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my student who has been in ps the past few years asked me this question “will her non-jewish friends also see moshiach? but they didnt chose to be non-jewish” i told her that by har sinai the malach went to each nation and gave them a choice, but she wasnt happy with that answer. she is a 7th grader. any suggestions on how to answer her?
Tell her that unlike the other more popular religions, Judaism doesn’t believe in “saving” people because every nation has its own purpose in the world. The non jews have their own set of rules (7 mitzvot bnei noach) and as long as they follow them, then they too will be able to happily experience moshiach.
Well, from what I understand, righteous gentiles will merit to be around after certain things. To be honest, I’d be pretty disconcerted if I was led to believe all my friends would die simply because their ancestors were stupid when it came to accepting the Torah, but I applaud you for trying to answer her question as best as you could. Believe me, that IS a pretty hard one!
1. That is aggadata and aggadata is not to be taken literally (Rambam Intro. to Perek Chelek). Rav Kook explains in “Orot” that we received the taryag mitzvot because that is our natural lifestyle whereas the natural lifestyle of the other nations is the sheva mitzvot. This could be the meaning of that midrash.
2. It is not clear if Mashiach is before or after techiyat hameitim. It seems from Rambam that it is before. Thus, only those alive then, Jews and non-Jews, will see his coming. In fact, when Rav Arye Levin was asked to curse Nasser ym”s he said that he was not in the business of cursing but would give him a beracha that he should see Mashiach’s coming.
We believe that G-d is good and fair. He made some people Jews and some people not for His reasons. We believe that non-Jews are rewarded so long as they are good people and believe in G-d.
The Gemara (Avodah Zarah 3a) says that Hashem will give them a second chance, for the very reason your student intuited: that it isn’t their fault.
It says he will give them the mitzva of Sukkos, so good timing on this one.
It also predicts that they will ultimately reject the mitzva. However, one would think that this prediction is not set in stone, for if it were, it would (ironically) entirely defeat the purpose.
This story, like all stories, is more about the message than its historicity. Messages are much more timeless than detailed stories.
If the particulars of this story make it more confusing than not, then instead of focusing on the particulars, focus on the fact that Chazal recognized the question of “but it isn’t their fault” and addressed it head on by saying that they will indeed be given another chance.
The short answer is Yes, she has the potential to see Moshiach. Moshiach is a time when Hashem will be the acknowledged King “al kol ha-aretz”, not only the King of Klal Yisroel. Hence there will be Gentile nations as well. Non-Jews are not required to become Jewish. We are Jewish because we are the biological & spiritual children of Avrohom Avinu. Non-Jews can’t be “punished” because of their ancestry. But Gentiles have an obligation to acknowledge Hashem, the G-d of the Jews, as the One & only Creator & Director of the universe. They also have an obligation to find out & observe what the Creator expects of them as non-Jews. If the non-Jewish friend can wrap her head around that, then she’ll merit seeing Moshiach.
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