At this time, I am literally hours away from my Jewish birthday, ending my 44th year of life in this world. It has been significant that I mentioned the number 44 in my previous two posts, as at this time, both the four red moons as related to the number 44, the Gematria of the word Dam (blood/bloodshed) are taking place, and this, within the middle of the second term of the 44th U.S. President Obama. As for Obama's two presidental terms, multiplying the number 44 by two equals 88, the number that represents the symbol HH, as H is the eighth letter, that stands for Heil Hitler. And there is another word related to this that also begins with the letter H, of course - Holocaust. It was only in 1945 that the Holocaust ended with the ending of World War II, a great travesty that occured with the silence of the world, including and especially the United States, our so called ally of Israel, which then was under the leadership of the anti-Semitic U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, during which time a boatload of Jews came to the States escaping the Holocaust, only to be turned back and perish in the flames of Jew hatred. It was only thanks to Mr. Roosevelt croaking in the midst of his FOURTH term that things changed, with Harry S. Truman taking over the reigns, who even acknowledged Israel as the State of Israel in 1948 shortly after this historical event took place.
In any event, having mentioned before that Obama is Gog (U'Magog), this phrase Gog U'Magog is the Gematria of 70, and next year, the predicted time that Obama will be pressing the red button on Israel, it will be just about 70 years since the end of the Holocaust. Also, this will be happening around the end of 48 years since the liberation of Jerusalem which occurred in 5727 (1967). You see, the number 48 is the sum of the numbers FOUR and FORTY-FOUR, and it is particularly on Jerusalem, as foretold in the Tanach, that Gog U'Magog and Co. will be fighting against, which is basically negating the belief of Jerusalem as our capitol as far as they are concerned, attempting to vindicate the claims of the Arabs that the Temple Mount area in their East Jerusalem is theirs, while fighting us in West Jerusalem where most of the Jews in Jerusalem reside, since after all, both the Arabs and the other nations not only don't want us in East Jerusalem, but neither in any part of Jerusalem - or anywhere else in Israel for that matter, but their fight against us will at least begin in Jerusalem, because after all, if we are not entitled to even live in Jerusalem the capitol, then what right do we have to live anywhere else in Israel. This will especially be the case should Moshiach come soon enough, because then, the nations will make one last attempt to get rid of us, knowing that if indeed we have the true Moshiach that we have been waiting for, the more Jews dead, G-d forbid, the better for them from their perspective, as they will viciously attempt to prevent us from having the long awaited Redemption.
There is something that I had mentioned once before in connection with the number 44, aside from Torah study, that could very well help the Jewish people from this bloodshed predicament. You see, in the 70 Tikunim of the Tikunei Zohar, the holiest part of the Zohar, Tikkun 44 focuses on the Mitzva of Tzedaka (charity). Indeed, the final verse of the Haftara for Parshat Devarim, the 44th Parsha, that we read on the Shabbat before Tisha B'Av, reads "Zion will be redeemed with justice, and those who return to her with Tzedaka" (Isaiah 1:27). And amazingly, as the Tikkunei Zohar at one point explains the verses in Parshat Bereishit in order of the verses, it is Tikkun 44 that explains particularly the section of the Torah of the FOURTH day of Creation. By the way, this final day of my 44th year falls out on the FOURTH day of the week. And not to forget, my son Shevach Tzion Yisrael was born on Wednesday, the FOURTH day of the week, of the last day of Week 16 (4*4!) of my 44th year (along with his circumcison one week later on the FOURTH day of the week), whose first two names were given based on my Pasuk (verse) that I recite corresponding to my name Shimon that begins with the letter Shin and ends with the letter Noon (Sophit), the verse beginning with the word Shabechi and ending with Tzion (Zion), noting that the names Shevach Tzion is the same Gematria as my name Shimon - 466! Moreover, I was born on Day 16 (4*4) of the Sephirat HaOmer.
And moving along on the Sephira calendar in posting, we are currently up to Hod She'B'Netzach, the 26th Sephira combination. As it turns out for today's very date - the 15th day of the Omer, which is actually the Sephira combination of Chesed She'B'Tiferet - the name of the Sephira of Hod is the Gematria of 15, and the corresponding Sephira for the FOURTH day of the week is Netzach. And the Shir Shel Yom, the psalm for Wednesday, the FOURTH day of the week, is Psalm 94 along with the first three verses of Psalm 95, which is a total of 26 verses. And speaking of 26, it is the Gematria of the main name of Hashem written in English as YKVK (where K substitutes H out of respect of Hashem's holy name), which is represented by the Sephira of Tiferet, the combination of Chesed (strict kindness) and Gevurah (strict justice), blending the perfect combination for Hashem to rule this world in order for it to continue existing without getting carried too far away with sins. Moreover, this Psalm 94 begins with the word E-l, which is the name of Hashem that corresponds with the Sephira of Chesed, even as the opening verse speaks of vengence, except that this vengence against the nations who mistreated us with their anti-Semitism, thus showing Hashem's kindness towards us, just as a father would want to show his beloved son that injustice against him in not tolerable. Hence, today - this FOURTH day of the week of all weeks of the year, the Psalm of this day represents the very Sephira combination of today's Sephirat HaOmer.
The truth is, the Talmud near the end of Tractate Shabbat mentions, where there are a list of predictions for those born on any particular day of the week or under a particular hour that is under the influence of one of the planets, states "There is no Mazel (constellation signs) for the Jews". For even if what there is supposed to be a bad sign for us, G-d forbid, it can be changed over for the good, if we just but repent, just as a true Ba'al Teshuva (repentant) can change his sins into merits. The proof for this is what Pharaoh (and is strongly believed that President Obama is a reincarnate of the Pharaoh of the Exodus) told Moses, that he sees Ra'ah (literally means evil) coming to meet the Jews. In this instance, Pharaoh was actually referring to a star named Ra'ah that indicated bloodshed, attempting to scare Moses from wanting to lead the Jews out of Egypt, so they could remain his slaves. In any event, we see that this was an actual predicament; but however, it was changed for the good of the Jews in the merit of TWO BLOODS - the blood of Brit Mila (circumcision) and the blood of the Korban Pesach (Pascal lamb) that the Jews smeared on the doorposts which would prevent the Jewish firstborn from being struck when the Egyptian firstborn would be struck. In retrospect, we see that in essence, the Jews were prevented from a Holocaust at that time, since we see that a DOUBLE BLOOD merit was needed to avert the predicament of this Ra'ah sign, as twice the number 44 is the same number representing Hitler.
As we are coming close to entering this 70th year, being mindful of the 70 Tikkunim of the Zohar, let us do what it takes to avert this coming evil decree, G-d forbid, which includes learning the Zohar - though it must be emphasized that it shouldn't be learned for the sake of learning "the secrets" in using Kabbala, for it is in fact forbidden to use Kabbala for our own means, but simply for the sake of Torah study, as the Vilna Gaon writes that it will be in the merit of the inner parts of the Torah (which includes the Zohar) that we will be redeemed. And as related to the number of this post, the word HaZohar (the Zohar) is the Gematria of 217.
And in conclusion, we see that there 70 people of Jacob's family that are mentioned by name coming to Egypt. Actually, the total amount of names are 69, but the 70th was Yocheved, the mother of Moses, who was born just as the Jewish family clan was entering the walls of Egypt. It seems that her name isn't mentioned in this context, because...she hints to the future Redemption, and we sure hope that by the time that Passover of this coming Hebrew Year 5775, nearing the end of the 70th year, comes around, that we will be able to see good things happening to the Jewish people, despite the upcoming war of Gog U'Magog, leading to our long awaited Redemption.
30 Nissan, 5774
Wednesday, April 30, 2014
Tuesday, April 29, 2014
#216 - Going from STRENGTH 2 STRENGTH
A few days ago, something that went virtually unnoticed took place. Shortly after Passover, on 23 Nissan, the 8th worldwide cycle of the Daf Yomi of the Jerusalem Talmud ended, and on the following day - 24 Nissan - the 9th worldwide cycle of the Daf Yomi of the Jerusalem Talmud began. To be honest, I found absolutely nothing in the internet about this, as it far pales in stark comtrast to the Daf Yomi of the Babylonian Talmud. The reason for this is quite simple - relatively few people study the Jerusalem Talmud, except for seasoned scholars and some Gerrer Chasidim, as the fifth Gerrer Rebbe, Rabbi Simcha Bunim Alter ZT'L is the one who proposed this idea of learning Daf Yomi of the Jerusalem Talmud, which began on Tu B'Shevat (15 Shevat) 5740 (1980).
In this instance, the significance of the timing of the conclusion of the 8th cycle of this Daf Yomi and the commencement of the 9th cycle of this Daf Yomi is strikingly amazing in terms of this Sephirat HaOmer (counting of the days from the day after the first day of Passover at which an Omer offering was brought in the Temple until the holiday of Shavuot), for the conclusion of the 8th cycle took place on the 8th day of the Sephira, and so the commencement of the 9th cycle took place on the 9th day of the Sephira. And if this was not enough, the date of this commencement took place on 24 Nissan, the birthdate of the founder of the learning of this Daf Yomi of the Jerusalem Talmud - Grand Rabbi Simcha Bunim Alter of the Gerrer Hasidic dynasty!
Now first, in terms of the conclusion of this EIGHTH cycle, it ended off with Tractate Nidah, which is about the woman who had a period who needs a period of non-physical contact with her husband which includes first a period of usually 5-6 days until no more blood appears, followed by seven "clean" days on which no blood has been seen, following which the woman goes to a Mikva (ritualarium), then rendering her pure to resume physical contact with her husband. In any case, we see that it is only following these seven clean days that on the night of the EIGHTH that she becomes spiritually pure once again.
