#88 - Rome-Hitler-U.S.A.

Beginning on a happy note, near the conclusion of today - 14 Kislev - today, I read the last chapter of the Chumash/Penteteuch/Five Books of Moses, which is Deutronomy, Chapter 34, as I began a chapter a day (in English) from the Tanach/Bible beginning from this last Shavuot, the holiday of the giving of the Torah. While this chapter mentions the passing of Moses, it also mentions his various accomplishments, as well as his worthy successor Joshua. While Moses was denied entry into the Holy Land, Hashem did show him the events that would happen to the Jewish people until the time of the Resurrection.

And speaking of last, today's post will focus on the last exile of the Jewish people.
Actually, this exile has been split into many such exiles, because Jews have been exiled from many countries over the near 2,000 years since the destruction of the Second Temple by the hands of the Romans. However, when we say that it is the last exile, we mean that it is the exile from our Holy Land, as opposed from being tossed as a pizza pie from one non-Jewish country to another. (Believe it or not, this Italian nash originally consisted of Matza, cheese, and olive oil - from the book The Jewish Connection by M. Goldberg)

Anyways, speaking of finishing reading the Chumash, the name of last week's Parsha - Vayishlach, is the Gematria of the word Chumash - 354. Accordingly, the last part of this Parshat Vayishlach mentions the details of Esav's family and the chiefs of Edom.

In fact, our current exile lasting nearly 2,000 years is called Galut Edom/Exile of Edom, as the Tanach when it mentions Edom, refers to Rome, especially in the context of our exile.

However, while Rome itself is one city, Rome as the Roman Empire consisted of a whole area of land in the greater Italy country. Why do I say this?

In the very last Pasuk/verse of Parshat Vayishlach, in the lasting of the 11 chiefs of Edom, it begins with Aluf Magdiel - Chief of Magdiel. The very last Rashi on this Parsha notes that Magdiel is Rome. And as this is my 88th Post, I will note that the name Magdiel is in fact the Gematria of 88.

But that's not all. For those who have read a bit on hate groups, especially as it pertains to Anti-Semitism, the number 88 denotes a most evil slogan "Heil Hitler", used as such because the letter H is the 8th letter of the alphabet, the first letter of these two words.

Any connection between Rome & Hitler? Well, the Vatican in Rome was at best neutral in terms of the Holocaust. But even if one were to attempt to exonerate the Vatican for remaining silent if not taking into account any possibility of it speaking behind the Jews' back, we know all too well how some Christians in the guise of being kind by saving Jews from the physical Holocaust Hell, worked on them being sent
to the eternal spiritual hell by raising them as Christians when they knew full well that the ones that they physically saved were Jews, belonging to a different religion.

In any case, it will be agreed that Hitler did work very hard to match up with the Roman Empire murdering Jews during the era of the destruction of the Second Temple, and very unfortunately, succeeded well in decimating one third of the known Jewish world population.

And what was happening in the United States during the Holocaust? Good for nothing President Franklin Roosevelt showed plenty of his lack of sympathy for the Jews and other nationalities being decimated overseas, and in fact, turned away a boatload of 900 Jews who escaped the Hell House, only to be returned and murdered there. And as for the Jews in the land of religious freedom, few gave a damn about their brethren, many who enjoyed their summers in the Catskills in upstate New York (I know this for a fact from a rabbi who gave a weekly class to old ladies who admitted what they did during the summers in the early 40s).

Now, fastforward to Obama '08. His political ties to the "Palestinian" Arabs were known, or at least heard of, by many Jews; but most Jews voting in the U.S.A. were more fixated on Obama's promises of change for their immediate surroundings than what
he would do for Israel, some of whom blatantly lied to everyone else that Obama is good for Israel, as a reason to vote for him, without needing to worry about any guilt feelings.


THE TISHA B'AV CONNECTION OF ROME-HITLER-U.S.A.

Yes, you will see this ONLY at one place - www.gematriot.blogspot.com. While Obama can get his T-shirt ready with the number 88 on the back of it to match this number that is most associated with Rome & Hitler, you will see how Tisha B'Av is related to all of these three entities. Technically, Obama is already half there - literally. You see, he is the 44th elected President of the United States (though he is in fact ineligible to be president according to the Constitution), and the 44 is half the number of 88.

But before I get into more detail about Obama, especially as connected to his Islamic ties, let's state the facts:

Rome - Destroyed the Second Temple on Tisha B'Av.
Hitler - Was born from an adulterous union who slept together especially on the night of Tisha B'Av, as part of the Shabbetai Tzvi sect (yes folks, it is still around today, centuries after Shabbetai Tzvi did his damage as a false messiah).
U.S.A. - Obama became politically born on Tisha B'Av '04, when he gave a speech endorsing past Democratic candidate John Kerry.

