exalted and lifted up, and shall be very high.

52:13. Behold my servant Messiah shall prosper; he shall be high, and increase, and be exceeding strong:

52:14 According as many were appalled at theeso marred was his visage unlike that of a man, and his form unlike that of the sons of men

52:14. as the house of Israel looked to him during many days, because their countenance was darkened among the peoples, and their complexion beyond the sons of men,

52:15 So shall he startle many nations, kings shall shut their mouths because of him; for that which had not been told them shall they see, and that which they had not heard shall they perceive.

52:15. so will he scatter many peoples; at him kings shall be silent, and put their hands upon their mouth, because that which was not told them have they seen, and that which they had not heard they have observed.

53:1 Who would have believed our report? And to whom hath the arm of the L-RD been revealed?

53:1. Who hath believed this our glad tidings? and the strength of the mighty arm of the L-rd, upon whom as thus hath it been revealed?

53:2 For he shot up right forth as a sapling, and as a root out of a dry ground; he had no form nor comeliness, that we should look upon him, nor beauty that we should delight in him.

53:2. The righteous will grow up before him, yeah, like blooming shoots, and like a tree which sends forth its roots to streams of water will they increase - a holy generation in the land that was in need of him; his countenance no profane countenance, and the terror at him not the terror at an ordinary man; his complexion shall be a holy complexion, and all who see him will look wistfully upon him.

53:3 He was despised, and forsaken of men, a man of pains, and acquainted with disease, and as one from whom men hide their face: he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

53:3. Then he will become despised, and will cut off the glory of all the kingdoms; they will be prostrate and mourning, like a man of pains and like one destined for sicknesses; and as though the presence of the Shekhinah had been withdrawn from us, they will be despised, and esteemed not.

53:4 Surely our diseases he did bear, and our pains he carried; whereas we did esteem him stricken, smitten of G-d, and afflicted.

53:4. Then for our sins he will pray, and our iniquities will for his sake be forgiven, although we were accounted stricken, smitten from before the L-rd, and afflicted.

53:5 But he was wounded because of our transgressions, he was crushed because of our iniquities: the chastisement of our welfare was upon him, and with his stripes we were healed.

53:5. But he will build up the Holy Place, which has been polluted for our sins, and delivered to the enemy for our iniquities; and by his instruction peace shall be increased upon us, and by devotion to his words, our sins will be forgiven us.

53:6 All we like sheep did go astray, we turned every one to his own way; and the L-RD hath made to light on him the iniquity of us all.

53:6. All we like sheep had been scattered, we had each wandered off on his own way; but it was the L-rd's good pleasure to forgive the sins of all of us for his sake.

53:7 He was oppressed, though he humbled himself and opened not his mouth; as a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and as a sheep that before her shearers is dumb; yea, he opened not his mouth.

53:7. He prayed, and he was answered, and ere even he had opened his mouth he was accepted; the mighty of the peoples he will deliver up like a sheep to the slaughter and like a lamb dumb before her shearers; there shall be none before him opening his mouth or saying a word

53:8 By oppression and judgment he was taken away, and with his generation who did reason? for he was cut off out of the land of the living, for the transgression of my people to whom the stroke was due.

53:8. Out of chastisements and punishment he will bring our captives near; the wondrous things done to us in his days who shall be able to tell? For he will cause the dominion of the Gentiles to pass away from the land of Israel and transfer to them the sins which my people have committed.

53:9 And they made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich his tomb; although he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth.

53:9. He will deliver the wicked into Gehinnom, and those that are rich in possessions into the death of utter destruction, in order that those who commit sin may not be established, nor speak deceits with their mouth.

53:10 Yet it pleased the L-RD to crush him by disease; to see if his soul would offer itself in restitution, that he might see his seed, prolong his days, and that the purpose of the L-RD might prosper by his hand:

53:10. But it is the L-rd's good pleasure to try and to purify the remnant of his people, so as to cleanse their souls from sin; these shall look on the Kingdom of their Messiah, their sons and their daughters shall be multiplied, they shall prolong their days, and those who perform the Law of the L-rd shall prosper in his good pleasure.

53:11 Of the travail of his soul he shall see to the full, even My servant, who by his knowledge did justify the Righteous One to the many, and their iniquities he did bear.

53:11. From the subjection of the nations he will deliver their souls, they shall look upon the punishment of those that hate them, and be satisfied with the spoil of their kings; by his wisdom he will hold the guiltless free from guilt, in order to bring many into subjection to the law; and for their sins he will intercede.

53:12 Therefore will I divide him a portion among the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the mighty; because he bared his soul unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.

53:12. Then will I divide for him the spoil of many peoples, and the possessions of strong cities shall he divide as prey, because he delivered up his soul to death, and made the rebellious subject to the Law: he shall intercede for many sins, and the rebellious for his sake shall be forgiven

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Rebbi had a exceptional student who taught a chapter of the work of the chariot without the permission of his Rabbi, and he was stricken with leprosy. This student who was stricken with leprosy was called 'the leper of the house of Rebbi'"

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Nachmanides (Rabbi Moshe ben Nachman) (13th c.) stated:
The right view respecting this Parashah is to suppose that by the phrase "my servant" the whole of Israel is meant. . . .As a different opinion, however, is adopted by the Midrash, which refers it to the Messiah, it is necessary for us to explain it in conformity with the view there maintained. The prophet says, The Messiah, the son of David of whom the text speaks, will never be conquered or perish by the hands of his enemies. And, in fact the text teaches this clearly. . . .

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I am amazed. The words said in our presence to convince us that the Nazarene is the Messiah, were said by the Nazarene himself when he brought this same message to our ancestors and tried to persuade them.