To note, in the Jerusalem Talmud, there are 13 Dafim on this tractate, which includes material only on the first four out of ten chapters of this tractate. And as we see, there are approximately 13 days from the beginning of a woman's period until she is ready for the Mikva. (Technically, it could happen as early as 12 days, but oftentimes, since we count the period of time as to when day begins which is nighttime, rather than hours; and so, it often happens that at least six days, including the day that blood was first seen, are counted before no more blood is seen, and is only at that point that the seven clean days begin). Corresponding, we see an amazing thing with the Shlosh Esrei Middot HaRachamim (the Thirteen Divine Attributes of Mercy), in which the final one of these 13 is V'Nakeh "and will be clean (from sin)", which in the context of when the woman goes to the Mikva, it could happen at times on the 13th day from when the period began, or this 13th day could be the conclusion of the seven clean days.
And now, in terms of the commencement of this NINTH cycle, it begins with Tractate Berachot, which consists of NINE chapters. And as we know, various conduct in how we say the main Shemoneh Esrei prayer is based on the conduct of Chana, mother of Shmuel HaNavi (Samuel the Prophet) when she prayed, as we see in the beginning of Sefer Shmuel that we read on the first day of Rosh Hashana, following which, we pray the Mussaf Shemoneh Esrei which consists of NINE blessings, the ONLY day(s, being that we now observe two days of Rosh Hashana) of the year that the Shemoneh Esrei consists of particularly nine blessings. And as related to a birthday, the birthday of a person is technically his Rosh Hashana, for indeed, it is the beginning, or as literally translated, the head of one's year, just as Adam and Eve, the ancestors of all mankind, were created on Rosh Hashana, which was also their personal Rosh Hashana. And as we see pertaining to the Gematria of Adam's name - 45, the Mispar Katan (small Gematria) is NINE (4+5).
And as for the new cycle of the Daf Yomi of the Jerusalem Talmud beginning on the birthday of the one who proposed this idea, his birth took place 116 years ago in 5658 (1898). And as we know, there were 116 years of slavery of the Jews in Egypt until their freedom with Yetziat Mitzrayim (Exodus), and one's birth is in essence, leaving the Meitzarim (straights) of the womb, being freed from the womb and let out into the world at large. And though ironically, we are speaking of 116 years since the birth of Rabbi Simcha Bunim Alter, the ultimate freedom of a Jew is Torah, as we see in the sixth chapter of Pirkei Avot (Ethics of the Fathers). In any case, the first chapter of the Mishna/Talmud is very connected with the concept of the Exodus, for the subject matter of this chapter is about the Shema, which concludes with the verse that mentions the Exodus, and as the last Mishna of the chapter deals with as to how we know that the third paragraph of the Shema, which includes mention of the Exodus, is recited even at night (even though the first topic which is about the Mitzva of Tzitzit is technically a daytime Mitzva), which is quoted in the Haggada.
Now, for more emphasis on the concept of nine, as especially related to the concept of the Sephira of this date (24 Nissan) as Gevurah She'B'Gevurah (Strength within Strength), which has to do with strict justice, the number nine is especially related to the concept of darkness, such as darkness being the ninth plague that struck the Egyptians, and in terms of us - it is the ninth of Av, the month that is represented by the letter Teit, the ninth of the Aleph Beit with a numerical value of nine, which is the saddest day in the Jewish calendar, commemorating the destruction of both Temples, along with other numerous unfortunate events for Jews that took place on this date. In fact, the phrase of "in darkness, you have placed me", which is mentioned in the Talmudic tractates of Sanhedrin and Avoda Zara as referring to the Babylonian Talmud, the product of the learning that took place in the exile of Babylonia, the country which destroyed our first Temple, comes from the book of Eicha (Lamentations) that is read specifically on Tisha B'Av. And so, it is quite ironic that it is the NINTH cycle of the Daf Yomi of the corresponding Jerusalem Talmud that commenced on the NINTH day of the Sephira that represents the ultimate harshness and darkness.
On this note, it must be remembered that we just passed the first of four red moons, which I wrote about in my previous post. Technically, the sign of a red moon is, G-d forbid, a bad sign for Jews. True, we are soon going to usher into the Messianic era; however, this will not occur without a major challenge to the Jewish people. However, one of the main ways, though not the only way, that will help us as a nation pass through these rough times, is the study of Torah, which has been recently challenged by the Knesset in which some viciously attempted to pass rules which will, G-d forbid, punish the very group of Jews who learn Torah the most.
This vicious effort was superheaded in part by the evil Naftali Bennett, whose last name in Hebrew, which is spelled as Beit-Noon-Teit, reads the word Satan (letters Sin-Teit-Noon) in the Gematria form of Atbash (the first Aleph being substituted with the last letter Tav, the second letter Beit being substituted with the next to the last letter Shin, and so on), using the pretext that this was part of a serious of bills being in benefit of the Hareidi (Ultra-Orthodox) to give work incentives for them, as though he couldn't pass this work incentive bill alone. Indeed, this is the very way how Satan operates, for an observant Jew doesn't necessarily think of sinning by itself, but is sometimes fooled by the Yetzer Hara (Evil Inclination), which is Satan, to think that one could be doing a Mitzva, when in fact, it is an Aveira (sin), or leads to an Aveira, which in this case, is "defending" the State of Israel. Moreover, this last name can be read as B'Noon-Teit (with Noon-Teit), for the letters Noon and Teit begin the names of Nebuchadnezzar and Titus, the respective heads of the Temple destruction operations of the Babylonian and Roman empires. And while in Bennett's video of him talking in English, he spoke about his ancestors in Europe not having had the chance to defend themselves; there would be NO NEED to defend ourselves in our country if we would only do what Hashem wants. In fact, quite contrary, it is due in part, in fact, a large part, of Jews learning Torah especially in Israel, that helps so many miracles of Jews not being attacked, as especially evident with the amount of missiles that our Arab enemies throw at us these days. And so, for an observant Jew who is devoted to learning Torah to be thrown in a non-friendly observant environment of the army is not going to help matters in the long run; aside from the fact that this is an army that is basically trained to be "moral" and not be so quick to attack our enemies, and unless openly attacked first, to at most shoot in the air, something that is not done in ANY other army in the world.
And as I am writing this post which is based on the study of the Daf Yomi of the Jerusalem Talmud, it was in Jerusalem that the gathering and protest of the Hereidi community took place a couple of months ago, in response to the Knesset attempt to get Jews learning Torah in Yeshivot to learn a little less by "defending" our country. Perhaps for others, such as in the Zionist or Dati Leumi (National Religious) camp, and for anyone else who wants on his own to serve in the army, it is a Mitzva for them to be in the army, if their sole intent is truly to defend our country, rather than follow orders that could be detrimental to the safety of Israel. However, for those who are truly intent in learning Torah, so long as this army is dictated by the policies of an anti-Torah/religious government, there is NO Mitzva to serve in the army, since as it states in the Talmudic tractate of Megilla, learning Torah is GREATER than saving lives. Yes, you read correctly, though of course, if G-d forbid, a situation occurs where there is no else or there is insufficient manpower to save lives, then we need to stop our Torah learning to tend to the emergency situation, since after all, "learning Torah leads to action", and that is why we have Taryag Mitzvot (613 Commandments).
However, in our situation, since the Israeli army is an army that is based on mandatory recruitment of its citizens, rather than voluntary enrollment such as in the United States; numbers is not an issue. And as seen in the history of Israel's wars in the last 65 some years, Hashem has done all kinds of miracles to save us from our Arab enemies. However, it was particularly when Israel practiced restraint to fulfill the wishes of the United States not to attack the Arabs first, that caused THOUSANDS of Jews to be killed in war, which could and would have been avoided for the most part had Israel attacked first. And so, before Jews who hate our Torah tell followers of the Torah what to do, let them at least first get their own act in order and show the type of true strength needed in fighting our enemies as every other sane country does in fighting its enemies, in lieu of releasing terrorists - who deserve execution - from prison; and then perhaps, the evil Bennett, whose beanie on his head is just a Jewish uniform in disguise, can start lecturing Torah Jews on the benefits of "defending" our country.
And so indeed, even in Israel, we are living in a period of darkness, just as in the period of the Syrian Greeks who attempted to get the Jews to stop observing the Torah, which is hinted to by the Torah with the mention of the word Choshech (darkness), in which even some in the guise of observant Jews, including some Zionist rabbis, tell truly observant Jews who are devoted to the Torah, that they are sinners by not wishing to "fulfill" what the Torah says, to be part of army that "fights" our enemies, as we see in numerous stories in the Tanach (Jewish Bible). However, the difference is that at least in those days, there was virtually no political interest controlling how we fought our enemies, and quite often, they had no choice but to fight to the bitter end, and were indeed in the midst of getting rid of our enemies, as the Torah mandates. However, with all the talks and concessions happening from the Israeli government, not only is its interest is NOT in annihilating our enemies, but it even causes further attacks from our neighboring Arabs, proving statistically in an increase in terror when "peace" concessions are taking place, along with of course, releasing thousands of Arab terrorists from Israeli prisons. And so, a larger army is definitely NOT the answer to the present crisis that is happening in Israel. The ONLY answer to our present crisis is if anything, to beef up our Torah observance, and then, in the merit of these good Jews, Hashem will continue performing miracles on our behalf.
