#81 - When Rosh Hashanah Occurs on a Thursday

Welcome to my final post of 5770 - Hei Tav Shin Ayin. This can also be read as a word: HaTeisha - "The NINE" (Sep '09), the name of my 45th post, the first post that I wrote in this Hebrew year. Speaking of this 45th post, the number 45 is the sum of the first NINE numbers. Accordingly, as this is my 81th post - the final post of this year - the number 81 is NINE times NINE, or otherwise put, the square root of
81 is NINE.

While I have to admit that I purposely planned it for my 81th Post to be this Hebrew year's final post as per what I just wrote, I have noticed amazing Hashgacha Peratit/Divine Providence of the numbering of my posts in relationship to the timing of the year or Parshat HaShavua/weekly Torah portion. For example, just in my previous 80th post, writing of the Yahrzeit of the Chofetz Chaim that occured this year on Yom Shishi/the sixth day of the week - the last Yom Shishi of the year - which corresponds to the sixth of the seven active Sephirot/Divine Emanations called Yesod/Foundation, which is the NINTH of all 10 Sepirot, as related to this year "The NINE". And as related to the Chofetz Chaim, there is an organization called the Chofetz Chaim Heritage FOUNDATION which promotes following his teachings, especially in guarding ourselves from forbidden speech. Ironically, the very last thoughts that I wrote this in that blog is the fact that the opening word of the Rambam's magnum opus Mishneh Torah spanning all the Halachic subjects of the Torah is the very word Yesod, and as especially related to this year 5770, the phrase "Sefer Rambam" (Book of Maimonides) can be spelled equidistantly every 5,770th letter, the same number as this very Hebrew year.

I will get to my final thoughts on the concept of nine, and as related to this year, a little later on in this post. But first, I wrote on something that is related to the number 81, as the number of this 81th Post, as it relates especially to this Rosh Hashanah.

Just about anyone who says the daily Shir Shel Yom/Song of the Day at the conclusion of the Shacharit/morning prayers and has learned the Babylonian Talmudic tractate of Rosh Hashanah will know what I am talking about. You see, Psalm 81 is both the Shir Shel Yom of Thursday and of Rosh Hashanah that the Levi'im/Levites recited in the Beit HaMikdash/Holy Temple. As it happens this year - or rather put - the beginning of this coming year 5771 which will start tomorrow night - the first day of Rosh Hashanah will fall out on Yom Chamishi, the fifth day of the week.

Now, how it worked out on a Yom Tov/holiday in terms of what the Levites sang in the Temple, they recited the Psalm of the week when the morning animal sacrifice was brought, and the Psalm of the holiday when the Mussaf "additional" holiday animal sacrifices were brought. Interestingly, if Rosh Hashanah were to occur on Thursday when Psalm 81 was supposed to be said for two reasons, the Levites did not recite the entire Psalm 81 over the morning sacrifice, but started from the middle of it, and then recited the psalm in its entirety when the Mussaf sacrifices were brought.

But it doesn't end there. There was a technical issue in the times of the Temple when the new moon used to be physically sighted before Rosh Chodesh/the new month was supposed to be declared, unlike today's prepared calendars. Now, when it came to other holidays, at least in Israel, there was sufficient time for everyone to know
whether the 30th day from the last month was declared Rosh Chodesh, or the following day. Attempting to reach countries outside of Israel when no telephones, faxes, radios, T.V., or internet existed, it took time to let everyone else know, and there were times that Jews living in remote countries indeed would not know in time as to what day Rosh Chodesh was declared, and hence did not know what date of the month to begin observing Passover, Yom Kippur or Succot.

In response, the rabbis declared for Jews living outside of Israel, two day holidays of rest from work instead of one day, to resolve the doubt as to what day of the month it was. In time, this enactment remained even though the method of determining
Rosh Chodesh day was switched over to prepared calendars at one point. As far as Yom Kippur is concerned, since it would be especially hard for most people to fast for two days, it remained to be observed for just one day.

