Every December we hear about the “Messiah” – in the music by Georg Friedrich Handel and – everywhere. What really IS a ‘messiah’? How does Judaism understand the meaning of this idea, and how has it changed over the millennia?

Dr. Carol Harris-Shapiro is a rabbi and professor emeritus at Temple University in Philadelphia. Her academic focus is religious communities in America, with recent deep dives into Chinese religions and apocalyptic Judaism. She, her husband Jon and her two toy poodles make their home in Barre, VT for half the year.