The kingship of Melech Hamoshiach will be very different from the other kings of the House of Dovid. In general, a Jewish king's function is to guide the people in the physical sense, taking care of their material needs and leading them in war. While a king is also on a superior spiritual level, "head and shoulders above the rest of the nation," his primary concern is the safety and security of the people of Israel.

The spiritual leader of the Jewish people is the Nasi, the head of the Sanhedrin, as described by the Rambam in Chapter 1 of Hilchos Sanhedrin: "The first requirement is to establish the Great Court in the Temple. This is called the Greater Sanhedrin, and it has seventy-one members. ...The wisest individual is appointed its leader, the head of the assemblage. It is he who is termed the Nasi, and he stands in the stead of Moshe Rabbeinu."

 The Nasi, who fulfills the role of Moshe Rabbeinu by teaching and disseminating Torah, is chosen from among the members of the Sanhendrin. The king, by contrast, has no connection to the Sanhedrin, as the Rambam writes, "The king is not seated at the Sanhedrin" (ibid. Chapter 2). We are therefore talking about two separate institutions: the Sanhedrin, the religious, Torah body of the Jewish people, and the king, the sovereign leader who rules the nation.

Melech Hamoshiach is exceptional, in that he is associated with both aspects of leadership. On the one hand he is "King Moshiach," who will restore the sovereignty of the House of Dovid. On the other, Moshiach will be the ultimate rabbi, who will teach Torah to the Jewish people.

As the Rambam writes in Chapter 9 of Hilchos Teshuvah: "The king who will arise from the seed of Dovid will be even wiser than Shlomo, and a great prophet, close to Moshe Rabbeinu. Accordingly, he will teach the entire nation and guide them in the ways of G-d." While this particular reference to Moshiach's role as teacher is relatively brief, the Midrash and Chasidus go into great length about the "new [dimension of] Torah" that Moshiach will reveal.

At first glance, it seems as if Melech Hamoshiach will perform two separate and unrelated functions. However, a closer look at this week's Torah portion, Pinchas, reveals that they are essentially one and the same, and that there is already historical precedent for combining the two roles. Moreover, while Moshiach will be both rabbi and king, each aspect will be emphasized in a different stage of the Messianic era.

Different Aspects of Leadership

Like Moshiach, Moshe Rabbeinu and Yehoshua were also individuals who performed both functions. Moshe Rabbeinu was a king (see Chapter 6 of the Rambam's Hilchos Beis Habechirah), as well as the one who transmitted the Torah to the Jewish people. Similarly, Yehoshua was a king (Hilchos Sanhedrin, end of Chapter 18) and a transmitter of Torah, as it states in the first Mishnah of Pirkei Avos: "Moshe received the Torah from Sinai and passed it on to Yehoshua."

In order to understand how kingship and Torah authority are different aspects of the same idea, we need to address a question raised in this week's Torah portion.

In Bamidbar 27:16, Moshe Rabbeinu asks G-d to appoint a leader in his stead: "Let the L-rd set, the G-d of the spirits of all flesh, a man over the congregation." G-d accedes to Moshe's request and commands him, "Take to yourself Yehoshua the son of Nun...and lay your hand upon him" (ibid. 27:18).

A question is asked: If Yehoshua is being chosen as a king, why is there no mention of his being anointed with the special anointing oil? "Semichah," the laying on of hands, is associated with rabbinical ordination, signifying that the recipient is authorized to issue Torah directives. It does not, however, generally confer sovereignty.

The Rebbe has explained (in great length, which we cannot go into here because of the constraints of space) that Yehoshua's function as "teacher" and "king" were one and the same. The semichah he received from Moshe Rabbeinu was so powerful that it conferred both aspects of leadership simultaneously; it was therefore not necessary for Yehoshua to be anointed in a separate ceremony with the special anointing oil.

But what is the connection between Torah authority and kingship, to the extent that they are actually two sides of the same coin?

To explain:

According to the Rambam, the "job description" of a Jewish king is as follows (Hilchos Melachim, end of Chapter 4): "[The king's] objective is to elevate the religion of Israel, to fill the world with justice, to break the arm of the wicked and fight the battles of G-d, as a king is only appointed to render judgment and wage wars." From this we see that the king's function, while focused primarily on the material plane, has a spiritual dimension, and is in fact for the purpose of "elevating the religion of Israel" and "fighting the battles of G-d."

It is also clear that the role of king overlaps that of the Nasi, the head of the Sanhedrin, as both are responsible for upholding the Torah's laws. The members of the Sanhedrin determine what must be done according to Torah, while the king carries out their directives.

It is therefore not surprising that one individual can perform both functions, as did Moshe Rabbeinu and Yehoshua, and as Moshiach will do in the future. On the contrary, it is actually preferable for one person to lead the Jewish people in all respects, from determining halachah to implementing it on a practical level.

One Leader

This, however, leads us to the opposite question. If it is preferable to have one leader, why have these responsibilities traditionally been divided between two people?