With this said, if the Israeli government is truly worried about upcoming wars, it should start worrying about the upcoming Gog U'Magog war, which will be headed by none other than its "ally" country, the good U.S. of A., which is still keeping Jewish and American hero Jonathan Pollard in prison to rot away, even as he is presently in poor health. And with his recent refusal to attend the parole board in the midst of the United States to be pressured to release him with conditional further releases of terrorists in Israel, it just comes to show who is the hero and villians here. Of course we didn't see any fuss in press releases in the States of how Jonathan Pollard could be such a fool to take a chance of not being released after being stuck in prison for nearly three decades, because this would make him look real good, the LAST thing that the United States as headed by the evil Obama wants; and so, life goes on as though it is Israel who didn't want the "peace" concessions to continue, still being blamed by the evil John Kerry when he knows damn well it is the Arabs who have been cry babies for the longest time, having the Chutzpa to do so when Israel, on his demands, already released scores of terrorists.
MIDDLE SEPHIRA-MIDDLE DAY-MIDDLE TRACTATE
The truth is that the focus of this post is on Torah learning. With this said, moving along the Sephira calendar as this year's posts is following, the 25th or the MIDDLE of the 49 Kabbalistic Sephirot is Netzach She'B'Netzach, and as related to our post, I will translate as Victory within Victory, for indeed, it is the learning of Torah that will be the ultimate cause of our victory over our enemies.
Lo and behold, the MIDDLE day of this Hebrew Year 5774, having the maximum of 385 days as allowed in our present Jewish calendar, is 14 Adar II, the date of Purim! And as we see from the Vilna Gaon pertaining to the relationship of the various holidays with the Sephirot, it is the holiday of Purim that corresponds to the Sephira of Netzach! For as clearly shown in the Megilla that we read on Purim, it was following our VICTORY over our enemies that we celebrated.
The truth is that it is a little funny here, because the number of this post - 216, is the Gematria of the Sephira that is called Gevurah (Strength), but in a way, there is a connection here, because it is with strength that an army has VICTORY in war. Actually, the title of this post is actually based on a verse in Psalm 84, where it states "they will go from strength to strength", though the actual Hebrew word used for strength in this instance is not Gevurah but Chayil, which in at least modern Hebrew, is based on the wording that means soldier. And in the Talmudic sense, the context refers to one who has completed a course of Torah study or has done a Mitzva, and is wished continued strength in learning more Torah or doing Mitzvot.
And amazingly, the Gematria of the name of the MIDDLE tractate of the Mishnayot - Bava Metzia - is 216, which in this year, in the NINTH cycle of the study of one chapter of Mishnayot a day, was learnt in the MIDDLE 10 days of the month of Nissan, the month of miracles, as it consists of 10 chapters. And the MIDDLE two days of Nissan - the 15th and 16th - are both especially related to miracles, as the 15th is the miracle of the Exodus, and the 16th marks the date of hanging Haman, the villian in the Purim story who attempted to have all the Jews murdered on one day. The miracle in this instance is that one day, Haman was second to King Achashveirosh, and then the next thing we know, King Achashveirosh orders his execution, leading to the war of the Jews fighting victoriously over our enemies.
Aside from this reason, noting that in this Hebrew leap year, there were two months of Adar, the Talmud in Tractate Megilla discusses as to which of these months is appropriate to have the holiday of Purim. The conclusion is that Purim should be celebrated in the second month of Adar, as it is appropriate to have a holiday of miracles in the month closest to the month in which we have another holiday of Passover celebrating miracles.
With this said, the name of Sephira called Netzach, the FOURTH and MIDDLE of the seven Sephirot, is the Gematria of the name of Rabbi Nachman of Breslov - greatgrandson of the Ba'al Shem Tov, founder of the Hasidic movement - who was born on Rosh Chodesh Nissan, who was especially connected with the number FOUR. And noting that both his name and the name of the month of Nissan both start and end with the letter NOON (as well as the name of Nachshon Ben-Aminadav, leader of the Tribe of Judah the FOURTH son of Jacob and Leah, who brought special offerings in the Tabernacle on behalf of his tribe on Rosh Chodesh Nissan), it is precisely in this year that the study of the first three tractates of the FOURTH of the six volumes of the Mishnayot, called Nezikin (Damages) was learnt in this program of one chapter of Mishna a day, noting that the name Nezikin also begins and ends with the letter NOON! This is also to note that at one time, these three tractates - Bava Kama (First Gate), Bava Metzia (Middle Gate), and Bava Basra (Last Gate) - was at one time one large tractate also called Nezikin. but in time, was divided into three separate tractates. To note, Bava Metzia is called the Middle Gate because it is the middle of these three tractates in Nezikin, but it is ALSO the MIDDLE of the 63 tractates of the Mishnayot. In any case, the very first chapter of Nezikin, the first chapter of Bava Kama, which was learnt on Rosh Chodesh Nissan, starts off stating Arba'ah Avot Nezikin... "There are FOUR classifications of damages - the ox, the pit, the tooth, and the fire", noting the number FOUR beginning the FOURTH volume of the Mishnayot.
And having written in this post about Jewish armies and fighting, it was Yehoshua Bin-NOON (Joshua son of Noon) who led the Jews people to Israel and faught various nations for seven years before dividing the land for the various tribes. And in this year, aside from the learning of the first chapter of Nezikin/Bava Kama that starts off with mentioning the word Avot, it is the very name of the tractate that we learn on Shabbat starting from the Shabbat after Passover (until Shavuot or Rosh Hashana depending on custom) which fell out this year on 26 Nissan, the Yahrzeit of Yehoshua, beginning with stating "Moses received the Torah from Mt. Sinai, and handed it over to Joshua, Joshua to the prophets...". In fact, some of Joshua's main accomplishments took place in this very month of Nissan, including on the 10th of Nissan in which he led the Jews to Israel, and his first victory mission that took place in Jericho on the 28th of Nissan. Indeed, it is hardly surprising that we mention Joshua on the first day of Passover, both in the Haggada and the Haftara, for it was Joshua, as Moses' successor, who followed in his footsteps in TRUE Jewish leadership and fighting our enemies, realizing that ultimately, if we do our part, then Hashem will do His part and help us with His miracles, a point that was made clear to Joshua when an angel appeared to him early on to reprimand him for not learning Torah one day in the midst of a fighting expidition, keeping him in track of what is the ultimate weapon in the midst of fighting our enemies, not using a lack of time as an excuse for not learning Torah, an event that is mentioned in the Haftara for the first day of Passover (Note: Though this is not clear from the text of the Tanach/Haftara, this is how our rabbis in the Talmud interpret this story).
And as our rabbis tell us "The face of Joshua resembles the moon" (Talmud Bava Batra 75a), and as per my previous post on the four red moons phenomenon, two of the four times occur in the middle of the month of Nissan at the full moon point. And having mentioned the concept of damages here and that the red moon is, G-d forbid, a bad sign for Jews, it is the number four, that is most associated with the concept of damages, is also the number that is most associated to the concept of the moon, as I go into detail about in my previous post.
There is one more thing here that I want to mention pertaining to the concept of MIDDLE that relates especially to this Hebrew year. As we know, there is what is called Shirat Ha'azinu, the Song that is mentioned in the first 43 verses of Parshat Ha'azinu, in which Moses exhorts us to follow in Hashem's ways, or G-d forbid, bad things will happen. Now, while this was not the first time that he spoke on this issue, this was the very last time in his life that he did so. But also significantly, this is marked in the Sefer Torah (Torah Scroll) by how this is written - not as regular reading text, but written in poetry form, leaving more space between phrases, rather than just between verses, to make the design that it looks, just as it is written for Shirat HaYam (Song of the Sea) that is read on the seventh day of Passover. Anyways, the 5774th verse of the Torah, corresponding to this Hebrew Year 5774, is the MIDDLE verse of Shirat Ha'azinu!
Now, let us take a look at this verse "For fire burned in My nostrils, and blazed until the lowest depths, it shall consume the land and its produce, and set aflame what is founded on mountains" (Deutronomy 32:22). Now, to quote Rashi, "the land" refers to Israel and "founded on mountains" refers to Jerusalem, quoting a verse from Tehilim (Psalms 125:2) where it states that Jerusalem is surrounded by mountains.
Technically, this verse was already fulfilled with not one, but two destructions of the Temple. In today's terms, we know that it is just a matter of time until Gog U'Magog sets afoot in Israel, particularly in Jerusalem, which even the Israeli government which bows to our enemies, for the most, insists on being our eternal capitol of Israel, but soon, even this will not be agreeable to the United States government. In fact, the United States never actually acknowledged that Jerusalem is the capitol of Jerusalem, maintaining its main embassy rather in Tel Aviv, and in natural citizenship documentation, a child of an American parent born in Jerusalem is listed as born in Jerusalem WITHOUT THE MENTION OF THE NAME ISRAEL. As far as the government of the United States is concerned, Jerusalem - as long as East Jerusalem is inhabitated by the Arabs - is part of the "West Bank", regardless of what the Bible has to say on the subject. In fact, as far as President Obama, who is Moslem, is concerned, he is more worried about what he calls the "holy Koran" has to say on the subject, since in fact, Jerusalem is not mentioned even once in the Koran, in stark contrast to the 669 times that the name Jerusalem is mentioned in the Bible.
