With the events of the last few days, it's hard to pretend that nothing happened. But I will put things into perspective a little later on in this blog.
Meanwhile, I left off in my last blog of a couple days ago with a couple of questions. With no further introduction, they are:
Why do we read the Bircat Cohanim - Priestly Blessing as the first words of Torah every morning after the blessing on learning Torah?
What was the bridge between the slavery of the Jews in Egypt, and the Exodus?
Bircat Cohanim - It is called the three-fold blessing that the Cohanim bless the Jewish people. It consists of 3 verses, 15 words, and 60 letters. In the Ashkenazic Siddur, it is only these three verses that are recited, in virtually all other Siddurim, the whole section in the Torah about the Bircat Cohanim is included (Numbers 6:22-27). In this whole section of Parshat Bircat Cohanim, there are exactly 150 letters. There are likewise exactly 150 chapters of Tehillim, and exactly 150 words of the Aishet Chayil recited every Shabbat night at Kiddush, which are the last 22 Pesukim of Mishlei/Proverbs and one of two places in the entire T'Nach/Bible which follows exactly in Alef Beis order in the course of 22 verses.
Getting back to the actual blessing of the three verses, we said that they consists of 15 words and 60 letters. Likewise, the letter Samech - the 15th letter of the Alef Beit, has the Gematria of 60. That's nice - but you may ask - what connection does Bircat Kohanim have with the letter Samech aside from a number game? In fact, there is no Samech at all in these 150 letters section.
Actually, if you look in some Chamashim, you will see quite a few Samechs. However, these Samechs aren't actually part of the text. These Samechs in between verses just indicate that there is more space between these verses than usually. The Samechs stand for Satum - closed.
You may ask - closed? If anything, you just said that there is more space between the verses - not less? But there is also another kind of spacing which is even more space indicated in some Chumashim by the letter Pey - stands for Patuach - open, that is, wide open space.
The bottom line is as we said in our last post - the importance of Samech in relationship to the essential part of the Torah - the Oral Law - which sets the tone for a Jew to be a complete Jew from learning Halacha /Jewish Law- the word which has the Gematria of 60, as the Samech. Now, in these blessings of Bircat Cohanim, it seems to focus on the physical aspects of our lives, as Rashi points out. That's the point - in order to serve Hashem properly, we need Hashem's blessings to allow us to serve Him completely, as the shape of the Samech which is a complete circle - the only such one of the 22 Alef Beit. Thus, this is how we begin our day learning Torah - to be focused on what the purpose of learning Torah; not just for the sake of learning it, because a professor of Judaic Studies can also be teaching things from the Torah, but he may not be teaching it as a way of life, but as a mere text to analyze it and perhaps twist some of its teachings. However, one who learns Torah because this is what Hashem wants, and that we learn it to be a better Jew, this is exactly what distinguishes us from all the other nations of the world who may be good in swearing on the Bible, including on President Day, but to them it's just a formality. This explains why we say in the second daily Beracha/blessing of learning Torah "Who chose us from all the nations, and gave us HIS Torah". Hashem gave us the Torah to follow it according to how HE wants it to be learnt - to learn Torah L'Shema, Torah for its own sake, not for our gain or based on our own "logical" intellectual imput without a solid reason based on the rules of learning the Torah as given to Moshe on Mt. Sinai. (There is another reason given for why we recite particularly the Bircat Cohanim as the first words of Torah of the day, check out http://www.breslov.org/dvar/bamidbar/naso_5758.htm.)
Additionally, the letter Samech has a unique role in being the first letter of some major words refering or relating to the Torah - Sefer Torah/Book or Scroll of the Torah, Siddur - prayer book, Sinai - the mountain at which we received the Torah which we received during the month which is called by a word that begins with the letter Samech - Sivan, Seder - term used in Yeshivot to denote a schedule of learning Torah as well as the Passover Seder when we celebrate the birth of the Jewish nation, Siyum - the conclusion of a section of the Torah being learnt, Semicha - rabbinic ordination upon showing success in understanding how to learn Torah (in the old days, one had to know the entire Talmud at least to get this certificate - nowadays, much less is required to get the minimum rabbinic ordination).
Now, in the 15th Parsha of the Torah - Parshat Bo, which is the Parsha of the Exodus, we find the Samech playing a major role - in two places. First, the 60th letter of the 60th verse of this Parsha is the letter...Samech=60! (Exodus 12:21) This letter is where Moshe tells Hashem's commandment to slaughter the Passover sacrifice - the Samech is in the word Pesach/Passover. This holiday, commerated by slaughtering the Egyptian idol in front of the Egyptian nation - showed them that we Jews had no fear of them, freeing ourselves from mental slavery. Of course Hashem redeemed us so we can be free to serve him spiritually, but like the Bircat Cohaim promising good conditions, so was Passover the holiday of the birth of the Jewish nation and our physical freedom - thus, freedom from all sides - spiritually, mentally, and physically - thus a complete round of freedom as demonstrated by the shape of the circled Samech.
And here is another amazing role that the letter Samech plays in the Exodus. Samech, being one of the least letters written in the Torah, has only one place in the ENTIRE T'nach/Bible where you see three Samechs in a row - it is in the names of two cities as it says later on in the same chapter (Exodus 12:37) "The Jews traveled from Ramses to Succot". Ramses - ending with two Samechs - was the city of Egyptian exile from which the Jews left, and Succot - beginning with a Samech - was the 1st city that the Jews stopped at on their way to receiving the Torah on Mt. Sinai and moving towards Israel. Thus, the Samech here is literally the spritial letter bridge that the Jews crossed on from exile to redemption! This is also reminiscent of the three Samechs you will see at the end of some Parshiyot in some Chumashim, indicating additional space between Parshiyot in the Sefer Torah (unlike three Peys which indicate an even larger space). Also, as the Exodus took place on the 15 of Nissan; and Succot, the name of the first place that the Jews stopped at from Egypt - is also the name of the holiday of Succot that begins on the other side of the year - 15 Tishrei. As mentioned before, the letter Samech is the 15th letter of the Alef Beit. And yes, the Passover ceremony that takes place in our homes on the first night is called the Seder, beginning with a Samech.
Additionally, there are 20 verses in the entire T'Nach that have two Samechs in a row (including the above which has three Samechs). In Psalms, you have exactly one place in its 150 Psalms or over 2,500 verses that has two Samechs in a row. It is in Psalms, Chapter 60! The Samech, with its numerical value of 60, appears twice in a row in the only place in Psalms that is particularly in Psalm 60 - Nes L'Hitnoses "A banner that it may be displayed/raised high" (verse 6). The two Samechs appear in the second Hebrew word or latter part of the phrase. Now, the first word Nes, in this context meaning banner is the same concept of what a miracle is, which is also called Nes. A miracle displays to the world of Hashem's wonders. On a subdued note - Rashi notes that this is also the terminology of Nisayon - trial or ordeal. Hashem sometimes puts righteous people through tests so they will be all spritually shaped right and also shows how Hashem runs the world which may not be very much to our liking at times.
By Divine Providence, I was thinking along these lines earlier this week having in mind that I was going to write a post (it turned out to be two posts) on the letter Samech. Little did I know earlier last week what 60 hours of terrorism (this is what the news said -60 hours!) was going to bring. Indeed, this began on the last day of the month of Cheshvan, which is represented by the letter "Nun", and the beginning of this month of Kislev represented by the letter "Samech". While these two letters together spell the word Nes which usually means miracle; indeed, as Rashi explains this word in the context of the above quoted verse from Psalm - these days were nothing short of trials and tribulations for the Jewish people at large.
I am very saddened by what happened to our Jewish brothers and sisters in Mumbai, India. Besides the tragedy to the Chabad couple in their 20s, there were two Kosher supervisors who had just came to the Chabad house on a job related mission when they came just in time to meet their untimely death as well. Sure, as with countless other Jews who have died Al Kiddush Hashem, in sactification of Hashem's name, these Jews are granted automatic arrival in a very special place in Gan Eden. But think of all the ones who have been affected by this. Even so, you see how Hashem does things to have a continuity, and while some came there just in time to meet their Maker, Hashem spares others to continue life. It is comforting to know that the one child that the Chabad couple had escaped without physical harm besides his bloodied pants. Indeed, the now orphaned child will now have to deal with life with a great emotional burden that he will need much help overcoming as much as possible. But he is his parents' physical continuity, and this is how Hashem allows things to happen.
While even Chabad on its websites seem to be at loss for an answer - without reservations, there is something that can be said to help put things in a bit of perspective. Surely it's emotional for any Jew with feelings to see and hear such tragic events. But when you are honest about what the Torah says - the answer is very clear. True, I don't know why the tragedy struck particularly at these people who were brutually murdered. But Hashem sends clear cut messages to the Jewish nation. Yes, I read of a modern Orthodox rabbi who wrote on the web when Hurricane Katrina struck the United States that we have no right to second-hand guess what Hashem tells us since we are not prophets like the ones we used to have. When I confronted this rabbi by E-mail telling him that it was very clear that Hashem punished the United States for pushing Israel to give away Gush Katif that happened right before the hurricane, he asked how come the hurricane didn't happen to Washington D.C.?
Well my dear friends, Hashem doesn't do things too drastically all the time, or there will be no free will left, and then everyone will do the right thing because they feel forced to. But that hurricane hit the oil refinery in New Orleans that consisted more than 50% of Arab imported oil.
And guess who payed for it? Every single vehicle driver in the United States!
What I will say is while I don't believe that the ones who were murdered were punished themselves as their Neshamot went straight to Heaven, it is everyone else who have been affected by this - largely by Chabad. While there is still much outreach work being done outside of Israel, which does bring Jews to Judaism, and some of these newly observant Jews do eventually move to Israel - for the rest of us outside of Israel not involved in outreach work - Hashem is telling us a message - it's TIME TO GO HOME! This is the title of one of Rabbi Meir Kahane ZTVK"L HY"D's books, exhorting Jews to follow the Torah, and return home to Israel.
According to Chabad philosophy - Jews live by the Parsha of the week, and the events happening in any particular week has to do with its Parsha - the Torah portion read on that coming Shabbat. Well my friends, observant Jews for the large part did not know what happened with the murdered Jews until after Shabbat. Thus, it is in THIS week's Parsha that we are confronted with the tragic news. And in my Kahane post that I wrote LESS THAN A WEEK AGO, which was BEFORE these events happened, what did I write about? About Ya'akov our forefather delaying returning to Israel which was the cause of his punishment of not seeing his son Yosef for 22 years - the same amount of years as he was in Beit Lavan - even before he was rolling in wealth! This happened in THIS week's Parsha.
Mind you, the Chabad couple were originally from Eretz Yisrael - born & raised (the husband when still a child moved with his parents to Crown Heights). Some people think we can escape terrorism by not being involved in the "war zone" in Israel. Others think that it's O.K. to live outside of Israel if they are living a very religious life, spreading Yiddishkeit in their town. Now for Chabad, as long as the Rebbe was physically telling his followers what to do - that was one thing - you have to follow what you Rabbi tells you (unless there is obvious concern that he is openly saying things against the Torah). True - Jews need to be reached out at wherever they live. They are our brothers and sisters at whatever level of Judaism or lack of it as they may be at. But...think of all the Jews living in Israel who don't even know how to even say Shema Yisrael or have NEVER been at the Kotel. Yes, there are 10s of 1000s of Israelis who are in this position - and very unfortunately, there are a few too many of them who have been swept with Christian Messianic cults, may G-d spare us. There are many English speaking secular Jews who live in Israel. Are there enough outreach people that are taking care of the youth of Israeli society who can ensure that at the very least, these youth will not at the very least turn to crime or substance abuse? Now for nearly 17 years, the Lubavitcher Rebbe has not been giving instructions to anyone as to where to call home. So for all those new Chabad youngsters out there who are looking to do the "Rebbe's Shelichut" - you have a guaranteed place for doing this - in our Holy Land!
The Halacha of keeping two days of Yom Tov does not change outside of Israel regardless of good intentions. If you live in Israel - you only keep one day, and if you live outside of Israel - you keep two days. Period! Either you live by the Parsha of the week as dictated by Chabad philosophy or you don't live by the Parsha of the week. Period! There's no inbetween - we see what happened to Ya'akov Avinu despite all his good intentions which didn't help him even though his living outside of Israel is what brought him to get married and becoming the ancestor of the Jewish people. In this week's Parsha - Parshat Vayetze - Hashem tells Ya'akov "Return to the land of your fathers" - Shuv El Eretz Avotecha. And my dear friends, what is the opposite of the word Shuv - Return - in Hebrew? Bush - as in President Bush!
Have we forgotten the three day progrom in Crown Heights in the summer of 1991 in which Yanky Rosenbaum HY'D, a Lubavitcher was murdered? So for all Jews who feel comfortable living in a "Jewish" neighborhood that is located in a Christian country filled with hidden Anti-Semitism which lurks out its ugly head at the first opportunity that there is an excuse to attack us, G-d forbid - even before Moslem Arab Obama - escape the burning BUSH in the States (http://www.shuva.net/) and RETURN to the land of the "7 Nations" which Hashem told us in Biblical times to conquer and do away with these nations, and be an example for the 70 Nations of the world who are living on their own land - by living on our OWN land as pointed out in the very first Rashi on the Torah!
Motzaei Shabbat Toldot/3 Kislev, 5769
Saturday, November 29, 2008
Thursday, November 27, 2008
#10 - CIRCLE of Jewish Life
Chodesh Tov!
So, Chanukua is coming up in a few short weeks. While it is a holiday that is often treated with fun and games, the ultimate fun and games is what Chanuka really represents - Torah. And for those who really know the Chanuka story - the Syrian Greeks had no problem with our Bible - after all, it is a great book of wisdom. But to them, it was just another book of wisdom - calling it Biblos - meaning book - to be put on the shelf, but not to follow it as a religion or consider is a Holy Book. But my friends, when you take the Kedusha - the holiness - away from something G-d forbid - it defeats the whole purpose of what the item is supposed to truly represent. The Syrian Greeks in particular wanted us to abolish three particular Mitzvot - Milah, Shabbat & Chodesh. Milah - circumcision is our engraved Jewish binding to Hashem, Shabbat represents that Hashem rules the world - not needing to work when Hashem shows He can take care of the rest, and Chodesh represents the Jewish people power over time as when they used to declare the sight of the New Moon - Rosh Chodesh - which would set the tone for the holidays and other occasions of the coming month.
With the above being said - you will soon see what part of the Torah that the Syrian Greeks had a problem dealing with, if they indeed considered our Bible a book of wisdom. But first, I have a couple questions here - and see for yourselves if you can figure out the answer(s).
What is the one letter of the Alef Beit in the account of the Creation of the world mentioned in the beginning of the Torah that is not written even once - and why?
What is the number that represents the Oral Law - the part of the Torah that was originally not written down unlike the Bible?
There is one answer to the above questions. But first - as the Kabbalistic book called Sefer Yetzira (Book of Formation) tells us - each month represents another letter of the Alef Beit. So, the letter for this month of Kislev is the letter Samech - which bears the Gematria of 60. Samech is also one of the letters of the name of the month of Kislev. And, Rosh Chodesh Kislev - the beginning day of Kislev, is the 60th day from Rosh Hashana - the beginning of the Jewish year when the number of the year changes (even though we count the number of months from Nissan, any given year that is called 5769, 5770, etc, begins from Tishrei). Finally, Rosh Chodesh Kislev always falls out around the time that we read Parshas Toldos, where it states near the beginning of the Parsha that Yitzchak was 60 years old when his sons Esav & Ya'akov were born. For more information on this subject of letters and months, and their relationship with each other - you can check out http://www.inner.org/.
Now, our Rabbis tell us that Hashem created the world with the letters of the Alef Beit. However, in the account of the Creation in the first week of the world's existance, there is one letter that is not written even once. It takes over 2,000 letters in the Torah until it appears for the very first time in Genesis 2:11 - the letter Samech. So why? All the letters of the Alef Beis had a mission in the creation of the world. Well for one thing - think of the shape of the Samech. It is the ONLY letter that is completely closed (besided the Mem Sofit - that appears only at the end of the world and is a mutation of the regular letter Mem). And this world is a circle like the Samech, so on a simple level, this would seem to be the answer. But there is another answer that is a whole another dimension.
You see, there are two parts to the Torah - even though it is all Hashem's wisdom. There is Torah SheBichtav - Written Torah & Torah SheB'al Peh - Oral Torah. But for those who aren't familiar with the history of the Torah, this makes no sense since we have books on all types of subjects in Judaism. But thousands of years ago, things were different. Only the Bible was permitted to be written and publicly distributed. However, the detailed laws, as given to Moses at Sinai, was forbidden to be written down unless one wrote private notes for oneself. It was this second part of the Torah that the Syrian Greeks had a problem with because the detailed laws of how a Jew should behave was a problem to the Syrian Greek lifestyle of living a carefree life without disipline, morality, and proper sexual behavior. It was the Jewish consciousness of what is beyond the literal meaning of the Bible that put this foreign nation on their wits seeing Jews behave so differently that made them realize what was behind this.
The letter that represents this underlying consciousness of Judaism is the letter Samech - 60. When the Rabbis saw that the Torah was in great danger of being forgotten due to the increased troubles that were happening to the Jewish people, especially by the Romans and others who attempted to prevent Jews from learning the Torah, Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi (Rabbi Judah the Prince) wrote down the Mishna - the foundation of Talmudic learning. It originally consisted of 60 (Samech) tractates (Baba Kama, Baba Metzia & Baba Batra were originally one tractate, and so were Sanhedrin & Makkot originally one tractate), though now we see it as 63 tractates. Also, the word Halacha - Jewish law - which is the result of Talmudic learning figuring out what the Halacha should be in practice after much deliberation and debate is the Gematria of Samech - 60. Wow!
But there is more on the connection of the letter Samech to the Oral Torah or Law - speaking of debates or known in Hebrew as Machloket, there was actually not a single doubt in Jewish law for at least 1,000 years from when the Torah was given. This was truly incredible considering the fact that the Oral Law was not to be written down and spread en masse. This was until...the very first debate that plagued several generations came about. As recorded in Tractate Eduyot, the question was whether prior to slaughter of a holiday sacrifice, was there a Mitzva of leaning - placing one's hands - on the animal as required for other sacrifices, or was there no Mitzva of doing so? So it when on for a century or more. But here is the punchline - the Hebrew word for leaning as in the Mitzva of leaning on the sacrifice is Semicha (today it is the name of rabbinic ordination as the first one took place with Moses placing his hands on Joshua handing over to him the leadership) having the same root word as the name for the letter Samech!
Another instance of the connection of Samech within the Oral Law, there is a concept of learning something from the verses of the Torah in instances where one subject is next to another subject, something can be learned from this. For example - why does the Torah place the section about the Nazir - one who makes a vow not to drink wine - next to the section about the Sotah - the unfaithful wife? Our Rabbis tell us that one who sees the Sotah in her disgrace following her ordeal in the Temple of her drinking the bitter waters which resulted in her immediate death - should refrain from drinking wine (wine played a big factor in sexual immorality in the old days). Anyways, this type of Talmudic learning is called Semuchim - parts of the Torah placed next to each other - again have the same root word as the name for the letter Samech! This is based on the verse in Psalms 111:8 - Semuchim La'ad Leolam Asuyim B'Emet V'Yashar - "Hashem's commandments/strengths (Semuchim) will last forever, they are made with truth and straightforwardness".
