Back to the Bible, forward to the land

To require for the Moshiach to be deemed legitimate that he must promote the Shulchan Aruch is to demand the Moshiach must institute diaspora values into the establishment of the State of Israel. The Shulchan Aruch is a diaspora document par excellence. Historically, the Gedolim's attempt to promote the Shulchan Aruch within the Jewish people has been a failure. Indeed, the Shulchan Aruch turned out to be one of the chief reasons for the alienation of those of the Jewish people who elected to discard their heritage in favor of secular and secular-humanist values. To place the instrument of that monumental spiritual calamity into the very center of the Jewish people's attempt to regain their dignity (by achieving national sovereignty/autonomy) is not only self-serving and oblivious to the historical forces that shape the Jewish people's destiny, it is also craven. It displays an indifference to the earnest wishes and yearnings of this benighted people. 

The Moshiach could not commit to promoting the Shulchan Aruch while at the same time undertaking to reclaim most of the Jewish people to the service of their ancient God. It would be a fool's errand both with respect to the values of the secular Jews as well as to the values necessary for the conduct of a viable state. Most of all, the insistence on the Shulchan Aruch as the litmus test for messianic legitimacy instead of insisting that litmus test to be the promotion of the dignity of the people of Israel demonstrates the bankruptcy of the rabbinic regime. Centuries ago the Hassidic movement tried to elevate Jewish dignity over strict adherence to halakha. It almost worked. Now the Jews have to do it again, only this time they will have to tie it back to the Bible and they will have to tie it forward to an honest embrace of the land.