In my previous post, I mentioned how the four red moons hints to Dam (bloodshed), this word being the Gematria of 44, all taking place literally within the MIDDLE part of the 44th U.S. President Obama's second term. But one more thing that I want to add today is that being that the number 44 is a composite of 4*11, the number 11 also is related to the concept of damages. For first, the name of the 11th of the 14 volumes of the main work of the Rambam (Maimondies) called Mishne Torah, which encompasses all the laws of the Torah, is called Nezikin. Moreover, the 44th Parsha of the Torah is called Devarim, whose word begins with the letter Dalet, the FOURTH letter and is the numerical value of FOUR, and is the first Parsha of 11 Parshiyot in the fifth and final book of the Chumash (Penteteuch), and is always read on the Shabbat before Tisha B'Av, or in some years, on the date of the 9th of Av itself, except that we fast the day after since we don't fast on Shabbat (the only exception being Yom Kippur). And as especially related to Tisha B'Av, he was politically born on Tisha B'Av in the year Two Thousand and FOUR, first becoming a public figure when he spoke endorsing then the anti-Semitic Democratic candidate John Kerry when he spoke on this very day (this fact coming from the ones who are behind the website www.redemption5768.com).
And just like Hashem showed His strength when it came to the Exodus, so may Hashem show His strength shortly in sanctification of His name, showing that it is only when we follow in Hashem's ways that we will achieve the ultimate victory, including in Jerusalem being ablaze with the Torah learning of the ones who put themselves on the line despite the threats of the Erev Rav, which includes most members of the Knesset, who will soon vanish into eternal damnation, as the verse promises, "Not with infantry, nor with power, but with My spirit, says the L-rd o Hosts". May this be fulfilled speedily in our days. Amen!
End of Nissan, 5774
In this instance, the significance of the timing of the conclusion of the 8th cycle of this Daf Yomi and the commencement of the 9th cycle of this Daf Yomi is strikingly amazing in terms of this Sephirat HaOmer (counting of the days from the day after the first day of Passover at which an Omer offering was brought in the Temple until the holiday of Shavuot), for the conclusion of the 8th cycle took place on the 8th day of the Sephira, and so the commencement of the 9th cycle took place on the 9th day of the Sephira. And if this was not enough, the date of this commencement took place on 24 Nissan, the birthdate of the founder of the learning of this Daf Yomi of the Jerusalem Talmud - Grand Rabbi Simcha Bunim Alter of the Gerrer Hasidic dynasty!
Now first, in terms of the conclusion of this EIGHTH cycle, it ended off with Tractate Nidah, which is about the woman who had a period who needs a period of non-physical contact with her husband which includes first a period of usually 5-6 days until no more blood appears, followed by seven "clean" days on which no blood has been seen, following which the woman goes to a Mikva (ritualarium), then rendering her pure to resume physical contact with her husband. In any case, we see that it is only following these seven clean days that on the night of the EIGHTH that she becomes spiritually pure once again.
To note, in the Jerusalem Talmud, there are 13 Dafim on this tractate, which includes material only on the first four out of ten chapters of this tractate. And as we see, there are approximately 13 days from the beginning of a woman's period until she is ready for the Mikva. (Technically, it could happen as early as 12 days, but oftentimes, since we count the period of time as to when day begins which is nighttime, rather than hours; and so, it often happens that at least six days, including the day that blood was first seen, are counted before no more blood is seen, and is only at that point that the seven clean days begin). Corresponding, we see an amazing thing with the Shlosh Esrei Middot HaRachamim (the Thirteen Divine Attributes of Mercy), in which the final one of these 13 is V'Nakeh "and will be clean (from sin)", which in the context of when the woman goes to the Mikva, it could happen at times on the 13th day from when the period began, or this 13th day could be the conclusion of the seven clean days.
And now, in terms of the commencement of this NINTH cycle, it begins with Tractate Berachot, which consists of NINE chapters. And as we know, various conduct in how we say the main Shemoneh Esrei prayer is based on the conduct of Chana, mother of Shmuel HaNavi (Samuel the Prophet) when she prayed, as we see in the beginning of Sefer Shmuel that we read on the first day of Rosh Hashana, following which, we pray the Mussaf Shemoneh Esrei which consists of NINE blessings, the ONLY day(s, being that we now observe two days of Rosh Hashana) of the year that the Shemoneh Esrei consists of particularly nine blessings. And as related to a birthday, the birthday of a person is technically his Rosh Hashana, for indeed, it is the beginning, or as literally translated, the head of one's year, just as Adam and Eve, the ancestors of all mankind, were created on Rosh Hashana, which was also their personal Rosh Hashana. And as we see pertaining to the Gematria of Adam's name - 45, the Mispar Katan (small Gematria) is NINE (4+5).
And as for the new cycle of the Daf Yomi of the Jerusalem Talmud beginning on the birthday of the one who proposed this idea, his birth took place 116 years ago in 5658 (1898). And as we know, there were 116 years of slavery of the Jews in Egypt until their freedom with Yetziat Mitzrayim (Exodus), and one's birth is in essence, leaving the Meitzarim (straights) of the womb, being freed from the womb and let out into the world at large. And though ironically, we are speaking of 116 years since the birth of Rabbi Simcha Bunim Alter, the ultimate freedom of a Jew is Torah, as we see in the sixth chapter of Pirkei Avot (Ethics of the Fathers). In any case, the first chapter of the Mishna/Talmud is very connected with the concept of the Exodus, for the subject matter of this chapter is about the Shema, which concludes with the verse that mentions the Exodus, and as the last Mishna of the chapter deals with as to how we know that the third paragraph of the Shema, which includes mention of the Exodus, is recited even at night (even though the first topic which is about the Mitzva of Tzitzit is technically a daytime Mitzva), which is quoted in the Haggada.
Now, for more emphasis on the concept of nine, as especially related to the concept of the Sephira of this date (24 Nissan) as Gevurah She'B'Gevurah (Strength within Strength), which has to do with strict justice, the number nine is especially related to the concept of darkness, such as darkness being the ninth plague that struck the Egyptians, and in terms of us - it is the ninth of Av, the month that is represented by the letter Teit, the ninth of the Aleph Beit with a numerical value of nine, which is the saddest day in the Jewish calendar, commemorating the destruction of both Temples, along with other numerous unfortunate events for Jews that took place on this date. In fact, the phrase of "in darkness, you have placed me", which is mentioned in the Talmudic tractates of Sanhedrin and Avoda Zara as referring to the Babylonian Talmud, the product of the learning that took place in the exile of Babylonia, the country which destroyed our first Temple, comes from the book of Eicha (Lamentations) that is read specifically on Tisha B'Av. And so, it is quite ironic that it is the NINTH cycle of the Daf Yomi of the corresponding Jerusalem Talmud that commenced on the NINTH day of the Sephira that represents the ultimate harshness and darkness.
On this note, it must be remembered that we just passed the first of four red moons, which I wrote about in my previous post. Technically, the sign of a red moon is, G-d forbid, a bad sign for Jews. True, we are soon going to usher into the Messianic era; however, this will not occur without a major challenge to the Jewish people. However, one of the main ways, though not the only way, that will help us as a nation pass through these rough times, is the study of Torah, which has been recently challenged by the Knesset in which some viciously attempted to pass rules which will, G-d forbid, punish the very group of Jews who learn Torah the most.
This vicious effort was superheaded in part by the evil Naftali Bennett, whose last name in Hebrew, which is spelled as Beit-Noon-Teit, reads the word Satan (letters Sin-Teit-Noon) in the Gematria form of Atbash (the first Aleph being substituted with the last letter Tav, the second letter Beit being substituted with the next to the last letter Shin, and so on), using the pretext that this was part of a serious of bills being in benefit of the Hareidi (Ultra-Orthodox) to give work incentives for them, as though he couldn't pass this work incentive bill alone. Indeed, this is the very way how Satan operates, for an observant Jew doesn't necessarily think of sinning by itself, but is sometimes fooled by the Yetzer Hara (Evil Inclination), which is Satan, to think that one could be doing a Mitzva, when in fact, it is an Aveira (sin), or leads to an Aveira, which in this case, is "defending" the State of Israel. Moreover, this last name can be read as B'Noon-Teit (with Noon-Teit), for the letters Noon and Teit begin the names of Nebuchadnezzar and Titus, the respective heads of the Temple destruction operations of the Babylonian and Roman empires. And while in Bennett's video of him talking in English, he spoke about his ancestors in Europe not having had the chance to defend themselves; there would be NO NEED to defend ourselves in our country if we would only do what Hashem wants. In fact, quite contrary, it is due in part, in fact, a large part, of Jews learning Torah especially in Israel, that helps so many miracles of Jews not being attacked, as especially evident with the amount of missiles that our Arab enemies throw at us these days. And so, for an observant Jew who is devoted to learning Torah to be thrown in a non-friendly observant environment of the army is not going to help matters in the long run; aside from the fact that this is an army that is basically trained to be "moral" and not be so quick to attack our enemies, and unless openly attacked first, to at most shoot in the air, something that is not done in ANY other army in the world.
And as I am writing this post which is based on the study of the Daf Yomi of the Jerusalem Talmud, it was in Jerusalem that the gathering and protest of the Hereidi community took place a couple of months ago, in response to the Knesset attempt to get Jews learning Torah in Yeshivot to learn a little less by "defending" our country. Perhaps for others, such as in the Zionist or Dati Leumi (National Religious) camp, and for anyone else who wants on his own to serve in the army, it is a Mitzva for them to be in the army, if their sole intent is truly to defend our country, rather than follow orders that could be detrimental to the safety of Israel. However, for those who are truly intent in learning Torah, so long as this army is dictated by the policies of an anti-Torah/religious government, there is NO Mitzva to serve in the army, since as it states in the Talmudic tractate of Megilla, learning Torah is GREATER than saving lives. Yes, you read correctly, though of course, if G-d forbid, a situation occurs where there is no else or there is insufficient manpower to save lives, then we need to stop our Torah learning to tend to the emergency situation, since after all, "learning Torah leads to action", and that is why we have Taryag Mitzvot (613 Commandments).
