The messiah is a person, a descendant of the ancient kings David and Solomon. We have many Jews among us today who can trace their ancestry to this family. The messiah will be recognized by the fact that he will be a Jewish leader who brings all the Jews to repent and follow the laws of the Torah. Once he does this it may be safely assumed that he is the messiah. Once the entire Jewish and non-Jewish world has recognized him as the messiah, his next task will be to bring back the Jewish exiles and build the Temple. If he does this, then he is certainly the messiah. If fails at this second stage or dies before completing it, then he is not the messiah.