Purim 5754 (1994) in Hebron. It was the day and place which was meant by Heaven for Jewish blood to be sacrificed. However, the only question or variable would be - would Jews sit around silent and let it happen, or would one take "matters into his own hands" and have to sacrifice himself in lieu of many other Jews.
Perhaps if enough Jews would have known of a planned attack on Jews in Hebron on that fateful day on the Moslem Sabbath (Friday) in the month of Ramadan, massive prayer by Jews worldwide could have possibly averted this. But for Dr. Baruch Kappel Goldstein, ZT'L HY'D (May Hashem avenge his blood), time was of the essence, and as a resident of the general area, he knew what was being planned, including flyers for the Moslem Arab community informing everyone to stock up on food and supplies for an upcoming curfew from the Israeli government following their planned attack. But, he didn't just simply enter the Me'arat HaMachpela, the burial place of our Patriarchs and Matriarchs in Hebron, to gun down 29 Moslem worshippers who were chanting "Slaughter the Jews" without telling anyone first. He informed the Shin Bet, the secret service agency in Israel, of what was being planned, but no one else wanted to do anything themselves. So, realizing that time was of the essence, and he didn't wish to see what would happen next, G-d forbid, he took the ultimate step of killing human life, or in this particular case, sub-human life; knowing full well that for all that he knew, he would either be killed or at best, be imprisoned by the pro-Arab Israeli government for life.
In fact, Dr. Goldstein had everything to live for. An observant Jew who believed in living life in this world to serve Hashem, a married man with six children, an accomplished doctor who was very good in saving lives, especially Jewish lives (though he also had to treat Arabs in his hired position, which comes to show the lack of gratitude from these Arab beasts). And in case anyone thought that he was simply a Kahane follower and lover, which he was; following his medical studies in the States from where he was born and raised, he moved to Israel, and though he was only obligated to serve in the Israeli army (IDF) for a year and a half instead of the standard three years for born Israelis, he insisted on serving three full years. Of course, especially in his position, being a doctor would be quite useful in an army in which most of its beginners have just finished high school.
If there was any one person who could have justified not taking matters in their hands in an attempt from preventing Jews from being murdered, it was Dr. Baruch Goldstein, who could have instead sit back and lived on afterwards and continue using his skills to save many more Jews in the future. However, first of all, we don't know what the future holds, as it is Hashem who decides what will be, as none of us know how long we will live, or how our lives will end. Secondly, according to the Torah perspective, which I heard from one of Kahane's close followers known to some as Yekutiel ben Yaakov, we learn a lesson about the urgency of helping our fellow Jew(s) from Moshe Rabbeinu who took matters in his hands in slaying the Egyptian taskmaster for beating up a Jew. Now, Moshe could have easily justified not doing so to avoid taking chances of being imprisoned or killed, since after all, looking long term, he could possibly help many more Jews in the future in the midst of their slavery. However, we see from the greatest Tzadik (righteous person) who ever walked the planet and lover of Jews - whom we call Moses our Teacher, as he is our teacher too - that when it comes to helping and saving Jewish lives, there is no accounting to be done as to what the "preferred way of doing things", what will be best long term, etc. If we see a Jew who is suffering NOW, then NOW is the time to do something about it - and without any personal or political agendas - because after this short frame of time, it could be too late, and we don't know what the future will hold in terms of helping other Jews. True, Moshe saved only one Jew from being beaten to death, following which, he was himself nearly executed by Pharaoh, and subsequently fled to Midian, but the Torah in the form of the Chumash (Penteteuch or the Five Books of Moses) doesn't just pick any story to write about in the Torah. For indeed, there are numerous stories about our Biblical figures in the Midrashim. However, if the Torah writes only about certain incidents, there is a reason for this, and of course, the general reason is for us to learn a lesson from these incidents.
