#18 - Can we CHANGE our Mazel?

Chodesh Tov everyone!

I'm beginning this blog now while it is still daytime here in Israel on this special Rosh Chodesh/beginning of the new month of Shevat, but I will realistically be done when it is already nighttime of the next day, but this blog will bear the Rosh Chodesh date, especially as it pertains to an event that happened on this very date that I will be discussing.

Yes, the worse has happened. In fact, I don't even know where to begin, but I think a good choice is to outline the basic United States history.

July 4, 1776 - Pregnancy formation, i.e. Declaration of Independence
September 17, 1787 - Baby born, i.e. Constitution created
June 21, 1788 - Baby circumcised, i.e. Constitution ratified

Fast tracking to the demise of the United States of America

July 27, 2004 - Beginning stages of fatal illness, i.e. Obama's first public political speech (endorsing Democratic candidate John Kerry. The word Kerry in Hebrew - Koof, Reish, Yud - refers to sexual impurity)
October 22, 2006 - Symptoms first appear, i.e. Obama announces considering the presidency
February 10, 2007 - Diagnosed, i.e. Obama announces that he will run for the presidency
June 3, 2008 - Hospitalized, i.e. Obama is the Democratic candidate for the presidency
November 4, 2008 - Vital signs slowing down, i.e. Obama voted to be president by majority
January 12, 2009 - Commits suicide, i.e. Supreme Court denies Berg vs Obama, thus
contradicting the Constitution that forbids a non-born citizen of the United
States to assume the office of the Presidency
January 20, 2009 - Funeral, i.e. Obama, as a non-born citizen of the United States, illegally
swears the oath of presidency.

Shoking, isn't it? But how could this happened? What happened to the critical media who is always quick to bad mouth and challenge a political candidate with a suspicious background?
Where was this media's challenge to Obama for two years - especially after there were rumors of perhaps Obama not being born in the United States?

I'll never forget in the mid 80s when I was in high school, and there was a presidential candidate whose last name was Hart who visited South Florida where I lived for most of my life. Every day while Hart was visiting the sunny state, the Miami Herald was picking on him for some past sexual scandal. The end result of this press(ure) is that it stopped Hart from continuing his heartbeat for the presidential candidacy.

Now mind you, having a sexual scandal past at worse is perhaps a gray area in terms of the Constitution expecting a candidate of high moral standards to be leading a country with trust in G-d. Yet, it seemed that the whole world - including a good portion of people who commit adultery, extra marital affairs, etc. - was pouncing on this Hart guy as though he was the most terrible person in the world. Yet, he was perfectly legally legible to run as a presidential candidate, and unless decided differently by a court of law, there was absolutely no insult to the Constitution.

So, did the corrupt media change in the last 20 some years? Perhaps the media (the majority of which are not blacks) was a little afraid of picking on a black guy? Or were they mezmorized by Obama's handsome physique and charm? Whatever the case, his doubtful status as a legal presidential candidate was virtually ignored and was considered tabooed for questioning.

You have to wonder, did G-d have anything to do with this?


DIVINE PROVIDENCE

When it comes to what is called Hashgacha Peratit/Divine Providence, everyone speaks about Hashem in terms of miracles. Yes, there are plenty of such 9/11 miracles - many include stories of people who didn't quite make it early for work on that fateful morning. Put perhaps what is often not talked about is about those who were "in the wrong place at the wrong time". Well that may be very so in the literal physical sense. But Hashem sometimes has his plans for certain people for unknown reasons to us, to be especially in harm's way.

It was just a week before - not even - before Obama was revealed to be the winning candidate, that the Mumbai tragedies took place. No doubt that this was tragic for thousands of people, which includes families and friends of all the victims - dead or injured. Mind you, the majority of the victims were those who were living there or near there. With this being said, there were two Mashgichim who arrived in India and came to the Chabad house there just hours before it all started. Very sad to say, but they literally traveled to their deaths. But perhaps most ironic was that they originally had other plans. One of them originally was going to travel to Thailand, but because of problems in that country, he decided that India would be a safer place to travel to. Now, on the better news side of this - the nanny Sandra Samuel who rescued the son of the murdered Chabad couple normally took off Wednesday evenings to be with her family. But this particular Wednesday, as she admitted, she had no special reason to stay in the Chabad house that evening, but she did anyways. Indeed, after 15 hours of hiding, when she heard the young boy crying, she instinctively grabbed him, and ran out into safety.

Now in Obama's case, it seems that people went out of their way for him to march right into the White House. Oh yes, there was Jesse Jackson, the black minister who was a presidential candidate on Voting Day many years ago (incidentally, there's a picture of him with Obama), but I guess Obama had a more youthful charm and look. Oprah, the billionaire TV show host had Obama on her show, and there was even a white girl who made a free major display on the internet calling herself an Obama girl (Hmmm, never heard of this kind of thing with any previous president). Oh yes, Obama denied having anything to do with that, as though he might have been guilty of doing something wrong otherwise, but whatever. So, where were you really born Obama?

Try denying the story, O Democrats (Dam V'Karet - Blood & Spritual Extinction - as a former Democratic Jewish guy turned Republican calls this party) - but Obama's mother when pregnant with him flew from Hawaii to Kenya at one point. When she wanted to return to the States, the Kenya government didn't allow her to do so since she was pregnant and could not be allowed to harm the embryo by travelling, so she gave birth in a Kenya hospital, which is now considered a special site in Kenya since this is where Obama was born. Guess this news didn't quite impress the corrupt media or courts too much. Without going into all kinds of other details, Attorney Phillip J Berg, Esq. lifetime Democrat and two times member of NAACP proves in three different ways how Obama is ineligible to be president. And yes, Obama's so called online birth certificate is a phoney, but don't cry bloody murder to me, you have to cry to Berg Esq. about that one. Why didn't Obama sue Berg back for slander? Too busy, really? Obama seems to be pretty calm, cool, and collective. So how come Obama is afraid to face the facts as his rival candidate John McCain, who ironically, was quickly questioned about where he was born, and he wasted no time being up front about it. Yes, he was not born in the continental United States - because his father was serving his United States country on an American base in Panama. In any case, neither candidate was born in one of the 50 states, so why the difference in attitude?

My friends, every single one in the media or courts who knew the truth, but didn't act in their respective position to do something about it, will one day have to give an accounting to the Big Judge upstairs - for the sin of stealing. A reporter has a duty to report news correctly, and to question anything illegal, or he/she the reporter is stealing money from his/her employer. The court employee of whatever position - has an obligation to follow the law and not allow violaters to get away with it - or is stealing money from the United States government. Stealing, my friends, is also one of the sins that non-Jews are bidden not to committ. In fact, a non-Jew who steals is liable to the death penalty in the court according to Judaism.

Yet, Hashem will sometimes allow things to go "through the cracks" to make certain things happen. True that everyone has free choice, but since Hashem knows the future, he will play with everyone whether the subject in question is doing good or evil, if this is part of Hashem's master plan to have certain things in place. And the reason that sometimes Hashem will play "through the cracks" is to show that indeed it is Hashem who is running the world. The fact that Obama was born in Kenya, raised in Indonesia, made no difference practically to hundreds of millions who paid lip service to the Constitution, and bowed down to him because he promised them CHANGE shows that Hashem is showing that he has a special reason for Obama being in power despite his illegalities.

Let's backtrack a bit. Remember the "butterfly votes" in Florida just eight years ago? It took over a month after Voting Day, for Bush who was determined to have defeated his running Democratic mate by a very small margin, to be the 43rd President of the United States. I said back then that the scandal involved with the voting (in my personal opinion, it was the Democrates that messed things up) will be the worse thing that will go down in American history. Little then did I know that I would be proven wrong eight years later. But what was the significance of this scandal happening in Florida? If you have observed all the state seals, there is only ONE that has the phrase "In G-d we trust". The answer is - you guessed it - Florida!
So, what was Hashem's plan here?

Maybe technically, it was the Democratic presidential candidate who should have won. Well, it is true that this whole thing happened when Jeb Bush, George Bush II's brother, was governor of Florida at the time. Anyways, later in 2001 after President Bush took office, 9/11 and then the American attack took place a few weeks later. When did this war start? On the night of Hoshana Rabba. Rabbis, including the Vilna Gaon said that the war of Gog U'Magog is going to begin on...Hoshana Rabba! According to the Torah, it is supposed to be a seven year war, and this is how long it lasted under G(e)o(r)g(e) Bush's presidency (and a few months, but it's rounded off more to seven years than eight years). Indeed, George Bush was associated as Gog at one point, but what happened? Yes, he had pressured Israel in the past about "land for piece" as other presidents did, but he didn't openly wage war against Israel, as the script written out for Gog in Scriptures?

Don't worry, Bush just prepared the way for the real Gog - OBAMA! This is actually old news in my blogs - you will can check out blogs #5 & #6 in 2008 that deal with Obama as he is hinted as Gog in Scriptures, including through the Hidden Codes. And indeed, Obama wasted no time sending George Mitchell - who succeded in 2001 to prevent Jewish settlements from being built in Israel - to rush to Israel to continue the evil deed. My gosh - everyone knows that Israel is preparing for elections in a couple of weeks. Can't Obama have a little patience here? What happened to his supposed promises of helping Israel? Well, guess he didn't quite expect to have such a demanding anti-Israel crowd in power with him.


BARACK HUSSEIN OBAMA, 44TH PRESIDENT, HINTED IN THIS MONTH

This beginning part in the following paragraph is entirely new. It's something I didn't even think about before - until this past week since Obama capsized the presidency.

Last night began a new Jewish month - Shevat. One meaning of this word, when changing the Hebrew vowels, is tribe, as in the tribes of Israel. The other meaning as the pronounciation says, is rod. Sometimes, this can have a negative connotation as in the "rod of punishment". With this being said, let's observe what the astronomical sign - or Mazel - for this month is - D'li/Aquarius. The Hebrew word - D'li - is a pail of water. Now, add up the letters of this word - Daled, Lamed, Yud - the Gematria of 44. Now, each Jewish month has a corresponding Jewish tribe/Shevet; thus, Shevat's corresponding tribe is Asher. When you add up the letters in this word Alef, Shin, Reish - the Gematria is 501. As mentioned previously, Obama's full name in Hebrew has the Gemaria of...501! And after his first paragraph of his Inauguration speech thanking Bush for his years of service, the beginning words of the second paragragh are "Forty-four Americans have now taken the presidential oath". You see the connection of 44th President Barack Hussein Obama's 501 & 44 with this month of Shevat, the first full Jewish month since he started his presidential term? Is this Obama going to be our rod of punishment, G-d forbid?

As I mentioned previously, Rabbi Meir Kahane ZTVK"L HY"D, whose 18th Yahrzeit was commemorated a couple of months ago (this is my 18th blog), gave us a warning about what would happen if the Jewish people, especially the Israeli government, would continue on the wrong path. He said it very straight forward - it's either Kahane or Arafat. Yes, no in-between.
And so with Obama's middle name, his Moslem Arab past, his attendance at Palestinian fundraisers, and only after six/seven years after 9/11, you would think that perhaps at least a few more people would be a little more cautious. But I guess they are a little more afraid of being considered "racist", especially the liberal Democratic Jews - some of whom hyprocritically ran away from neighborhoods turning black, and then pretend that only they care about Israel while mocking today's "settlers" who are only followers of the original Zionists who toiled for what was then known as Palestine, except that the Arabs didn't make so a big stink back then except when on one of their murderous rampages.