They refuted him to his face with a perfect and strong rejection despite the fact that it was he who spoke, who knew and could argue his claim that he is divine, in accordance to your opinion, better than you can today. Now, if our ancestors who saw him and knew him did not heed him, how then can we believe and heed the voice of the king, whose only knowledge of the matter stems merely from the hearsay of distant reporters who heard it from people who neither knew him nor were his countrymen as our ancestors knew him and witnessed his life.

. . .

Friar Paul claimed: "Behold the passage in Isaiah, chapter 53, tells of the death of the messiah and ho he was to fall into the hands of his enemies and how he was placed alongside the wicked, as happened to Jsus. Do you believe that this section speaks of the messiah?

I said to him: In terms of the true meaning of the section, it speaks only of the people of Israel, which the prophets regularly call 'Israel My servant' or 'Jacob My servant.'

Friar Paul said: "I shall prove from the words of your sages that it speaks of the messiah."

I said to him: "It is true that the rabbis in the aggadah explain it as referring to the messiah.

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However, they never said that he would be killed ,at the hands of his enemies.

For you will find in no book of the Jews, neither in the Talmud nor in the Midrash, that the messiah, the descendant of David, would be killed or would be turned over to his enemies or would be buried among the wicked.

Indeed even the messiah whom you made for yourself was not buried. I shall explain for you this section properly and clearly, if you wish. There is no indication that the messiah would be killed, as happened to your messiah. They, however, did not wish to hear.

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"9-12 These verses also are all of them hard, and difficult to fix the sense of, though we shall not touch on everything which might be noticed. Our Rabbis, I see, have in two places expounded verse 12 of MOSES our Master, each MIDRASH possessing its own particular features ; and we may at least admit that the passage does allude to him, though any one adopting this opinion is bound to explain what connection subsists between the verse relating to MOSES and those which precede it.

I think myself that properly these refer to him likewise; after having stated that the just one did good to his age, not only during his li9fetime, by carrying their sicknesses, but also in his death, when BECAUSE OF DROUGHT AND JUDGMENT HE WAS TAKEN OUT OF THE WORLD in order to make atonement for them, the prophet now procees................

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for he 'made his grave with the wicked,' i.e. MOSES, who as our Rabbis say, was buried from the Promised Lnd, together with the wicked ones who died in the wilderness; for those were unworthy to enter into the world to come, had not MOSES borne the disgrace of being buried by their side, in order that he might bring them into it with himself. And we cannot be wrong in interpreting the 'wicked' here of those who perished in the wilderness for the SIN OF THE SPIES. FOR THE Rabbis themselves explain he was numbered with the transgressors (verse 12) similarly. Moses was not, however, buried solely with these; in the wilderness rested also Qorah, wo was ......

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The first question is to ascertain to whom [this passage] refers; for the learned among the Nazarenes expound it of the man who was crucified in Jerusalem at the end of the Second Temple, and who, according to them, was the Son of G-d, and took flesh in the virgin's womb, as stated in their writings.

But Yonathan ben Uzziel interprets it in the Targum of the future messiah; and this is also the opinion of our own learned men in the majority of their midrashim, although one of the verses (verse 12) is referred to Moses our master.

In the same way I see in the exposition of Rabbi Mosheh ben Nachman that he explains the prophecy [as being about] the King Messiah.

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The right view respecting this Parasha is to suppose that by the phrase "my servant" the whole of Israel is meant. . . .

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The Gaon Rabbi Sa'adyah, however, interprets it entirely of Jeremiah. And Rabbi Abraham Ibn Ezra, and also Rabbi Menachem [ben Shlomoh] Meiri speaks of this interpretation as "excellent", though what may be the goodness or excellence that they see in it, I do not understand.

Rashi, however, and Rabbi Joseph Qamchi (Kimchi), and his son, the great Rabbi David Qamchi (Kimchi), all with one voice explain the entire prophecy of Israel.

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The opinion held by the learned among the Nazarenes is that the prophecy refers to Jsus of Nazareth, who was put to death at the end of the Second Temple. . . However, the simple sense of the words themselves will not bear the interpretation put on them. And this for several reasons.

1) First, how could the prophet say of G-d, "He will become wise" (verse 52:13)? If the word here means "to acquire knowledge", then G-d, just because He is G-d, knows all from eternity. How then can the prophet testify of him, "He will be intelligent", as though he were devoid of intelligence now? And if this word is taken to mean, "prosperity" or "success", what was the success which came to him as something new? Was it in things carnal or in things spiritual? For "successful" and "not successful" are terms which cannot rightly be used of the First Cause. Moreover, so far as the manhood [of Jsus] is concerned, it is evident from the history of his last moments, that he did not have "success".

2) He is called "My servant". Now how could G-d call one who was the self-same substance with Himself, His "servant"? Because "master" and "servant" are two distinct terms, each exclusive of the other. And it cannot be replied that the word is used relative to his manhood, because both the "prosperity" named previously and the "exaltation" are attributes applicable to him only in so far as he is (as the Chrstians think) G-d; the ex-pression, "My servant", therefore, which stands between the two, must perforce be understood in the same sense. An object is, moreover, not defined or described except by its "form". A "man", for example, is so called not on account of his material body, but because of his rational soul. Even, therefore, from the point of view of those who assert that G-d became incarnate, He could never be termed a servant.

[But see Isaiah 43:24, "You have caused Me to serve"--reduced Me to servitude--"by your sins". Thus the redemption was effected by One who, "being in the form of G-d", "took upon Himself the form of a servant" (Phil. 2: 6,7)--ed.]

3) Isaiah says, he will be "high and exalted", the verbs being, as you know, all future. I wish I could learn whether this "exaltation" was to show itself in things pertaining to the body (relative to his manhood) or in those things pertaining to his G-dhead. For, insofar as his manhood was concerned, he enjoyed no exaltation or dignity, but rather suffered humiliation and death. While if, on the other hand, the words relate to his G-dhead, then the announcement is an idle one, for G-d is forever "high and exalted". How then can a period be predicted when he will become high and exalted afresh?