So now, it makes sense why the letter Samech is left out of the account of Creation. The only purpose of Creation was the Torah, as we learn from the words that says Yom HaShishi - when the Torah tells us of what was created on the sixth day, unlike for the other days of creation, the Torah adds the letter Hey to the day of the week - HaShishi - THE 6th day, hinting to the slated 6th day of Sivan when the Torah was given, about which Rashi points out, the world was hinging on this one event - because if the Torah would not have been given then, the world would have ceased to exist. But it was particularly the Oral Law that was at issue here because even most non-Jews don't have a problem of having the Bible - the Written Torah - around, why - they even use it to claim that they themselves are the ones following G-d's word. But it is the Oral Law that differentiates us from the rest of the world who - push comes to shove - don't want to impose on themselves the discipline - the Torah way of life - on themselves. Thus, the fact that the letter Samech is not written even once in the account of Creation shows that the Oral Law - consisting of its foundation - the Mishna with its 60 tractates- to its debates starting with Semicha, its deliberations such as Semuchim - to its conclusion or end result - Jewish Law or Halacha - with a Gematria of 60 - as our Rabbis instruct us - were originally NOT written down either. Thus, the fact that the Samech is not written is something that is secret, hidden or closed is called Seiter, Sod, Safun, or Satum - all these Hebrew words connoting this idea begin with the letter Samech!
There is actually more material I have to write on the letter Samech, but so it won't be too tiring to read the whole blog, I will cut it short, leaving this for the following post. Since the ultimate purpose of my blogs is for everyone to learn something from them to be a better Jew, I want to place an emphasis on learning Halacha - Jewish Law - EVERY DAY. Yes, we are supposed to learn Torah every day as we are supposed to pray every day. The very end of the Gemara (the Babylonian Talmud) tells us that one who learns Halacha every day is assured of being someone worthy of the reward of the world to come. It is THIS part of the Torah that keeps us in line following what Hashem tells us to do. And while women are not obligated to learn Torah like men are, since the women have to devote much time to raising their children, they still have an obligation of learning the parts of Jewish Law that will teach them what to do as observant Jews - in fact, there are the laws of Niddah - a menstruous woman who must observe the laws pertaining to being in such a state if she is married, and is not considered pure to have physical contact in any way with her husband until she goes through the procedures that will permit her once again to continue married life without hindrances. Another major area in Halacha that everyone needs to know very well are the laws of Shabbat (and Yom Tov). There are numerous laws about what is not permitted to be done on Shabbat, and as the Chofetz Chaim in the Mishna Berura with his introduction to the Laws of Shabbat quotes the Ya'arot Devash, unless one learns all the laws of Shabbat very well, one can possibly always be doing something that is forbidden on Shabbat, even if he can be labeled as a "Shomer Shabbat" - one who keeps Shabbat without intentionally violating it in any way, certainly not in public.
So one may ask, where do I begin? Is there a particular book of Halacha that I can learn? And what if my Hebrew is not so good - what is available in English that I can learn on a regular basis? O.K. - you have a few options. For beginners - you have what is called the Kitzur Shulchan Aruch - the Concise Code of Jewish Law - the original Hebrew written by Rabbi Shlomo Gansfried ZTVK"L, and consists of 221 chapters, with over 2,500 paragraphs. Don't get panicky - you only need to start learning a bit every day so after all, you can properly digest what you learn and you should review what you read over several times to get it all pat down. There is a concept of learning particularly two laws in the daytime and two laws in the nighttime, as part of the fulfillment of daily Torah study. However, the main thing is to keep it at a pace where you can learn at your own speed that will ensure that you will not fall behind and skip some days. You have a few choices in the English version. You have the one which is just in English - translated by Hyman Goldin, and in more recent years, should come with another book of just the index of hundreds if not thousands of key words that will help you find out what the Halacha is in a certain instance (NOTE: this should NOT substitute asking a Rabbi well versed in Halacha as to the correct decision in some instances - if you are not sure - ask such a rabbi). There is also another one that comes in two volumes known as the Metzuda translated by Rabbi Avrohom Davis and is translated line by line - Hebrew on one side & English on the other. And just a couple of months ago - Artscroll came out with the first of five volumes that includes both Hebrew and English, and includes additional Halachic decisions from the Mishna Berura & Rabbi Moshe Feinstein ZTVK"L, whose decisions at times may differ from the Kitzur Shulchan Aruch.
As for the regular Shulchan Aruch - Code of Jewish Law - for the more advanced, you have in English the whole first section of the Shulchan Aruch called Orach Chaim ("Pathway of Life"), consisting of 697 chapters, which includes the laws of prayers, blessings, Shabbat & Jewish Holidays, along with the translation of the Mishna Berura, as published from Feldheim Publishers. Personally, I have found this English translation to be a big eye opener, even as I can understand the original Hebrew pretty well - but for one who has been raised learning English, this is absolutely crucial. Do bear in mind that there are three other parts of the Shulchan Aruch, and sad to say, I don't know of an existing translation though they may not necessarily be applicable in everyday living like the first section of the Shulchan Aruch - but include the laws of Kashrut, marital law, and judicial law.
Start with something easy. You know, Chanuka is coming up in a few weeks. Now is the time to learn the laws of Chanuka - one or two laws or paragraphs a day if you start now (from when the post is written) will ensure that you will know everything you are supposed to do by the time Chanuka comes along. Additionally, there is a blogspot on Halacha that I just discovered "accidentally" (from the hand of Hashem) last week http://www.halocho.blogspot.com/, or where on this blog it shows the followers on the top righthand side, you can press on the smiling guy (a good example of what a religious Jew should look like) and check it out that way.
COMING UP: Why do we read the Bircat Cohanim - Priestly Blessing as the first words of Torah every morning after the blessing on learning Torah? And also, what was the bridge between the slavery of the Jews in Egypt, and the Exodus?
P.S. If you notice, this is the 10th blog that I have written on http://www.gematriot.blogspot.com/, and you see the time it shows that this 10th blog was posted: 10:10 AM! I truly believe that this is something nothing short of Hashgacha Peratis - Divine Providence. The letter Yud is the Gematria of 10. Another connotation of the letter Yud is Yid - Jew. Learning Halacha is learning to be a COMPLETE Jew, that is, a COMPLETE Yisrael - as the acronym of this word (the last word of the Torah/Chumash) can be read as Yesh Shishim Ribo Otiyot LaTorah - there are 60 myriads of letters to the Torah - corresponding to the 60 myriads or 600,000 male Jews from 20 years old and up, the ones who were able to fight in battle, who were present for the giving of the Torah, and a COMPLETE Yid, just like Yud=Ten (10) represents completeness - from the Ten Statements with which Hashem created the world to the Ten Commandments (actually means Statements in Hebrew) which are the basis for the 613 Commandments based on which we follow their details as described in Halacha. And just like word Halacha has the Gematria of 60, the number for Samech - the ideal of completeness is further demonstrated by the shape of the letter Samech which is a COMPLETE circle - the only one of the 22 Alef Beis which is shaped like this.
Rosh Chodesh Kislev (1 Kislev) 5769
So, Chanukua is coming up in a few short weeks. While it is a holiday that is often treated with fun and games, the ultimate fun and games is what Chanuka really represents - Torah. And for those who really know the Chanuka story - the Syrian Greeks had no problem with our Bible - after all, it is a great book of wisdom. But to them, it was just another book of wisdom - calling it Biblos - meaning book - to be put on the shelf, but not to follow it as a religion or consider is a Holy Book. But my friends, when you take the Kedusha - the holiness - away from something G-d forbid - it defeats the whole purpose of what the item is supposed to truly represent. The Syrian Greeks in particular wanted us to abolish three particular Mitzvot - Milah, Shabbat & Chodesh. Milah - circumcision is our engraved Jewish binding to Hashem, Shabbat represents that Hashem rules the world - not needing to work when Hashem shows He can take care of the rest, and Chodesh represents the Jewish people power over time as when they used to declare the sight of the New Moon - Rosh Chodesh - which would set the tone for the holidays and other occasions of the coming month.
With the above being said - you will soon see what part of the Torah that the Syrian Greeks had a problem dealing with, if they indeed considered our Bible a book of wisdom. But first, I have a couple questions here - and see for yourselves if you can figure out the answer(s).
What is the one letter of the Alef Beit in the account of the Creation of the world mentioned in the beginning of the Torah that is not written even once - and why?
What is the number that represents the Oral Law - the part of the Torah that was originally not written down unlike the Bible?
There is one answer to the above questions. But first - as the Kabbalistic book called Sefer Yetzira (Book of Formation) tells us - each month represents another letter of the Alef Beit. So, the letter for this month of Kislev is the letter Samech - which bears the Gematria of 60. Samech is also one of the letters of the name of the month of Kislev. And, Rosh Chodesh Kislev - the beginning day of Kislev, is the 60th day from Rosh Hashana - the beginning of the Jewish year when the number of the year changes (even though we count the number of months from Nissan, any given year that is called 5769, 5770, etc, begins from Tishrei). Finally, Rosh Chodesh Kislev always falls out around the time that we read Parshas Toldos, where it states near the beginning of the Parsha that Yitzchak was 60 years old when his sons Esav & Ya'akov were born. For more information on this subject of letters and months, and their relationship with each other - you can check out http://www.inner.org/.
Now, our Rabbis tell us that Hashem created the world with the letters of the Alef Beit. However, in the account of the Creation in the first week of the world's existance, there is one letter that is not written even once. It takes over 2,000 letters in the Torah until it appears for the very first time in Genesis 2:11 - the letter Samech. So why? All the letters of the Alef Beis had a mission in the creation of the world. Well for one thing - think of the shape of the Samech. It is the ONLY letter that is completely closed (besided the Mem Sofit - that appears only at the end of the world and is a mutation of the regular letter Mem). And this world is a circle like the Samech, so on a simple level, this would seem to be the answer. But there is another answer that is a whole another dimension.
You see, there are two parts to the Torah - even though it is all Hashem's wisdom. There is Torah SheBichtav - Written Torah & Torah SheB'al Peh - Oral Torah. But for those who aren't familiar with the history of the Torah, this makes no sense since we have books on all types of subjects in Judaism. But thousands of years ago, things were different. Only the Bible was permitted to be written and publicly distributed. However, the detailed laws, as given to Moses at Sinai, was forbidden to be written down unless one wrote private notes for oneself. It was this second part of the Torah that the Syrian Greeks had a problem with because the detailed laws of how a Jew should behave was a problem to the Syrian Greek lifestyle of living a carefree life without disipline, morality, and proper sexual behavior. It was the Jewish consciousness of what is beyond the literal meaning of the Bible that put this foreign nation on their wits seeing Jews behave so differently that made them realize what was behind this.
The letter that represents this underlying consciousness of Judaism is the letter Samech - 60. When the Rabbis saw that the Torah was in great danger of being forgotten due to the increased troubles that were happening to the Jewish people, especially by the Romans and others who attempted to prevent Jews from learning the Torah, Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi (Rabbi Judah the Prince) wrote down the Mishna - the foundation of Talmudic learning. It originally consisted of 60 (Samech) tractates (Baba Kama, Baba Metzia & Baba Batra were originally one tractate, and so were Sanhedrin & Makkot originally one tractate), though now we see it as 63 tractates. Also, the word Halacha - Jewish law - which is the result of Talmudic learning figuring out what the Halacha should be in practice after much deliberation and debate is the Gematria of Samech - 60. Wow!
But there is more on the connection of the letter Samech to the Oral Torah or Law - speaking of debates or known in Hebrew as Machloket, there was actually not a single doubt in Jewish law for at least 1,000 years from when the Torah was given. This was truly incredible considering the fact that the Oral Law was not to be written down and spread en masse. This was until...the very first debate that plagued several generations came about. As recorded in Tractate Eduyot, the question was whether prior to slaughter of a holiday sacrifice, was there a Mitzva of leaning - placing one's hands - on the animal as required for other sacrifices, or was there no Mitzva of doing so? So it when on for a century or more. But here is the punchline - the Hebrew word for leaning as in the Mitzva of leaning on the sacrifice is Semicha (today it is the name of rabbinic ordination as the first one took place with Moses placing his hands on Joshua handing over to him the leadership) having the same root word as the name for the letter Samech!
Another instance of the connection of Samech within the Oral Law, there is a concept of learning something from the verses of the Torah in instances where one subject is next to another subject, something can be learned from this. For example - why does the Torah place the section about the Nazir - one who makes a vow not to drink wine - next to the section about the Sotah - the unfaithful wife? Our Rabbis tell us that one who sees the Sotah in her disgrace following her ordeal in the Temple of her drinking the bitter waters which resulted in her immediate death - should refrain from drinking wine (wine played a big factor in sexual immorality in the old days). Anyways, this type of Talmudic learning is called Semuchim - parts of the Torah placed next to each other - again have the same root word as the name for the letter Samech! This is based on the verse in Psalms 111:8 - Semuchim La'ad Leolam Asuyim B'Emet V'Yashar - "Hashem's commandments/strengths (Semuchim) will last forever, they are made with truth and straightforwardness".
So now, it makes sense why the letter Samech is left out of the account of Creation. The only purpose of Creation was the Torah, as we learn from the words that says Yom HaShishi - when the Torah tells us of what was created on the sixth day, unlike for the other days of creation, the Torah adds the letter Hey to the day of the week - HaShishi - THE 6th day, hinting to the slated 6th day of Sivan when the Torah was given, about which Rashi points out, the world was hinging on this one event - because if the Torah would not have been given then, the world would have ceased to exist. But it was particularly the Oral Law that was at issue here because even most non-Jews don't have a problem of having the Bible - the Written Torah - around, why - they even use it to claim that they themselves are the ones following G-d's word. But it is the Oral Law that differentiates us from the rest of the world who - push comes to shove - don't want to impose on themselves the discipline - the Torah way of life - on themselves. Thus, the fact that the letter Samech is not written even once in the account of Creation shows that the Oral Law - consisting of its foundation - the Mishna with its 60 tractates- to its debates starting with Semicha, its deliberations such as Semuchim - to its conclusion or end result - Jewish Law or Halacha - with a Gematria of 60 - as our Rabbis instruct us - were originally NOT written down either. Thus, the fact that the Samech is not written is something that is secret, hidden or closed is called Seiter, Sod, Safun, or Satum - all these Hebrew words connoting this idea begin with the letter Samech!
There is actually more material I have to write on the letter Samech, but so it won't be too tiring to read the whole blog, I will cut it short, leaving this for the following post. Since the ultimate purpose of my blogs is for everyone to learn something from them to be a better Jew, I want to place an emphasis on learning Halacha - Jewish Law - EVERY DAY. Yes, we are supposed to learn Torah every day as we are supposed to pray every day. The very end of the Gemara (the Babylonian Talmud) tells us that one who learns Halacha every day is assured of being someone worthy of the reward of the world to come. It is THIS part of the Torah that keeps us in line following what Hashem tells us to do. And while women are not obligated to learn Torah like men are, since the women have to devote much time to raising their children, they still have an obligation of learning the parts of Jewish Law that will teach them what to do as observant Jews - in fact, there are the laws of Niddah - a menstruous woman who must observe the laws pertaining to being in such a state if she is married, and is not considered pure to have physical contact in any way with her husband until she goes through the procedures that will permit her once again to continue married life without hindrances. Another major area in Halacha that everyone needs to know very well are the laws of Shabbat (and Yom Tov). There are numerous laws about what is not permitted to be done on Shabbat, and as the Chofetz Chaim in the Mishna Berura with his introduction to the Laws of Shabbat quotes the Ya'arot Devash, unless one learns all the laws of Shabbat very well, one can possibly always be doing something that is forbidden on Shabbat, even if he can be labeled as a "Shomer Shabbat" - one who keeps Shabbat without intentionally violating it in any way, certainly not in public.
So one may ask, where do I begin? Is there a particular book of Halacha that I can learn? And what if my Hebrew is not so good - what is available in English that I can learn on a regular basis? O.K. - you have a few options. For beginners - you have what is called the Kitzur Shulchan Aruch - the Concise Code of Jewish Law - the original Hebrew written by Rabbi Shlomo Gansfried ZTVK"L, and consists of 221 chapters, with over 2,500 paragraphs. Don't get panicky - you only need to start learning a bit every day so after all, you can properly digest what you learn and you should review what you read over several times to get it all pat down. There is a concept of learning particularly two laws in the daytime and two laws in the nighttime, as part of the fulfillment of daily Torah study. However, the main thing is to keep it at a pace where you can learn at your own speed that will ensure that you will not fall behind and skip some days. You have a few choices in the English version. You have the one which is just in English - translated by Hyman Goldin, and in more recent years, should come with another book of just the index of hundreds if not thousands of key words that will help you find out what the Halacha is in a certain instance (NOTE: this should NOT substitute asking a Rabbi well versed in Halacha as to the correct decision in some instances - if you are not sure - ask such a rabbi). There is also another one that comes in two volumes known as the Metzuda translated by Rabbi Avrohom Davis and is translated line by line - Hebrew on one side & English on the other. And just a couple of months ago - Artscroll came out with the first of five volumes that includes both Hebrew and English, and includes additional Halachic decisions from the Mishna Berura & Rabbi Moshe Feinstein ZTVK"L, whose decisions at times may differ from the Kitzur Shulchan Aruch.
As for the regular Shulchan Aruch - Code of Jewish Law - for the more advanced, you have in English the whole first section of the Shulchan Aruch called Orach Chaim ("Pathway of Life"), consisting of 697 chapters, which includes the laws of prayers, blessings, Shabbat & Jewish Holidays, along with the translation of the Mishna Berura, as published from Feldheim Publishers. Personally, I have found this English translation to be a big eye opener, even as I can understand the original Hebrew pretty well - but for one who has been raised learning English, this is absolutely crucial. Do bear in mind that there are three other parts of the Shulchan Aruch, and sad to say, I don't know of an existing translation though they may not necessarily be applicable in everyday living like the first section of the Shulchan Aruch - but include the laws of Kashrut, marital law, and judicial law.
Start with something easy. You know, Chanuka is coming up in a few weeks. Now is the time to learn the laws of Chanuka - one or two laws or paragraphs a day if you start now (from when the post is written) will ensure that you will know everything you are supposed to do by the time Chanuka comes along. Additionally, there is a blogspot on Halacha that I just discovered "accidentally" (from the hand of Hashem) last week http://www.halocho.blogspot.com/, or where on this blog it shows the followers on the top righthand side, you can press on the smiling guy (a good example of what a religious Jew should look like) and check it out that way.
COMING UP: Why do we read the Bircat Cohanim - Priestly Blessing as the first words of Torah every morning after the blessing on learning Torah? And also, what was the bridge between the slavery of the Jews in Egypt, and the Exodus?