Well, Rabbi Meir Kahane who was murdered by an Arab in 5751, has his messages echoed in the 5751th verse of the Torah (Deutronomy 31:29): "For I know that after my (Moshe's) death that you will surely act corruptly, and you will stray from the path that I have commanded you, and evil will befall you at the end of days, if you do what is evil in the eyes of Hashem, to anger Him through your handiwork." As pointed before, the Hebrew words for "through your handiwork" is the Gematria of Obama's full name in Hebrew adding up to 501! Yes, Jews voting for Obama, pretending that one of the main reasons for voting for him was because of his supposed positive stance on Israel, when the real reason known to Hashem is that they trusted in Obama despite last paragraphs' negatives on him, because he promised "CHANGE", - these Jews angered Hashem very much, and as the verse predicts that as a result that "evil will befall you at the end of days". Also pointed out before is that the first three letters of the phrase in Hebrew for "in the end of days" - Beit, Alef, Cheit - are the same initials of Obama's full name in Hebrew! Yes, Obama IS the evil in the end of days! And yes, it will happen to the very Jews who voted for him, as is hinted right here in this most fateful verse in the Torah!

Now, speaking of 44, what is the 44th Parsha in the Torah? It is Parshat Devarim, the beginning Parsha of the book of Deutronomy. This final book of the Chumash is basically Moshe's final sermons to the Jewish people. In fact, it records when he began this "on the 11th month, on Day One of the month". As we count the months from Nissan, the 11th month is Shevat, and the first day of any given month is Rosh Chodesh. Thus, on Rosh Chodesh Shevat, the beginning of the month that means "rod", Moshe began his sermons that start from the 44th Parsha! Now Rosh Chodesh literally means Head of the Month, or in a more used translation as "New Moon". Now, for the word Chodesh/Month, if you replace the Hebrew vowels for this word with others, you can read the same word as written as Chadash/New, thus you can now read the phrase as Rosh Chadash/New Head. And indeed, the word Rosh/Head, like Obama's full name in Hebrew, has the same Gematria of 501! And what are the beginning words of this Parsha? Aileh HaDevarim - These are the words/matters, Asher Diber Moshe - that Moshe spoke...Now, if you take a look on Rashi on this first verse, you will see a list of no-nos that the Jewish people performed in the desert that Moshe reproved them about before his demise. These are the things - THAT - Asher in Hebrew, the same Hebrew letters as the tribe/Shevet Asher represented by this month of Shevat - again it equals 501, the Gematria of Obama's full name! Again, the number 501 in close association with the number 44 - for the THIRD time!
And just like here it says "These are the things that Moshe spoke about...", so too immediately after it says in the other verse "to anger Him through your handiwork", it says "Moshe spoke into the ears of the entire congregation of Israel". You get it? Moshe warned us about Obama on the last day of his life! Yet, the Torah hints to us in the beginning of his final sermons as the first on the list of things that Moshe warned out about. First on the list, but last to be talked about?

The Megaleh Amukot, commentator on the Torah, tells us that the very first word of Deutronomy - Eileh/These have the Hebrew letters Alef, Lamed, Hei that begin with the phrase Avak Lashon Hara - "Dust of evil talk" meaning, statements that while may seem to be talking positive about someone, can lead to think of a negative connotation instead. For example, you mention someone as always cooking food. Saying it in a negative way can connote that one likes to stuff himself as opposed to feeding others, or praising someone in front of another who hates the one being praised. Another interpretation that I would like to offer is that these letters can also stand for Issur Lashon Hara - the prohibition of saying evil talk - "THESE are the things that Moshe spoke to all of Israel" - all about the dangers and prohibition of evil talk about one another.

Now for the second word - HaDevarim, after which is the name of this 44th Parsha called Devarim/Words or Things for short, as well as the name of this last book of the Chumash - consists of two words - Dam/Bloodshed=44 and Reiv (Reish, Yud, Beit) which means fighting. Based on the writings of Rabbi Nachman of Breslov, these letters also are the beginning letters of the phrase Reshaim B'Choshech Yidamu - "the wicked are stilled in darkness" - a phrase in Sefer Shmuel in which Chana, the mother of prophet Samuel, thanks Hashem for granting him such a son. In the very next verse, it says Hashem Yeichatu Merivav - "Hashem, may those who FIGHT with him be shattered". Speaking of darkness, in describing the 9th plague that happened to the Egyptians as in this week's Parshat Bo, it says Veyamesh Choshech - "The darkness was felt" It has been said that if you take the word Veyamesh and look towards the letters in the Alef Beit that immediately precede the letters in this word, it spells out HITLER exactly - next to the word darkness! Speaking of the 9th plague, it was on the 9th of Av that some of the worse tragedies happened to the Jewish people. Now in the word next to darkness as in "stilled in darkness", the word for stilled is Yidamu - the middle letters can be spelled Dam/Bloodshed. Thus, Moshe is warning everyone about the evils of bad speech about one another - it can Chas V'Shalom lead to fighting and bloodshed. However, if we do the right thing and trust in Hashem, then it will be the wicked who will be stilled in darkness and shattered.

Now in last week's Parshat Vayera and this week's Parshat Bo, Hashem inflicts the 10 plagues/Makot on the Egyptians. Perhaps what may be most confusing to one starting to learn about being a real observant Jew in reading through the Haggadah is this little piece after the list of these plagues where it says that Rabbi Yehuda gave a sign to remember this list using the first letters of these Makot - Detzach Adash Beachav. The Gematria of these first letters add up to - 501. Now my friends, what is the very first Maka/plague? Dam/Blood which equals 44! Now mind you, it was this very phrase of acronyms that was on the "rod of punishment" that Moshe and Aharon used as their "magic wand" to bring these sickly and deadly plagues. Indeed, this is the FOURTH connection here between the numbers 501 & 44!

I think this is the meaning of the connection between the previous paragraphs and Obama. Our Rabbis tell us that one who is merciful to the cruel will in the end will be cruel to the merciful. We see that King Shaul showed a little mercy to the nation Amalek about which Hashem told him to totally eradicate. Well later, he ordered a city of Cohanim to be murdered - including the babies! So now, these very Jews who bad mouth others who truly love Israel, followers of the ideology of Kahane who showed the Torah way of absolute strength despite what anyone else says, are the very ones who voted for Obama because of his liberal stance, which includes making peace of the broken pieces in the Middle East which will be shown to have already been shattered countless of times with no chances of making true mends. The only thing is that this took place practically at the very end of our exile, so this is virtually the last thing that Moshe actually addressed, but was on the top of Moshe's list of agendas to be discussed.

BLOODSHED AND SPIRITUAL EXTINCTION

As I mentioned in parenthesis earlier, the word Democrat in Hebrew consists of two words - Dam V'Karet: Bloodshed & Spiritual Extinction. Dam/Blood has the Gematria of 44. Yes Democrat Obama is indeed the 44th President. And this 44th Parsha - starting with Eileh HaDevarim Asher... - is always read on the Shabbat before Tisha B'Av, or the date itself except that we fast the day following it. It was on this fateful day marking the anniversary of both Holy Temple Destruction and numerious other tragedies that occured on this very date - that Obama made his first public political speech in 2004. Now, the word Dam can also be the initials - Daled, Mem - for the words Daled Malchuyot/the four kingdoms, referring to the four exiles in which we were subjected to one nation or another. The 4th and last of these is Edom, with a Gematria of 51, which is today associated with the United States with 50 states and District of Columbia. Edom also has a connotation of the word Dam/Blood. And as mentioned in a past blog, Obama's full name in Hebrew=501, (so is the word Yishmaelim/Yishmaelites - the Arabic nations) times 4, equals 2004, the secular year of his political birth that took place on the fateful day of Tisha B'Av commemorating when the 2nd Holy Temple was destroyed under Rome which was the Edom in those days! Now, add Edom (Christianity)= 51 and Yishmael (Islam-the letters in this word are included in the word (Y)ISHMAEL!)=451 with a combined Gematria of 502, times 4, equals 2008, the secular year in which Obama was voted in!

Can we CHANGE our Mazel? Can we change the sign of the month to be in our favor? What do we do now?

Honestly, for those who voted for Obama - I have news for them. Statistics show that 78% of voting Jews voted for Obama. This is indeed most close to the statement of our Sages that 4/5ths of the Jews in Egypt - 80%, died in exile "in the three days of darkness", so the Egyptians wouldn't be aware of Jews who died. Question: Doesn't it say that Hashem allowed them to die during the plague of darkness that happened to the Egyptians, so the Egyptians wouldn't know the difference? But wait a minute - 4/5s of the Jews dying? Could it be that the Egyptians who took good track of every single laboring Jew would not know the difference?

Thank G-d for the American guys who host the shows at http://www.redemption5768.com/, from whom I quoted a number of things in this blog as I mentioned in past blogs. As they pointed out, indeed it had to have been a spiritual extinction - left to die in exile without being with their brethren because they didn't want to leave. They wanted to rely on the NEW changes that they would hope for now that things got better, especially after the Egyptians were punished. No problem - the Torah has nothing to do with these leftover Jews who refused to leave the exile, and were left to die in spiritual darkness, with no future connection with the Jewish people or eternal bliss in the world to come. Apparently, they forget how their slavery begin - "A NEW king arose who didn't knew Yosef". Yosef -the one that save the Egyptian economy a century earlier, now a forgotten matter, Egypt had a CHANGE over a century before the Exodus - the new Egyptian king not recognizing what a Jew did for the country a century earlier began enslaving the Jews. So, what were the chances of having a CHANGE in the Jews' favor now? But such is the Galut/exile mentality, from the time of King Rameses to Moslem Arab Obama - they both being black and their policies being black. The only black we should be worried about is the black ink written in Scriptures that teach the lessons of the past.

And for the rest of the Jews who didn't vote for Obama because you didn't want to and you didn't rely on him - yes, there is hope for you. Either you trust in Hashem or you trust in Obama. Period! No inbetween - just strengthen your trust in Hashem - despite the economy. If you still live in the United States, don't wait until the economy improves in the States - IT WILL NOT HAPPEN. The great Kabbalists of today, as well as autistic children who have a clear spirtual state of things happening, have warned us that what is happening now is the States is the beginning of its downfall, and IT WILL NOT IMPROVE. If anything, Jews will be blamed by the same finger of Obama as he used to make his points across leading him to the presidency. And indeed, the word for the Mazel of D'li/Aquarius as associated with this fateful month, has a connotation of Dalut - poverty! Morever, the letter Daled=4 also has a connotation of Dalut/poverty, and we are at the end of the 4th and final exile. So, start packing your bags for Israel - NOW! Avoid the bloodshed and being left out of the spiritual rink. Avoid the Rex 84 prison camps which were over 600 at last count which will soon be proven to be concentration camps legalized by the United States government. Check out http://www.shuva.net/ for more information on this. Yes, you can change your Mazel, as our Rabbis tell us: "One who changes his place, changes his Mazel". And you will enter into the realm of Chai (18)- Eternal Spiritual Life!

