Q: Should we identify the Mashiach with a specific person? If so, does he have to be someone from this generation or can he be from the past?
A: In the Talmud, it is written that if Mashiach is from the living, he is so-and-so and if he is from the dead he is so-and-so. The example given of someone from the dead is Daniel and the example of someone from the living is Rebbe (Rabbi Yehudah Hanassi). The sages left this question open. If we try to find a Mashiach living now in this generation, we will have to work hard.