P.S. If you notice, this is the 10th blog that I have written on http://www.gematriot.blogspot.com/, and you see the time it shows that this 10th blog was posted: 10:10 AM! I truly believe that this is something nothing short of Hashgacha Peratis - Divine Providence. The letter Yud is the Gematria of 10. Another connotation of the letter Yud is Yid - Jew. Learning Halacha is learning to be a COMPLETE Jew, that is, a COMPLETE Yisrael - as the acronym of this word (the last word of the Torah/Chumash) can be read as Yesh Shishim Ribo Otiyot LaTorah - there are 60 myriads of letters to the Torah - corresponding to the 60 myriads or 600,000 male Jews from 20 years old and up, the ones who were able to fight in battle, who were present for the giving of the Torah, and a COMPLETE Yid, just like Yud=Ten (10) represents completeness - from the Ten Statements with which Hashem created the world to the Ten Commandments (actually means Statements in Hebrew) which are the basis for the 613 Commandments based on which we follow their details as described in Halacha. And just like word Halacha has the Gematria of 60, the number for Samech - the ideal of completeness is further demonstrated by the shape of the letter Samech which is a COMPLETE circle - the only one of the 22 Alef Beis which is shaped like this.
Rosh Chodesh Kislev (1 Kislev) 5769
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
#9 - Kahane CHAI - Kahane's Legacy Lives On
Here we are on our way to Chanuka, the holiday that celebrates our religious freedom in the Land of Israel; in fact, the only holiday that is Israel based - particularly free access to our holiest site in Jerusalem - until recent times when it became a reality once again with Yom Yerushalayim in 1967. And just like we had a few Jewish heroes in the Chanuka story, most notably Matisyahu the patriarch of the Maccabees; so in our time we had a modern day Matisyahu - Rabbi Kahane ZTVK'L HY'D. Actually, there were two Rabbi Kahane's - Rabbi Meir Kahane & his son Rabbi Binyamin Kahane - who were living Jewish heroes living each & every day with their self sacrifice knowing that any day could very well be their last as it actually happened.
Over a week ago, it was the Yahrzeit of Rabbi Meir Kahane - particularly his 18th or Chai "LIFE" Yahrzeit that is on Chai (18) Cheshvan. Thus, not only is the date of his Yahrzeit the 18th of Cheshvan when his life was brutally cut short by an accursed Arab, but this year it was the 18th memorial Yahrzeit. It is interesting to note that following his murder, his son and best follower, Rabbi Binyamin Kahane, took over the leadership of the Kahane movement - under the name of KAHANE CHAI. How fitting! Rabbi Meir Kahane was a man of no compromise - his word was the word of Torah with no politics or strings attached. Thus, after he was no longer in our immediate reach, his teachings which are the teachings of Torah LIVE ON. And while there were unfortunately supposed Kahane followers who for political reasons did not want to accept his son Binyamin Kahane as the next leader, this did not take away from the Kahane son's mission of continuing to spread his father's teachings which became much more relevant as time went on with the problems of the Israeli government who were all too eager to give more land away, and the Palestinian Intifadas. While I never had the merit to meet Rabbi Meir Kahane, I had the great fortune of meeting his son Rabbi Binyamin Kahane, who with his quiet nature, did not seem to have had the forceful personality of his father , but was very outspoken when it came to telling the truth that few had the courage to tell it as it is to the Jewish people.
While I live in Israel, I was not able to make it this year to Meir Kahane's burial plot in Har HaMenuchot or attend the annual memorial event held in Jerusalem in his memory. I felt bad in a way because after all, this was his CHAI - 18th - Yahrzeit. However, on second thought, the main thing Meir Kahane stressed in his lifetime was ACTION - not just attending memorial ceremonies of just another victim of Arab terror. Accordingly, the least I can do besides paying mere lip service to the memorial prayer though that is important too for the Neshama's Aliyah in Heaven, is to write to everyone a bit of Meir Kahane's teachings, especially as it relates to what we all need to do more than ever. This will be his ultimate Aliyah (hint, hint).
In Rabbi Meir Kahane's magnum opus called Ohr HaRahyon - or "The Jewish Idea" (one volume in Hebrew, two volumes in English), consisting of 39 chapters, he writes on a variety of topics that are essential to Jewish living. Being that this is his 18th Yahrzeit - I figured that it would be a good idea to check out the 18th chapter in this Sefer - holy book. Lo and behold - a topic I had mentioned in an early post - Eretz Yisrael - the Land of Israel! I think that this is no mere coincidence that Hashem allowed this topic to be the 18th chapter of this book. Jewish living has little meaning without living (and if G-d forbid not immediately possible, with the great yearning for) in the Land of Israel, where Jewish life - CHAI - is meant to be lived. Anyways, I wanted to see what I would write about from this chapter since it isn't exactly just a page or two, so I decided to first count the paragraphs. Very interestingly - this 18th chapter has exactly 19 paragraphs (in the Hebrew edition). This is just like the prayer of Shemoneh Esray - which means 18 - as it originally consisted of 18 blessings, but presently has 19 blessings. Now, the 14th blessing of this prayer is the blessing asking Hashem to rebuild Jerusalem, which is the capital of Israel. So, I figured that I would check out the 14th paragraph of this 18th chapter on Israel, and I will write here a loose translation of the Hebrew (I don't have the English version with me at this time)
Before I begin, in the parenthetical note of the next to the last Rashi on this week's Parshas Toldos, Rashi points out that Ya'akov missed seeing his son Yosef for 22 years as punishment for not having performed the Mitzva of honoring his parents for 22 years from the time he came to his uncle Lavan's place until he returned to Israel. Now, one may ask - wait a minute. I thought that his own parents told him to leave home as his evil brother Eisav wanted to kill him, and since he came to Lavan, he got married and had children who became the ancestors of the Jewish people, so what did Hashem want from Ya'akov when it wan't his fault? This bothered me for a while - at least in terms of some of the years when his wives were busy giving birth. But the following words of Kahane takes away all questions after this. Read on.
"Know, and don't ever forget - Israel was given to the Jewish nation not as rights that one can forgo saying "I don't want it", but as an obligation that is impossible for one to free himself from. But very unfortunately in recurring Jewish history, every time that the Jews reached exile settling into their comfort zone, they rejected the Coveted Land and wished to find rest in exile. It's only when Anti-Semitism showed its ugly head that there was an arousal of leaving exile."
"We find the above to be applicable to our forefather Ya'akov himself. After his son Yosef was born (Ya'akov knew prophetically from Yosef's birth that he would have the power to overcome Esav, and thus felt that he could now return to Israel even with the threat of Esav), the Torah writes "Following Rachel giving birth to Yosef, Ya'akov said to Lavan "Send me, so I can go to my place and my land (Israel)"". Mind you, this was after 14 years of Ya'akov working for Lavan and he was still poor. A Biblical commentator Seforno writes on Ya'akov's statement to Lavan - "Though Ya'akov did not own cattle, he certainly had enough to support his family - at least to buy food, clothing and provisions for his return home..." Additionally, while Lavan wished to deduct from Ya'akov salary, and told him what he was going to pay him accordingly, a miracle happened and Ya'akov became rich. SIX MORE YEARS passed since Ya'akov's informing Lavan of his wish to return to Israel, as evidenced from his own words "I was in your house for 20 years - 14 years for your two daughters, and 6 years for your sheep""
"QUESTION: Why did Ya'akov our forefather remain with Lavan for 6 additional years from the time that he wished to return to Israel? ANSWER: After acquring much property, he wanted to acquire more property until he became outstandingly wealthy, as the Torah attests "The man (Ya'akov) became very wealthy - he owned much sheep, maidservants, male servants, camels and donkeys""
"The evil inclination is very hard to conquer. A lion only roars following devouring a container of meat, and does bad things after having its fill. Similarly, since Ya'akov became a wealthy person, it didn't bother him that he living on in exile, so Hashem turned Lavan and his family's feelings against him, in order that the hatred would make Ya'akov understand that he needs to leave, as the Torah informs us "He (Ya'akov) heard Lavan's family saying "Ya'akov took all that belongs to our father (Lavan)...Ya'akov noticed how Lavan did not treat him like he used to" Despite all this, Ya'akov did not rise to return to Israel, so Hashem needed to tell him "Return to your forefathers' land - your birthplace, and I will be with you". Our Rabbis note on this (Bereishit Rabba 73:12) "Hashem said to him, "Your father-in-law (Lavan) doesn't treat you nicely, and you are remaining here? Return to your forefathers' land... We see from here that the plague of wealth and comfort in exile makes one forget the obligation of living in Israel"
Now my friends, picture the scenario. In Ya'akov's time, he didn't have any of the thrills of Jewish living that we have nowadays. There were no Shuls, Yeshiva day schools, Kosher supermarkets, Glatt-Kosher restaurants, gebrucht free Kosher for Passover hotels, JCCs, heimishe neighbors, etc. The only source of Jewish living was in Ya'akov's own home - the environment that his children - who were all righteous - grew up in, and had no Jewish friends from the outside idol worshipping environment. And yet, despite the fact that his childen did not have anything spiritually to look forward to outside the home, Ya'akov our forefather, as great of a righteous person as he was, and as our Rabbis tell us, he surpassed his Zeide Avraham and his Tatte Yitzchak in Torah learning, did not consider moving to the holy land of Israel anytime soon once he got busy acquiring wealth. Certainly, Ya'akov with his good intentions, realized that physical wealth only goes so far in this world, and you can't take it with you in the next. Certainly, he was hoping to have enough to amply support his righteous family, and wasn't looking to have a jacuzzi in his backyard. But...this was Ya'akov's BIG mistake - making the money itself wasn't his ultimate weekness - it was placing this as a priority over Eretz Yisrael. And while Ya'akov first came to Lavan with good intentions of escaping possible death from his brother, and marrying his wives - the only ones in the world he could marry because everyone else was busy worshipping idols, not even the first 14 years were excusable in Hashem's eyes, as this lead to a spiritual downfall of Ya'akov as he remained in Beit Lavan - can be retranslated as the "White House". the center of the United States & world power - thinking that he will have everything good when this was not supposed to be his purpose of being in Beit Lavan to begin with - becoming wealthy was a temporary thing from which Ya'akov should have immediately pulled himself away from and follow his original intentions. Thus, it is no wonder that Hashem punished him for the ENTIRE 22 years because now, if becoming wealth was his end purpose of not living in Hashem's land, then so too was he held accountable for the 22 years that he did not perform acts of honor for his parents had he been in Israel all this time.
So now, in the following week, when we will learn and hear the Torah reading of Parshas Vayetze , as it begins off with Ya'akov leaving Israel and ending off with Ya'akov finally returning to Israel - what will we be thinking about? You see, next week's Parshas Vayetze is the ONLY Parsha of the 54 Parshiyot that has no interruption of space in the Sefer Torah. Perhaps the Torah wants to point out to us that history would repeat itself and the Jewish people would do the same mistake as Ya'akov made - despite leaving Israel based on good intentions or thrown out of Israel, the Jewish people for the large part let itself forget the real purpose of living, and wealth in the United States has become the greatest deterrent in preventing Jews from making Aliyah. It will only be when Jews return to Israel, as Ya'akov finally returned to Israel, that we can have some real semblance of Jewish life, and all the fine Jewish dining of Boro Park, or the Shteiging in learning of Lakewood is not following what the Torah says that HASHEM COMMANDS US TO LIVE IN ISRAEL! Certainly, South Florida, where I come from - and believe me - was real paradise with half the days of winter not being cold as everywhere else in the States; but one day, Hashem woke me up when I saw the front cover of Israpost, a very pro-Israel newspaper based in South Florida, with an article of the latest chartered flight of Jews making Aliyah, and I found myself living in Israel in less than 6 months later.
Yes, following Obama's rise to power thanks to the liberal Democratic Jews feeling comfortable in exile, as predicted in the 5751th verse of the Torah, reminiscent of the year 5751 when Rabbi Meir Kahane was murdered who echoed the message of this 5751th verse, as I wrote about in a previous post, and in between Obama's successful election and upcoming (Nasi-Nazi) presidency was the 18th Yahrzeit of Rabbi Kahane, it is about time that Jews in the United States wake up (not like a Willamsburg Yungerman who recently said ''If Obama wins, I will move to Monsey, I don't won't to live in America any more'', thinking that Monsey is a holy place where "very religious" Jews live, even though it is also in the United States) and at very least, the ones who believe in Kahane's teachings, should follow his teachings once and for all - giving his Neshama the ultimate Aliyah - making Aliyah ourselves while Hashem gives us continued life to be able to make the big move - and by following Hashem's command, He will see to it that we will be able to survive and live in Israel, regardless of how the world economy is turning. It is Hashem Who ultimately runs the world, the economy, and will grant us the blessings mentioned in the Torah that Hashem promises us when we follow what He tells us to do as written in the Torah.
For more information on Rabbi Kahane's teachings and the importance of moving to Israel - especially from the United States, check out http://www.voiceofjudea.com/ & http://www.shuva.net/.
28 Cheshvan, 5769
Over a week ago, it was the Yahrzeit of Rabbi Meir Kahane - particularly his 18th or Chai "LIFE" Yahrzeit that is on Chai (18) Cheshvan. Thus, not only is the date of his Yahrzeit the 18th of Cheshvan when his life was brutally cut short by an accursed Arab, but this year it was the 18th memorial Yahrzeit. It is interesting to note that following his murder, his son and best follower, Rabbi Binyamin Kahane, took over the leadership of the Kahane movement - under the name of KAHANE CHAI. How fitting! Rabbi Meir Kahane was a man of no compromise - his word was the word of Torah with no politics or strings attached. Thus, after he was no longer in our immediate reach, his teachings which are the teachings of Torah LIVE ON. And while there were unfortunately supposed Kahane followers who for political reasons did not want to accept his son Binyamin Kahane as the next leader, this did not take away from the Kahane son's mission of continuing to spread his father's teachings which became much more relevant as time went on with the problems of the Israeli government who were all too eager to give more land away, and the Palestinian Intifadas. While I never had the merit to meet Rabbi Meir Kahane, I had the great fortune of meeting his son Rabbi Binyamin Kahane, who with his quiet nature, did not seem to have had the forceful personality of his father , but was very outspoken when it came to telling the truth that few had the courage to tell it as it is to the Jewish people.
While I live in Israel, I was not able to make it this year to Meir Kahane's burial plot in Har HaMenuchot or attend the annual memorial event held in Jerusalem in his memory. I felt bad in a way because after all, this was his CHAI - 18th - Yahrzeit. However, on second thought, the main thing Meir Kahane stressed in his lifetime was ACTION - not just attending memorial ceremonies of just another victim of Arab terror. Accordingly, the least I can do besides paying mere lip service to the memorial prayer though that is important too for the Neshama's Aliyah in Heaven, is to write to everyone a bit of Meir Kahane's teachings, especially as it relates to what we all need to do more than ever. This will be his ultimate Aliyah (hint, hint).
In Rabbi Meir Kahane's magnum opus called Ohr HaRahyon - or "The Jewish Idea" (one volume in Hebrew, two volumes in English), consisting of 39 chapters, he writes on a variety of topics that are essential to Jewish living. Being that this is his 18th Yahrzeit - I figured that it would be a good idea to check out the 18th chapter in this Sefer - holy book. Lo and behold - a topic I had mentioned in an early post - Eretz Yisrael - the Land of Israel! I think that this is no mere coincidence that Hashem allowed this topic to be the 18th chapter of this book. Jewish living has little meaning without living (and if G-d forbid not immediately possible, with the great yearning for) in the Land of Israel, where Jewish life - CHAI - is meant to be lived. Anyways, I wanted to see what I would write about from this chapter since it isn't exactly just a page or two, so I decided to first count the paragraphs. Very interestingly - this 18th chapter has exactly 19 paragraphs (in the Hebrew edition). This is just like the prayer of Shemoneh Esray - which means 18 - as it originally consisted of 18 blessings, but presently has 19 blessings. Now, the 14th blessing of this prayer is the blessing asking Hashem to rebuild Jerusalem, which is the capital of Israel. So, I figured that I would check out the 14th paragraph of this 18th chapter on Israel, and I will write here a loose translation of the Hebrew (I don't have the English version with me at this time)
Before I begin, in the parenthetical note of the next to the last Rashi on this week's Parshas Toldos, Rashi points out that Ya'akov missed seeing his son Yosef for 22 years as punishment for not having performed the Mitzva of honoring his parents for 22 years from the time he came to his uncle Lavan's place until he returned to Israel. Now, one may ask - wait a minute. I thought that his own parents told him to leave home as his evil brother Eisav wanted to kill him, and since he came to Lavan, he got married and had children who became the ancestors of the Jewish people, so what did Hashem want from Ya'akov when it wan't his fault? This bothered me for a while - at least in terms of some of the years when his wives were busy giving birth. But the following words of Kahane takes away all questions after this. Read on.
"Know, and don't ever forget - Israel was given to the Jewish nation not as rights that one can forgo saying "I don't want it", but as an obligation that is impossible for one to free himself from. But very unfortunately in recurring Jewish history, every time that the Jews reached exile settling into their comfort zone, they rejected the Coveted Land and wished to find rest in exile. It's only when Anti-Semitism showed its ugly head that there was an arousal of leaving exile."
"We find the above to be applicable to our forefather Ya'akov himself. After his son Yosef was born (Ya'akov knew prophetically from Yosef's birth that he would have the power to overcome Esav, and thus felt that he could now return to Israel even with the threat of Esav), the Torah writes "Following Rachel giving birth to Yosef, Ya'akov said to Lavan "Send me, so I can go to my place and my land (Israel)"". Mind you, this was after 14 years of Ya'akov working for Lavan and he was still poor. A Biblical commentator Seforno writes on Ya'akov's statement to Lavan - "Though Ya'akov did not own cattle, he certainly had enough to support his family - at least to buy food, clothing and provisions for his return home..." Additionally, while Lavan wished to deduct from Ya'akov salary, and told him what he was going to pay him accordingly, a miracle happened and Ya'akov became rich. SIX MORE YEARS passed since Ya'akov's informing Lavan of his wish to return to Israel, as evidenced from his own words "I was in your house for 20 years - 14 years for your two daughters, and 6 years for your sheep""
"QUESTION: Why did Ya'akov our forefather remain with Lavan for 6 additional years from the time that he wished to return to Israel? ANSWER: After acquring much property, he wanted to acquire more property until he became outstandingly wealthy, as the Torah attests "The man (Ya'akov) became very wealthy - he owned much sheep, maidservants, male servants, camels and donkeys""
"The evil inclination is very hard to conquer. A lion only roars following devouring a container of meat, and does bad things after having its fill. Similarly, since Ya'akov became a wealthy person, it didn't bother him that he living on in exile, so Hashem turned Lavan and his family's feelings against him, in order that the hatred would make Ya'akov understand that he needs to leave, as the Torah informs us "He (Ya'akov) heard Lavan's family saying "Ya'akov took all that belongs to our father (Lavan)...Ya'akov noticed how Lavan did not treat him like he used to" Despite all this, Ya'akov did not rise to return to Israel, so Hashem needed to tell him "Return to your forefathers' land - your birthplace, and I will be with you". Our Rabbis note on this (Bereishit Rabba 73:12) "Hashem said to him, "Your father-in-law (Lavan) doesn't treat you nicely, and you are remaining here? Return to your forefathers' land... We see from here that the plague of wealth and comfort in exile makes one forget the obligation of living in Israel"
Now my friends, picture the scenario. In Ya'akov's time, he didn't have any of the thrills of Jewish living that we have nowadays. There were no Shuls, Yeshiva day schools, Kosher supermarkets, Glatt-Kosher restaurants, gebrucht free Kosher for Passover hotels, JCCs, heimishe neighbors, etc. The only source of Jewish living was in Ya'akov's own home - the environment that his children - who were all righteous - grew up in, and had no Jewish friends from the outside idol worshipping environment. And yet, despite the fact that his childen did not have anything spiritually to look forward to outside the home, Ya'akov our forefather, as great of a righteous person as he was, and as our Rabbis tell us, he surpassed his Zeide Avraham and his Tatte Yitzchak in Torah learning, did not consider moving to the holy land of Israel anytime soon once he got busy acquiring wealth. Certainly, Ya'akov with his good intentions, realized that physical wealth only goes so far in this world, and you can't take it with you in the next. Certainly, he was hoping to have enough to amply support his righteous family, and wasn't looking to have a jacuzzi in his backyard. But...this was Ya'akov's BIG mistake - making the money itself wasn't his ultimate weekness - it was placing this as a priority over Eretz Yisrael. And while Ya'akov first came to Lavan with good intentions of escaping possible death from his brother, and marrying his wives - the only ones in the world he could marry because everyone else was busy worshipping idols, not even the first 14 years were excusable in Hashem's eyes, as this lead to a spiritual downfall of Ya'akov as he remained in Beit Lavan - can be retranslated as the "White House". the center of the United States & world power - thinking that he will have everything good when this was not supposed to be his purpose of being in Beit Lavan to begin with - becoming wealthy was a temporary thing from which Ya'akov should have immediately pulled himself away from and follow his original intentions. Thus, it is no wonder that Hashem punished him for the ENTIRE 22 years because now, if becoming wealth was his end purpose of not living in Hashem's land, then so too was he held accountable for the 22 years that he did not perform acts of honor for his parents had he been in Israel all this time.