Now notice, I didn't write the subject of this post as Rome-Hitler-Obama, but instead ending with U.S.A. I have a good reason for this. It isn't that Obama is just this bad guy, but that almost everything else about the United States is kosher.
In fact, the United States has something in common with the Roman Empire. In fact, as the name Edom is the concluding word of Parshat Vayishlach, I should note that Edom is the Gematria of 51; and indeed, in the U.S.A., there is its capitol Washington D.C. and 50 states. As the capitol is its own domain, not in a particular state, you indeed can count FIFTY-ONE STATES!

Yes, the United States, while it may have begun as a place as a safe haven for Jews and other nationalities from religious persecution from other countries over 200 years ago, this aspect about the land of freedom is starting to go downhill. Constant threats of terrorism, over 600 prison camps ready to house millions, and...Did you know? The Southern Poverty Law Center counted 932 active hate groups in the United States in 2009. Now tell me, how many of them hate Jews? It's frightening to think what could happen next, G-d forbid.

Actually, we're not far off. Obama recently endorsed Ground Zero to be grounds for a mosque, which is being built, partly in thanks to a self-hating Jewish billionaire Michael Bloomberg, who has been mayor of New York City way too long. And this taking place - nine years since the infamous day of 9/11.

And what else? While many as of late blatantly declared in the press that Obama being Moslem is false and that he is Christian, isn't it a striking parallel that the first and last letters in Hebrew of the name of the founder of Islam - Mohammed -is Mem & Dalet, which spells the number 44, and Obama is the 44th President. It's very simple math here: 44+44=88!


"PLEASE TAKE OUT THE TRASH!"

In Hebrew, the word for trap, or for a can as in a trash can, is Pach, which also spells the Hebrew number 88. It's hardly surprising then that it is not mere "coincidence" that this number would be most especially associated with Hitler, and for that matter, the Biblical name for the city of Rome, which began with its physical decimation of the Jews as well as the destruction of the holiest building in the world, and ending off with spiritual destruction with its Vatican, which houses articles of the Holy Temple and myriads of Jewish books, scrolls, and writings. Perhaps the ultimate hypocrisy of Christianity, especially the Catholic sect, is that while it claims its religion to be the right religion, using our Tanach
as the "Old Testament" as a literal stepping stone to claim Jesus on the top. If Judaism is indeed not the correct religion as far as they are concerned, then why should they want our artifacts and writing?.

But the answer to this question is that in truth, many know what the true religion and chosen people are. Yes, they are jealous of us, and make up every which thing to make us look to be the bad people, and no longer wanted by G-d. They have the nerve while claiming a Jew to be a god and messiah, to torture and murder us for not believing in one of our own; for after all, we killed him, right? So, what is this to them if they are not Jewish? All they are really doing is using religion as a cover up for what they really are.

So, one day it is Christians with the blood libels accusing us of killing Christian children to use their blood for our Matzot; and the next day, Arabs claim part of Israel - nay, all of Israel - to be Palestine; and even though no such country existed or presently exists, the Christians who hate Jews close their Bibles showing the boundaries of Israel that belongs to us, and buy in to the claims that the Israelis treat the poor "Palestinians" unfairly; and somehow, we are at fault for not giving in to Islam terror, as we caused it by not giving the Arabs all our land away, even though the United States was also hurt by Islam terror.

Yes, the word blood in Hebrew - Dam - is the Gematria of 44, spelling in Hebrew the number backwards - Mem & Dalet. The blood libels were perhaps the biggest, ridiculous set of lies about Jews; yet, in the name of anti-Semitism, millions of people wished to believe this about Jews for countless of centuries. Even in the 1900s, there was an incident of this in the United States, believe it or not, but this is beyond the scope of this post.

Yes, Hitler spoke of the Aryan race, with the blond hair and blue eyes, features that Hitler himself did not have, but this was supposed to separate the men from the boys, as you will. It is true that it wasn't only Jews who were treated as trash in the Holocaust; however, in comparison or contrast with the blacks and gypsies, we Jews were treated as "white trash," as the majority of Jews who were in the Holocaust
were of Ashkenazic origins, most of them being Caucasian.


