Hi,
I just read in artscroll on daf 52a note 1 that quotes a shnei luchos habris 1:51.
( I tried looking it up; I couldn't find the source.) It says that beit yosef will actually in gather the exiles and rebuild the beis hamikdash.
And then he will die. And only then beis dovid will come and withdraw death.
If my rambam wits are correct, the signs that the shnei luchos brings are direct signs if beis dovid. The rambam himself says that if a person who follows in the ways of dovid and ingagthers the exiles he is FORSURE beis dovid!
Isn't that a machlokes?
(The shnei luchos habris is hard to find the source in there.)
Elie
The Shlah writes about this in Toldos Adam (Beis David Kama). He explains based on a number of sources (including Yerushalmi Ma'aser Sheni 5:2) that the Beis ha'Mikdash will be rebuilt before Mashiach comes; he surmises that this is in the time of Mashiach ben Yosef. For this reason, they had to make a condition regarding Kerem Revai so that when the Beis ha'Mikdash is rebuilt, they could immediately resume Kerem Revai in the former manner.
As you mentioned, the Rambam disputes this view and sees the Beis ha'Mikdash being built by Mashiach. However, the Shlah is following the tradition of the Ari and others who do not view Mashiach ben David as a regular king who rules over the world and builds the Beis ha'Mikdash, but as a Neshamah and Guf which will live to eternity. Thus, the period Shmuel referred to when he said that Mashiach's time is like our time without Shibud Malchuyos is the period of Mashiach ben Yosef according to the Shlah. After this period there will be eternity. The Shlah himself states there that this is contrary to the Rambam who does not accept that there will be eternity during Mashiach ben David and holds that Shmuel's statement referred to that period.
Yoel Domb
Hi,
I checked the shnei luchos habris It's a gemara yerushalmi in maaser sheni rebbe achah says on 29b at the end That the beis hamikdash will be built before ben David
Yes, and there is another strong proof for this thesis from the daily Shemoneh Esreh where first we ask that Yerushalayim be rebuilt (implying the building of the Beis ha'Mikdash) and only afterwards we ask that Mashiach be revealed. This proof is also cited by the Alei Tamar in his commentary on the Yerushalmi in Ma'aser Sheni.
However, the Binyan Tziyon (Rav Yakov Ettlinger) in his first Teshuvah proves from the Gemara in Megilah the opposite, since it says that first David will come and then will come Tefilah, based on the verse, "Their burnt offerings will be desired on my altar," which refers to the Beis ha'Mikdash. Thus, in his opinion Mashiach will precede the third Beis ha'Mikdash.
A third possibility is brought by the Baruch Ta'am who says, based on the Gemara in Sanhedrin (98a), that there are two types of Ge'ulah: "Achishenah" and "b'Itah." If Yisrael merits, they will be "Zachu" and the Beis ha'Mikdash will descend from Shamayaim even before Mashiach, but if not, they will have to build it themselves at the destined time ("b'Itah") and this will happen only after Mashiach comes.
Yoel Domb