Since we know that one of our best weapons is prayer, especially in combating "the evil in the End of Days" which is the 44th President of the United States, I leave you all with Psalm 44, described by Artscroll http://www.artscroll.com/ as "vividly portraying the recurring oppressions and persecutions of exile. Israel pleads for strength to endure until it is redeemed".

PSALM 44

For the Leader; a Psalm of the sons of Korah. Maschil.

O G-d, we have heard with our ears, our fathers have told us; a work Thou didst in their days, in the days of old.

Thou with Thy hand didst drive out the nations, and didst plant them in; Thou didst break the peoples, and didst spread them abroad.

For not by their own sword did they get the land in possession, neither did their own arm save them; but Thy right hand, and Thine arm, and the light of Thy countenance, because Thou wast favourable unto them.

Thou art my King, O G-d; command the salvation of Jacob.

Through Thee do we push down our adversaries; through Thy name do we tread them under that rise up against us.

For I trust not in my bow, neither can my sword save me.

But Thou hast saved us from our adversaries, and hast put them to shame that hate us.

In G-d have we gloried all the day, and we will give thanks unto Thy name for ever. Selah


Yet Thou hast cast off, and brought us to confusion; and goest not forth with our hosts.

Thou makest us to turn back from the adversary; and they that hate us spoil at their will.

Thou hast given us like sheep to be eaten; and hast scattered us among the nations.

Thou sellest Thy people for small gain, and hast not set their prices high.

Thou makest us a taunt to our neighbours, a scorn and a derision to them that are round about us.

Thou makest us a byword among the nations, a shaking of the head among the peoples.

All the day is my confusion before me, and the shame of my face hath covered me,

For the voice of him that taunteth and blasphemeth; by reason of the enemy and the revengeful.


All this is come upon us; yet have we not forgotten Thee, neither have we been false to Thy covenant.

Our heart is not turned back, neither have our steps declined from Thy path;

Though Thou hast crushed us into a place of jackals, and covered us with the shadow of death.

If we had forgotten the name of our G-d, or spread forth our hands to a strange god;

Would not G-d search this out? For He knoweth the secrets of the heart.

Nay, but for Thy sake are we killed all the day; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.

Awake, why sleepest Thou, O L-rd? Arouse Thyself, cast not off for ever.

Wherefore hidest Thou Thy face, and forgettest our affliction and our oppression?

For our soul is bowed down to the dust; our belly cleaveth unto the earth.

Arise for our help, and redeem us for Thy mercy's sake.

1 Shevat - Rosh Chodesh Shevat 5769

#17 - The Fourfold GOOD

"So, what is the good word?" Well, where did this phrase come from? I would hardly be surprised if the word good actually comes from the word G-d. G-d is known by the world as a Being of Goodness. And while there are those who are quick to blame G-d for the Holocaust by denying His existance because "if G-d really existed, he wouldn't have let it happen", our Sages in Mishna Berachot Chapter 9 waste no time telling us that we are supposed to thank Him for the bad like we do for the good. Of course it's most tragic when someone is murdered, injured, sick, loses a beloved one, falls down from riches to rags overnight, etc., but Hashem has His reasons which we quite often do not understand. The truth is that the real world of goodness is the world we enter after death if we behaved good. The "other" world is the real world because this is the world of eternity; however, the world that we presently live in is only here for ourselves to accumulate as many brownie points as possible so we can merit the world of eternity; and the more points we have, the MORE we will enjoy the spiritual bliss FOREVER!

Indeed, our Rabbis have told us that it's worse to cause someone to sin than to murder him/her, because while a murderer only deprives one from this temporary world (though he/she can no longer perform good deeds, Hashem may reward someone for the deeds that would have been done had he/she lived longer) but causing someone to sin causes him/her to be taken away from the future world, basically, dying a spiritual death. Yes, it may be a little hard to grasp first, but as evil as Hitler was, ANY Christian missionary attempting to lure Jews to Chrisitianity, "Messianism", etc. is FAR MORE evil. It's true that some six million Jews were torturously murdered in the hell of Hitlerism, but as we know in Judaism, a Jew who dies Al Kiddush Hashem/by Sanctification of Hashem's name, is granted an automatic immediate free ticket in the world to come in a most special place that NO ONE else is granted permission to enter. However, a Jew who converts to another religion cuts himself off spritually FOREVER from Hashem's Presence!

With this being said, today's date - 17 Tevet - is a date full of good meaning. First of all, the name of this month Tevet has a connotation of the world TOV - Good. Now, today's date of the 17th also implies good, because Tov/Good is the Gematria of 17. And there's more. After every day of creation as recorded in the beginning of the Bible, it marks the creation that "it was good".
There is an exception here. The second day of the week has no mention of the word good, but the third day of the week (from Monday night until Tuesday night) mentions the word good TWICE. And so this year, 17 Tevet falls out on the 3rd day of the week. Hence, you have here the fourfold GOOD, the name of my 17th post. Moreover, the Mazel/constellation for this month of Tevet is Gedi/Capricorn which is also the Gematria of 17!

On a personal level, 17 Tevet will always be ingrained in my mind for something very good that I accomplished. FOUR years ago, I made Aliyah on this date. It didn't fall out on the 3rd day of the week then, but significantly, I am writing this post celebrating FOUR years of living in Eretz Yisrael. When I first moved here, I lived in Yerushalayim for two and a half years. Now, in Parshat VaEtchanan (Deutronomy 3:25), it mentions Moshe pleading with Hashem to let him cross over to Israel so "I can see the GOOD land...this GOOD mountain and the Lebanon". Rashi tells us that the "GOOD mountain" refers to Yerushalayim (and Lebanon refers to the Holy Temple). I didn't think along these lines at the time that I was on my way to the airport or on the El Al plane, but sure was it GOOD timing! In any case, the phrase in Hebrew for this is HaHar HaTov HaZeh - "THIS good mountain". Now normally in Hebrew, the word for the word THIS is ZEH. But in this instance, it's with a presuffix of the letter Hei, thus HAZEH, which also has the Gemaria of the number 17, following the word HaTOV - the GOOD.

There is a halachic significance of the number four with Israel, particularly with Jerusalem (and the Holy Temple). Now first of all, we ask Hashem in our prayers to gather us from the "FOUR corners of the earth" to return us to Israel. But even before that, even while not yet living in Israel, Halacha/Jewish Law tells us that when we pray the main prayer of Shemoneh Esray, we are supposed to face Israel/Jerusalem/site of Holy Temple from whatever direction we are at. Actually, it sometimes is more confusing when living in Israel if out of Jerusalem as to exactly what direction to face the Holiest City because when travelling around, we are at a very fine angle, and especially without the sun around (or GPS), we may not have a good sense of exact direction. (In terms of living in the Western Hemisphere including the United States when facing east - in Florida, it should be a slight northern slant; in New York, it should be a slight southern slant).

In terms of four years, there is a type of spiritual level that is associated with this. As many will be familiar with, a Jewish boy gets his first haircut at the age of three, that is, in the beginning of his fourth year. Now, what is this based on? The Torah tells us (Leviticus 19:23-25) that when growing a fruit tree - in the first three years, the fruits are forbidden to be eaten. In the fourth year, its fruit are considered holy, and we are told by tradition that they can only be eaten if redeemed (for example, with a coin). And finally, in the fifth year, we can eat its fruit without any hindrance. One thing that is associated with this Mitzva which is not said in the Torah pertaining to most Mitzvot is that this would apply, as it starts off with "When you enter the land (of Israel)" which happened in the beginning of Joshua's leadership. How fascinating! I reached a milestone of four years, and now in the beginning of my fifth year, I am considered as a regular inhabitant of the Land. To come to think of it, I lived here for virtually an entire United States presidential term, for it was shortly before Bush started his second four-year-term.

Another connection with the number four in terms of Israel is the four blessings of Bircat HaMazon/Grace after meals. While the first blessing, composed by Moshe who was not able to enter Israel, does not speak anything about the Holy Land; the second blessing that was composed by Yehoshua who led the Jewish Nation to the Land mentions thanks to Hashem for the "cherished, GOOD, and spacious Land". Then the third blessing that was composed by King David & King Solomon mentions Jerusalem & Zion, and today's version of the blessing ends off asking Hashem to rebuild Jerusalem.

However, what perhaps is most fascinating is the FOURTH blessing because there is a whole story behind how this blessing got composed - which happened because of what started out as rather a very tragic incident. You see, the Jews of Beitar were murdered by the Romans and to add insult to injury, were forbidden to be buried. Some time later, permission was finally granted. Well, we don't need to mention what happens to a deceased after a short time of not being buried, but in this instance, a miracle happened and none of the dead were decayed or decomposed! It was in thanks of this that the Rabbis composed this FOURTH blessing thanking Hashem for preserving the bodies and that they were finally allowed to be buried. The key words used in this blessing in thanking Hashem for these things are HaTov V'Hameitiv - "the GOOD (king) and does GOOD (to all)" - in this instance, a double expression of goodness in this FOURTH and final blessing of thanking Hashem for our wonderful meal that we just ate.

There is one more interesting thing to note here. Rabbi Ya'akov Krantz, known as the Magid of Dubno, passed away on this date of 17 Tevet. He is known most famously for his parables that he composed amidst his sermons to bring Jews closer to the Torah. The Vilna Gaon, who was of impeccable Torah scholarship and character, felt a great need of this Magid to give him a lecture on ethics so he can fine tune his own character/Midot Tovot, though someone of the caliber of the Vilna Gaon probably did not need further "ethical instruction". In any case, what I would like to point out here is that the Vilna Gaon, among the greatest scholars of that generation, was born on the first day of Passover. As we know, we read the Hagaddah on the first two
night(s), (in Israel where the holidays are celebrated the way that the Torah tells us, we read the Hagaddah only on the FIRST night) which includes the Mitzva of recounting the Exodus/Sippur Yetizat Mitzrayim that is entitled with the word MAGID. It was exactly 200 years after the passing of the MAGID of Dubno that I was making my personal Exodus, leaving the exile for the Land that was promised to the first Ya'akov our ancestor who was told U'Faratzta Yama V'Keidma V'Tzafona VaNegba - "You will spread out to the west, east, north, and south". Yes, the four directions of the Land that the Jews who were redeemed from Egypt with the FOUR expressions of Redemption were promised that they would enter - V'Hotzeiti, V'Hitzalti, V'Go'alti, V'Lokachti "I will bring out", "I will save", "I will redeem", "I will take". (Incidentally, there is an English translation of the commentary of the Magid of Dubno on the Haggadah which was published for his 200th Yahrzeit which was the very date that I made Aliyah!).

So imagine - FOUR years gone by as though it was only yesterday. Do you want to wait another "FOUR more years" before coming to our Homeland where it is meant for a Jew to live the true meaning of life, living a spiritual life that more closely resembles the life of the world to come in the next world? Don't need to wait to start enjoying the spiritual bliss - the only TRUE GOOD. You can start your preparations for the big move to the GOOD land - TODAY!