So now, in the following week, when we will learn and hear the Torah reading of Parshas Vayetze , as it begins off with Ya'akov leaving Israel and ending off with Ya'akov finally returning to Israel - what will we be thinking about? You see, next week's Parshas Vayetze is the ONLY Parsha of the 54 Parshiyot that has no interruption of space in the Sefer Torah. Perhaps the Torah wants to point out to us that history would repeat itself and the Jewish people would do the same mistake as Ya'akov made - despite leaving Israel based on good intentions or thrown out of Israel, the Jewish people for the large part let itself forget the real purpose of living, and wealth in the United States has become the greatest deterrent in preventing Jews from making Aliyah. It will only be when Jews return to Israel, as Ya'akov finally returned to Israel, that we can have some real semblance of Jewish life, and all the fine Jewish dining of Boro Park, or the Shteiging in learning of Lakewood is not following what the Torah says that HASHEM COMMANDS US TO LIVE IN ISRAEL! Certainly, South Florida, where I come from - and believe me - was real paradise with half the days of winter not being cold as everywhere else in the States; but one day, Hashem woke me up when I saw the front cover of Israpost, a very pro-Israel newspaper based in South Florida, with an article of the latest chartered flight of Jews making Aliyah, and I found myself living in Israel in less than 6 months later.
Yes, following Obama's rise to power thanks to the liberal Democratic Jews feeling comfortable in exile, as predicted in the 5751th verse of the Torah, reminiscent of the year 5751 when Rabbi Meir Kahane was murdered who echoed the message of this 5751th verse, as I wrote about in a previous post, and in between Obama's successful election and upcoming (Nasi-Nazi) presidency was the 18th Yahrzeit of Rabbi Kahane, it is about time that Jews in the United States wake up (not like a Willamsburg Yungerman who recently said ''If Obama wins, I will move to Monsey, I don't won't to live in America any more'', thinking that Monsey is a holy place where "very religious" Jews live, even though it is also in the United States) and at very least, the ones who believe in Kahane's teachings, should follow his teachings once and for all - giving his Neshama the ultimate Aliyah - making Aliyah ourselves while Hashem gives us continued life to be able to make the big move - and by following Hashem's command, He will see to it that we will be able to survive and live in Israel, regardless of how the world economy is turning. It is Hashem Who ultimately runs the world, the economy, and will grant us the blessings mentioned in the Torah that Hashem promises us when we follow what He tells us to do as written in the Torah.
For more information on Rabbi Kahane's teachings and the importance of moving to Israel - especially from the United States, check out http://www.voiceofjudea.com/ & http://www.shuva.net/.
28 Cheshvan, 5769
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
#8 - MATISYAHU - "Gift of Hashem"
Welcome everyone to my 8th post. It certainly coincides - and I believe with Divine Providence - that this corresponds to tonight's Hebrew date of 15 Cheshvan. You see, this date marks the Yahrzeit of Matisyahu Ben Yochanan Cohen Gadol, the Jewish hero who was responsible for the 8-day holiday of Chanuka. I know, Judah the Maccabbe, one of his five sons, seems to be the hero of Chanuka, for after all, he fought in battle and after winning some wars came to the Beit HaMikdash - Holy Temple and lit the Menorah. In fact, four out of Matisyahu's five sons were killed fighting the enemy, including Judah the Maccabbee. But despite the nice "Biblical" story that those who don't really observe Judaism want to tell it the way they want to, giving Christmas looking "Hannuka" gifts, and pay mere lip service to lighting their non-kosher electric menoras (some accompany them with "Hannuka bushes") it was Matisyahu, the ultimate Chanuka gift - "Gift of Hashem" - who was the big hero here.
Yes, it bothers me to see a particular neighborhood in Tel Aviv, where while Judah the Maccabbe gets a nice one-mile business street named after him, his own father Matisyahu who started the revolution has his name attached to a tiny street tucked away in some residential corner. But the facts are what our holy rabbis, who don't rattle off biblical stories because they sound popular, convey to us. It was Matisyahu who had no fear killing a Hellenistic Jew who dared to sacrifice a pig on the altar. Matisyahu wasn't afraid of what the Syrian Greeks would do to him, or what the modern Jewish critics would be labeling him. He did what was right, declaring the same message as Moshe Rabbeinu did when Jews worshipped the Golden Calf "Mi LaHashem Eilai" -
"Whoever is for Hashem is for me" . It was none other that the Tribe of Levi who answered Moshe's challenge and had no hesistation killing some 3,000 Jews who worshipped their first idol since the Torah was given. As a reward, it was this very tribe of Levi who became the Cohanim & Levites. Matisyahu was a descendant of the Cohanim, who called out the same way following killing the idol-worshipping Jew, and his five sons plus a few others, called the Maccabbes, joined the call.
I know that if Matisyahu would have done the same thing today - there would be Modern Orthodox rabbis who would be banging on their pulpit stand (instead of banging their heart in confessing their sin of lack of trust in Hashem as I wrote in a previous blog) declaring the same rhetoric as they did following the assisination of Yitzchak Rabin, when they wasted no time denouncing Yigal Amir for committing murder when in fact he wasn't the one who actually pulled the death trigger, but this supposed murder coming from Yigal Amir bothered them more than what Rabin was doing in helping giving away our Holy Land. In fact, one rabbi wrote in a book that he published (I don't want to say what book it is because such Torah is not fit for anyone to read as you will see in a minute) that Yigal Amir murdered Yitzchak Rabin, when the context of what this rabbi wrote had nothing to do with whoever actually did the deed. When I E-mailed this rabbi about the findings of Barry Chamish and video proof that it was not Yigal Amir, which has been widely known for many years before this rabbi wrote his book, in his return reply to me, he refused to address these facts - he just wrote that he "feels sorry for Yigal Amir". If he truly felt so sorry for him, then why repeat the Loshon Hora - evil talk (actually he did something worse called Motzi Shem Ra, saying something false) about another Jew, especially in a published book- which is forbidden even if it is widely known, despite how people mistake this Halacha - Jewish Law?
Anyways, while Matisyahu never realized the results of his dream of religious freedom before he passed away as an old man, he will forever be the one responsible for the holiday of Chanuka. Imagine - 8 days of Chanuka every year. It's more than 2% of our lifetimes spent with this holiday. It may not seem alot, but you do the math. Indeed, throughout these eight days - we mention in the special Al HaNissim prayer at least 26 times in all Shemoneh Esrays that we pray, besides bentching - thanking Hashem for His miracles, we start the particular prayer of Chanuka with "Bimay Matisyahu" - "In the days of Matisyahu". It doesn't mention the names of his sons, just mentions that he had sons who helped him fight for the cause.
So you ask, any Gematrias here other than mentioning that this is the 8th post talking about the 8 day holiday? Well, we mentioned that after winning some wars, the Maccabbes came to the Beit HaMikdash and lit the Menorah. Indeed, Matisyahu has the same Gematria as Beit HaMikdash - 861. Indeed, Matisyahu was a Cohen, and it is the Cohanim who are the ones performing the daily service in the Beit HaMikdash.
Another major thing here is that while Hashem gave us 613 Mitzvot - the Rabbis over time gave us seven other Mitzvot. Now we need to point out here - the Rabbis did not intend to add to the Torah. When the rabbis instituted certain rules and regulations - this was simply to uphold the Torah so it would not be violated. Many things that we don't do today on Shabbat were in fact one time permissible, including business transactions (that don't involve writing of course), but the Rabbis, wanting to maintain the spirit of Shabbat and prevent violations, forbade things that according to the Torah would be permissible. They also instituted most of the blessings that we recite today. Reading the Megilla on Purim, and lighting the Chanuka candles were the last to be instituted of the "7 Mitzvot of the Rabbis". It is Chanuka -particularly lighting the Menorah - that is considered the 620th Mitzva. The number 620 is the Gematriya of Keter - Crown. This is the highest level of the Sephirot - Emanations of Hashem - in the intellectual aspect. So it was none other than Matisyahu who was responsible for this, even though he never got to live to see Chanuka be a reality.
There is in fact in the Hidden Codes of the Torah as to a hint to Matisyahu at the END OF THE TORAH - just like he was responsible for the END OF THE MITZVOT. (I didn't discover this, this is well known) In the verse that mentions that Moshe Rabbeinu died - Vayamat Shahm Moshe - it begins with the Mem in Moshe. Count every 50th letter following this Mem, and it will spell equidistantly the name of Matisyahu. In fact, the Hei in his name also coincides with Moshe's name with his Hei. The significance of number 50 is most related to Mattan Torah - the Giving of the Torah, when we received the Torah & Mitzvot - which was the 50th day from after the Jews left Egypt. Yes, the Torah is a gift to us from Hashem, and Matisyahu, whose name means "Gift of Hashem" was responsible for completing the manufacture of this Gift - since Hashem tell us to listen to the rabbis who uphold the Torah, which included instituting the Mitzva of Chanuka.
On a personal note, I was given only one name at my Bris - Shimon. It certainly is a most beautiful name, but growing up, I noticed that most of my classmates in whatever Yeshiva school had two Hebrew names. If I would have been named after a particular relative who had only one name, perhaps I would feel differently, but I felt at a relatively young age that something was missing. Some five years ago, in the midst of voice lessons from a very spiritual lady named Dr. Miriam J. Arman, who saved my voice when I was a Torah reader before I made Aliyah, (you can check her website http://www.nvo.com/greatvoice) or (http://www.musicvisionsintl.org/) asked me one time if I had a second Hebrew name. While I didn't, I am a Levite, and as we know, it was particularly the Levites who sang in the Beit HaMikdash. She told me to use this as my strength in singing. However, it was right after this that a particularly name came to mind - not because of the name itself, but the one who had this name - the name of the Jewish hero Matisyahu Ben Yochanan Cohen Gadol. It took a long time for me to muster the courage to give myself an additional Hebrew name - this is usually only done when someone is G-d forbid very sick. But this past Rosh Chodesh Nissan - a time of new beginnings - I had myself given this additional name at the Keriat HaTorah of Rosh Chodesh. Now, I am called to the Sefer Torah as Shimon Matisyahu...Very interesting, because Shimon Matisyahu is the same Gematria as Keriat HaTorah (reading of the Torah) - 1327! I had no intention of this when I first wanted to give myself this 2nd Hebrew name, but in fact, I was a Torah reader for many years. (There are a number of other Gematrias related to the name Matisyahu that prove to me that it was meant for me to give myself this additional name, but is beyond the scope of our topic here - I hope to address this at another time) Additionally, in the Book of Chronicles, the 24th and last book in T'Nach, it mentions the list of the names of the 24 watches of the Levites who sang, like the 24 watches of the Cohanim. The 14th watch of the Levites was named after a Levi named Matisyahu (Divrei Hayamim I 25:21). As a Levi, I am greatly encouraged by this divine inspiration of giving myself this particular name for using my singing talents in reading the Torah. I hope that in the near future, I will B'Ezrat Hashem have the merit of singing in the Beit HaMikdash that we soon hope for.
Without me realizing this before I gave myself my second name Matisyahu, the historical hero of Chanuka was in fact the grandson of Shimon HaTzadik/Shimon the Just who was one of the first Cohanim Gedolim/High Priests of the Second Temple who was in his position for 40 years. He also was the last of the 120 members of the Anshei Knesset HaGedola/Men of the Great Assembly who instituted various prayers and Jewish laws to uphold Judaism. He is mentioned in Pirkei Avot/Ethics of the Fathers in which the second Mishna quotes him of saying "On three things does the world stand on: the Torah, the Avodah (prayer/sacrifices), and doing deeds of kindness".
There are a couple of famous people who have the name Matisyahu, and is also a name of a place. First of all, there is the famous singer named Matisyahu, just check his website at http://www.matisyahuworld.com/. Then there is Rabbi Matisyahu Glazerson, Shlita who is famed for his findings of the Hidden Codes in the Torah. Virtually every Seforim store should have at least a few of his many books on his findings, some pertaining to recent events in Israel and around the world, pointing to the "End of Days" that we have to be prepared for doing repentance. And finally, there is a Moshav in Israel named Moshav Matisyahu (http://www.matityahu.org/) whose rabbi is Rabbi Zev Leff, Shlita was my first Gemara Rebbe and spoke at my Bar Mitzva only months before he moved to Israel in 1983. You can check out his own website of Gemara Shiurim and his forum of questions and answers where you can pose a question to him at http://www.rabbileff.net/ (if you are encountering problems with it, try it another time, but this is the correct website name).
By the way, my first name Shimon is similar to the number 8 in Hebrew - Shemoneh. Matisyahu of the Chanuka story, after whom I gave myself his name, was the one who is given credit by the Rabbis as the one responsible for the 8-day holiday of Chanuka. And the best way of fulfilling the Mitzva of lighting the Menorah is using olive oil - Shemen Zayit, the way that it was done in the Beit HaMikdash, in which Shemen, the Hebrew word for oil, is also similar to the number 8 in Hebrew. As the first letter of Matisyahu is Mem which is the Gematria of 40, his Yahrzeit - 15 Cheshvan - is either 40 days before Chanuka or the 1st day of Chanuka is the 40th day from his Yahrzeit (depending on whether Cheshvan has 29 or 30 days in the month). Also, the Sefer called Bnei Yissachar says that in the future - Cheshvan will be the month marking the dedication of the 3rd Beit HaMikdash. Matisyahu, whose Gematriya is the same as Beit HaMikdash (861), has his Yahrzeit right in the center of this month which in the future will mark the dedication of the upcoming Beit HaMikdash.
As the Maharal of Prague writes, the number 8 signifies Hashem's miracles which are beyond the regular nature of the world, the latter of which is signified by 7 as in the 7 days of the ordinary week. Matisyahu, who fought the potential spiritual genocide threatened by the Syrian Greeks, had no fear of the ordinary events around him - and thus this lead to the Jewish holiday marking our deliverance from spiritual genocide, having 8 days; just like the Sukkot holiday which concludes with Shemini Atzeret - the 8th day from the beginning of Sukkot, the day also being celebrated as Simchat Torah in Eretz Yisrael, when we conclude the Torah in which is hinted the name of Matisyahu.
Next time: Who in recent times followed in Matisyahu's footsteps and showed great bravery despite all odds? Stay tuned to a modern-day Matisyahu.
Yahrzeit of Matisyahu Ben Yochanan Cohen Gadol/15 Cheshvan, 5769
Yes, it bothers me to see a particular neighborhood in Tel Aviv, where while Judah the Maccabbe gets a nice one-mile business street named after him, his own father Matisyahu who started the revolution has his name attached to a tiny street tucked away in some residential corner. But the facts are what our holy rabbis, who don't rattle off biblical stories because they sound popular, convey to us. It was Matisyahu who had no fear killing a Hellenistic Jew who dared to sacrifice a pig on the altar. Matisyahu wasn't afraid of what the Syrian Greeks would do to him, or what the modern Jewish critics would be labeling him. He did what was right, declaring the same message as Moshe Rabbeinu did when Jews worshipped the Golden Calf "Mi LaHashem Eilai" -
"Whoever is for Hashem is for me" . It was none other that the Tribe of Levi who answered Moshe's challenge and had no hesistation killing some 3,000 Jews who worshipped their first idol since the Torah was given. As a reward, it was this very tribe of Levi who became the Cohanim & Levites. Matisyahu was a descendant of the Cohanim, who called out the same way following killing the idol-worshipping Jew, and his five sons plus a few others, called the Maccabbes, joined the call.
I know that if Matisyahu would have done the same thing today - there would be Modern Orthodox rabbis who would be banging on their pulpit stand (instead of banging their heart in confessing their sin of lack of trust in Hashem as I wrote in a previous blog) declaring the same rhetoric as they did following the assisination of Yitzchak Rabin, when they wasted no time denouncing Yigal Amir for committing murder when in fact he wasn't the one who actually pulled the death trigger, but this supposed murder coming from Yigal Amir bothered them more than what Rabin was doing in helping giving away our Holy Land. In fact, one rabbi wrote in a book that he published (I don't want to say what book it is because such Torah is not fit for anyone to read as you will see in a minute) that Yigal Amir murdered Yitzchak Rabin, when the context of what this rabbi wrote had nothing to do with whoever actually did the deed. When I E-mailed this rabbi about the findings of Barry Chamish and video proof that it was not Yigal Amir, which has been widely known for many years before this rabbi wrote his book, in his return reply to me, he refused to address these facts - he just wrote that he "feels sorry for Yigal Amir". If he truly felt so sorry for him, then why repeat the Loshon Hora - evil talk (actually he did something worse called Motzi Shem Ra, saying something false) about another Jew, especially in a published book- which is forbidden even if it is widely known, despite how people mistake this Halacha - Jewish Law?
Anyways, while Matisyahu never realized the results of his dream of religious freedom before he passed away as an old man, he will forever be the one responsible for the holiday of Chanuka. Imagine - 8 days of Chanuka every year. It's more than 2% of our lifetimes spent with this holiday. It may not seem alot, but you do the math. Indeed, throughout these eight days - we mention in the special Al HaNissim prayer at least 26 times in all Shemoneh Esrays that we pray, besides bentching - thanking Hashem for His miracles, we start the particular prayer of Chanuka with "Bimay Matisyahu" - "In the days of Matisyahu". It doesn't mention the names of his sons, just mentions that he had sons who helped him fight for the cause.