However, in our situation, since the Israeli army is an army that is based on mandatory recruitment of its citizens, rather than voluntary enrollment such as in the United States; numbers is not an issue. And as seen in the history of Israel's wars in the last 65 some years, Hashem has done all kinds of miracles to save us from our Arab enemies. However, it was particularly when Israel practiced restraint to fulfill the wishes of the United States not to attack the Arabs first, that caused THOUSANDS of Jews to be killed in war, which could and would have been avoided for the most part had Israel attacked first. And so, before Jews who hate our Torah tell followers of the Torah what to do, let them at least first get their own act in order and show the type of true strength needed in fighting our enemies as every other sane country does in fighting its enemies, in lieu of releasing terrorists - who deserve execution - from prison; and then perhaps, the evil Bennett, whose beanie on his head is just a Jewish uniform in disguise, can start lecturing Torah Jews on the benefits of "defending" our country.
And so indeed, even in Israel, we are living in a period of darkness, just as in the period of the Syrian Greeks who attempted to get the Jews to stop observing the Torah, which is hinted to by the Torah with the mention of the word Choshech (darkness), in which even some in the guise of observant Jews, including some Zionist rabbis, tell truly observant Jews who are devoted to the Torah, that they are sinners by not wishing to "fulfill" what the Torah says, to be part of army that "fights" our enemies, as we see in numerous stories in the Tanach (Jewish Bible). However, the difference is that at least in those days, there was virtually no political interest controlling how we fought our enemies, and quite often, they had no choice but to fight to the bitter end, and were indeed in the midst of getting rid of our enemies, as the Torah mandates. However, with all the talks and concessions happening from the Israeli government, not only is its interest is NOT in annihilating our enemies, but it even causes further attacks from our neighboring Arabs, proving statistically in an increase in terror when "peace" concessions are taking place, along with of course, releasing thousands of Arab terrorists from Israeli prisons. And so, a larger army is definitely NOT the answer to the present crisis that is happening in Israel. The ONLY answer to our present crisis is if anything, to beef up our Torah observance, and then, in the merit of these good Jews, Hashem will continue performing miracles on our behalf.
With this said, if the Israeli government is truly worried about upcoming wars, it should start worrying about the upcoming Gog U'Magog war, which will be headed by none other than its "ally" country, the good U.S. of A., which is still keeping Jewish and American hero Jonathan Pollard in prison to rot away, even as he is presently in poor health. And with his recent refusal to attend the parole board in the midst of the United States to be pressured to release him with conditional further releases of terrorists in Israel, it just comes to show who is the hero and villians here. Of course we didn't see any fuss in press releases in the States of how Jonathan Pollard could be such a fool to take a chance of not being released after being stuck in prison for nearly three decades, because this would make him look real good, the LAST thing that the United States as headed by the evil Obama wants; and so, life goes on as though it is Israel who didn't want the "peace" concessions to continue, still being blamed by the evil John Kerry when he knows damn well it is the Arabs who have been cry babies for the longest time, having the Chutzpa to do so when Israel, on his demands, already released scores of terrorists.
MIDDLE SEPHIRA-MIDDLE DAY-MIDDLE TRACTATE
The truth is that the focus of this post is on Torah learning. With this said, moving along the Sephira calendar as this year's posts is following, the 25th or the MIDDLE of the 49 Kabbalistic Sephirot is Netzach She'B'Netzach, and as related to our post, I will translate as Victory within Victory, for indeed, it is the learning of Torah that will be the ultimate cause of our victory over our enemies.
Lo and behold, the MIDDLE day of this Hebrew Year 5774, having the maximum of 385 days as allowed in our present Jewish calendar, is 14 Adar II, the date of Purim! And as we see from the Vilna Gaon pertaining to the relationship of the various holidays with the Sephirot, it is the holiday of Purim that corresponds to the Sephira of Netzach! For as clearly shown in the Megilla that we read on Purim, it was following our VICTORY over our enemies that we celebrated.
The truth is that it is a little funny here, because the number of this post - 216, is the Gematria of the Sephira that is called Gevurah (Strength), but in a way, there is a connection here, because it is with strength that an army has VICTORY in war. Actually, the title of this post is actually based on a verse in Psalm 84, where it states "they will go from strength to strength", though the actual Hebrew word used for strength in this instance is not Gevurah but Chayil, which in at least modern Hebrew, is based on the wording that means soldier. And in the Talmudic sense, the context refers to one who has completed a course of Torah study or has done a Mitzva, and is wished continued strength in learning more Torah or doing Mitzvot.
And amazingly, the Gematria of the name of the MIDDLE tractate of the Mishnayot - Bava Metzia - is 216, which in this year, in the NINTH cycle of the study of one chapter of Mishnayot a day, was learnt in the MIDDLE 10 days of the month of Nissan, the month of miracles, as it consists of 10 chapters. And the MIDDLE two days of Nissan - the 15th and 16th - are both especially related to miracles, as the 15th is the miracle of the Exodus, and the 16th marks the date of hanging Haman, the villian in the Purim story who attempted to have all the Jews murdered on one day. The miracle in this instance is that one day, Haman was second to King Achashveirosh, and then the next thing we know, King Achashveirosh orders his execution, leading to the war of the Jews fighting victoriously over our enemies.
Aside from this reason, noting that in this Hebrew leap year, there were two months of Adar, the Talmud in Tractate Megilla discusses as to which of these months is appropriate to have the holiday of Purim. The conclusion is that Purim should be celebrated in the second month of Adar, as it is appropriate to have a holiday of miracles in the month closest to the month in which we have another holiday of Passover celebrating miracles.
With this said, the name of Sephira called Netzach, the FOURTH and MIDDLE of the seven Sephirot, is the Gematria of the name of Rabbi Nachman of Breslov - greatgrandson of the Ba'al Shem Tov, founder of the Hasidic movement - who was born on Rosh Chodesh Nissan, who was especially connected with the number FOUR. And noting that both his name and the name of the month of Nissan both start and end with the letter NOON (as well as the name of Nachshon Ben-Aminadav, leader of the Tribe of Judah the FOURTH son of Jacob and Leah, who brought special offerings in the Tabernacle on behalf of his tribe on Rosh Chodesh Nissan), it is precisely in this year that the study of the first three tractates of the FOURTH of the six volumes of the Mishnayot, called Nezikin (Damages) was learnt in this program of one chapter of Mishna a day, noting that the name Nezikin also begins and ends with the letter NOON! This is also to note that at one time, these three tractates - Bava Kama (First Gate), Bava Metzia (Middle Gate), and Bava Basra (Last Gate) - was at one time one large tractate also called Nezikin. but in time, was divided into three separate tractates. To note, Bava Metzia is called the Middle Gate because it is the middle of these three tractates in Nezikin, but it is ALSO the MIDDLE of the 63 tractates of the Mishnayot. In any case, the very first chapter of Nezikin, the first chapter of Bava Kama, which was learnt on Rosh Chodesh Nissan, starts off stating Arba'ah Avot Nezikin... "There are FOUR classifications of damages - the ox, the pit, the tooth, and the fire", noting the number FOUR beginning the FOURTH volume of the Mishnayot.
And having written in this post about Jewish armies and fighting, it was Yehoshua Bin-NOON (Joshua son of Noon) who led the Jews people to Israel and faught various nations for seven years before dividing the land for the various tribes. And in this year, aside from the learning of the first chapter of Nezikin/Bava Kama that starts off with mentioning the word Avot, it is the very name of the tractate that we learn on Shabbat starting from the Shabbat after Passover (until Shavuot or Rosh Hashana depending on custom) which fell out this year on 26 Nissan, the Yahrzeit of Yehoshua, beginning with stating "Moses received the Torah from Mt. Sinai, and handed it over to Joshua, Joshua to the prophets...". In fact, some of Joshua's main accomplishments took place in this very month of Nissan, including on the 10th of Nissan in which he led the Jews to Israel, and his first victory mission that took place in Jericho on the 28th of Nissan. Indeed, it is hardly surprising that we mention Joshua on the first day of Passover, both in the Haggada and the Haftara, for it was Joshua, as Moses' successor, who followed in his footsteps in TRUE Jewish leadership and fighting our enemies, realizing that ultimately, if we do our part, then Hashem will do His part and help us with His miracles, a point that was made clear to Joshua when an angel appeared to him early on to reprimand him for not learning Torah one day in the midst of a fighting expidition, keeping him in track of what is the ultimate weapon in the midst of fighting our enemies, not using a lack of time as an excuse for not learning Torah, an event that is mentioned in the Haftara for the first day of Passover (Note: Though this is not clear from the text of the Tanach/Haftara, this is how our rabbis in the Talmud interpret this story).
And as our rabbis tell us "The face of Joshua resembles the moon" (Talmud Bava Batra 75a), and as per my previous post on the four red moons phenomenon, two of the four times occur in the middle of the month of Nissan at the full moon point. And having mentioned the concept of damages here and that the red moon is, G-d forbid, a bad sign for Jews, it is the number four, that is most associated with the concept of damages, is also the number that is most associated to the concept of the moon, as I go into detail about in my previous post.
There is one more thing here that I want to mention pertaining to the concept of MIDDLE that relates especially to this Hebrew year. As we know, there is what is called Shirat Ha'azinu, the Song that is mentioned in the first 43 verses of Parshat Ha'azinu, in which Moses exhorts us to follow in Hashem's ways, or G-d forbid, bad things will happen. Now, while this was not the first time that he spoke on this issue, this was the very last time in his life that he did so. But also significantly, this is marked in the Sefer Torah (Torah Scroll) by how this is written - not as regular reading text, but written in poetry form, leaving more space between phrases, rather than just between verses, to make the design that it looks, just as it is written for Shirat HaYam (Song of the Sea) that is read on the seventh day of Passover. Anyways, the 5774th verse of the Torah, corresponding to this Hebrew Year 5774, is the MIDDLE verse of Shirat Ha'azinu!
