At the conclusion of today - 5 Nissan - the date that the Nasi/leader of the Tribe of Shimon, my namesake, brought his Korbanot/animal sacrifices on behalf of his tribe; I am inspired to write about the writings of a great rabbi whose name is Shimon - Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, the celebrated author of the teachings of the Zohar, the foundation book of Kabbala. I will write more on this a little later on.
As this is my 24th blog, I do want to point out to a most fascinating thing about the letter Alef as it pertains to number 24. You see, we read Parshat Vayikra - the 24th Parsha of the Torah - this past Shabbat (even as we read two Parshiyot on the previous Shabbaty). And in the very first word of this Parsha - which is also the beginning of the 3rd Book of the Torah -Vayikra/Leviticus, the last letter of the word - Alef - is spelled small.
Now as we know, there are 24 Books of the T’nach/Jewish Bible. The last one of these - the 24th Book - is Divrei HaYomim/Chronicles. The very first word of this Book is the word Adam - the first man - and the Alef, which is the first letter of the Alef Beit, but as the very first letter of this Book - is spelled big.
According to the Zohar and Midrash, the big Alef in Adam's name as recorded in Chronicles represents completeness. Of course Hashem wanted to create the world for His own purpose; but in the totem poll, the world was created for mankind, and mankind in turn is expected to be the one type of creature to serve Hashem. And indeed, the last of the 10 Statements that Hashem declared in creating the world was the Statement "Let us make Man" - Na'aseh Adam.
It's interesting to note that in the days preceding the giving of the Torah, upon Moshe telling the Jewish Nation what the Torah was like, the Jews responded with Na'aseh V'Nishma - "We will do, and we will listen." Yes, in both the creation of mankind and in the process of giving the Torah, the common word used is NA'ASEH - we will make, we will do, we will accomplish what our mission is in this world. And just like there were 10 Statements that Hashem declared in creating the world, there is corresponding to this the 10 Commandments that encompass all the 613 Mitzvot that Hashem commands us to do.
And so you wonder, is there a connection between the small Alef in the first word of the 24th Parsha of the Chumash, and the big Alef in the first word of the 24th Book of the Torah?
You don't have to go far in Leviticus for the answer - in the very next verse - the very FIRST word that Hashem dictates to Moshe pertaining to the Korbanot/animal sacrifices is Adam/person - when a person brings "from you" a sacrifice to Hashem. That is, it isn't that a person brings a sacrifice to Hashem "to please Him", the way that the other nations of the world used to bring sacrifices - including human beings - to please the gods, without any regard of their own moral or ethical behavior. Believe me, Hashem doesn't need sacrifices for His own sake, as He points out time and again in the Bible. The whole idea here is that it is "from you" - you have to feel that you are giving a part of yourself towards this, and seeing that it is the animal, rather than you, that is being slaughtered, its blood being spilled out and burnt on the altar, that it will affect you in not only thanking Hashem for not taking your life for every sin that you commit, but that it will make a CHANGE in yourself in serving Hashem better.
Now, when the first Adam - ate from the forbidden fruit, the truth is that he was really supposed to die right then and there on the spot, for after all, Hashem did tell him that on the day that he eats from that forbidden fruit, that he will die. However, Hashem in his great mercy did not take his life at that time, but neither did He lie. You see, as noted in the Torah (see Psalms 90), Hashem's day equals 1,000 earth years. Thus, Adam was granted 1,000 years; and indeed, the letter Alef, when spelled out is Alef Lamed Fei. The very same letters/word can be read as Elef/Thousand. Though I did not see this before in any source, perhaps this is one more reason why there is a big Alef in the word Adam in Chronicles.
Now, even a child who is learning Chumash for his first year can ask me a simple question. Doesn't it say that Adam lived only for 930 years? Yes, he did live only 930 years - because he gave 70 years from his alloted 1,000 years to another person. And that person is Dovid HaMelech/King David. You see, when Hashem showed Adam the lives of his future descendants, he saw that King David, who was destined for greatness and many accomplishments, would only live for three hours. So, he donated 70 years of his alloted time for King David to live a lifetime of accomplishment. And the letters of Adam's name spells Adam-David-Moshiach, the latter who will be a descendant of King David.
If you notice how King David's name in Hebrew is spelled in Chronicles, unlike the typical spelling of Dalet-Vav-Dalet, it is spelled here with a Yud between the Vav and the Dalet. Perhaps this indicates that King David, as his years were given to him by Adam, was the one who best rectified Adam's sin, as Adam was the result of the 10th Statement that Hashem declared, and Yud is the numerical value of 10, which is also a number of completeness, and in the future of his descendant who will be the Messiah, there will be a 10 stringed harp, reminiscent of the harp that King David played with, especially with his composition of Tehillim/Psalms.
On a personal note, it was one year ago on Rosh Chodesh Nissan that I added a Hebrew name to myself - Matisyahu, a true Jewish leader who showed much sacrifice in leading the battle against the Syrian Greeks who attempted to stop the Jews from practising Judaism. As a result, we have the holiday of Chanuka, when we read in the Torah on each of its eight days about the Korbanot that the leaders of each of the tribes brought for their particular tribe. There is also a custom starting from Rosh Chodesh Nissan for the first 13 days to recite (but not necessarily from the Torah Scroll) the same thing that we read in the Torah on Chanuka.
Anyways, speaking of the 24th Book of the T'nach - Chronicles I, Chapter 25 lists the 24 shifts of the Levites who sang in the Temple (and I am a Levite). Yes, there was a Matisyahu who lived in Biblical times - he was the head of the Levite family who was in 14th place of the 24 shifts. The reason I word it this way is because King David's name as it is usually spelled is the Gematria of 14, but with the extra Yud as spelled in the 24th Book of Chronicles, it has a Gematria of 24.
Now, as I mentioned in the past pertaining to my first name Shimon, there is a custom at the end of the Shemoneh Esrei prayer to say a verse from the Bible which begins with a letter corresponding to the first letter of one's name, and ends with a letter corresponding to the last letter of one's name. So, when I added the name Matisyahu, I had a choice from 98 verses throughout the Bible that I could pick from. I have to admit, there was a bit of competition with some very worthy verses. But at the end, I picked a verse that has something in common with my verse that corresponds to Shimon - which is about Jerusalem & Zion. The particular verse that I picked for Matisyahu is in Psalm Chapter 24 Verse 3 - Mi Ya'aleh V'Har Hashem U'Mi Yakum B'Mekom Kadsho - "Who may ascend the mountain of Hashem, and who may stand in the place of His sanctity"? Now, in a literal sense, this refers to the holy environs of the Holy Temple Mount, which is in Jerusalem. Also, I liked this particular verse, because it poses a challenge - as it can be seen in the following verse, only one who is honest with others in terms of finances, promises, and doesn't take lightly one's commitment to Hashem can have the right to "ascend the mountain of Hashem" and "stand in the place of His sanctity". Only such a person who refines his behavior can really reach spiritual heights. And the sacrifices that one brought in the Temple were only a stepping stone towards what would accomplish being an atonement for a person, not a end means of itself. It is only now that I see the connection of the Psalms 24:3 verse - the 24th Book of Chronicles, and the 3rd Book of Leviticus - that teach a similar thing about what really counts in life - and what is real service of Hashem. Our life is not an end means of itself - except as the stepping stone if we TRULY follow Hashem's instructions to get our foot in the door of Eternal Bliss.
Speaking of Psalm 24 - it is the Shir Shel Yom/Song of the Day - the daily hymn that the Levites sang in the Temple - for the "FIRST day of the week" (Sunday), as we word it in our prayers. Of the psalms for each day of the week, it is the ONLY one that mentions King David's name, starting with "L'David Mizmor..." While King David composed the bulk of the 150 Psalms, there are psalms that were composed by several others. It so happens that the day that I had my name Matisyahu added following the reading of the Sefer Torah was Sunday - the first day of the week - corresponding to the first millenium in which Adam lived, whose descendant King David made a rectification for him which will be completed by the Messiah.
Rabbi Yeshaya Horowitz, known as the Shlah (also a Levite), points out that the world was created with Emet/Truth, which spells as Alef-Mem-Tav/Sav. So, when Adam sinned, the Alef was removed from Emet, leaving the word as Meit/Dead, as death was decreed on mankind as a result. Also, the Alef in Adam's name in effect was spritually removed as well, leaving this word as Dam/Blood(shed), and hence, this is what it means when it says in the above verse in Leviticus - Adam Ki Yakriv - "When a person will bring a sacrifice from among you(rselves)", refering to the animal sacrifice which was slaughtered and its blood spilled out in lieu of the person offering it in the Temple.
In my previous post about Obama, I mentioned other things as related to him being the "44th President" of the United States", and how he was politically born on Tisha B'Av. Well, the day of the Destruction of the First Temple which happened on Tisha B'Av, fell out on Sunday when the Levites were supposed to sing Psalm 24. However, the Talmud in Tractate Ta'anit tells us that they actually sang Psalm 94, the Psalm for Wednesday. The significance?
Amazingly, the very FIRST word of Psalm 24, the song for the FIRST day of the week, is L'David - the Gematria of 44! Remember, this is David as spelled without the Yud, a letter denoting completeness. And as we just said, the word Adam without the Alef leaves this word as Dam/Bloodshed. And instead, the Levites sang Psalm 94, which begins with the word E-l, one of Hashem's name that denotes particular his attribute of Chesed/Kindness, as in the name Shmuel - a contraction of the words Shmo E-l/His name is G-d, the name of the Talmudic Sage whose calculation of the solar system we follow in terms of saying Bircat HaChama/Blessing for the Sun which is always recited on Wednesday morning, following our morning prayers which includes the Song of the Day for Wednesday!
Perhaps the Levites prophetically sang a different Psalm, since it was Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylonia who destroyed the First Temple that day, and as I also mentioned in my previous blog, Saddam Hussein, president of modern day Babylonia, is belived to be Nebuchadnezzar's reincarnate. His favorite personality was Nebuchadnezzar, even as the latter was an idol worshipping pagan, and Saddam's country of Iraq is full of Moslems. He also had four army divisions, one of which he called the Nebuchadnezzar divison. Anyways, it was only since Barack HUSSEIN Obama's political birth on TISHA B'AV that Saddam HUSSEIN was executed. As we know from the Talmud, before one righteous person passes away, another righteous person will be born. Thus, it seems to follow a similar pattern among wicked people. And certainly, Barack HUSSEIN Obama represents the OPPOSITE of TRUTH/EMET, when he has lied about his personal past, when he changed his political tactics pertaining to Israel, and so on. Such people as Saddam and Barack represent BLOODSHED/DAM=44, and G-d forbid have lead or will lead many people to being DEAD/MEIT. Thus, perhaps the Levites in their prophetic vision did not wish to pronounce doom on the Jews in our generation in the final throes of our exile which is considered to be Galut Yishmael/Exile of Yismael-Arabs as lead by Moslem Arab Obama; and instead sang a psalm beginning with Hashem's kindness as a "G-d of revenge" against the nations who have worked against us.
To note, we are now in the month of Nissan, whose Mazal/constellation is Aries/Taleh which is the Gematria of 44. The significance of this is that the Jews while still in Egypt, followed Hashem's orders and slaughter a lamb for the Pascal sacrifice, the Egyptian idol. Indeed, the Jews CHANGED the Mazal of the month to their own benefit by their trust in Hashem without fear of the Egyptians. Similarly, with our true trust in Hashem, we need not fear 44th President Obama and his policies and his CHANGES. Hashem is the one who runs the world, as it was in the merit of the blood/Dam=44 of circumcision and the Pascal sacrifice throught which the Jews had merit to leave Egypt. On a similar note pertaining to trust in Hashem, I noted in a previous blog that the month of Shvat, the first Hebrew month following Obama's becoming president, for which the Mazal/constellation is Aquarius/D'li which also has the Gematria of 44.
As I mentioned earlier, I am now going to be writing something pertaining to the Zohar. There are various parts to the Zohar. The bulk of the Zohar is presently arranged according to the order of the Chumash. There are other books of the Zohar - which include what is considered the holiest part of it, known as the Tikunei HaZohar - Rectification of the Zohar. Many people who know something about the Zohar will know that this includes 70 Tikunim (rectifications) that are all based on the first word of the Torah - Bereishit. However, what most do not know is that it is also based on the order of Parshat Bereishit -the first Parsha of the Chumash, ending off with the reason given for Noach's name, which is near the end of this Parsha. Anyways, a thought occured to me - what is the 44th Tikkun? Well, the first 39 Tikkunim deals exclusively with subjects related to the first day of Creation. Tikkunim 40-48 deals with the remaining days of Creation, including Shabbat. So, Tikkun 44 is the one Tikkun that deals with...the 4th day of Creation!
Remember my previous blog where I write all about the timing of the spring equinox that took place ending with the number 44 on the minute position of the clock, and what it represents, and how the Bircat HaChama of the 4th day - Wednesday comes into place? Indeed, while this may have been the very first equinox/solstice since the 44th U.S. President Obama took office, there is a Tikkun/Rectification here. Obama took office in the very year of Bircat HaChama that is recited only once in 28 years, always recited on a Wednesday - the 4th day of Creation. And as pointed out by rabbis who spoke about the significance of Bircat HaChama, as per the first comment of Rashi, commentator of the Torah, on the Chumash - he quotes from Rabbi Yitzchak "Why doesn't the Torah begin with the first commandment that the Jews were given (before the Torah was given) about Sanctification of the New Moon?" The answer given is that Hashem wants to show Who controls the world by taking away the land of Israel from others who used to live there and giving it to the Jews, thus represented by the account of Hashem creating the world. In this context, Psalm 111:6 is quoted - Ko-ach Ma'asav... "The strength of His deeds he declared to his people, to give them the heritage of the nations", and the Hebrew word for strength - Koach - is also the number for 28, and there are 28 letters to the first verse of the Chumash starting with Bereishit. And even as the sun represents the other nations, and the moon represents the Jews; Hashem wanted the aspect of the sun as represented by the number 28 to begin the Torah as opposed to the moon, because the ultimate purpose of the Torah is to make a CHANGE (as opposed to Obama's CHANGE) of the power of the nations for our use in serving Hashem, represented by our conquering the Land of Israel without fear of what the world will say to us, which seems to be a hard challenge to this day, but what is needed here is total faith and trust in Hashem, regardless of politics, money, and fear.
Anyways, in Tikkun 44 of the Zohar, it mentions that Moshe's countenance was like that of the sun, and his student Joshua's countenance was like that of the moon. Now, as I mentioned a little earlier, the 70 Tikkunim of the Zohar ends about Noach. Noach's name is the same Gematria as HaChama/the sun (58). And there were exactly 365 days that Noach, his family, and the creatures he saved on board were in Noah's Ark, corresponding to 365 full days of the solar year. And so the question can be asked, how can we save ourselves here? (This was Hashem's way of making a NEW WORLD ORDER - see my previous post about this, and the connection with 365 days, the equinox of March 20, and Bircat HaChama).
For one thing, living in Israel is in effect living in Noah's Ark in these turbulent times, because at least in Israel, we have Hashem's special protection; and while very unfortunately, many Jews have been murdered, injured and maimed here, there are countless stories of what DID NOT HAPPEN, and the fact that only a few rockets out of thousands thrown by our Arab enemies have hurt people comes to show that Hashem is indeed running the show. And even at this, most of Israel is still not being rocketed, but that may depend on everyone's participation of speaking out against what the Israeli government is attempting to do now in giving more land away, and also millions of more Jews - especially TRUE right wing Jews (not necessarily "religious") moving to Israel can make a HUGE difference.
There is one more thing mentioned in this Tikkun 44 that we can all work on. You see, an interpretation that the Zohar gives on this section on the sun and moon is that the "big light" (sun) refers to rich people, and the "small light" (moon) refers to poor people. In this context, the Zohar mentions the Mitzva of Tzedaka/Charity. This is especially crucial at this time of year - more than any other time of the year, especially with the economic crisis when countless of people, including some who are Jews, have been laid off for work for some time now, and truly need help making ends meet, let alone be able to celebrate a Passover Seder the way they have been used to doing it. In the very beginning of the laws of Passover in the Code of Jewish Law/Shulchan Aruch, it mentions the special Mitzva of Kimcha D'Pischa - "Flour for Passover" - that is, ample provisions for the poor so they can celebrate Passover properly according to Jewish Law, and with happiness of heart. And as Proverbs tells us - Tzedaka Tatzil MeMavet - "Charity saves from death". Indeed, those who show mercy to others now when most needed can be assured that in the end, they will be part of Hashem's protection, and with Hashem's help - will be spared the bloodshed that will G-d forbid soon target the ones who have shown a lack of faith and trust in Him.
In conclusion, the 6,000 year history (as slated to be until Hashem will make a new world out of this one) can be divided into 24 parts, like the 24 Books of T'nach. Thus, the 24th period started in 5750/5751 (around the secular year 1990). It was just around this time that the internet - "The Tree of Knowledge" started surfacing in the public (though it took a few years until it caught on), not limited anymore to the Pentagon as it was back in the 60s. This corresponds to the Tree of Knowledge that Adam ate from. As described in the Chumash, this was a tree of good and evil, as is the internet. As Adam, with the big Alef (has a connotation of learning/teaching), begins the 24th and final Book of T'nach - Chronicles, which is a summation of world history from the beginning until the return of Jews to the Temple (in this context, it was the Second Temple), focusing on the Davidic dynasty from which the Messiah will come from, we now have a choice and a chance to do it right, because we are the very ones who are living on the brink of the coming of Moshiach, which will result in the world having knowledge of Hashem and much spirituality, the end result of our good deeds. So let us ask ourselves - "What have I done today to bring Moshiach - one step closer - that I will be able to honestly say later; yes, thank G-d, I did something that will allow myself to be part of Hashem's protection and Eternal Bliss?"
My next post, G-d willing, will be shortly before the day of Bircat HaChama/Passover.
5 Nissan 5769, date of the leader of the tribe of Shimon offering his Korbanot
P.S. For the interested, I have found during this past week, a few new discoveries pertaining to Obama/44th President, as hinted in the Torah Codes: As follows...
The first two initials of Obama's name - Beit Cheit (as spelled in Hebrew) also spell the secular year of his election - 2008 (as in Obama 2008). Accordingly, I have found using Torah Codes where at least one of each way of his name spelled (sometimes on lists, people have the last name followed by their first names) clearly hinting to him.
First things first - Beit Cheit Alef Vav Beit Alef Mem Hei - spelled backwards every 19,094th letter. On one of the lines preceding the letter Beit in Obama's name, spells the word Nasi/Leader in the beginning of Parshat Korach where the 250 Nesi'ai Eidah followers of Korach were challenging Moshe & Aharon. Then amazingly, a few lines above the vertical line of the code of Obama's name, spells backwards the Hebrew year 5769 (but without the Hei before it), - year of Obama's election/rise to power; the Teit found in the name Potiphera, priest of On, who imprisoned Yosef based on Potiphera' wife's false accusations of Yosef.
