#36 - LIGHT OUT OF DARKNESS

There is a famous question that is asked at any given Jewish holiday - What is the most important or special holiday of the year? The typical answer given is that it depends at what time of year this question is asked.

While every Jewish holiday certainly has its uniqueness; to me personally, I can say unequivocally that there are two that mean something most special to me. As a Torah reader for many years, one of them is Simchat Torah, the holiday on which we conclude and begin anew the reading of the Torah. And the other holiday is Chanuka. Perhaps the root of my feeling for this special holiday is that in fact I was born on the 1st of Iyar and had my Brit on the 8th of Iyar. The root of the name of the month of Iyar is the word Ohr/Light, and Chanuka, consisting of 8 days, is affectionately called in Israel - Chag HaUrim/Holiday of Lights.

Before continuing, I must say that the title of this post - LIGHT OUT OF DARKNESS - is in fact not my original thinking. This is in fact the name of a series of radio broadcasts that are hosted by Joel Gallis & Dr. Robert Wolf, who are attempting to wake up Jews - especially in the United States - to face the true reality of our times that our redemption is very near at hand, and that we need to repent, which includes returning to the land of our forefathers. Their website - http://www.redemption5768.com/ - is the site for their radio broadcasts, and you can also check out their blogspot from a click on the blog link. Much of the following material will be from other sources, including from radio broadcast #4 from the above website. My goal here is to weave the following material to convey an important message for prepare for what is currently happening today.

The number 36, as this is my 36th post, is in fact very much related to the concept of light as it pertains to Chanuka. But first, I must note that we are in the midst of the week of Parshat Devarim, the first Parsha that begins the Sefer/Book of Devarim/Deutronomy. The beginning words are Eileh HaDevarim Asher Diber Moshe... - "These are the words/things that Moses spoke...". Indeed the very first word of this Parsha - and the FIRST word of the FIFTH book of the Chumash/Five Books of Moses, is the word Eileh/These which is the Gematria of 36.

Before proceeding to the next word of this phrase, I must note that today - Rosh Chodesh Av, which is the FIRST day of the FIFTH month (counting from Nissan, the month of the Exodus, marking the birth of the Jewish people) - is the Yahrzeit of Aharon, the first Cohen Gadol/High Priest, and brother of Moshe. In fact, this is the ONLY Yahrzeit mentioned in the entire T'nach/Bible. Though this Yahrzeit is mentioned in last week's Parshat Mas'ei, which is always read close to the Yahrzeit (last year, it was read on the very day of the Yahrzeit!), the name of this Parsha & Sefer - Devarim - is the same Gematria as Aharon (256)! Speaking of the name of the FIFTH book of the Chumash & T'nach, the Chumash mentions that when Aharon passed away, the entire Jewish people mourned for him for 30 days - which was the entire FIFTH month of the Jewish calendar - the month of Av. Indeed, Aharon was the AV/Father of the Kehuna/Priesthood, as he was the first Cohen Gadol/High Priest, and the ancestor of all Cohanim/Jewish priests, which is strictly a parental lineage; meaning, the status of a Cohen is traced strictly from son to father all the way back to Aharon. In recent times, there has been DNA testing done which shows Cohanim to have common DNA which can prove their lineage from some 3,300 years ago! (I was at a special convention of Cohanim & Levi'im in the Old City of Jerusalem- as I am a Levi - two years ago on Rosh Chodesh Av, at which there was a lecture on this subject). And about Moshe himself (a Levi), the words Sefer Hei (the letter Hei which is the number 5) which means Book Five of the Five Books of Moses (Deutronomy) is the same Gematria as Moshe (345), being that this final book of the Chumash is almost all in the narrative of Moshe.

Speaking of the month of Av, as the 12 months of the year correspond to the 12 Tribes of Israel - this FIFTH month corresponds to the Tribe of Shimon. It's interesting to note that there have been two great Tzadikim/righteous people with the name Shimon that are related to the number FIVE. Shimon HaTzadik, one of the few righteous High Priests (from the parental lineage of Aharon) in the times of the Second Temple, passed away on 29 Tishrei, the beginning of the FIFTH week from the beginning of the Jewish year that commences with Rosh HaShana. And then there is Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, the author of the teachings of the Kabbalistic book known as the Zohar (and according to tradition, in fact is descended by parental line all the way back to Shimon, father of his tribe) who passed away on Lag Baomer, which is the FIFTH day of the FIFTH week of counting the Omer. (And the famed Kabbalist Rabbi Isaac Luria, known as the Ari, passed away on the FIFTH day of the FIFTH month of Av) More on these righteous people a little later on.