4) He says that "his countenance was marred beyond man"; and again, that "he had no form or comeliness", etc. Such phrases show that he was troubled naturally by melancholy ,and was also of weak constitution, and a feeble frame. This account of him, however, is not in accordance with fact: for Jsus was young and handsome--even their own teachers saying that his constitution was of a normal state. And if the words have reference to his death, everyone 's countenance is altered when he is dead. He could not, then, on this account alone, be spoken of as "marred beyond men".

5) He says, "He has borne our sicknesses and carried our pains". These ex-pressions cannot be understood of the sufferings borne by the souls of the just for sin, from which Jsus released them; because a spiritual penalty is never called "sickness". [But see Isaiah 1:4-6; 9:12/13; 33:24, etc.--ed.] The natural sense of the words is that he took upon himself the sicknesses which he removed from them; accordingly, it is said, "We thought him smitten, stricken of G-d, and afflicted"--he was not stricken and smitten himself. If again, the words be understood of the sufferings inflicted upon Jsus at the time of his death, then the terms themselves present a difficulty, for the death did not consist of "sicknesses" or "pains".

6) He says, "And he made his grave with the wicked." This is referred by the Chrstians to Jsus of Nazareth, whose death was accomplished by the hands of the wicked; but according to their view, it ought to have been, "made his death with the wicked", not his grave. The following words, "And the rich in his death", have plainly nothing to do with him.

7) "HaShem was pleased to bruise him." Now, if he had been G-d, and had consented to endure these sufferings in order (as the Chrstians hold) to rescue the souls of the righteous from the pit, how could it be said to be G-d's pleasure thus to bruise and sicken him? Moreover, what is done without any assignable cause is attributed to "pleasure", and not what is done for some definite purpose.

"He shall see seed, shall lengthen days". Yet, according to what is related of his life, Jsus died in youth, and had neither son nor daughter. Or, if "seed" be explained of those who follow his doctrine, then such as these are never in the whole of *****ure so named. [But see Gen. 3:15; Isaiah 1:4--ed.] And, if it be supposed to refer to G-d, it is well known that G-d sees and observes both future and past; how, then, can it be said that he "will see seed", as though such "seeing" were something new for him? And if Jsus died in his youth, when not more than thirty-two years old, where are his "long days"?

It will be clear now from these considerations that, in accordance with its simple and straightforward sense, and as rightly understood, this prophecy cannot possibly be interpreted as is done by Chrstian expositors.

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As regards the course taken by Yonathan ben Uzziel and our other wise men, who interpret it of Messiah our righteousness, I do not know whether in saying this they mean Messiah ben Joseph, who they believe is to come at the commencement of the deliverance, or whether they intend Messiah son of David, who is to arrive afterwards. In either case, however, the sense of the words will not admit of such an explanation. Of Messiah, son of Joseph, it could not be said that he would be "high and exalted, and lofty exceedingly". And how could it be said he was to "lengthen his days" when he was to die at the beginning of his career?

If, on the other hand, our rabbis have in view Messiah the son of David, then a difficulty arises from the words "marred beyond man", "without form or comeliness", for Isaiah himself, so far from calling him "despised" or "forlorn of men", describes him as G-d's "chosen one, in whom his soul delights" (42:1). Then again, how could he be said to have "borne our pains", or to be "stricken and smitten"? Rather, he is to be a righteous king--not "stricken and smitten", but "righteous and victorious" (Zech. 9:9). And if this is the case, what can be the sense of the verses which teach how he will bear sufferings and death for Israel's sake?

In a word, the interpretation of Yonathan, and of those who follow him in the same opinion, can never be considered to be the true one, in a literal sense, because the character and drift of the passage as a whole will not bear it. These learned men were concerned only with allegorical or adventitious expositions, and hence merely applied the traditions they had received respecting the Messiah to the present passage, without in the least imagining it to be its actual meaning.

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There seems to be a trend in Missionary literature to make appeals to things that are written in Kabbalistic works. The obvious reason is that there are few people who have any idea what appears in them, and what they mean. This makes it easy to make whatever claim the missionary wants to make. The Zohar has become an especial favorite because it's obtuse and allegorical language makes it easy to take a sentence or two out of context, and make it appear to say whatever the missionary wants even if this claim contradicts what the Zohar says explicitly in other places.

According to Jewish tradition the author of the Zohar was Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, who lived in the 2^nd Century CE.[2] The Zohar is made up of various books. We can talk about them as if they were only three. (Although there is more then that.) The First is the Holy Zohar itself. That is a three-volume Kabbalistic Midrashic commentary on the Torah. (First 5 books of the Tenach.) It has a few sub-divisions in it, some more esoteric then others. Some appear no different then a standard Midrash, but most of it is esoteric in nature. The second book is called Tekunei HaZohar. (The Rectifications of the Zohar.) This is VERY esoteric and involves Kabbalistic discussions and understandings of many of the Biblical commandments. It is based on discussions of the first word in the Torah. It has 70 chapters, or Tikkunim, of varied length, followed by a few additions in the back. The third section is called the Zohar Chadash. It is like the Zohar, but smaller. It also has Midrashic material on 3 of the 5 Magillas (Ruth, Song of Songs, Lamentations) and it's own Tikkunim.

Within this collection of around 1000 pages there are a few passages where verses from Isaiah 53 are mentioned. Who is referred to at the time is not always the same. What I will do is bring all the references that, for some obvious reasons, are NOT mentioned by the missionaries, and then we can discuss the one that is mentioned.

In discussion of Kabbalistic concepts we have 4 references in Isaiah:

1. 52:13 in Zohar Volume III 246b.
2. 53:1 in Tekunei HaZohar page 28a; Zohar Volume I 253a.
3. 53:5 in Zohar Chadash page 91a
4. 53:7 in Zohar Volume I 137b.