Now, let us take a look at this verse "For fire burned in My nostrils, and blazed until the lowest depths, it shall consume the land and its produce, and set aflame what is founded on mountains" (Deutronomy 32:22). Now, to quote Rashi, "the land" refers to Israel and "founded on mountains" refers to Jerusalem, quoting a verse from Tehilim (Psalms 125:2) where it states that Jerusalem is surrounded by mountains.
Technically, this verse was already fulfilled with not one, but two destructions of the Temple. In today's terms, we know that it is just a matter of time until Gog U'Magog sets afoot in Israel, particularly in Jerusalem, which even the Israeli government which bows to our enemies, for the most, insists on being our eternal capitol of Israel, but soon, even this will not be agreeable to the United States government. In fact, the United States never actually acknowledged that Jerusalem is the capitol of Jerusalem, maintaining its main embassy rather in Tel Aviv, and in natural citizenship documentation, a child of an American parent born in Jerusalem is listed as born in Jerusalem WITHOUT THE MENTION OF THE NAME ISRAEL. As far as the government of the United States is concerned, Jerusalem - as long as East Jerusalem is inhabitated by the Arabs - is part of the "West Bank", regardless of what the Bible has to say on the subject. In fact, as far as President Obama, who is Moslem, is concerned, he is more worried about what he calls the "holy Koran" has to say on the subject, since in fact, Jerusalem is not mentioned even once in the Koran, in stark contrast to the 669 times that the name Jerusalem is mentioned in the Bible.
In my previous post, I mentioned how the four red moons hints to Dam (bloodshed), this word being the Gematria of 44, all taking place literally within the MIDDLE part of the 44th U.S. President Obama's second term. But one more thing that I want to add today is that being that the number 44 is a composite of 4*11, the number 11 also is related to the concept of damages. For first, the name of the 11th of the 14 volumes of the main work of the Rambam (Maimondies) called Mishne Torah, which encompasses all the laws of the Torah, is called Nezikin. Moreover, the 44th Parsha of the Torah is called Devarim, whose word begins with the letter Dalet, the FOURTH letter and is the numerical value of FOUR, and is the first Parsha of 11 Parshiyot in the fifth and final book of the Chumash (Penteteuch), and is always read on the Shabbat before Tisha B'Av, or in some years, on the date of the 9th of Av itself, except that we fast the day after since we don't fast on Shabbat (the only exception being Yom Kippur). And as especially related to Tisha B'Av, he was politically born on Tisha B'Av in the year Two Thousand and FOUR, first becoming a public figure when he spoke endorsing then the anti-Semitic Democratic candidate John Kerry when he spoke on this very day (this fact coming from the ones who are behind the website www.redemption5768.com).
And just like Hashem showed His strength when it came to the Exodus, so may Hashem show His strength shortly in sanctification of His name, showing that it is only when we follow in Hashem's ways that we will achieve the ultimate victory, including in Jerusalem being ablaze with the Torah learning of the ones who put themselves on the line despite the threats of the Erev Rav, which includes most members of the Knesset, who will soon vanish into eternal damnation, as the verse promises, "Not with infantry, nor with power, but with My spirit, says the L-rd o Hosts". May this be fulfilled speedily in our days. Amen!
End of Nissan, 5774
Wednesday, April 23, 2014
#215 - Moon SHINING Red
Indeed, a sign of the times.
I was delayed for a while since Purim from writing new posts, especially as a father of two helping to prepare our place for Passover. As it turns out, since I had a delay, I now have information to reveal about this four red moons phenomenon when it comes to Gematria.
This post will be short and sweet to the point. As just about everyone knows by now, unless you have been living in a shell, there is supposed to be a total of four red moons in intervals of six months apart. As it especially relates to Jews, these four have or will occur around the beginning of Passover and Succot when there is a full moon both in this secular year and the next secular year.
To those who have been following the news as of late as per the prophecies of the Messianic times, as well as what autistic children/adults from observant Jewish homes are telling us, and of course, the Hidden Codes of the Torah, regardless of when Moshiach will actually come, there is no doubt that a major war on Israel is on its way, and it's only a matter of time - perhaps no more than a year - but definitely before the end of the next Hebrew year 5775, with the major part of the war continuing into 5776. One of the places where this is hinted is in a matrix that includes the verse that mentions the Shalosh Regalim (three Pilgrimage festivals) - Pesach, Shavuot, and Succot, which was part of the Torah reading for the last day of Passover yesterday outside of Israel (where eight days of Passover are observed, rather than the seven days from the Torah in Israel). At the mention of Pesach, there is a code that states that "a Goy (non-Jewish nation in this context) will arise in 5775", and the name of Obama is spelled out by the mention of Sukkot. In fact, it has been long since known as shown in a matrix in the Book of Ezekiel in the section of the war of Gog U'Magog (Chapters 38 and 39) which again shows Obama's name mentioned very clearly in reference to being Gog and Magog (which in this instance, is Obama and the United States, respectively). In fact, this is the very Haftara for Shabbat Chol HaMoed of Succot, which we will be reading in both years (At times, there is no Shabbat Chol HaMoed on Pesach or Succot).
In the last 520 years, including this time, that there have been four consecutive new moons between Pesach and Succot. The first was in 1493 and 1494 following the year 1492 (Hebrew Year 5252) when the Jews were expelled from Spain, as well as Christopher Columbus's discovery of the area in the world which led people to moving to America/United States. Then, in rather recent times, this happened again in 1949 and 1950, following the year 1948 (Hebrew Year 5708) when massive amounts of Jews emigrated to Israel as well as the war in Israel in that year that prevented access to the holiest area in the world, which included the Western Wall. And then, this happened in 1967 and 1968 when in 1967 (Hebrew Year 5727), we had the Six Day War which led to reconquering major areas in Israel, including the holiest area in the world (until the evil Moshe Dayan handed the keys of the Temple Mount to the Wakf). And finally, this is happening in this year and the next year.
In case one is confused as to whether this moon sign is a good sign or a bad sign (G-d forbid) for Jews, as the moon represents the Jewish people, while the sun represents the nations, we do see that the color red is associated with war or bloodshed, and as mentioned in Joel 3:4, "The sun will turn to darkness, and the moon will turn to blood before the coming of the great and awesome day of Hashem" (this latter phrase being also mentioned at the end of Malachi in which Eliyahu HaNavi (Elijah the Prophet), who will herald the arrival of Moshiach, is mentioned. As for the sun turning to darkness, which is a total solar eclipse, this is going to happen in the following year around Rosh Chodesh Nissan, two weeks before Passover, thus hinting as a good sign for the Jewish people, as it is the sun, representing the nations, will be striked or eclipsed In any case, this red moon phenomenon will not happen again for the rest of the secular century. More details on this while subject can be found on the Hebrew site sod1820.co.il, or for those who aren't familiar with Hebrew, can find this same basic information at other sites.
But one thing is for sure. As in the previous three times, where Jews were faced with challenges between being tortured and kicked out of a country, or wars fighting the Arabs in which many Jews lost their lives, this occasion is more reason to be concerned than ever. In fact, in this round of war, Hashem will pick out the Jews worthy of remaining alive, while unfortunately, there will be others who will not be spared and will be eternally damned. Another key difference here is that while in past wars, a Jew who was murdered by a non-Jew (whether in war or other occasions), went straight to Heaven for being a martyr; on this occasion, it will instead be Hashem's filtering process of allowing only good Jews, including those who seriously repent, to survive the war of Gog U'Magog.
And while it will particularly be Israel that will be attacked, one should not think that automatically he will be safe in other countries, for as we see now already, there has been increased anti-Semitism, including in the United States, which is happening in due part to the concesssions of the Israeli dictatorship government that is desperately attempting to bring to the table to give more land away. And so, especially after seeing Obama's track record of pushing Israel to stop building of "settlements" and pressuring Israel with the peace talks when ironically, it is the Arabs who aren't happy with giving "peace" a chance. as well as Obama's alliance with various Arab nations, it is just a matter of time before Obama is going to press the red button on Israel, whether or not he will physically travel overseas to fight us Jews in our Holy Land or just send American soldiers to fight us. For ultimately, it is those who look to follow Hashem who will survive, which will include some Jews outside of Israel who have pressing circumstances of why they aren't living in Israel or are involved in Hashem's holy work of bringing Jews closer to Judaism, whose hearts are with Hashem; but in the long run, it will be a little easier in Israel, despite the location of this World War III that will involve numerious nations coming to fight us, as dictated by the United Nations, as mentioned by the autistics who have spoken as of late as to what will be happening in the very near future.