However, when it came to Rosh Hashanah, this was a problem even in Israel, because this was in effect Rosh Chodesh Tishrei, the beginning of the month of Tishrei when we immediately begin the holiday of Rosh Hashanah. Imagine ourselves living in the times of the Temple when the only way we knew what day would be declared Rosh Chodesh
was by moon sighting. Even if sighted on the night of the 30th of the previous month, it would only be the next day before the witnesses would testify in the Beit Din/Jewish court of their findings, and only then if determined that their findings proved correct that Rosh Chodesh would be declared, not knowing the night before that it was already Rosh Chodesh, unlike today when we know exactly what day of the week when Rosh Chodesh and the holidays occur on, which makes it easier for us to let our non-Jewish boss know in advance when we must take off from work. And even at that, if for any reason, by the time the Beit Din were to declare Rosh Chodesh, it was already the next evening, or if the new moon had not been sighted then, it would only be that coming evening - the 31st day from the beginning of the previous month that would be declared Rosh Chodesh.

We take Rosh Hashanah for granted being two days, for which we well prepare for in advance with our family and work schedule. But in Temple times, it was a little more challenging, especially on the premise that Rosh Hashanah is in fact only one day according to the Torah - "the first of the seventh month". You see, if that
30th day was to be declared Rosh Hashanah, while everyone may have eaten festive meals starting the previous evening and blown the Shofar during morning prayer services, saying the holiday blessings and prayers could have been problematic if that day was not going to be declared Rosh Chodesh, not knowing this as a fact in advance. And if the witnesses had not seen the new moon that previous night or the Beit Din had not declared that day to be Rosh Chodesh until the next night, then it would be one more day of not working to make ends meet and one more day of Shofar blowing now that it was determined that it was only the second day of resting from work that was the real day of Rosh Hashanah. It was a real inconvenience in those days when Rosh Hashanah was supposed to be observed for one day, and certainly not knowing in advance when this day was supposed to be observed.

In time, the rabbis declared that even in Israel, Rosh Hashanah is to be observed for two days. While again, the sighting the new moon is not an issue today in view of prepared calendars, the enactment of two days remained in place. Additionally, there is Kabbalistic significance regarding the now observance of two days of Rosh Hashanah, as this was meant to happen even in Israel, the land that we are supposed to be living in, as opposed to the exile, outside of Israel, where Jews technically have no business living in.

One more inconvenience in Temple times in terms of what day Rosh Hashanah was going to be was regarding the Levites' Song of the Day. The truth is that in earlier times in the Temple, the Song of the Day for Rosh Hashanah was sung during the afternoon sacrifice, and it was only later on that Psalm 81 for Rosh Hashanah was sung during the Mussaf sacrifice, and another holiday Psalm for the afternoon one (Psalm 29). Anyways, in these earlier times, it happened once that the afternoon offering was brought, and not knowing that that day was in fact declared Rosh Chodesh, the Levites did not sing the usual Rosh Hashanah psalm. To prevent future such occurences, the rabbis made a rule that the first possible day to be declared Rosh Chodesh could only happen if the Beit Din would hear the new moon testimony from the arriving witnesses from whereever length of walking distance they came from before the afternoon, to allow sufficient time especially for the ones in the Temple to know that that day had been declared Rosh Hashanah for the holiday Psalm to be recited.

However, this comes with a little twist. When Rosh Hashanah in Temple Times occured on the fifth day of the week, this means that Psalm 81 would be recited regardless as the Shir Shel Yom for Thursday. The truth is that if the Levites did not know at the time of the morning sacrifice if that day would be declared Rosh Hashanah, they went ahead and sang the entire Psalm like they would do on an ordinary Thursday, and they repeated it as the Rosh Hashanah psalm at the Mussaf sacrifice. It was only if they knew of the Rosh Chodesh news early on in the day that they would sing the daily psalm only from the middle of the psalm, and sing Psalm 81 in its entirety at the Mussaf sacrifice. (There are difference of opinions as to what exactly happened with the Levites singing the Psalms on Rosh Hashanah, I took an approach that would be pretty flowing. For more details, see Tractate Rosh Hashanah 30b-31a). While according to Halacha/Jewish Law, it is forbidden to gamble, this kind of gambling of saying the entire psalm in the morning not knowing if they were going to repeat it or not later on in the day was not a problem. Gambling is only forbidden when it comes to taking money or things of monetary value from a losing party, which is akin to stealing.