Verse 53:10 is applied to the soul in the Zohar Volume II page 168a.

There are numerous individuals that the Zohar applies Isaiah 53 to:

1. 52:13-14 is applied to the Angel Metatron in Zohar Volume I 182a.
2. 53:5 is applied to Elijah the prophet in Zohar Volume II 115b.
3. 53:5 is applied to Moshiach ben Yosef in Zohar Volume III 276b.

Then we have the following eight references to Moses:

1. 52:13 in Zohar Volume III page 153b.
2. 52:13, 53:2,5 in Zohar Volume III 280a.
3. 53:1 in Tekunei HaZohar page 43a.
4. 53:5 in Tekunei HaZohar page 54b and 112a.
5. 53:5,9 in Zohar Volume III 125b.
6. 53:5,6,9 in Zohar Volume III 282b.
7. 53:12 in Zohar Chadash page 15a

There one reference to Israel based on Isaiah 53:7 in Zohar Volume II 29b.

There are 7 references to the Righteous of Israel:

1. 52:13 in Zohar Volume I 181a.
2. 53:5 in Zohar Volume III 218a, 231a, 247b
3. 53:10 in Zohar Volume I 140a; Volume II 244b; Volume III 57b

To summarize: Five of the occurrences deal with Kabbalistic subjects and do not refer to people at all. The most common subject of Isaiah 53 in the Zohar is the righteous of Israel (7) and one more referring to Israel following the view of the Jewish commentators. The next in order of occurrences is Moses (8). The four of the other five occurrences are one each for the Messiah the son of Joseph (a descendant of Jeroboam the son of Nevat), the angel Metatron, Elijah the prophet and the soul. I think this alone shows that to make a claim that 'the Zohar teaches that Isaiah 53 refers to X' is just not true.

The fact is that this should be enough to end discussion on this issue. However, I wish to deal with that passage used by missionaries, and discuss what it is really about. It teaches us some very important theological issues, and gives us an understanding of many things that are found in other Rabbinic works.

The passage appears in the Zohar Volume II 212a and references the verses Isaiah 53:4,5.[3] This passage is quoted many times as a 'proof' that according to the Zohar the suffering servant of Isaiah 53 is the Messiah. Let's look at the English version that is most often used:[4]

"There is in the Garden of Eden a palace named the Palace of the Sons of Sickness. This palace the Messiah enters, and He summons every pain and every chastisement of Israel. All of these come and rest upon Him. And had He not thus lightened them upon Himself, there had been no man able to bear Israel's chastisements for the transgressions of the law; as it is written, "Surely our sicknesses he has carried."

Before discussing this passage we need to know that it is abridged, and much of the important context is lost because of that.[5] In order to fully understand this passage I need to explain another Rabbinic text that is also quoted to prove that the Rabbis agree that the suffering servant of Isaiah 53 is the Messiah. This is the musaf prayer for Yom Kippur.[6] Here is the text as usually quoted:

"Our righteous anointed is departed from us: horror hath seized us, and we have none to justify us. He hath borne the yoke of our iniquities, and our transgression, and is wounded because of our transgression. He beareth our sins on his shoulder, that he may find pardon for our iniquities. We shall be healed by his wound, at the time that the Eternal will create him (the Messiah) as a new creature. O bring him up from the circle of the earth. Raise him up from Seir, to assemble us the second time on Mount Lebanon, by the hand of Yinnon."[7]

In order to understand this passage I need to give a little historical background. The author of this payyut (religious poem) is Rabbi Eluzer HaKalir. He was a Kabbalist, and some believe he was the son of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, although others place him around the 9^th century CE. This above passage is only a small part of the payyut that is called 'Az MeLifnei Beraishis' (Then before the world was created). It is made up of four parts and is said in the middle of the Kedusha for the Musuf prayer of Yom Kippur in a number of Jewish communities.

Let me here translate the whole section in which that above passage appears:

Then before Creation;

The Holy Temple and Yanin were prepared;

An exalted place of prayer from the beginning;

was prepared before there was any people or language.

It was strong for the Shechina to rest there;

Unintentional sinners were shown the upright way;

The wicked whose sins that were red;

were washed and purified to be as they were before.

If He was angry with an anger causing fear;

Holy One do not bring all your anger;

Even if we have continued to steal until this time;

Our Rock will not bring a plague on us.

Our righteous Moshiach has been removed from us;

We are beaten and none is here to stand for our righteousness;

Our sins and the yoke of our rebellion are upon him;

He is wounded from our rebellion.

From the earth raise him,

From Seir rise up;

To gather us on Mount Lebanon,[8]

again by the hand of Yanin.

The simple meaning of this prayer is that we had a Holy Temple for atonement, and now we are in exile, and when Moshiach comes he shall return us to the Holy Temple. (Mount Lebanon) When looking at this passage in full it is somewhat difficult to see what the missionaries are trying to say. Certainly seeing this passage in the context of those before and after, it is hard to see the point they are making.

This payyut is based on the teaching in the Midrash Tanchuma parshas Nasa 11, page 506 in the standard Hebrew edition. There it says:

" 'Teach us, our Rabbi, how many things were created before the Creation of the world?' 'Thus taught our rabbis, "Seven things were created before the world was created. They are: (1) the throne of glory (2) the Torah (3) the Temple (4) the Patriarchs (Abraham Isaac and Jacob) (5) The people Israel (6) the name of the Messiah (7) repentance." '"

When we look at the payyut we see that each section of it mentions some of these things. The first part: The Torah and the Throne of Glory. The second: The Patriarchs and Israel. The third: Messiah and the Temple. The fourth: repentance. The whole history of the Jewish people is woven into this Midrash.