So you ask, any Gematrias here other than mentioning that this is the 8th post talking about the 8 day holiday? Well, we mentioned that after winning some wars, the Maccabbes came to the Beit HaMikdash and lit the Menorah. Indeed, Matisyahu has the same Gematria as Beit HaMikdash - 861. Indeed, Matisyahu was a Cohen, and it is the Cohanim who are the ones performing the daily service in the Beit HaMikdash.
Another major thing here is that while Hashem gave us 613 Mitzvot - the Rabbis over time gave us seven other Mitzvot. Now we need to point out here - the Rabbis did not intend to add to the Torah. When the rabbis instituted certain rules and regulations - this was simply to uphold the Torah so it would not be violated. Many things that we don't do today on Shabbat were in fact one time permissible, including business transactions (that don't involve writing of course), but the Rabbis, wanting to maintain the spirit of Shabbat and prevent violations, forbade things that according to the Torah would be permissible. They also instituted most of the blessings that we recite today. Reading the Megilla on Purim, and lighting the Chanuka candles were the last to be instituted of the "7 Mitzvot of the Rabbis". It is Chanuka -particularly lighting the Menorah - that is considered the 620th Mitzva. The number 620 is the Gematriya of Keter - Crown. This is the highest level of the Sephirot - Emanations of Hashem - in the intellectual aspect. So it was none other than Matisyahu who was responsible for this, even though he never got to live to see Chanuka be a reality.
There is in fact in the Hidden Codes of the Torah as to a hint to Matisyahu at the END OF THE TORAH - just like he was responsible for the END OF THE MITZVOT. (I didn't discover this, this is well known) In the verse that mentions that Moshe Rabbeinu died - Vayamat Shahm Moshe - it begins with the Mem in Moshe. Count every 50th letter following this Mem, and it will spell equidistantly the name of Matisyahu. In fact, the Hei in his name also coincides with Moshe's name with his Hei. The significance of number 50 is most related to Mattan Torah - the Giving of the Torah, when we received the Torah & Mitzvot - which was the 50th day from after the Jews left Egypt. Yes, the Torah is a gift to us from Hashem, and Matisyahu, whose name means "Gift of Hashem" was responsible for completing the manufacture of this Gift - since Hashem tell us to listen to the rabbis who uphold the Torah, which included instituting the Mitzva of Chanuka.
On a personal note, I was given only one name at my Bris - Shimon. It certainly is a most beautiful name, but growing up, I noticed that most of my classmates in whatever Yeshiva school had two Hebrew names. If I would have been named after a particular relative who had only one name, perhaps I would feel differently, but I felt at a relatively young age that something was missing. Some five years ago, in the midst of voice lessons from a very spiritual lady named Dr. Miriam J. Arman, who saved my voice when I was a Torah reader before I made Aliyah, (you can check her website http://www.nvo.com/greatvoice) or (http://www.musicvisionsintl.org/) asked me one time if I had a second Hebrew name. While I didn't, I am a Levite, and as we know, it was particularly the Levites who sang in the Beit HaMikdash. She told me to use this as my strength in singing. However, it was right after this that a particularly name came to mind - not because of the name itself, but the one who had this name - the name of the Jewish hero Matisyahu Ben Yochanan Cohen Gadol. It took a long time for me to muster the courage to give myself an additional Hebrew name - this is usually only done when someone is G-d forbid very sick. But this past Rosh Chodesh Nissan - a time of new beginnings - I had myself given this additional name at the Keriat HaTorah of Rosh Chodesh. Now, I am called to the Sefer Torah as Shimon Matisyahu...Very interesting, because Shimon Matisyahu is the same Gematria as Keriat HaTorah (reading of the Torah) - 1327! I had no intention of this when I first wanted to give myself this 2nd Hebrew name, but in fact, I was a Torah reader for many years. (There are a number of other Gematrias related to the name Matisyahu that prove to me that it was meant for me to give myself this additional name, but is beyond the scope of our topic here - I hope to address this at another time) Additionally, in the Book of Chronicles, the 24th and last book in T'Nach, it mentions the list of the names of the 24 watches of the Levites who sang, like the 24 watches of the Cohanim. The 14th watch of the Levites was named after a Levi named Matisyahu (Divrei Hayamim I 25:21). As a Levi, I am greatly encouraged by this divine inspiration of giving myself this particular name for using my singing talents in reading the Torah. I hope that in the near future, I will B'Ezrat Hashem have the merit of singing in the Beit HaMikdash that we soon hope for.
Without me realizing this before I gave myself my second name Matisyahu, the historical hero of Chanuka was in fact the grandson of Shimon HaTzadik/Shimon the Just who was one of the first Cohanim Gedolim/High Priests of the Second Temple who was in his position for 40 years. He also was the last of the 120 members of the Anshei Knesset HaGedola/Men of the Great Assembly who instituted various prayers and Jewish laws to uphold Judaism. He is mentioned in Pirkei Avot/Ethics of the Fathers in which the second Mishna quotes him of saying "On three things does the world stand on: the Torah, the Avodah (prayer/sacrifices), and doing deeds of kindness".
There are a couple of famous people who have the name Matisyahu, and is also a name of a place. First of all, there is the famous singer named Matisyahu, just check his website at http://www.matisyahuworld.com/. Then there is Rabbi Matisyahu Glazerson, Shlita who is famed for his findings of the Hidden Codes in the Torah. Virtually every Seforim store should have at least a few of his many books on his findings, some pertaining to recent events in Israel and around the world, pointing to the "End of Days" that we have to be prepared for doing repentance. And finally, there is a Moshav in Israel named Moshav Matisyahu (http://www.matityahu.org/) whose rabbi is Rabbi Zev Leff, Shlita was my first Gemara Rebbe and spoke at my Bar Mitzva only months before he moved to Israel in 1983. You can check out his own website of Gemara Shiurim and his forum of questions and answers where you can pose a question to him at http://www.rabbileff.net/ (if you are encountering problems with it, try it another time, but this is the correct website name).
By the way, my first name Shimon is similar to the number 8 in Hebrew - Shemoneh. Matisyahu of the Chanuka story, after whom I gave myself his name, was the one who is given credit by the Rabbis as the one responsible for the 8-day holiday of Chanuka. And the best way of fulfilling the Mitzva of lighting the Menorah is using olive oil - Shemen Zayit, the way that it was done in the Beit HaMikdash, in which Shemen, the Hebrew word for oil, is also similar to the number 8 in Hebrew. As the first letter of Matisyahu is Mem which is the Gematria of 40, his Yahrzeit - 15 Cheshvan - is either 40 days before Chanuka or the 1st day of Chanuka is the 40th day from his Yahrzeit (depending on whether Cheshvan has 29 or 30 days in the month). Also, the Sefer called Bnei Yissachar says that in the future - Cheshvan will be the month marking the dedication of the 3rd Beit HaMikdash. Matisyahu, whose Gematriya is the same as Beit HaMikdash (861), has his Yahrzeit right in the center of this month which in the future will mark the dedication of the upcoming Beit HaMikdash.
As the Maharal of Prague writes, the number 8 signifies Hashem's miracles which are beyond the regular nature of the world, the latter of which is signified by 7 as in the 7 days of the ordinary week. Matisyahu, who fought the potential spiritual genocide threatened by the Syrian Greeks, had no fear of the ordinary events around him - and thus this lead to the Jewish holiday marking our deliverance from spiritual genocide, having 8 days; just like the Sukkot holiday which concludes with Shemini Atzeret - the 8th day from the beginning of Sukkot, the day also being celebrated as Simchat Torah in Eretz Yisrael, when we conclude the Torah in which is hinted the name of Matisyahu.
Next time: Who in recent times followed in Matisyahu's footsteps and showed great bravery despite all odds? Stay tuned to a modern-day Matisyahu.
Yahrzeit of Matisyahu Ben Yochanan Cohen Gadol/15 Cheshvan, 5769
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
#7 - Countdown 2 Bircat HaChama
Yes, the original thing in the sky - the sun, moon, starts & the rest of the planetary system were created on the 4th day of Creation. The birds were created a day later, and planes were just invented one century ago. We are very close on the countdown to the day we praise Hashem for the sun - called Bircat HaChama - that is in the same position which always falls out on the 4th day of the week as in Creation - which happens once in every 28 years. We are now exactly 5 months, or 21 weeks , or 147 days away. This ceremony will be taking place on the morning of April 8, 2009 on Erev Pesach - the same day as some 12 hours later, we will finding ourselves celebrating the Seder - the last time this event will be falling out on Erev Pesach in the 6,000 years of the world's existance.
My question to you is - where will YOU be on this momentous occasion? On my end, I remember this event 28 years ago, when I was in Yeshiva elementary day school, and we went to the beach on the east side of town where we could have a clear view of the sun in the morning to praise Hashem for this momentous occasion. Back then, it was Miami Beach, Florida - this time for me, it will be nowhere except in Jerusalem, Israel at the Kotel. Who knows what will be in 28 years from now? Baruch Hashem, I'm now living in Israel - my only challenge is getting there after searching for Chametz the evening before right before Pesach, getting a little sleep, and then racing to the Kotel some time before dawn before it gets pack jammed.
So other than the number 28, what does Bircat HaChama have to do with Gematriya? The answer - this is what connects the end of the Torah with the beginning of the Torah.
At the end of some Chamashim-the five Books of Moses- and Moshe (Moses) is compared to the sun as our Rabbis tell us P'nei Moshe K'Pnei HaChama - Moshe's face is compared to that of the sun - you will see a list of the number of letters, words, and verses in the Chumash, as I discussed in my very first post. This time we will be focusing on the total number of verses - which are 5845 in total. There is a Siman - sign that is given to remember this - it's in the phrase "Ohr HaChama Yihyeh Shivatayim" - (Yeshaya 30:26) This verse in T'Nach is telling us that in the future, the light of the sun will be sevenfold - (THIS IS MY SEVENTH BLOG). In any case, HaChama bears the number 5845 at this - Hey=5, Cheit=8, Mem=40, Hei=5. Take away the zero number from here, put the numbers together - and presto! The magic number of 5845 - the number of verses of the Chumash is hinted in the word for "the sun". In fact, this phrase "Ohr HaChama" is written one more time in the Torah - in that same verse. It says that the light of the moon will in the future have the brightness of today's sun, and today's sun will be 7x it's own brightness today like it was originally when Hashem created the world, but decreased its brightness for the time being.
Now, let's look at the beginning of the Chumash - particularly, the very first Rashi - the number one commentary on the Chumash. "Bereishit" - "Rabbi Yitzchak says: The Torah only needed to start from where it says the 1st Mitzva commanded to the Jewish nation "This month shall be to you" (referring to Nissan being the first of the months - the Mitzva to look for the New Moon to declare a new month). So why did the Torah start with its historical account (since the main purpose of the Torah are the 613 Mitzvot that Hashem commanded us)? Because of what it says "The power of Hashem's works He declared to His nation, to give them the inheritance of nations" (Psalms 111:6) for should the other nations challenge us saying that we are robbers for we conquered the land - the Land of Israel - that at one time belonged to other nations, we can answer back that really all the land belongs to Hashem, for after all, Hashem created it and gave it to whoever He felt like giving it to. With the same will that Hashem used giving this land to them , is the same will that Hashem used in taking it away from them and giving it to us."
Now, a question can be asked here. Why is Hashem so worried that we have to have a "lullabie story" to appease the nations? The truth is that Hashem can do what He wants anyways, so who cares what the nations think. If we do the right thing, Hashem will protect us from them anyways, so why should Hashem go out of His way in the Torah just to give the goyim an answer to shut them up? I think the key to the answer lies in the above verse quoted from Psalms - "The power of Hashem's works". Hashem wants the world to know of His power, as He demonstrates it best when Hashem grants us His gifts - including the place for us to live to serve Hashem, just as Hashem created the world in its entirety so mankind can do its function. Now, in this context, the Hebrew world for power is Ko'ach. This word has the Gematria of 28 - and indeed the sun - over which we praise Hashem every 28 years - is the most powerful object seen on this planet - just ask your eyes. Indeed, the very last words of the Torah/Chumash is "L'Einei Kol Yisrael" literally means "in front of the eyes of the entire nation of Israel". Also, the very first verse in the Torah has exactly 28 letters.
In the first day of creation - in creating the light - Ohr - it says "Yehi Ohr". Hashem said "Let there be light". I will show you how this phrase, and the word Ohr itself, refers to this very Bircat HaChama in all of history. You see, on this coming Erev Pesach, April 8, 2009, it will be the 207th time that the sun will be in the exact same orbitary position from the first time that it was at its creation. Indeed, Ohr-"Light" is the Gematria of 207! Moreover, the phrase Yehi Ohr is the Gematria of 232, and this year 5769 is the 232nd year from the end of the slated 6,000 years of this worlds' existance! I truly believe that it will be THIS Bircat HaChama that will take place right before Passover - the holiday of redemption - that will usher in the Messianic Era that will begin to change the world.
But wait, there is more. The very beginning of Tractate Pesachim, the section in the Mishna that deals with the laws of Passover starts off with the words "Ohr L'Arba'ah Asar" - The "Ohr" referring to the night of the 14th (day of Nissan) talking about searching for Chametz which is supposed to be done at the BEGINNING of the night. Similarly, when Hashem created the sun and all, this happened at the BEGINNING of the night - which happened on Tuesday evening - the night of the 4th day of the week, since according to the Jewish calendar, the day begins at night. Similarly, this year, 14th day of Nissan will fall out on the 4th day of the week, when we will be praising Hashem for the sun for its same orbital position for it's 207(th)=Ohr time - that is, the Ohr - 207th time that will fall out this time - and the last time of the world's existance - on the 14th of Nissan - "Ohr L'Arba'ah Asar"! Thus, both the Chumash in its description of the light's creation, and the Mishna's law on searching for Chametz on the night of the 14th of Nissan, the evening before Passover, are both referring to this one day of history as this type of combination that never happened before, and will never happen again! That is, there is only one time in history that it's the 207th time - exactly 232 years before the end of world history, and it coincides with the 14th of Nissan, as hinted in the Mishna! Indeed, the light of spirituality as it was when the sun was first created will be here once again - which will begin in exactly five months!
Now, I will ask you again - where will YOU be on this day of Bircat HaChama - and this very Bircat haChama which will usher in THE new era of spirituality of the Messianic Era??? Remember the very first Rashi that we quoted which is all about the Land of Israel associated with Hashem's power- Ko'ach which equals 28. If it's too inconvenient for you for any reason to be at the Kotel - you want to be somewhere on this Biblical Holy Land on this most momentous day that NEVER happened before and will NEVER happen again!
14 Cheshvan, 5769
My question to you is - where will YOU be on this momentous occasion? On my end, I remember this event 28 years ago, when I was in Yeshiva elementary day school, and we went to the beach on the east side of town where we could have a clear view of the sun in the morning to praise Hashem for this momentous occasion. Back then, it was Miami Beach, Florida - this time for me, it will be nowhere except in Jerusalem, Israel at the Kotel. Who knows what will be in 28 years from now? Baruch Hashem, I'm now living in Israel - my only challenge is getting there after searching for Chametz the evening before right before Pesach, getting a little sleep, and then racing to the Kotel some time before dawn before it gets pack jammed.
So other than the number 28, what does Bircat HaChama have to do with Gematriya? The answer - this is what connects the end of the Torah with the beginning of the Torah.
At the end of some Chamashim-the five Books of Moses- and Moshe (Moses) is compared to the sun as our Rabbis tell us P'nei Moshe K'Pnei HaChama - Moshe's face is compared to that of the sun - you will see a list of the number of letters, words, and verses in the Chumash, as I discussed in my very first post. This time we will be focusing on the total number of verses - which are 5845 in total. There is a Siman - sign that is given to remember this - it's in the phrase "Ohr HaChama Yihyeh Shivatayim" - (Yeshaya 30:26) This verse in T'Nach is telling us that in the future, the light of the sun will be sevenfold - (THIS IS MY SEVENTH BLOG). In any case, HaChama bears the number 5845 at this - Hey=5, Cheit=8, Mem=40, Hei=5. Take away the zero number from here, put the numbers together - and presto! The magic number of 5845 - the number of verses of the Chumash is hinted in the word for "the sun". In fact, this phrase "Ohr HaChama" is written one more time in the Torah - in that same verse. It says that the light of the moon will in the future have the brightness of today's sun, and today's sun will be 7x it's own brightness today like it was originally when Hashem created the world, but decreased its brightness for the time being.
Now, let's look at the beginning of the Chumash - particularly, the very first Rashi - the number one commentary on the Chumash. "Bereishit" - "Rabbi Yitzchak says: The Torah only needed to start from where it says the 1st Mitzva commanded to the Jewish nation "This month shall be to you" (referring to Nissan being the first of the months - the Mitzva to look for the New Moon to declare a new month). So why did the Torah start with its historical account (since the main purpose of the Torah are the 613 Mitzvot that Hashem commanded us)? Because of what it says "The power of Hashem's works He declared to His nation, to give them the inheritance of nations" (Psalms 111:6) for should the other nations challenge us saying that we are robbers for we conquered the land - the Land of Israel - that at one time belonged to other nations, we can answer back that really all the land belongs to Hashem, for after all, Hashem created it and gave it to whoever He felt like giving it to. With the same will that Hashem used giving this land to them , is the same will that Hashem used in taking it away from them and giving it to us."
Now, a question can be asked here. Why is Hashem so worried that we have to have a "lullabie story" to appease the nations? The truth is that Hashem can do what He wants anyways, so who cares what the nations think. If we do the right thing, Hashem will protect us from them anyways, so why should Hashem go out of His way in the Torah just to give the goyim an answer to shut them up? I think the key to the answer lies in the above verse quoted from Psalms - "The power of Hashem's works". Hashem wants the world to know of His power, as He demonstrates it best when Hashem grants us His gifts - including the place for us to live to serve Hashem, just as Hashem created the world in its entirety so mankind can do its function. Now, in this context, the Hebrew world for power is Ko'ach. This word has the Gematria of 28 - and indeed the sun - over which we praise Hashem every 28 years - is the most powerful object seen on this planet - just ask your eyes. Indeed, the very last words of the Torah/Chumash is "L'Einei Kol Yisrael" literally means "in front of the eyes of the entire nation of Israel". Also, the very first verse in the Torah has exactly 28 letters.
In the first day of creation - in creating the light - Ohr - it says "Yehi Ohr". Hashem said "Let there be light". I will show you how this phrase, and the word Ohr itself, refers to this very Bircat HaChama in all of history. You see, on this coming Erev Pesach, April 8, 2009, it will be the 207th time that the sun will be in the exact same orbitary position from the first time that it was at its creation. Indeed, Ohr-"Light" is the Gematria of 207! Moreover, the phrase Yehi Ohr is the Gematria of 232, and this year 5769 is the 232nd year from the end of the slated 6,000 years of this worlds' existance! I truly believe that it will be THIS Bircat HaChama that will take place right before Passover - the holiday of redemption - that will usher in the Messianic Era that will begin to change the world.