In all seriousness though, Psalm 81, while it may be the Thursday Psalm as it begins after its introductory verse "Sing joyously to the G-d of our might..." just as the fish and birds who were created on this day also sing to Hashem, the theme of this psalm seems to focus on Rosh Hashanah, as this verse first concludes "...sound a Teruah blast to the G-d of Jacob." Continuing after a bit "Sound the Shofar at the (beginning of the) month, when (the moon is) covered on the day of our holiday." The psalm continues speaking of Joseph was freed from prison in Egypt, which happened on Rosh Hashanah. Subsequently, it mentions Hashem bringing us up from Egypt, where the Jews were freed from working for their taskmasters, which also occured on Rosh Hashanah, six and a half months before the Exodus would take place. Along these lines, the day that the Exodus took place - "brought you up from the land of Egypt" - was in fact Thusday morning.

On a personal note, I also had my personal Exodus - my birth which also occured on a Thursday morning, and it was also Rosh Chodesh. To note, as I am a Levite, there is a special Psalm that the Levites sang for Rosh Chodesh - Psalm 104. In any case, Psalm 81, the regular Psalm for Thursday, also focuses on Rosh Hashanah - Rosh Chodesh Tishrei, the time of the month when the moon is covered right before the moon's "rebirth"; and in effect, one's anniversary of his birthday is his personal Rosh Hashanah, his/her personal New Year - as Adam & Eve, the ancestors of all mankind, who were created (not born) by Hashem Himself on Rosh Hashanah - a time of New Year resolutions that will justify being born in this world for the purpose of serving Hashem.

As we know, the shofar is what we call in English "ram's horn". The truth is that how it became this translation isn't so simple, as we see in the Mishnah in Tractate Rosh Hashanah that perhaps this could be the horn of a different animal. In any case, the word in Hebrew for ram is Ayal. Indeed, there is a tradition that the attempted sacrifice of Abraham's son Isaac that we read about on Rosh Hashanah, took place on Rosh Hashanah. In any case, I would like to note that the word Ayal is the Gematria of 41, and this is my 41st year of life. And this coming Rosh Hashanah falling out on my 41st year also falls out on the fifth day of the week, the same day of the week that I was born on. And to top this off, when you add the first 41 numbers - 1 through 41 - you get a total of 861, the Gematria of Rosh Hashanah! So at it turned out, the Halacha became determined that is is on Rosh Hashanah, whose Gematria equals the first FORTY ONE numbers, that we blow the Shofar particularly using the horn of a ram, whose name is Hebrew - Ayal - is the Gematria of FORTY ONE.

Now continuing on in this psalm, we see that the 11th verse begins on a similar wording to the first of the Ten Commandments "I am Hashem your G-d who brought you up from the land of Egypt..." The Chasan Sofer notes that the Ten Days of Repentance correspond to the Ten Commandments. Hence, the first day of the Ten Days of Repentance - (first day of) Rosh Hashanah - corresponds to this first commandment of the Ten Commandments - the belief in the existance of Hashem. To prove this one step further here, the first word of this verse - which is also the first word of the first of the Ten Commandments - is Anochi/I, which is the Gematria of 81, the number of this Psalm, the Song for the day of Rosh Hashanah! Also to note, as the word Anochi is actually an Egyptian based word, which Hashem had used instead of the more common Hebrew word Ani for the Jews who had just left Egypt after living there for 210 years, the English translation of this word, which is I, also serves as a Roman numeral, which is the number one. Coincidence?

From the Egyptians who enslaved us, from whose country we were redeemed to receive the Torah a short time later, to the Romans who also persecuted us, attempted to prevent us from practicing our Judaism, destroyed the Second Temple, the nations of the world attempted to rid of our nation by attempting to destroy our spiritual fabric. But wherever we are in this world - even in exile - we must not forget our ORIGINS. Our origins - our spiritual roots - begin with the First Commandment that Hashem delivered to us on the day that we received the Torah.


THE 14TH YEAR

Our Jewish calendar, while basically based on a monthly lunar cycle of the moon waxing and waning; as mentioned above, it ia also based on the solar system, hence, allowing the amount of days in our calendar to be virtually the same amount of days in the solar calendar - every 19 years. Hence, counting from Year 1 in our calendar,
we are presently in the 304th cycle of 19 years each. Thus, starting from Rosh Hashanah 5758 (1997), this coming new year of 5771 will be the 14th year in this present cycle of 19 years.