17 Tevet 5769

#16 - The LAST Period

It's a little ironic to be calling this post the LAST period on the 10th of Tevet, the day that commemorates the FIRST major tragic event that happened to the Jewish Nation for which we fast. It is true that when the verse in Zecharia mentions the list of fast days that this one is listed last, but that is strictly according to the order of the months of the year. But this is the BEGINNING of these major troubles - which was the the enemy beseiging the wall of Jerusalem, which was the beginning of the downfall of Jerusalem & destruction of the first Holy Temple. In fact, our Rabbis tell us that if 10 Tevet falls out on Shabbat, then we have to fast on this Shabbat as we do for Yom Kippur - on 10 Tishrei - when it falls out on Shabbat, as learned out from a verse about today's fast day from Ezekiel (Note: the way our calendar is set up these days, 10 Tevet will never fall out on a Shabbat). This is unlike the other fast days when if their regular date falls out on Shabbat, then the fast is held earlier or later (only when Tisha B'Av falls out on Shabbat, we begin the fast from sunset due to a technicality as to a doubt as to when night begins). Accordingly, even though most of the burning of the Holy Temple took place on the 10th of Av, the fast of Tisha B'Av is held on the 9th of Av (unless it falls out on Shabbat so then we fast on the 10th of Av) because though the burning only started near the end of the day, yet it is the BEGINNING of the tragedy that is considered the worst part of the tragedy.

This year, 10 Tevet actually marks something most significant - it happens four times a year. This is the spring equinox, the summer solstice, the fall equinox, or the winter solstice. They are known as Tekufat/Cycle of - Nissan, Tammuz, Tishrei, or Tevet respectively. Each such period lasts for 91 days and 7 and 1/2 hours. Thus, a full solar year consists of 365 and 6 hours.
So, this coming winter solstice will be BEGINNING this year on 10 Tevet at 10:30AM Jerusalem time (3:30AM EST). It is interesting to note that it falls out on the time that is in the middle of the hour of 10 o'clock on the 10th day of the 10th month (counting the months from Nissan, the month of the Exodus - the birth of our Nation). But be it as it may, there is something much more of significance here as to THIS particular winter solstice.

In my 7th post "Countdown to Bircat HaChama" (in November), I mentioned the planetary pattern being in the same position every 28 years starting from Creation, which will occur for the 207th time this year on Erev Pesach - 14 Nissan. Now, we have four seasonal periods every year. Starting the count from the spring equinox when we recite Bircat HaChama, this winter solstice or Tekufat Tevet will be the LAST period of the 112 periods in the 28 year cycle. To get a clearer picture of this, press on this link which will show you these 112 periods of this cycle
http://www.realluach.com/tkf.php?zone=machzor&c=206, and the 112 periods
http://www.realluach.com/tkf.php?zone=machzor&c=207 for the upcoming cycle.
(NOTE: The Hebrew date showing will sometimes actually be the next Hebrew date if the time showing is at night before 12:00AM of the next secular date. Also, the times showing does not take into account Daylight Savings Time)

As you noticed, there are exactly 112 periods in each 28 year solar cycle. To be sure, nothing is coincidence. When Ya'akov with his family came to Israel, at one point, they crossed the ford of the Jabbok - Ma'avar Yabok. Yabok are the same letters for the Hebrew number of 112, Koof-Yud-Beit. In fact, there is a holy book that is called Ma'avar Yabok, which contains liturgies for the ill and deceased. A section of this deals with the LAST period of the dying person's life - particularly the last few hours, minutes or seconds. This is the most CRUCIAL time of a person's life, and is a time for confessing and regretting one's sins throughout his or her lifetime.
If a person truly repents of one's sins, he/she is totally forgiven and these sins are not held against him/her in the Hereafter.

In Ya'akov's own name, you have the same three letters of the number 112 or Yabok, and the letter Ayin in his name is the letter that is kabalistically connected with this month of Tevet. In fact, there is a special period of repentance for sexual sins that is called Shovevim - the Hebrew word that are the beginning letters of the first six Parshiyot of Sefer Shemot/Book of Exodus - Shemot, Vaeira, Bo, Beshalach, Yitro, Mishpatim. We begin these readings in this month. Also, the word for one needing to set a fixed thing is Yikba, the same letters as Ya'akov. This word is used in Shulchan Aruch/Code of Jewish Law in reference to setting a fixed time to learn Torah everyday - especially after the morning prayers. It says that even if one is rushed to work, he should set a fixed time (Yikba Et) to learn even just one verse or one Halacha/Jewish Law, and can learn more later in the day when he has more time. Indeed, learning Torah is a greater Mitzva and has more eternal reward for each word learnt than ALL of the Mitzvot combined! But in addition, learning Torah helps one repent between learning what one has to do to serve Hashem the proper way as well as giving one the motivation and understanding of one's purpose in life without squandering it on worthless things, as money can always be replaced but time cannot be replaced - every moment counts.

In this week's Parsha Vayechi, the last Parsha of Bereishit/Book of Genesis which always falls around 10 Tevet, Ya'akov is about to reveal the date of the Redemption, but is made to forget it at the last moment before blessing his children. This period of time right before the Redemption or the time of the Redemption itself is referred to as the Acharit HaYamim "End of Days".

Speaking of end & last, there is another last in time - Shabbat. This is the weekend & LAST day of the week. But what is special about this coming Shabbat is that it falls out on the 14th of Tevet. You see, exactly 850 years ago, the famed commentator on the Torah/Chumash known as Ibn Ezra was handed a letter in which he was addressed by non other than the Sabbath Queen herself (yes, Shabbat isn't just the name of the special day of the week, there is an actual spiritual being whose name is Shabbat). In his words: "In the year 4919 at midnight , Shabbat eve of the fourteenth of Tevet, I, Avraham the Sephardi Ibn Ezra was in a city on an island at the end of the earth (London, England)... And I saw in a dream that what appeared to be a man stood before me, holding a sealed letter. And he declared to me: Take this letter that the Shabbat has sent to you... and I bowed down... And I read it, and at first it was as sweet to me as honey, but when I read the final passages my heart burned within me, and I almost lost my soul... Why did it send me this letter? Here it is: 'I am Shabbat, the crown of precious religion, the fourth of the Ten Commandments... I am the joy of men and women, and both old and young are happy with me...'
"And the Shabbat said to me: 'It has been said that yesterday your students brought to your home books with a commentary on the Torah, where it is written to desecrate the eve of Shabbat. And you should gird your loins in order to defend the honor of Shabbat by fighting the war of the Torah against the enemies of Shabbat. Do not show favor to any man.'"

Following this, the Ibn Ezra opened his door, and there is was, the version of the Bible that this student of his placed at his front door. Reading from the beginning of Genesis, when speaking about the first day of Creation where it is written as "And it was evening, and it was mourning, the first day", the commentary on this read as "When it was morning of the second day, then there was one full day, because the night follows the day", thus challenging when Shabbat begins which according to this, it would imply that Shabbat begins on Saturday morning and ends at Sunday morning instead of from Friday night until Saturday night. Upon seeing this, the Ibn Ezra became very enraged, and tore this up, even though under normal circumstances, it is forbidden to rip up something - especially with wording - on Shabbat. He then resolved that immediately after Shabbat, he would set the record straight.

For the full version of the poem of the words of Shabbat HaMalka herself in Hebrew, check it up on the following link in the paragraph in blue daat.ac.il/daat/shabat/luach/igeret-2.htm. What follows is Ibn Ezra's letter in response to the heretical views of his wayward student. The full text is what is called Igeret HaShabbat - The Letter of Shabbat.

As you may have noticed in more recent posts, I have connected the number of the post to some theme within that particular blog. Well, I have a double wammy here with the number 16, actually three specialties:
1) The number 112 is a multiple of 16 when multiplied by 7 (we just talked about the 7th and last day of the week - Shabbat)
2) I had mentioned in a previous blog pertaining to Obama (his case challenging his supposed U.S. citizenship is pending in the Supreme Court) about the two American guys who predicted his rise to the U.S. Presidency long before he was the main candidate running on their website http://www.redemption5768.com/. At this time, they have 16 shows posted on their site. And at the very end of their 16th show...
3)They mentioned the SECRET FORMULA FOR CLEANSING SINS. This is most particularly the case for sexual sins. We are referring specifically to the 10 Psalms of what is known as the Tikun HaKelali, as compiled by Rabbi Nachman of Breslov - 16, 32, 41, 42, 59, 77, 90, 105, 137, 150. Now, while we are at it, it should be mentioned that this date of 10 Tevet is the Yahrzeit of Rabbi Nosson Sternhartz, the main disciple of Rabbi Nachman, who said of his disciple Rabbi Nosson that if it wasn't for him, there would be no writings of Breslov around. In any case, the very first word of the first of these 10 Psalms, in Psalm 16, is the word Michtam/Letter (of David) which is the same Gematria as Nosson (500)! Now, add the number 112 which we associated earlier in this blog to repentance, and it comes out to 612. This is the Gematria of Brit, as in Brit Mila/Circumcision, referring to sexual purity.

Let's prepare ourselves in this LAST PERIOD before the nearing of the coming of Moshiach which is associated with the timing of Birkat HaChama which will begin a new period, a new era, the time of the new LIGHT/Ohr=207, beginning of the 207th period of physical and spiritual light which will occur on Erev Pesach, the very day that according to the Torah we are supposed to offer the Pascal lamb (called Pesach in Hebrew, the same name as the holiday) as the Jews did right before leaving the Egyptian exile in their first redemption. In our final and last period which begins in the midst of this fast day, a day that marks a time of self reflection due to the troubles that happened to us as a result of our sins, let us resolve to do it right and truly repent and make a sincere effort for the better BEFORE the coming of Moshiach to merit eternity.

(I should mention that since my last posting on the political party in Israel to vote for, a very positive change happened in which the National Union (Ichud Leumi) went through a major change when choosing Yaakov "Ketzaleh" Katz, the legend of the Yishuv movement in Israel including the founding of Bet El, to be the head of this party, and combined a few smaller parties, including Marzel's, to be united as one. Fourth on its list is Dr. Michael Ben-Ari, one of Marzel's guys and was in close contact with both Rabbis Meir and Binyamin Kahane ZTVK'L HY'D. This is the party to vote for if you want Israel to get back on its feet without compromise with the Arabs. If you can't vote if you live abroad, then get your relatives and/or friends in Israel to vote for this party).

10 Teves 5769 - Day of Beginning of Tekufat Tevet

P.S. The time mentioned for this posting is 2:06PM. Indeed, this very blog is talking about the last period in the 206th cycle of the 28 year planetary position. True Divine Providence/Hashgacha Pratit!

#15 - CHANUKA: Jewish Activism - Part 2

Half way through - half way to go. Now, the only question is - which is the better half? Well, that depends on how you look at it.

In terms of my perspective, the second half have unique days. Starting from the end, you have the last day of Chanuka, which actually has its own special name - Zot Chanuka, taken from the Torah reading for the last day, and kabbalistically, is the final time for Hashem sealing his decrees, and thus repentance - though in a happy mode - is in order. And then every year, Rosh Chodesh falls out on the 6th day - which in this year will also fall out on Shabbat, thus a triple yammy; and in some years, also on the 7th day, as it falls out this year. And then the 5th day...this is the best part, at least as far as I am concerned.

