What follows below are passages written hundreds of years ago. They all say the same thing basically.
From Arba Mei'os Shekel Kesef(page 68) ...written by Rabbi Chaim Vital, pupil of the Arizal....
"Just as we find that Moshe Rabbeinu [Moses] ascended to Heaven, body and soul, and remained there for 40 days...similary, Moshiach [King Messiah] will, through the help of the Almighty, merit to attain that lofty soul. He will then realize that he is in fact Moshiach [King Messiah] , although no one else wil be aware of this. This is the secret to which the Zohar alludes, 'Moshiach [King Messiah] will be revealed, yet no one will perceive him'.
"Shortly afterwards Moshiach [King Messiah] will be hidden away, body and soul, in that Divine pillar [the spiritual incubation of this sublime soul], as previously explained...
"Moshiach [King Messiah] will thereupon rise up to Heaven just as Moshe [Moses] ascended to the firmament, and will subsequently [return and] be revealed completely for all to see. The entire Jewish people will then perceive him and flock towards him."
[See also Sha'ar Hagilgulim chapter 13]
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Can the
Moshiach [King Messiah] come from the dead?
The answer is surprisingly enough, a resounding yes!
In the second to the last Rashi (the foremost explainer of the scripture and the Talmud, printed in every text) in the book of Daniel, (12:12) he writes: "The Moshiach [King Messiah] will reveal himself and then be concealed.... and then revealed once more, and so it says in the Midrash on Ruth and in the poems of Rabbi Eliezer HaKalir."
So it states in the Talmud (Sanhedrin 98b), "If the Moshiach [King Messiah] comes from the dead he will be someone like Daniel." Rashi there explains this to mean exactly what it says; Moshiach [King Messiah] can come from the dead.
The great and holy scholar, Rabbi Chiam Midini, in his work Sdei Chemed (Peyas HaSadeh, Maareches "Alef", os Eyin), elaborates on this, and connects this Talmudic statement to an earlier one (ibid 98a) referring to the prophecy of Daniel: "If the generation is fortunate the Moshiach [King Messiah] will come from the dead, i.e. on "clouds of heaven," and then everyone will accept him with no reservations. But if not he will come from the living, i.e. riding on a donkey (lit. "chamor", which also means "physical" in Hebrew)".
And so agrees the Holy Chacham Yosef Chiam (The Ben Ish Chai) in his commentary on Sanhedren 98 in his book "Ben Yhoyada", that Moshiach [King Messiah] can come from the dead. (he also explains the topic there of Moshiach ben Yosef and how he can also be Moshiach)
The Zohar in Parshat Balak (pg. 203b) states that the Moshiach [King Messiah] will have to "die"' i.e. go to a higher spiritual level, and return again with the new level he has attained.
In the 13th. chapter of Shaar Hagilgulim (near the end) it states that after the Moshiach [King Messiah] arrives, he will be hidden in heaven like Moshe [Moses] was hidden on Mount Siani, and then he will appear again.
Finally the Abarbanel states in his book "Yeshuot Moshicho" (Part 2, topic 2, chapter 1) that "the Moshiach [King Messiah] will have to die in order to purify the generation...and he will wait in a spiritual state in 'heaven' until it he rises from the dead, as it says in the Talmud Sanhedrin (98b).
All the above were sources from several hundred years ago supporting the idea that Moshiach CAN come from the dead.
Sources List:-
1) Sanhedrin 98b (see Rashi on this)
2) S'dei Chemed vo;.7, page 2984
3) Derech Eretz Zuta (end of chapter 11)
4) Yeshuos Meshicho (page 104)
5) Midrash Eichah Rabbah (1:51)
6) Yefeh Anaf (commentary on Midrash Eichah Rabbah, ibid)
7) Arba Mei'os Shekel Kesef (p.68 by Rabbi Chaim Vital , pupil of the Arizal)
8) Meori Tzion (chapter 97)
9) Zohar (Balak, 203b)
10) Maamarim of the Alter Rebbe (5568 page 283)
11) Second to last Rashi on Daniel 12:12
12) The Ben Ish Chai in his commentary on Sanhedren 98 in his book "Ben Yhoyada"
13) The Lubavitcher Rebbe's numerous references to the previous Lubavitcher Rebbe specifically "V'hu Yigaleinu" stated after the passing of the previous Rebbe found in Basi L'gani.
[adapted by Rabbi Moshe Yess from an article written by Rabbi Tuvia Bolton ]