The way our Jewish calendar is set up these days in absence of sighting the monthly moon, an extra month of Adar is added seven out of every 19 years in the following year numbers of any given cycle - 3rd, 6th, 8th, 11th, 14th, 17th, 19th.

With this being said, the number 14 is the Gematria of the name of King David. And in the listing of the Zohar correlating the various holidays to the "Seven Shepherds", it is King David who corresponds to Rosh Chodesh. Proving this, it has been said that the words Rosh Chodesh (the word Chodesh includes a Vav in this case)
are the Gematria of the phrase David Melech Yisrael Chai V'Kayam "David King of Israel may he live and exist" - 819. And as in our present Jewish calendar, every such 14th year is a leap year; as related to King David, it is mentioned in Divrei Hayomim/Chronicles the amount of every tribe that came to fight in King David's army.
Included amont the tribes were the Sanhedrin members of the tribe of Yissaschar who were specialists in determining the calculations of the months and setting up leap years (I Chronicles 12:33).

There is another very important set of 19 in Judaism. During the weekdays, we say the Shemoneh Esrei prayer - three times a day, each consisting of 19 Berachot/blessings. While originally, there were 18 blessings, as the name Shemoneh Esrei denotes, which means eighteen, an additional one was added at one point. Hence, the 14th blessing is the one requesting Hashem to return His presence to Yerushalayim/Jerusalem and rebuilding it, as well as reestablishing the Davidid dynasty. To note, the name Yerushalayim (without a second Yud) - the holiest city in the world - is the Gematria of the word Shofar (586)- the Mitzvah that belongs to the first day of the Jewish year. In fact, when the ancient Sanhedrin used to be in Jerusalem, even when the Shofar was not sounded elsewhere on Shabbat due to an enactment of the Sages, it was blown not only in the Sanhedrin, but anywhere near it within the main environs of Jerusalem, hence making a special connection between Jerusalem and the Shofar, besides their identical Gematriot. And as rebuilding Jerusalem includes rebuilding the Beit HaMikdash/Temple, the name Rosh Hashana - when we blow the Shofar - is the same Gematria as Beit HaMikdash - 861.

Getting back to the Shemoneh Esrei, King David's name is mentioned again in the following blessing, requesting Hashem to send us Moshiach, who will be a descendant of King David. Before the additional blessing was added to the Shemoneh Esrei, which then made it nineteen blessings, this blessing about Moshiach was the 14th blessing, again making a direct connection with King David's name being the Gematria of 14.

And as King David represents the Sephirah of Malchut/Kingship, it is particularly on Rosh Hashanah that we say a special blessing in the midst of the Mussaf Shemnoneh Esrei - which by the way consists of nine blessings as per our mention of number nine in this post - declaring Hashem's Kingship, reciting 10 Pesukim/verses dedicated to this, bearing in mind that Malchut is the last of the 10 Sephirot beginning with Keter/Crown. The last of the 10 verses is the first verse of the Shema - Shema Yisrael Hashem Elokeinu Hashem Echad "Hear O Israel, Hashem is our G-d, Hashem is One", where the last letter of the first word Shema - is a BIG Ayin, and the letter Ayin is the Gematria of 70, the amount of years that King David lived. And the last letter of this verse is a BIG Dalet, this letter being the first and last letter of King David's name. No doubt that Hashem - the King of Kings - wanted King David to be His representative as an earthly king, to show the Jews reverence in serving Hashem, as we are especially supposed to feel on Rosh Hashanah, which is our Judgment Day, when we recite the final psalm of Tehillim/Psalms of King David - Psalm 150 in the Mussaf Shemoneh Esrei - the ONLY time that we recite an entire psalm in Shemoneh Esrei in the entire year.


BIRTHPANGS OF MOSHIACH IN 5770

And for those who remember what I wrote in past blogging this year about Moses hinting to this year being the year that he said "enough of the Jews' suffering IN ITS TIME, the Hebrew for the words in bold B'Shatah spelling the same letters as Beit-Hei-Tav-Shin-Ayin "In 5770", while Moshiach who will bail us out can still arrive before tomorrow evening when the New Year of 5771 begins, Moses' statement could have been a request for us not to continue suffering beyond the year 5770. You see, as I predicted a year ago based on the Hidden Codes of the Torah, the Birthpangs of Moshiach - or at least the beginning/final stages of it depending on how you look at it - would be in Year 5770 during Succot time. Indeed, it was during Succot that Obama was elected to receive the Noble peace prize, unprecendented in terms of his length of accomplishments, being president of the U.S. only for several months, who barely lifted a finger in terms of world peace, paving the way for him to give the green light for the nations of the world to attack Israel, G-d forbid. And in the final week - seven days - of this year 5770, he convened with Netanyahu & Abu-Mazen at a summit to begin the process of working on giving away more of the Holy Promised Land of the Jewish people to the blood thirsty Moslem Arabs.