On the 5th day of Chanuka, as we read on all the days of Chanuka, we read from the section in the Torah about the Korbanot/mostly animal-sacrifices that the leaders of the particular tribes of the Jewish Nation brought. On this day, we read what the leader of the tribe of Shimon brought on the 5th day from the dedication of the Mishkan/Tabernacle (outside of Israel, the next portion is also read each day; but in Israel, where the miracle of Chanuka took place, only one portion is read - besides the 1st & last days of Chanuka when the same thing is read everywhere). I love the sight of my name Shimon, but there is something unique here about the Korbanot that the leader of this tribe brought. You see, each of the 12 leaders brought the same exact things but they all had different intentions corresponding to various themes - Patriarchs & Matriachs, the Exodus, the Torah, etc. The Midrash Rabba points out that the intentions of the leader of the tribe of Shimon had to do with the Mishkan, the forerunner of the Beit HaMikdash/Holy Temple. That's interesting, because Beit HaMikdash has the same Gematria as my 2nd name Matisyahu, the name of the one who started the Jewish revolution that lead to the holiday of Chanuka, when the Beit HaMikdash was rededicated when the Jews took control of it once again from the Anti-Semitic Greeks.

Now, this is my 15th post. It is true that we light a total of 15 candles during the first 5 days of Chanuka (besides the candle that lights the others - the Shammash), and this number also has something special particularly with the 5th day of Chanuka. But in addition, the number 15 also is related to the whole holiday. The Vilna Gaon points out that the different holidays correspond to the various spiritual emanations (Sefirot), which are Kindness, Strength, Splendor, Triumph, Glory, Foundation, and Kingship. The one for Chanuka is the Sefira of Glory/Hod. Hod is the Gematria of 15!

Hod also has the meaning of Hodaya/Thanksgiving, and as we say in the Chanuka prayers of Haneirot Halalu & Al HaNissim - Lehodot U'Lehalel L'Shimcha HaGadol - "to give thanks and praise for Your Great Name". Thus, indeed it is the Sefira of Hod that is most related to Chanuka, the only other eight day holiday besides Sukkot when we say the FULL Hallel.

In Talmud Berachot 58a, it quotes the verse "To You, Hashem is the Greatness (meaning Kindness), Strength, Splendor, Triumph, Glory..." (Chronicles I 29:11). Quoting Rabbi Akiva, Greatness is the splitting of the Reed Sea, Strength is the death of the firstborn Egyptians, Splendor is the giving of the Torah, Triumph is Jerusalem, and Glory is the Beit HaMikdash/Holy Temple. Now, bearing in mind that Glory/Hod is the Gematria of 15, we see another parallel of this number to the Beit HaMikdash. On Passover, when we celebrate it with the Seder on the night of 15 Nissan, and we read the Haggadah which has 15 parts to it, we sing the famous song of Dayenu. In it, it lists 15 different favors/gifts that Hashem gave us. The 15th and last one is the Beit HaMikdash! (In the Hagaddah, it is called the Beit HaBechira - House of Choice, the name that the Rambam/Maimondies gives for the laws of the Beit HaMikdash). Now, if you take a look in the above Talmudic source, you will see that no explanation is given for the last two Sefirot which are mentioned in the original source in Chronicles. So the question can be asked - why does it end with Hod/Glory and not with Kingship? We'll answer this a little later on.

Usually, when we talk about Sefirot, it's usually between Passover & Shavuot when we count the Sefira - the daily count from 1 to 49 days. Corresponding to these 49 days, you have the above Sefirot/Spiritual Emanations that start with Kindness in Kindness, Strength in Kindness, etc., and then the 2nd week beginning with Kindness in Strength, Strength in Strength, etc. Well, the fifth week corresponds with the Sefira of Glory, and starting with Kindness in Glory, it continues to...Glory in Glory - Hod ShebaHod. Can you figure out what day this is? This is Lag Ba'Omer - the 33rd day of the Omer, the famous celebrated day of the Yahrzeit of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai. It's the 5th day of the 5th week, and this day is especially related to the rabbi who started revealing the Kabbala which later became what is known as the Zohar, which means brightness, related to light, thus relating to Chanuka, the holiday of lights. In any event, we see an amazing thing here - we see a correlationship here between the number 5, and the name Shimon. First we see that the leader of the tribe of Shimon brought his sacrifices on the 5th day from the Mishkan dedication, and then we see that Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai (Rashbi for short) passed away on the 5th day of the 5th week of the Sefira period. And why did this rabbi achieve such greatness as being the kabbala man, something that no one was known as such in Jewish history until he came along?

You see, Rashbi is another Jewish hero, who followed in the footsteps of Matisyahu. Matisyahu had no fear killing the Hellenistic Jew who dared offer a pig on the altar, and Rashbi had no fear speaking his mind on the Romans. When he was together with a couple of other rabbis, one of whom spoke in praise of the Romans' accomplishments, Rashbi spoke his mind saying that whatever they did was only for themselves. Now mind you, this was at a time that the Romans controlled the land of Israel following the destruction of the 2nd Temple which the Romans were responsible for. The next thing you know, the Romans were hunting for him to have him executed, and Rashbi with his son Elazar hid in a cave for 13 years. No doubt that it was this time in his life that he reached unfortold spiritual heights which led him to reveal the Kabbala.

Another point about Chanuka as especially related to the 5th day when we read the sacrifices of the leader of the tribe of Shimon, is that according to a Hassidic book called B'nei Yissachar which has interesting Torah thoughts, Gematriot, etc. about Shabbat, Rosh Chodesh, and holidays - the Jewish months corresponds to the Jewish tribes in the order that the leaders of these tribes brought the sacrifices following the Mishkan dedication. Thus, the tribe of Shimon corresponds with the 5th month of Av. It was in the beginning of this month on Rosh Chodesh that Aaron the first Cohen Gadol/High Priest passed away, and as the Torah tells us, the entire Jewish nation mourned him for 30 days for his role in making peace between everyone, thus for that entire month of Av. Also, the seven special guests of Sukkot, who are Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Aaron, Joseph, and David, correspond to the above seven Sefirot. Thus, Aaron corresponds to the Sefira of Hod/Glory, and is the ancestor of the Chashmonaim family from Matisyahu who brought us the holiday of Chanuka which corresponds to the Sefira of Hod/Glory! (It's interesting to note that Rabbi Isaac Luria, the famed Kabbalist following Rashbi, passed away on the 5th day of the 5th month of Av).

Now, I want to tell you something that I just discovered like a week ago. If you take a look at my very first post - I mention that the 669th chapter in the first section of the Shulchan Aruch - Book of Jewish Law, which deals with the laws of Simchat Torah when we finish reading the Sefer Torah, is related to the 669 Parshiyot/sections that are divided by space in the Sefer Torah, and corresponding to which, one of the Gematriot of Gematriot (depending on its spelling) equals 669. There is something that I did not mention in my first post. There are exactly 669 mentions of the name Jerusalem in the Bible! (It's not mentioned under the name of Jerusalem even once in the Sefer Torah, but the first time this name appears is in the rest of the Bible beginning with the Book of Joshua). I knew this before, but the following is the discovery that I just made:

There is a custom brought down in Jewish law about the Shemoneh Esrai prayer that when we conclude it, we say a verse(s) corresponding to our Hebrew name(s) - the first letter of the verse which is the same as the first letter of our name, and the last letter of the verse which is the same as the last letter of our name. Thus, for my name Shimon - I say the verse Shabechi Yerushalayim Et Hashem Haleli Elokayich Tzion - "Praise Hashem, O residents of Jerusalem;
Laud your G-d O Zion" (Psalms 147:12). Yes, a most beautiful verse, and indeed I lived in Jerusalem for two and a half years, so I certainly fulfilled my own verse. But here is the punchline - the Jerusalem of this verse is its 401th mention in the Bible. Now, I was curious to know, what is the 401th Parsha/section of the Torah as seen in the Sefer Torah? Amazing - the reading for the 5th day of Chanuka mentioning what the sacrifices of the leader of the tribe of Shimon! (When I gave myself my second name Matisyahu, I chose the verse in Psalms 24:3 that refers to the Beit HaMikdash - the Gematria of Matisyahu - which relates to my first verse about Jerusalem). To appreciate the connection here, you have to ask, how many people with my name Shimon have this verse of the many verses that begin with a "Shin" and end with a "Noon" corresponding to this name? And also, how many other people have a verse corresponding to their name that mentions the name Jerusalem? (There are over 22,000 verses in the Bible). For more information on the beauty of life in Jerusalem, you can check out this fascinating site http://www.jerusalicious.blogspot.com/.

On a personal note, as I mentioned in the past, my present full Hebrew name - Shimon Matisyahu - has the same Gematria as Keriat HaTorah/Reading of the Torah (1,327). It is this reading of the Torah of the 5th day of Chanuka as it relates to the tribe of Shimon (NOTE: I was born on the 5th day (Thursday) of the week, the SAME DAY OF THE WEEK as the leader of the tribe of Shimon brought his sacrifices, and during the daytime - sacrifices were only allowed to be brought during the daytime) that corresponds to the mention of Jerusalem in the verse that I say corresponding to my name Shimon, that is just one more proof to myself that it was meant for me to add on the name Matisyahu, whose daring actions brought the holiday of Chanuka that represents the 5th Sefira. Also to note, in this week's Parsha Miketz which falls out this year on Chanuka, it mentions Shimon (ancestor of his tribe) three times in relation to his imprisonment and his release.

And in terms of the first letters of the Sefirot, the first letters of the names of the first five Sefirot - Cheit for Chesed/Kindness, Gimel for Gevura/Strength, Tav for Tiferet/Splendor, Noon for Netzach/Triumph, Hei for Hod/Glory - add up to the same Gematria as my first name Shimon - 466! And it is Hod, the last of these Sefirot, that refers to the Beit HaMikdash which in turn is the same Gematria as my second name Matisyahu - 861. Also, if you add up the three numbers of 861, where
8+6+1, this adds up to 15, the Gematria of Hod, which refers to the Beit HaMikdash!

And I would be remiss if I didn't mention that Matisyahu's grandfather was Shimon HaTzadik who was the Cohen Gadol/High Priest in the Second Temple for 40 years, in addition to his role in the Anshei Knesset HaGedolah/"Men of the Great Assembly" of which he was the last of its 120 members to have passed away. He is perhaps most known for his famous statement in Pirkei Avot/Ethics of the Fathers, where he says "The world stands on three things: The Torah, the Avodah (prayer/sacrifices) and Gemilut Chasadim/doing acts of kindness." His Yahrzeit of 29 Tishrei, is the first day of the FIFTH week of the year starting from Rosh Hashanah.