But wait, there is more. The very beginning of Tractate Pesachim, the section in the Mishna that deals with the laws of Passover starts off with the words "Ohr L'Arba'ah Asar" - The "Ohr" referring to the night of the 14th (day of Nissan) talking about searching for Chametz which is supposed to be done at the BEGINNING of the night. Similarly, when Hashem created the sun and all, this happened at the BEGINNING of the night - which happened on Tuesday evening - the night of the 4th day of the week, since according to the Jewish calendar, the day begins at night. Similarly, this year, 14th day of Nissan will fall out on the 4th day of the week, when we will be praising Hashem for the sun for its same orbital position for it's 207(th)=Ohr time - that is, the Ohr - 207th time that will fall out this time - and the last time of the world's existance - on the 14th of Nissan - "Ohr L'Arba'ah Asar"! Thus, both the Chumash in its description of the light's creation, and the Mishna's law on searching for Chametz on the night of the 14th of Nissan, the evening before Passover, are both referring to this one day of history as this type of combination that never happened before, and will never happen again! That is, there is only one time in history that it's the 207th time - exactly 232 years before the end of world history, and it coincides with the 14th of Nissan, as hinted in the Mishna! Indeed, the light of spirituality as it was when the sun was first created will be here once again - which will begin in exactly five months!
Now, I will ask you again - where will YOU be on this day of Bircat HaChama - and this very Bircat haChama which will usher in THE new era of spirituality of the Messianic Era??? Remember the very first Rashi that we quoted which is all about the Land of Israel associated with Hashem's power- Ko'ach which equals 28. If it's too inconvenient for you for any reason to be at the Kotel - you want to be somewhere on this Biblical Holy Land on this most momentous day that NEVER happened before and will NEVER happen again!
14 Cheshvan, 5769
Sunday, November 9, 2008
#6 - TRUST in 2009
As you will see in some of my previous posts - we have used the non-Jewish calendar to point out to specific years as hinted in the Torah. If someone would have told me years ago about these type of hints, maybe I would have been skeptical because after all, the years are supposed to follow the time of Hashem's creating the world, not based on someone who was Hashem's rebel child - Yeshu. But believe it or not - there is no problem wishing a non-Jew "Happy New Year" (not writing this as a Halachic decision - consult your local Orthodox Jewish rabbi) because there is in fact a verse in Tehillim (Psalms 87:6) "Hashem Yispor B'Chsov Amim" Not getting into the actual translation - this can be read as "Hashem counts according to the writing of the nations" That is, Hashem deals with the non-Jewish nations according to the way they take accounting of things. As far as they are concerned, it's now the year 2008, not 5769. So accordingly, Hashem has His ways of hinting things pertaining to them according to how they write their years. So when the terrorists of 9/11 took matters into their hands , they in effect began the period of B'Acharit HaYamim - "In the End of Days" the final era of our exile. Now note the first two letters of B'Acharit - Beit, Alef. Spelling this as a number, it's 2001, the year of this most tragic event that changed the world - leading to a seven year war until now, financed by countless money until the economy, especially in the United States, has been dwindling, and there really is no clear forcast, unlike in the past, as to when this situation will reverse.
The economy, as represented by money - consists of currency & CHANGE. On all United States money - you will see the words "In G-d we trust". Trust is BITACHON in Hebrew. The first two letters in Bitachon is Beit, Teit. Spelling this as a number, it's 2009. When Obama will officially become president, it will be in 2009. So what we will see here is one or another of these types of people - those who trust in G-d & those who trust in Obama. Before, it may have not been so evident as to who was the President of the United States as per this trust, there was not so much of a difference between one president and the next - virtually all of them were "good" Christians, had their brownie points about Israel, and all looked like the typical Caucasian American. So even if one voted for a different candidate, it wasn't so hard to come to terms. But now, there are some who have woke up and realize that indeed "CHANGE has come to America". The truth is that there are a lot of people who really trust in Hashem, at least when they realize that something is truly wrong. However, for those who have the Yetzer Hara - Evil Inclination overpowering them, it doesn't matter if Obama shows a Moslem past, if he is really not a naturalized born citizen as per the Constitutional rule for a U.S. President, if he covers up half the truth in his buttered speeches - they TRUST in Obama. That is, either one trusts in Hashem, or trusts in Obama. Period!
The proof that what I am saying is true is in the Sefer - holy book entitled Chovot HaLevavot - "Duties of the Heart". In the beginning of the section of this book called Sha'ar HaBitachon - "Gate of Trust", Rabbeinu Bachye writes "One who does not trust in G-d, trusts in someone else. And one who trusts in someone else other than Hashem, removes the Divine Providence from himself and is left into the hands of the person that he trusts in...One who trusts in G-d reaches the point that he doesn't serve anyone else, doesn't hope or expect anything from anyone, doesn't serve them to be on their good side, doesn't flatter them, and comes to agreements with them only in terms of serving G-d. Additionally, doesn't fear their agenda, isn't afraid of their arguments; on the contrary, he strips himself of their show of goodness, trouble of acknowledging them or owing them a favor in return. When it comes to exhorting them to improve their behavior - he pays no heed to their honor, and when he shows the truth to their face - he doesn't become embarrased from them, and he doesn't beautify falsehood."
In terms of the above paragraph, I won't get into all kinds of details about what has gone wrong in Jewish leadership today in their lack of trust in Hashem even among observant ("Orthodox") Jewish rabbis, laymen, and all other positions in between - in synagogues, yeshivot, organizations, especially in the United States. They show their lack of trust in Hashem, when
replaced with the Avoda Zara-idol worship of trust in money, power, politics, etc. instead. This type of situation can even come at the expense of an observant Jewish single mom who has an non-frum estranged husband with no respect for Judaism who has ties to a big bank offering financial favors to the community where almost everyone - regardless of their ties or position in the totem pole to the Jewish religion - buys into it while ignoring the fact that this mom's two children are kidnapped away from their mom, their religious upbringing and Jewish school by the corrupt court/justice system and given to this irreligious father, and some who were ordained as Orthodox rabbis stabbed her in the back and bad mouthed her to the courts. Yes my friends, this is exactly what happened several years ago in Boca Raton, Florida, as I personally witnessed; and while I will not mention any further names here other than the city in which this happened at this time, it doesn't come so much to a surprise to me seeing a photograph of a kipa/skullcap/yarmulke (means "fear of G-d") with the words Obama '08. Is it all that different than Hitler 1939, or Sadat 1979, or Arafat 1993?
"CHANGE HAS COME TO AMERICA"
Since my previous post, I sent an E-mail to the American guys who predicted Obama's rise to presidency several months back when it was far from obvious - who have their radio broadcasts entitled "Light out of Darkness" http://www.redemption5768.com/ - about my new blogspot mentioning their website and that I have mentioned different things that they have said. They wrote back to me that according to the statistics - 78% of voting Jews voted for Obama - reflecting close to the 80% of Jews who refused to leave Egypt, and were left there to die in Galut - exile.
Several months back - a month before Purim, I wrote the following to the above radio hosts. The following is dealing with the Hidden Codes in the Torah, where letters spelled equidistantly - that is - with the same amount of spaces between each letter (for example, in the word LETTERS - L, T, E, S - every 2nd letter that might spell a word) can signify something with other words or phrases near this encoded word give meaning to one another - and can be quite fascinating, especially when it comes to world events. I won't bother putting quotes to the following - but this is what I wrote to these radio hosts: (NOTE: Basically, the words in parenthesis is what I added now for anyone who may not know Hebrew so well)
To note, you noted Obama's full name to be the Gematria of 501. Yet, we know that sometimes that some names can be spelled more than one way - with or without a Vav or an Alef.
So, I typed Obama's name as Barak Obama (Beit, Reish, Koof, Alef, Vav, Beit, Mem, Hei) without a second Alef (unlike in the Gematria of 501). It can be spelled equidistantly exactly one time - (every 22126th letter). The line that the Koof is spelled for his name is the line that ends with the Korbon (animal sacrifice) of Nachshon for Shevet Yehuda, and the beginning of the Korbon fof Nesanel for Shevet Yissachar.
What you will see on this line are four words that can be spelled all referring to Obama! First is the word NACHASH (snake)- the first three letters in Nachshon's name. Besides the word as an adjective, I think it wouldn't be far from the truth to say that Obama "snaked" his way to the U.S. candidacy. The second word is HASHNAYA - CHANGE (more on this in a minute). The third word is LAVAN (the Biblical Laban, literally means white) - who in the context in Sefer Bereshis is called by that name according to Chazal is because he was the first to make sins appear as white or innocent, and with his clever talent, wound up fooling even Yaakov Avinu (a little ironic in the literal sense for Obama), and the fourth and final word is NASI (leader).
Now for the word HASHNAYA. There are only two times in the Chumash that this word can be spelled consecutively. The only other time is in Parshas HaMan (section in the Torah about the manna that the Jews ate in the desert for 40 years), in the very Posuk (verse) that describes the scenario of the first Friday morning that Bnei Yisrael (the Jews) woke up to discover a double portion of Manna from what they received the other days of the week, a CHANGE from the other days of the week (it's spelled amidst three words - Mishneh Shnei Haomer). And back to our context - it's spelled in the beginning of the section for the Korbonos (animal sacrifices) of Shevet Yissachar - in the words Hasheni Hikriv. Rashi on this very part of the Pasuk asks why Hikriv is written only by this Shevet and no other Shevet - hence a CHANGE from the way the wording is for the other Shevatim.
You will notice that the word HASHNAYA in both instances is using a key word Shnei (2) or Sheni (2nd). This exactly describes the situation the United States today - everyone is tired of the "same old thing" happening, so anything that rings the word CHANGE as an alternative or a SECOND way of looking at things is what this is all about.
Now, looking further in Rashi, you will see the reason given to his questiong - Shevet Yissachar had competition! Shevet Reuven wanted to be the SECOND one to bring his Korbon after Shevet Yehuda. It was hard enough for Reuven to accept the fact that Yehuda came before him, despite the qualities of Nachshon of Shevet Yehuda who was the brother-in-law of Aharon who brought his Korbon the same day that Aharon started his service as Kohen Gadol (High Priest). Al Achas Kama V'Kama - certainly so with the U.S. presidential candidates!
Next, Rashi asks why it says Hikriv TWICE by Shevet Yissachar, when not mentioned even once by the other Shevatim (sounds like the Ma Nishtana on Pesach-Redemption night when we ask why we dip the vegetable TWICE on this night when we don't do it even once on other nights). The TWO reasons Rashi gives for this - Firstly: Shevet Yissachar were exceptionally knowledgable in Torah described as Yodei Bina L'Itim - responsible as part of the Sanhedrin for establishing the intercalation of the year. We know from Chazal that once Bnei Yisrael were given the Mitzva of Kiddush HaChodesh (sanctification of the New Month)- we have power over time. The Talmud Yerushalmi notes that a girl under three years who loses her virginity can buy time to regain her virginity by the addition of an additional month for a leap year - thus indicating that we can CHANGE the course of events thru time. Secondly: It was Shevet Yissachar - particular the Nasi (leader) of the Shevet - who gave this idea of the Shevatim bringing Korbonos - to the other Nesiim (leaders). Speaking of Nesi'im - presidents in terms of change, the Torah couldn't pick a better place to be using the word AND concept of HASHNAYA than in reference to a Nasi to hint Elef Havdalot to the next (Nasi or Nazi) President, whom you described in Daniel 7:25 as one who will "think to CHANGE the TIMES and the LAW" (NOTE: this was mentioned several months BEFORE Philip Berg Esq. sued Obama in August for running as U.S. President as a NON-naturalized born citizen! http://www.obamacrimes.com/ )
Now, what number president will the next U.S. President be? We know that George Bush II is President 43 or Mem Gimel - the Roshei Teivot (first letters) of Gog-Magog. So President 44 is Mem Daled - the letters of Dam - blood(shed). And yes, President 44 is spelled exactly one time in the entire Tnach (Bible)- in Parshas Pinchas after Pinchas slays Zimri & Kozbi - Hashem tells Moshe to fight Midian for they "harrassed you" and "beguiled you" about the sin of Peor and Kozbi bas NESI MIDIAN - the leader of Midian. Mem Daled are the first two letters of Midian who looked to attack Bnei Yisrael physically AND spiritually. Well, this is what Islam is all about - Moslems believe in conquering the whole world in one way or another. In Walid Shoebat's words, the whole thing about the Moslem Arabs claiming Israel as Palestine is all about religion - not "land for piece(s)" - if we would all convert to their religion - there would be peace in the region, otherwise, infidels have no place in their world.
In the Ramchal's 515 prayers (the Ramchal is Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzato, a big Torah scholar & Kabbalist who passed away at the young age of 39) for revealing Hashem's Kingship to the world and bringing the Geula (redemption)- there is a phrase (Tefilla 307) associating blood-Dam with Malchus Edom (U.S.A.) and Chailev (forbidden fat) with Malchus Yishmael (Arab/Moslem rule). The root basis of the connection between the two is Esav-Edom who came to Yishmael in the latter's last days on earth to marry his daughter.
May we all witness immediately "V'David Avdi Nasi Lahem L'Olam" - "My servant (King) David will be the leader over them (the world) forever" (Yechezkel 37 - Haftara for Parshas Vayigash).
IN CONCLUSION
In my previous blog as it related to last week's Parsha, I quoted the verse describing the Arabic race ruling the world. If you were to put the letters of the Hebrew of this verse together, you will find some animals and other not wanted things here.
In the phrase PERE ADAM - "wild-ass of a man" particular in the word ADAM (man) is the word DAM-BLOOD. As mentioned earlier, this is the Gematria of 44, and we know who the 44th U.S. President is slated to be. Next phrase YADO VAKOL - "His hand will be against everyone" Last two letter in YADO - his hand, and first letter in VAKOL - against everyone, together spells DOV-BEAR. Also, the word VAKOL has the same Hebrew letters as KELEV-DOG. Next phrase - "V'YAD KOL BO" - "everyone's hand will be against him". The first three Hebrew letters in the phrase - KOL BO - everyone against him - again spell the word KELEV-DOG.
NEW TOPIC FOR NEXT TIME: It happens only a few times in a human lifetime. It is celebrated as a big event in Jewish life. It's not a bird or a plane, it's...keep looking in the sky...
12 Cheshvan, 5769
The economy, as represented by money - consists of currency & CHANGE. On all United States money - you will see the words "In G-d we trust". Trust is BITACHON in Hebrew. The first two letters in Bitachon is Beit, Teit. Spelling this as a number, it's 2009. When Obama will officially become president, it will be in 2009. So what we will see here is one or another of these types of people - those who trust in G-d & those who trust in Obama. Before, it may have not been so evident as to who was the President of the United States as per this trust, there was not so much of a difference between one president and the next - virtually all of them were "good" Christians, had their brownie points about Israel, and all looked like the typical Caucasian American. So even if one voted for a different candidate, it wasn't so hard to come to terms. But now, there are some who have woke up and realize that indeed "CHANGE has come to America". The truth is that there are a lot of people who really trust in Hashem, at least when they realize that something is truly wrong. However, for those who have the Yetzer Hara - Evil Inclination overpowering them, it doesn't matter if Obama shows a Moslem past, if he is really not a naturalized born citizen as per the Constitutional rule for a U.S. President, if he covers up half the truth in his buttered speeches - they TRUST in Obama. That is, either one trusts in Hashem, or trusts in Obama. Period!
The proof that what I am saying is true is in the Sefer - holy book entitled Chovot HaLevavot - "Duties of the Heart". In the beginning of the section of this book called Sha'ar HaBitachon - "Gate of Trust", Rabbeinu Bachye writes "One who does not trust in G-d, trusts in someone else. And one who trusts in someone else other than Hashem, removes the Divine Providence from himself and is left into the hands of the person that he trusts in...One who trusts in G-d reaches the point that he doesn't serve anyone else, doesn't hope or expect anything from anyone, doesn't serve them to be on their good side, doesn't flatter them, and comes to agreements with them only in terms of serving G-d. Additionally, doesn't fear their agenda, isn't afraid of their arguments; on the contrary, he strips himself of their show of goodness, trouble of acknowledging them or owing them a favor in return. When it comes to exhorting them to improve their behavior - he pays no heed to their honor, and when he shows the truth to their face - he doesn't become embarrased from them, and he doesn't beautify falsehood."
In terms of the above paragraph, I won't get into all kinds of details about what has gone wrong in Jewish leadership today in their lack of trust in Hashem even among observant ("Orthodox") Jewish rabbis, laymen, and all other positions in between - in synagogues, yeshivot, organizations, especially in the United States. They show their lack of trust in Hashem, when
replaced with the Avoda Zara-idol worship of trust in money, power, politics, etc. instead. This type of situation can even come at the expense of an observant Jewish single mom who has an non-frum estranged husband with no respect for Judaism who has ties to a big bank offering financial favors to the community where almost everyone - regardless of their ties or position in the totem pole to the Jewish religion - buys into it while ignoring the fact that this mom's two children are kidnapped away from their mom, their religious upbringing and Jewish school by the corrupt court/justice system and given to this irreligious father, and some who were ordained as Orthodox rabbis stabbed her in the back and bad mouthed her to the courts. Yes my friends, this is exactly what happened several years ago in Boca Raton, Florida, as I personally witnessed; and while I will not mention any further names here other than the city in which this happened at this time, it doesn't come so much to a surprise to me seeing a photograph of a kipa/skullcap/yarmulke (means "fear of G-d") with the words Obama '08. Is it all that different than Hitler 1939, or Sadat 1979, or Arafat 1993?
"CHANGE HAS COME TO AMERICA"
Since my previous post, I sent an E-mail to the American guys who predicted Obama's rise to presidency several months back when it was far from obvious - who have their radio broadcasts entitled "Light out of Darkness" http://www.redemption5768.com/ - about my new blogspot mentioning their website and that I have mentioned different things that they have said. They wrote back to me that according to the statistics - 78% of voting Jews voted for Obama - reflecting close to the 80% of Jews who refused to leave Egypt, and were left there to die in Galut - exile.
Several months back - a month before Purim, I wrote the following to the above radio hosts. The following is dealing with the Hidden Codes in the Torah, where letters spelled equidistantly - that is - with the same amount of spaces between each letter (for example, in the word LETTERS - L, T, E, S - every 2nd letter that might spell a word) can signify something with other words or phrases near this encoded word give meaning to one another - and can be quite fascinating, especially when it comes to world events. I won't bother putting quotes to the following - but this is what I wrote to these radio hosts: (NOTE: Basically, the words in parenthesis is what I added now for anyone who may not know Hebrew so well)
To note, you noted Obama's full name to be the Gematria of 501. Yet, we know that sometimes that some names can be spelled more than one way - with or without a Vav or an Alef.
So, I typed Obama's name as Barak Obama (Beit, Reish, Koof, Alef, Vav, Beit, Mem, Hei) without a second Alef (unlike in the Gematria of 501). It can be spelled equidistantly exactly one time - (every 22126th letter). The line that the Koof is spelled for his name is the line that ends with the Korbon (animal sacrifice) of Nachshon for Shevet Yehuda, and the beginning of the Korbon fof Nesanel for Shevet Yissachar.