The other way - Alef Vav Beit Alef Mem Hei Beit Cheit - spelled every 3,801th letter. On one of the lines preceding the letter Hei in Obama's name, is the context of the sin of the idol Peor (somewhat similar to the name Potiphera) in the end of Parshat Balak, first describes Zimri ben Salu as V'Hinei Ish M'Bnei Yisrael, where in these four words, every 4th letter spells the word Nasi/Leader - and in fact was the Nasi of Shevet Shimon (though I don't like to mention this fact as this mentions my name in a bad light) - and a few words later is the word HaMiDyanit - describing the Midianite princess with whom Zimri consorted with, where the first three letters is Hei Mem Dalet - THE 44th! Then, in the beginning of Parshat Pinchas - only several verses later - when Hashem tells Moshe to fight the Midianites, it describes the Midianite princess this time as Kozbi Vas Nesi Midian, spelling out Nosi Mem-Dalet - 44th President - the ONLY consecutive spelling like this in the entire Tnach!
The secular date of Obama's ascendancy to office: This date appears exactly one time in the Chumash - spelled backwards with every 24,162th letter - January 20, 2009, that is, Yud-Nun-Vav-Alef-Reish Chaf Beit-Teit. The letter (on the line) on top of the Teis is Nun, and spelling backwards the word Nosi every 6th letter. Then, on the line on top of this one - on top of the letter Sin spelling the word Nosi is Obama's ancestor Yishmael - in the very phrase that Avrohom requested of Hashem about his son Yishmael - Lu Yishmael Yichyeh Lefaneicha - "Would that Yishmael live in Your presence" the results of which we are suffering until today, and this phrase is near the end of Parshat Lech Lecha - the week that Obama was voted in. Alternatively, the letter Yud following Yishmael's name can make it spelled as Yishameli/Ishmaelite describing the Arabic race, particularly Obama.
"The 44th President" - Nasi Ha Mem Dalet, i.e. Nun-Sin-Yud-Alef Hei-Mem-Dalet. The shortest interval of letters is all in one Posuk in Deutronomy 4:32, in the midst of the Kriat HaTorah/Torah Reading of Tisha B'Av - the date that Obama was politically born - where this phrase is spelled every 14th letter. The letter Sin in Nasi/Leader falls out in the word Asher, this word having the same letters as Rosh, which has the same Gematria as Obama's full name (501), and then the Alef falls out in the word Adam, of which the remaining two letters spells Dam/Blood(shed)=44, which was the first of the 10 Makkot/plagues of the Egyptians of which the Rashei Teivot/initials add up to 501, again, the same Gematria as Obama's full name. May it be Hashem's will that He will take pity on His nation for the sake of the good ones after everything that our nation suffered, and instead give the Makkot to the Goyim/nations who will attempt to do away with us.
Monday, March 30, 2009
Thursday, March 19, 2009
#23 - ORDER in an UnOrderly World
NOTE: For the sake of orderly fashion, I will be having this post in two parts to make it a little easier for reading so if you feel it's too much to read at one time - you can read this a little more piecemeal.
PART ONE - THE TRUTH ABOUT THE EVENT OF BIRCAT HACHAMAH
In a few short weeks, we will be celebrating an event that takes place only a few times in our lifetime on this planet. As I wrote about it a few months ago, I am referring to an event that happens every 28 years. As a review, let's quote the original source as written in the Babylonian Talmud in Berachot 59b:
"When seeing the sun at its Tekufah, the moon at its strength, the stars in their paths, and the Zodiacal constellations in their order, one says Blessed be the Maker of creation. "
"And when does this happen? "
"Abaye said: Every 28 years when the cycle begins again and the Nissan equinox falls into Saturn on the evening of Tuesday, going into Wednesday."
Basically, what this is saying is that every 28 years, the sun returns to the same spot at the Nissan or spring equinox.
Really? When is the REAL equinox? Well, this year it falls out on March 20, at 1:44 PM or 13:44 Israel time (7:44 AM EST). Yet, we will not be saying this blessing at this time until the 14th of Nissan, almost three weeks later!
So, are there really two spring equinoxes here? Or, maybe some kind of mistake happened on the calendar at one point; but nevertheless, we follow a calculation that we are already used to even it it doesn't truly reflect what is going on? But how can this be? The equinox on March 20 doesn't fall out on Tuesday evening or Wednesday by day!
You are right. The true equinox really falls out on March 20, nearly three weeks earlier than we say the blessing over this. And the reason for this discrepancy is actually based on an difference of opinion between two Talmudic Sages - Rav Ada and Shmuel.
The way we have it worked for the Birkat HaChama, blessing Hashem for the sun "in the same position every 28 years" is that we follow a pattern of 91 days, 7 and 1/2 hours for every season. Thus, it follows a strict solar calendar pattern of 365 days a year, except for leap years of 366 days. This is how the sage Shmuel calculates the seasons.
Rav Ada, however, insists that the true calculation is slightly less; thus, approximately every 315 years, there is in fact one day less in the calculation. And since the world has been in existance for 5769 years, it indeed comes out to the equinox on March 20.
So, the question begs to be asked? Was Shmuel that unlearned of the exact knowledge that Rav Ada had? And if he really was indeed a seasoned sage, how could he purposely make such a blunder for convenience of rounding off a period of time for a blessing that is in fact based on non-factual information which would be a blessing made in vain if in fact the sun is NOT in that exact position 28 years later on the exact time and day of the week?!
Before we go on answering the question here, this whole thing about making a blessing on seeing the sun is perhaps the biggest paradox in Jewish Law. The following is a list of other matters that complicate the whole situation here:
* There is another disagreement among rabbis as to when the Creation took place to begin with. Rabbi Eliezer holds that it happened on Elul/Tishrei (solar system in Elul, mankind in Tishrei), while Rabbi Yehoshua holds that it happened on Adar/Nissan (solar system in Adar, mankind in Nissan). So according to Rabbi Eliezer, even if the sage Shmuel would have the correct calculation, we would be off by six months.
* Indeed, both the Jerusalem Talmud and the Midrash DO NOT MENTION A WORD about this whole thing about the 28 year cycle of the sun, let alone say a blessing on this. In fact, these sources mention a very different situation where the blessing is said - when the sun is seen in the purity/brightness of the sky at the summer solstice/the beginning of Tekufat Tammuz. And the general rule is that when normally in a difference of opinion between the Jerusalem & Babylonian Talmuds, we follow the Jewish Law according to the Babylonian Talmud; but when the Midrash says the same thing as the Jerusalem Talmud, then it goes according to the opinion of the Jerusalem Talmud. So why is it different in this case?
* While the blessing we say today is Osei Ma'asei Bereishis - ,"Makes the work of Creation"; in fact, the Babylonian Talmud has it worded as Osei Bereishis - "Makes Creation", while ironically, we say it according to the version of the Jerusalem Talmud who doesn't mention a word of this 28 year cycle thing!
It seems that indeed, the rabbis went out of their way to make a special event of something that doesn't really exist, not knowing for sure of even the season of the year that Creation took place, not following the normal standards of how Jewish Law is decided, and we say a different version of the blessing than the one that is actually mentioned by this 28 year cycle event.
In a way, this is correct. The sage Shmuel most certainly knew the same detailed information that Rav Ada had. But Shmuel's precisioned way of calculation seems to have a precedence.
This Shabbat, we read the special Torah reading following the regular Parsha of the week that is called Parshat HaChodesh - Exodus 12:1-20. It begins off with the very first Mitzva that Hashem commanded the Jews of calculating the month based on sighting the moon, which began with that month of Nissan, the month of the Exodus, and we count the 12 months starting from Nissan. Now every month on the Shabbat before Rosh Chodesh/Shabbat Mevorchim, including this coming Shabbat, we announce what is called the Molad - the "rebirth" of the moon, as is reflected by how we see the moon during the month when it gradually shows more of it beginning to look like a banana until the middle of the Jewish month, and then decreases its showing until the moon disappears again for a day or two.
Now mind you, this "rebirth" does not as a matter of fact begin at night as we consider a Jewish day to begin. This "rebirth" can happen at any time of day or night. However, based on what our sages tell us based on the wording of the Torah, we count days - not hours. Thus, we cannot begin a day in the "middle of the day". We can't start a new month approximately 29 and 1/2 days later - only 29 or 30 days later - just plus or minus a little more or less time on the 24 hour schedule than the previous month depending on the time of the year. Thus, our month is not physically possible to be exact according to the moon's schedule.
And so the sage Shmuel's schedule of the cycle of the sun is not following an exact pattern as the sun is located in time and place either. However, there is still a question that begs to be asked. At least with our months, there is an accountability in terms of when the new moon appears, so in fact, not all months will have the same amount of days (today's Jewish calendar until the Sanhedrin as the big Jewish court used to be called is in full power once again to enforce the biblical sighting of the moon) - some are 30 while others are 29. But here, Shmuel makes NO ATTEMPT to fill in this discrepancy of actually losing a whole day before the coming equinox or solstice every approximate 315 years!
It's interesting to note that when the Babylonian Talmud mentions this 28 year cycle, it quotes a different sage named Abaye to explain "when this happens" in the solar system.
Who is Abaye?
Throughout the Talmud, he has arguments with the sage Rava. Except for six cases, the Jewish law follows Rava. And yet here, he is given the green light of all sages to explain a timing that doesn't really exist.
For those who faithfully say the full Shacharis/morning prayers every day, the sage Abaye (who's numerical value/Gematria is 23, and this is my 23rd POST) is a very familiar sage. At the conclusion of the section in our prayers about the Korbanot/animal sacrifices, we say Abaye Hava Mesader Seder - "Abaye had arranged an order" of the daily functions in the Holy Temple.
Today, we mention the word Seder/Order in more than one context. In the Yeshiva world, a session of Torah learning is known as a Seder. Besides this, everyone knows the Hebrew word as associated with the "Seder night" when we say the Haggada. And indeed, just like there is a list of 15 different parts to the Haggada (which we recite or perform on the night of the 15th of Nissan when the full moon appears - only one night in Israel unlike two outside of Israel) so did Abaye mention a list of 15 categories of Avoda/Divine Service that was performed daily by the Cohanim. It's interesting to note that while Abaye lived long after the destruction of the Second Temple, he himself was a Cohen. Also, the word for a prayerbook is called Siddur, based on the word Seder, and indeed, our prayers today take the place of the daily sacrifices about which Abaye made a Seder - an orderly list of what took place daily.
Speaking of Abaye as a Cohen, the Talmud mentions that the two sons of Eli the High Priest/Cohen Gadol did not exactly follow the Seder of how they were supposed to perform their service in the Tabernacle which lead in part to its destruction. As a result, they were punished with having their descendants passing away at a young age. However, there was one way of getting out of that. While after mishandling the Divine service of animal sacrifices, this aspect of serving Hashem wouldn't help them; however, Torah and Gemilut Chasadim/Deeds of Kindness would help add years to their lives. The Talmud relates that there were two sages known to be descendants of the two sons of Eli - Abaye and Rabbah. Rabbah - who mostly learned Torah, lived only to 40 years of age; while Abaye - who both learned Torah and was quite active doing Gemilut Chasadim, lived to 60 years of age. Is the Talmud trying to tell us something here other than nice stories (or scary stories)?
While it is true that the greatest Mitzva is in fact Torah study - Talmud Torah Knegged Kulam (Mishna Peah 1:1) - Torah study/teaching is equal to all the Mitzvot/Commandments of the Torah, and there is an eternal reward for EACH WORD of Torah that is equal to ALL THE OTHER Mitzvot combined, Hashem wants us to follow the other Mitzvot of the Torah as well, or else we would have no purpose in this world for we can learn the Torah - in fact, much better - in the next world where we used to be before coming to this earthly existance. In fact, one who learns only Torah without performing what the Torah says in fact has no reward at the end for not only is the Torah learning in this case not for the right reason, but is not doing anything to serve Hashem, and is learning it the same way as a professor teaches a course - learning it strictly for its intellectual benefit. But what this type of person forgets is that the whole purpose of learning Torah in this world is to SERVE HASHEM. As soon as Moshe Rabbeinu, the first teacher of Torah to the Jewish people, passes away, the Torah immediately describes him as Eved Hashem - "servant of Hashem", as he wasn't a professor who taught the Torah the way that he wants to teach it, but how Hashem wants it dictated. And so while Rabbah, in fact, none other than Abaye's teacher certainly didn't ingore doing acts of lovingkindness, he didn't make such a great effort to spend time with this, and so he had no more purpose of being in this world after so many years, especially with the curse placed in his family. But Abaye, a man of Seder/Order, kept a balance of Torah & Gemilut Chasadim, so in the long run, Abaye benefited much more with eternal reward as he was given extra years to not only perform acts of lovingkindness, but was able to do additional Mitzvot besides learning Torah , the latter which he still did for the large part of his time. In fact, the words Torah & Gemilut Chasadim - have the same Gematria of 611! Indeed, we have much to learn from our Sages when it comes to making order in our lives.
This is the ultimate lesson of Bircat HaChama/saying the blessing and thanking Hashem for his works of Creation. While Hashem in fact does not run the world in an "exact fashion", and thus we can't follow a calendar with an exact pattern as it happens in the solar system, it is left up to us to make order of what happens in life. Virtually nothing in life happens EXACTLY the way we want it. Maybe we would not have much to complain about if we were to win millions of dollars in a lottery ticket, but then we would be in a quandary - How do we spend or invest the money? How will we deal with the pressure of "friends" asking us to help them out? Should we quit our jobs or continue working for a while? So much for "good" things happening to us in this world!
It seems that in fact, Hashem meant to make the solar system to fit in a 28 year pattern. In fact, the Zohar mentions about the "28 letters of Creation". But wait a minute! We have 22 letters of the Alef Beit, and even if were to include the five "final" letters that are spelled only at the end of a word, it comes out to a total of 27 letters. But the 28 letters are the amount of letters in the first verse of the Torah describing Hashem creating the heavens and the earth. Also, speaking of letters in relationship to Hashem, there is a concept of 28 with the letter Alef. Speaking of Gematria, each letter carries a numerical value, ending the 22 letters with a Tav=400. Now in regular computing of Gematria, we use the five "final" letters - Chaf, Mem, Noon, Pei, Tzadi called Sofit/End Letter at the end of the particular letter as the regular Gematria of 20/40/50/80/90 respectively. However, in an upgrade fashion, the Gematriot are 500/600/700/800/900 respectively. Thus, at the end, the number 28 position returns to the Alef, with its same letters but changing its vowels becomes an Elef, which means 1,000! And as Rashi in his very first comment on the Torah asking why the section of Parshat HaChodesh (what we will be reading as Maftir this coming Shabbat!) was not placed in the beginning of the Torah instead as the whole purpose of the Torah are the Mitzvot that Hashem commands us to do. His answer is what Psalms 111:6 states - Koach Ma'asav..."The STRENGTH of Hashem's works he told His people (Jews) to give them the inheritance of the nations" about our rights to live in Eretz Yisrael. While other people used to live in Israel, it was Hashem's will for us to conquer them and take their place. And the word Koach/Strength is the Hebrew number of 28.
Accordingly, it is Hashem's will to have the solar system the way that it is set up. But it is up to us to deal with it with a way that will make us realize that it is Hashem who runs the world, and thus every 28 years - symbolizing Hashem's STRENGTH and not just the history of Hashem creating the world but Oseh MA'ASEH Bereishis - does the ACTIONS of Creation - that everything Hashem created should show that it is Hashem Who had to be the Creator because something so complicated as science shows truly indicates that it was no "big bang" trick that brought everything from magic, and that rabbits don't evolve from hats. And as the name of the sage Shmuel - whose calculation of the solar system we follow for Bircat HaChama - which is a contraction of the words Shmo E-l - "His name is G-d", the particular name of E-l describes Hashem in terms of his Chesed/Kindness in that everything He does is for our benefit; and accordingly, we need to reciprocate and show how Hashem's kindness is evident in every action and result of Creation that could have only been possibly been performed by a Creator. And indeed, the Shir Shel Yom, the Song of the Day, as the Levites recited in the Temple for the 4th day of the week - Wednesday, the day of Creation when the placement of the planetary system took place, is Psalm 94 which begins with the word E-l, in the context of G-d taking revenge against the idol woshipping nations who have oppressed the Jewish people. And indeed, while the Jewish people are compared to the moon, G-d is compared to the sun, the latter which is the physically brightest and powerful thing to look it, representing G-d's power over those who think that they have all the power in the world, but G-d shows that it is He Who has power over all, and will avenge the wrongs that the nations have done against the Jewish people, who are the pupil of His eye.
PART TWO - EQUINOX & THE NEW WORLD ORDER
We had mentioned when the coming equinox will take place: March 20, and in most parts of the world, the time of the hour ends with 44. Anything significant here?
Let me paint a scenario here, and you can take a guess as to where the following is going to take place:
You turn on the T.V. on Sunday morning. You realize before your eyes that a segment of the country's population has been taken by taken by police for execution. Indeed, you get a startling call hours later confirming that a good friend of yours has been done away with by police, never to be seen again. Your heart starts pounding! Am I next? Will I have other family members or friends to meet the same fate? In the late afternoon, you get a call from a cousin of yours visiting your present country who lives in another country, letting you know that when he attempted to return to his native land, upon calling the airline, he was informed that all the airlines and airports in the country are now run by the government, and when his name was checked in the system, it showed that he was denied exit from the country as he is on the "government list", and only "certain visitors" will be allowed to return in the near future.
With barely any sleep that evening, you travel to work the next morning noticing a somewhat decrease in traffic, and indeed a well respected employee of the company is found to have been taken by police to a prison camp over the weekend without prior notice or reason given for being taken away. But you can't just leave the office, if anything, you have to work like twice as hard now with this big worry about what will happen next.
As the days move on, you return home one evening only to find yourself face-to-face with a friendly neighbor who informs you that another neighbor was just hauled off by what seemed to be government police, and that neighbor just kept screaming "What did I do wrong?" "Please tell me!", only to be told that he will be told later. Well, you figure, you have no where to hide, you now live in a Communist country for all that you can see.
After the two most nervewracking weeks in your life, you get a notice in the mail for an appointment with the local police, asking you to bring your drivers's license or personal ID. What does this mean, you start asking yourself. You knock on your neighbor's door, and indeed, he has received the same type of notice. And then you find out at work that everyone received such a notice. O.K., I guess we ain't all dying overnight, but what it he deal here, you wonder.
The day arrives. You hold on to your steering wheel like there is nothing else in this world that exists. Your heart increasingly pounding, you arrive at the police station, only to find a hundred people ahead of you in line. After a while, as the line moves on, you notice one person exiting a room, while one other person enters the room. Also, as the exiting person leaves, there are a few on line asking what happened inside, but whoever they ask just keeps walking without saying a word. At one point, you look behind you only to notice two armed policemen at the exit door. After waiting a couple of hours with your legs constantly shaking, it's your turn to enter the room.