In fact, this is the very concept of what is called Kiddush Hashem (Sanctification of Hashem's Name), which is one of the 613 Mitzvot (Commandments) of the Torah. An aspect of this is for a Jew to give up his life when threatened to violate the prohibitions of idolatry, adultery, and murder, or any commandment under certain circumstances. Now, one can rationalize that if he does give in to the threat, his sin won't be so bad since he is only doing it to avoid being murdered and not because he wants to do it, and then afterwards, he will be able to live long afterwards to perform many more Mitzvot. However, if this Mitzva of Kiddush Hashem would be left for us to decide how to go about this, no doubt that many more Jews in history would have converted to other religions and would have died that way without repenting of leaving the fold of Judaism. But even if were to know in advance that we would be able to live henceforth with religious freedom, it would still be a violation of this Mitzva, as well as a violation of the prohibition of Chillul Hashem (Desecration of Hashem's Name), another Mitzva of the Torah, if we would be obligated to give up our lives or be tortured for that matter. That is why if a Jew is murdered as a Kiddush Hashem, he is granted a special place in Heaven where most other Jews, even the greatest righteous ones, aren't permitted to enter. Now, this is not to say that we are permitted to purposely place ourselves in such a position to die under these circumstances to be rewarded as such in Heaven, as this may very well be considered as committing suicide, which is forbidden from the Torah, and one is not able to repent for such a sin since repentence only works to our benefit as long as we are living in this temporary world. But, if we serve Hashem in earnest, then ultimately, we don't need to worry about how Hashem will take care of us in terms of Heavenly reward, but rather, we do things for the sake of Hashem because He says so, and then we will get our just reward.
Now, while the Torah clearly defines what is called a Kiddush Hashem or a Chillul Hashem, some who have agendas have their views of what these terms refer to. To illustrate here, if a Jew, G-d forbid, does something that is not very appropriate, which results in people looking down on Judaism and Jews, then generally, this is what the Torah calls a Chillul Hashem, which by the way, Rabbi Meir Kahane, ZT'L HY'D (May Hashem avenge his blood) defines as Challal, a hollow, an area which has, so to speak, emptiness of Hashem, as for example, when Jews are derided and defamed by non-Jews believing that Hashem isn't in the picture. However, if a Jew does perform a Mitzva the way that it is supposed to be performed, then even if it doesn't look good in some people's eyes, then not only is it not a Chillul Hashem, but it is a Kiddush Hashem, for Hashem's will was being performed, and the only problem is with the ones who don't believe in keeping Judaism the right way, being that they have a twisted sense of what the Torah wants, because of their political agendas.
To this day, there are even a few among the observant Jewish community, including one Modern Orthodox rabbi who writes a blog online (I don't want to say what it is so he won't get attention) who still think that what Dr. Goldstein did on that Purim morning 20 years ago was nothing short of a Chillul Hashem, and for all that they are concerned, Dr. Goldstein went to Hell for this. After all, we are not supposed to take human life of those who didn't hurt us. True, but obviously, these few who think they have learned the Torah conveniently forget a statement that our Talmudic rabbis have made "Someone who comes to kill you, arise up and kill him".
This is sure in sharp contrast to the standards of the ones running the Israeli army (which by the way, was praised by another Modern Orthodox rabbi for their humane treatment of our avowed enemies) who give orders not to start attacking Arab kids who are throwing rocks at them, and it is only permitted in other circumstances to actually attack ONLY AFTER our army starts gettting attack; otherwise, as far as the pro-Arab Israeli government, this is nothing short of murder. So basically, according to this, soldiers who are being trained to fight in war, are supposed to take a chance being murdered before fighting back, and if what is hurled at them isn't necessarily deadly, then at best, our soldiers are only allowed to shoot in the air, and if G-d forbid, they shoot in the air before the first rock is hurled at them, they could face army trial and imprisonment. Now, the only problem with this is that WE ARE IN A WAR WITH OUR ARAB ENEMIES.
In fact, this war hasn't stopped in many years. The only practical difference is that at times, there is a lot of more action that goes on. But as long as there is daily news of Arabs attacking Jews somewhere in our country, then we have every obligation at the very least to feel that something is very wrong here, especially since the dictatorship in our country looks to literally turn the other cheek in appeasing the Arabs, appeasing the so called ally the United States who have kept Jonathan Pollard in prison for over 28 years, when his actions should not have warranted prison for more than a few years maximum according to the U.S. law, appeasing the United Nations who sole reason of being formed to begin with, under the guise of world peace, was to hate Jews and do its best to allow us Jews to have the least amount of land possible, with the possibility of eventually the Arabs taking it over from us and driving us to the sea.