What you will see on this line are four words that can be spelled all referring to Obama! First is the word NACHASH (snake)- the first three letters in Nachshon's name. Besides the word as an adjective, I think it wouldn't be far from the truth to say that Obama "snaked" his way to the U.S. candidacy. The second word is HASHNAYA - CHANGE (more on this in a minute). The third word is LAVAN (the Biblical Laban, literally means white) - who in the context in Sefer Bereshis is called by that name according to Chazal is because he was the first to make sins appear as white or innocent, and with his clever talent, wound up fooling even Yaakov Avinu (a little ironic in the literal sense for Obama), and the fourth and final word is NASI (leader).
Now for the word HASHNAYA. There are only two times in the Chumash that this word can be spelled consecutively. The only other time is in Parshas HaMan (section in the Torah about the manna that the Jews ate in the desert for 40 years), in the very Posuk (verse) that describes the scenario of the first Friday morning that Bnei Yisrael (the Jews) woke up to discover a double portion of Manna from what they received the other days of the week, a CHANGE from the other days of the week (it's spelled amidst three words - Mishneh Shnei Haomer). And back to our context - it's spelled in the beginning of the section for the Korbonos (animal sacrifices) of Shevet Yissachar - in the words Hasheni Hikriv. Rashi on this very part of the Pasuk asks why Hikriv is written only by this Shevet and no other Shevet - hence a CHANGE from the way the wording is for the other Shevatim.
You will notice that the word HASHNAYA in both instances is using a key word Shnei (2) or Sheni (2nd). This exactly describes the situation the United States today - everyone is tired of the "same old thing" happening, so anything that rings the word CHANGE as an alternative or a SECOND way of looking at things is what this is all about.
Now, looking further in Rashi, you will see the reason given to his questiong - Shevet Yissachar had competition! Shevet Reuven wanted to be the SECOND one to bring his Korbon after Shevet Yehuda. It was hard enough for Reuven to accept the fact that Yehuda came before him, despite the qualities of Nachshon of Shevet Yehuda who was the brother-in-law of Aharon who brought his Korbon the same day that Aharon started his service as Kohen Gadol (High Priest). Al Achas Kama V'Kama - certainly so with the U.S. presidential candidates!
Next, Rashi asks why it says Hikriv TWICE by Shevet Yissachar, when not mentioned even once by the other Shevatim (sounds like the Ma Nishtana on Pesach-Redemption night when we ask why we dip the vegetable TWICE on this night when we don't do it even once on other nights). The TWO reasons Rashi gives for this - Firstly: Shevet Yissachar were exceptionally knowledgable in Torah described as Yodei Bina L'Itim - responsible as part of the Sanhedrin for establishing the intercalation of the year. We know from Chazal that once Bnei Yisrael were given the Mitzva of Kiddush HaChodesh (sanctification of the New Month)- we have power over time. The Talmud Yerushalmi notes that a girl under three years who loses her virginity can buy time to regain her virginity by the addition of an additional month for a leap year - thus indicating that we can CHANGE the course of events thru time. Secondly: It was Shevet Yissachar - particular the Nasi (leader) of the Shevet - who gave this idea of the Shevatim bringing Korbonos - to the other Nesiim (leaders). Speaking of Nesi'im - presidents in terms of change, the Torah couldn't pick a better place to be using the word AND concept of HASHNAYA than in reference to a Nasi to hint Elef Havdalot to the next (Nasi or Nazi) President, whom you described in Daniel 7:25 as one who will "think to CHANGE the TIMES and the LAW" (NOTE: this was mentioned several months BEFORE Philip Berg Esq. sued Obama in August for running as U.S. President as a NON-naturalized born citizen! http://www.obamacrimes.com/ )
Now, what number president will the next U.S. President be? We know that George Bush II is President 43 or Mem Gimel - the Roshei Teivot (first letters) of Gog-Magog. So President 44 is Mem Daled - the letters of Dam - blood(shed). And yes, President 44 is spelled exactly one time in the entire Tnach (Bible)- in Parshas Pinchas after Pinchas slays Zimri & Kozbi - Hashem tells Moshe to fight Midian for they "harrassed you" and "beguiled you" about the sin of Peor and Kozbi bas NESI MIDIAN - the leader of Midian. Mem Daled are the first two letters of Midian who looked to attack Bnei Yisrael physically AND spiritually. Well, this is what Islam is all about - Moslems believe in conquering the whole world in one way or another. In Walid Shoebat's words, the whole thing about the Moslem Arabs claiming Israel as Palestine is all about religion - not "land for piece(s)" - if we would all convert to their religion - there would be peace in the region, otherwise, infidels have no place in their world.
In the Ramchal's 515 prayers (the Ramchal is Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzato, a big Torah scholar & Kabbalist who passed away at the young age of 39) for revealing Hashem's Kingship to the world and bringing the Geula (redemption)- there is a phrase (Tefilla 307) associating blood-Dam with Malchus Edom (U.S.A.) and Chailev (forbidden fat) with Malchus Yishmael (Arab/Moslem rule). The root basis of the connection between the two is Esav-Edom who came to Yishmael in the latter's last days on earth to marry his daughter.
May we all witness immediately "V'David Avdi Nasi Lahem L'Olam" - "My servant (King) David will be the leader over them (the world) forever" (Yechezkel 37 - Haftara for Parshas Vayigash).
IN CONCLUSION
In my previous blog as it related to last week's Parsha, I quoted the verse describing the Arabic race ruling the world. If you were to put the letters of the Hebrew of this verse together, you will find some animals and other not wanted things here.
In the phrase PERE ADAM - "wild-ass of a man" particular in the word ADAM (man) is the word DAM-BLOOD. As mentioned earlier, this is the Gematria of 44, and we know who the 44th U.S. President is slated to be. Next phrase YADO VAKOL - "His hand will be against everyone" Last two letter in YADO - his hand, and first letter in VAKOL - against everyone, together spells DOV-BEAR. Also, the word VAKOL has the same Hebrew letters as KELEV-DOG. Next phrase - "V'YAD KOL BO" - "everyone's hand will be against him". The first three Hebrew letters in the phrase - KOL BO - everyone against him - again spell the word KELEV-DOG.
NEW TOPIC FOR NEXT TIME: It happens only a few times in a human lifetime. It is celebrated as a big event in Jewish life. It's not a bird or a plane, it's...keep looking in the sky...
12 Cheshvan, 5769
Thursday, November 6, 2008
#5 - OBAMA HINTED IN T'NACH & GEMATRIA
SPECIAL EDITION!!!
Chazal - the Rabbis of the Mishnaic & Talmudic times - tell us that Ma'aseh Avot Siman L'Banim - what our forefathers/ancestors when thru is a sign for their descendants. Perhaps the ultimate fulfillment of this is Obama being elected by the United States at large to be their new leader. There are many crucial things to mention about Obama here - and so not to be bored out or if it would make it easier for the reader - I will divide this in a few parts so you can read this at your leisure without missing part of the piece. Some of what I will have here is what I E-mailed to friends on Hoshana Rabba as a timely piece as you will see when you read on. Some of the information you will see here is based on radio shows hosted by two American guys - Joel Gallis & Dr. Robert Wolf - at http://www.redemption5768.com/. These guys predicted Obama's rise to presidency at a time when he was just starting to become well known among several other candidates for the Democratic Party. These shows, called "Light out of Darkness", quoting sources throughout the T'Nach, Talmud, Midrash, and Zohar, as well as quoting Kabbalists of recent times and today, mention findings in the Hidden Codes & Gematriot pertaining to what is happening in the "End
of Days" and how we can save ourselves in these turbulent times.
PART ONE - WHAT OBAMA & YISHMAEL HAVE IN COMMON
Obama & Yishmael have something very much in common, and while it may seem to be a mute point - everything has a reason to it. Both are interracial - the only difference is on what side of their parents that they are black. Yes, Avraham married an Egyptian princess, from which union Yishmael was born, and the last I learned about the ancient Egyptians is that they were black. Now note the Posuk I mentioned in my last blog - "V'Choshech Al P'nei Tehom" - In the beginning of creation, there was DARKNESS ON THE FACE of the deep. The word Tehom - deep is the Gematria of Yishmael (451). Yes, physical darkness & spiritual darkness.
Everything that happens in world history is a display of Hashem's Divine Providence - Hashgacha Pratis. And indeed, Election Day that determined the United States's first black president (called as such in the media even though he is only half-black) who is also an Muslim Arab (too bad if some liberal Democratic Jews disagree with this - I apologize to no one) fell out on this week of Parshat Lech Lecha - the beginning of which Hashem tells Avraham Avinu to make Aliyah. Yes, Hashem could not be more direct to us - the Torah is a guide of life, and we are supposed to follow in the footsteps of our forefathers & foremothers who followed Hashem's ways. In the midst of this Parsha of Avraham's son Yishmael 's birth, an angel told Yishmael's mother Hagar - "You will give birth to a son, and name him Yishmael for Hashem has heard your affiliction. He will be a wild-ass man, his hand against everyone and everyone's hand against him, and over all his brothers he will dwell". These verses are primarily referring to Yishmael's descendants who have been ruling the world with their oil, terrorism, and other results of their beliefs, especially of the Muslim Arabs (some are Christian Arabs who at one time also oppressed Jews), and now it will Chas V'Shalom be a half-black (like Yishmael) Muslim Arab who will be the leader of the world leading country which has been relying largely if not mostly on Arab oil, as opposed to its own. So BEFORE Obama (almost left it accidentally as Osama) takes power - follow what it says IN THE BEGINNING of the Parsha, and start your journey HOME. For those who are worried about making a living - feel free to ask me for advice, as I have already lived in Israel for almost four years. At least in Hashem's Holy Land, we have guaranteed Parnassa, which usually can mean a job, but one who trusts in Hashem gets his daily food, and somehow manages to get by; but in the United States's falling economy, it will NOT get better- it will keep falling apart because this is now the End of Days (again, check out http://www.redemption5768.com/) and Hashem does everything in this world for the sake of Jews and so our high-rise jobs in the U.S.A. - as the high-rise Twin Towers - will soon be falling apart - it is just a matter of time.
And for those in the future who are reading my blogspot here out of curiosity and feel that I am being racist - I will make something very clear. It's not about Obama being black per se that is the problem - it's that he is a Moslem Arab on his father side, about which he totally denies when he claims that he was "diagnostic", and Obama years back was at pro-Palestinian fund raising events. When he spoke months earlier about the rights of Israel to garner Jewish votes - the "moderate" Mohammed Abbas felt this was too much for him and he complained about it. The next thing you know - Obama changes his tone about his original statement, and the liberal Demoratic Jews conveniently totally ignored this part, pretending that he is a lover of Jews & Israel. As far as blacks are concerned - the Midrash tells us that Moshe was given 10 different names by 10 different sources (Tuvia & Avigdor are among these names) but it was an Egyptian princess named Batya who eventually became a Righteous Convert -as opposed to her evil father Paraoh - who named Baby Moses with the name Moshe that stuck as his name for eternity. Yes, it was a black lady who had this most unique merit! Now tell me - who are the real racists here?
PART TWO - OBAMA IN 2004 & 2008 AND THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THESE NUMBERS
When saying the Hoshanos this morning (when I wrote this on Hoshana Rabba sending this to a few friends) using the Yesod Malchus Siddur which has a Hebrew translation of the original text, especially helpful for the poetic phrases in the Hoshanos, I noticed in the phrase "Duma BeTat'ach" that Duma, in the normal context refering to the Mal'ach (angel) with this name who is known as the Sar HaMeisim (overseer of the dead), in the Hoshanos context, is translated as Edom - "remove and destroy Edom". Very interesting. You see, Duma (55) is the same Gematria as Obama (Alef,Vov,Beis,Alef,Mem,Hei), looking to be the leader of Edom - the U.S.A. (The United States includes the 50 States & Washington D.C., totaling 51 states, corresponding to the numerical value of Edom!) Also, the word in Hebrew for Edomite is Adomi, which is also the Gematria of 51 (See Deutronomy 23:8)!
When did Obama's career started taking off, or "politically born"? Well, on July 27, 2004 when he was hardly known to the American public when he was running as a candidate for the Illinois Senate, he made a speech (which was half buttered up - I read his whole speech online) about his personal life growing up in the United States and asking the American public to vote for then U.S. Democratic candidate John Kerry. Lo and behold - one look at the Hebrew date will send chills up the spine - Tisha B'Av! Boruch Hashem, the Refuah (cure) is sent before the Makka (punishment/blow), because it says in the Gemara that Moshiach was born on the day the Beis HaMikdosh was destroyed on Tisha B'Av (this is in a spiritual sense that the potential of Moshiach coming started on that very day, but it can also mean in the literal sense that Moshiach who will come shortly was born on Tisha B'Av).
As we know, the Jewish nation has been through four exiles - the last one being Golus Edom beginning with the Romans destroying the Beis HaMikdash which began on Tisha B'Av. Pirkei D'Rabbi Eliezer tells us that the last phase of Golus which be the Golus of Yishmael (Arabs/Moslems)- the end of Golus Edom. Now with this being said, Yishmaelim (plural of Yishmael) and Obama (an Arab Moslem on his father's side who is treated as a Moslem by the paternal side)'s full name both have the same Gematria of 501. Now, multiply 501 by four (corresponding to the fourth & final Golus) and behold - 501x4=2004. 2004 is the year that Obama was politically born on Tisha B'Av! Note that the calendar year that the world goes by is all based on when Yashu - who started Christianity which is represented by Edom (Rome & now by today's world power the U.S.A.) - was born. (While the Islam religion doesn't recognize Yeshu at a god or Messiah, he is acknowledged as a prophet)
If the above was not enough, now let's take the words Yishmael & Edom (U.S.A.) and combine them to equal the numerical value of 502 (451+51). Now, multiply this number by four (corresponding to hte fourth & final Golus) and behold - 502x4=2008. Do we need to say more than Obama 2008? Well, there is one thing to show the Remez to this in the Torah. The last Posuk in Parshas Toldos is perhaps the ultimate prophecy of this - "Esav went to Yishmael (his uncle) and he married his daughter Machalas ..." What this implies is that Esav/Edom i.e. the United States at large chose a Moslem Arab to be their new Nasi/Nazi - thus the fusion of Edom & Yishmael.
Aren't these hints telling us that we indeed are at the very end of Golus? But how is everything going to unfold? Do we want to stay under the sway of the Sar HaMeisim (overseer of the dead) i.e. Obama, Lo Aleinu? Do we want to remain in a country who will be under the rule of this Gog of Eretz HaMagog, Nasi (Nazi) Rosh (Rosh=Barack Hussein Obama=501) as per Yechezkel 38:2 (in PART THREE) ? Do we want to remain in a country which has some 600 "work camps" which are all ready to house millions of new prisoners (I think this is the Rex 84)? (Check out http://www.shuva.net/ for what is in store Chas V'Shalom for Jews in the United States) Do we want to be under U.S.A., Leader Number 44=Blood=DOMinating the United States with his Moslem beliefs? True, the prophet Yechezkel is predicting Gog coming with the nations of the world to attack Israel. But Yechezkel also promises that Hashem will in no time strike back at them, leaving Israel to be the safest place in the world (if this is not enough for some, refer to Yoel Chapter 3, especially verse 5).
And in case anyone thinks that the United States government is still going to uphold the Constitution which promises rights & freedom of religion, let me make a couple of points here. First of all, both Germany and Russia had constitutions promising religious rights and freedom, but we all know what happened later in history. But perhaps even more importantly, the United States is about to violate a major point in the Constitution - and unless someone in the government works quickly on this - it will be the beginning of the breakdown of the Constitution; and as we know, Aveira Goreret Aveira (one sin leads to another sin- Pirkei Avot 4:2)
It is the following. According to the Constitution - only a naturalized born citizen of the United States can become President of the country. Well my friends, Obama was born in Kenya - just ask his proud paternal grandmother who recently spoke about him. And even if Obama's bogus certificate & claims are legitimate that he was born in Hawaii, he would have lost his American citizenship when his mother married his stepfather who enrolled him in a school in Indonesia, and the only way that was possible is if his stepfather adopted or acknoledged him, making Obama an Indonesian citizen, and under Indonesian law, could not have dual citizenship; thus, at best, even if Obama would have gone through immigration to get back his American citizenship, he already lost his right as an naturalized born citizen, disqualifing him to be president of this country. Anyone who wants more info on this, just has to turn to http://www.obamacrimes.com/. (This is a website based on the findings of Philip Berg, Esq.
lifelong Democrat and former Deputy Attorney General of Pennsylvania, who sued Obama in August, but the legal system in the United States is corrupt through & through).
PART THREE - OBAMA & U.S.A. - GOG & MAGOG - AS PREDICTED IN T'NACH
It has been exactly seven years since the United States started war in Afghanistan on the night of Hoshana Rabba. Now the next stage will be when Gog will be coming to fight Israel (May Hashem save us from the worst) as predicted by Yechezkel Perek 38.
Now, who is Gog? Very simple answer. Start with Yechezkel 38:2 with the word Nasi (means leader and rhymes with Nazi) with the letter Alef. Now, count seven letters after the Alef. The seventh letter is a Vav, continue on with every seventh letter, which will be the letters Bais, Aleph, Mem, Hei. This is Obama's last name spelled in Hebrew - 6 letters in exactly every 7th letter! (Accordingly, Magog is the U.S.A. Magog is the numberical value of 52 - includes the 50 States, Washington D.C. & Puerto Rico) Also, the word Rosh (head) following the word Nasi- is the Gematria (501) of his full name spelled as indicated by the letters - Beis,Reish,Kuf Ches,Vov,Samech,Yud,Yud,Nun Alef,Vov,Beis,Alef,Mem,Hei. The number 501 is also the same Gematria as Yishmaelim, as well as the Roshei Teivos (acronym) of the Eser Makkos (Ten Plagues) of Mitzrayim - Dtzach, Adash, B'Achav. The first of these ten Makkos - Dam (blood) is the numerical value of 44, and we are on the verge of the United States appointing the 44th President of the country that is refered to as Edom, consisting of 51 states which includes its Capitol of Washington D.C., the residence of the United States President. Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzato of righteous memory predicted this a few hundred years ago. In his Sefer entitled Tefillos L'Ramchal - Prayer 307 mentions "Enslave under You (Hashem) the "BLOOD" (Dom=44) which is the KINGDOM of EDOM=51 (states), and the forbidden fat (Chailev) which is the KINGDOM of YISHMAEL" !
Let us not forget the last Posuk of Toldos where Esav, who represents Edom, went to Yishmael shortly before the latter's demise, to marry his daughter. There is nothing in history since then that more resembles this than the country which is Edom is looking to elect its Rosh by a majority vote, someone who is a descendant of Yishmael, and a follower of its religion, who will, Chas V'Shalom, be the "Dam(ned)" President. And how is this predicted to happen? "B'Maaseh Yedaichem"("with the work of your hands") - also the Gematria of 501 - by the votes of the liberal Democratic Jews who call him a "lantzman" (as one Jewish guy in a Boca Raton temple called Obama, who was there addressing the crowd, called him, translating it to him as "brother" which I happened to see live on the internet a few months back). These two words are the concluding words of the next to the last Posuk of Parshas Vayeilech, which is the 5751th Posuk of the Torah, which basically was Rabbi Meir Kahane ZTVK'L HY'D's message as per what could happen Chas V'Shalom if we keep giving in to the Arabs - who was murdered by an Arab in the year 5751 corresponding to this 5751th Posuk of the Torah (it's interesting how he was in the forefront attempting to prevent Jesse Jackson, another anti-Semitic black, from being U.S. President, who has been spotted being in a photo together with Obama).