You are told to sit. You notice another two armed policemen standing. The police lady sitting at the other end of the desk orders you to close your eyes, hold your breath, and that a single peep from you will result in your immediate arrest. With abaited breath, you just resign yourself to whatever will happen. Yeap, you feel a needle piercing your arm, it feels like five minutes though it is relatively a much shorter time. Right afterwards, you are informed that a monitering chip has just been inserted in your body. Congragulations. You are then informed that any talk of this from the time you walk out of the room until the end of your life can be subject to immediate execution for an act of rebellion against the government. Only after the bleeding from the arm stops are you told that you can now leave. Have a nice day.
O.K. my friends, maybe this will not happen exactly the way I described it; but clearly, the basic content of this will G-d forbid happen in the near future. Where? Is this in Israel, India, Iran, Iraq, Indonesia, Ireland, or other countries starting with the letter I or other letter?
Before it was Russia's and Germany's turn. Now, it will be...the United States of America! And also the same time, it will be in Canada and Mexico.
In the past, I have mentioned in posts briefly about what will be happening in the United States in the near future as you can check out at http://www.shuva.net/. But recently, I had come across many more details about the events that are soon going to be taking place.
Oh yeah, I have already encounted those who don't to seem to be worried, and don't think that anything drastic will happen in the United States. This is despite numerous videos online and former government employees giving detailed information of this upcoming operation, but I guess some people simply will not wake up until it is a little too late. So, let me fill you in on some details here:
First of all go to http://www.youtube.com/ and type FEMA coffins (FEMA stands for Federal Emergency Management Agency). For a 29 page document of the powers that the United States will be executing, go to http://www.google.com/ and type "Operation Garden Plot and Rex 84", and press on the link to the first entry. Don't try checking out the FEMA website - unless you want to delude yourself to think that this country wants to only help its citizens. Oh yeah, the FEMA website has a link "Plan Ahead", which is about preparing for the next flood or hurricane. But I have a little different message to present here of what the real "Plan Ahead" is about.
What? Is the government of the United States going to turn into being Communists and Nazis? How can this be, you may ask, the United States has a guaranteed Constitution?!
My friends, nothing is a guarantee in life, except for G-d! I already mentioned in the past that the UnSupreme Court stepped on the Constitution that assures that only a naturally born citizen of the United States is allowed to run for the presidential office. The United States government, the corrupt media, and most Democrats have ignored or denied the facts about Obama. So, what is different from this than denying our religious rights and freedom, even if it's the First Amendment? This comes as no huge surpirse to me. You see, Russia and Germany also had a Constitution of religous freedom and rights, but it went right out the window when Stalin and Hitler respectively took over the reigns of leadership.
As former FEMA workers tell us, it will happen something like this. At 4:00 in the morning (NOTE: spell 4:00 as 400 which is the numerical value of the last letter of the Alef Beit - Tav. The word Tav means sign/mark. Before the destruction of the First Temple, a spiritual mark representing bloodshed was made on the foreheads of Jews who were going to be killed), the White House will signal the butchers to go ahead with the evil deed. The government will maintain different color lists: Red List - Up the chimney for the "big rebels" - including talk show hosts and bloggers who write against what is going in the United States government (like myself, but I live in Israel so I am truly not worried). Blue List - Off to the concentration camp where most will not survive their alternate mind trick training. Yellow List - Everyone else who have been naive of what was going to happen, who will be given instructions as to what to do, which will include allowing themselves to be injected with a monitering chip which will in effect be like the home arrest shackles around the ankles except that this will be inserted INSIDE the body. In fact, this will be far more sophisticated than the tattooed numbers that the Nazis engraved into peoples' skins. This yellow list package will happen under the name of martial law in two weeks after the haul off to execution or prison camp. And the FEMA coffins - those are the large boxes, along with the some 600 concentration camps, paid for by your income tax money, will house many corpses from the government turture. Also, this will be executed in the name of the "New World Order".
Now let's back to the timing of today's equinox of March 20, ending with the number 44? Sounds familiar? Oh yes, the 44th UnPresident of the United States! Well, Obama may be illegal for the position, but he is in acting power assuming the role of the 44th President of the United States. Now, the exact time in the part of the United States where the Capitol is at is (NOTE: it doesn't matter if it is Daylight Savings time - it goes by the time line that people hold by) - 7:44 (AM). Now in this case, the numbers 7 and 44 have something very much in common. The Hebrew letter for 7 is Zayin, which also means Weapon, and 44 which is the number Mem Daled, can be reversed to read Dam/Blood(shed)! Moreover, the two numbers add up to 51 - the Gematria of Edom which is most associated with the United States today, and indeed, it has in fact 51 states, because it includes the Capitol - Washington D.C. Moreover, the war that the United States started with Afghanistan some seven years ago has been associated with various Rabbis as being the war of Gog U'Magog which is supposed to begin on Hoshana Rabbah as indeed it happened this way. And the reason this special day is called with the name HoshaNA is because it is the 51st day from Rosh Chodesh Elul when we start asking for mercy from Hashem, despite our numerous sins, and is a most opportune time for our repentance to be accepted.
Speaking earlier of the Babylonian Talmud as the original written source for the Bircat HaChama, the Hebrew word for Babylonian is Bavli, which is the Gematria of 44. And don't forget, Sadam Hussein - president of Iraq, modern day Babylon - is considered to be the reincarnate of Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon who destroyed the First Temple which took place on Tisha B'Av. And now, we have the 44th President of Bloodshed United States - Barack HUSSEIN Obama (who was politically born on Tisha B'Av (July 27) 2004, when he made a public speech endorsing then Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry)! So, if we trust in Hashem and follow the ORDER and ORDERS that Hashem tells us, especially as is sourced in the Oral Torah mostly in the Babylonian Talmud, then indeed, we will be able to fight the Babylonian/Bloodshed part of the exile and we will be spared the worst of this "New World ORDER". In connection with this, it's the 44th Parsha of the Torah that begins the Book of Deutronomy/Devarim, also called Mishneh Torah, as it includes a review of many Mitzvot of the Torah mentioned earlier, spoken orally by Moshe Rabbeinu to the Jewish Nation; and thus this last book of the Chumash is compared to the Oral Torah.
As I wrote in the past about the 44th Parsha of the Torah as it relates to the 44th President of the United States, there are a few things here that will confirm what I am saying here, and as related to the number seven. This 44th Parsha starts off the Book of Deutronomy. Now, while it may be the 5th Book of the Torah, in a way, it is considered the 7th Book of the Torah. You see, there is this two verse section in Parshat Beha'alotcha - Numbers 10:35-36 - that is surrounded in the Sefer Torah by upside down Noons. This section of the Torah, as Rashi points out, is inserted to seperate between punishments in the Torah that are mentioned in relationship to the Jewish people. Thus, the Book of Numbers is in effect considered by the Midrash as three books; making the Book of Deutronomy the 7th Book of the Torah; and thus, here is another connection between the numbers 7 & 44! Morever, the 7th day from when Obama took the oath of office fell out on Rosh Chodesh Shvat, the date that begins this 44th Parsha. Amazing!
Now, what is the very first word of this Parsha? Eileh (means these) - the letters comprised of Alef, Lamed. Hei. In Hebrew, this can spell the Hebrew number of 1,035, as the Alef in the first position assumes the number of 1,000 as opposed to the number 1. Now, 1,035 is five times the number 207. In the first day of Creation as related in the beginning of the Torah, the word Ohr, which is the Gematria of 207, is mentioned five times! And don't forget, the upcoming date of Bircat HaChama which begins the 207th cycle of the Ohr HaChama - "Light of the Sun" in its calculated position from Creation. Now, as I heard recently on http://www.redemption5768.com/., what is the 44th word of the Torah? It is within this very first section of the five mentions of light - V'LaChoshech - "FOR THE DARKNESS, Hashem called night". Well, we know what spiritual and physical darkness that (half) black Muslim Arab Obama contains, but if this wasn't enough, this Hebrew word has a Gematria of 364. It has been said that the word HaSatan/the Satan, also has a Gematria of 364, as out of the 365 solar days of the year, the only day that the Satan has no power over is Yom Kippur. Thus, the Satan has reign over 364 solar days. As per Satan's two other titles - one is Mal'ach HaMavet/Angel of Death, where HaMavet (the death) are the same letters as Tehom (the deep) as in the second verse in the beginning of Creation "Darkness on the face of THE DEEP". This word is also the same Gematria as Yishmael (451), the son of Abraham and the black Egyptian princess Hagar, who is the ancestor of the Arabs who are the main ones making Jews suffer at the very end of our nearly 2,000 year exile. The other title of Satan is the Yetzer Hara/Evil inclination. As I mentioned before about Deutronomy 31:29 "...evil will befall you at the end of days, if you do what is evil in the eyes of Hashem, to anger Him through your handiwork". The Hebrew phrase for "do what is evil" is Ta'asu Et Hara, where the exact wording of Hara (the evil) is being used, like the Yetzer Hara, and I had mentioned earlier that this is a prophecy of the liberal Jews, who lacking in faith in Hashem, voting for the evil Obama - the evil at the End of Days, and have angered Hashem greatly through their "handiwork" of voting for him. (As everything does originate from the Torah, I should mention that the Christians mention an Anti-Christ, compared to the devil, in the End of Days. In fact, Obama IS Muslim, he just goes along with certain things that are Christian to fool the public)
So, I guess what we are saying here is that while we Jews follow the ORDER of Bircat HaChama according to the calculations of the sage Shmuel and as related by Abaye, the rest of the world follows what is seen as the true equinox on this date of March 20 at 7:44 AM as the time where the White House is, following strictly according to a solar cycle both with the seasons and the yearly calendar of 365 days, under the guise of what they call the NEW WORLD ORDER of supposedly helping to change the economy for the better! (Everything is from the Torah. The NEW WORLD ORDER that took place when Noah, his family, and the creatures that he saved in the Ark were living in Noah's Ark, happened in the span of 365 days!)
Do you remember Lavan, the evil uncle of Jacob, as mentioned in the Hagaddah as being credited for his attempt to destroy his own family - the future of the Jewish People? Lavan means white - and as the Midrash tells us, before Lavan's time, at least people were honest about their evil actions until Lavan came along and made everything sound "white" when he was full of tricks. Indeed, the "White House" - the Beit HaLavan - represents this same concept; it will just be a matter of a short time until it becomes obvious to all, but will be unfortunately too late for many to do anything about it. Our Rabbis tell us that the event pertaining to our Patriarchs - Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is a sign of what will happen to the Jewish People in the future. With all of Jacob's attempts to foil Lavan's plan, Lavan still managed to trick Jacob in having him first marry his daughter Leah, for whom Jacob did not care for at the time, instead of Rachel, whom Jacob had just worked SEVEN backbreaking years for.
Heed this message, my friends! The ultimate Holocaust will be G-d forbid where we least expect it - which is right under our noses, consisting of over 600 work/prison/concentration camps in the United States! Whatever the FEMA coffins will not bury immediately, the slave labor will
assist in that over time. And even if Moshiach comes right now, don't think that everything will be honky dory, and everyone will fly right over to Israel. You see, the Goyim will make one last attempt to stop us. I have already mentioned that according to the Book of Ezekiel where Obama's name is secretly encoded as Gog, the nations will all be coming to attack Israel, though Hashem will save us at the end - at least the ones who do repentance now. At least in Israel, Moshiach will be around to fight the final war. But don't expect Moshiach to come to the United States. In the U.S.A., Jews will be left to fend for themselves, and if it becomes a Communist country, Jews just may not be able to leave, as four fifths of the Jews were spiritually dead at the plague of DARKNESS that struck the Egyptians.
Note that we read the above 44th Parsha - Parshat Devarim - every year on the Shabbat before Tisha B'Av. Our Rabbis tell us that on the afternoon of Tisha B'Av, Moshiach was born. Whether this will mean physically as well, what I am implying here is that there will and I believe already taking place what is called Chevlei Moshiach/Birthpangs of Moshiach - the worst time for the Jewish People right before Moshiach comes, just like a woman has birthpangs right before giving birth. So right before Tisha B'Av, one of the fast days that our Prophets tell us will be a day of rejoicing in the future, which will represent the light of Moshiach being revealed, we will be going through the thickest darkness in history. It already started as early as the Holocaust about which is hinted in the Torah - V'Yamesh Chosech - "The darkness was felt" - about the plague of darkness for the Egyptians, as the letters preceding those of the letters in "V'Yamesh" spell Hitler! The only question is - how much longer is this darkness going to last? That depends on us. We can end it now if we all made Aliyah and trusted in Hashem. Let's face it - if you knew you had exactly 24 hours to flee the country, and afterwards, there would be no way of leaving, what would you do? Would you be asking, "Oh, but what am I going to be doing for a living in the future?" "Will anyone understand my language?" "Will I be able to get a little extension of time here?" You would be more than thanking Hashem for giving you a chance to escape harm's way, and only afterwards, would you deal with the less worries in life, after leaving the country whom you paid your income taxes behind with little more than the shirt on your back.
NOW is the time to leave the United States - but don't take my word for it if you have second doubts here. Watch some of the videos related to the FEMA coffins of those who will tell you to flee the States. With this equinox sign of 7:44 - WEAPON/BLOODSHED, I would be most frightened - and G-d forbid, the worse can happen in the States within the next three months before the coming summer solstice, or this coming year! I don't want to have to be in a position to tell others later "I told you so". I am doing my part here, but leave while you have the money with which to leave, before the ultimate economic crisis brings down the "democratic" United States, or whatever is left of it.
I am not going to predict here when Moshiach will be arriving. As far as I am concerned, the beginning of this 207th era of LIGHT/OHR=207 - physical and spiritual light of the OHR Shivat HaYamim "LIGHT of the SEVEN days of Creation that Hashem hid until the Messianic Era- may well usher Moshiach's immediate coming on Erev Pesach, - as the beginning of Mishna Pesachim states OHR L'Arba'ah Asar - the context of searching for Chometz in the beginning of the night of 14 Nissan, the date for this Bircat HaChama - and begin with bringing the Pascal Lamb representing what the Jews ate on the night of their Exodus leaving the exile. But there is a date in the Hebrew calendar that bears the same letters as Tisha B'Av - Beit Av, Hei Tav Shin Ayin, that is, 2 Av 5770, or the letter Beit can mean "in" so it can mean "in Av, 5770". Yes, next year in the month of Av - I expect something big to happen - can't predict what (hopefully something good rather than otherwise), but I don't feel that this is a mere coincidence. But clearly, things are changing - rapidly, so don't be left behind in the spiritual and physical exile. You want to be in the right land at the right time when the spiritual revelations will be taking place and not miss any of it because you will not experience them in the United States. Say Goodbye to JerUSAlem, and proudfully declare Hello to Yerushalayim Ir HaKodesh, the Holy City that we mention in our prayers several times a day.
24 Adar, 5769
Will be posting again sometime next week, G-d willing, including new discoveries I have found about Obama in the Hidden Torah Codes!
PART ONE - THE TRUTH ABOUT THE EVENT OF BIRCAT HACHAMAH
In a few short weeks, we will be celebrating an event that takes place only a few times in our lifetime on this planet. As I wrote about it a few months ago, I am referring to an event that happens every 28 years. As a review, let's quote the original source as written in the Babylonian Talmud in Berachot 59b:
"When seeing the sun at its Tekufah, the moon at its strength, the stars in their paths, and the Zodiacal constellations in their order, one says Blessed be the Maker of creation. "
"And when does this happen? "
"Abaye said: Every 28 years when the cycle begins again and the Nissan equinox falls into Saturn on the evening of Tuesday, going into Wednesday."
Basically, what this is saying is that every 28 years, the sun returns to the same spot at the Nissan or spring equinox.
Really? When is the REAL equinox? Well, this year it falls out on March 20, at 1:44 PM or 13:44 Israel time (7:44 AM EST). Yet, we will not be saying this blessing at this time until the 14th of Nissan, almost three weeks later!
So, are there really two spring equinoxes here? Or, maybe some kind of mistake happened on the calendar at one point; but nevertheless, we follow a calculation that we are already used to even it it doesn't truly reflect what is going on? But how can this be? The equinox on March 20 doesn't fall out on Tuesday evening or Wednesday by day!
You are right. The true equinox really falls out on March 20, nearly three weeks earlier than we say the blessing over this. And the reason for this discrepancy is actually based on an difference of opinion between two Talmudic Sages - Rav Ada and Shmuel.
The way we have it worked for the Birkat HaChama, blessing Hashem for the sun "in the same position every 28 years" is that we follow a pattern of 91 days, 7 and 1/2 hours for every season. Thus, it follows a strict solar calendar pattern of 365 days a year, except for leap years of 366 days. This is how the sage Shmuel calculates the seasons.
Rav Ada, however, insists that the true calculation is slightly less; thus, approximately every 315 years, there is in fact one day less in the calculation. And since the world has been in existance for 5769 years, it indeed comes out to the equinox on March 20.
So, the question begs to be asked? Was Shmuel that unlearned of the exact knowledge that Rav Ada had? And if he really was indeed a seasoned sage, how could he purposely make such a blunder for convenience of rounding off a period of time for a blessing that is in fact based on non-factual information which would be a blessing made in vain if in fact the sun is NOT in that exact position 28 years later on the exact time and day of the week?!
Before we go on answering the question here, this whole thing about making a blessing on seeing the sun is perhaps the biggest paradox in Jewish Law. The following is a list of other matters that complicate the whole situation here:
* There is another disagreement among rabbis as to when the Creation took place to begin with. Rabbi Eliezer holds that it happened on Elul/Tishrei (solar system in Elul, mankind in Tishrei), while Rabbi Yehoshua holds that it happened on Adar/Nissan (solar system in Adar, mankind in Nissan). So according to Rabbi Eliezer, even if the sage Shmuel would have the correct calculation, we would be off by six months.
* Indeed, both the Jerusalem Talmud and the Midrash DO NOT MENTION A WORD about this whole thing about the 28 year cycle of the sun, let alone say a blessing on this. In fact, these sources mention a very different situation where the blessing is said - when the sun is seen in the purity/brightness of the sky at the summer solstice/the beginning of Tekufat Tammuz. And the general rule is that when normally in a difference of opinion between the Jerusalem & Babylonian Talmuds, we follow the Jewish Law according to the Babylonian Talmud; but when the Midrash says the same thing as the Jerusalem Talmud, then it goes according to the opinion of the Jerusalem Talmud. So why is it different in this case?
* While the blessing we say today is Osei Ma'asei Bereishis - ,"Makes the work of Creation"; in fact, the Babylonian Talmud has it worded as Osei Bereishis - "Makes Creation", while ironically, we say it according to the version of the Jerusalem Talmud who doesn't mention a word of this 28 year cycle thing!
It seems that indeed, the rabbis went out of their way to make a special event of something that doesn't really exist, not knowing for sure of even the season of the year that Creation took place, not following the normal standards of how Jewish Law is decided, and we say a different version of the blessing than the one that is actually mentioned by this 28 year cycle event.