With the above said, we see a frequent occurance of the number four in relationship to the moon. For these last FOUR periods of history, as especially hinting to the Jewish nation, each consists of FOUR red moons. This is hardly surprising of the connection of the moon to the number four, for we see that it was on the FOURTH day of Creation when Hashem set up the solar system, and the FOURTH Mitzva of the Torah is the sanctification of the New Moon, as was done for close to 2,000 years until Hillel II, leader of the Jewish people, propogated in Beit Din (Jewish court) for a fixed calendar, as Jews were being increasingly scattered and endured various troubles from the nations. Moreover, we see that it is King David who is especially associated with the moon, and as mentioned in the Zohar, of the Seven Shepherds (Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Aaron, Joseph, David) corresponding to the various holidays, it is King David who corresponds to Rosh Chodesh (New Moon). And as we see in his name, it begins and ends with the letter Dalet, the FOURTH letter with the niumerical value of FOUR. Also, as we see in Kabbala, in certain contexts, the man is the giver while the woman is the receiver, the latter being the concept of the moon receiving its light from the sun, and as we know, there are FOUR Imahot (Matriarchs) which are Sara, Rebecca, Rachel, and Leah. In fact, it is mentioned that it was Rachel who composed the Rosh Chodesh prayer that we recite in the weekday Rosh Chodesh prayer of Shemoneh Esrei, and as hinted as the beginning letters of the first three words, it spells her name Rachel in Hebrew as Roshei Chodoshim L'Amcha "The New Moons to Your people (that You gave)". And if this was not enough, the first letters of the beginning FOUR words of Tractate Ketubot - Betula Niseit L'Yom Ha'Revi'i "A virgin is married on the FOURTH day" as was customary in ancient times - make up the word Levana (moon) - consisting of the letters Lamed, Beit/Veit, Noon, Hei!
And as mentioned, the red sign of the moon represents bloodshed, which in Hebrew is the word Dam, the Gematria of 44 - a double four number, in units of singles and units of tens; or in another way of looking at this, a multiple of FOUR, which is 4*11. And as we already mentioned that Obama is Gog (U'Magog), it should be mentioned here that he is the 44th U.S. President, and that in fact, ALL FOUR RED MOONS ARE TAKING PLACE IN THE MIDDLE OF OBAMA'S SECOND TERM AS THE 44TH U.S. PRESIDENT! For as we know, he was resworn as president on Jan 20, '13, and his term will be over on Jan 20, '16; and as we see the timing of the four red moons on the calendar, from the first to the fourth, we can see that this time period is virtually parallel in terms of being THE MIDDLE part of Obama's second term! More on the concept of the MIDDLE, especially as it relates to the end of our exile will be discussed in this coming post.
And now, more in terms of the number four in connection with the timing of the four red moon phenomenon, let us take a close look at the Hebrew years 5708 and 5727 of the second and third times, respectively. For the year 5708, there are 292 years following this year until the end of the sixth millenium, marking the end of this world's existance, and the word Revi'i, this word which is first used in the Torah as Yom Revi'i "Day FOUR", is the Gematria of 292. And for the year 5727, there are 273 years following this year until the end of the sixth millenium, and the word Arba - FOUR - is the Gematria of 273, and the highlight of the Six Day War in 5727 was the liberation of Jerusalem which included the holiest area in the world which was on 28 Iyar, on a Wednesday, the FOURTH day of the week. Noting that these years 5708 and 5727 have special significance in terms of Israel, we say in our prayers "Bring us to peace from the FOUR corners of the earth...and walk us upright speedily to OUR LAND", "Gather us together from the FOUR corners of the earth to OUR LAND". And let us not forget that we Jews had/have a total of FOUR exiles, culminating with eternal freedom in our land which will happen speedily in our days.
Now, in case one is wondering why the number FOUR should be especially significant in terms of Israel, we see that it is in Parshat Shelach, the FOURTH Parsha in the FOURTH book of the Torah called Sefer Bamidbar (Numbers), in which 12 spies were sent to check out Israel before the Jews would enter, but most unfortunately, ended with at least virtually all the male Jews between ages 20-60, except for the Tribe of Levi, who cried their faces off believing 10 of the 12 spies who gave an evil report about Israel, which was the night of the 9th of Av, thi date that eventually became the saddest day in the Jewish calendar, which included the destruction of both Temples followed with the murder and exile of most of the Jewish population in Israel, as well as the official date of the expulsion of the Jews from Spain. In short, the Jews were delayed in the desert from entering Israel for nearly 39 years.
And presently, we are in the midst of the 207th 28-year-cycle of the sun which began, being marked with the blessing for the sun, on the 14th of Nissan, 5769 ('09), which in this cycle (which presently occurs on April 8 of the secular calendar), it began on the day before Passover, and is in fact hinted to in the beginning of Tractate Pesachim in the Mishna where it states "On the "light" night of the 14th (of Nissan), we search for Chametz (leavened food or particles) by the light of the candle", as the very first word Ohr (light) is the Gematria of 207! And so, no doubt that we are in a most special time in history. Also, this phrase which mentions the FOURTEENTH of the month begins the FOURTEENTH tractate, and the Gematria of King David's name, as related to the moon part of the solar system, is the Gematria of FOURTEEN. And as seen in the verses of Creation, the first verse for the fourth day which mentions "lights" is the FOURTEENTH verse of the Torah which consists of 16 words, and the square root of 16 is FOUR.
And now, for the connection of Gematria to the number of this post - 215, which is the Gematria of the word Zarach, which means shines. This word begins a verse in Tehillim. though in the English translation, it is translated a little differently, "A light shines in darkness for the upright; He is gracious, merciful and righteous" (Psalms 112:4). This verse tells us that Hashem reveals His spiritual light to those who walk on the straight path to serve Hashem, and don't look for shortcuts or politics to do things differently. For as we see, especially in these times most unfortunately, there are even many rabbis who clearly say things against the Torah, including some of the Zionist rabbis who were outright against the Ultra-Orthodox having a demonstration and prayer services nearly two months ago, protesting and praying for averting the evil decree of the Israeli government which plans down the road to punish the Ultra-Orthodox if they will not join the self defeating army that caters to its enemies that is not very religious friendly for the most part instead of them learning Torah without unnnecessary interruptions. Imagine, all throughout Jewish history, when Jews are in trouble, they openly prayed to be spared. Yet, in this instance, even though this gathering included praying for the right to be able to learn Torah, which is the greatest Mitzva of the Torah, there were some Zionist rabbis not part of their camp who criticized such a gathering, which is what true Torah Jews took part in. Indeed, one who truly wants to walk on the straight path in serving Hashem, will be helped from Above accordingly, and will not come to say or do things against the Torah.
The Zohar speaks of the Erev Rav, which is a term used originally to refer to people of other nations who joined the Jews in the Exodus, but were not sincere in keeping the Torah, and wound up creating the Golden Calf for the Jews to worship. Anyways, the Erev Rav in the Zohar refers to those who go against the Torah.
This includes, yes my friends, even some rabbis who don't serve with their heart, but are persuaded with money, power, and politics, who will be destroyed around the time of the coming of Moshiach. However, for those who keep the Torah on the straight path, they will live to the time of the prophecy as mentioned in Isaiah Chapter 60, which begins with a verse that ends with the word Zarach, which is also the beginning of the Haftara for Parshat Ki Tavo "Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of Hashem will shine on you" which we hope to see the fulfillment of this speedily in our days. Amen!
23 Nissan, 5774
I was delayed for a while since Purim from writing new posts, especially as a father of two helping to prepare our place for Passover. As it turns out, since I had a delay, I now have information to reveal about this four red moons phenomenon when it comes to Gematria.
This post will be short and sweet to the point. As just about everyone knows by now, unless you have been living in a shell, there is supposed to be a total of four red moons in intervals of six months apart. As it especially relates to Jews, these four have or will occur around the beginning of Passover and Succot when there is a full moon both in this secular year and the next secular year.
To those who have been following the news as of late as per the prophecies of the Messianic times, as well as what autistic children/adults from observant Jewish homes are telling us, and of course, the Hidden Codes of the Torah, regardless of when Moshiach will actually come, there is no doubt that a major war on Israel is on its way, and it's only a matter of time - perhaps no more than a year - but definitely before the end of the next Hebrew year 5775, with the major part of the war continuing into 5776. One of the places where this is hinted is in a matrix that includes the verse that mentions the Shalosh Regalim (three Pilgrimage festivals) - Pesach, Shavuot, and Succot, which was part of the Torah reading for the last day of Passover yesterday outside of Israel (where eight days of Passover are observed, rather than the seven days from the Torah in Israel). At the mention of Pesach, there is a code that states that "a Goy (non-Jewish nation in this context) will arise in 5775", and the name of Obama is spelled out by the mention of Sukkot. In fact, it has been long since known as shown in a matrix in the Book of Ezekiel in the section of the war of Gog U'Magog (Chapters 38 and 39) which again shows Obama's name mentioned very clearly in reference to being Gog and Magog (which in this instance, is Obama and the United States, respectively). In fact, this is the very Haftara for Shabbat Chol HaMoed of Succot, which we will be reading in both years (At times, there is no Shabbat Chol HaMoed on Pesach or Succot).
In the last 520 years, including this time, that there have been four consecutive new moons between Pesach and Succot. The first was in 1493 and 1494 following the year 1492 (Hebrew Year 5252) when the Jews were expelled from Spain, as well as Christopher Columbus's discovery of the area in the world which led people to moving to America/United States. Then, in rather recent times, this happened again in 1949 and 1950, following the year 1948 (Hebrew Year 5708) when massive amounts of Jews emigrated to Israel as well as the war in Israel in that year that prevented access to the holiest area in the world, which included the Western Wall. And then, this happened in 1967 and 1968 when in 1967 (Hebrew Year 5727), we had the Six Day War which led to reconquering major areas in Israel, including the holiest area in the world (until the evil Moshe Dayan handed the keys of the Temple Mount to the Wakf). And finally, this is happening in this year and the next year.
In case one is confused as to whether this moon sign is a good sign or a bad sign (G-d forbid) for Jews, as the moon represents the Jewish people, while the sun represents the nations, we do see that the color red is associated with war or bloodshed, and as mentioned in Joel 3:4, "The sun will turn to darkness, and the moon will turn to blood before the coming of the great and awesome day of Hashem" (this latter phrase being also mentioned at the end of Malachi in which Eliyahu HaNavi (Elijah the Prophet), who will herald the arrival of Moshiach, is mentioned. As for the sun turning to darkness, which is a total solar eclipse, this is going to happen in the following year around Rosh Chodesh Nissan, two weeks before Passover, thus hinting as a good sign for the Jewish people, as it is the sun, representing the nations, will be striked or eclipsed In any case, this red moon phenomenon will not happen again for the rest of the secular century. More details on this while subject can be found on the Hebrew site sod1820.co.il, or for those who aren't familiar with Hebrew, can find this same basic information at other sites.
