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The Wolf Shall Lie With the Lamb: The Messiah in Hasidic Thought
by Rabbi Shmuel Boteach

Rabbi Shmuel Boteach's book is the first book-length exposition in English of this vitally important pillar of Jewish belief. B'nei Noach is also an important part of the Messianic Redemption, and Rabbi Boteach has this to say: "What the world needs in order to achieve a higher degree of perfection is Jewish Jews and non-Jewish non-Jews, meaning that each group should adhere to the disparate codes of conduct designated for them by the Almighty.

This is the beginning of a messianic world, a world in which contention, jealousy, and war can never play a part for each nation...

...The epoch of the Messiah is a time when the unity of God will be seen in our world. The world that God created will once again be reclaimed as His..."

The families of Chavurath B'nei Noach of Fort Worth eagerly await the epoch of the Messiah. Why? Because we have learned that in the epoch of the Messiah, G-d's infinite light will be revealed. As Rabbi Boteach points out, "Because it [the infinite light] is truly infinite in all dimensions, it will be able to descend to the lowest possible objects, even those that pose a contradiciton to it. Even the material world and the body, which today conceal the G-dliness of the world, will be reached by this revelation..."

A belief in and hope for the coming of the Messiah is part of Judaism. It always has been. It is founded in Torah, and is part of Rambam's Thirteen Articles of Jewish Faith. Traditional Jews express messianic yearning as they daven (pray) each and every day. Jews and B'nei Noach alike await the arrival of Moshiach. "Today," we pray to Hashem, "Today let Moshiach come."

If B'nei Noach wants to grasp a good understanding of who and what the Jewish Messiah is, specifically in Hasidic Thought, then Rabbi Boteach's The Wolf Shall Lie With The Lamb is the book to read. To whet your appetite for this book, take a look at the "menu" (contents):

I. The Belief in the Coming of the Messiah

1. An Obligation to Wait
2. Man Cannot Create a Utopia
3. A Home: The Reason for Creation
4. Why We Can't See Miracles
5. Torah Study and Spiritual Gain
6. Not a Book of Instruction but a Book of Light
7. Judaism: A Radical Religion
8. The March to Victory
9. Strength and Light from Despair and Darkness
10. Moses and Mathematics Make a Messiah
11. A Human Body in Heaven?

II. The Belief in the Resurrection of the Dead

1. Why Leave the Garden of Eden?
2. Why Perfect That Which Will Die?
3. To Understand the Infinite
4. A Tale of Three Sages and a Fool
5. Is It Good for God to be Irrational?
6. A Minature Horse Must Be Hidden Somewhere
7. God Can Be Small Too
8. Why God Will Reveal Himself on Earth

III. What Will Happen in the Messianic Era

1. Details of the Resurrection of the Dead
2. Maimonides and the Rationalist Approach to Messianism
3. The Messiah in Our Time
4. Nachmanides' Radical New World
5. Reconciling the Miraculous and the Natural

Epilogue

1. Personal Thoughts about the Messiah: Toward a Community of Communities

Published by Jason Aronson Inc.
Northvale, New Jersey

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