In a way, this is correct. The sage Shmuel most certainly knew the same detailed information that Rav Ada had. But Shmuel's precisioned way of calculation seems to have a precedence.
This Shabbat, we read the special Torah reading following the regular Parsha of the week that is called Parshat HaChodesh - Exodus 12:1-20. It begins off with the very first Mitzva that Hashem commanded the Jews of calculating the month based on sighting the moon, which began with that month of Nissan, the month of the Exodus, and we count the 12 months starting from Nissan. Now every month on the Shabbat before Rosh Chodesh/Shabbat Mevorchim, including this coming Shabbat, we announce what is called the Molad - the "rebirth" of the moon, as is reflected by how we see the moon during the month when it gradually shows more of it beginning to look like a banana until the middle of the Jewish month, and then decreases its showing until the moon disappears again for a day or two.
Now mind you, this "rebirth" does not as a matter of fact begin at night as we consider a Jewish day to begin. This "rebirth" can happen at any time of day or night. However, based on what our sages tell us based on the wording of the Torah, we count days - not hours. Thus, we cannot begin a day in the "middle of the day". We can't start a new month approximately 29 and 1/2 days later - only 29 or 30 days later - just plus or minus a little more or less time on the 24 hour schedule than the previous month depending on the time of the year. Thus, our month is not physically possible to be exact according to the moon's schedule.
And so the sage Shmuel's schedule of the cycle of the sun is not following an exact pattern as the sun is located in time and place either. However, there is still a question that begs to be asked. At least with our months, there is an accountability in terms of when the new moon appears, so in fact, not all months will have the same amount of days (today's Jewish calendar until the Sanhedrin as the big Jewish court used to be called is in full power once again to enforce the biblical sighting of the moon) - some are 30 while others are 29. But here, Shmuel makes NO ATTEMPT to fill in this discrepancy of actually losing a whole day before the coming equinox or solstice every approximate 315 years!
It's interesting to note that when the Babylonian Talmud mentions this 28 year cycle, it quotes a different sage named Abaye to explain "when this happens" in the solar system.
Who is Abaye?
Throughout the Talmud, he has arguments with the sage Rava. Except for six cases, the Jewish law follows Rava. And yet here, he is given the green light of all sages to explain a timing that doesn't really exist.
For those who faithfully say the full Shacharis/morning prayers every day, the sage Abaye (who's numerical value/Gematria is 23, and this is my 23rd POST) is a very familiar sage. At the conclusion of the section in our prayers about the Korbanot/animal sacrifices, we say Abaye Hava Mesader Seder - "Abaye had arranged an order" of the daily functions in the Holy Temple.
Today, we mention the word Seder/Order in more than one context. In the Yeshiva world, a session of Torah learning is known as a Seder. Besides this, everyone knows the Hebrew word as associated with the "Seder night" when we say the Haggada. And indeed, just like there is a list of 15 different parts to the Haggada (which we recite or perform on the night of the 15th of Nissan when the full moon appears - only one night in Israel unlike two outside of Israel) so did Abaye mention a list of 15 categories of Avoda/Divine Service that was performed daily by the Cohanim. It's interesting to note that while Abaye lived long after the destruction of the Second Temple, he himself was a Cohen. Also, the word for a prayerbook is called Siddur, based on the word Seder, and indeed, our prayers today take the place of the daily sacrifices about which Abaye made a Seder - an orderly list of what took place daily.
Speaking of Abaye as a Cohen, the Talmud mentions that the two sons of Eli the High Priest/Cohen Gadol did not exactly follow the Seder of how they were supposed to perform their service in the Tabernacle which lead in part to its destruction. As a result, they were punished with having their descendants passing away at a young age. However, there was one way of getting out of that. While after mishandling the Divine service of animal sacrifices, this aspect of serving Hashem wouldn't help them; however, Torah and Gemilut Chasadim/Deeds of Kindness would help add years to their lives. The Talmud relates that there were two sages known to be descendants of the two sons of Eli - Abaye and Rabbah. Rabbah - who mostly learned Torah, lived only to 40 years of age; while Abaye - who both learned Torah and was quite active doing Gemilut Chasadim, lived to 60 years of age. Is the Talmud trying to tell us something here other than nice stories (or scary stories)?
While it is true that the greatest Mitzva is in fact Torah study - Talmud Torah Knegged Kulam (Mishna Peah 1:1) - Torah study/teaching is equal to all the Mitzvot/Commandments of the Torah, and there is an eternal reward for EACH WORD of Torah that is equal to ALL THE OTHER Mitzvot combined, Hashem wants us to follow the other Mitzvot of the Torah as well, or else we would have no purpose in this world for we can learn the Torah - in fact, much better - in the next world where we used to be before coming to this earthly existance. In fact, one who learns only Torah without performing what the Torah says in fact has no reward at the end for not only is the Torah learning in this case not for the right reason, but is not doing anything to serve Hashem, and is learning it the same way as a professor teaches a course - learning it strictly for its intellectual benefit. But what this type of person forgets is that the whole purpose of learning Torah in this world is to SERVE HASHEM. As soon as Moshe Rabbeinu, the first teacher of Torah to the Jewish people, passes away, the Torah immediately describes him as Eved Hashem - "servant of Hashem", as he wasn't a professor who taught the Torah the way that he wants to teach it, but how Hashem wants it dictated. And so while Rabbah, in fact, none other than Abaye's teacher certainly didn't ingore doing acts of lovingkindness, he didn't make such a great effort to spend time with this, and so he had no more purpose of being in this world after so many years, especially with the curse placed in his family. But Abaye, a man of Seder/Order, kept a balance of Torah & Gemilut Chasadim, so in the long run, Abaye benefited much more with eternal reward as he was given extra years to not only perform acts of lovingkindness, but was able to do additional Mitzvot besides learning Torah , the latter which he still did for the large part of his time. In fact, the words Torah & Gemilut Chasadim - have the same Gematria of 611! Indeed, we have much to learn from our Sages when it comes to making order in our lives.
This is the ultimate lesson of Bircat HaChama/saying the blessing and thanking Hashem for his works of Creation. While Hashem in fact does not run the world in an "exact fashion", and thus we can't follow a calendar with an exact pattern as it happens in the solar system, it is left up to us to make order of what happens in life. Virtually nothing in life happens EXACTLY the way we want it. Maybe we would not have much to complain about if we were to win millions of dollars in a lottery ticket, but then we would be in a quandary - How do we spend or invest the money? How will we deal with the pressure of "friends" asking us to help them out? Should we quit our jobs or continue working for a while? So much for "good" things happening to us in this world!
It seems that in fact, Hashem meant to make the solar system to fit in a 28 year pattern. In fact, the Zohar mentions about the "28 letters of Creation". But wait a minute! We have 22 letters of the Alef Beit, and even if were to include the five "final" letters that are spelled only at the end of a word, it comes out to a total of 27 letters. But the 28 letters are the amount of letters in the first verse of the Torah describing Hashem creating the heavens and the earth. Also, speaking of letters in relationship to Hashem, there is a concept of 28 with the letter Alef. Speaking of Gematria, each letter carries a numerical value, ending the 22 letters with a Tav=400. Now in regular computing of Gematria, we use the five "final" letters - Chaf, Mem, Noon, Pei, Tzadi called Sofit/End Letter at the end of the particular letter as the regular Gematria of 20/40/50/80/90 respectively. However, in an upgrade fashion, the Gematriot are 500/600/700/800/900 respectively. Thus, at the end, the number 28 position returns to the Alef, with its same letters but changing its vowels becomes an Elef, which means 1,000! And as Rashi in his very first comment on the Torah asking why the section of Parshat HaChodesh (what we will be reading as Maftir this coming Shabbat!) was not placed in the beginning of the Torah instead as the whole purpose of the Torah are the Mitzvot that Hashem commands us to do. His answer is what Psalms 111:6 states - Koach Ma'asav..."The STRENGTH of Hashem's works he told His people (Jews) to give them the inheritance of the nations" about our rights to live in Eretz Yisrael. While other people used to live in Israel, it was Hashem's will for us to conquer them and take their place. And the word Koach/Strength is the Hebrew number of 28.
Accordingly, it is Hashem's will to have the solar system the way that it is set up. But it is up to us to deal with it with a way that will make us realize that it is Hashem who runs the world, and thus every 28 years - symbolizing Hashem's STRENGTH and not just the history of Hashem creating the world but Oseh MA'ASEH Bereishis - does the ACTIONS of Creation - that everything Hashem created should show that it is Hashem Who had to be the Creator because something so complicated as science shows truly indicates that it was no "big bang" trick that brought everything from magic, and that rabbits don't evolve from hats. And as the name of the sage Shmuel - whose calculation of the solar system we follow for Bircat HaChama - which is a contraction of the words Shmo E-l - "His name is G-d", the particular name of E-l describes Hashem in terms of his Chesed/Kindness in that everything He does is for our benefit; and accordingly, we need to reciprocate and show how Hashem's kindness is evident in every action and result of Creation that could have only been possibly been performed by a Creator. And indeed, the Shir Shel Yom, the Song of the Day, as the Levites recited in the Temple for the 4th day of the week - Wednesday, the day of Creation when the placement of the planetary system took place, is Psalm 94 which begins with the word E-l, in the context of G-d taking revenge against the idol woshipping nations who have oppressed the Jewish people. And indeed, while the Jewish people are compared to the moon, G-d is compared to the sun, the latter which is the physically brightest and powerful thing to look it, representing G-d's power over those who think that they have all the power in the world, but G-d shows that it is He Who has power over all, and will avenge the wrongs that the nations have done against the Jewish people, who are the pupil of His eye.
PART TWO - EQUINOX & THE NEW WORLD ORDER
We had mentioned when the coming equinox will take place: March 20, and in most parts of the world, the time of the hour ends with 44. Anything significant here?
Let me paint a scenario here, and you can take a guess as to where the following is going to take place:
You turn on the T.V. on Sunday morning. You realize before your eyes that a segment of the country's population has been taken by taken by police for execution. Indeed, you get a startling call hours later confirming that a good friend of yours has been done away with by police, never to be seen again. Your heart starts pounding! Am I next? Will I have other family members or friends to meet the same fate? In the late afternoon, you get a call from a cousin of yours visiting your present country who lives in another country, letting you know that when he attempted to return to his native land, upon calling the airline, he was informed that all the airlines and airports in the country are now run by the government, and when his name was checked in the system, it showed that he was denied exit from the country as he is on the "government list", and only "certain visitors" will be allowed to return in the near future.
With barely any sleep that evening, you travel to work the next morning noticing a somewhat decrease in traffic, and indeed a well respected employee of the company is found to have been taken by police to a prison camp over the weekend without prior notice or reason given for being taken away. But you can't just leave the office, if anything, you have to work like twice as hard now with this big worry about what will happen next.
As the days move on, you return home one evening only to find yourself face-to-face with a friendly neighbor who informs you that another neighbor was just hauled off by what seemed to be government police, and that neighbor just kept screaming "What did I do wrong?" "Please tell me!", only to be told that he will be told later. Well, you figure, you have no where to hide, you now live in a Communist country for all that you can see.
After the two most nervewracking weeks in your life, you get a notice in the mail for an appointment with the local police, asking you to bring your drivers's license or personal ID. What does this mean, you start asking yourself. You knock on your neighbor's door, and indeed, he has received the same type of notice. And then you find out at work that everyone received such a notice. O.K., I guess we ain't all dying overnight, but what it he deal here, you wonder.
The day arrives. You hold on to your steering wheel like there is nothing else in this world that exists. Your heart increasingly pounding, you arrive at the police station, only to find a hundred people ahead of you in line. After a while, as the line moves on, you notice one person exiting a room, while one other person enters the room. Also, as the exiting person leaves, there are a few on line asking what happened inside, but whoever they ask just keeps walking without saying a word. At one point, you look behind you only to notice two armed policemen at the exit door. After waiting a couple of hours with your legs constantly shaking, it's your turn to enter the room.
You are told to sit. You notice another two armed policemen standing. The police lady sitting at the other end of the desk orders you to close your eyes, hold your breath, and that a single peep from you will result in your immediate arrest. With abaited breath, you just resign yourself to whatever will happen. Yeap, you feel a needle piercing your arm, it feels like five minutes though it is relatively a much shorter time. Right afterwards, you are informed that a monitering chip has just been inserted in your body. Congragulations. You are then informed that any talk of this from the time you walk out of the room until the end of your life can be subject to immediate execution for an act of rebellion against the government. Only after the bleeding from the arm stops are you told that you can now leave. Have a nice day.
O.K. my friends, maybe this will not happen exactly the way I described it; but clearly, the basic content of this will G-d forbid happen in the near future. Where? Is this in Israel, India, Iran, Iraq, Indonesia, Ireland, or other countries starting with the letter I or other letter?
Before it was Russia's and Germany's turn. Now, it will be...the United States of America! And also the same time, it will be in Canada and Mexico.
In the past, I have mentioned in posts briefly about what will be happening in the United States in the near future as you can check out at http://www.shuva.net/. But recently, I had come across many more details about the events that are soon going to be taking place.
Oh yeah, I have already encounted those who don't to seem to be worried, and don't think that anything drastic will happen in the United States. This is despite numerous videos online and former government employees giving detailed information of this upcoming operation, but I guess some people simply will not wake up until it is a little too late. So, let me fill you in on some details here:
First of all go to http://www.youtube.com/ and type FEMA coffins (FEMA stands for Federal Emergency Management Agency). For a 29 page document of the powers that the United States will be executing, go to http://www.google.com/ and type "Operation Garden Plot and Rex 84", and press on the link to the first entry. Don't try checking out the FEMA website - unless you want to delude yourself to think that this country wants to only help its citizens. Oh yeah, the FEMA website has a link "Plan Ahead", which is about preparing for the next flood or hurricane. But I have a little different message to present here of what the real "Plan Ahead" is about.
What? Is the government of the United States going to turn into being Communists and Nazis? How can this be, you may ask, the United States has a guaranteed Constitution?!
My friends, nothing is a guarantee in life, except for G-d! I already mentioned in the past that the UnSupreme Court stepped on the Constitution that assures that only a naturally born citizen of the United States is allowed to run for the presidential office. The United States government, the corrupt media, and most Democrats have ignored or denied the facts about Obama. So, what is different from this than denying our religious rights and freedom, even if it's the First Amendment? This comes as no huge surpirse to me. You see, Russia and Germany also had a Constitution of religous freedom and rights, but it went right out the window when Stalin and Hitler respectively took over the reigns of leadership.
As former FEMA workers tell us, it will happen something like this. At 4:00 in the morning (NOTE: spell 4:00 as 400 which is the numerical value of the last letter of the Alef Beit - Tav. The word Tav means sign/mark. Before the destruction of the First Temple, a spiritual mark representing bloodshed was made on the foreheads of Jews who were going to be killed), the White House will signal the butchers to go ahead with the evil deed. The government will maintain different color lists: Red List - Up the chimney for the "big rebels" - including talk show hosts and bloggers who write against what is going in the United States government (like myself, but I live in Israel so I am truly not worried). Blue List - Off to the concentration camp where most will not survive their alternate mind trick training. Yellow List - Everyone else who have been naive of what was going to happen, who will be given instructions as to what to do, which will include allowing themselves to be injected with a monitering chip which will in effect be like the home arrest shackles around the ankles except that this will be inserted INSIDE the body. In fact, this will be far more sophisticated than the tattooed numbers that the Nazis engraved into peoples' skins. This yellow list package will happen under the name of martial law in two weeks after the haul off to execution or prison camp. And the FEMA coffins - those are the large boxes, along with the some 600 concentration camps, paid for by your income tax money, will house many corpses from the government turture. Also, this will be executed in the name of the "New World Order".
Now let's back to the timing of today's equinox of March 20, ending with the number 44? Sounds familiar? Oh yes, the 44th UnPresident of the United States! Well, Obama may be illegal for the position, but he is in acting power assuming the role of the 44th President of the United States. Now, the exact time in the part of the United States where the Capitol is at is (NOTE: it doesn't matter if it is Daylight Savings time - it goes by the time line that people hold by) - 7:44 (AM). Now in this case, the numbers 7 and 44 have something very much in common. The Hebrew letter for 7 is Zayin, which also means Weapon, and 44 which is the number Mem Daled, can be reversed to read Dam/Blood(shed)! Moreover, the two numbers add up to 51 - the Gematria of Edom which is most associated with the United States today, and indeed, it has in fact 51 states, because it includes the Capitol - Washington D.C. Moreover, the war that the United States started with Afghanistan some seven years ago has been associated with various Rabbis as being the war of Gog U'Magog which is supposed to begin on Hoshana Rabbah as indeed it happened this way. And the reason this special day is called with the name HoshaNA is because it is the 51st day from Rosh Chodesh Elul when we start asking for mercy from Hashem, despite our numerous sins, and is a most opportune time for our repentance to be accepted.
Speaking earlier of the Babylonian Talmud as the original written source for the Bircat HaChama, the Hebrew word for Babylonian is Bavli, which is the Gematria of 44. And don't forget, Sadam Hussein - president of Iraq, modern day Babylon - is considered to be the reincarnate of Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon who destroyed the First Temple which took place on Tisha B'Av. And now, we have the 44th President of Bloodshed United States - Barack HUSSEIN Obama (who was politically born on Tisha B'Av (July 27) 2004, when he made a public speech endorsing then Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry)! So, if we trust in Hashem and follow the ORDER and ORDERS that Hashem tells us, especially as is sourced in the Oral Torah mostly in the Babylonian Talmud, then indeed, we will be able to fight the Babylonian/Bloodshed part of the exile and we will be spared the worst of this "New World ORDER". In connection with this, it's the 44th Parsha of the Torah that begins the Book of Deutronomy/Devarim, also called Mishneh Torah, as it includes a review of many Mitzvot of the Torah mentioned earlier, spoken orally by Moshe Rabbeinu to the Jewish Nation; and thus this last book of the Chumash is compared to the Oral Torah.
As I wrote in the past about the 44th Parsha of the Torah as it relates to the 44th President of the United States, there are a few things here that will confirm what I am saying here, and as related to the number seven. This 44th Parsha starts off the Book of Deutronomy. Now, while it may be the 5th Book of the Torah, in a way, it is considered the 7th Book of the Torah. You see, there is this two verse section in Parshat Beha'alotcha - Numbers 10:35-36 - that is surrounded in the Sefer Torah by upside down Noons. This section of the Torah, as Rashi points out, is inserted to seperate between punishments in the Torah that are mentioned in relationship to the Jewish people. Thus, the Book of Numbers is in effect considered by the Midrash as three books; making the Book of Deutronomy the 7th Book of the Torah; and thus, here is another connection between the numbers 7 & 44! Morever, the 7th day from when Obama took the oath of office fell out on Rosh Chodesh Shvat, the date that begins this 44th Parsha. Amazing!