So you may be wondering, what does this time of year have to do with Chanuka that I now mentioned this holiday. If anything, today begins what is called the Nine Days which ends with Tisha B'Av, the saddest time of the Jewish calendar, as we beef up our level of mourning (which includes not eating beef, or other meat for that matter, except for Shabbat, and also Rosh Chodesh for Sefardic Jews). But that is exactly why I named this post - LIGHT OUT OF DARKNESS, as we will see through Gematria very shortly.

On Chanuka we light 36 candles - one on the 1st night, two on the 2nd night, etc. There are at least a couple of hints to this in the Torah.

Firstly, the beginning of the 36th Parsha of the Torah - BeHa'alotcha, is about the Mitzvah given to Aharon, whose Yahrzeit is today, to light the Menorah in the Tabernacle. This is the conclusion of the Kriat HaTorah/Torah reading for the last day of Chanuka, continuing from the previous Parsha where the Nesi'im of the other Tribes of Israel brought special Korbanot/sacrifices corresponding to their respective tribes. The Midrash tells us that when Aharon saw this, he felt bad that he didn't bring special sacrifices corresponding to his own Tribe of Levi. Hashem told him that his service would be even greater - lighting the Menorah on a daily basis.

Secondly, when Jacob had a fight with his evil brother Esau's personal angel, and the angel injured him at his thigh, it says Vayizrach Lo HaShemesh - "The sun shone for him (Jacob)" (Genesis 32:32), thus curing him of the injury. The word Lo/for him which consists of the letters Lamed & Vav, is the Gematria of 36, as it was the LIGHT of the sun that cured Jacob, and similarly, we have a total of 36 LIGHTS on Chanuka. Now note the next word - HaShemesh/the sun. The same letters can also be read as HaShamash - the serving (candle) - as in fact, we have what is called the Shamash candle at each night of Chanuka, so we don't benefit directly from the regular Chanuka lights which are considered holy. Thus, while there are essentially only 36 lights, the Shamash candles make the total lights that are actually lit to 44. Speaking of which, this Parshat Devarim is the 44th Parsha of the Torah, on which I will elaborate a little more on later on.

In any case, we always read Parshat Devarim, which begins with the word Eileh having the Gematria of 36, on the Shabbat before Tisha B'Av; and in some years, the Shabbat of Parshat Devarim falls out on the date of Tisha B'Av - 9th of Av, when we postpone the fast of the day to the day after, as we don't fast on Shabbat (except when it coincides with Yom Kippur). Similarly, the beginning word of the Book of Lamentations is also the name of this Book - Eicha - which is read on the night of Tisha B'Av. It starts with Eicha Yashva Badad - "HOW has it (the Jewish nation) sat lonely..." This beginning word is also the Gematria of 36! This word is also mentioned in the beginning of the 2nd Aliya of this Parshat HaDevarim, as well as in the Haftara for this Parsha, which is the beginning of the Book of Isaiah.

And so now you can see that there is some kind of connection between Chanuka & Tisha B'Av through the number 36. But wait, there is more. The very next verse following the sun curing Jacob of his injury mentions the very first Prohibition Commandment of the Torah - a Mitzva that we are told NOT to do something - is the Issur/Prohibition of Gid HaNashe - not eating of the sciatic nerve - the sinew located in the animal's leg. The Vilna Gaon, who passed away on 19 Tishrei - the day of Sukkot that corresponds to the Heavenly Guest of Aharon in the Sukka - points out that the 365 Prohibition Commandments (which are related to the Attribute of Strict Justice - Gevurah - as will be shown later as connected particularly to Tisha B'Av) correspond to the 365 days of the solar year. (In the Jewish calendar, in fact we don't have 365 days, either 353/4/5 days or 383/4/5 in a leap year, but I am not going to make any speculations now). It is this prohibition of Gid HaNashe (the 1st of the 365 Prohibition Commandments - which has a connection to the SUN which cured Jacob of the Gid HaNashe injury - corresponding to the 365 days of the SUN calendar) that corresponds to Tisha B'Av. Indeed, the Zohar compares eating on Tisha B'Av to eating the Gid HaNashe. I should mention that as the angel that injured Jacob was his brother's Esau's personal angel, Esau is in fact the ancestor of Edom who later on as the generations moved on became the Romans, who destroyed the Second Temple. The Hebrew word for their country Rome is Romi which is the same Gematria as Devarim, the name of the Parsha which is always read on the Shabbat before Tisha B'Av, when the Romans destroyed the Second Temple.