Now as I asked earlier, why did Rabbi Akiva fall short of explaining all the seven Sefirot when he only explained the first five, ending with Hod/Glory? Answer - It ends where it begins. We mentioned the 15 favors Hashem did for us from the time He helped us leave Egypt until he finally granted us the Beit HaMikdash almost 500 years later. It took nearly three millenium since Creation for this to happen (In the midst of the 30th century since Creation - perhaps this is why it is Psalm 30 that became the psalm of the Temple Dedication). Accordingly, the last holiday that the Sages instituted for us was Chanuka - the holiday of Hod/Glory, which marked our return to the Beit HaMikdash - the concept of Hod/Glory, following our spiritual exile from access to the holiest site in the world. And in recent times, Hashem granted us a very similar miracle - over 42 years ago, we were once again able to return to our holiest spot once more following a 19 year absence (NOTE: At that time in 1967, the Temple Mount was in our hands. While we are forbidden to walk on certain areas there due to our impurity from the dead until we will in the future be purified from the ashes of the red heifer, the fact that it came back to our control from enemy hands despite all odds of Israel being possibly annihilated from 31 million enemies shows Hashem's glory). Accordingly, we call the day that the miracle happened Yom Yerushalayim/Jerusalem Day - our triumph over our enemies, and our return to the Glory of Hashem's palace in this world.

We hope and pray for the day that very shortly, we will be able to perform the Temple functions, including the sacrifices, that we used to do thousands of years ago. This will happen in the merit of no doubt - the heroes of the Jewish people that showed self sacrifice that brought some of our best spiritual packages: Aaron - the Kehuna/Priesthood, Nachshon - ancestor of Moshiach, King David - Book of Psalms, Matisyahu - Chanuka, Rabbi Shimon Ben Yochai - Kabbalistic teachings of Zohar, and of course Rabbis Meir & Binyamin Kahane who lived every day as their last. And this is how we need to live our lives - any day could indeed be the last day when all of a sudden, the contest will be over and King Moshiach will arrive at the finish line...

P.S. As per my last blog on information for those living outside of Israel to vote, it seems that while it's being talked about in the Knesset, only those who are actually in Israel can vote. I sent E-mail to Marzel's party, but I haven't received a response yet, and I will attempt to find out some other way about how we can help Baruch Marzel's Jewish Front party get its foot in the Knesset in the upcoming elections of February 10. Again, we have to do our part, and then Hashem will do the rest.

5th day of Chanuka - Day of Reading of Korbanot of Nasi L'Bnei Shimon - 29 Kislev 5769

#14 - CHANUKA: Jewish Activism - Part 1

Happy Chanuka!

On a personal note, this is my very first Chanuka since I gave myself my second Hebrew name - Matisyahu, the original hero of Chanuka. I already wrote up about him last month in my 8th post, so I won't be going into details about him per se. However, we have had fortunately quite a few other Jewish heroes which I will be mentioning shortly.

But first, I want to point out that this is my 14th post; and interestingly, as I wrote about in my 7th post - "Countdown to Bircat HaChama", the Mishna Tractate Pesachim starts off with "Ohr L'Arba'ah Asar" - "The night of the 14th" referring to the beginning of 14 Nissan, the night before Passover, when we search for the Chametz. Literally, the phrase can be translated as "The Light of the 14th". And indeed, Chanuka - the Holiday of Light - is what will be discussed in our 14th post. Indeed, the very first time that the word Ohr/Light is mentioned in the Torah "G-d said "Let there be light" is its 25th word - which corresponds to 25 Kislev - when we light the Menorah at the beginning of the night.


JEWISH HOLY TIME

Last week, I came across an absolutely amazing thing. A 2,000 year old computer built by the Greeks! Basically, it's a astronomical time clock which includes a dial for the 19 year lunar cycle with a corresponding dial for 235 lunar months, allowing for the solar & lunar calendar to correspond to the same date, as reflected in our present calendars - Hebrew & secular. It's interesting to note that the Rambam/Maimonidies in his magnum opus Mishna Torah, has a whole section entitled Hilchot Kiddush HaChodesh - Laws of Month Sanctification, which consists of 19 chapters and 235 paragraphs (corresponding to the number of solar years & lunar months!), brings some information from the Greek astronomers about this subject which at times may have seemed even more correct in their calculations than figured out by the rabbis! This is nothing of such surprise since our sages have said that if one says that the non-Jews have wisdom, believe him, but that the non-Jews have Torah, do not believe him. By the way, you can check up on more information on this computer that is in working condition once again at http://blog.wired.com/gadgets/2008/12/2000-year-old-a.html?npu=1.

While the Greeks may have had great wisdom, it didn't do much good in terms of being humane or racism. They liked our Bible all right - they called it biblos, meaning book, just another nice book of wisdom on the shelf. But they viciously attempted to wipe out our religion. The three main categories they concentrated on attempting to prevent us Jews from practising was circumcision, Shabbat, and Chodesh-Sancification of the Month. The first two is quite understandable - at that time, virtually only Jews were circumcised, and Shabbat was no less of our marking as Jews. But what was the deal on sactifying the moon - when the Jewish court declared a new month based on the sighting of the moon? Certainly, Jews as any other culture have to have some system of determining time for their calendar? But this is the key - KIDDUSH HaChodesh - SANCTIFICATION of the month. The Hebrew word is based on the word KADOSH - Holy. The Greeks didn't care about us eating potato latkes or Sufganiyot (I forgot - they didn't exist before Chanuka - our holiday of defeat over the Greeks). Even Hitler had a Jewish cook whom he spared from the Holocaust. But what bothered them was that we are KADOSH - Holy People, installing Kedusha - Holiness into our daily lives, installing real Jewish meaning in our mundane practices, including our calendars. Hashem gave us - with the Jewish Court in charge - the great responsibility of having control over time for the purpose of serving Him. The Jerusalem Talmud tells us that a girl under three years old who somehow lost her virginity could regain it up to three years old; and if in the interim, the Jewish Court declared an extra month of Adar (as it done every two or three years), it could sometimes make the difference as to whether or not such a girl will regain her virginity. Such is the power of Jewish time - and the secret ingredient is KEDUSHA/HOLINESS!


LAST VERSE IN THE BIBLE

Now that we have mentioned something about our Bible/T'Nach, let's turn to the very LAST verse in our HOLY Bible. While in our own Bible as finalized by the Sages does not include the period of history which led to Chanuka - the LAST holiday as mandated by the Sages, everything has its way of being hinted at. This is the verse:
"So says Coresh, King of Persia: Hashem the G-d of heaven has given me all the kingdoms of the world, and he commanded me to build a house for him in Jerusalem in Judea/Judah; whoever among you among His people - Hashem his G-d is with him - can go up (make Aliya to Israel)." (Chronicles II 36:23)

Yes, the final message of our Bible is to move to Israel for the ultimate purpose of Jewish spirituality with is centered in the Holy Temple in Jerusalem. Indeed, it was Judah/Yehudah the Maccabbee with his army who entered the Holy Temple to light the Menorah once again following their conquest of the Greek army, which took place on the night of 25 Kislev. It was the following year when the Rabbis instituted Chanuka as a new Jewish holiday.

What (Hebrew) year was this? Look at the chapter number and verse number of the very last verse in the Bible (mind you, the Christians have a different order in their Bible), and you will have the answer - 3623! So, the LAST holiday mandated by the Rabbis - Chanuka, was instituted in the year that is hinted by the numbering of the LAST verse in our Jewish Bible.
Amazing! Additionally, this final verse in the T'nach has 30 words, and the name of Yehudah the Maccabbee is the Gematria of 30, as this name Yehudah is also one of the words in this final verse of 30 words. An additional connection of the number 30 to Chanuka is that the Psalm recited at the end of our morning prayers during Chanuka is Psalm 30.

It is actually ironic that the numbering system of the chapters and verses in our Bible has nothing to do with Jewish origin. This was actually done by Christians to make it easier to refer to a particular place in the Bible. However, Hashem definitely played a hand in this, as I have seen numerous examples of this. It's also interesting to note that this very last verse mentions the name of a non-Jewish king who granted the Jewish nation their religious rights once again following their exile and destruction of the first Temple some 52 years earlier. However, this verse also mentions Jerusalem & Judah. Perhaps the mention of Judah hints to none other than the time period of Judah the Maccabbee who returned to the rebuilt Second Temple in Jerusalem with renewed Jewish rights once more over two centuries after King Coresh's declaration. Mind you, the Temple/Beit HaMidash, has the Gematria of Matisyahu (861), the father of Judah the Maccabbe. It could very well be that Judah the Maccabbee came to the Temple to light the Menorah in the Temple, light it also in memory of his father Matisyahu- who inspired his son - who passed away before this took place. Perhaps this is where the concept of lighting a Yahrzeit candle in memory of a deceased relative comes from!


TORAH READING FOR CHANUKA

Now on today's special Torah reading for Chanuka (Numbers Chapter 7): We begin reading about the leaders of the tribes of Israel bringing Korbanot - animal sacrifices in the Mishkan/Tabernacle, the forerunner of the Beit HaMikdash/Temple. On all eight days of Chanuka, we read the breakdown of the sacrifices that different leaders brought. They all brought the exact same things - just with the particular intentions as related to their particular tribe. Today's reading for the 1st day of Chanuka includes the Korbanot of Nachshon Ben Aminadav, the leader of the tribe of Yehuda/Judah. Nachshon is no stranger to Jewish history. We are told in the Midrash that when the Jews came to the Reed Sea (not the Red Sea, a mistranslation from Christians), in hot pursuit of the Egyptians, they were afraid to get into their swimming trunks and dunk in. It was none other than Nachshon - also the brother-in-law of Aaron who married Nachshon's sister - who took the plunge. Thus, it made most sense that Nachshon who was the 1st to jump in - in self-sacrifice of the chances of being drowned, should be the 1st of the leaders of the tribes to bring his SACRIFICES. Indeed, he brought his sacrifices on the very day that his brother in law Aaron, began his function as the 1st Cohen Gadol/High Priest, the ancestor of the Hashmonaim/Maccabbees! Moreover, Judah the Maccabbee, a Jewish hero,bore the same name as the tribe of Judah, whose 1st leader was Nachshon, another Jewish hero. Morever, Nachshon was an ancestor of King David, whose name David has the Gematria of 14, which is the number of this post. On every day of Chanuka, we recite Psalm 30, which begins with Mizmor Shir Chanukat HaBayit L'David - The Song of the Dedication of the Temple by David. His tribe of origin Yehudah/Judah, as well as the name of Judah the Maccabbee, is the Gematria of 30, the number of this Psalm. King David himself was another Jewish hero - scholar and warrior. And our modern day Nachshon/Matisyahu/King David is none other than Rabbi Meir Kahane (as well as his son Rabbi Binyamin Kahane) ZTVK'L HY'D, whose middle name is David; and also a Cohen like Matisyahu and his sons were.

Speaking of which, Rabbi Kahane's name hints especially to the first day of Chanuka. You see, the Gematria of his first name Meir is 251, for which the Hebrew letters spelling this number is Reish, Noon, Aleph. Now, using these letters, the Noon & Reish spells the word Ner/candle and Aleph has a numerical value of one, so Ner Aleph in the context of Chanuka refers to the first night of Chanuka when we light one candle/light, marking the very evening that Judah the Maccabbee entered the Temple and lit the Menorah. And then, the first two letters of Kahane's family name - Kaf, Hei - is the number 25, hinting to the 25th of Kislev when we light the first candle, and the last two letters of the name - Noon, Aleph - begin the words Ner Echad, which means "one candle". Coincidence? Indeed, Rabbi Kahane, like the Maccabbees, was not just another Cohen, but a Jewish hero of the highest order.