Now, what is the very first word of this Parsha? Eileh (means these) - the letters comprised of Alef, Lamed. Hei. In Hebrew, this can spell the Hebrew number of 1,035, as the Alef in the first position assumes the number of 1,000 as opposed to the number 1. Now, 1,035 is five times the number 207. In the first day of Creation as related in the beginning of the Torah, the word Ohr, which is the Gematria of 207, is mentioned five times! And don't forget, the upcoming date of Bircat HaChama which begins the 207th cycle of the Ohr HaChama - "Light of the Sun" in its calculated position from Creation. Now, as I heard recently on http://www.redemption5768.com/., what is the 44th word of the Torah? It is within this very first section of the five mentions of light - V'LaChoshech - "FOR THE DARKNESS, Hashem called night". Well, we know what spiritual and physical darkness that (half) black Muslim Arab Obama contains, but if this wasn't enough, this Hebrew word has a Gematria of 364. It has been said that the word HaSatan/the Satan, also has a Gematria of 364, as out of the 365 solar days of the year, the only day that the Satan has no power over is Yom Kippur. Thus, the Satan has reign over 364 solar days. As per Satan's two other titles - one is Mal'ach HaMavet/Angel of Death, where HaMavet (the death) are the same letters as Tehom (the deep) as in the second verse in the beginning of Creation "Darkness on the face of THE DEEP". This word is also the same Gematria as Yishmael (451), the son of Abraham and the black Egyptian princess Hagar, who is the ancestor of the Arabs who are the main ones making Jews suffer at the very end of our nearly 2,000 year exile. The other title of Satan is the Yetzer Hara/Evil inclination. As I mentioned before about Deutronomy 31:29 "...evil will befall you at the end of days, if you do what is evil in the eyes of Hashem, to anger Him through your handiwork". The Hebrew phrase for "do what is evil" is Ta'asu Et Hara, where the exact wording of Hara (the evil) is being used, like the Yetzer Hara, and I had mentioned earlier that this is a prophecy of the liberal Jews, who lacking in faith in Hashem, voting for the evil Obama - the evil at the End of Days, and have angered Hashem greatly through their "handiwork" of voting for him. (As everything does originate from the Torah, I should mention that the Christians mention an Anti-Christ, compared to the devil, in the End of Days. In fact, Obama IS Muslim, he just goes along with certain things that are Christian to fool the public)
So, I guess what we are saying here is that while we Jews follow the ORDER of Bircat HaChama according to the calculations of the sage Shmuel and as related by Abaye, the rest of the world follows what is seen as the true equinox on this date of March 20 at 7:44 AM as the time where the White House is, following strictly according to a solar cycle both with the seasons and the yearly calendar of 365 days, under the guise of what they call the NEW WORLD ORDER of supposedly helping to change the economy for the better! (Everything is from the Torah. The NEW WORLD ORDER that took place when Noah, his family, and the creatures that he saved in the Ark were living in Noah's Ark, happened in the span of 365 days!)
Do you remember Lavan, the evil uncle of Jacob, as mentioned in the Hagaddah as being credited for his attempt to destroy his own family - the future of the Jewish People? Lavan means white - and as the Midrash tells us, before Lavan's time, at least people were honest about their evil actions until Lavan came along and made everything sound "white" when he was full of tricks. Indeed, the "White House" - the Beit HaLavan - represents this same concept; it will just be a matter of a short time until it becomes obvious to all, but will be unfortunately too late for many to do anything about it. Our Rabbis tell us that the event pertaining to our Patriarchs - Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is a sign of what will happen to the Jewish People in the future. With all of Jacob's attempts to foil Lavan's plan, Lavan still managed to trick Jacob in having him first marry his daughter Leah, for whom Jacob did not care for at the time, instead of Rachel, whom Jacob had just worked SEVEN backbreaking years for.
Heed this message, my friends! The ultimate Holocaust will be G-d forbid where we least expect it - which is right under our noses, consisting of over 600 work/prison/concentration camps in the United States! Whatever the FEMA coffins will not bury immediately, the slave labor will
assist in that over time. And even if Moshiach comes right now, don't think that everything will be honky dory, and everyone will fly right over to Israel. You see, the Goyim will make one last attempt to stop us. I have already mentioned that according to the Book of Ezekiel where Obama's name is secretly encoded as Gog, the nations will all be coming to attack Israel, though Hashem will save us at the end - at least the ones who do repentance now. At least in Israel, Moshiach will be around to fight the final war. But don't expect Moshiach to come to the United States. In the U.S.A., Jews will be left to fend for themselves, and if it becomes a Communist country, Jews just may not be able to leave, as four fifths of the Jews were spiritually dead at the plague of DARKNESS that struck the Egyptians.
Note that we read the above 44th Parsha - Parshat Devarim - every year on the Shabbat before Tisha B'Av. Our Rabbis tell us that on the afternoon of Tisha B'Av, Moshiach was born. Whether this will mean physically as well, what I am implying here is that there will and I believe already taking place what is called Chevlei Moshiach/Birthpangs of Moshiach - the worst time for the Jewish People right before Moshiach comes, just like a woman has birthpangs right before giving birth. So right before Tisha B'Av, one of the fast days that our Prophets tell us will be a day of rejoicing in the future, which will represent the light of Moshiach being revealed, we will be going through the thickest darkness in history. It already started as early as the Holocaust about which is hinted in the Torah - V'Yamesh Chosech - "The darkness was felt" - about the plague of darkness for the Egyptians, as the letters preceding those of the letters in "V'Yamesh" spell Hitler! The only question is - how much longer is this darkness going to last? That depends on us. We can end it now if we all made Aliyah and trusted in Hashem. Let's face it - if you knew you had exactly 24 hours to flee the country, and afterwards, there would be no way of leaving, what would you do? Would you be asking, "Oh, but what am I going to be doing for a living in the future?" "Will anyone understand my language?" "Will I be able to get a little extension of time here?" You would be more than thanking Hashem for giving you a chance to escape harm's way, and only afterwards, would you deal with the less worries in life, after leaving the country whom you paid your income taxes behind with little more than the shirt on your back.
NOW is the time to leave the United States - but don't take my word for it if you have second doubts here. Watch some of the videos related to the FEMA coffins of those who will tell you to flee the States. With this equinox sign of 7:44 - WEAPON/BLOODSHED, I would be most frightened - and G-d forbid, the worse can happen in the States within the next three months before the coming summer solstice, or this coming year! I don't want to have to be in a position to tell others later "I told you so". I am doing my part here, but leave while you have the money with which to leave, before the ultimate economic crisis brings down the "democratic" United States, or whatever is left of it.
I am not going to predict here when Moshiach will be arriving. As far as I am concerned, the beginning of this 207th era of LIGHT/OHR=207 - physical and spiritual light of the OHR Shivat HaYamim "LIGHT of the SEVEN days of Creation that Hashem hid until the Messianic Era- may well usher Moshiach's immediate coming on Erev Pesach, - as the beginning of Mishna Pesachim states OHR L'Arba'ah Asar - the context of searching for Chometz in the beginning of the night of 14 Nissan, the date for this Bircat HaChama - and begin with bringing the Pascal Lamb representing what the Jews ate on the night of their Exodus leaving the exile. But there is a date in the Hebrew calendar that bears the same letters as Tisha B'Av - Beit Av, Hei Tav Shin Ayin, that is, 2 Av 5770, or the letter Beit can mean "in" so it can mean "in Av, 5770". Yes, next year in the month of Av - I expect something big to happen - can't predict what (hopefully something good rather than otherwise), but I don't feel that this is a mere coincidence. But clearly, things are changing - rapidly, so don't be left behind in the spiritual and physical exile. You want to be in the right land at the right time when the spiritual revelations will be taking place and not miss any of it because you will not experience them in the United States. Say Goodbye to JerUSAlem, and proudfully declare Hello to Yerushalayim Ir HaKodesh, the Holy City that we mention in our prayers several times a day.
24 Adar, 5769
Will be posting again sometime next week, G-d willing, including new discoveries I have found about Obama in the Hidden Torah Codes!
Thursday, March 12, 2009
#22 - REVEALING TORAH SECRETS
Many years ago, I saw a Charlie Brown comic strip where Charlie pronounces the number 22 as "tootie two".
Hoped you liked this little Purim joke, but putting all jokes aside, the number 22 in fact plays a most significant role in the Megilla - and the Torah. While my last post stressed the number 21 as having significance with Megillat Esther, this book in the T'nach/Jewish Bible (as opposed to the Old Testament where some of the books are placed in a different order) being the 21st Book in today's order of books in the T'nach, including the Artscroll edition of the T'nach (Artscroll www.artscroll.com is supervised by some of the biggest Torah scholars today); the Talmud, Maimonides and the Shulchan Aruch/Code of Jewish Law in fact list the Book of Esther as the 22nd book of the 24 books of the T'nach. In fact, this Book of Esther ends with the number 22, which hints to a most significant Mitzva of the Torah. If you have found my past posts interesting, this 22nd post will be one of the most spellbound pieces of written information that you will ever have read.
One of the connections of Esther with the number 22 can be seen in the beginning of Psalm 22 - "For the conductor, on the Ayelet HaShachar, a psalm by David". Now, for a translation, Ayelet HaShachar can mean dawn in one context. In any case, there is a Midrash on Tehillim that says that this phrase refers to Esther. Thus, Esther is especially featured in the beginning of Psalm 22.
Besides this, I am referring specifically to a letter in the Megilla that is written larger than the other letters. The letter Tav - the first of the two - in the word VaTichtov- "She wrote" (Esther 9:29) is the big letter here. Mind you, there are many letters throughout the T'nach that are written either bigger or smaller than the other letters. Of course there is a reason for every single one like that. But this one has an unusual significance.
To bring up another point from my last post, this Purim was most significant because it fell out on the LAST solar month of the 28 solar cycle, which is the 336th month, and Purim is the Gematria of 336. Accordingly, Tav is the 22nd letter and LAST letter of the Aleph Beit.
Anyways, have another question on the large Tav here. Why is it specifically the first Tav, and not the second Tav in this word?
Now, in case any women reading my previous post may feel a little uncomfortable even though I was polite as I could be writing about the specific role of women, you will feel on cloud nine by the time you finish reading this post here. You see, Esther will soon be associated here with a most significant Mitzva of the Torah.
If you know a little Hebrew, you may be aware that it is a little different than English. You see, when you say a word in English that is plural, such as the word writings, there is no sense of masculine or feminine in this word. In Hebrew, it can be written as Ketuvim, ending with a Final Mem (Mem Sofit) which is masculine, or Ketuvot, ending with a Tav or Sav which is feminine. Another example, as referring to people themselves, is the phrase married ones. In Hebrew, it can be written as Nesuim, which is referring to married men; or Nesuot referring to married women.
So, the Tav at the end of certain words in Hebrew denotes a feminine aspect or the females themselves. Similarly, it is the first Tav in VaTichtov that is feminine, referring to Queen Esther; because if it is masculine, then the word would be VaYichtov - a Yud instead of a Tav.
Now, here is another question I will pose here. We said a moment ago that in masculine/feminine words - a word ending with a Mem Sofit is masculine and ending with a Tav is feminine. If so, there is a big irony here - the word for women in Hebrew is Nashim, ending with a Mem Sofit, as it does for men - Anashim! What's the deal here?!
The deal is Gematria. You see, the word Nashim/Women equals 400, the number for the letter Tav! This is why it is the letter Tav that is feminine, it equals the word the Hebrew word for women - Nashim - every time.
Now, there are Midrashim that mention that there are 22 righteous women who are mentioned in the Bible. The last one of these is Esther. Morever, King Solomon who was no stranger to women, concludes his Book of Proverbs/Mishlei with 22 verses beginning each with another letter of the Alef Beit in order of letters. Thus, it is the VERY LAST VERSE in Proverbs that corresponds to Esther: "Give her the fruits of her hands, and let her be praised in the gates by her very own deeds".
There are a number of other explanations given about this big Tav, including from a rabbi known as the Chida who points out that this hints to the miracles of the Megilla being the last ones mentioned in the Bible. However, I am going to give you an explanation that I am surprised I haven't seen before.
O.K. - The LAST letter, the LAST righteous woman mentioned in the Bible and...the LAST Mitzva of the Torah. And this is...the WRITING of a Sefer Torah! So, the last letter of the Alef Beit - Tav - is enlarged in the Hebrew word VaTichtov "She WROTE". And as I mentioned in my previous post, that there are halachic aspects of the Megilla that resemble a Sefer Torah such as the qualifications of the parchment.
Now, let's get to the actual verse that we have been touching on. "Then Queen Esther daughter of Abihail wrote, along with Mordechai the Jew...this second letter of Purim". In Hebrew, the normal word for "wrote" in plural is (Va)Yichtevu if it includes at least one male, or (Va)Tichtevu if only females. But here, it is in the singular for a woman - VaTichtov - even as it mentions Mordechai's name afterwards. What's going on here?
Yes, the Megilla is named after Esther, NOT Mordechai, as great as a Tzadik/righteous person he was and took a chance giving up his own life as well disobeying the king's orders to bow down to Haman. In fact, we don't see anywhere where a woman wrote any part of the Bible - that is, except for this Book. (The Book of Ruth was written by the prophet Samuel). It seems that Mordechai is just mentioned here as an accessory. And if it is true that Mordechai could have been the one to have written it, or part of it; well, the credit for it is given to Esther. And not only that, but she is also credited for the annual celebration of Purim, because as Rashi points out - what does it mean when it says "the SECOND letter of Purim"? She wrote it a second time with an enclosure of instituting Purim. So, she is in fact credited for everything, and not Mordechai, except as a lending hand to the matter. How come?
And here is where the uniqueness of women comes into place. As we know, just like the tribe of Yissachar learned Torah and the tribe of Zevulun supported his brotherly tribe - and as such, has an equal share in the Torah learning, the same it is with the women being supportive of their husbands and children learning Torah. Yes, the women have half of the reward of the men learning Torah (but don't think you can outsmart Hashem by staying single for this reason - Hashem sends curve balls, and if you get married and have children, you have eternal merits for all the Torah and Mitzvot that your children and descendants will perform). In fact, we see that in the blessings that Ya'akov and Moshe gave the tribes, Zevulun precedes Yissachar because Yissachar's learning Torah all day as opposed to working part of the time is only thanks to Zevulun supporting him.
Now, the Talmud (Chulin 139b) asks, "Where is Esther hinted in the Torah"? V'Anochi Haster Astir... "But I will surely have concealed My face on that day because of all the evil that it did, for it had turned to gods of others" (Deutoronomy 31:18) What we know about the miracles of Purim is that they happened in a natural way. There were no open miracles the way that it happened in the story of Passover. The events of Purim seemed to be like it was "just the way it turned out", not that anyone would be overwhelmed the way he/she would be when witnessing a miracle, because this was in fact a time when Hashem "hid his face" from the Jewish nation, as it didn't follow the Torah quite right at that time. Even after Mordechai warned them not to participate in the king's party, they didn't listen. It was only after it was made known to them of the possibility of being killed by the nations around them did it bring them to repentance mode.
Anyways, what is the VERY NEXT VERSE following this one that hints to Esther? "So now, write this song (the Torah) for yourselves, and teach it to the Children of Israel, place it in their mouth..." (Deutronomy 31:19) We learn from this verse...the 613th Mitzva/commandment - the LAST commandment of the Torah! So indeed, Esther, the LAST of the righteous women mentioned in the Bible, is most connected to the LAST Mitzva of the Torah of writing a Sefer Torah, as hinted in the Megilla with the letter Tav - the LAST letter of the Aleph Beit, that means the word SHE in the context of "She (Esther) wrote". By the way, the word Torah is in fact a feminine word; as in many Hebrew words, if it ends with the vowel Kometz and letter Hei, it denotes a feminine word. And yes, the letter Tav begins the word TORAH and T'NACH.
(Wish to put this in parenthesis since the following doesn't have a direct connection with our topic but is related by the similar numbers. When Ya'akov was returning to Israel with his family, he sent a message to his brother Esav telling him that "Im Lavan Gartie" - "I have lived with Lavan". Rashi, who normally gives only the simple meaning of the verses, tells us that the word Gartie - "I have lived" has the same letters as Taryag, as in the Taryag - 613 Mitzvot, meaning that despite having lived with his evil uncle Lavan, Ya'akov still kept all of the commandments. In response, Esav got together 400 men to go fight Ya'akov. Anyways, just as we see a corelationship between the 613th Mitzva and the letter Tav which equals 400; so do we see a connection between the 613 Mitzvot and Esav's response to try to combat physically, and spiritually, Ya'akov with his 613 Mitzvot.)
And speaking of the Bible, the number of chapter and verse about Esther writing the Megilla is 9:29. Put the two numbers together - 929 - and it is the exact amount of chapters in the Jewish Bible! And while we are at it, let's note what the Gematria of the word VaTichtov is - 828, and so is the phrase Razei Torah - "SECRETS OF THE TORAH", so called because until one point, these secrets of the Torah - Kabbalah - was HIDDEN from most people, and so is the word HaOtiyot/The Letters - which can also be read as Hei=5 letters for the word V'Tichtov consists of 5 letters has the Gematria of 828, as we are indeed writing about the LAST LETTER of the Alef Beit. And counting the number of chapters in the Bible from Genesis to Chronicles (in the order that is found in virtually all standard T'nachs today where the Book of Esther is the 21st Book) - what number chapter is this wording about Esther in? It is the 828th chapter of the Bible! Indeed, the Bible, in our terminology, is called the Torah She'Bichtav - "The Written Torah". And while it is only the first five books of the Bible that is called the Penteteuch/Chumash that is written as a Sefer Torah as far as the Mitzva of writing a Sefer Torah is concerned, the rest of the Bible is an extension of this Sefer Torah. This explains why it says in the above quoted Talmud "Where is Mordechai hinted in the Torah?" "Where is Esther hinted in the Torah?" As the Vilna Gaon says, EVERYTHING in history, EVERY person, all that was and will be is hinted somewhere in the Chumash.
Along these lines, speaking of the number 828 & Esther, each of these are spelled out in the Chumash exactly one time - both within three verses of each other. Following Cain's murder of his brother Abel, Hashem tells Cain that among his punishments, Lo Tosef Teit Kocha Lach "The ground will no longer GIVE you its STRENGTH" - The letters Tav, Tav, Kaf, Cheit in Teit Kocha spells the number 828. And then in response to the punishments that Hashem outlined to Cain, he responded back among other statements that he made U'Mipanecha Esater - "I WILL BE HIDDEN from your presence". This word Esater - "I will be hidden" are the very letters that spell the name Esther. (See Genesis 4:12-14).