Actually, this is hardly surprising. You see, in the film Herzel and Zionism, which you can see on Youtube, it was the very founding Zionist leaders of the new State of Israel who were in the position to save MILLIONS OF JEWS from the Holocaust, but because of their political agenda in terms of who could help the Zionist entity, they even turned down an offer, via the Jewish Agency, from the Nazi leader Eichmann himself who offered them Jews in return for barter of tea and coffee. And so, if the present Israeli government, who is continuing the work of their fathers and grandfathers whose turning the other cheek literally caused millions of more Jews to die in the Holocaust, has the nerve to critcize Dr. Goldstein's heroic actions, then this clearly shows who are the true murderers here. In fact, if the government would have given a damn to Dr. Goldstein's warnings to begin with, his own blood would not have neither be needed to be shed to say the least. And what actually happend is that the Shin Bet wanted this issue to be taken care of, but didn't want to look as the ones responsible for the "terrible crime" of gunning down the Arabs shouting "Slaughter the Jews!", and so, the Shin Bet (which should be called the Sin Bad) let Baruch Goldstein in the door with the praying Arabs - and then locked the door behind him so Goldstein wouldn't be able to escape, hence not making it "look bad" on the Shin Bet as per this pro-Arab Israeli government, pretending that it was strictly the doings of Dr. Goldstein (which was the case for he was the one who actually shot the Arabs, it's just that the Shin Bet accompanied him to the door of the room that it locked on him).
And so, after all is said and done, if anyone wants to still criticize Baruch Goldstein, they need to also criticize the whole political Israeli government scene, but not because of its "poor treatment" of our Arab enemies, which the media wishes for everyone to believe; for if anything, it's quite the opposite; even as our Arab enemies are laughing at this government who are begging on its knees for the world to accept us, but typically has the world laughting at it instead.
With this all said, with an ever greater appreciation of Dr. Goldstein's heroic deed that clearly saved Jewish lives, who could have otherwise be a "good Jewish doctor" somewhere in the good ol' U.S.A., buy himself a big beautiful home with the money as a physician, have his spouse and three children as many if not most in the Modern Orthodox world have as the maximum amount of children, and being a doctor would have been just something that he could make a good living with without making any special mark in Jewish history, I will now get into some Gematriot pertaining to this most special Jew who is still being written about 20 years later - for the better or worse.
To be clear, the timing of Dr. Goldstein's heroic act was on Purim in a regular Jewish year. However, in some years when there are two months of Adar, like this year, the Yarhzeit - at least according to Ashkenazic rite, and Dr. Goldstein was Ashkenazic - is observed on the first Adar, as noted by the Rama (Rabbi Moshe Isserleis) on the Shulchan Aruch (Code of Jewish Law). Hence, it was last week on Purim Katan, the date of 14 Adar I, which was his Yahrzeit, which happened to fall out on the sixth day of the week, the same day of the week as that fateful day that cost Dr Goldstein his life - but only in this temporary world, but earning himself tremendous eternal reward that even most of the greatest righteous Jews don't merit.
His full Hebrew name is Baruch Kappel, the second name actually being Yiddish for believe it or not - what is called Kipa in Hebrew, Yarmulke in Yiddish, or beanie in English. The reason that I mention this is that his second name is the Gematria of 211, and this is the number of this post. But part of my point here is the meaning of the word Yarmulke, which is based on the Hebrew phrase Yarei M'Elokim "having fear of G-d", and the word Yarei "having fear" is also the Gematria of 211. So, what observant Jews typically wear on their heads is named after the Mitzva of the Torah to fear Hashem. Indeed, Reb Baruch Kappel Goldstein's life was based on what the one Above, as what we wear on our heads is supposed to remind us of, wants us to do, and being a physician wasn't just a means for Dr. Goldstein to make a living, for he could have made far more money in the States, than in the medical system in Israel, in which most doctors working in the system from which they get paid either make peanuts, or have to work their butt off tons of hours to make half decent money. Rather, Dr. Goldstein chose a profession that he was able to use to help Jews in the best way possible as his top priority, and then whatever money he could make from it would justify him continuing on working in the same field to continue his holy work.
