ABSTRACT
Throughout history the Jewish people have longed for a land of their own. After Jerusalem and the Second Temple were devastated, the Jews were bereft of a homeland. The glories of ancient Israel had come to an end, and the Jews were destined to live among the nations. In their despair the nation longed for a messianic figure of the House of David who would lead them back to Zion. In the early rabbinic period some Jews believed that Jesus would usher in the period of messianic redemption. Although mainstream Judaism rejected such claims, the Jewish community continued to long for deliverance, and in 132 CE the military leader, Simon Bar Kochba, was acclaimed by many Jews as the Davidic Messiah. In the ninth century the Jewish theologian Saadiah Gaon attempted to determine the date of the final redemption on the basis of Scriptural texts.