I would like to point out a few things that are interesting and important in this Midrash and also in the payyut that come up in discussions about the beliefs of the rabbis. These relate directly to our understanding of what the meaning of this payyut is.

1. These 7 things were considered necessary for the world to be able to exist, and achieve the purpose for which the world was created.

2. Notice that in the Midrash only the NAME of the Messiah is preexistent not the Messiah himself (However with regards to the patriarchs, and Israel, they are considered preexistent.)

3. In the Midrash the proof of this preexistent name is based on the rabbinic interpretation of Psalms 72:17 which literally says: "His name should last forever, may his name last as long as the sun", which they interpret as meaning "His name shall forever endure, before the sun (was made) Yanin was his name." As I have mentioned the Rabbis many times took verses out of context to teach spiritual lessons, this is an example of that. This in fact appears in the passage from the payyut.

4. Each part of the payyut relates to part of the Kedusha prayer.

a. The first part that talks of how G-d's glory fills the world and it is related to the Torah and the Throne of Glory that are examples of G-d's presence.

b. The second which deals with the proclaiming of G-d's oneness relates to the Patriarchs and Israel who sanctify G-d's name and proclaim his oneness.

c. The third, which talks of how we shall be taken from exile, mentions the Temple and the Messiah.

d. The final portion proclaiming G-d's kingship is associated with repentance, which is to accept G-d as king and follow his commands.

5. Repentance appears alone in the last section of the payyut. If you read that section you see that repentance is the most important of the seven things.

6. Significantly, the third and fourth parts talk about sin, with the difference that the third discusses sin in relation to the exile and a return to the temple, while the fourth discusses it with regards to individual repentance. They are taken as separate issues.

With these points in mind let's consider one important principle that is taught in the Tenach, but is often missed. It is one that in Judaism has an important place in both theology and in our prayers. That is 'sin'. But not just simply sin, but the idea of communal sin. The concept of "we and our fathers have sinned'. (Jer. 3:25) The concept of communal sin is that the community as a whole is responsible and punishable for the sins of members of the community, both now and in the past. This idea is seen most clearly in the book of Joshua where the people were punished for the sin of one person, Achan. There are numerous examples of this.

One principle is clear in the Tenach and that is: if a person sins he will be punished unless he repents of his sins. Let's look at Ezekiel 3:

18 When I say unto the wicked: Thou shalt surely die; and thou givest him not warning, nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life; the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity, but his blood will I require at thy hand.

19 Yet if thou warn the wicked, and he turn not from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul.

20 Again, when a righteous man doth turn from his righteousness, and commit iniquity, I will lay a stumblingblock before him, he shall die; because thou hast not given him warning, he shall die in his sin, and his righteous deeds which he hath done shall not be remembered; but his blood will I require at thy hand.

21 Nevertheless if thou warn the righteous man, that the righteous sin not, and he doth not sin, he shall surely live, because he took warning; and thou hast delivered thy soul.'

Now 33:11-20:

11 Say unto them: As I live, saith the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live; turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel? 12 And thou, son of man, say unto the children of thy people: The righteousness of the righteous shall not deliver him in the day of his transgression; and as for the wickedness of the wicked, he shall not stumble thereby in the day that he turneth from his wickedness; neither shall he that is righteous be able to live thereby in the day that he sinneth.

13 When I say to the righteous, that he shall surely live; if he trust to his righteousness, and commit iniquity, none of his righteous deeds shall be remembered; but for his iniquity that he hath committed, for it shall he die.

14 Again, when I say unto the wicked: Thou shalt surely die; if he turn from his sin, and do that which is lawful and right;

15 if the wicked restore the pledge, give back that which he had taken by robbery, walk in the statutes of life, committing no iniquity; he shall surely live, he shall not die.

16 None of his sins that he hath committed shall be remembered against him; he hath done that which is lawful and right; he shall surely live.

17 Yet the children of thy people say: The way of the Lord is not equal; but as for them, their way is not equal.

18 When the righteous turneth from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, he shall even die thereby.

19 And when the wicked turneth from his wickedness, and doeth that which is lawful and right, he shall live thereby.

20 Yet ye say: The way of the L-rd is not equal. O house of Israel, I will judge you every one after his ways.'

We see from these passages that the wicked die from their sins. It is clear that this death is the cutting off of the soul, the spiritual death of Numbers 15:30-31.

30 But the soul that doeth aught with a high hand, whether he be home-born or a stranger, the same blasphemeth the LORD; and that soul shall be cut off from among his people.

31 Because he hath despised the word of the LORD, and hath broken His commandment; that soul shall utterly be cut off, his iniquity shall be upon him.

There is also a clear promise of punishments in THIS world for sins. This is found in many places in the Torah like Deut. 28:15-68. From this we see that sin has TWO aspects. There is a spiritual punishment in the future, and a punishment of suffering in this world. But these punishments are for different things. We shall see exile and punishment in this world is primarily for the sins of the people, and the punishment for the world to come is ONLY for individual sins.

The question is: Can someone die or suffer in this world in order to bring atonement for the sinner so that the sinner will not suffer spiritual death, or any other Biblical punishment for the individual? The answer is no. There is no example in the Tenach of a person sinning and another person either being punished for this individual's sin, or being able to accept the punishment and atoning for the person's sin. The Torah says clearly that 'a father shall not die for the sin of the son'. This is even more clearly stated in

Ezekiel 18 where the prophet discusses this in depth and clearly states in G-d's name that the sins of fathers (and hence any other person) do not effect the son.

What about sacrifices? Are they not an example of another (the animal) dying and the person being atoned for? The answer is not really. For the sacrifice to be valid the person had to confess, as it says in Lev. 5:5"and it shall be, when he shall be guilty in one of these things, that he shall confess that wherein he hath sinned;" He must repent, and have a change of heart. If not he could not bring the sacrifice. You could not be a 'sinner' and bring a sacrifice and expect it to be accepted. That is the message of the prophet Isaiah in the first chapter:

11 To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto Me? saith the L-RD; I am full of the burnt-offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts; and I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he-goats.