The 5751th verse of the Torah reads in full (Deutronomy 31:29) "For I know that after my death (of Moses) that you will surely act corrupt, and stray from the way that I have commanded you, and evil will happen to you in the end of days, because of the evil that you will do in Hashem's eyes to anger him with the work of your hands". The Ba'al HaTurim points out that there are two places in the Torah that the word V'Koros (rather than V'Koroso) is spelled in the Torah. Once over her - V'Koros Eschem HaRa'ah - "evil will happen to you", the other place - V'Koros Shemo Yishmael - "You shall call his name Yishmael". Interesting, the same exact spelling of the word - yet has two different translations but with the connection of Yishmael with evil happening - voting for an evil descendant of Yishmael at the "end of days" right before Moshiach's coming which will Chas V'Shalom cause much evil to happen to the very same Jews who thought Obama would be good to them to help them financially because of their votes, not caring less about his stance on Israel covering up by saying that he is good for Israel; but at the end will see that if anything, he will do the opposite, pointing the finger at the Jews for the falling economy, which is nothing new in Jewish history.
And on a concluding note, on the phrase B'Acharis HaYomim ("in the end of days")- the first three letters Beis Alef, Ches - are the Roshei Taivos, the first letters, of Obama's full name.
IN CONCLUSION
There are a couple of Seforim - holy books on the Parshiyot & Holidays that show the connection of Eretz Yisrael to each and every Parsha & Holiday - "Eretz Yisrael in the Parashah" & "Torah and Zionism?" If anyone has trouble finding these books, please feel free to write me on the comment line or write me at gematrios@yahoo.com, and I'll do my best B'Ezrat Hashem to help you locate where to pick up a copy. The bottom line - living in Israel is a central theme in Judaism. Remember, we have only one life in this world - so take advantage of living in Hashem's Land the sooner the better, because once Mashiach comes, the Mitzva of living in Israel will not have the same reward as before because in the Messianic era, free choice will be much easier than it is today - and every moment one lives in Israel is more ETERNAL REWARD, the greater reward for those who make Aliyah even a split second before Mashiach comes.
May Hashem save American Jewry and allow them enough time in the narrow strech left to pack their bags and leave the dissolving Golden Calf materialism (which is happening in front of our eyes) while they still have their lives, freedom, and with whatever money is left with them to settle in what is called our along awaited Home for thousands of years which so many Rabbis and good Jews in the Diaspora in Europe, Middle East, etc. yearned for, prayed for, learned about, but were not able to ever see it beyond their control. And once again, I beg you to check out this website - http://www.shuva.net/ may very well save your lives, your families, your friends - both physically & spiritually. (July 4, 1776 - the original Independence Day fell out on 17 Tamuz - the same date as the original Golden Calf was worshipped over 3,000 years earlier!)
NEXT POST: What does BITACHON - TRUST - have to do with the upcoming year 2009?
9 Cheshvan, 5769
Chazal - the Rabbis of the Mishnaic & Talmudic times - tell us that Ma'aseh Avot Siman L'Banim - what our forefathers/ancestors when thru is a sign for their descendants. Perhaps the ultimate fulfillment of this is Obama being elected by the United States at large to be their new leader. There are many crucial things to mention about Obama here - and so not to be bored out or if it would make it easier for the reader - I will divide this in a few parts so you can read this at your leisure without missing part of the piece. Some of what I will have here is what I E-mailed to friends on Hoshana Rabba as a timely piece as you will see when you read on. Some of the information you will see here is based on radio shows hosted by two American guys - Joel Gallis & Dr. Robert Wolf - at http://www.redemption5768.com/. These guys predicted Obama's rise to presidency at a time when he was just starting to become well known among several other candidates for the Democratic Party. These shows, called "Light out of Darkness", quoting sources throughout the T'Nach, Talmud, Midrash, and Zohar, as well as quoting Kabbalists of recent times and today, mention findings in the Hidden Codes & Gematriot pertaining to what is happening in the "End
of Days" and how we can save ourselves in these turbulent times.
PART ONE - WHAT OBAMA & YISHMAEL HAVE IN COMMON
Obama & Yishmael have something very much in common, and while it may seem to be a mute point - everything has a reason to it. Both are interracial - the only difference is on what side of their parents that they are black. Yes, Avraham married an Egyptian princess, from which union Yishmael was born, and the last I learned about the ancient Egyptians is that they were black. Now note the Posuk I mentioned in my last blog - "V'Choshech Al P'nei Tehom" - In the beginning of creation, there was DARKNESS ON THE FACE of the deep. The word Tehom - deep is the Gematria of Yishmael (451). Yes, physical darkness & spiritual darkness.
Everything that happens in world history is a display of Hashem's Divine Providence - Hashgacha Pratis. And indeed, Election Day that determined the United States's first black president (called as such in the media even though he is only half-black) who is also an Muslim Arab (too bad if some liberal Democratic Jews disagree with this - I apologize to no one) fell out on this week of Parshat Lech Lecha - the beginning of which Hashem tells Avraham Avinu to make Aliyah. Yes, Hashem could not be more direct to us - the Torah is a guide of life, and we are supposed to follow in the footsteps of our forefathers & foremothers who followed Hashem's ways. In the midst of this Parsha of Avraham's son Yishmael 's birth, an angel told Yishmael's mother Hagar - "You will give birth to a son, and name him Yishmael for Hashem has heard your affiliction. He will be a wild-ass man, his hand against everyone and everyone's hand against him, and over all his brothers he will dwell". These verses are primarily referring to Yishmael's descendants who have been ruling the world with their oil, terrorism, and other results of their beliefs, especially of the Muslim Arabs (some are Christian Arabs who at one time also oppressed Jews), and now it will Chas V'Shalom be a half-black (like Yishmael) Muslim Arab who will be the leader of the world leading country which has been relying largely if not mostly on Arab oil, as opposed to its own. So BEFORE Obama (almost left it accidentally as Osama) takes power - follow what it says IN THE BEGINNING of the Parsha, and start your journey HOME. For those who are worried about making a living - feel free to ask me for advice, as I have already lived in Israel for almost four years. At least in Hashem's Holy Land, we have guaranteed Parnassa, which usually can mean a job, but one who trusts in Hashem gets his daily food, and somehow manages to get by; but in the United States's falling economy, it will NOT get better- it will keep falling apart because this is now the End of Days (again, check out http://www.redemption5768.com/) and Hashem does everything in this world for the sake of Jews and so our high-rise jobs in the U.S.A. - as the high-rise Twin Towers - will soon be falling apart - it is just a matter of time.
And for those in the future who are reading my blogspot here out of curiosity and feel that I am being racist - I will make something very clear. It's not about Obama being black per se that is the problem - it's that he is a Moslem Arab on his father side, about which he totally denies when he claims that he was "diagnostic", and Obama years back was at pro-Palestinian fund raising events. When he spoke months earlier about the rights of Israel to garner Jewish votes - the "moderate" Mohammed Abbas felt this was too much for him and he complained about it. The next thing you know - Obama changes his tone about his original statement, and the liberal Demoratic Jews conveniently totally ignored this part, pretending that he is a lover of Jews & Israel. As far as blacks are concerned - the Midrash tells us that Moshe was given 10 different names by 10 different sources (Tuvia & Avigdor are among these names) but it was an Egyptian princess named Batya who eventually became a Righteous Convert -as opposed to her evil father Paraoh - who named Baby Moses with the name Moshe that stuck as his name for eternity. Yes, it was a black lady who had this most unique merit! Now tell me - who are the real racists here?
PART TWO - OBAMA IN 2004 & 2008 AND THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THESE NUMBERS
When saying the Hoshanos this morning (when I wrote this on Hoshana Rabba sending this to a few friends) using the Yesod Malchus Siddur which has a Hebrew translation of the original text, especially helpful for the poetic phrases in the Hoshanos, I noticed in the phrase "Duma BeTat'ach" that Duma, in the normal context refering to the Mal'ach (angel) with this name who is known as the Sar HaMeisim (overseer of the dead), in the Hoshanos context, is translated as Edom - "remove and destroy Edom". Very interesting. You see, Duma (55) is the same Gematria as Obama (Alef,Vov,Beis,Alef,Mem,Hei), looking to be the leader of Edom - the U.S.A. (The United States includes the 50 States & Washington D.C., totaling 51 states, corresponding to the numerical value of Edom!) Also, the word in Hebrew for Edomite is Adomi, which is also the Gematria of 51 (See Deutronomy 23:8)!
When did Obama's career started taking off, or "politically born"? Well, on July 27, 2004 when he was hardly known to the American public when he was running as a candidate for the Illinois Senate, he made a speech (which was half buttered up - I read his whole speech online) about his personal life growing up in the United States and asking the American public to vote for then U.S. Democratic candidate John Kerry. Lo and behold - one look at the Hebrew date will send chills up the spine - Tisha B'Av! Boruch Hashem, the Refuah (cure) is sent before the Makka (punishment/blow), because it says in the Gemara that Moshiach was born on the day the Beis HaMikdosh was destroyed on Tisha B'Av (this is in a spiritual sense that the potential of Moshiach coming started on that very day, but it can also mean in the literal sense that Moshiach who will come shortly was born on Tisha B'Av).
As we know, the Jewish nation has been through four exiles - the last one being Golus Edom beginning with the Romans destroying the Beis HaMikdash which began on Tisha B'Av. Pirkei D'Rabbi Eliezer tells us that the last phase of Golus which be the Golus of Yishmael (Arabs/Moslems)- the end of Golus Edom. Now with this being said, Yishmaelim (plural of Yishmael) and Obama (an Arab Moslem on his father's side who is treated as a Moslem by the paternal side)'s full name both have the same Gematria of 501. Now, multiply 501 by four (corresponding to the fourth & final Golus) and behold - 501x4=2004. 2004 is the year that Obama was politically born on Tisha B'Av! Note that the calendar year that the world goes by is all based on when Yashu - who started Christianity which is represented by Edom (Rome & now by today's world power the U.S.A.) - was born. (While the Islam religion doesn't recognize Yeshu at a god or Messiah, he is acknowledged as a prophet)
If the above was not enough, now let's take the words Yishmael & Edom (U.S.A.) and combine them to equal the numerical value of 502 (451+51). Now, multiply this number by four (corresponding to hte fourth & final Golus) and behold - 502x4=2008. Do we need to say more than Obama 2008? Well, there is one thing to show the Remez to this in the Torah. The last Posuk in Parshas Toldos is perhaps the ultimate prophecy of this - "Esav went to Yishmael (his uncle) and he married his daughter Machalas ..." What this implies is that Esav/Edom i.e. the United States at large chose a Moslem Arab to be their new Nasi/Nazi - thus the fusion of Edom & Yishmael.
Aren't these hints telling us that we indeed are at the very end of Golus? But how is everything going to unfold? Do we want to stay under the sway of the Sar HaMeisim (overseer of the dead) i.e. Obama, Lo Aleinu? Do we want to remain in a country who will be under the rule of this Gog of Eretz HaMagog, Nasi (Nazi) Rosh (Rosh=Barack Hussein Obama=501) as per Yechezkel 38:2 (in PART THREE) ? Do we want to remain in a country which has some 600 "work camps" which are all ready to house millions of new prisoners (I think this is the Rex 84)? (Check out http://www.shuva.net/ for what is in store Chas V'Shalom for Jews in the United States) Do we want to be under U.S.A., Leader Number 44=Blood=DOMinating the United States with his Moslem beliefs? True, the prophet Yechezkel is predicting Gog coming with the nations of the world to attack Israel. But Yechezkel also promises that Hashem will in no time strike back at them, leaving Israel to be the safest place in the world (if this is not enough for some, refer to Yoel Chapter 3, especially verse 5).
And in case anyone thinks that the United States government is still going to uphold the Constitution which promises rights & freedom of religion, let me make a couple of points here. First of all, both Germany and Russia had constitutions promising religious rights and freedom, but we all know what happened later in history. But perhaps even more importantly, the United States is about to violate a major point in the Constitution - and unless someone in the government works quickly on this - it will be the beginning of the breakdown of the Constitution; and as we know, Aveira Goreret Aveira (one sin leads to another sin- Pirkei Avot 4:2)
It is the following. According to the Constitution - only a naturalized born citizen of the United States can become President of the country. Well my friends, Obama was born in Kenya - just ask his proud paternal grandmother who recently spoke about him. And even if Obama's bogus certificate & claims are legitimate that he was born in Hawaii, he would have lost his American citizenship when his mother married his stepfather who enrolled him in a school in Indonesia, and the only way that was possible is if his stepfather adopted or acknoledged him, making Obama an Indonesian citizen, and under Indonesian law, could not have dual citizenship; thus, at best, even if Obama would have gone through immigration to get back his American citizenship, he already lost his right as an naturalized born citizen, disqualifing him to be president of this country. Anyone who wants more info on this, just has to turn to http://www.obamacrimes.com/. (This is a website based on the findings of Philip Berg, Esq.
lifelong Democrat and former Deputy Attorney General of Pennsylvania, who sued Obama in August, but the legal system in the United States is corrupt through & through).
PART THREE - OBAMA & U.S.A. - GOG & MAGOG - AS PREDICTED IN T'NACH
It has been exactly seven years since the United States started war in Afghanistan on the night of Hoshana Rabba. Now the next stage will be when Gog will be coming to fight Israel (May Hashem save us from the worst) as predicted by Yechezkel Perek 38.
Now, who is Gog? Very simple answer. Start with Yechezkel 38:2 with the word Nasi (means leader and rhymes with Nazi) with the letter Alef. Now, count seven letters after the Alef. The seventh letter is a Vav, continue on with every seventh letter, which will be the letters Bais, Aleph, Mem, Hei. This is Obama's last name spelled in Hebrew - 6 letters in exactly every 7th letter! (Accordingly, Magog is the U.S.A. Magog is the numberical value of 52 - includes the 50 States, Washington D.C. & Puerto Rico) Also, the word Rosh (head) following the word Nasi- is the Gematria (501) of his full name spelled as indicated by the letters - Beis,Reish,Kuf Ches,Vov,Samech,Yud,Yud,Nun Alef,Vov,Beis,Alef,Mem,Hei. The number 501 is also the same Gematria as Yishmaelim, as well as the Roshei Teivos (acronym) of the Eser Makkos (Ten Plagues) of Mitzrayim - Dtzach, Adash, B'Achav. The first of these ten Makkos - Dam (blood) is the numerical value of 44, and we are on the verge of the United States appointing the 44th President of the country that is refered to as Edom, consisting of 51 states which includes its Capitol of Washington D.C., the residence of the United States President. Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzato of righteous memory predicted this a few hundred years ago. In his Sefer entitled Tefillos L'Ramchal - Prayer 307 mentions "Enslave under You (Hashem) the "BLOOD" (Dom=44) which is the KINGDOM of EDOM=51 (states), and the forbidden fat (Chailev) which is the KINGDOM of YISHMAEL" !
Let us not forget the last Posuk of Toldos where Esav, who represents Edom, went to Yishmael shortly before the latter's demise, to marry his daughter. There is nothing in history since then that more resembles this than the country which is Edom is looking to elect its Rosh by a majority vote, someone who is a descendant of Yishmael, and a follower of its religion, who will, Chas V'Shalom, be the "Dam(ned)" President. And how is this predicted to happen? "B'Maaseh Yedaichem"("with the work of your hands") - also the Gematria of 501 - by the votes of the liberal Democratic Jews who call him a "lantzman" (as one Jewish guy in a Boca Raton temple called Obama, who was there addressing the crowd, called him, translating it to him as "brother" which I happened to see live on the internet a few months back). These two words are the concluding words of the next to the last Posuk of Parshas Vayeilech, which is the 5751th Posuk of the Torah, which basically was Rabbi Meir Kahane ZTVK'L HY'D's message as per what could happen Chas V'Shalom if we keep giving in to the Arabs - who was murdered by an Arab in the year 5751 corresponding to this 5751th Posuk of the Torah (it's interesting how he was in the forefront attempting to prevent Jesse Jackson, another anti-Semitic black, from being U.S. President, who has been spotted being in a photo together with Obama).
The 5751th verse of the Torah reads in full (Deutronomy 31:29) "For I know that after my death (of Moses) that you will surely act corrupt, and stray from the way that I have commanded you, and evil will happen to you in the end of days, because of the evil that you will do in Hashem's eyes to anger him with the work of your hands". The Ba'al HaTurim points out that there are two places in the Torah that the word V'Koros (rather than V'Koroso) is spelled in the Torah. Once over her - V'Koros Eschem HaRa'ah - "evil will happen to you", the other place - V'Koros Shemo Yishmael - "You shall call his name Yishmael". Interesting, the same exact spelling of the word - yet has two different translations but with the connection of Yishmael with evil happening - voting for an evil descendant of Yishmael at the "end of days" right before Moshiach's coming which will Chas V'Shalom cause much evil to happen to the very same Jews who thought Obama would be good to them to help them financially because of their votes, not caring less about his stance on Israel covering up by saying that he is good for Israel; but at the end will see that if anything, he will do the opposite, pointing the finger at the Jews for the falling economy, which is nothing new in Jewish history.
And on a concluding note, on the phrase B'Acharis HaYomim ("in the end of days")- the first three letters Beis Alef, Ches - are the Roshei Taivos, the first letters, of Obama's full name.
IN CONCLUSION
There are a couple of Seforim - holy books on the Parshiyot & Holidays that show the connection of Eretz Yisrael to each and every Parsha & Holiday - "Eretz Yisrael in the Parashah" & "Torah and Zionism?" If anyone has trouble finding these books, please feel free to write me on the comment line or write me at gematrios@yahoo.com, and I'll do my best B'Ezrat Hashem to help you locate where to pick up a copy. The bottom line - living in Israel is a central theme in Judaism. Remember, we have only one life in this world - so take advantage of living in Hashem's Land the sooner the better, because once Mashiach comes, the Mitzva of living in Israel will not have the same reward as before because in the Messianic era, free choice will be much easier than it is today - and every moment one lives in Israel is more ETERNAL REWARD, the greater reward for those who make Aliyah even a split second before Mashiach comes.
May Hashem save American Jewry and allow them enough time in the narrow strech left to pack their bags and leave the dissolving Golden Calf materialism (which is happening in front of our eyes) while they still have their lives, freedom, and with whatever money is left with them to settle in what is called our along awaited Home for thousands of years which so many Rabbis and good Jews in the Diaspora in Europe, Middle East, etc. yearned for, prayed for, learned about, but were not able to ever see it beyond their control. And once again, I beg you to check out this website - http://www.shuva.net/ may very well save your lives, your families, your friends - both physically & spiritually. (July 4, 1776 - the original Independence Day fell out on 17 Tamuz - the same date as the original Golden Calf was worshipped over 3,000 years earlier!)
NEXT POST: What does BITACHON - TRUST - have to do with the upcoming year 2009?
9 Cheshvan, 5769
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