Can a Dead Man Be Moshiach?
Here again the answer is a resounding no. There is universal consensus that Moshiach will be a living person. This is a self-defined characteristic of Moshiach and any suggestion to the contrary would be to speak of something other than Moshiach. But no one has yet come forth with the suggestion that Moshiach will not be alive when he becomes Moshiach. The author’s question here is: Can or will someone who died ever regain his life and then become Moshiach? Of course not. Death is a status self-defined by Jewish law as the end of life. In Jewish law the presence of a living person is the greatest proof that he did not die. The Lubavitcher Rabbeim taught that a resurrected man remains dead while he receives a new form of life that is compatible with death. At that point the person does not experience life as we know it, he does not eat or drink, his soul is sustained by his body. If someone were to resurrect, a dead man who is also alive, could he be Moshiach? Absolutely! The Rebbe hims