This is in stark contrast to some doctors who take on as many patients as legally permitted. let's say in a hospital, and since they don't have much time to spend on each patient, some of the patients aren't treated right, such as receiving an infection as a result of let's say an I.V. being placed in the armpit which is full of bacteria, leading to the patient's death, which happened to a young Jewish woman of 32 years of age whom I knew. Or, a seemingly observant Jewish dentist who carelessly or purposely takes out a tooth from one side of the mouth of a patient that didn't need to be removed, while on the other side of the mouth, there was an infection which needed to be tended to, and then after being summoned to a Beit Din (Jewish court) and told to pay back the money to the patient and doesn't pay it anytime soon, the patient has to pressure the Beit Din to have him pay it. Oh yes, the patient in this case was my mom, but ultimately, what angers me most is that these professionals in the Orthodox Jewish community who crook others or look down on others who don't begin to compare to their financial standing, make themselves look like the biggest Tzadikim (righteous people) of town (except maybe for the rabbi) by giving lots of Tzedaka (charity) within their community as a cover up for what they do wrong, which is no less evil in terms of intent as far as I am concerned, than an owner of what is supposed to be a kosher plant who sneaks in non-kosher meat who gives lots of Tzedaka in the Jewish community so that even the rabbis won't open up their mouths.
Now, another word that is the Gematria of 211 is Gibor "strong one". Now, the true definition of a Gibor is what the Torah defines as such, particularly in the first Mishna of the fourth chapter of Pirkei Avot (Ethics of the Fathers): "Who is a Gibor? One who conquers his (evil) inclination." Perhaps in more practical terms, it is one who has excessive desires when it comes to food, sex, etc., but uses self control to not let himself go overboard; and at times, not only when it comes to non-kosher food or forbidden sex, but even when it comes to things that are permitted, he doesn't let himself get mentally consumed with the desire at hand, but rather, uses it in serving Hashem without benefiting from it any more than necessary. For after all, the ultimate spiritual pleasure is what we receive from doing Torah and Mitzvot, and so, if one is focused on what Hashem wants rather than thinking of his own pleasures and desires, this is a person who can truly be called a Gibor. In fact, in a way, he is imitating Hashem who is also called a Gibor. Interestingly, the FIRST word of the FIRST blessing of the main prayer called Shemoneh Esrei is Baruch (Blessed), and the SECOND word of the SECOND blessing of Shemoneh Esrei is the word Gibor - in the context stating "You are forever a Gibor, my Master" - which is the Gematria of Baruch Goldstein's second Hebrew name Kappel.
In fact, there was a Sefer that was published commemorating Dr. Goldstein's life with Divrei Torah (words of Torah) on various subjects including Kiddush Hashem and Mesirut Nefesh (giving up one's own life) which is called Baruch HaGever, the word Gever being etymologically related to the word Gibor . This phrase is taken from the text from Sefer Yirmiyahu (Jeremiah 17:7) "Blessed is the man (Gever) who trusts in Hashem, and Hashem will be his trust", which is recited both in our daily morning prayers and in Bircat HaMazon (Grace after Meals). But perhaps what is a little less known, as that this verse is also mentioned in Perek Shira, a compilation of verses of praise of Hashem that the various forces of creation recite. In this case, it is the lucky goose, which is the wild goose, that recites this verse when it finds food. Now in Hebrew, it is called Avaz HaBar. Most amazingly, these two words has the respective Gematriot of the two words in the Hebrew date of Baruch Goldstein's Yarhzeit Yud-Dalet B'Adar (14th of Adar), as the word Avaz (goose) is the same Gematria as the Hebrew number Yud-Dalet (14) and the word HaBar (of the wild) is the same Gematria as the word B'Adar (of Adar) - 207. Coincidence?!
