We believe that G-d will: "Will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me (Moses)" (Deut. 18:15), as He has promised. This will probably be "the Messiah", but could represent another person/prophet, past, present or future as well (consider Judas Maccabee, Nehemiah and King Hezekiah, to name but a few). To be recognized as The Messiah, he must fulfill the prophecies, including those of Isaiah:
"And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the L-rd's house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it. And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the L-rd, to the house of the G-d of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the L-rd from Jerusalem. And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more".
(Isaiah 2:2-4)
While nearly all of Israel awaits the Prophet/Messiah, this must not be our primary concern.
The Rambam makes this clear in Misheh Torah (12:3): "A person should not delve into the Aggados and Midrashim that deal with [the Messianic Era] and other esoteric matters, nor should he consider them as vital elements of Judaism. Studying these things does not lead to fear or love of G-d. Similarly, one should not try to figure out the appointed time [of the Mashiach's coming]. As the Maimonides puts it, 'May the soul of those who calculate the End be tormented'. Rather, one should wait and believe in the overall idea, as explained."1 Or, as another Sage put it, "If you are planting a tree and news arrives that the Messiah has come, first plant your sapling and then go [to great Him]". Belief in the Messiah has never been a requirement for salvation see Isaiah 53, for example), nor does the Torah give any indication that G-d's law will be abolished by him(in fact it will be reaffirmed and secind nature).
1 Rambam, Mishneh Torah, Yad Hachzakah, The Laws of Kings and Their Wars, Translated and Annotated by Rabbi Avraham Yaakov Finkel. Copyright 2001 by Yeshivath Beth Moshe, Scranton, PA. Emphasis mine.
A pair of viewpoints on the subject; one from Judaism and the other from Christianity, offer:
"There is only as much Heaven above us as there is Earth beneath our feet."
"Don't become so Heavenly occupied that you become no earthly good."
Jesus of Nazareth:
We do not believe that the man called Jesus was the Messiah for mumerous reasons:
1) He did not meet and fulfill the requirements of Scripture-see above and Ezekial 37,
Isaiah 11, Zechariah 14, Jeremiah 3, and Ezekial 36.
2) Jesus always refers to G-d in the third person!
3) He is claimed to have attempted to change the Torah, something even the Messiah can
not do! In most of these quotations, however, an agenda is clearly visable, leading the
author to question their accuracy.
4) He claimed that no one could come to G-d without him, although this too may be a
misquotation and/or a mistranslation (It is interesting to note that all of the "I am's" are
found only in John, the most antisemetic gospel writer. One would think this important
enough to include in several of the gospels, especially given that many much less
important stories and teachings are cited by several of the gospel writers.
For a very interesting discussion concerning many of the problems and doctrines of Christianity, see:
Menachem Mendel Schneerson:
We likewise do not believe that the Hassidic Rebbe Schneerson was/is the Messiah. He, likewise, did not fulfill the prophecies enumerated above. It is unclear if he himself thought he was the Messiah, but some (not a majority, however) of his followers do. He was, however, a great and wise leader in the Jewish community. A book entitled, The Wisdom of the Rebbe, has been written about his teachings and I highly recommend the book!
Do Jews Need Jesus:
"We do not believe that baptism or 'a personal relationship with Christ' are necessary for the salvation of the Jews. Rather we believe that G-d has entered into an everlasting covenant with the Jewish people. Any Jew who tries, according to his or her own conscience, to live up to that covenant will, we affirm, receive G-d's grace in abundance and can be assured of salvation, no less than Christians trying to do likewise." (emphasis mine) (Eugene Fisher, Associate Director, Secretariat for Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs National Conference of Catholic Bishops, Washington, DC)