But one thing is for sure. As in the previous three times, where Jews were faced with challenges between being tortured and kicked out of a country, or wars fighting the Arabs in which many Jews lost their lives, this occasion is more reason to be concerned than ever. In fact, in this round of war, Hashem will pick out the Jews worthy of remaining alive, while unfortunately, there will be others who will not be spared and will be eternally damned. Another key difference here is that while in past wars, a Jew who was murdered by a non-Jew (whether in war or other occasions), went straight to Heaven for being a martyr; on this occasion, it will instead be Hashem's filtering process of allowing only good Jews, including those who seriously repent, to survive the war of Gog U'Magog.
And while it will particularly be Israel that will be attacked, one should not think that automatically he will be safe in other countries, for as we see now already, there has been increased anti-Semitism, including in the United States, which is happening in due part to the concesssions of the Israeli dictatorship government that is desperately attempting to bring to the table to give more land away. And so, especially after seeing Obama's track record of pushing Israel to stop building of "settlements" and pressuring Israel with the peace talks when ironically, it is the Arabs who aren't happy with giving "peace" a chance. as well as Obama's alliance with various Arab nations, it is just a matter of time before Obama is going to press the red button on Israel, whether or not he will physically travel overseas to fight us Jews in our Holy Land or just send American soldiers to fight us. For ultimately, it is those who look to follow Hashem who will survive, which will include some Jews outside of Israel who have pressing circumstances of why they aren't living in Israel or are involved in Hashem's holy work of bringing Jews closer to Judaism, whose hearts are with Hashem; but in the long run, it will be a little easier in Israel, despite the location of this World War III that will involve numerious nations coming to fight us, as dictated by the United Nations, as mentioned by the autistics who have spoken as of late as to what will be happening in the very near future.
With the above said, we see a frequent occurance of the number four in relationship to the moon. For these last FOUR periods of history, as especially hinting to the Jewish nation, each consists of FOUR red moons. This is hardly surprising of the connection of the moon to the number four, for we see that it was on the FOURTH day of Creation when Hashem set up the solar system, and the FOURTH Mitzva of the Torah is the sanctification of the New Moon, as was done for close to 2,000 years until Hillel II, leader of the Jewish people, propogated in Beit Din (Jewish court) for a fixed calendar, as Jews were being increasingly scattered and endured various troubles from the nations. Moreover, we see that it is King David who is especially associated with the moon, and as mentioned in the Zohar, of the Seven Shepherds (Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Aaron, Joseph, David) corresponding to the various holidays, it is King David who corresponds to Rosh Chodesh (New Moon). And as we see in his name, it begins and ends with the letter Dalet, the FOURTH letter with the niumerical value of FOUR. Also, as we see in Kabbala, in certain contexts, the man is the giver while the woman is the receiver, the latter being the concept of the moon receiving its light from the sun, and as we know, there are FOUR Imahot (Matriarchs) which are Sara, Rebecca, Rachel, and Leah. In fact, it is mentioned that it was Rachel who composed the Rosh Chodesh prayer that we recite in the weekday Rosh Chodesh prayer of Shemoneh Esrei, and as hinted as the beginning letters of the first three words, it spells her name Rachel in Hebrew as Roshei Chodoshim L'Amcha "The New Moons to Your people (that You gave)". And if this was not enough, the first letters of the beginning FOUR words of Tractate Ketubot - Betula Niseit L'Yom Ha'Revi'i "A virgin is married on the FOURTH day" as was customary in ancient times - make up the word Levana (moon) - consisting of the letters Lamed, Beit/Veit, Noon, Hei!
And as mentioned, the red sign of the moon represents bloodshed, which in Hebrew is the word Dam, the Gematria of 44 - a double four number, in units of singles and units of tens; or in another way of looking at this, a multiple of FOUR, which is 4*11. And as we already mentioned that Obama is Gog (U'Magog), it should be mentioned here that he is the 44th U.S. President, and that in fact, ALL FOUR RED MOONS ARE TAKING PLACE IN THE MIDDLE OF OBAMA'S SECOND TERM AS THE 44TH U.S. PRESIDENT! For as we know, he was resworn as president on Jan 20, '13, and his term will be over on Jan 20, '16; and as we see the timing of the four red moons on the calendar, from the first to the fourth, we can see that this time period is virtually parallel in terms of being THE MIDDLE part of Obama's second term! More on the concept of the MIDDLE, especially as it relates to the end of our exile will be discussed in this coming post.
And now, more in terms of the number four in connection with the timing of the four red moon phenomenon, let us take a close look at the Hebrew years 5708 and 5727 of the second and third times, respectively. For the year 5708, there are 292 years following this year until the end of the sixth millenium, marking the end of this world's existance, and the word Revi'i, this word which is first used in the Torah as Yom Revi'i "Day FOUR", is the Gematria of 292. And for the year 5727, there are 273 years following this year until the end of the sixth millenium, and the word Arba - FOUR - is the Gematria of 273, and the highlight of the Six Day War in 5727 was the liberation of Jerusalem which included the holiest area in the world which was on 28 Iyar, on a Wednesday, the FOURTH day of the week. Noting that these years 5708 and 5727 have special significance in terms of Israel, we say in our prayers "Bring us to peace from the FOUR corners of the earth...and walk us upright speedily to OUR LAND", "Gather us together from the FOUR corners of the earth to OUR LAND". And let us not forget that we Jews had/have a total of FOUR exiles, culminating with eternal freedom in our land which will happen speedily in our days.
Now, in case one is wondering why the number FOUR should be especially significant in terms of Israel, we see that it is in Parshat Shelach, the FOURTH Parsha in the FOURTH book of the Torah called Sefer Bamidbar (Numbers), in which 12 spies were sent to check out Israel before the Jews would enter, but most unfortunately, ended with at least virtually all the male Jews between ages 20-60, except for the Tribe of Levi, who cried their faces off believing 10 of the 12 spies who gave an evil report about Israel, which was the night of the 9th of Av, thi date that eventually became the saddest day in the Jewish calendar, which included the destruction of both Temples followed with the murder and exile of most of the Jewish population in Israel, as well as the official date of the expulsion of the Jews from Spain. In short, the Jews were delayed in the desert from entering Israel for nearly 39 years.
And presently, we are in the midst of the 207th 28-year-cycle of the sun which began, being marked with the blessing for the sun, on the 14th of Nissan, 5769 ('09), which in this cycle (which presently occurs on April 8 of the secular calendar), it began on the day before Passover, and is in fact hinted to in the beginning of Tractate Pesachim in the Mishna where it states "On the "light" night of the 14th (of Nissan), we search for Chametz (leavened food or particles) by the light of the candle", as the very first word Ohr (light) is the Gematria of 207! And so, no doubt that we are in a most special time in history. Also, this phrase which mentions the FOURTEENTH of the month begins the FOURTEENTH tractate, and the Gematria of King David's name, as related to the moon part of the solar system, is the Gematria of FOURTEEN. And as seen in the verses of Creation, the first verse for the fourth day which mentions "lights" is the FOURTEENTH verse of the Torah which consists of 16 words, and the square root of 16 is FOUR.
And now, for the connection of Gematria to the number of this post - 215, which is the Gematria of the word Zarach, which means shines. This word begins a verse in Tehillim. though in the English translation, it is translated a little differently, "A light shines in darkness for the upright; He is gracious, merciful and righteous" (Psalms 112:4). This verse tells us that Hashem reveals His spiritual light to those who walk on the straight path to serve Hashem, and don't look for shortcuts or politics to do things differently. For as we see, especially in these times most unfortunately, there are even many rabbis who clearly say things against the Torah, including some of the Zionist rabbis who were outright against the Ultra-Orthodox having a demonstration and prayer services nearly two months ago, protesting and praying for averting the evil decree of the Israeli government which plans down the road to punish the Ultra-Orthodox if they will not join the self defeating army that caters to its enemies that is not very religious friendly for the most part instead of them learning Torah without unnnecessary interruptions. Imagine, all throughout Jewish history, when Jews are in trouble, they openly prayed to be spared. Yet, in this instance, even though this gathering included praying for the right to be able to learn Torah, which is the greatest Mitzva of the Torah, there were some Zionist rabbis not part of their camp who criticized such a gathering, which is what true Torah Jews took part in. Indeed, one who truly wants to walk on the straight path in serving Hashem, will be helped from Above accordingly, and will not come to say or do things against the Torah.
The Zohar speaks of the Erev Rav, which is a term used originally to refer to people of other nations who joined the Jews in the Exodus, but were not sincere in keeping the Torah, and wound up creating the Golden Calf for the Jews to worship. Anyways, the Erev Rav in the Zohar refers to those who go against the Torah.
This includes, yes my friends, even some rabbis who don't serve with their heart, but are persuaded with money, power, and politics, who will be destroyed around the time of the coming of Moshiach. However, for those who keep the Torah on the straight path, they will live to the time of the prophecy as mentioned in Isaiah Chapter 60, which begins with a verse that ends with the word Zarach, which is also the beginning of the Haftara for Parshat Ki Tavo "Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of Hashem will shine on you" which we hope to see the fulfillment of this speedily in our days. Amen!
23 Nissan, 5774
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