Based on this, what seems to be the ultimate lesson that we can learn from Baruch Goldstein's life is the trait of Bitachon (trust in Hashem). This may seem to be similar or the same as Emuna (faith). However, there is a vast difference between the two. And the best explanation that I have come across as to the difference between the two is again from the above Yekutiel ben Yaakov. You see, almost anyone can have Emuna in Hashem, even Prime Monster Bibi Netanyahu, behaving indifferently towards Jews, though ironically, saying just the opposite of Pharaoh, for while the latter refused to "Let My people go", Bibi has done just this when he voted for Jews to be thrown out of Gush Katif and when he allows (oops, I made a mistake, I mean which he authorizes) Jews to be thrown out of their homes or have their homes destroyed which just happened a couple of weeks back to one who is in the forefront of helping prevent this happening to other Jews in the "settlements". You see, even someone who is cruel to good Jews as Bibi while pocketing good money will believe enough in having a Seder on Passover night, say a few good words to the Jewish nation wishing us a Happy Passover, and then it's back to business, literally, with our sworn enemies who naturally refuse to even recognize Israel as our state, which includes construction freezes, releasing terrorists, and his ultimate long-term project of throwing out more Jews from homes in areas that he plans to eventually hand over to the Arabs, just as he handed autonomy of Hebron, Israel's second holiest city, to the Arabs, perhaps in due part in revenge for what Dr. Goldstein did to the Arabs in this town a few short years earlier, to appease the rest of the Arabs.
However, Bitachon involves far more in relating ourselves to Hashem. This is the ultimate trust in Him with doing the right thing, even if it is not popular, not appreciated, or makes us far less financially than doing something different. Such a person can truly be called a Gibor, or a Gever; in short a man/person who reports to a Higher Authority, who has the self control even with matters that are permitted to one. In fact, even in the secular Jewish world, we have had people like Joel Brand, who desperately attempted to save Jews from Eichmann when the latter gave him a proposal, but flatly turned down by the Jewish Agency, and then Mr. Brand scrambled from one office to another in Jerusalem in an attempt to find even one agency who would prevent Jews from being murdered but to no avail, and subsequently had no better luck finding work, being branded as one who was working against the best interests of the Zionist movement, and later on, even turned down an offer from the evil Teddy Kollek (a former major of Jerusalem who seethed with hatred of observant Jews) which would have been a prestigious position in the Weizman Institute in lieu of going ahead with his book to write exactly what happened in the events of the Zionists as per the Holocaust, and was even threatened to be put in an insane asylum.
THE CONCEPT OF THE LETTER KAF AND THE NUMBER 20
Noting that this has been 20 years since a most holy Jew has left us physically, while the lesson of his heroic life remains with us, or at least with the ones who are truly interested in Torah truth, this number 20 is most associated with the concepts of Kiddush Hashem and Mesirut Nefesh. For details on this, one can check my past post "Letter of SELF SACRIFICE" (March '09). But for today, I will be adding a detail or two pertaining especially to Baruch Goldstein as per this, as well as a short recap of what I wrote then.
Well first, the last letter of his first name Baruch is a Chaf Sophit, which in simple Gematria (in contrast to the upgraded numerical value of the five "final" letters) is the numerical value of twenty.
From the beginning of Jewish history, the number twenty has played a crucial theme. You see, Abraham the first Jew, was the 20th generation in parental line from Adam and Eve, but was not only the first Jew, but the first one who have self sacrifice for the right principles; in his case, in the belief in one G-d, in opposition to the idols of his day, for which he was thrown into a fiery furnace, which is hinted to in the Torah as Ur Casdim, the "light" or "fire" of the Casdim, the name of the nation in the area that Abraham lived in, which begins with the letter Caf.
Next, we see with Moses that when he saw how angry Hashem was with the Jewish people for the sin of the Golden Calf, he offered himself to be totally erased from the Torah if Hashem would not otherwise forgive the Jewish people. And while Hashem did eventually forgive us, at least in terms of not destroying the Jewish nation which He initially said that He was going to do, since even a conditional statement of a Tzadik (righteous person) has to be fulfilled in some way, Moses' name doesn't appear in Parshat Tetzaveh, the 20th Parsha of the Torah. In fact, the story of the Golden Calf in which Moses offered of himself is in the following Parsha that is named Ki Tisa, this name which begins with the letter Kaf.
