Morach V'da'in (He Smells and Judges)

"Morach V'da'in" is one of the signs of the King Moshiach.

Its meaning is that the King Moshiach during the Redemption will judge and adjudicate his judgments and laws not by his eyes or ears but by smell, "Morach V'da'in" - he smells and judges. Without this sign, one cannot be Moshiach.

Sources

This sign of the King Moshiach is learned from the verse in the book of Isaiah:

"And a shoot shall go forth from the stem of Jesse... and he shall be animated by the spirit of the fear of the Lord, and neither by what his eyes see shall he judge, nor by what his ears hear shall he chastise." — Isaiah 11:1,3.

On this verse, Rashi writes: "That he smells a person and judges and knows who is guilty."

The Zohar also writes: "The King Moshiach (will judge) by smell... without witnesses and warning." (The King Moshiach will judge by smell, without the need for witnesses and warning)

How Can Moshiach Judge By Smell?

How can Moshiach judge by smell, when according to Torah law (which is eternal and will never change) witnesses are needed to judge someone as guilty?

Some say that for this reason they killed Bar Koziba, because he did not have the sign of "Morach V'da'in" it was proven that he was not the King Moshiach. So he had the status of a "rodef" (pursuer), since he endangered the Jewish people with his war.

According to the Rogatchover's approach, this sense is not from the law of the Sanhedrin who rule based on estimation, because Bar Koziba was 52 years after the destruction of the Holy Temple, and there was no Sanhedrin then, so it must be from the law of a king.

The Rebbe explains that what makes Moshiach "Morach V'da'in" is not from the law of a king. Rather, this spiritual sense is from the aspect of kingship that is above wisdom and understanding, an aspect that is revealed with the coming of Moshiach.

The Inner Explanation

The sense of smell is the most spiritual and delicate among human senses, as our Sages said: "What is something that the soul enjoys but the body does not enjoy? You must say this is the smell." The sense of smell is united with the soul and causes pleasure to the essence of the soul. As we see that one of the possibilities to awaken a person from fainting is through a sharp or very strong smell, because the smell reaches the soul itself.

This is the uniqueness of the sense of smell, in its ability to touch the roots of things in the essence of the matter. Therefore, the King Moshiach will judge specifically through smell because it is connected with the root of the person, and specifically through it, Moshiach will be able to know the truth of the one being judged before him.

The Rebbe Rayatz says that Moshiach's judgment will be in that he will know the reasons that brought him to the situation he is in, in the spirit of what our Sages said: "Do not judge your fellow until you reach his place," because the person himself knows and recognizes the reasons that brought him to the situation he is in, and so it should be in the judgment when judging someone else, that one needs to know the reasons that brought him to this situation, to know that he is essentially good, and the only reason he is in an undesirable situation is only due to external reasons.

Even To Ask Is Not Relevant For Everyone

At the opening of the Ark on the three festivals, we ask, "And may be fulfilled in us the verse that is written: 'And the spirit of Hashem shall rest upon him...'" which speaks about the King Moshiach. But every person, even the simplest Jew, asks for this because every Jew has a spark of Moshiach, and he needs to reveal it in actuality, and therefore we ask that what is said about the attributes of Moshiach be fulfilled in us.

But the verse about Moshiach that speaks about Moshiach's judgment in the manner of Morach V'da'in - "And he shall be animated by the spirit of the fear of the Lord" - we do not ask for, because it is not relevant for everyone, because to be a judge one must study the laws, so it cannot be included in the prayer text that is equal for all souls.

In Our Service Now To Bring This Detail In The Redemption

Since all the revelations of the future depend on our actions and service during the time of exile, therefore we must have already now service similar to the matters that will be in the future.

For us this means that there are matters that are difficult to find explicitly in the "Shulchan Aruch" whether they are permitted or not. And there are matters that one can point to a specific section in the Shulchan Aruch where it is explicitly stated that this is contrary to the Torah.

But there are matters that cannot be touched, but one can discern if they give off a scent of fear of Heaven, or the opposite, God forbid.

And this is the matter of "Morach V'da'in" - that in the time of the footsteps of Moshiach there are several matters regarding which one needs to use the sense of smell, to feel with the sense of smell if they add to Torah and mitzvot and fear of Heaven or not, and to rule a judgment in practice based on this - that when one feels with the sense of smell that a certain matter is a contradiction to the fear of Heaven, one must definitely fight against it.