Now, getting back to the first word of Parsha & Sefer Devarim for a minute, it has been mentioned that the letters of this word Eileh - Alef, Lamed, Hei - are the first letters of the words Avak Lashon Hara - the "dust" of evil speech, referring to a situation where one can say a comment that can either praise or degrade someone, but the tone of the voice or the particular situation is what determines that. An example of this is where one asks about where there is a home that has food for guests. Another person answers that there is always food at let's say, Mr. Cohen's home. Now, aside from the tone of voice, if Mr. Cohen is someone who is gracious to guests who need a place to eat, this may be a very helpful for the guest out of town. But if Mr. Cohen is someone who is a pot belly who while he may host guests, basically is someone who stuffs his face all the time, mentioning the very same words can place Mr. Cohen in a very bad light.

For some reason, the source for the above for the beginning letter of this phrase does not mention an obvious little different phrase - Issur Lashon Hara - the prohibition of evil speech. After all, just as important as what goes into one's mouth - only kosher food, is what comes out of one's mouth - kosher speech which does not denigrate another person, especially our Jewish brethren.

Perhaps why the former phrase was picked is because this is reminiscent of the story in the Talmud of Tractate Gittin which was what led to the destruction of the Second Temple. A wealthy guy hosting a party which included rabbis instructed his servant to invite someone who was called Kamtza. The servant mistakenly invited instead someone known as Bar Kamtza, who happened to be this wealthy guy's enemy. Well, no matter what Bar Kamtza offered as payment to the wealthy host, his answer was being thrown out of the home where no one spoke up in his defense, so he took revenge telling the Romans that the Jews are rebellious which eventually lead the the destruction of the Temple.

My point here is that sometimes it may be that extra word, a change of tone of voice, or some other minute difference that can either make wonderful things happen, or ruin people's lives, G-d forbid. Indeed, it was the sin of the 10 Spies who came back from Israel; while they first began praising the produce of Israel, they began their rhetoric negative reporting on Israel with the word - EFES, which is typically translated as but... In fact, the typical meaning of this word means ZERO (sorry, no Gematriot for this number!) You see, the normal word in Hebrew for but is Ela or Aval, BUT in this case, the word used is EFES. Why? This one word negated any good they said a minute earlier about the land of Israel. It wasn't even like the Jews afterwards thought about the pros and cons, they just started crying their faces off. Jews today are very much bothered when there is much bias about how news are reported about Israel and Jews living there (Check out http://www.honestreporting.com/.) But my friends, this in fact was the very first biased report in the world about life in Israel .

The Talmud in Tractate Yoma (9b), as mentioned in the introduction of Rabbi Yisroel Meir Kagan's book called Chofetz Chaim, who is known by the title of this work, which is a collection of the laws of the Prohibition of evil speech, and a most worthy Cohen, mentions that the destruction of the Second Temple, the result of which we are still suffering, happened as a result of Lashon Hara/evil speech, Jews saying bad things about others to people, which was part of their sin of Sinat Chinam/hatred for no justifiable reason instead of Ahavat Yisrael/love of fellow Jews or Ahavat Chinam/love for even no justifiable reason. Thus, Eileh HaDevarim - the prohibition of evil speech are THE WORDS or THINGS (HaDevarim) that Moshe spoke about to the Jewish people. It is no wonder that Moshe wanted to stress this more than anything else. (As mentioned for the second time in the Torah in Deutronomy 1:22-45). You see, it was the sin of the 10 spies sent to Israel nearly 40 years earlier when the Jews were just about ready to enter the land when these evil spies came back with their evil speech/report about Israel, and that the Jews would not be able to conquer the enemies residing there that resulted in the Jews (just the men, the women had full faith in Hashem, and lived on to make Aliya nearly 40 years later) crying on the night of the 9th of Av, about which the Talmud in Tractate Ta'anit says that Hashem told them "You are crying now for no reason. I will give you a reason to cry in the future on this very night" (It was on the night of Tisha B'Av on which we now read Eicha). It was this very incident that delayed the Jews from coming to the Holy Land for nearly 40 years - not the idol worshipping of the Golden Calf, not the regular complaining for food in their lack of faith in Hashem, but for speaking and BELIEVING evil speech. Indeed, one who believes Lashon Hara/evil speech in fact commits a worse sin than even the one who speaks it! For those who want to learn more about this subject - and particularly, the laws on forbidden speech, ask your local Judaica bookstore for the book Guard Your Tongue by Rabbi Zelig Pliskin.