The following year, Moses sends 12 spies to the Land of Israel in request of the Jewish people, which showed their lack of Bitachon in Hashem after promising them to bring them to a "land flowing with milk and honey". Now, while 10 of the 12 spies came back with a slanderous report which landed up the Jewish male adults outside of the Tribe of Levi crying their faces off which earned them wandering in the desert up to nearly 40 years, only to die before making it to Israel, two of these two spies - Joshua and Caleb - refused to join the evil club, and were nearly stoned for speaking words of encouragement to the Jews. Now, while both of them were rewarded - Joshua who became Moses' successor and led the Jews to Israel, and Caleb who was awarded a peace of Israel in the environs of Hebron; the Torah seems to especially praise Caleb for "having a different spirit".
Now, why does the Torah focus on Caleb and not also on Joshua, other than mentioning that these were the only two of all the Jewish male adults (of the older generation who did the crying) who remained alive to come to Israel? You see, Joshua already received his blessing from Moses in advance which made it easier for him not to give in to the tempation of the journalism of the evil spies. However, Caleb had to work on his own to behave the same as Joshua, having prayed especially at the Me'arat HaMachpela for Divine Assistance so he wouldn't sin. So, it was hardly surprising that he should get a piece of Hebron land in the environs of the place at which he prayed that he should remain a good Jew who has Bitachon on Hashem. But perhaps what is most interesting here is that first, his name Caleb begins with a Caf, and when it was time for the land to be apportioned following the Jewish people under the leadership of Joshua fighting the nations in Israel for a good seven years, we see that Caleb requested Joshua of the piece of land that he wanted, stating Ke'Chochi Az U'CheChochi Atah "Just as my strength was then (in the time of the Spies), so is my strength now for war" (Joshua 14:11). Now, the word for strength in Hebrew is Ko'ach, which also begins with the letter Koach. But the most intriguing part here is that in the text, the letter Kaf in the word Ke'Kochi - JUST as my strength - is ENLARGED. No doubt, this is another MAJOR hint as the letter that represents Mesirut Nefesh, which in Caleb's case, was going against the trend of the Spies, who while may have first been as Rashi called them Kesheirim (Kosher ones), this word which also begins with the letter Kaf, they eventually turned sour. And it seems that as part of Caleb's reward, he had the same strength at the age of 85 when he received his just reward of land following his own participation in fighting the enemies at his advanced age, as he had at the age of 40 when he went with the Spies - both in physical strength and spiritual strength (actually more, for the righteous increase in greatness in serving Hashem), with no less spiritual strength as when he started off with "JUST as my strength was then", not ever wavering in his trust in Hashem.
Now, this is not the only time in Tanach (Jewish Bible) in which the letter Kaf is enlarged. In Tehillim, the verse states V'Chana Asher Nat'ah Yeminecha V'Al Ben Imatzta Lach "The foundation that Your right hand planted, and for the son that you made strong for Yourself" (Psalms 80:16). In the word (V')Chana "Foundation", the letter Caf/Chaf is ENLARGED. Now, for an appreciaton of what this verse is saying, we have to turn to the Metzudat David commentary "Place your Divine Watch on the Land of Israel, and on the Jewish people whom You have strengthened". So as we see here, the word Ben (son) refers to the Jewish people. Now, in terms of Gematria, this word has the same numerical value as Caleb's name, and in this context, is also mentioned the concept of strength, howbeit using a different word. But in Caleb's case, whose name begins with the letter Kaf, the word for strength that he used was Ko'ach which also begins with the letter Kaf. As a side note, when Baruch Marzel, a resident of Hebron, one of Kahane's close followers who headed the Kach movement at one time - this word Kach (SO shall it be) which consists of the letters Kaf and Kaf Sophit - ran to be a member of Knesset in 2006, the letter that represented him/his party was the letter Kaf, though unfortunately, he wasn't able to succeed to even have one seat in the Knesset, but I am proud to say that this was the first time that I voted in Israel, having voted for the one party, based on Kahane ideals, that is not full of politics.
