Who are the Messiah son of David and the Messiah son of Joseph?

Shalom

The role of the Messiah son of David is explicitly stated in the scriptures, but the role of the Messiah son of Joseph is not really explicit; rather, this is what our sages of blessed memory received, that prior to the coming of the son of David, the Messiah son of Ephraim will come to prepare the way for the Messiah king, as the son of David will not be revealed until after the rectification, whereas the son of Ephraim will be revealed while the children of Israel are still sunk in the depths of evil. It is also known what is written in the holy books and in the name of Rabbi Shmuel and Yigash who elaborates on these matters at great length, for everything that happened between the holy brothers when they descended to Egypt and Joseph gave them the land as spies was because Joseph wanted to rectify the issue of the Messiah son of Joseph through the suffering of the tribes so that he would not have to come and be killed and suffer the troubles that would occur in his days, and he could immediately be the Messiah son of David. However, since Joseph could not contain himself, more issues had to pass, and many righteous individuals testified that through their service they nullified the troubles that were destined to occur during the time of this Messiah son of Ephraim, and some even pointed to specific righteous people who died for the sanctification of Hashem, in whom the issue of the Messiah son of Joseph has already been fulfilled.

Rabbi Yonatan Eibeshitz explains that the beginning of the decline and the start of the exile occurred due to the separation of the ten tribes from the house of David under the leadership of Jeroboam son of Nebat from the house of Joseph. They said, "What portion do we have in David? And we have no inheritance in the son of Jesse. To your tents, O Israel!" And this happened because the complete end did not come in the days of David and Solomon, since King Solomon tried to hasten the end by wanting to rectify all the low places, and therefore he did several things that we do not comprehend, and upon this Hashem said to Solomon, "Because this was with you, and you did not keep My covenant and My statutes which I commanded you, I will tear the kingdom away from you and will give it to your servant." And indeed, thus the prophet Ahijah the Shilonite was commanded, and he seized the new garment that was on him and tore it into twelve pieces. And he said to Jeroboam, "Take for yourself ten pieces, for thus says Hashem, the God of Israel: Behold, I am tearing the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon and will give you ten tribes. And the one tribe shall be his for the sake of my servant David and for the sake of Jerusalem, the city that I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel. And I will answer the seed of David for this, but not all the days."

And all the commentators explain that immediately at the beginning of the sovereignty taken from David over all Israel, it was conditioned that this state would not endure forever, for in the days of the Messiah, David will return to reign over Israel at the time of rectification. Therefore, before things return to their rectified state as they were, the Messiah from the children of Ephraim will come to rectify the sin of the calves that Jeroboam erected, and he sinned and caused Israel to sin, and through the self-sacrifice of the Messiah son of Joseph, he will completely rectify the sin, and thus prepare the way for the Messiah king, the son of David, to return to reign over all Israel. This is the main prophecy of Ezekiel in chapter 37. For it is known that the separate kingdom of Israel was the cause for the exile of Israel from their land, as they separated from the service of Hashem in His holy temple and began to serve the calves; and in this, there was a repetition of the ancient sins, and the rectification was spoiled, and they had to be exiled until this day to rectify slowly. When the exiles of Israel are gathered to their places and inherit the holy mountain, there will come a time when everything will return to its rectification, and King David will reign over us, and instead of saying, "What do we have to do with David?" we will say, "And they will seek Hashem their God and David their king."

Moreover, Rashi interprets according to our sages the words of King Solomon in the book of Ecclesiastes after he saw everything that would be from the Holy Spirit and said, "A time to tear" - the monarchy of the house of David (1 Kings 14) and I will tear the kingdom and so on: "And a time to sew" (Ezekiel 37) and they will be united in your hand and will not be divided into two kingdoms again.

And see what the Malbim explained in Ezekiel chapter 37, and this is his language: "Our sages receive that first will stand the Messiah son of Joseph, who is a king from the ten tribes, and he will fight wars and all Israel will gather under his banner, until afterward the son of David will come and he will reign over them. And the first parable is about the unity of Israel under the banner of the Messiah son of Joseph, and he commanded that a single stick be taken and written for Judah and for the children of Israel his companions, for first Judah and Benjamin who were exiled in the first house gathered under Zerubbabel in the days of Cyrus and became one nation in the days of the Second Temple, and even after the destruction of the temple, despite their dispersion, they are united in general and hope for redemption. In the end of days, the lost and scattered ten tribes will gather under the banner of Joseph, who is the Messiah son of Joseph, who will gather the scattered, this was the parable of the second stick to Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and for all the house of Israel that will unite upon it at the end of days.

And afterward, the children of Judah who have already been gathered will also unite to be under his tribe and government, and they will be one nation according to the miracles and wonders of Hashem, as it is said in the parable that afterward he will take a stick and write upon it for Joseph the stick of Ephraim, which is the gathering of the ten tribes in the end of days, and then he will bring them close one to another, and the first closeness that the children of Judah will have to the children of Joseph under the Messiah son of Joseph, as it is said, behold, I take the stick of Joseph and the tribes of Israel his companions and put them upon it - meaning first he will place them upon it, meaning he will put the tribes of Israel upon the stick of Joseph, meaning they will gather under the banner of the Messiah son of Joseph, and he will also place the stick of Judah upon it so that Judah will also stand under his banner, and thus they made them into one stick, and they were one in my hand - according to a miracle. And it is clear that the unity will be such that the stick of Judah will be fully included in the stick of Joseph.

And according to this, it is also clear the order of the chapter that Ezekiel arranged the prophecy about Gog and Magog after the prophecy about the Messiah son of Joseph; for the Messiah son of Ephraim will be the one who goes out first in this war and will be killed in the holy war and on Shabbat the trouble will greatly increase until Hashem reveals Himself on the Mount of Olives to take vengeance for the blood that was spilled, and then complete redemption will occur on Shabbat at evening, and the Messiah son of David will reveal himself and revive the slain, the Messiah son of Ephraim.

And all the chapters in Ezekiel from chapter 37 onward are arranged in the order of redemption, meaning first it will be as stated in chapter 36 that the land of Israel will be settled, and the children of Israel will yield fruit; afterward, it will be as stated at the end of chapter 36 that they will return in repentance and the land will be like the Garden of Eden, and they will flourish and multiply greatly; afterward, chapter 37 will revive the dry bones, and it is said that at the end of this period the dead will be alive; after that, before the war of Gog and Magog as stated in chapter 38, the Messiah son of Joseph will arise, who will be the Messiah of war, and in the midst of the final war the son of David will be revealed, etc. Therefore, chapter 37 was prioritized because of the prophecy concerning the Messiah son of Joseph before Gog and Magog. Afterwards, chapter 38-39 discusses Gog and Magog and the war of Hashem against it; and when the son of David is revealed, then will come the building of the temple, as stated in chapter 40 from verses 37 onward; afterward, Israel will settle by their tribes in their inheritances, and then the land will expand as described at the end of the book, very much.

And when you correctly study chapter 37 in Ezekiel, which is the haftarah of the portion of Vayigash, you will stand on the essence of this Messiah, and there is much more on this topic in the books of Kabbalah, but there is no room to elaborate further on this profound matter here. The name Hadar is very wonderful in all areas, and I cannot elaborate on this, but it is good to know that the name Hadar, mentioned in the Torah at the end of the portion of Vayishlach, as the name of one of the kings of Edom, is explained in the Torah of Kabbalah in a very positive sense, as it was only from King Hadar that the world of rectification began, etc.... [He is the only one of the other kings that it does not say about him that he died!!!].

Happy Chanukah - Menashe Yisrael