The Messiah's Donkey
Encyclopedia
In Jewish
tradition, The Messiah's Donkey (Hebrew: חמורו של משיח) refers to the donkey
(a multicolored donkey, according to Jewish tradition) upon which the Messiah
will arrive to redeem the world at the end of days
. In Modern Hebrew
the phrase "the Messiah's donkey" is used to refer to someone who does the 'dirty work' on behalf of someone else.
The origin of the belief can be found in Zechariah
9:9: "... your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey." The 'king' referred to in this verse is interpreted by Chazal
as referring to the Messiah.
In the discussion regarding this verse in the Babylonian Talmud (Sanhedrin
98a) a story is told of the Persian king Shevor, who asks: Why doesn't your Messiah come riding on a horse? If he lacks one, I'll be glad to provide him with one of my best!
In the New Testament
(Mark 11:1-11) it is told that as Jesus
approached the Mount of Olives
, he sent two of his disciples to a nearby village to fetch him a donkey. Upon their return, Jesus then rode the donkey into Jerusalem where he was met by cheering crowds. According to the Christian
religious tradition, this was the fulfillment of the prophecy of Zechariah 9:9.
A similar story can also be found in the Islamic
religious tradition: it is written that before the arrival of the Mahdi
, the Dajjal
will appear riding a white donkey.
, the phrase "the Messia's Donkey" can also refer to the controversial political-religious doctrine ascribed to the teachings of Rabbi
Avraham Yitzhak Kook which claims that secular Jews, which represent the material world, are an instrument in the hands of God
whose purpose it was to establish the State of Israel and begin the process of redemption, but upon its establishment they would be required to step aside and allow the Religious-Haredi public to govern the state. According to this analogy, the secular Jewish public are the "donkey", while the Religious-Haredi public who would take their place represent a collective quasi-Messianic body. A book called 'The Messiah's Donkey', which focuses on this issue, was published in 1998 by Seffi Rachlevsky and caused widespread controversy among the Jewish-Israeli public; according to Hassidic teaching the donkey is a symbol of the fact that the Messiah and Messianic age will not oppose the material world, but rather harness it for sacred purposes. Thus, the act of riding upon the donkey is a symbol of the sovereignty of the Messiah over the material world (represented by the donkey).
Judaism
Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...
tradition, The Messiah's Donkey (Hebrew: חמורו של משיח) refers to the donkey
Donkey
The donkey or ass, Equus africanus asinus, is a domesticated member of the Equidae or horse family. The wild ancestor of the donkey is the African Wild Ass, E...
(a multicolored donkey, according to Jewish tradition) upon which the Messiah
Messiah
A messiah is a redeemer figure expected or foretold in one form or another by a religion. Slightly more widely, a messiah is any redeemer figure. Messianic beliefs or theories generally relate to eschatological improvement of the state of humanity or the world, in other words the World to...
will arrive to redeem the world at the end of days
End times
The end time, end times, or end of days is a time period described in the eschatological writings in the three Abrahamic religions and in doomsday scenarios in various other non-Abrahamic religions...
. In Modern Hebrew
Modern Hebrew
Modern Hebrew , also known as Israeli Hebrew or Modern Israeli Hebrew, is the language spoken in Israel and in some Jewish communities worldwide, from the early 20th century to the present....
the phrase "the Messiah's donkey" is used to refer to someone who does the 'dirty work' on behalf of someone else.
The origin of the belief can be found in Zechariah
Zechariah
Zechariah was a person in the Hebrew Bible and the author of the Book of Zechariah, the eleventh of the twelve minor prophets. He was a prophet of the two-tribe kingdom of Judah, and like Ezekiel was of priestly extraction. He describes himself as "the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo." In Ezra...
9:9: "... your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey." The 'king' referred to in this verse is interpreted by Chazal
Chazal
Chazal or Ḥazal is an acronym for the Hebrew "Ḥakhameinu Zikhronam Liv'rakha",...
as referring to the Messiah.
In the discussion regarding this verse in the Babylonian Talmud (Sanhedrin
Sanhedrin
The Sanhedrin was an assembly of twenty-three judges appointed in every city in the Biblical Land of Israel.The Great Sanhedrin was the supreme court of ancient Israel made of 71 members...
98a) a story is told of the Persian king Shevor, who asks: Why doesn't your Messiah come riding on a horse? If he lacks one, I'll be glad to provide him with one of my best!
In the New Testament
New Testament
The New Testament is the second major division of the Christian biblical canon, the first such division being the much longer Old Testament....
(Mark 11:1-11) it is told that as Jesus
Jesus
Jesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...
approached the Mount of Olives
Mount of Olives
The Mount of Olives is a mountain ridge in East Jerusalem with three peaks running from north to south. The highest, at-Tur, rises to 818 meters . It is named for the olive groves that once covered its slopes...
, he sent two of his disciples to a nearby village to fetch him a donkey. Upon their return, Jesus then rode the donkey into Jerusalem where he was met by cheering crowds. According to the Christian
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
religious tradition, this was the fulfillment of the prophecy of Zechariah 9:9.
A similar story can also be found in the Islamic
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
religious tradition: it is written that before the arrival of the Mahdi
Mahdi
In Islamic eschatology, the Mahdi is the prophesied redeemer of Islam who will stay on Earth for seven, nine or nineteen years- before the Day of Judgment and, alongside Jesus, will rid the world of wrongdoing, injustice and tyranny.In Shia Islam, the belief in the Mahdi is a "central religious...
, the Dajjal
Dajjal
al-Masih ad-Dajjal , is an evil figure in Islamic eschatology. He is to appear pretending to be Masih at a time in the future, before Yawm al-Qiyamah , directly comparable to the figures of the Antichrist and Armilus in Christian and Jewish eschatology, respectively.-Name: is a common Arabic word ...
will appear riding a white donkey.
Modern References
In IsraelIsrael
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
, the phrase "the Messia's Donkey" can also refer to the controversial political-religious doctrine ascribed to the teachings of Rabbi
Rabbi
In Judaism, a rabbi is a teacher of Torah. This title derives from the Hebrew word רבי , meaning "My Master" , which is the way a student would address a master of Torah...
Avraham Yitzhak Kook which claims that secular Jews, which represent the material world, are an instrument in the hands of God
God
God is the English name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism....
whose purpose it was to establish the State of Israel and begin the process of redemption, but upon its establishment they would be required to step aside and allow the Religious-Haredi public to govern the state. According to this analogy, the secular Jewish public are the "donkey", while the Religious-Haredi public who would take their place represent a collective quasi-Messianic body. A book called 'The Messiah's Donkey', which focuses on this issue, was published in 1998 by Seffi Rachlevsky and caused widespread controversy among the Jewish-Israeli public; according to Hassidic teaching the donkey is a symbol of the fact that the Messiah and Messianic age will not oppose the material world, but rather harness it for sacred purposes. Thus, the act of riding upon the donkey is a symbol of the sovereignty of the Messiah over the material world (represented by the donkey).