Letter about the Coming of the Messiah

I received your letter, and since you believed that I sent to you concerning matters of our Messiah of Truth, I shall fulfill the wishes of your heart and your feelings of deficiency, and I shall tell you all that you have asked of me. Know that as of today, my stay in the wintry and cursed city of Livorno [?] has been for nine years, and through great tribulations and taunts and curses, a light was revealed in my house about fifteen times, and I was incapable of understanding what this was and what it was about. Afterwards I came to this city [Tripoli], and in the year 5424, it was told to me from the heavens that in the year 5425, in a little over half a year, there was to be revealed the King Messiah. Afterwards I said that perhaps this was a dream, and I found by the path of wisdom [i.e., kabbalah] that the words of the Zohar cannot be maintained if the Messiah is not revealed in the year 5425. For in one place it seems that he is to come from the side of Yesod, and in another place it seems that his coming will be from the side of Binah, while in many places it is said that he will come from the side of Gevurah. And thus it was, as he was revealed on the holiday of Shavuot in the year 5425. In addition, one night I had imaginings and visions in my head upon my bed [see Daniel 4:2], and a great matter occurred to me, which I am unable to reveal and to interpret. And in the morning, I recounted this to the members of my household, but I only said that it was a dream. I told them that one of my wives was pregnant and that she was about to give birth to a male son, who was to impart the light of the King Messiah. And he was to be struck with disease before he would be ten days old, and that after that he would die. The son was born, and on the very same day, tidings came to this city that the King Messiah had been revealed; and the son who was born died after that. [ . . . ]

Now I shall begin to inform you of the truth of that which was clarified for me concerning the matter of our Messiah. Most of the world and the wise men of our generation thought that the King Messiah would come to reign through marvels, wonders, and miracles; and in this, they made a huge mistake. You should know that the wise men say that in the future, Israel will recite poetry, but will not recite it until the Messiah is insulted, as it is said: they have insulted the footsteps of your Messiah (Psalms 89:52). Know also that the Lord, may He be blessed, created the tribulations in three parts: one part is concerning David and the forefathers; one part is concerning our generation; and the third part is concerning the King Messiah, as it is said: And he is wounded because of our transgressions (Isaiah 53:5). Also know that he is to be imprisoned, according to the verse I shall surely have mercy on him (Jeremiah 31:19). You should also know that he is going to be the disgrace of men and the shame of a despised, revolting people, and that there will be many from the people of Israel who will curse him and blaspheme him, and who will say that he is stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted (Isaiah 53:4). The general principle that arises from this is that the King Messiah will be greater than the ministering angels, but will also be the most attacked and insulted of men. And these two opposites cannot occur at one time; rather, at the outset he will be lowly and, in the eyes of the Jews, evil and repugnant. And He will accept suffering and all that is decreed for him on account of the transgressions of Israel, for on this condition he shall come into this world, and it is for this purpose that he was created. Afterwards, he shall rise in levels and stages until every greatness that the prophets and our wise men, may they be remembered for a blessing, have said about him, shall be applied to him. Rabbi Eliezer the Great also said that the Messiah would be born within the tribe of Ishmael, for in such a manner, it would be suitable for him to be the offspring of a woman [see Pirke de Rabbi Eliezer, chapter 30]. Thus you will find written in the words of the rabbi, may he be remembered for the world-to-come, and in the words of his student, the Rav, R. ḥayim Vital.