12 When ye come to appear before Me, who hath required this at your hand, to trample My courts?

13 Bring no more vain oblations; it is an offering of abomination unto Me; new moon and sabbath, the holding of convocations -I cannot endure iniquity along with the solemn assembly.

14 Your new moons and your appointed seasons My soul hateth; they are a burden unto Me; I am weary to bear them.

15 And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide Mine eyes from you; yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear; your hands are full of blood.

16 Wash you, make you clean, put away the evil of your doings from before Mine eyes, cease to do evil;

17 Learn to do well; seek justice, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow.

18 Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD; though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.

19 If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land;

20 But if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword; for the mouth of the L-RD hath spoken.

And more importantly there is absolutely no examples showing that Reuven could sin and Shimon could bring a sacrifice and that would work for Reuven. Reuven is ALWAYS responsible for his own sin. If he does not repent, then he suffers spiritual death and not just a physical one.

This is nothing really new. However, the question of whether the whole Jewish people can be punished in this world for the sins of a few is another matter. If we look at Joshua 7, we see that a single individual, Achan, had sinned and did not follow the command of G-d, but the whole people is blamed.

1 But the children of Israel committed a trespass concerning the devoted thing; for Achan, the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took of the devoted thing; and the anger of the LORD was kindled against the children of Israel.

The Jewish people went up to war, and they did not succeed. There were a number of Jews killed. After which G-d states in verses 11-12:

11 Israel hath sinned; yea, they have even transgressed My covenant which I commanded them; yea, they have even taken of the devoted thing; and have also stolen, and dissembled also, and they have even put it among their own stuff.

12 Therefore the children of Israel cannot stand before their enemies, they turn their backs before their enemies, because they are become accursed; I will not be with you any more, except ye destroy the accursed from among you.

BUT only one person had sinned.

Here we see a clear example of the community punished for the sins of the few. In fact this is clearly discussed in Deuteronomy 28, where they are told that punishment and exile will be the result for not following the commands of G-d. In the Tenach we see that the first exile to Babylonia was caused by the sins of Menashah, as it says

2 Kings 23:26 Notwithstanding the LORD turned not from the fierceness of His great wrath, wherewith His anger was kindled against Judah, because of all the provocations wherewith Manasseh had provoked Him.

Jer. 15:1 Then said the LORD unto me: 'Though Moses and Samuel stood before Me, yet My mind could not be toward this people; cast them out of My sight, and let them go forth.

2 And it shall come to pass, when they say unto thee: Whither shall we go forth? then thou shall tell them: Thus saith the LORD: Such as are for death, to death; and such as are for the sword, to the sword; and such as are for the famine, to the famine; and such as are for captivity, to captivity.

3 And I will appoint over them four kinds, saith the LORD: the sword to slay, and the dogs to drag, and the fowls of the heaven, and the beasts of the earth, to devour and to destroy.

4 And I will cause them to be a horror among all the kingdoms of the earth, because of Manasseh the son of Hezekiah king of Judah, for that which he did in Jerusalem.

The exile as a collective punishment was caused by the sins of a few. Communal punishment CAN be caused by sins other then those by the individuals.

No individual can die or suffer so that another individual will have atonement, but the whole community could suffer death and exile in this world due to the sins of individuals. That is the effect of the sin of the individual on the Jewish people as a whole.

What about the opposite case? Can the death of a single person have an effect on the community and bring atonement for the communal sin? The answer is clearly no. There are no examples in the Tenach of the opposite. No righteous person dies and that causes the community to be forgiven of their sins.

In fact in one instance in the Torah we see that someone tried and that G-d said it could not happen. When Israel sinned with the Golden Calf, Moses goes up to make atonement for them. Moses asked that he be removed from G-d's book (i.e. his soul should be destroyed), and Israel should not be punished for their sin. But G-d tells him no, the one who sinned will be blotted out.

30 And it came to pass on the morrow, that Moses said unto the people: 'Ye have sinned a great sin; and now I will go up unto the LORD, peradventure I shall make atonement for your sin.'

31 And Moses returned unto the LORD, and said: 'Oh, this people have sinned a great sin, and have made them a god of gold.

32 Yet now, if Thou wilt forgive their sin-; and if not, blot me, I pray Thee, out of Thy book which Thou hast written.'

33 And the L-RD said unto Moses: 'Whosoever hath sinned against Me, him will I blot out of My book.

Those who sinned will be punished; an individual cannot make atonement for them!!!

There is however a value in the death or suffering of the righteous that DOES effect the community. There are times G-d will take away the righteous from the world in order that the people left over will repent of their evil deeds. This is clearly stated in the prophet Isaiah 57:1, where we see that the righteous are taken from the world and the prophet complains that G-d has done this and no one has understood the message. They act as if they were themselves righteous, which they weren't, and they should have repented.

1 The righteous perisheth, and no man layeth it to heart, and godly men are taken away, none considering that the righteous is taken away from the evil to come.

2 He entereth into peace, they rest in their beds, each one that walketh in his uprightness.

It is clear in Rabbinic literature that the reason why the righteous suffer even when they have not sinned is so that those who see their suffering should repent of their sins. This is the message of Isaiah 57. This is similar to the reason why a sacrifice is brought for an unintentional sin. He should look at the innocent animal and say that I should be that sacrifice and repent of his sins. This is clearly stated in the Zohar (III 57b):

"All those who are pained by the suffering of the righteous their sins are removed from the world... all those that are pained from those righteous who have died, or who sheds tears for them, G-d proclaims over him, 'Your sins are remove, your iniquities removed.' Not just that, but his children will not die in his days as it says, 'He will see seed, and lengthen his days.' (Is 53:10)"

The suffering is to effect repentance and hence atonement of sin. Suffering does not atone. The repentance that one does because of the death or suffering of the righteous atones.