And let's pause a moment and be clear about Obama's religion. Contrary to recent news media, including a mimicked article on a well known right-wing Jewish news site on the web by a new writer on its site, claiming that people are mistaken believing Obama to be Moslem when he is Christian, I've got news for all. Check out the recent video on http://shiratdevorah.blogspot.com, where you will see in no more than three minutes than Obama is clearly Moslem. As heard through the grapevine, in a recent meeting with one of the Egyptian leaders, Obama swore to him that he is Moslem, and as he put it to him, "When I done with the domestic issues (such as healthcare in the United States), you will see what I will do for Islam as pertaining to Israel".

I want to scream to these people covering up Obama with a Christian sheet, and tell them to stop blinding people with their lies and political coverups. Few will publicize a true picture of Obama wearing a kafiya, an Arab headress on his head, as forwarded to me by someone within this past year. But this is just the start of what is truly going on in Obama's head. Last Friday morning, I saw the Ma'ariv newspaper showing pictures of the "giving away Israel to the Arabs" summit on its front cover, showing Obama and Abu-Mazen to have faces looking hard as stone, while Netanyahu calls Abu-Mazen, Arafat's successor as "our partner for peace." Oh sure, Obama, along with other Arab terrorist groups denounced Hamas murdering four (sic, five) Jews last week in an attempt to prevent the "peace" process. You see, Obama wants to look good here. It's easy for him to critize the murder of a few Jews, because he is looking at the long-term goal. His real intention is to perform the long term damage to Israel, and "do for Isalm as pertaining to Israel".

And speaking of Egypt in Psalm 81, as pointed out in the recent past, and based on Midrashic and Kabbalistic sources, Obama is the reincarnate of the king of Egypt who
refused to listen to "Let My people go". And as the Jewish overseers who literally took the beating on behalf of their Jewish brethren for not wanting to make their already hard lives harder to please the Egyptian taskmasters complained to Pharaoh "Why DO YOU DO such to your servants? (Exodus 5:15)" As I had mentioned also earlier this year, the Hebrew word Ta'aseh, the Hebrew for the words in bold also spell the letters of this year 5770, and has rare cantillation notes found probably not more than a dozen times in the entire Chumash.

Yes, Obama reliving his past life of Pharaoh is at it again to us Jews, just as Pharaoh literally placed the burden of the straw on the Jews to collect for themselves unlike earlier where it was given to them, the final straw that broke the "camel's back" following Moses' initial warning to Pharaoh "Let My people go". It was to Moses' complaint following the straw episode that Hashem said "Now you will see what I will do to Pharaoh, for with a strong hand will he send them, and with a strong hand, he will chase them from his land," the conclusion of Parshat Shemot. Well, at least according to statistics that I just read today, some 3,350 from the United States emigrated to Israel in this year 5770, but still far less than 1% of the Jews remaining in the exile of the sinking United States economy.

And so, what will happen? We see that last week's summit in the United States took place on 23 Elul, the Hebrew date on which exactly NINE years earlier, 9/11 took place! And speaking of "peace treaties", the Oslo Accords took place eight years earlier in 1993. Now, if one were to observe the Hebrew date of when the publicized event at the White House lawn took place, it was on 27 Elul. However, a closer look of the Oslo Accords will reveal that the giving away of Israel to the Arabs papers were actually signed on...23 Elul! It was only four days later that the ceremonial part of this murderous event - that led to much bloodshed of Jewish blood - took place.

Ironically, as last week's summit beginning a round of murderous "peace" talks took place exactly 17 years after the Oslo Accords on 23 Elul, we know that 17 is the Gematria of the word Tov/good. Moreover, we see that in the Torah, the very first occurence of the letter Teit - the 121st letter in the Torah - is found beginning the word Tov. Now, the letter Teit is the Gematria of NINE, and the square root of 121 is ELEVEN! So, how could these tragic events - Oslo Accords, 9/11, and last week's summit be events that are related to good?