So what is the connection between the story of Cain & Esther? Cain performed the first murder and genocide ever in history, and thus the consequences of the murder of his brother was far worse than future murders in history because this was the beginning of time, so who knows how many billions of children were prevented from being born! And Haman attempted to perform genocide on the Jewish people - all on one day as though human life had absolutely no meaning when it came to Jews, and thus kill off the entire Chosen Nation of Hashem at one shot so there wouldn't be any Jews left and thus there would be no further reason for this world's existence if the Jews, as keepers of the Torah who cause the world to exist no longer exist themselves. It was just that Esther saved the day by having Haman killed, leading to avert the evil decree by allowing the Jews to legally defend themselves. In fact, it is in the 9th Chapter of the Book of Esther, the 828th Chapter of the T'nach/Bible, that the Jews defended themselves, thus allowing them to continue their existance and subsequently in the very same chapter, Esther writes down the miracle of Purim, as exemplified by the word Va'Tichtov which has the Gematria of 828.
Yes, the division of the chapters and verses, as arranged sometime during the Middle Ages, was in fact done by a non-Jew. So you may ask, how could there really be a significance here with the number of chapters, verses, etc, if it was a non-Jew who decided how they should be divided? But this is how Hashem does things sometimes - in HIDDEN ways. Hashem may use non-Jews to accomplish things for our benefit, as Hashem used King Achashverosh to help the Jews at the end of the Purim story. And if anyone thinks that he turned to a lover of Jews, our Rabbis in Talmud Megilla tell us that he was the same rotten king from beginning to end. Hashem just used him to help us - he was enthralled with Esther's beauty, he learned of Mordechai saving him from being killed by two guys who wanted to do away with the king, Esther told him of Haman's intentions of wanting to hurt the kingdom when the king was enraged as a result and then he saw Haman forcing himself on Esther when in fact, it was an angel that forced Haman on Esther so the king would do away with Haman. So truly, even what non-Jews do is ultimately Hashem's doing - even though non-Jews have free choice as Jews do, as in other situations when non-Jews hate and hurt us but Hashem allows this to happen to wake us and realize that we cannot forget who we are and our mission in this world.
(Anyone learning Daf Yomi, the daily Talmudic page that is learned worldwide, should realize that the setting of how the page format of the Talmud that we see it as today was in fact also arranged by a non-Jew!)
Now, getting back to the verse in the Chumash that hints to Esther - this is the 5740th verse of the Torah. The significance? In Hebrew, this number is spelled as Hei, Tav, Shin, Mem. Now, spell this word backwards - Mishteh, translated in English as feast, having a meal in celebration based on Shetiya, the root of this word, which means drinking, based on drinking wine. Anyways, this word is mentioned 40 times in all of the T'nach. Half of these times - 20 times - is mentioned in...Megillat Esther! From King Achashverosh's Mishteh/feast for the public to the Mitzva of having a Mishteh/Purim feast, this word seems to be a key theme in the Purim story. Indeed, it was the two times of Esther declaring a Mishteh for the king and Haman that brought Haman's downfall! (It is significant to note that the five times that this word is mentioned in the Chumash are all in Genesis, the period of time when the Torah was so to speak HIDDEN, that is, before the Torah was given).
The reversal of the letters of a number is a most interesting display of the concept of VeNahafoch - turning to the reverse, as in Esther 9:1 where it says that the situation of the Jews got reversed from the threat of total annihilation to the Jews having control over their enemies. And indeed, this is through what happened with the concept of Mishteh/feasting itself in the Megilla, as the Jews took of the forbidden feast of King Achashverosh which nearly caused their destruction as punishment for this, but as a result of them doing Teshuva/repentance and Esther holding two feasts to get rid of Haman - in fact called Mishteh Esther, it resulted that not only the Jews were simply saved, but that at the end, they GAINED a Mitzva of having a feast on Purim/Seudat Purim. This concept is in total consonance with a Ba'al Teshuva - one who repents, and does it out of love for Hashem, that not only does he/she have no more Aveirot/sins; but in fact, the sins turn into merits. And indeed, the 5740th verse in the Torah where it says that Hashem will hid His face from the Jews as a result of them sinning where it hints to Esther's name is the negative connotation, but...the Hebrew number for 5740 when in reverse became at the end a most positive thing - the Mitzva of Seudat Purim as a result of Mishteh Esther - what Esther did physically, and spiritually. It is at this feast that Jews (especially when drinking) want to show the most that they are proud of being Jewish, and are not looking to hide it. We have seen all too well what has happened in the past when Jews have tried to hide themselves from showing that they were Jewish which resulted in Hashem in turn hiding His face, especially in the era of before and during the Holocaust.
Speaking of LAST, on a Halachic note, the very LAST words of the Shulchan Aruch Orach Chayim - the Code of Jewish Law that deals with everyday life, including the holidays are (quoted from Proverbs 15:15) V'Tov Lev MISHTEH Tamid - "A good hearted person FEASTS continously" (Chapter 697=Brit Mila/circumcision, and 14 Adar was the date of the Brit Mila of Moshe Rabbeinu, and it is a strong custom to have a feast following the Brit Mila) dealing with the laws of Purim - and particularly - about feasting a little bit on the 14th of the 1st Adar in a Jewish leap year even though it is technically not Purim (as Purim is celebrated only on the 14th of the 2nd Adar), this part written by Rabbi Moshe Isserleis, known as the Rama, writing the differences in Jewish law as related to Ashkenazic Jews, as a comment to the body of the Shulchan Aruch written by Rabbi Yosef Karo.
And indeed, the above verse in the Chumash that hints to Esther and as related here to the Mitzva of feasting on Purim is followed by the VERY NEXT VERSE that mentions the LAST Mitzva of the Torah, which is writing a Sefer Torah/Torah Scroll! And just like this part of the Shulchan Aruch is called Orach Chaim - "Path of Life", so indeed is the Torah - as the Chumash - The Five Books of Moses - which is the wording of the Sefer Torah that includes the 613 Mitzvot, the "Path of Life". The Halachot/Jewish Laws of everyday living is the result of much learning and debate of the Rabbis in the Oral Torah basing many of their decisions on the wording of the Chumash to learn how to serve Hashem correctly. And even though Purim as a holiday did not exist in Moses' days, the enactment of this holiday with its special Mitzvot from reading the Megilla to feasting are what the rabbis enacted, and the Torah tells us to follow what the rabbis instruct us in Jewish Law.
(It is most significant to note that the Yahrzeit of the AUTHOR of the Shulchan Aruch - Rabbi Yosef Karo is 13 Nissan, the date that the scribes WROTE Haman's evil decree of annihilating the Jews - which in our present Jewish calendar setting - will always fall out on the same day of the week as the past Purim on 14 Adar, and the same applies to the Yahrzeit of Rabbi Moshe Isserleis which is 18 Iyar (Lag BaOmer). Additionally, the Yahrzeit of Rabbi Moshe Feinstein (passed away in 5746/1986) who was the biggest Posek (decider of Halacha) of his time who is the AUTHOR of over 1,800 letters, comprosing his multi-volume Igros Moshe, dealing with all types of matters in Halacha, is 13 Adar, the date that the Jews faught back their enemies who were out there to fight the Jews based on the original letters written on 13 Nissan to annihilate the Jews, and whose birthday is the same as that of Moshe Rabbeinu - 7 Adar, as well as Moshe Rabbeinu's Yahrzeit, and on his last day of 7 Adar, Moshe Rabbeinu miraculously WROTE 13 TORAH SCROLLS!)
WRITING about the last letter of the Alef Beis and the Mitzva of writing a Sefer Torah, I would like to point out to our readers here about a most unique Sefer, "Understanding the Alef-Beis" by Rabbi Dovid Leitner, who has incredible information on the Alef Beis relating not only to Gematriot, as displayed by the Talmud and other rabbis, but also using mathematics and science as proof of the Alef Beis being a creation of Hashem the same way as the words of the Torah/Chumash are from Hashem, which is the source of what is known as the "Hidden Codes" of the Torah, proof that this is G-d made, NOT man made. Let me know if you are have trouble locating this Sefer in your local Judaica bookstore, and I will give you contact info about this most unique work. (In this Sefer, there is a section about the significance of the small and big letters in the Chumash)
PARSHAT PARAH
Of the four special Torah readings that we read from Adar (or the Shabbat before Adar) to Nissan; the third one, which we read after Purim, deals with the Red Heifer that was used to purify Jews from contact with the dead (Numbers 19:1-22). Note the Hebrew word for heifer - Parah, which is similar to the word Purim. Moreover, this section of the Torah has exactly 22 verses, as we mentioned before about the connection of the number 22 with Purim. Also, the whole essence of this Mitzva is HIDDEN, meaning, the real reason for this Mitzva is not revealed to us.
It's interesting to note that being that this section is in the beginning of Parshat Chukat, it is read additionally every year besides Shabbat morning; on Shabbat afternoon, Monday and Thursday - that is, the first 17 verses. Now, in Halacha, if one read only the first 17 verses when we are supposed to be having this special reading at this time of the year and the Sefer Torah was put back - the law is that the whole section of 22 verses has to be read, not just the last five verses seperately. In fact, there are other times when in similar situations, one does not have to take out the Sefer Torah again to even read the verses that were omitted. But here, ALL 22 verses must be read in one shot.
IN CONCLUSION
Since I started http://www.gematriot.blogspot.com/ on the evening immediately following Simchat Torah in Israel, we have had some amazing journeys. As in this blog, there were times that AS I WAS WRITING, I came up with sudden discoveries, such as now with the significance of the number 828. Perhaps my all time favorite is the one pertaining to the 669 divided sections/Parshiyot in the Sefer Torah, the 401st such section is the one mentioning the Korbanot/sacrifices that the leader of the tribe of Shimon, my namesake, brought following the dedication of the Mishkan/Tabernacle. Correspondingly, the 401th mention of the 669 times that Jerusalem is mentioned in the rest of the Bible (as the name of Jerusalem is ironically not mentioned even once in the Sefer Torah) is that of Psalms 147:12, the very verse that I recite daily at the end of the Shemoneh Esreh prayer that begins with the letter Shin and ends with a Final Noon/Noon Sofit, as my name Shimon does - Shabechi Yerushalayim Et Hashem Halleli Elokaiyich Tzion - "Praise Hashem, O Jerusalem, laud your G-d, O Zion"! This is bearing in mind that 669 is one of the Gematriot of the word Gematria, as I mentioned in my first two posts, and it is also the number of the chapter that is about Simchat Torah when we finish reading the Sefer Torah which consists of 669 Parshiyot - in the first section of the code of Jewish Law - Shulchan Aruch Orach Chayim.
Sometimes I ask myself if this is all really worth it, after all, how many people actually read my blogs? And even when I have E-mailed to some rabbis or Jewish authors about my blogspot and if they don't seem to be interested reading it, I do know that a few people do; and though if I didn't do this, at times staying up hours past midnight, I would be spending some of the time learning Torah by myself instead. Then again, I think of all the great rabbis who wrote all kinds of Seforim/Torah books, and in some cases, they were lost to the public before they even had a chance of being published, and these rabbis felt real bad about spending their time writing instead of learning or teaching Torah, when their writings never even saw the light of day. But there is one comfort if nothing else - we are in fact enjoined by our rabbis to write Chiddushim - new thoughts in Torah learning, and is part of the fulfillment of the last Mitzva of the Torah, and we also get rewarded for learning Torah even if we are not pronouncing the words of Torah with our lips as Torah learning is normally conducted as such. And now with the internet, unless G-d forbid some bomb was able to destroy the World Wide Web, the writings are permanently stored without fear of getting lost. And with the right type of promotion (and you readers can perhaps help me find ways of doing this), this can be indeed be a website, blogspot, or whatever you like to call it, that can in the near future be read WORLDWIDE.
I have named this 22th blog - "Revealing Torah Secrets" as is the name of the subtitle of my blogspot http://www.gematriot.blogspot.com/, as this is Megillat Esther, which literally means "Revealing what I keep Secret". This is the essence of Purim - about which our rabbis tell us that even if all the other holidays were to be non-existant in the future, this holiday will be one that will forever be celebrated. People may joke about what is called "Purim Torah", and you will hear Yeshiva students when drunk on Purim joking around saying Gematriot whether they make sense or not - but indeed, Purim is ultimately the celebration of feeling free of revealing Torah secrets that Hashem wants us to reveal - because this is the ultimate "Praise Hashem" and "Laud your G-d", the Jerusalem and Zion of Torah learning. "For from Zion will the Torah come forth, and the word of Hashem from Jerusalem" (Isaiah 2:3).
17 Adar, 5769
P.S. Note the timing of this post - 1:02 PM. As we spoke of the 828th chapter of the Bible, so is it the 102th chapter from the end of the Bible.
Hoped you liked this little Purim joke, but putting all jokes aside, the number 22 in fact plays a most significant role in the Megilla - and the Torah. While my last post stressed the number 21 as having significance with Megillat Esther, this book in the T'nach/Jewish Bible (as opposed to the Old Testament where some of the books are placed in a different order) being the 21st Book in today's order of books in the T'nach, including the Artscroll edition of the T'nach (Artscroll www.artscroll.com is supervised by some of the biggest Torah scholars today); the Talmud, Maimonides and the Shulchan Aruch/Code of Jewish Law in fact list the Book of Esther as the 22nd book of the 24 books of the T'nach. In fact, this Book of Esther ends with the number 22, which hints to a most significant Mitzva of the Torah. If you have found my past posts interesting, this 22nd post will be one of the most spellbound pieces of written information that you will ever have read.
One of the connections of Esther with the number 22 can be seen in the beginning of Psalm 22 - "For the conductor, on the Ayelet HaShachar, a psalm by David". Now, for a translation, Ayelet HaShachar can mean dawn in one context. In any case, there is a Midrash on Tehillim that says that this phrase refers to Esther. Thus, Esther is especially featured in the beginning of Psalm 22.
Besides this, I am referring specifically to a letter in the Megilla that is written larger than the other letters. The letter Tav - the first of the two - in the word VaTichtov- "She wrote" (Esther 9:29) is the big letter here. Mind you, there are many letters throughout the T'nach that are written either bigger or smaller than the other letters. Of course there is a reason for every single one like that. But this one has an unusual significance.
To bring up another point from my last post, this Purim was most significant because it fell out on the LAST solar month of the 28 solar cycle, which is the 336th month, and Purim is the Gematria of 336. Accordingly, Tav is the 22nd letter and LAST letter of the Aleph Beit.
Anyways, have another question on the large Tav here. Why is it specifically the first Tav, and not the second Tav in this word?
Now, in case any women reading my previous post may feel a little uncomfortable even though I was polite as I could be writing about the specific role of women, you will feel on cloud nine by the time you finish reading this post here. You see, Esther will soon be associated here with a most significant Mitzva of the Torah.
If you know a little Hebrew, you may be aware that it is a little different than English. You see, when you say a word in English that is plural, such as the word writings, there is no sense of masculine or feminine in this word. In Hebrew, it can be written as Ketuvim, ending with a Final Mem (Mem Sofit) which is masculine, or Ketuvot, ending with a Tav or Sav which is feminine. Another example, as referring to people themselves, is the phrase married ones. In Hebrew, it can be written as Nesuim, which is referring to married men; or Nesuot referring to married women.
So, the Tav at the end of certain words in Hebrew denotes a feminine aspect or the females themselves. Similarly, it is the first Tav in VaTichtov that is feminine, referring to Queen Esther; because if it is masculine, then the word would be VaYichtov - a Yud instead of a Tav.
Now, here is another question I will pose here. We said a moment ago that in masculine/feminine words - a word ending with a Mem Sofit is masculine and ending with a Tav is feminine. If so, there is a big irony here - the word for women in Hebrew is Nashim, ending with a Mem Sofit, as it does for men - Anashim! What's the deal here?!
The deal is Gematria. You see, the word Nashim/Women equals 400, the number for the letter Tav! This is why it is the letter Tav that is feminine, it equals the word the Hebrew word for women - Nashim - every time.
Now, there are Midrashim that mention that there are 22 righteous women who are mentioned in the Bible. The last one of these is Esther. Morever, King Solomon who was no stranger to women, concludes his Book of Proverbs/Mishlei with 22 verses beginning each with another letter of the Alef Beit in order of letters. Thus, it is the VERY LAST VERSE in Proverbs that corresponds to Esther: "Give her the fruits of her hands, and let her be praised in the gates by her very own deeds".
There are a number of other explanations given about this big Tav, including from a rabbi known as the Chida who points out that this hints to the miracles of the Megilla being the last ones mentioned in the Bible. However, I am going to give you an explanation that I am surprised I haven't seen before.
O.K. - The LAST letter, the LAST righteous woman mentioned in the Bible and...the LAST Mitzva of the Torah. And this is...the WRITING of a Sefer Torah! So, the last letter of the Alef Beit - Tav - is enlarged in the Hebrew word VaTichtov "She WROTE". And as I mentioned in my previous post, that there are halachic aspects of the Megilla that resemble a Sefer Torah such as the qualifications of the parchment.
Now, let's get to the actual verse that we have been touching on. "Then Queen Esther daughter of Abihail wrote, along with Mordechai the Jew...this second letter of Purim". In Hebrew, the normal word for "wrote" in plural is (Va)Yichtevu if it includes at least one male, or (Va)Tichtevu if only females. But here, it is in the singular for a woman - VaTichtov - even as it mentions Mordechai's name afterwards. What's going on here?
Yes, the Megilla is named after Esther, NOT Mordechai, as great as a Tzadik/righteous person he was and took a chance giving up his own life as well disobeying the king's orders to bow down to Haman. In fact, we don't see anywhere where a woman wrote any part of the Bible - that is, except for this Book. (The Book of Ruth was written by the prophet Samuel). It seems that Mordechai is just mentioned here as an accessory. And if it is true that Mordechai could have been the one to have written it, or part of it; well, the credit for it is given to Esther. And not only that, but she is also credited for the annual celebration of Purim, because as Rashi points out - what does it mean when it says "the SECOND letter of Purim"? She wrote it a second time with an enclosure of instituting Purim. So, she is in fact credited for everything, and not Mordechai, except as a lending hand to the matter. How come?
And here is where the uniqueness of women comes into place. As we know, just like the tribe of Yissachar learned Torah and the tribe of Zevulun supported his brotherly tribe - and as such, has an equal share in the Torah learning, the same it is with the women being supportive of their husbands and children learning Torah. Yes, the women have half of the reward of the men learning Torah (but don't think you can outsmart Hashem by staying single for this reason - Hashem sends curve balls, and if you get married and have children, you have eternal merits for all the Torah and Mitzvot that your children and descendants will perform). In fact, we see that in the blessings that Ya'akov and Moshe gave the tribes, Zevulun precedes Yissachar because Yissachar's learning Torah all day as opposed to working part of the time is only thanks to Zevulun supporting him.
Now, the Talmud (Chulin 139b) asks, "Where is Esther hinted in the Torah"? V'Anochi Haster Astir... "But I will surely have concealed My face on that day because of all the evil that it did, for it had turned to gods of others" (Deutoronomy 31:18) What we know about the miracles of Purim is that they happened in a natural way. There were no open miracles the way that it happened in the story of Passover. The events of Purim seemed to be like it was "just the way it turned out", not that anyone would be overwhelmed the way he/she would be when witnessing a miracle, because this was in fact a time when Hashem "hid his face" from the Jewish nation, as it didn't follow the Torah quite right at that time. Even after Mordechai warned them not to participate in the king's party, they didn't listen. It was only after it was made known to them of the possibility of being killed by the nations around them did it bring them to repentance mode.