There is one more thing to comment on the word Devarim - the name of this Parsha & 5th Book of the Torah - which means words. When rearranging the letters in this word, there are two words that can be spelled - Riv/fighting & Dam/blood(shed). Very unfortunately, the first word leads to the second word, as the beginning verse begins -Eileh, as the letters of this word are the acronym of the phrase of the "dust" of Lashon Hara - when there is even a dust, or a speck of Lashon Hara, G-d forbid it can lead to fighting, and at times, the worst happens, and murder is what you call a lose-lose situation because even the murderer either regrets his action and/or pays for his crime with jail time and/or execution, not to speak of what awaits him in the next world for snatching the breath out of someone to whom Hashem gave life to; and at times, the
victim could have been a parent to future children who cannot be born now thanks to someone who made a very terrible decision.

Now getting back to the light/Ohr. The miracle of the holiday of Chanuka happened in the Jewish year 3622. The destruction of the second Temple happened in the year 3828. Thus, it was in the 207th year from the miracle of Chanuka that the Temple was destroyed. You see, Ohr/Light is the Gematria of 207! You see, the Romans hoped to extinguish the Jewish light of the Torah by destroying our Temple. But little did they know that the Torah is our ultimate light, and the Temple is just one means of expressing our observance of the Torah. In fact, the Aramaic word for Torah is Oraita, which has a connotation of the word Ohr. Certainly, the destruction of the Temple was a tremendous loss - this was the holiest area in the world. Perhaps even a greater loss is what we are told in other sources, that the death of the righteous is either just as devastating as the destruction of the Temple, or even worse than that. After all, it is the righteous who teach us Torah - both through their words of Torah, and their behavior that reflects what the Torah wants to teach us. However, the Torah itself is eternal, and it is the next generation of Torah leaders, scholars, and righteous people who will guide their present generation, even though the ones earlier are irreplacable. Accordingly, being that we are now in the first year since the beginning of the 207th cycle of the cycle of the sun in the same zodiac placement in the sky from the beginning of creation over which we said the Bircat HaChama - the blessing over the creation of the sun - on the morning before the start of Passover, the holiday of our redemption from Egypt, it is our great hope that the tables will be turned, and that in the beginning period of this 207th cycle of the sun that we are now in, the number 207 - the Gematria of the world Ohr/Light - will signify the beginning of our final redemption.

Now, another thing corresponding to the Jewish months are 12 letters from the 22 Alef Beit. It is the letter Teit, which equals 9, that represents the month of Av. And it is on the 9th of Av that the destruction of both Temples took place. This is certainly no mere coincidence, as the 9th plague that the Egyptians were visited with was darkness. Also, if you multiply the number 9 which represents darkness by the number 4 which is related to the four exiles we have had, it equals 36 which is the Gematria of the name & beginning word of Eicha. Now, with this being said, add 9, the number of darkness, to 207 which is the Gematria of Ohr/Light, and it equals 216. You see, the Bnei Yissaschar, a Chasidic Sefer which includes interesting Torah, including Gematriot, on Shabbat, months & holidays, points out that there are exactly 216 hours in the first 9 days of Av, culminating with Tisha B'Av. The word Gevurah/Strength, which denotes Hashem's strict measure of justice, is the Gematria of 216, which is also the Gematria of the Mazal for this month which is Aryeh/Leo. Indeed, our Rabbis tell us that it was at the very end of Tisha B'Av that the Second Temple was begun to be destroyed. Thus, it seems that it was in the 216th hour of the month of Av that the Temple destruction began, which actually continued for the most part into the next day of the 10th of Av. Indeed, one Rabbi in the Talmud commented that had it been up to him, he would have instituted the fast of Tisha B'Av on the 10th of Av instead. But the reason given for why we fast on the 9th of Av, is because the worst of a tragedy is in the beginning of it. Thus, it is that 216th hour that BEGAN to show that Hashem wasn't "playing games" anymore, and that our time for "playing games" with Hashem's mercies without acting merciful with one another was over, thus displaying Hashem's strict measure of justice.