A year ago, I wrote my 43rd post on 9/11 entitled "The GOOD side of 9/11" (Sep '09).
The title was based on Amos 9:11 promising good for Jews in the future. On the flipside, we see Jeremiah 9:11 mentioning quite the opposite of this, being true to the number of 9/11, and as Tisha B'Av - the original 9/11 - is the NINTH day of the ELEVENTH month of Av from the beginning of the Jewish year of the month of Tishrei (Though when it comes to count of the MONTHS, as opposed to the "months of the year", we count from Nissan, the month of the Exodus, birth of the Jewish people).

As our rabbis tell us in the midst of the NINTH and final chapter of tractate Berachot/Blessings, "A person is obligated to bless Hashem for the bad as he blesses Hashem for the good". True, we may not know what is the "hidden" blessing behind tragic events happening to us, or at least in first, it can't be denied that when though very unfortunate things happen to people, or to a country, people learn to be more friendly and helpful. True, it would be far better if people would learn to get along during peaceful times, but at least now, good things are being accomplished. Quite often, when a beloved member of a family or a community passes on - and sometimes at a relatively younger age in life - all kinds of good things are accomplished to help people, institutions, and the like in memory of this person.


And while we are mentioning the concept of "The Nine", as mentioned near the beginning of Psalm 81 that instructs us to blow the Shofar; technically according to the Torah, one is supposed to blow a total of NINE sounds in order to fulfill the Mitzvah of blowing the Shofar. As we are not sure about how one of the sounds is supposed to be, many more sounds are blown as a result; and in time, the custom became to blow a total of 100 sounds. Also, the Mussaf Shemoneh Esrei of Rosh Hashanah consists of NINE blessings, the only such Shemoneh Esrei in the whole year.
The sixth of these blessings is a special one dedicated to verses about blowing the Shofar.

And speaking of psalms, there is another psalm that echoes a similar theme of Psalm 81, which is Psalm 20. Aside from its introductory verse, it has NINE verses and SEVENTY words. It is customary for a woman in labor pains or otherwise on her behalf
to recite this Psalm. Numerically, the woman gives birth after NINE months, and is brought down in Kabbalah that she screams a total of SEVENTY times before the bombino
or bombina pops out. It it noteworthy to mention the first of these nine verses "May Hashem answer you in a time of sorrow, may the name of the G-d of Jacob defend you." In a very similar vein, as we mentioned earlier in Psalm 81 "Sound a Teruah blast to the G-d of Jacob." To note, trumpets, in addition to the Shofar, were also sounded in the Temple as well as in times of war. To note, we mention in both psalms "G-d of Jacob". Of the three Avot/Patriarchs, it was Jacob who went through the most suffering, hence the mention of his name in particular.

In another sense, one of the descriptions of the era right before the coming of Moshiach is "Ikvesa D'Meshicha", Aramaic for "the heels of the Messiah", as the root of the name Jacob is Eikev/heel, denoting Jacob holding on to the heel of his twin brother Esau as they exiting their mother Rebecca's womb. Esau/Edom today representing the United States is the world power, and it is up to us to do our part - as Netanyahu is not only not doing his part but doing the opposite by signing off Holy Land to terrorism - in protesting what is happening to the best of our ability, and show to Obama that yes, we are the good "rejectionists", for we reject anything and everything that goes against the Torah that the world loosely calls the Bible. Of course, Obama believes in his Koran, and if he likes, as far as he is concerned, let him start war with us, because this is what is predicted in the Torah anyways, as he is indeed the Gog U'Magog of the Bible, as I had mentioned quoting other sources in past blogspots.

And as the Yahrzeit of the victims of 9/11 that was carried out by Moslem Arabs on
23 Elul of this year marks exactly NINE years since it happened, this also fell out this year during this month of Ramadan, the yearly monthlong daytime fast of Moslems. While virtually everyone may know this fact, what many or most non-Moslems will not know is that Ramadan is also the NINTH month of the Moslem calendar.