DEVARIM/DEUTRONOMY

Having mentioned earlier that I finished reading the Five Books of Moses today, which is also the conclusion of the Book of Deutronomy, I should note that the Hebrew name for this book - Devarim - is the Gematria of Rome - 256. As a matter of fact, the first Parsha of this Sefer, which is also called Devarim, is also read within a week before Tisha B'Av; and in fact in some years, is read on the 9th of Av - the date of Tisha B'Av - when it falls out on Shabbat. The very first Pasuk of this Sefer/Parsha hints to the various places that the Jews were in the wilderness where they misbehaved. Accordingly, the reason why we had terrible things happen to us on Tisha B'Av, and exiled from various lands, is because our behavior was far from desirable to say the least.

In any case, this Parshat Devarim is the 44th Parsha of the Torah. Also, the first and last letters of the name Devarim - Dalet & Mem - are the letters that spell the number 44. And so again, you have 44+44=88.

On a little brighter side, the name Devarim is also the Gematria of Aharon - 256. And as mentioned in Kohelet/Book of Ecclesiastes (7:14)- "This corresponding to the other did G-d make." And while people have free choice as to be good or evil; G-d created the concepts of good and evil in order for people to have the chance to make a free choice, and earn reward or punishment accordingly.

And so on this note, as the words of Gematria for the number 256 are both Aharon & Rome, there is also a good side to the number 88 - and not just a bad side. You see,
of the six orders of the Mishnayot, the fifth order is called Kodashim, which means holy things, which includes an array of subjects from the Temple offerings of animals
to birds, and a tractate named Middot, which literally means measures, as it is about the Temple with its various measures for how it was built. This order of the Mishnayot consists of 11 tractates, and 91 chapters. And what is the 88th chapter? The final chapter of Tractate Middot, which ends off with the qualification of Aharon's descendants serving as Cohanim in the Temple. In fact, there is a custom among some to learn a chapter of Mishnah on each of the seven days of Succot that correspond to one of the Ushpizin/Heavenly Guests of the Succah, and it is this very chapter of Mishnayot that is learned on the day of Succot which features Aharon.

And as mentioned earlier about the phrase Heil Hitler representing the number 88, as the first letters of this phrase are H, being the 8th number of the alphabet; on the side of good, we have the Chofetz Chaim, a Cohen - being a descendant of Aharon via parental line, whose nickname after the first Sefer that he wrote consists of two words that begin with the letter Cheit, which is the Gematria value of 8, hence serving as the good 88. (Note: The Chofetz Chaim, near the end of his life in 1933, was one of the few rabbis who warned Jews in Europe to leave while they were able to, as he predicted terrible times that were going to happen soon in Europe, which turned out to be the Holocaust. Too bad that very few Jews listened to him, if any).

Small wonder then, the full name of the Book of Deutronomy - Sefer Devarim - consisting of 11 Parshiyot, is the Gematria of the name of the holiest city of Yerushalayim - 596. After all, we read the first Parsha of this book right before Tisha B'Av, commemorating the destruction of the city and its Temple. And as it was the Cohanim who did the main service in the Temple, their ancestor Aharon, the first Cohen Gadol/High Priest, passed away on Rosh Chodesh Av, which begins the month in which we begin Sefer Devarim.


CONSOLIDATING THE CONCEPTS

The final verse of the last section of Parshat Vayishlach which is about Esav's family and the chiefs of Edom, is the 43rd verse. It is this very verse that mentions the Biblical name of Rome - Magdiel=88, and concludes with the word Edom, which today refers to the United States, the last major country to house Jews at the end of our Roman exile. And as mentioned in several posts of mine by now, the events that led to Yom Yerushalayim - Jerusalem Day - in '67 when we regained the holiest area in the world, took place on the 43rd day of the Sephirah. And Aharon's Yahrzeit - Rosh Chodesh Av, the SOLE Yahrzeit mentioned in the ENTIRE Tanach, is mentioned in the 43rd Parsha of the Torah - Parshat Mas'ei, which begins with the Pasuk that like with Parshat Devarim, also begins with the word Eileh/These, and concludes with the word V'Aharon/and Aaron; hence, this first verse of the 43rd Parsha beginning with the letter Aleph, and ending with the letter Noon (Sophit), just like with Aharon's name! Moreover, these two letters - Noon & Aleph - spell the number 51, which is the Gematria of Edom.

And as today's Edom is the United States, it has been noted that the middle letters of the word Jerusalem are U.S.A.! Yes my friends, too many people forget where our real home is at, while feeling comfortable in the midst of the United States. Oh sure, Rome also had what to contribute at one time, also being the world power some 2,000 years ago. And at this time of the era of the year 2000, the United States is today's Rome. But don't worry, people can forget what it's all about - even in Jerusalem. You see, there's a hotel in Jerusalem called Ceasar's. Now, imagine if there would be a place of recreation called Hitler's. No doubt that there would be a major outrage at this, and it would have to market itself exclusively to anti-Semites to make good business. Yeah, I even saw a pizza store in Jerusalem several months ago called Obama Pizza, but it didn't last too long. Was it owned by an Arab, or some left-wing Jew? Didn't bother stopping by.