Then, in the Mishna, the 20th tractate is called Ta'anit, refering to the various fasts of the Jewish calendar. Now, when we fast, we are diminishing some physical strength, as we don't have the food, the fuel, to continue on very well. However, the idea of fasting in Judaism is more than this, for generally, one needs strength to serve Hashem. But when we are obligated to fast, the idea is to pick up some more spiritual strength. Most notably, this is felt with the 24/25 hours of the fast of Yom Kippur, and as many have attested, they don't even feel the need to eat on this day, unlike with other fast days even with far less hours of fasting that aren't mandated from the Torah but from the rabbis, as they feel a special spiritual strength. Now, the full name of Yom Kippur is Yom HaKippurim. In any case, the base of this word Kippur or Kapara (atonement), begins with the letter Kaf. And with the word Kippurim, we see that it can read as K'Purim - which literally means "just as Purim". Now as we know, the story of Purim had yet to take place, and so is not mentioned as a holiday in the Chumash. However, everything is hinted in the Torah, and most amazingly, not only is the name of a future holiday hinted in a name of a holiday in the Torah, but ironically, this reads that Yom Kippur is like Purim, and NOT vice versea, as if to say, that Purim may have been a holiday before Yom Kippur.
Perhaps the ultimate lesson that we can learn here is that in truth, the ultimate level in reaching spiritually really should be elevating the physical world to spirituality, including the food that we eat, giving us the strength to serve Hashem in this physical world. In fact, this was Hashem's intention with Adam and Eve, with the proviso not to eat from one particular tree, but failed the test. And so, this world became a world full of troubles and sins, and so, we need a holiday like Yom Kippur to cleanse ourselves of the base desires of this world that we may have benefited from not in the service of Hashem, and so, with this holiday, we are supposed to accomplish the same spirituality as we can do with Purim which involves a special Mitzva of eating a festive meal, which includes feasting with wine and happiness, the spiritual state that Hashem meant for us to begin with to attain without the need of fasting. But when we do fast in accordance with Hashem's wishes not only with the fasting itself, but to accomplish the ultimate purpose of the fasting in bettering ourselves, we are performing a form of Mesirut Nefesh that is related to the letter Kaf/the number 20, just as Tractate Ta'anit, about the laws of fasting, is the 20th tractate of the Mishna, as well as the concept of Kiddush Hashem, which means making Hashem's name holy (so to speak, but we are in effect advertising His holiness to the world), and it was only on Yom Kippur that the Cohen Gadol entered the Kodesh Kodoshim "Holy of Holies" room in the Temple. And as we see in the last Mishna of Tractate Ta'anit, the two days of the year that are mentioned as the happiest days of the year, in which the young ladies danced in hope for a Shidduch (matchmate), are Tu B'Av - the words of this date being the total Gematria of 20 (Tu is 15 and B'Av is 5), and Yom Kippur.
Also, the fifth of the six volumes of the Mishna, called Seder Kodoshim (Holy Things), begins with Tractate Zevachim, which can be translated as offerings or sacrifices. And what does this tractate, beginning the fifth volume of the Mishna, start with? Kol HaZevachim "All sacrifices...", which begins with the letter Kaf. Coincidence?