For those who may not be that familiar with the Moslem calendar, it is strictly a lunar calendar. Meaning, they mimick the Jewish calendar in which the new month begins around the time of the New Moon. However, unlike the Jewish calendar which adds an additional month every two or three years in order that the months will coincide with the seasons to coincide with the same amount of days as the solar calendar every 19 years, the Moslem calendar does not take this into account. As an illustration, in 1994, when Dr. Baruch Goldstein, may G-d avenge his blood, shot the praying Moslems in the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron who were ready to attack the Jews living there right after prayers on that fateful Purim morning, on Friday - the Moslem Sabbath, that was also during the month of Ramadan. Now, as we know, Adar - the month in which we celebrate Purim & this month of Elul are six months apart. Hence, it can take approximately 30 years for the Moslem calendar to be a year less than the Jewish calendar or regular solar calendar of 365 or 366 days.

To note, the Moslems use a picture of the moon - a crescent moon - to represent their religion of Islam. Now, as the verse in Psalm 81 states which refers to blowing the Shofar on Rosh Hashana - "when (the moon is) covered on the day of our holiday", it has been mentioned that the word B'Keseh (when covered) is the Gematria of Levana/moon - 87.

The truth is what our Rabbis tell us, that the sun represents the nations of the world and the moon represents the Jews. The Moslems, just as they claim that it was Ishmael, rather than Abraham's other son Isaac, who was the one that his father brought on the altar to be sacrificed; so too, as a "cover up", along the lines of the meaning of the word Bakeseh, claim that they are the chosen ones of G-d (actually, it is Allah who is NOT G-d, contrary to what Moslems will tell you -
hence, actually performing idolatry even if they believe in only one god) as following strictly a lunar cycle of the moon, without taking the seasons into account within their calendar which would eventually coincide with the same amount of days as the solar calendar, which the Jewish calendar follows. Truly, while the Moslems want to show the world how they are in "the light", they are actually in the deepest spiritual darkness, as the nighttime with its faint light of the moon - especially when it's a crescent, the actual picture depicting the Islam religion, whose holiest (so to speak) NINTH month of Ramadan is a mere COVER-UP for the terrorists or terrorist supporters that they really are.

And in case anyone feels sorry for these fasting Moslems, as for example, the anti-Judaism heads of the IDF who forbid its Jewish army to eat in front of our enemy Moslems who have no right to live or work on our Holy Land during the Ramadan month,
they should know that these Moslems are willing to sacrifice anything and everything - food, sleep, sex, children, or their own lives - just so that not a single Jew will be left on the land that they call Palestine. The fact that not more Jews were murdered until just about the end of this Ramadan month that they consider the holiest of their months as I write today, is nothing short of a miracle; though it is true that at this time, the Moslem Arabs, aside from Hamas fanaticals for a lack of a better term, are hoping that these "peace" talks are going to accomplish something such as the construction freeze that Netanyahu ordered which is still in effect on the Knesset books, until they won't get anything more from Israel, and then they plan to fight in a full blown war against Israel for the rest.

In short, we see that this year of 5770, spelled HaTeisha "The NINE", ended with the month of Ramadan, the NINTH month of the Moslem lunar calendar, during which the summit about giving, G-d forbid, more of our Jewish land to our Moslem enemies took place exactly NINE years - 23 Elul - from the events of 9/11 which was carried out by Moslems. Indeed, this is perhaps the HIGHLIGHT of the Chevlei Moshiach/Birthpangs of the Messiah, which is compared to the birthpangs of a pregnant woman during labor following NINE months of pregnancy.

As Obama and his Moslem Arab buddies represent the ultimate spiritual darkness, and as we see that darkness is the NINTH plague that struck the Egptians, there is a Biblical character named Lot, no stranger to this Gematriot blogspot, who failed in his spiritual potential from being a good nephew of Abraham to following a lifestyle of baselessness. His name is a contraction of two words or letters. Taking the letters of his name - Lamed,Vav,Teit, - the few two letters can be read as Lo which means to him or for him, and the Teit is the spiritual darkness of NINE. This pretty much describes Lot's life. In addition, this first part spelling "Lo" - Lamed Vav - denoting that while he had the potential of being one of the "Lamed Vavniks" 36 righeous individuals in each generation, he chose the dark side of it - such as Eicha, the beginning word of the Book of Lamentations read on the night of the NINTH of Av - also being the name of this Book, lamenting "How" - "How the Jews have fallen from the status that they used to be at - both spiritually and physically", this word being the Gematria of 36.