Anyways, what is the VERY NEXT VERSE following this one that hints to Esther? "So now, write this song (the Torah) for yourselves, and teach it to the Children of Israel, place it in their mouth..." (Deutronomy 31:19) We learn from this verse...the 613th Mitzva/commandment - the LAST commandment of the Torah! So indeed, Esther, the LAST of the righteous women mentioned in the Bible, is most connected to the LAST Mitzva of the Torah of writing a Sefer Torah, as hinted in the Megilla with the letter Tav - the LAST letter of the Aleph Beit, that means the word SHE in the context of "She (Esther) wrote". By the way, the word Torah is in fact a feminine word; as in many Hebrew words, if it ends with the vowel Kometz and letter Hei, it denotes a feminine word. And yes, the letter Tav begins the word TORAH and T'NACH.
(Wish to put this in parenthesis since the following doesn't have a direct connection with our topic but is related by the similar numbers. When Ya'akov was returning to Israel with his family, he sent a message to his brother Esav telling him that "Im Lavan Gartie" - "I have lived with Lavan". Rashi, who normally gives only the simple meaning of the verses, tells us that the word Gartie - "I have lived" has the same letters as Taryag, as in the Taryag - 613 Mitzvot, meaning that despite having lived with his evil uncle Lavan, Ya'akov still kept all of the commandments. In response, Esav got together 400 men to go fight Ya'akov. Anyways, just as we see a corelationship between the 613th Mitzva and the letter Tav which equals 400; so do we see a connection between the 613 Mitzvot and Esav's response to try to combat physically, and spiritually, Ya'akov with his 613 Mitzvot.)
And speaking of the Bible, the number of chapter and verse about Esther writing the Megilla is 9:29. Put the two numbers together - 929 - and it is the exact amount of chapters in the Jewish Bible! And while we are at it, let's note what the Gematria of the word VaTichtov is - 828, and so is the phrase Razei Torah - "SECRETS OF THE TORAH", so called because until one point, these secrets of the Torah - Kabbalah - was HIDDEN from most people, and so is the word HaOtiyot/The Letters - which can also be read as Hei=5 letters for the word V'Tichtov consists of 5 letters has the Gematria of 828, as we are indeed writing about the LAST LETTER of the Alef Beit. And counting the number of chapters in the Bible from Genesis to Chronicles (in the order that is found in virtually all standard T'nachs today where the Book of Esther is the 21st Book) - what number chapter is this wording about Esther in? It is the 828th chapter of the Bible! Indeed, the Bible, in our terminology, is called the Torah She'Bichtav - "The Written Torah". And while it is only the first five books of the Bible that is called the Penteteuch/Chumash that is written as a Sefer Torah as far as the Mitzva of writing a Sefer Torah is concerned, the rest of the Bible is an extension of this Sefer Torah. This explains why it says in the above quoted Talmud "Where is Mordechai hinted in the Torah?" "Where is Esther hinted in the Torah?" As the Vilna Gaon says, EVERYTHING in history, EVERY person, all that was and will be is hinted somewhere in the Chumash.
Along these lines, speaking of the number 828 & Esther, each of these are spelled out in the Chumash exactly one time - both within three verses of each other. Following Cain's murder of his brother Abel, Hashem tells Cain that among his punishments, Lo Tosef Teit Kocha Lach "The ground will no longer GIVE you its STRENGTH" - The letters Tav, Tav, Kaf, Cheit in Teit Kocha spells the number 828. And then in response to the punishments that Hashem outlined to Cain, he responded back among other statements that he made U'Mipanecha Esater - "I WILL BE HIDDEN from your presence". This word Esater - "I will be hidden" are the very letters that spell the name Esther. (See Genesis 4:12-14).
So what is the connection between the story of Cain & Esther? Cain performed the first murder and genocide ever in history, and thus the consequences of the murder of his brother was far worse than future murders in history because this was the beginning of time, so who knows how many billions of children were prevented from being born! And Haman attempted to perform genocide on the Jewish people - all on one day as though human life had absolutely no meaning when it came to Jews, and thus kill off the entire Chosen Nation of Hashem at one shot so there wouldn't be any Jews left and thus there would be no further reason for this world's existence if the Jews, as keepers of the Torah who cause the world to exist no longer exist themselves. It was just that Esther saved the day by having Haman killed, leading to avert the evil decree by allowing the Jews to legally defend themselves. In fact, it is in the 9th Chapter of the Book of Esther, the 828th Chapter of the T'nach/Bible, that the Jews defended themselves, thus allowing them to continue their existance and subsequently in the very same chapter, Esther writes down the miracle of Purim, as exemplified by the word Va'Tichtov which has the Gematria of 828.
Yes, the division of the chapters and verses, as arranged sometime during the Middle Ages, was in fact done by a non-Jew. So you may ask, how could there really be a significance here with the number of chapters, verses, etc, if it was a non-Jew who decided how they should be divided? But this is how Hashem does things sometimes - in HIDDEN ways. Hashem may use non-Jews to accomplish things for our benefit, as Hashem used King Achashverosh to help the Jews at the end of the Purim story. And if anyone thinks that he turned to a lover of Jews, our Rabbis in Talmud Megilla tell us that he was the same rotten king from beginning to end. Hashem just used him to help us - he was enthralled with Esther's beauty, he learned of Mordechai saving him from being killed by two guys who wanted to do away with the king, Esther told him of Haman's intentions of wanting to hurt the kingdom when the king was enraged as a result and then he saw Haman forcing himself on Esther when in fact, it was an angel that forced Haman on Esther so the king would do away with Haman. So truly, even what non-Jews do is ultimately Hashem's doing - even though non-Jews have free choice as Jews do, as in other situations when non-Jews hate and hurt us but Hashem allows this to happen to wake us and realize that we cannot forget who we are and our mission in this world.
(Anyone learning Daf Yomi, the daily Talmudic page that is learned worldwide, should realize that the setting of how the page format of the Talmud that we see it as today was in fact also arranged by a non-Jew!)
Now, getting back to the verse in the Chumash that hints to Esther - this is the 5740th verse of the Torah. The significance? In Hebrew, this number is spelled as Hei, Tav, Shin, Mem. Now, spell this word backwards - Mishteh, translated in English as feast, having a meal in celebration based on Shetiya, the root of this word, which means drinking, based on drinking wine. Anyways, this word is mentioned 40 times in all of the T'nach. Half of these times - 20 times - is mentioned in...Megillat Esther! From King Achashverosh's Mishteh/feast for the public to the Mitzva of having a Mishteh/Purim feast, this word seems to be a key theme in the Purim story. Indeed, it was the two times of Esther declaring a Mishteh for the king and Haman that brought Haman's downfall! (It is significant to note that the five times that this word is mentioned in the Chumash are all in Genesis, the period of time when the Torah was so to speak HIDDEN, that is, before the Torah was given).
The reversal of the letters of a number is a most interesting display of the concept of VeNahafoch - turning to the reverse, as in Esther 9:1 where it says that the situation of the Jews got reversed from the threat of total annihilation to the Jews having control over their enemies. And indeed, this is through what happened with the concept of Mishteh/feasting itself in the Megilla, as the Jews took of the forbidden feast of King Achashverosh which nearly caused their destruction as punishment for this, but as a result of them doing Teshuva/repentance and Esther holding two feasts to get rid of Haman - in fact called Mishteh Esther, it resulted that not only the Jews were simply saved, but that at the end, they GAINED a Mitzva of having a feast on Purim/Seudat Purim. This concept is in total consonance with a Ba'al Teshuva - one who repents, and does it out of love for Hashem, that not only does he/she have no more Aveirot/sins; but in fact, the sins turn into merits. And indeed, the 5740th verse in the Torah where it says that Hashem will hid His face from the Jews as a result of them sinning where it hints to Esther's name is the negative connotation, but...the Hebrew number for 5740 when in reverse became at the end a most positive thing - the Mitzva of Seudat Purim as a result of Mishteh Esther - what Esther did physically, and spiritually. It is at this feast that Jews (especially when drinking) want to show the most that they are proud of being Jewish, and are not looking to hide it. We have seen all too well what has happened in the past when Jews have tried to hide themselves from showing that they were Jewish which resulted in Hashem in turn hiding His face, especially in the era of before and during the Holocaust.
Speaking of LAST, on a Halachic note, the very LAST words of the Shulchan Aruch Orach Chayim - the Code of Jewish Law that deals with everyday life, including the holidays are (quoted from Proverbs 15:15) V'Tov Lev MISHTEH Tamid - "A good hearted person FEASTS continously" (Chapter 697=Brit Mila/circumcision, and 14 Adar was the date of the Brit Mila of Moshe Rabbeinu, and it is a strong custom to have a feast following the Brit Mila) dealing with the laws of Purim - and particularly - about feasting a little bit on the 14th of the 1st Adar in a Jewish leap year even though it is technically not Purim (as Purim is celebrated only on the 14th of the 2nd Adar), this part written by Rabbi Moshe Isserleis, known as the Rama, writing the differences in Jewish law as related to Ashkenazic Jews, as a comment to the body of the Shulchan Aruch written by Rabbi Yosef Karo.
And indeed, the above verse in the Chumash that hints to Esther and as related here to the Mitzva of feasting on Purim is followed by the VERY NEXT VERSE that mentions the LAST Mitzva of the Torah, which is writing a Sefer Torah/Torah Scroll! And just like this part of the Shulchan Aruch is called Orach Chaim - "Path of Life", so indeed is the Torah - as the Chumash - The Five Books of Moses - which is the wording of the Sefer Torah that includes the 613 Mitzvot, the "Path of Life". The Halachot/Jewish Laws of everyday living is the result of much learning and debate of the Rabbis in the Oral Torah basing many of their decisions on the wording of the Chumash to learn how to serve Hashem correctly. And even though Purim as a holiday did not exist in Moses' days, the enactment of this holiday with its special Mitzvot from reading the Megilla to feasting are what the rabbis enacted, and the Torah tells us to follow what the rabbis instruct us in Jewish Law.
(It is most significant to note that the Yahrzeit of the AUTHOR of the Shulchan Aruch - Rabbi Yosef Karo is 13 Nissan, the date that the scribes WROTE Haman's evil decree of annihilating the Jews - which in our present Jewish calendar setting - will always fall out on the same day of the week as the past Purim on 14 Adar, and the same applies to the Yahrzeit of Rabbi Moshe Isserleis which is 18 Iyar (Lag BaOmer). Additionally, the Yahrzeit of Rabbi Moshe Feinstein (passed away in 5746/1986) who was the biggest Posek (decider of Halacha) of his time who is the AUTHOR of over 1,800 letters, comprosing his multi-volume Igros Moshe, dealing with all types of matters in Halacha, is 13 Adar, the date that the Jews faught back their enemies who were out there to fight the Jews based on the original letters written on 13 Nissan to annihilate the Jews, and whose birthday is the same as that of Moshe Rabbeinu - 7 Adar, as well as Moshe Rabbeinu's Yahrzeit, and on his last day of 7 Adar, Moshe Rabbeinu miraculously WROTE 13 TORAH SCROLLS!)
WRITING about the last letter of the Alef Beis and the Mitzva of writing a Sefer Torah, I would like to point out to our readers here about a most unique Sefer, "Understanding the Alef-Beis" by Rabbi Dovid Leitner, who has incredible information on the Alef Beis relating not only to Gematriot, as displayed by the Talmud and other rabbis, but also using mathematics and science as proof of the Alef Beis being a creation of Hashem the same way as the words of the Torah/Chumash are from Hashem, which is the source of what is known as the "Hidden Codes" of the Torah, proof that this is G-d made, NOT man made. Let me know if you are have trouble locating this Sefer in your local Judaica bookstore, and I will give you contact info about this most unique work. (In this Sefer, there is a section about the significance of the small and big letters in the Chumash)
PARSHAT PARAH
Of the four special Torah readings that we read from Adar (or the Shabbat before Adar) to Nissan; the third one, which we read after Purim, deals with the Red Heifer that was used to purify Jews from contact with the dead (Numbers 19:1-22). Note the Hebrew word for heifer - Parah, which is similar to the word Purim. Moreover, this section of the Torah has exactly 22 verses, as we mentioned before about the connection of the number 22 with Purim. Also, the whole essence of this Mitzva is HIDDEN, meaning, the real reason for this Mitzva is not revealed to us.
It's interesting to note that being that this section is in the beginning of Parshat Chukat, it is read additionally every year besides Shabbat morning; on Shabbat afternoon, Monday and Thursday - that is, the first 17 verses. Now, in Halacha, if one read only the first 17 verses when we are supposed to be having this special reading at this time of the year and the Sefer Torah was put back - the law is that the whole section of 22 verses has to be read, not just the last five verses seperately. In fact, there are other times when in similar situations, one does not have to take out the Sefer Torah again to even read the verses that were omitted. But here, ALL 22 verses must be read in one shot.
IN CONCLUSION
Since I started http://www.gematriot.blogspot.com/ on the evening immediately following Simchat Torah in Israel, we have had some amazing journeys. As in this blog, there were times that AS I WAS WRITING, I came up with sudden discoveries, such as now with the significance of the number 828. Perhaps my all time favorite is the one pertaining to the 669 divided sections/Parshiyot in the Sefer Torah, the 401st such section is the one mentioning the Korbanot/sacrifices that the leader of the tribe of Shimon, my namesake, brought following the dedication of the Mishkan/Tabernacle. Correspondingly, the 401th mention of the 669 times that Jerusalem is mentioned in the rest of the Bible (as the name of Jerusalem is ironically not mentioned even once in the Sefer Torah) is that of Psalms 147:12, the very verse that I recite daily at the end of the Shemoneh Esreh prayer that begins with the letter Shin and ends with a Final Noon/Noon Sofit, as my name Shimon does - Shabechi Yerushalayim Et Hashem Halleli Elokaiyich Tzion - "Praise Hashem, O Jerusalem, laud your G-d, O Zion"! This is bearing in mind that 669 is one of the Gematriot of the word Gematria, as I mentioned in my first two posts, and it is also the number of the chapter that is about Simchat Torah when we finish reading the Sefer Torah which consists of 669 Parshiyot - in the first section of the code of Jewish Law - Shulchan Aruch Orach Chayim.
Sometimes I ask myself if this is all really worth it, after all, how many people actually read my blogs? And even when I have E-mailed to some rabbis or Jewish authors about my blogspot and if they don't seem to be interested reading it, I do know that a few people do; and though if I didn't do this, at times staying up hours past midnight, I would be spending some of the time learning Torah by myself instead. Then again, I think of all the great rabbis who wrote all kinds of Seforim/Torah books, and in some cases, they were lost to the public before they even had a chance of being published, and these rabbis felt real bad about spending their time writing instead of learning or teaching Torah, when their writings never even saw the light of day. But there is one comfort if nothing else - we are in fact enjoined by our rabbis to write Chiddushim - new thoughts in Torah learning, and is part of the fulfillment of the last Mitzva of the Torah, and we also get rewarded for learning Torah even if we are not pronouncing the words of Torah with our lips as Torah learning is normally conducted as such. And now with the internet, unless G-d forbid some bomb was able to destroy the World Wide Web, the writings are permanently stored without fear of getting lost. And with the right type of promotion (and you readers can perhaps help me find ways of doing this), this can be indeed be a website, blogspot, or whatever you like to call it, that can in the near future be read WORLDWIDE.
I have named this 22th blog - "Revealing Torah Secrets" as is the name of the subtitle of my blogspot http://www.gematriot.blogspot.com/, as this is Megillat Esther, which literally means "Revealing what I keep Secret". This is the essence of Purim - about which our rabbis tell us that even if all the other holidays were to be non-existant in the future, this holiday will be one that will forever be celebrated. People may joke about what is called "Purim Torah", and you will hear Yeshiva students when drunk on Purim joking around saying Gematriot whether they make sense or not - but indeed, Purim is ultimately the celebration of feeling free of revealing Torah secrets that Hashem wants us to reveal - because this is the ultimate "Praise Hashem" and "Laud your G-d", the Jerusalem and Zion of Torah learning. "For from Zion will the Torah come forth, and the word of Hashem from Jerusalem" (Isaiah 2:3).
17 Adar, 5769
P.S. Note the timing of this post - 1:02 PM. As we spoke of the 828th chapter of the Bible, so is it the 102th chapter from the end of the Bible.
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
#21 - Make it PURIM - Make it RIGHT!
There is something unique about the reading of the Torah for Purim that we don't find during any other time of the year. You see, there are Halachot/Jewish Laws about the details of the Torah reading. For example, there has to be a minimum of three verses read for any Aliyah-being called up to the Torah as an honor for whom verses are read for. At the same time, for a Torah reading on any given day, a minimum of 10 verses have to be read - thus, at least four verses have to be read for one of those called up to the Torah. However, for the Torah reading for Purim, only nine verses in total are read (Exodus 17:8-16). And of course, the question that can be asked is why is it only this one time that only nine verses, rather than the usual required minimum of ten verses, are read?
Of course the answer that people will give is that this is the story about Amalek fighting us which has to do with Purim celebrating our victory over our enemies who fought us as a result of Haman, a descendant of Amalek, convincing the king to send letters to have all the Jews annihilated, and the story of Amalek in the Torah consists of only nine verses, not ten verses. However, there has to be some kind of inner meaning to this.
Fast forwarding to the Haggadah, there is a song near the end of it that points out to the first 13 numbers - "Echad Mi Yodeia". Three are the three Patriarchs - Abraham, Isaac & Jacob; and four are the four Matriarchs - Sara, Rebbeca, Rachel & Leah. So, we see that three is related to the masculine aspect of spirituality, and four is related to the feminine aspect of spirituality. Morever, in a court of Jewish Law/Beit Din, there has to be a minimum of three judges. Also, women are not allowed to be judges. The women have enough on their minds making constant decisions in relationship to their children so they already have their role cut out for them. Now, in this battle with Amalek, it was clearly a war between men - only later on do we see clearly that King Saul is given orders by Hashem to kill the entire Amalekite race, including women and babies.
There is one exception to this concept of only men in terms of judging or war. Devorah the prophetess was also a judge, and took the initiative of fighting the enemy. Ironically, her whole story in the Book of Judges is the very Haftara for Parshat Beshalach that ends off with the story of Amalek! Now mind you, this Haftara is read because of the first half of this Parsha dealing with Pharoh chasing after the Jews until the Sea of Reeds/Yam Suf ending with the Jews singing praise to Hashem for saving them from their enemies. Similarly, the Jews in Devorah's time had a battle ending off with their singing praise to Hashem. In any case, it seems strange that after mentioning the end of the Parsha that relates specifically to a male concept, we have a whole long Haftara (in fact, the longest Haftara of the year consisting of 52 verses!) dealing with a whole war and song led by a woman! And then, right after the Torah reading on Purim, we read the Book of Esther, named after a woman! So, maybe there is some kind of corelationship here between the Amalek story and the role of women in eradicating the enemy; and in fact, it was Esther who got Haman, Amalek's descendant to be killed and hung on the pole.
