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Why did Rav Akiva announce Bar kochba as mashiach? I don't understand if he wasn't from the house of David wasn't born in Beth lehem?

neither were R Nachman and R Mendel zikhrono livrakha. why do some then claim them as mashiach and what messianic prophecies did they fulfill?

Rashi on Micah 5 you should have been the lowest of the clans of Judah—You should have been the lowest of the clans of Judah because of the stigma of Ruth the Moabitess in you. ממך לי יצא. משיח בן דוד וכה"א (תהילים קי״ח:כ״ב) אבן מאסו הבונים:
from you shall emerge for Me—the Messiah, son of David, and so Scripture says (Ps. 118:22): “The stone the builders had rejected became a cornerstone.” ומוצאותיו מקדם. לפני שמש ינון שמו (שם): and his origin is from of old—“Before the sun his name is Yinnon” (Ps. 72:17).

Fellowrser
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  • In his book Sages and Dreamers, Elie Wiesel posits that there’s this idea of a tzaddik being able to manifest something into being Gd’s will. He quotes a bunch of sources which I don’t remember (you should read Ted chapter in the book, or really the whole book it’s great) and basically concludes that Rabbi Akiva tried to force, as if, the Mashiach to be Bar Kochba by throwing his support behind him, but alas he sinned so the idea ultimately failed – Curious Yid Nov 10 '23 at 20:06
  • Related: https://judaism.stackexchange.com/questions/59394/how-can-the-rebbe-be-considered-moshiach – ezra Nov 11 '23 at 17:07

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You’ve made a lot of assumptions. Firstly, we simply do not know the parentage of Bar Koseva (also known as Bar Kokhba), or where he was born.

I think it’s safe to say that Rabbi Akiva would not have identified him as the Messiah if he were not from the House of David.

Finally, there is no requirement for the Messiah to be born in Bethlehem. Micah 5:1 refers vaguely to the Messiah, and uses the town of Bethlehem as an illustration to represent the House of David, since that is where King David was born.

ezra
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Rabbi Akiva announced Bar kochba as the messiah because he was fooled into believing that Bar kochba really was the messiah. Just as Paul was fooled into believing that Jesus was the messiah and how some Jews today are fooled into beliving that the Rebbe was the messiah.

Turk Hill
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