In a very similar fashion, as both the names of Lot and Adam have the same Gematria of 45, Adam was addressed by Hashem with a very similar word - the only difference being with how the vowels are pronounced - Ayeka "Where are you?" "Where are you now - both spiritually and physically - since you sinned eating from the tree that I forbade you from eating?"

At the tail end, Adam had repented of his past misdeed, and gave SEVENTY years of his life to King David, who in turn would be the ancestor of Moshiach. Similarly, while Lot he did not repent, the two sons - Moab & Amon - from his two daughters who begot children from him - had descendants who converted to Judaism - Ruth from Moab who was the greatgrandmother of King David, and Na'amah from Amon who married King Solomon.

And speaking of Rosh Hashanah - the date of Adam & Eve's creation - the Talmud (Sanhedrin 38b) notes that on that day, which was Friday - something significant happened on each of the 12 hours of that day. It was on the NINTH hour that Adam was ordered not to eat from the tree of knowledge.

You see, Adam had a choice from what he was commanded in the NINTH hour as to whether he would listen to Hashem or not. So too, Jeremiah the prophet, who cursed the day he was born which was the NINTH of Av, the future date of the destruction of the First Temple that happened during his lifetime, constantly told the Jews to repent to avoid the troubles that indeed befell them. However, both Adam and the Jews in Jeremiah's time failed to obey what they were told to do. The number NINE turned out to be a number of darkness for them. Had they listened, it could have been a source of goodness, as the letter Teit=9 appears for the very first time in the Torah beginning the word Tov/good - "G-d saw that the light was GOOD"; however unfortunately, as our Rabbis tell us, Hashem had to hide this special spiritual light from the wicked, only for the righteous to enjoy of it in future times. In Adam's case, the commandment given to him in the NINTH hour was most crucial, as the Gematria of his name Adam being 45 is the sum of the first NINE numbers, the name of the ancestor of all mankind, the future descendants of his whose future of good or evil happenings would be based solely on his actions.

Another example to illustrate this concept of potential for the good or otherwise is a verse that we recite in the beginning of our daily Shacharit prayers - Mah Tovu Ohalecha Ya'akov, Mishkenoteicha Yisrael "How goodly are your tents O Jacob, your Tabernacle O Israel". This verse comes from among the blessings that Bilam, an evil magician, recited in lieu of his proposed thoughts of cursing the Jews. Our rabbis in fact note that from his blessings that Hashem forced him to recite, we can see the evil that he intended to curse us with. In any case, the first word Mah, like the name Adam, is also the Gematria of 45. The following word Tovu, is a rare plural form of the word Tov which spells the same letters but just in a different order. The bottom line is that it is our holy dwellings that we treat them as such that are the power for the Jews. The original source of goodness - both spiritual and physical - comes from these holy places. True, we have to work for a living, but the blessing that comes from making the living is from Hashem's flow of bounty.

And so, with this being said, Israel is the place to live for all Jews, because while the world may want to threaten Israel if we don't acquiesce to "Palestinian" demands (and Iran plans on attacking us anyways, G-d forbid), the greatest power house of goodness and blessings is this Holy Land, being filled with more Jews - howbeit a small percentage of them - who have said goodbye to the illusionary vision of material wealth - and made self sacrifices to call Israel home. No doubt that at the end, the Jews in Israel will be in the best security position, though things may not seem to be quite going in that direction. What we need in the long run is trust in Hashem, called Bitachon in Hebrew, which is similar to the word Bituach/insurance, being that trust in Hashem is the best insurance to assure our physical safety by observing His commandments despite challenges, including choosing to live in Israel, and Hashem in turn - unlike some phoney insurance companies who renege on their promises when floods damage one's home or business - will show us that we indeed bought a great life insurance policy.

As a sneak peak for next year 5771, there is another word that means nine which includes the letters of this upcoming Hebrew year, but this will part of my upcoming post, G-d willing, following the beginning of the Jewish New Year, probably this coming Sunday.

This year 5770 has been one great year on www.gematriot.blogspot.com, which included my marriage. I have gone through various amazing discoveries, and look forward to another year of what we hope will be the beginning of our Redemption, or at least on a more positive note leading to our long awaited Redemption.

Wishing you all a Shana Tova U'Metuka, a good and sweet year.


28 Elul, 5770