True, the Megilla is indeed named after a woman. But how did Esther wind up getting rid of Haman? If you recall, Esther was initially afraid of approaching the king without permission. In fact, it was Mordechai was convinced Esther that she MUST take action or expect to be wiped out Hashem's list of those who will be saved.
Back to Parshat Beshalach about the Sea of Reeds story. We see that after Moshe led the Jewish people in singing praise to Hashem, his sister Miriam led the women in their singing praise to Hashem. Thus, while everyone was entitled to praise Hashem, we see that the men had to start the process which would eventually be concluded by women.
There is in fact another hint to the masculine aspect of spirituality in the Torah reading of the story of Amalek, as well as the commandment of remembering what Amalek did to us mentioned at the end of Parshat Ki Tetze. The wording is Zecher Amalek - "memory of Amalek", but homiletically, the word in Hebrew for Zecher can also be potentially read as Zachar - male. In fact, King David's top general Yoav had a war with Amalek where he killed only the males, when he was in fact supposed to kill all of Amalek, because his teacher from grade school mistakenly taught him that it is supposed to be read as Zachar - male, rather than as Zecher - memory.
The question can be asked: How can Yoav's teacher, who no doubt had to have been versed in the whole Torah, make such a fundamental error about one of the 613 commandments of the Torah? What I believe is that in fact, there is a concept here related to Amalek that is related specifically to males - and after all, it is generally males that go out to war, not females. But the mistake that this teacher made was that he thought that only men have a part in fighting for the rights of spirituality or as Amalek fought against spirituality; and that women at best or worst have a passive role. However, the Torah tells us that while the men do in fact lead the way, but the process is NOT complete without the women. It's just that it cannot start with the women in charge because without the complete proper thinking process, as required in a court of Jewish Law, things will not be accomplished the right way at the end. Thus, it was only with past leadership of men was Devorah, who was most devoted to the Torah, able to follow their example in leading the Jewish people the proper way. But normally, the men have to take charge, and thus, specifically ONLY three verses are read for each person about the story of fighting Amalek as read on Purim. Also, the special portion of Zachor about what to do with Amalek, read on the Shabbat before Purim, consists of three verses, and consists of three commandments: 1) Remembering what Amalek did to us. 2) Not forgetting what Amalek did to us. 3) Wiping out the nation of Amalek.
It's most interesting to note that Esther wanted the story of Purim to be recorded as part of the Bible/T'nach. The Rabbis at first felt that this was not the thing to do based on a verse in Proverbs/Mishlei that hints to the fact that the story of Amalek is mentioned specifically THREE times in the Torah - 1) Story of Amalek. 2) Commandments regarding Amalek. 3) Story of King Saul who was supposed to wipe out Amalek. But then, they interpreted the verse in Proverbs a little differently. The first time mentioned in the Torah includes both the story & commandment of Amalek within the Penteteuch/Chumash or Sefer Torah. The second time involves King Saul in the Prophets section of the Bible. Thus, the third time would then be included in the Writings part of the Bible, in which the Book of Esther is found in. (Talmud Megilla 7a)
So, were the Rabbis really wrong at first for interpreting a verse a certain way? In fact, it can be said that "Both these words and the other words are words of the Living G-d", a phrase in the Talmud describing the truth of opposing opinions of Rabbis, but are both part of the Torah Truth even though Jewish Law follows only one of them. The truth is that yes, the subject of fighting Amalek is indeed mentioned in three SEPARATE portions in the Bible. But, if we are talking about the Sefer Torah being ONE ENTITY instead of five separate books, then yes, the Torah is one continuous saga, and even one letter in the Sefer Torah is damaged or missing, then the Sefer Torah is disqualified, and cannot be read in public according to Jewish Law until the flaw is rectified. Indeed, the Megilla of Esther that we read on Purim has certain aspects to it that are similar to the qualifications for a scroll of a Sefer Torah. Also, the Talmud and Maimonidies tell us that even if all the other books of the Bible besides the Penteteuch were to be done away with in the future, the Book of Esther will forever be around. And so, even as there are now FOUR separate mentions about Amalek in the Bible, being that only the Book of Esther is assured eternity as the Penteteuch - indeed there are ONLY THREE sections of the Torah about Amalek that will forever be marked, and thus it is the Book of Esther that meets this qualification, and NOT the story of King Saul who was commanded to wipe out Amalek, who did not in fact follow Hashem's orders of totally destroying Amalek, which resulted in Amalek's King Agag who slept with a lady in the one night that he was allowed to remain alive, from which union did Haman descend from.
Indeed, if King Saul would have done his job right, there would indeed have been literally only three times of Amalek's mention in the Bible and could have had the unique privilege of completing three commandments in the Torah which would have been obsolete to future generations because Amalek would have been completely annihilated and thus only 610 commandments of the Torah would have been left to fulfill. Thus, Esther in the fourth place about Amalek, was in fact helping to complete the role of the third place about Amalek where King Saul failed (but after all is said and done, for whatever reason Hashem wants it this way, He did not have anyone since King Saul to totally eradicate Amalek, but only will have this accomplished once Moshiach comes).
Now, in the beginning of the 21st Parsha of the Torah (and this is my 21st POST), which is this week's Parsha, it begins with Parshat Shekalim, the special section in the Torah that we read as Maftir a couple of weeks ago on the Shabbat before the month of Adar. This deals with giving half a coin to the Temple to be used for the daily sacrifice. In Temple times, this was collected specifically in this month, hinting to the fact that it was in the merit of this Mitzva that offset the 10,000 coins that Haman, descendant of Amalek offered the king to annihilate the Jews. Now, the story of Amalek is at the end of the 16th Parsha of the Torah, Parshat Beshalach. Now multiply 21 by 16 and presto, a total of 336 - the Gematria of the word PURIM! Also, the way we have the order of the 24 Books of the T'nach/Bible these days, the Book of Esther is the 21st Book; thus in the majority of years, we read the 21st Book of the T'nach in the week that we read the 21st Parsha of the Torah. Also, Mordechai's name is hinted in the Torah of all places in this week's 21st Parsha, as his name is mentioned all over in the Book of Esther - the 21st Book of the T'nach (see Talmud Chulin 139b).
In terms of the Oral Torah - in the 63 tractates of the Mishna, the tractate dealing with the laws of reading the Megilla, which is called Megilla, is the 21st tractate! And if this would not be enough, in the Mishne Torah of the Rambam/Maimonides, his magnum opus which is a halachic work on the entire Torah as based on the 613 Mitzvot/Commandments, of the 83 sections of this work (like tractates), the 21st one deals with the laws of Megilla & Chanuka!
This year, Purim takes on a most special meaning. You see, this Purim is within one month to a most spectacular event - the position of the sun on the same day and time as it was at Creation which occurs once every 28 years! Now, there are 12 solar months to every year, and so 28 multiplied by 12 also equals...336! Thus, this Purim - whose word is the Gematria of 336 - is within the last solar month, the 336th month of the 28 year cycle!
We see something about timing related to the initial battle of Amalek. It says that Moshe had his hands positioned in his spiritual effort of fighting Amalek until sunset "Ad Bo HaShemesh". Thus, we see that there is a special connection here between fight the forces of evil and the power of the spiritual aspect of the sun. And the number for 28, the number of years for the sun to have a complete cycle until reaching the same position in the timing of the same day of the week and time, is Chaf Cheit, which can also be read as a word in Hebrew - Koach - strength or power. Upon this special occasion, we say the blessing of Oseh Ma'aseh Bereishit, describing Hashem as being the one who does the work of Creation. Yes, Amalek was ultimately looking to fight Hashem Who controls the world, because when Hashem took us Jews out of Egypt, the nations were afraid to attack us, knowing that the G-d of the Jews, even if not their god, was a powerful Entity not to be dealt with fighting His Chosen People. But Amalek, who had no immediate gain or a need of self defense, viciously came out in the open to fight us, and paved the way for the nations not to further fear Hashem's guided nation. So ultimately, Amalek's war was really aimed at Hashem, the One who controls Creation and maintains it. This is why Hashem made it clear that this nation is to be totally annihilated - with NO EXCEPTION. Only then can Hashem's cycle of running the universe can be evident to all, even if the other nations don't want to follow what Hashem wants, but at least there will be a general recognition of Who ultimately controls the world.
Stay tuned - I expect to post again in a couple of nights about another aspect of Purim, which doesn't end with the holiday itself, but has its spiritual influence until the next Purim around.
15 Adar - Shushan Purim 5769
Of course the answer that people will give is that this is the story about Amalek fighting us which has to do with Purim celebrating our victory over our enemies who fought us as a result of Haman, a descendant of Amalek, convincing the king to send letters to have all the Jews annihilated, and the story of Amalek in the Torah consists of only nine verses, not ten verses. However, there has to be some kind of inner meaning to this.
Fast forwarding to the Haggadah, there is a song near the end of it that points out to the first 13 numbers - "Echad Mi Yodeia". Three are the three Patriarchs - Abraham, Isaac & Jacob; and four are the four Matriarchs - Sara, Rebbeca, Rachel & Leah. So, we see that three is related to the masculine aspect of spirituality, and four is related to the feminine aspect of spirituality. Morever, in a court of Jewish Law/Beit Din, there has to be a minimum of three judges. Also, women are not allowed to be judges. The women have enough on their minds making constant decisions in relationship to their children so they already have their role cut out for them. Now, in this battle with Amalek, it was clearly a war between men - only later on do we see clearly that King Saul is given orders by Hashem to kill the entire Amalekite race, including women and babies.
There is one exception to this concept of only men in terms of judging or war. Devorah the prophetess was also a judge, and took the initiative of fighting the enemy. Ironically, her whole story in the Book of Judges is the very Haftara for Parshat Beshalach that ends off with the story of Amalek! Now mind you, this Haftara is read because of the first half of this Parsha dealing with Pharoh chasing after the Jews until the Sea of Reeds/Yam Suf ending with the Jews singing praise to Hashem for saving them from their enemies. Similarly, the Jews in Devorah's time had a battle ending off with their singing praise to Hashem. In any case, it seems strange that after mentioning the end of the Parsha that relates specifically to a male concept, we have a whole long Haftara (in fact, the longest Haftara of the year consisting of 52 verses!) dealing with a whole war and song led by a woman! And then, right after the Torah reading on Purim, we read the Book of Esther, named after a woman! So, maybe there is some kind of corelationship here between the Amalek story and the role of women in eradicating the enemy; and in fact, it was Esther who got Haman, Amalek's descendant to be killed and hung on the pole.
True, the Megilla is indeed named after a woman. But how did Esther wind up getting rid of Haman? If you recall, Esther was initially afraid of approaching the king without permission. In fact, it was Mordechai was convinced Esther that she MUST take action or expect to be wiped out Hashem's list of those who will be saved.
Back to Parshat Beshalach about the Sea of Reeds story. We see that after Moshe led the Jewish people in singing praise to Hashem, his sister Miriam led the women in their singing praise to Hashem. Thus, while everyone was entitled to praise Hashem, we see that the men had to start the process which would eventually be concluded by women.
There is in fact another hint to the masculine aspect of spirituality in the Torah reading of the story of Amalek, as well as the commandment of remembering what Amalek did to us mentioned at the end of Parshat Ki Tetze. The wording is Zecher Amalek - "memory of Amalek", but homiletically, the word in Hebrew for Zecher can also be potentially read as Zachar - male. In fact, King David's top general Yoav had a war with Amalek where he killed only the males, when he was in fact supposed to kill all of Amalek, because his teacher from grade school mistakenly taught him that it is supposed to be read as Zachar - male, rather than as Zecher - memory.
The question can be asked: How can Yoav's teacher, who no doubt had to have been versed in the whole Torah, make such a fundamental error about one of the 613 commandments of the Torah? What I believe is that in fact, there is a concept here related to Amalek that is related specifically to males - and after all, it is generally males that go out to war, not females. But the mistake that this teacher made was that he thought that only men have a part in fighting for the rights of spirituality or as Amalek fought against spirituality; and that women at best or worst have a passive role. However, the Torah tells us that while the men do in fact lead the way, but the process is NOT complete without the women. It's just that it cannot start with the women in charge because without the complete proper thinking process, as required in a court of Jewish Law, things will not be accomplished the right way at the end. Thus, it was only with past leadership of men was Devorah, who was most devoted to the Torah, able to follow their example in leading the Jewish people the proper way. But normally, the men have to take charge, and thus, specifically ONLY three verses are read for each person about the story of fighting Amalek as read on Purim. Also, the special portion of Zachor about what to do with Amalek, read on the Shabbat before Purim, consists of three verses, and consists of three commandments: 1) Remembering what Amalek did to us. 2) Not forgetting what Amalek did to us. 3) Wiping out the nation of Amalek.
It's most interesting to note that Esther wanted the story of Purim to be recorded as part of the Bible/T'nach. The Rabbis at first felt that this was not the thing to do based on a verse in Proverbs/Mishlei that hints to the fact that the story of Amalek is mentioned specifically THREE times in the Torah - 1) Story of Amalek. 2) Commandments regarding Amalek. 3) Story of King Saul who was supposed to wipe out Amalek. But then, they interpreted the verse in Proverbs a little differently. The first time mentioned in the Torah includes both the story & commandment of Amalek within the Penteteuch/Chumash or Sefer Torah. The second time involves King Saul in the Prophets section of the Bible. Thus, the third time would then be included in the Writings part of the Bible, in which the Book of Esther is found in. (Talmud Megilla 7a)
So, were the Rabbis really wrong at first for interpreting a verse a certain way? In fact, it can be said that "Both these words and the other words are words of the Living G-d", a phrase in the Talmud describing the truth of opposing opinions of Rabbis, but are both part of the Torah Truth even though Jewish Law follows only one of them. The truth is that yes, the subject of fighting Amalek is indeed mentioned in three SEPARATE portions in the Bible. But, if we are talking about the Sefer Torah being ONE ENTITY instead of five separate books, then yes, the Torah is one continuous saga, and even one letter in the Sefer Torah is damaged or missing, then the Sefer Torah is disqualified, and cannot be read in public according to Jewish Law until the flaw is rectified. Indeed, the Megilla of Esther that we read on Purim has certain aspects to it that are similar to the qualifications for a scroll of a Sefer Torah. Also, the Talmud and Maimonidies tell us that even if all the other books of the Bible besides the Penteteuch were to be done away with in the future, the Book of Esther will forever be around. And so, even as there are now FOUR separate mentions about Amalek in the Bible, being that only the Book of Esther is assured eternity as the Penteteuch - indeed there are ONLY THREE sections of the Torah about Amalek that will forever be marked, and thus it is the Book of Esther that meets this qualification, and NOT the story of King Saul who was commanded to wipe out Amalek, who did not in fact follow Hashem's orders of totally destroying Amalek, which resulted in Amalek's King Agag who slept with a lady in the one night that he was allowed to remain alive, from which union did Haman descend from.
Indeed, if King Saul would have done his job right, there would indeed have been literally only three times of Amalek's mention in the Bible and could have had the unique privilege of completing three commandments in the Torah which would have been obsolete to future generations because Amalek would have been completely annihilated and thus only 610 commandments of the Torah would have been left to fulfill. Thus, Esther in the fourth place about Amalek, was in fact helping to complete the role of the third place about Amalek where King Saul failed (but after all is said and done, for whatever reason Hashem wants it this way, He did not have anyone since King Saul to totally eradicate Amalek, but only will have this accomplished once Moshiach comes).
Now, in the beginning of the 21st Parsha of the Torah (and this is my 21st POST), which is this week's Parsha, it begins with Parshat Shekalim, the special section in the Torah that we read as Maftir a couple of weeks ago on the Shabbat before the month of Adar. This deals with giving half a coin to the Temple to be used for the daily sacrifice. In Temple times, this was collected specifically in this month, hinting to the fact that it was in the merit of this Mitzva that offset the 10,000 coins that Haman, descendant of Amalek offered the king to annihilate the Jews. Now, the story of Amalek is at the end of the 16th Parsha of the Torah, Parshat Beshalach. Now multiply 21 by 16 and presto, a total of 336 - the Gematria of the word PURIM! Also, the way we have the order of the 24 Books of the T'nach/Bible these days, the Book of Esther is the 21st Book; thus in the majority of years, we read the 21st Book of the T'nach in the week that we read the 21st Parsha of the Torah. Also, Mordechai's name is hinted in the Torah of all places in this week's 21st Parsha, as his name is mentioned all over in the Book of Esther - the 21st Book of the T'nach (see Talmud Chulin 139b).
In terms of the Oral Torah - in the 63 tractates of the Mishna, the tractate dealing with the laws of reading the Megilla, which is called Megilla, is the 21st tractate! And if this would not be enough, in the Mishne Torah of the Rambam/Maimonides, his magnum opus which is a halachic work on the entire Torah as based on the 613 Mitzvot/Commandments, of the 83 sections of this work (like tractates), the 21st one deals with the laws of Megilla & Chanuka!
This year, Purim takes on a most special meaning. You see, this Purim is within one month to a most spectacular event - the position of the sun on the same day and time as it was at Creation which occurs once every 28 years! Now, there are 12 solar months to every year, and so 28 multiplied by 12 also equals...336! Thus, this Purim - whose word is the Gematria of 336 - is within the last solar month, the 336th month of the 28 year cycle!
We see something about timing related to the initial battle of Amalek. It says that Moshe had his hands positioned in his spiritual effort of fighting Amalek until sunset "Ad Bo HaShemesh". Thus, we see that there is a special connection here between fight the forces of evil and the power of the spiritual aspect of the sun. And the number for 28, the number of years for the sun to have a complete cycle until reaching the same position in the timing of the same day of the week and time, is Chaf Cheit, which can also be read as a word in Hebrew - Koach - strength or power. Upon this special occasion, we say the blessing of Oseh Ma'aseh Bereishit, describing Hashem as being the one who does the work of Creation. Yes, Amalek was ultimately looking to fight Hashem Who controls the world, because when Hashem took us Jews out of Egypt, the nations were afraid to attack us, knowing that the G-d of the Jews, even if not their god, was a powerful Entity not to be dealt with fighting His Chosen People. But Amalek, who had no immediate gain or a need of self defense, viciously came out in the open to fight us, and paved the way for the nations not to further fear Hashem's guided nation. So ultimately, Amalek's war was really aimed at Hashem, the One who controls Creation and maintains it. This is why Hashem made it clear that this nation is to be totally annihilated - with NO EXCEPTION. Only then can Hashem's cycle of running the universe can be evident to all, even if the other nations don't want to follow what Hashem wants, but at least there will be a general recognition of Who ultimately controls the world.
Stay tuned - I expect to post again in a couple of nights about another aspect of Purim, which doesn't end with the holiday itself, but has its spiritual influence until the next Purim around.
15 Adar - Shushan Purim 5769
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