PARSHAT VAYISHLACH: PROTECTION AGAINST ANTI-SEMITISM

There is a custom among some who read the first 50 verses of Parshat Vayishlach on Motzoei Shabbat - at the conclusion of Shabbat, especially if they will be traveling out of town that coming week. You see, this section deals with the encounter between
the brothers Jacob & Esau, and how Jacob prepared himself to face his brother who was
ready to attack him with 400 men - through prayer, gifts, and war if necessary.

When the brothers actually met, the most unthinkable thing happened, considering Esau's jealous plans of doing away with Jacob. In Genesis 33:4, it mentions that in fact, Esau kissed Jacob - Vayishakeihu. In the Sefer Torah/Torah scroll, there is a special dot on each of the letters of this word. Rashi mentions that Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai - author of the teachings of the Zohar - says that it is Halacha/Jewish Law, that it is known that Esau hates Jacob, but his mercy was aroused at that time, and he kissed him with all his heart.

O.K., questions time. First, what does it mean here that it is a Jewish Law that Esau hates Jacob? Is it a law in the Shulchan Aruch/Code of Jewish Law, or is it a fact? Secondly, why in the present tense that Esau HATES Jacob? Even if one were to say that they are represented by their descendants, this continues mentioning what Esau himself did with Jacob, not of the Jews and non-Jew who descended from them? And finally, what caused the total turnaround, unless one were to say that when Esau actually met his brother after so many years, he really forget for the moment that he hated him earlier?

Actually, all of this is connected. I think the punchline word, or the key word - is HATES, and in the PRESENT form. You see, Esau's default mode with Jacob is that he HATES him, period. Perhaps there were in fact moments that Esau showed his "good side," but that is a side that he pretty much supressed since his youth when the brothers went their separate ways since they were age 15. And it isn't just what happened between two brothers, it is what would happen with their descendants for the next few millenniums.

Anti-Semitism is a genuine hatred, and it comes in various forms. It doesn't have to mean that all the non-Jews in town out of nowhere will start attacking Jews. They come in so many other forms today - anywhere from silence to what is happening to complaining in the media about what the Jews are doing, even as Jews in Israel get attacked a thousand times over in towns such as Sederot and Ashkelon. It doesn't really matter what is logical or not - a hate for others is a hate, and will be chocolate coated with every flavor like what you see in the ice-cream store.

Yes, there are moments when non-Jewish kings and nations have shown good will to Jews. But, this happened when Jews remembered their place in society and that their country was not Jerusalem. But, the moment that they forget - BINGO! Hashem has His ways of having the non-Jews show their true colors, and it doesn't have to be logical either.

When so called religious parties in the Knesset such as the Jewish Home & Shas even think of considering giving in to terms about stopping construction in Judea & Samaria once again for three months, or at least avoiding to vote against it, they truly forget that it is Hashem Who is running the show. No problem, we are in the latter part of November, and no rain in sight for weeks in Israel! Last week, in the midst of this political rehash, there were rain clouds one morning and it was feeling to be real cool for once, and then zap - the clouds disappeared and no rain!

Yes, Hashem is now very upset. While these parties are more concerned about taking home an annual six-digit figure for serving their time in the Knesset, their so-called compromise will not one bit impress these blood thirsty Arabs. Whatever acts of love that Arafat and Abu-Mazen may have shown with former Israeli Prime Monsters, they aren't even as real as Esau's momentary lapse of hate feelings when he kissed Jacob. You see, this was really Hashem's doing, and until the ones who know better, aside from Prime Looser Netanyahu, will be serious about this issue as a good Jew is about keeping Jewish Law, Hashem will show how illogical He can be by not bringing rain, G-d forbid, anytime soon.


INSERT A ZERO IN THE MIDDLE

Now, coming to one of my favorite three-digit numbers - 808. This number zero changes everything. The number 88 on the evil side symbolizes pride and bullying others. The number zero denotes one's nullification to Hashem, realizing that he or she is nothing compared to Hashem, despite one's accomplishments during the brief time span on this earth.

For years, I lived in my late grandmother's apartment when she was already in an old-age home. The number of her apartment was 808.