Speaking of Torah & darkness, there is a little irony that the Talmud in Tractate Sanhedrin mentions. There is a verse in Eicha/Book of Lamentations (3:6) that says "He (Hashem) sat me in darkness". The Talmud tells us that this refers to Talmud Bavli/Babylonian Talmud, the main meat of learning in Yeshivot and today is known as the Daf Yomi/Daily Talmud Page that is learned worldwide since its inception on Rosh Hashana 1923. In any case, as opposed to the shorter Jerusalem Talmud which was composed earlier in Israel, the Babylonian Talmud was composed in Babylonia over a period of 60 years, in the same country to which the Jews were exiled to upon the destruction of the First Temple. While the teachings of the Talmud were originally transmitted orally from Moses for some 1,800 years, they were finally written down because of the troubles that the Jews were going through and was feared that the Torah would be forgotten, as so many arguments about what the Jewish Law was supposed to due already existed. Thus, this Talmud was indeed written in a state of darkness, it's just that it turned out to be the main source of light - the light of Torah - to future generations. To note, as another tidbit in my 36th Post - there are in fact 36 Tractates in the Babylonian Talmud (which is hinted to in Eicha, the name of which is the Gematria of 36!) They are also connected to the 36 lights of Chanuka, as it was particularly the Oral Torah that the Syrian Greeks were opposed to, opposing practice of Jewish Law, while they outwardly "respected" our Bible, as merely another book of wisdom on the shelf. Thus, the message of Chanuka - the holiday of lights - resonates throughout the year while we learn the Talmud that is the light of Torah learning.


IN A HAPPY LIGHT

As I mentioned earlier about Shimon HaTzadik, one of the few righteous High Priests during the time of the second Temple, I want to point out something about the word Tzadik/Righteous. As we mentioned about the eight days of Chanuka, there is a mathematical trick here. Muliply the first eight numbers by themselves - 1x1, 2x2, etc. The sum total of the eight numbers add to 204, and this is the Gematria of Tzadik. To note in my 36th post, there are 36 Tzadikim/righteous people in any given generation in whose merit the world continues to exist, also known as the Lamed Vavnicks. Now, add the number 3 to 204, as 3 is the Gematria of the name of the month of Av that corresponds to the Tribe of Shimon, and this is the Gematria of 207. The Kabballa, of which the main book is the Zohar, the teachings of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, is about revealing the LIGHT of Torah; and in recent generations, in the form of Chasidic teachings that have vastly changed the fact of the Jewish people, leading them to serve Hashem with happiness.

The Jewish sources tell us MiShenichnas Av, MeMa'atin B'Simcha - which literally means that when Av enters, we decrease our level of happiness. There is a Chasidic piece of Torah that tells us that we can read this a little differently. When the month of Av arrives, we decrease the sadness of this month with happiness. True, we have to follow the code of Jewish Law when it comes to showing forms of mourning during these first nine (or ten) days of Av. However, our serving Hashem with happiness should not, G-d forbid, be decreased because of this.

We must remember what Pirkei Avot/Ethics of the Fathers mentions of the statement of Shimon HaTzadik - "On three things (DEVARIM) does the world stand on - Torah, Avoda (prayer/sacrifices) and Gemilut Chasadim/Deeds of Lovingkindness. When we treat others with lovingkindness, we must always have the same smile on, if not a greater smile, of happiness of doing something for them.

As Aharon and the Tribe of Shimon are related to the month of Av, I want to point out to another most worthy Cohen, the one who started a revolution which led to the holiday of Chanuka - Matisyahu. It was thanks to him that the Beit HaMikdash/Holy Temple was able to be used once again for nearly 207=Ohr (light) years. Indeed, his name is the same Gematria as Beit HaMikdash (861)! Yes, I was inspired on my own to give myself a second Jewish name - Matisyahu, and it fits beautifully with my first name Shimon, also along the lines of Shimon HaTzadik, who was the grandfather of Matisyahu. The LIGHT/OHR=207, as it relates to Kabbalah which was first revealed by Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, is related to the nearly 207 years of the existance of the Beit HaMikdash from the miracle of Chanuka which was thanks to Matisyahu, a parental descendant of Aharon, who shares a common bond with the Tribe of Shimon as it relates to the month of Av. And indeed, Av consists of the first two letters of the Alef Beit. Both names of mine serve a unique function of their own, and fused into one. Yes, Chanuka is the LIGHT out of the darkness of Tisha B'Av, which has been fascilitated for the most part, by our rightous Jews as Moshe, Aharon, Matisyahu, Shimon HaTzadik, Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, Rabbi Isaac Luria, and the Chasidic leaders from the Ba'al Shem Tov, known by another title as the OHR Shivat HaYomim "Light of the Seven Days" (hinting to the special light of the week of Creation which Hashem since hid but will be returned in Messianic times) until today.