The answer, as will be explained, involves a certain "technical problem":

"Malchus," or "kingship" in English, is defined as the rule of a single individual who has exclusive authority to impose his will. In the realm of Torah, the last time there was a single leader was in the days of Moshe and Yehoshua, as after that time the authority was shared by several people or an entire body of people. To put it another way, since the days of Yehoshua, the concept of one individual serving as leader applied only to the king, who was responsible for the Jewish people's material needs. As only one leader, the king, wielded exclusive authority, the aspects of Torah leadership and kingship were, of necessity, divided up.

As we learn from the Mishnah, there was a difference between the authority of Moshe and Yehoshua and that of the generations that followed. "Moshe received the Torah from Sinai and passed it on to Yehoshua; Yehoshua to the Elders; the Elders to the Prophets; and the Prophets passed it on to the Men of the Great Assembly." In other words, the authority gradually devolved from one person to many people.

Moshe Rabbeinu received the Torah as a single individual; the entire Torah was "his," to be passed on to Yehoshua. Likewise, the entirety of Torah authority was invested in Yehoshua, a single person, whose function was to convey it to the Jewish people. This was not the case in later generations, when there was no longer one person responsible for the entire Torah, but a whole institution of seventy-one members who transmitted the Torah from one generation to the next. (While the Nasi was nominally the head of the Sanhedrin, he was also "only" one of its members, whose authority was derived from the institution itself.)

The result was that while Torah was disseminated and passed down by seventy-one people, the implementation of Torah law was carried out by only one; i.e., the Jewish king.

Historically, only Moshe and Yehoshua transmitted the Torah as individuals, at the same time they alone were responsible for carrying out its commandments, waging wars, etc. This is also the reason why Yehoshua did not have to be anointed with the special anointing oil, as the requirement to be anointed applies only when the individual will fulfill only one role, i.e., kingship in the political sense. As Yehoshua was also the person in whom the sole Torah authority was invested (from which his role as king was derived), the semichah he received from Moshe gave him the power for both functions.

Will Moshiach Need to Be Anointed?

In a like manner, Melech Hamoshiach will combine both roles. He will teach the Jewish people Torah as an individual, and a direct result, will be responsible for enforcing its laws, as the Rambam writes, "He will compel all of Israel to go in its ways, strengthen its breaches and wage the battles of G-d" (Hilchos Melachim, end of Chapter 11).

Nonetheless, while there are many similarities between the leadership of Moshe and Yehoshua and Melech Hamoshiach, there are also several differences. With Moshe and Yehoshua, their function as king was secondary to their function as Torah leaders (which is why Yehoshua did not have to be anointed with the special oil).

Moshiach, by contrast, will embody both aspects of leadership equally. Unlike Moshe and Yehoshua, his role as king will not be secondary to his role as teacher. In fact, as a descendent of the House of Dovid who will restore the ancient monarchy, his primary emphasis will be on the aspect of sovereignty.

[The very word "Moshiach" alludes to this, as it comes from the Hebrew root mem-shin-ches, meaning "to anoint," which is obviously connected to the concept of kingship. Nonetheless, there are several later commentators who maintain that Moshiach will not have to be anointed with the special oil, as the anointing of his ancestors, Dovid and Shlomo, thousands of years ago was effective for him as well. See Minchas Chinuch, mitzvah 107, and the Rogatchover's Tzofnas Pa'aneach.]

In Kabbalistic terminology: Moshe Rabbeinu and Yehoshua are associated with the supernal sphere of chochmah, wisdom. As chochmah contains within it all of the other spheres, including "malchus of chochmah," both Moshe and Yehoshua served as kings, although their function as king was secondary to their primary role of chochmah. Moshiach, however, will be the epitome of both chochmah and malchus, rather than embody only one aspect of chochmah. (See sichah of Shabbos Parshas Chayei Sarah 5752.)

Disseminating Torah to the Entire World

Although Moshiach will be both "rabbi" and "king," each stage of the Messianic era will see an emphasis on a different aspect of his leadership, according to the following scenario:

When Moshiach first appears (at the end of the exile), he will be distinguished primarily for his Torah scholarship. As the Rambam writes in Hilchos Melachim, end of Chapter 11: "If a king will arise from the House of Dovid who utters Torah, etc." This is the first and most important aspect of Moshiach, from which the power to carry out his other responsibilities is derived.

As the Rebbe has explained, "[Moshiach's] ability to redeem the Jewish people from exile is derived from his laboring in Torah...as his entire essence is the Torah's essence, which predated the world and is above the limitations and boundaries of the exile. Accordingly, he will ‘compel all of Israel to go in its ways, and strengthen its breaches,' build the Temple in its place and gather in the dispersed of Israel, with the full and complete Redemption."

In the second stage of the Messianic era, the emphasis will be on Moshiach as king. Melech Hamoshiach will "fight the battles of G-d" and set the world on the path of justice and righteousness.

Ultimately, however, once the world will be spiritually perfected and Moshiach will no longer have to engage in battle, the emphasis will shift back to the aspect of Torah. At that time, all of Moshiach's energies will be devoted to teaching Torah to the Jewish people and the world at large. For through Moshiach, "Knowledge, wisdom and truth will increase, as it is written (Yeshayahu 11:9): ‘The world will be filled with the knowledge of G-d'" (Hilchos Teshuvah, Chapter 9).

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