JEWISH ACTIVISM - OUR PART

The number 14, as per this post, is also the Gematria of Yad - Hand. This is the symbolism for two things - 1)The Cohanim who use their hands to bless the Jewish people, as you will see on tombstones of some Cohanim. 2) Jewish activism, which was the symbol chosen for the JDL, which was founded by Rabbi Meir Kahane.

Speaking of Rabbi Kahane, this is where Jewish activism comes into play. I was just at a Shabbaton in Beit El where we had an activists' meeting pertaining to the state of affairs going on in Israel and what we can do about it, especially in terms of voting. The voting is the easy part, what we discussed doing is contacting the party we want to vote for and doing something on their behalf to make it easier to get their foot in the Knesset door to help reverse the crazy, evil decisions of the Knesset, among which was the recent expulsion of the rightful, legal Jewish owners/tenants from the Peace House; immediately after which, the Hamas was talking about resuming suicide bombings.

Well my friends, there is ONLY ONE party to vote for - the Jewish Front, headed by Baruch Marzel, now in corroboration with Rabbi Sholom Dov Wolpe, a Chabad rabbi who has been quite outspoken with his pro-Israel stance putting his reputation and security on the line. Three years ago before last elections in Israel, a group of rabbis went around to potential Knesset candidates asking them to sign to a statement that should there be a coalition in the Knesset which will allow concessions to the Arabs that they will not join; meaning, that they will resign from being a Knesset member (without continuing receiving a fat pay check, honor, and fame). My friends, there was ONLY ONE who signed this - Baruch Marzel. There were other "religious" people or parties that had excuses, or said that they will have to have a meeting. And yes, I voted for Baruch Marzel. Unfortunately, he didn't have enough votes to have even one seat in the Knesset. Too many wanted to vote for a more moderate "nationalistic party" under a "religious" control; but without getting into all kinds of details, there was a new party just the other week starting to form called HaBayit HaYehudit - Jewish Home who had good intentioned people on their list, but when Marzel applied to be a member - the ones in charge rejected him. Now, it seems like this potential party is falling apart as I am writing this.

The citizens in Israel are starting to get fed up once and for all with these games. NOW is the time to take action, and vote for someone who if will not be the next Prime Minister, will be able to make a difference WITHOUT COMPROMISE - what Kahane stood for. Enough for one blog, but you can contact the Jewish Front by E-mail at hazit.yehudit@gmail.com, and check on more information on this only real right-wing party at http://www.hazit.co.il/ (you can press on the English button). For those who are living outside of Israel who want to vote if eligible, I will attempt to find out information on this, hopefully in time for my next blog. And especially for those who have relatives and friends in Israel, don't be afraid to tell them the truth as to who to vote for. Israel's security, and the security of Jews worldwide (not even a month since the Mumbai attack) is dependent on our Hishtadlut - our efforts to fight for our rights of the Land of Israel once more - and then Hashem will do the rest.

Stay tuned for part 2 of Chanuka: Jewish Activism. Expect to be posting on Thursday evening Israel time.

1st day of Chanuka - 25 Kislev 5769

#13 - The MIDDLE Days

Yes - Lucky Number 13! That is, at least for Jews. So is Number 13 really an unlucky number for non-Jews. Believe it or not, it's no mere superstition for them, but more on this a little later on in this post.

But first, to take stock of what is happening - we are in between two periods. You see, Election Day was on Nov 4/6 Cheshvan & Inauguration Day is supposed to take place on Jan 20/24 Tevet (unless the Supreme Court does the right thing and forces Obama to reveal the truth about his forged birth records). In any case, the middle day is...actually, there are two middle days here. On the Hebrew calendar, they are the 15th & 16th of Kislev. These two days are ALSO the two middle days of Kislev. So you may ask, what is the connection here pertaining to the new presidency and the month of Kislev?

Drawing from previous posts - kabbalistically, the month of Kislev is represented by the letter of Samech. Now, we say in the Ashrei prayer Someich Hashem L'Chol HaNoflim - "Hashem supports all those who have fallen". So the word Someich - based on the root word of Samech - which means supports, is describing Hashem as one who is taking care of all those who have fallen - including financially, as Hashem is the one who runs the world. And similarly, the Bircat Cohanim which consists of 60 letters - as Samech is the Gematria of 60 - starts off with Hashem blessing us monetarily, as Rashi points out. Now, as you will see in my earlier post - TRUST in 2009, refering to the new era that Obama - may Hashem spare us - is planning to take charge, and those who lack trust in Hashem will for the most part turn their eyes to Obama to help them get through the tough financial crisis as though he will be the one "supporting" them - many of whom have fallen through this crisis (incidentally, Florida - the state that I come from - has been hit the hardest in terms of unemployment and foreclosures). Obama, now that he feels immune as he has already been elected, is now being honest, and saying to everyone that things will get worse before getting better. So the only question is, how many people are going to wake up and realize that at best, Obama is nothing but a puppet that Hashem is using to do what He wants, and people need to start taking control of their lives and turn to Hashem to get them through the hard times.

Now, there was a very holy rabbi who passed away in the middle of this month - in one sense, it was in the midst of two days even though it is only possible for someone to pass away only on one day, as the moment of death is an instantaneous thing. You see, it was Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi (Judah the Prince), also known as Rabbeinu HaKadosh (Our Holy Rabbi) or simply as Rabbi/Rebbe, the one who broke the ice of writing down the Oral Law in the form that we know it today as the Mishna (Mishnayot in plural) who passed away on 15 Kislev - when, as it falls out this year, was on Erev Shabbat. When this happened, it was actually very close to Shabbat in Israel, where he lived all his life; but in Babylonia, the major area of Jews outside of Israel at that time, it was already the beginning of Shabbat. So in a sense, he left this world literally in the middle of the month (while not in all years does Kislev has 30 days, but at times only 29 days - in our calendar today - there are always 30 days when 15 Kislev falls out on Erev Shabbat).
Indeed, it's so interesting to note that this Rabbi's title was HaNasi, for he was the president/leader/head of the Sanhedrin - 7th generation leader going back on his parental side to the famous Hillel, who was the first leader in this dynasty. This is of course, L'Havdil Elef Havdalot (a 1,000x separaton), the Nasi of the other side - Obama the Nazi (he is hinted in the Bible as the Biblical Gog as mentioned in an earlier post). Thus, these opposing leaders are hinted in the MIDDLE days of Kislev!

This is all nice - but why should Rabbi Judah the Prince be hinted here with the middle of Kislev? O.K., this is where Gematria kicks in. Ready? Mishna - the Jewish literary work that Rabbi wrote down, has the same Gematria - 395 - as Parnassa/Livelihood! In fact, there is a verse in the Parshat HaMan - the section in the Torah about the Jews receiving the manna, the food that they ate 40 years in the desert, that hints to this very phenomenon. Exodus 16:5 - "It will be on the sixth day (Friday) - they shall prepare what they will bring (in preparation for Shabbat) and it will be double (Mishne, same wording as Mishna) of what they gather every day". (It is from here that the rabbis derive that we have two whole loaves of bread on our Shabbat table) Rashi points out on the phrase "and it will be double"-Mishne for today (Friday) and tomorrow (Shabbat). As in the physical sense, we also have to prepare ourselves spiritually for the big Shabbat day - the future era of eternity that we will be prepared for by gathering spritual food - especially Torah learning (women, though don't have the Mitzva of learning Torah as men do - only to the extent that they have to learn the laws to serve Hashem correctly - they have an equal share in the Torah when encouraging and making it possible for others - especially their husbands and children - to learn Torah). So indeed, there is the Mishna, the foundation of the Oral Law, consisting of 6 Sedarim/Orders/Sectioned Volumes as written down by Rabbi Judah the Prince who passed away on Erev Shabbat - Yom HaShishi - and as Rashi points out when it says Yom HaShishi - THE 6th day - by creation, hinting to THE 6th day of Sivan when the Torah was given, since the world's existance was dependent on the Torah being given to the Jewish nation on this date, the main focus being on the Oral Law, which the non-Jews refused to accept, though they didn't have a problem with our Bible as a "book of wisdom". And then, there is Parnassa, which we turn to Hashem for, in order to serve our ultimate purpose of serving Hashem when He give us what we need - the tools - to serve him properly, starting with food to give us the strength, energy, and fuel to accomplish this.

In a similar vein, we have another set of Gematria which is also a spiritual-physical aspect. Talmud, sometimes another word referring to the general Oral Law, and more specifically to the Gemara - which is the detailed explanation of how the halachic decisions of the Mishna are arrived - has the same Gematria - 480 - as Pat/Bread! And now, here is a real big crunch (of spiritual food) - both the words Parnassa & Pas begin with the letter Pey, having a Gematria of 80. Now, multiply this by 6 - as in the 6th day of the week preparing for Shabbat - it comes out to 480 - which equals Pat!

Now, this should be of no surprise to you. As we know, everything is derived from our Torah - and our Hebrew language. Isn't is interesting that the word money has a similar wording to the word Man - the manna?! Yes, in G-d we trust - not the food or money itself - they are only the means to reach our spiritual goals. Anyways, the Jews ate this manna for 40 years. Now, the word Mishna can be read as two words - Mem - the letter Mem having a Gematria of 40, and Shana - year(s). Thus, the word Mishna is indeed with a connotation of 40 years - for it was for 40 years that Moshe taught the Torah in detail with all of its Oral Laws as he received it from Hashem - to the Jewish Nation, who were being sustained daily by the manna. And Rabbi Judah the Prince, who wrote down the Mishna, was the 7th generation of the Sanhedrin Presidency parental family dynasty, as the Shabbat is the 7th day of the week, and so was Moshe the 7th of his parental line from Avraham Avinu - the first one who spread the belief in Hashem throught the world. Speaking of the number 7 - the word for this letter is Zayin. Zayin also means weapon. In contrast, the word Zayin is based on the word Zan, sustains as in the first blessing of bentching when we thank Hashem after eating bread - Hazan Et Olamo "Who sustains His world & Hazan Et HaKol "Who sustains everything". In a similar vein, weapons are associated with war/Milchama. In contrast, the root word of Milchama is Lechem/Bread. Thus, if we have true faith and trust in Hashem - Hamotzi Lechem Min Ha'aretz, the One who brings forth bread from the ground, then it is Lechem, in large part demonstrated by resting on the 7th day of each week, when we have Lechem Mishne - the double portion of bread on our Shabbat table - more food instead of working ourselves as if we are in a war zone to fight to survive.