I was born on the fifth day of the week of Parshat Kedoshim, the 7th Parsha of Sefer Vayikra/Book of Leviticus, which deals primarily with the Mitzvot/commandments and laws as dealing with Cohanim, including the Temple offerings. In Hebrew, this day or date is called Yom Hey (the letter Hey) Kedoshim. Anyways, spelling this in the Hidden Codes of the Torah - this is spelled equidistantly once in the Chumash - every 808th letter (Genesis 43:10-47:3)! This is bearing in mind that the chances of spelling something with nine letters, bears low odds (in this case, less than 0.15% chance), and especially with letters that are among the least frequent in the Torah - as the letters Koof & Dalet.

Just like 10 days ago on 5 Kislev, the Daf Yomi of learning the daily double-sided page of the Babylonian Talmud of Seder Kodashim began. Shortly before this, there were special publications about learning this particular part of the Mishnayot or Talmud, as there is a special merit of learning this part of the Torah when we aren't able to actually bring the offerings in the Temple as discussed in each pages.
Hence, this part of the Torah has even greater value, as it is considered as though we bring these sacrifices when we learn about them in the Torah. This was especially emphasized by the Chofetz Chaim - Rabbi Yisrael Meir Kagan, who was a Cohen himself, and organized all kinds of programs towards this end. Anyways, in Hebrew, learning the volume of Kodashim is "Limud Seder Kodashim." And believe it or not, the Gematria of this phrase is 808! While Parshat Kedoshim, the name of which is spelled exactly the same way as the name for Seder Kodashim - just with different vowels, doesn't mention a whole lot particularly in that Parsha about Temple offerings, it is part of Sefer Vayikra which is also called Torat Cohanim, and there is also a Midrash on this Sefer with the same name with detailed laws. In a similar fashion, the Chofetz Chaim wrote a work called Likutei Halachot encompassing the laws pertaining to Seder Kodashim.

And while we are on the subject of the Chofetz Chaim, his major halachic work dealing with the laws that are applicable in every day life is called Mishna Berura, a halachic commentary and notations on the first part of the Shulchan Aruch called Orach Chaim, which includes the laws on prayers, Shabbat and Jewish holidays. And yes, the name Mishna Berura is also the Gematria of 808! And for those who are looking to learn this most essential work to live as a good Jew, the way that Hashem wants us to live. In fact, for those who are looking to learn a little Torah daily as we are supposed to learn Torah EVERY DAY, there is a website with the daily schedule of Mishna Berura learning - www.mishnaberurayomi.org. For those who don't know Hebrew so well, or need an English translation on this as well, Feldheim has the entire translation on this, complete in 20 volumes. In any case, one can hear the daily lesson online. The new cycle will begin this Thursday night on 19 Kislev.
(NOTE: While women do not have an obligation to learn Torah daily the way that men do, they are obligated to learn the Jewish laws in order to know how to be observant Jews. This is especially applicable when it comes to the laws of Shabbat, and most of the laws pertaining to Jewish holidays).


LEARNING THE SAME THING IN ONE DAY IN TWO DIFFERENT DAFIM

Right after this past Simchat Torah, I wrote a post about learning a Daf of the Kitzur Shulchan Aruch/Concise Code of Jewish Law. While most editions of this will not be set up for daily learning to be completed in a year's time as per the pages, I have a special edition of this that has this scheduled accordingly.

Anyways, today's Daf of 14 Kislev is mostly on the Laws of Talmud Torah. Among these laws learnt today, it mentions (27:2) an arrangement between two people of which one learns Torah while the other one supports him, having an equal share in the Torah learning, an arrangement originally made between the brothers Yissaschar & Zevulun, sons of Jacob. Another example that is brought here is as quoted from the Mishna in the first chapter of Tractate Zevachim where it quotes a statement from Shimon Achi Azaryah - Shimon the brother of Azaryah, called as such as Shimon learned Torah and his brother Azaryah supported him. Would you believe it, in today's Daf Yomi - Zevachim 11, is the very Gemara discussion on the statement of Shimon Achi Azaryah! And this, on the day that I completed reading the Five Books of Moses in English, a chapter a day, as I began from this past Shavuot, the holiday celebrating the giving of the Torah. Additionally, in the portion of Kitzur Shulchan Aruch for this coming day of 15 Kislev, it quotes from the first chapter of Joshua, the Bible chapter that I will be learning for this day - "This Torah Scroll shall not depart from your mouth, and you shall meditate in it - day and night." Is Hashem telling me, whose first name is Shimon, any message here?


ENDING ON A HAPPY NOTE

Yes, even a seemingly bad number can be a good number if channeled the right way. Anyways, G-d willing, I will be posting again, sometime during my favorite time - Chanuka, which consists of 8 days.


14 Kislev, 5771