NUMBER 44

I mentioned early about the 44th Parsha of the Torah - this week's Parshat Devarim, as well as 44 Chanuka candles when including the Shamash - serving candle by each of the eight nights of Chanuka so that one does not benefit from the Chanuka lights. As per the connection that I mentioned a little earlier between Chanuka & Talmud Bavli/Babylonian Talmud, the word Bavli is the Gematria of 44. And as the Talmud notes the verse in Eicha that mentions darkness refers to the Babylonian Talmud, the 44th word of the Torah is VeLaChoshech "And for the darkness". Those who have read past blogs of mine know that this is very connected with Obama, the 44th President of the United States. And as darkness was the 9th plague of the Egyptians, blood/Dam which is the Gematria of 44, was the first plague of the Egyptians. The beginning letters of the 10 plagues as we mention in the Haggada as Detzach Adash B'achav are the Gematria of 501. And accordingly, the beginning words of the 44th Parsha of Devarim - Eileh(=36) HaDevarim Asher... "These are the things that..." The word Asher is also the Gematria of 501. That's right - Barack Hussein Obama's full name in Hebrew is also 501! And speaking of the Talmud which is a detailed explanation of the Mishna, the foundation of the Oral Torah, the very first word of the Mishna/Talmud is Mei'ei'matai, which is also the Gematria of 501! Thus, you have three things here that are connected with the numbers 36, 44 & 501 - Parshat Devarim, the Babylonian Talmud, and Chanuka.

Just as we mentioned earlier that the destruction of the Second Temple took place at the VERY END of Tisha B'Av, so too, as the Pirkei D'Rabbi Eliezer notes, the very end of the exile of Galut Edom will be from the Yishmaelim, the Arabs. We know the trouble we have had from them within this past century, including the Hebron massacre that happened in this very month of Av in 1929; but now the WORLD POWER, that is, the United States - like Rome was the WORLD POWER who destroyed our last Temple - is presently being led by Moslem Arab Obama. Yes, we are at our last leg of exile, but the question is how soon it will end and how can we end it. Our concluding paragraphs will help answer this question...


IN CONCLUSION

Maimonidies in his magnum opus called Mishneh Torah (also another name for Deutronomy) at the end of the Laws of Chanuka, mentions that one is so poor that he can only afford either a Shabbat candle to light up the night for eating, or a Chanuka candle, that he is supposed to light the Shabbat candle, because while it is forbidden to derive benefit from a Chanuka candle, a Shabbat candle is used to promote peace in one's household where everyone can live without stumbling in the darkness, as the ways of Torah are peace.

Esau, the evil brother of Jacob is the antithesis and has the same Gematria as the word Shalom/Peace (376), in the same way as the Eicha=36 of Tisha B'Av is the antithesis of the 36 lights of Chanuka. Indeed, Aharon, who was mourned by the entire Jewish people because of his peacemaking (80,000 Jews named Aharon after him during his lifetime were among the mourners, according to a Midrash!), set the pace for the Jewish nation with his high standards of how Jews are supposed to treat one another, which can bring the redemption in a blink of an eye, as we are told that Moshiach was born on Tisha B'Av, the letters of this date being spelled as Teit B'Av - Teit, Beit, Alef, Beit/Veit - totaling the Gematria of the name David, name of King David - ancestor of Moshiach; meaning, that the potential of Moshiach coming started already with the destruction of the Temple. Hashem desperately wants the Temple back in this world; but it is WE who have to show it, and with a unity of Jews regardless of one's level of Judaism, the coming of Moshiach about which we are supposed to believe can happen at any second, can come under better circumstances without war or disease should we choose the PATH OF PEACE.

First of Av 5769, Yahrzeit of Aharon the First High Priest

Hope to post, G-d willing, next Thursday night following Tisha B'Av.

P.S. Ending off this 36th post, want to note that while we spoke of the concept of a father; in fact, the first wife of Jacob and mother of half the tribes of Israel which includes the tribes of Shimon & Levi, the latter which includes the Cohanim and Levites, is Leah, the Gematria of which is 36. In my following post, I will be writing more about Leah as well as Rachel, the other main wife of Jacob.