Now, how does the lucky number 13 fit here? You see, this number represents the Oral Law. In prayers every morning right after the section about the animal sacrifices (includes a chapter of the Mishna - Zevachim Chapter 5), we mention the 13 ways that we learn out the Halachot of the Torah, the basic makeup of the Talmud - Oral Law, detailed in the Gemara. Thus, it is the number 13 that represents the spiritual survival of the Jewish Nation. However, for the non-Jews who didn't want to receive the Oral Law which shapes us Jews in serving Hashem in a very moral way, it is no wonder that this is a very unlucky number for them. For crying out loud, they refuse to call the 13th floor as the 13th floor - only as the 14th floor as demonstrated on the button elevators! (In Israel, the number 13 is on the elevator button). Also, it's fascinating to note that Ravina, who together with Rav Ashi put together the Babylonian Talmud - the main Gemara that Jews learn (in contrast to the Jerusalem Talmud which relatively few learn) - passed away on 13 Kislev! Also, Rabbi Moshe Feinstein ZTVK'L, considered the foremost Halachic decider (Posek) for decades, whose writings are on the Talmud & Halacha, passed away on 13 Adar (5746/1986)! While it is a tremendous loss on one hand for the Jewish people when a great rabbi who has taught Torah passes away; for the rabbi himself, it is his soul's elevation when he goes straight to Heaven to reap his just reward. And what is left in this world are his teachings which are his ultimate legacy, even if we never had the chance to see him in person.

For those who are relatively beginners in Torah study, particularly in Mishna or Talmud, why not start from the English translation of the above chapter of Mishna about sacrifices that we say in the morning prayers every day? You can learn one Mishna at a time, and remember the key points about a set of sacrifices in a particular Mishna, and compare/contrast them with the next Mishna when it mentions a little different set of circumstances for other types of sacrifices (this will make more sense when you study these Mishnayot carefully). Part of learning Torah is also memorizing it - and Hashem ultimately rewards according to the effort. It is this particular chapter of Mishna that is included in our daily prayers because besides the special merit of learning about the sacrifices when we are not able to bring them these days, so it's considered as though we brought them when we learn the Torah about this subject; but this is one of the few chapters that has no arguments between rabbis - thus, this chapter is exactly how Moshe learned it from Hashem. And finally, there is a concept of learning Mishna in memory of a departed person, so in honor of the one who composed it - Rabbi Judah the Prince, this chapter would be a great place to start.

Coming up in our next post - CHANUKA.

Yahrzeit of Rabbi Yehuda Hanasi - 15 Kislev 5769

#12 - SEVEN in SEVEN

With the challenges of this past week in the world, and the hopes for a bright future for the world, there is a prayer that is begun to be recited outside of Israel starting tonight. Starting tonight - Thursday night - we start praying for rain on weekdays, in the 9th Bracha of the Amida
(Shemoneh Esray) - Barech-Aleinu all over the world.In Israel we started 4 weeks ago. If you forgot to add "V'Sein Tal U'Matar L'Veracha"; "and bless us with dew and rain", then:- If you remember before you finish the 9th Bracha then you insert it and continue from there.- If you already said "Baruch Ata Hashem" of the 9th Bracha then you insert it into Shma-Kolienu - the 16th Bracha - before "Ki Ata".- If you forget to say it in Shma-Kolienu then you need to go back to the 9th Bracha - Barech-Aleinu.- If you didn't remember until you finished the Amida (defined as saying "Yihyu Leratzon") then you have to restart the entire Amida.Source: Kitzur Shulchan Aruch 19: 5, 6. (For this, and other daily Halacha posts, check out http://www.halocho.blogspot.com/.)

Now, according to Halacha, the above prayer is begun to be recited outside of Israel on the 60th day of Tekufat Tishrei - "cycle of Tishrei" which in this year, began on 8 Tishrei, Oct 7 at Tuesday 3:00AM. Each cycle is exactly 91 days, 7 1/2 hours. Thus, this Thursday night begins Yom Shishi (8 Kislev) - the next day beginning with the night time, thus being the 60th day from 8 Tishrei. This prayer is begun virtually every year sometime in the month of Kislev, which kaballistically is represented by the letter Samech=60.

This Shabbat, we will be reading the 7th Parsha of the Torah - Parshat Vayeitzei. This is a very unique Parsha, because this is one of the few Parshiyot (and Parshat Miketz) in the entire Torah/Chumash that has no stops or brakes of extra space in the Sefer Torah. Why is this so?

Perhaps the reason for this is because this is the 7th Parsha of the Torah, and it is the Shabbat that makes the number 7 so special. Unlike during the normal 6 days of the week when work is permitted, and naturally, we feel like taking a brake in between work, and it is only on Shabbat we have an automatic Menucha/rest without making time for it in the midst of work, so is this represented by this 7th Parsha without any necessary brakes - it is one long Parsha without any extra spaces.


In fact, this Parsha has quite a few 7s in it. The following is the list of the sevens:

1) Let's start from the very beginning "Vayeitzei Yaakov M'Be'er Shava" - Yaakov left Be'er Sheva. The name of the city that Yaakov left on his way to exile means "Well of Seven".
2) Yaakov agrees with Lavan, his future father-in-law, that he will work for seven years to marry Lavan's daughter Rochel.
3) Yaakov celebrates his wedding week of seven days when he married Leah (a last minute mixup). It is from here that we learn out that if either the bridegroom or bride have not been married before, then they celebrate their first week of married life.
4)Yaakov winds up working another seven years for Lavan to "justify" marrying Rochel when he already married Leah.
5)When Yaakov and his family after him staying with Lavan after 20 years to finally leave Lavan's home,
it took Lavan one day to catch up to Yaakov & family who traveled for seven days up to that point.
6)One of Yaakov's sons is named Gad, which has the Gematria of seven.
7)Gad is the seventh son listed of Yaakov's sons (Later on, Gad himself had seven sons)

Now, I want to elaborate on one of the above points. But first, another word on the letter Samech, the letter of the month of Kislev. Pertaining to the tragic Mumbai events that happened last week during the week of Parshat Toldot (one of the Jewish victims was the son-in-law HY'D of the Toldot Avraham Yitzchak Rebbe of Yerushalayim, who is named as such as per the beginning verse of this Parsha that was read on Shabbat between the murder & burial), we see an incident in this Parsha where Yaakov was serving beans for dinner which was his father Yitzchak's mourning meal following the passing of his father Avraham. The reason that beans or eggs are served to mourners according to Jewish Law is because they are round symbolizing the cycle of life from birth to death. Accordingly, it is the letter Samech - the only entirely closed letter of the 22 Alef Beit - that represents this, and indeed in this year, the Mumbai tragedies began on the day (Erev Rosh Chodesh) before the new month of Kislev which is represented by the letter Samech.

Accordingly, the other side of the circle, as represented in this week's Parshat Vayeitzei, the second one that we read in this month of Kislev, is the part of life that deals with marriage - the foundation of the next generation. The first mention of a Jewish wedding (not just marriage) is in this week's Parsha. Remember when I mentioned last week that the letter Samech is the only letter that does not appear once in the account of the days of the creation of the world? Well, perhaps the following is another reason why. You see, the bride, which is Hebrew means HaKallah, having a Gematria of 60, walks around the Chatan/bridegroom in a circle for seven times when under the Chupa. The Hebrew word for wedding is Chatuna, which has a Gematria of 469. There are exactly 469 words in the account of the days of creation in the Torah - the beginning of the Torah - which concludes with the account of Shabbat when Hashem rested from the work that he did on the first six days of creation! Also, the words used for Hashem finishing his work is Vayechulu & Vayechal, both having a connotation of the word Kallah - bride. Indeed, the Shabbat is called a bride. Thus, we see a hint for the couple to celebrate their very first week of marriage, just like the Torah, which was given by Hashem to the Jewish Nation that is also called a bride, begins with a detailed account of the first week of the world's existance with Hashem creating the world. It's only in the 7th Parsha of the Torah, just like the word Kallah is hinted in the account of the 7th day of the week, Shabbat - that the first wedding is mentioned. It's also worthy to note that on each day of that first week of marriage, the traditional Sheva Berachot - the special seven blessings that are recited at the marriage ceremony, are also recited at the end of every meal that the new couple eat in public with other friends in their first week of marriage.

There is an factoid related to this Parsha - having no special spaces inbetween the verses - that will serve to be most fascinating in terms of Gematria. Counting the amount of verses in this Parsha - you will find two verses where the last word of the verse is the Gematria of the number of the verse in the Parsha. Thus, the 54th verse of this Parsha ends with the word Dan, having the Gematria of 54 - the name of one of Yaakov's sons. Interestingly, Dan is the fifth son of Yaakov that is listed, and there are 54 Parshiyot of the Chumash, which consists of five books, that we read during the Shabbatot of the year. Then, the 69th verse of this Parsha ends with the word Dina, having the Gematria of 69 - the name of Yaakov's daughter. Both names - Dan & Dina - connotes the word that means judgment. So, what's the connection of judgment as related to the birth of Yaakov's children? Well, the only thing I can think of offhand is that when Hashem created the world, He intended it to exist only on the attribute of justice, but when He saw that the world would not be able to survive this way - he mixed it with the attribute of mercy. Now of course, Hashem knew everything beforehand, we are just told that Hashem "intended" and "when he saw" to speak to us in human terms. But the bottom line is - the truth is that really, the world should be judged strictly according to its behavior, but being that there would hardly be any survivors based on virtually everyone's sins, Hashem brought mercy into the picture to give this world a better chance in making improvement and doing Teshuva/repentance. This indeed reflects a drawn out argument between two groups of Mishnaic rabbis. Beit Shammai held that it would have been better for a person not to be born, while Beit Hillel held that it was better for a person to be born. The ultimate verdict that was agreed upon by both groups is that indeed it would have been better for a person not to have been born; but now that he is born already, let him do it right by doing good deeds.

Some of the Jewish victims of the Mumbai tragedy led selfless lives helping others. What will we do to make this world a better place to live in? Well, I just discovered something today. You see, tomorrow, December 5 is International Volunteer Day in Israel. Of course, we are supposed to do good deeds and help others every day of the year. But in our regular routine in our weekday work and families, we don't always seem to have a chance to go out of our way for others. But sometimes, designating a day in our schedule forces us to brainstorm or push everything else out of the way to accomplish our desired goal. And in this year, it so happens that this day falls out on Erev Shabbat, when we are supposed to help get things ready for Shabbat. This may mean different things to different people. Some are gourmet chefs who know how to cook a storm for Shabbat. Others are always on the run, and are easily in a position to help others get things done, including helping others getting ready for Shabbat on time. Still others are in a position to give financial aid to those who will otherwise not have enough to eat on Shabbat. In any case, if you read this post at some later time - no need to dispair - think of something extra you can add into your schedule - every day, every week, every month, or on your own "Volunteer Day" when you have off from work to perform the special Mitzva of doing Chesed/kindness for others, included in the Mitzva of "V'Ahavta L'Reiacha Kamocha" - loving our fellow Jew, regardless of his/her observance, background, or beliefs - that you can befriend and in some cases, bringing him/her one step closer to the pleasant ways of the Torah.

P.S. The last word of this week's Parshat Vayeitzei is Machanayim - the place where Yaakov was in transit between exile and Israel. This is the last word of the 148th Pasuk of the Torah, which has a Gematria of 148. This comes to prove more than ever that the Torah wants to hint to us that this Parsha without interruptions of space in the Sefer Torah can be read as one long saga - to hint to us about Shabbat, the day of rest without interruptions of the busy daily life in this world, and the Shabbat of the future to come when we will have eternal rest from the labors of this physical world; and in reward for our good deeds, to bask in the spiritual delights that will be greater than any physical pleasure for all eternity.

NEXT TIME: What's significant about the MIDDLE DAY between Election Day & Inauguration Day?

8 Kislev, 5769