This repentance is not related to the sins of one person alone but to the sins of the community as the Zohar states (III 118b):

"If the sins multiply in the world, then all the righteous suffer in order to cure (bring to repentance) the generation. But when they are not so much, then one righteous person suffers and the rest are left in peace because the world does not need their sufferings. If the people are cured (they repent) then the righteous are cured. There are times that righteous men suffer their whole lives to protect the generation. When the sins get very great, the righteous die, and that causes them to be cured, and they are forgiven"

Here we see three ideas with regards to the suffering of the righteous.

1. Their suffering makes it so that the rest of the generation need not suffer for communal sins.

2. The suffering comes so that the generation will see and get cured from their sins by repentance.

3. The number of righteous who must suffer depends on the sinfulness of the generation.

We have almost all the pieces to understand the payyut, except the relationship to the Messiah. What kind of suffering can someone who has never come to this world have? There is in fact a source that is the basis for this payyut, but to understand it we need to look at a famous passage in the Talmud Sanhedrin 98a. Here we see that Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi has a number of meetings with Elijah the prophet. (None of which appear to be in this world, but deal with either visitations through visions or the like, as he is described as meeting him at the gates of Gan Eden [heaven] and similar spots):

"Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi asked Elijah, " 'When will the Messiah come?'

He (Elijah) answered 'Go ask him'.

Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi asked 'Where does he sit?'

'By the gates of Rome'

'How will I recognize him?'

'He sits with the poor who suffer sicknesses. They take off all their bandages at once, while he takes off one at a time so that should it be time for him to come he will not be held back'

Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi went to him and said 'Peace to you my master and teacher'

The Messiah responded 'Peace to you, son of Levi'

'When will the master come?'

'Today.'

Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi went back to Elijah.

Elijah asked him, 'What did he say?'

'Peace to you, son of Levi'.

'That means that he has assured both you and your father that you will have a place in the world to come'

'He lied to me. He said he would come today and he did not!'

'This is what he said, "Today if you will listen to My (G-d) voice (Psalms 95:7)"' "

To understand this we must remember one point from Jewish theology. That is that the souls have an independent existence that precedes that of the person, this includes the soul of the Messiah that exists even before his body does. The Talmud even states that the Messiah will not come until all those souls have entered this world.

We see this concept very clearly laid out in a famous teaching in the work of Rabbi Chaim ben Attar, the Holy Or HaChaim. In Deuteronomy 15:7, the verse says, "If there will be with you a poor man from among your brothers…" he explains it as a Remez for some concepts dealing with the Messiah. Here is what he says:

"And in the method of Remez, it is to be a remez to us, in order to inspire us greatly with regards to one person, that special person among the people for whom we are anxiously waiting for the time when he will come. This is The King of Israel, our Moshiach who is a poor man. He has already been compared to a poor person as it says 'A poor man riding on a donkey.' (Zechariah 9:9) And the remez is that because of us he is made poor.

And it says, 'with you'. This means because of you. Our sins have caused the lengthening of the time until the 'end'. Also the word 'with you' is a remez that the poor man is with us. He strongly desires for the time to come when he can redeem us from exile. You should go and learn this from what our Rabbis have taught with regards to the story of Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi. When the King Moshiach saw him he asked him how the Jewish people were doing in the world. Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi answered him that they were sitting and waiting for him to come. When he heard this the pious one started to cry greatly because of his great desire to come and redeem them from exile."

From these two sources, one based on the Talmud and the other Kabbalah, we see that the soul of Messiah suffers because he wants to come into this world and he is waiting to enter the world. This relates to the end of the exile, which comes when all will repent bringing an end to the Messiah's suffering.

Now we can look at the passage that is used by the missionaries and relaters to the payyut that deals with the Messiah. It is in the Zohar (II 212a), where it says:

"After that they (i.e. these souls) journey and look upon those who are pained and sick and who have suffered for the Unity of their Master. They then return and tell this to the Messiah. When they tell to the Messiah about the suffering of Israel in exile and of the wicked ones who are among them who do not try to know their Master, he raises his voice and weeps because of the wicked ones among them, as it says. "He was pained because of our rebellion and oppressed because if our sins." Then the souls return to their place.

"In Gan Eden (heaven) there is one hall; it is called the 'hall of the sick' (ill). When the Messiah goes into this hall, he calls all the sicknesses, all the pains, and all the sufferings of Israel that they should come upon him. If he wouldn't take them off Israel and put them on himself no man would be able to bear the sufferings of Israel, as it say 'our sicknesses he bore'. And just like that is Rabbi Eluzer in the Land. Because there is no measure to the sufferings that come upon a man every day, and they all came to the world when the Torah was given. When Israel was in the Holy Land those services and the sacrifices that they did took up from them all the sicknesses and sufferings of the world. Now Messiah takes them from the world, until a man leaves the world and receives his punishments. As it says 'if his sins are more he is taken to Gehennim (hell) to the lowest of the levels and he receives there many punishments because of the greatness of the 'filth' that is on his soul. Then they light the fire greater to burn this 'filth'."

From here we see a few points:

1. There are holy people in this world who suffer for G-d's sake.

2. There is nothing there about a servant dying as Chrstian theology would demand.

3. The sufferings from the Messiah are to remove two types of sufferings:

a. Those for the communal sins, while the individual sins do not disappear but wait for their punishment when he dies.

b. The suffering of the Holy ones in this world, who suffer for G-d's sake without sin.

4. It is associated with the sacrifices (just as in the payyut).

5. There is no difference between the suffering of the Messiah's soul waiting to enter this world and any other righteous person. Both fulfill the same function with this respect.