And along these lines, in the series of the combination of Sephirot, we are up to the 20th, which is Yesod She'B'Tiferet "Foundation within Beauty". Most interesting, both the words Yesod and Chana (made up of the letters Chaf, Noon, Hei; not to be confused with the Hebrew name Chana that begins with the letter Cheit) are synonyms of the meaning of foundation, just as there are synonyms in Hebrew for the meaning of strength or power. And as per the Yahzeit date of Baruch Goldstein, the 14th of Adar, the first and last letters of the word Yesod - Yud and Dalet - spell the Hebrew number 14. Also, as the seven active Sephirot correspond with the seven days of the week, Yesod corresponds to the sixth day of the week, and it was on this day of the week that Baruch Goldstein gave up his life on behalf of the Jewish people "the FOUNDATION that Your RIGHT hand has planted", noting that it is only the views of Kahane - whose last name starts with the letter Kaf - which Goldstein followed, that can truly be called RIGHT-wing, the terminology that is used today to refer to our full rights to Israel in contrast to the Arabs; and all the other Knesset factions that are thought of as right wing are actually the fake right, as hinted to in another verse in Tehillim "Their mouths speak falsehood, and their right hand is a right hand of falsehood" (Psalms 144:8). How true today! This is especially noting that just days ago, the Shaked Commission, named after Ayelet Shaked, a secular Jewess within the "Jewish Home" party that was endorsed for voting by Zionist rabbis who despised Kahane and the Kahane based party "Power to Israel" whom they should have endorsed instead to vote for, is about to endorse a bill to punish, nay criminalize, young Ultra-Orthodox Jews who wish to learn in Yeshiva full time as they have done until now, instead of entering an army that is self-defeating, the only such insane army in the world that is extra careful with not hurting its enemies, nay, even running away from them at times, instead of showing the true strength that Israel is fully capable of showing in knocking our avowed Arab enemies to the ground once and for all.
Now, the name of the Sephira called Tiferet in this Yesod She'B'Tiferet combination, begins and ends with the letter Tav, the numerical value of 400, and the square root of 400 is 20. How fitting then, after what I have wrote, that the 20th Sephira of the 49 Sephirot combinations should be so closely related to the number 20.
It's interesting how I mentioned the documentary "Herzl and Zionism" earlier on in this post. You see, the date in the Sephira period to which corresponds Yesod She'B'Tiferet is 5 Iyar, the famous, or as far as some are concerned, the infamous date, of the signing of the Declaration of Independence for Israel, penning this day as Yom Ha'Atzmaut "Independence Day". This declaration was pronounced by non-other than David Ben-Gurion, who was among the Zionists who believed that we shouldn't mess with saving most of the Jews perishing in the Holocaust, but only the young ones who could be an asset to the Zionist dream, as he didn't want a bunch of loafers consisting of old people, or in his opinion, a bunch of observant Jews, just taking instead of providing. Perhaps if this rule of thumb would have been applied to his own parents or grandparents, he would have felt a little differently, but after watching this film, you will see that the State of Israel was built not only on the blood of the Jews who directly fought for our rights to our land, but bloodstained with the blood of Jews who perished in the Holocaust because David Ben-Gurion and his fellow gang members who felt that these murdered Jews, especially the old timer religious ones with the long black coats and beards, would not serve a purpose in his view of what the Zionist dream should be about. And then, everyone wonders why non-Jews pretend not to be anti-Semitic when they claim that they are just against Zionism, believed to be a ploy to take over land that was once occupied by who are called Palestinians. Indeed, Hashem works this world as a two way street, because if we don't have mercy on our own, why should others have mercy on us?
In conclusion, I would like to quote from Psalm 20, which is based on the concept of relying on Hashem, even when it seems that everything else is helpless, especially in wartime. Let me quote here the final verses, "Some are with chariots, others are with horses, but we will mention the name of Hashem our G-d. They kneel and fall, but we will arise and be refreshed. O Hashem, save us, the King will answer us on the day that we call". In this LAST verse of Psalm 20, we refer to Hashem as King, which in Hebrew is Melech, ending with the LAST letter of Chaf Sophit, just as the LAST letter of Baruch Goldstein's first name is a Chaf Sophit. For ultimately, it is the King of Kings that we have to worry about serving, and not the interests of world opinon, the so called Torah opinion of some Modern Orthodox rabbis who live quite confortably with six digit figures who dare criticize righteous people as Goldstein, the true BRAVE Jew, or the opinion of some so called Zionist rabbis who claim that we have to obey the orders of the Israeli government or the heads of the IDF, even if it means throwing out Jews from their homes. Ultimately, there will come a time when everyone will see the truth, when it will be too late for the anti-Semites and rabbis who use Judaism for their self interest to repent, that "Hashem will be King over the entire world. On that day, Hashem will be One, and His name will be One". Amen!
20 Adar I, 5774
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