1) anyone who wants to be taken seriously as a candidate for Messiah has to meet certain criteria - ALL of them - and Jesus didn't;
I agree that the Messiah will fulfill all of the prophecies about him, but I do not agree that they must all be fulfilled at once, or that there is no way to know before ALL are fulfilled. Of course that gets into the next point. 2) there is absolutely NO scriptural basis in Jewish theology for the assertion that the Messiah (whoever He will be) would come any more than once (at the end of history as we know it).
Well, actually there is and my understanding is that the ancient Jewish Rabbi's debated wether the Messiah would come once or twice, or whether there would be two Messiahs. They couldn't make sense of the verses that said the Messiah would be cut off. I've seen a link to that effect that cited rabbinical sources and references.
Daniel 9:26 Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven sevens, and threescore and two sevens: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times. And after threescore and two sevens shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.
Taken from Isaiah 53; Circa 740 B.C.-- Who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed? ...He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. ...he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows... But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all. ...For he was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of my people he was stricken ...though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth. Yet...the LORD makes his life a guilt offering,...he will...prolong his days, and the will of the LORD will prosper in his hand. ... my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities. ...he poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors. For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors. 3)Finally, even IF (for the sake of argument) one were to pick someone from history who was going to be the Messiah (according to Jewish theology), I wouldn't pick Jesus - because he fails to meet the most basic requirement of being a descendent of both David and Solomon on his father's side. Heck, your scriptures say that he had no human biological father, so Jesus therefore is automatically excluded from being the Messiah foretold in Jewish scripture. Even IF you used Joseph's genealogy (which would fly in the face of your scriptures), he isn't descended from David's son Solomon, but David's son Nathan - no good according to Jewish theology.
I do not see it clearly stated that the entire chain of descendancy must be male, only that the child would be from the seed of the sons of David.
Jesus was desended from Nathan through Mary, but he was legally descended from Solomon through David.
for me and other believing Jews, the Messiah hasn't come - and it will be so incredibly self-evident to everyone on Earth who He is when He comes that all debate on the subject will cease.
I agree that the next time will be incredibly self-evident. But if the following verse is about the Messiah, then He still has to be "pierced" before that universal recognition occurs.
Zechariah 12:10 - And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.