So the Zohar is teaching us the purpose of the suffering of the righteous, including the Messiah's soul awaiting his entry to this world. The payyut is to said to remind the people, on this holiest of days, that the exile and the loss of the temple is only because they have not done the proper repentance for their sins and the sins of their fathers. But should they do it on this day, the Messiah will come, and the Temple be restored. This is in fact what the Prophet says in Hoshea 3:4-5:

4 For the children of Israel shall sit solitary many days without king, and without prince, and without sacrifice, and without pillar, and without ephod or teraphim;

5 afterward shall the children of Israel return, and seek the LORD their God, and David their king; and shall come trembling unto the LORD and to His goodness in the end of days.

The following Midrash is one that has been quoted to 'prove' that the Ancient Rabbis believed that Isaiah 53 was about the suffering of the Messiah (ben Dovid.)

"...the Holy One will reveal to them Messiah, the son of David, whom Israel will desire to stone, saying, "thou speakest falsely; already is the Messiah slain, and there is none other Messiah to stand up, and so they will despise him, as it is written, "Despised and forlorn of men; but he will turn and hide himself from them, according to the words, "Like one hiding his face from us." Mysteries of Rabbi Shim'on Ben Yohaia Jellinek, Beth ha-Midrash {1855}, part iii.p.80

What I mean is this. This Midrash is not one of the Midrashim that can be considered 'canon', like the Midrash Rabbah, which is accepted as authoritative, and is widely quoted in Rabbinic works. We do find that many of the minor, 'non-canon' Midrashim are cited in Rabbinic sources. For example a similar composition called Midrash Zerabavel is. For that reason Midrash Zerabavel has a claim to being considered 'authoritative'. This particular Midrash is not cited in any Rabbinic work that I have seen. It lacks any claim to Rabbinic 'authority'.

This particular Midrash is of unknown authorship, but appears to be of a late date (not earlier then 9th century since it appears to have used Saadiah Gaon as a source.) These are just a few of the many reasons to just ignore it.

When read as a whole, this Midrash has similarities to a number of Midrashim that are generally accepted. There is a whole genre of Midrashim (like Midrash Zerabavel) which describe a Rabbinic eschatology and End-times chronology. This one does the same and in general is in agreement with the accepted Rabbinic view in these sources. A discussion of this appears in my article on Moshiach ben Yosef: http://judaismsanswer.com/yosef.htm .

The main points in the Rabbinic eschatology are:

1. There is a major war, which is won by a leader who is descended from the tribe of Ephraim (Yosef) and is referred to as Moshiach ben Yosef.

2. He builds the temple and appears to initiate the Messianic age, when he is killed.

3. This causes mourning and depression among the Jewish people.

4. Many are forced to flee to the desert.

5. Moshiach ben Dovid then appears (some place him among those in the desert.)

6. He then triumphs (and according to some resurrects Moshiach ben Yosef) and the Messianic age begins.

This is the basic story of this Midrash. It is the same as appears in Midrash Zerabavel and also a Letter from Rabbi Hai Gaon, and numerous minor Midrashic sources. For this reason the content of this Midrash, regardless of its authorship, cannot be totally dismissed, even if it has no claim to being authoritative.

When evaluating a verse used in any Midrash, we need to discern if it is meant literally (pshat) or not. In my article (http://judaismsanswer.com/midrash.htm) I discuss the nature of Rabbinic commentary. What we see is that many times the Rabbis use a verse out of context to 'support' some theological truth or other facts. One example I quoted is from Brochos 57b where a verse from Isaiah 53 is quoted to support the fact that when a sick person's sexual desires start to return it is a sign that the illness has passed. No one would contend that the Rabbis were trying to say that the passage of Isaiah 53 was revealed in order to relate this medical information. (In that article I deal with more examples of this and some of the reasons for this methodology.) Because of this, we need to examine any claims about specific verses based on Midrashic use, to see whether the Midrash was meant as a literal exegesis or not.

In this case it is very easy to decide from the context whether the quote from Isaiah is literal or not. There are two techniques that show it is not meant to reveal a Rabbinic belief on the literal meaning of Isaiah.

1. By a comparison to how this Midrash uses Zachariah 12:10.
2. By a comparing what this Midrash says about Moshiach ben Dovid and if it conforms at all to the suffering servant of Isaiah 53.

This Midrash (and also Midrash Zerabavel and the letter of Rabbi Hai Gaon) quote Zechariah 12:10 in reference to the death of Moshiach ben Yosef. They further quote or describe what appears in the next verses of Zechariah as descriptive of the reaction to the death of Moshiach ben Yosef. One need only look into the Rabbinic commentators who specialize in literal commentary to see that they also ascribe Zechariah 12:10 and the verses following to the death of Moshiach ben Yosef and the reaction to it. However, neither in the other Midrashim nor in the literal commentators do we see this verse of Isaiah used to indicate the initial suspicion and rejection of Moshiach ben Dovid. Even when this idea is mentioned as in Midrash Zerabavel, this verse is not mentioned. This indicates that this Midrash is using that Isaiah verse in a non-literal manner.

Even more, if we read this Midrash, and how it describes Moshiach ben Dovid, there is no relationship to any of the verses of Isaiah. In this Midrash he is initially rejected then shortly afterwards he is accepted and has a swift victory and glorious (non-suffering) career. Quite unlike the Christian interpretation of Isaiah 53, and inconsistent with the suffering that is described of the servant of Isaiah 53.

To conclude, this passage can no more be used to 'prove' that the Rabbis considered Isaiah 53 as applying to Moshiach ben Dovid, then to use Brochos 57b to 'prove' that the Rabbis considered Isaiah 53 a primer on Medicine.

© Moshe Shulman, Judaism's Answer 2008