1200 Years of Galut - 3 Versions

The Introduction to Tikkunei Zohar on page 4b

And immediately after it went up, "and they went without strength before the pursuer", and because of this the masters of the mishnah have set up, that everyone who says Amen Yehei Shmeh Rabba with all his might, (in heaven) they tear up a sentence of 70 years, that these 70 years, are after 1200 years, that the Beit HaMikdash was destroyed, and there are those that calculate it from the time that the Tamid ceased, because the Keitz of the Redemption is dependent on the level of Yaakov, which is the level of Truth, and that is what is written "Give truth to Yaakov" (Michah 7), which is the sign for 1290, and there are those that add a further 2, from "Close is Hashem to those that call Him, to all those that call Him in truth (in truth has 2 more in gematria), to know in the land Your ways, thus it is here with land, Aleph Ra"tz (i.e. Elef, or 1000, and Ra"tz which is the gematria of 290), 90, to fulfill with it Truth sprouts up from the Land, so that there will be a value of Land (i.e. 1290), but the sentence itself is 70 years.

Essentially, there are 3 uses of the 1200 years of Galut here:

• There are 1200 years after the Churban, followed by 70 years.
• There are 1200 years from the time of taking away of the Tamid, followed by 70/90 years.
• There are 1200 years from the time of taking away the Tamid, followed by 72 years.

I would propose that each one is correct, and is talking about different understandings of similar teachings.

• The 1200 years after the Churban, followed by 70 years in which we could do tikkun, the 70th year falls a few years after the end of the period where Galut is for the Sin of Mechirat Yosef.  Essentially, then, the 1200 years and the 70 are a deadline for tikkun.
• The 1200 years after the taking away of the Tamid, followed by the 70/90 years (and eventually 135 years to complete the 1335), this seems to be a hint at the main year count of the Zohar in Parshat Vayera 119 and Shemot 9/10.
• The 1200 years from the taking away of the Tamid, followed by 90 years, as I detailed here.

Imrei Binah and Daniel

Towards the end of Imrei Binah (the translation for which I hope to finish within the coming days, keep checking the post until it is finished), the author writes explanations for 2 famous calculations in Daniel:

• Daniel 8's 2300 evening/mornings - The calculation of 2300 years starts either by the destruction of the 1st Beit HaMikdash, or the Pekidah of Koresh, giving a result of approximately 5640 / 5690, about 20 years shy of what I posted here.
• Daniel 12's 1290 days - The 1290 year period ends in the 4400's, and the Shikutz Shomem is identified with *a* Muslim shrine: The author doesn't give a precise date, nor identify which structure he is referring to, but he says it is on the site of the Holy of Holies, which would indicate he is referring to the Dome of the Rock.  Definitely agreeing with what I posted here.

10 Steps to Geulah

Per the Gemara mentioned in the last post, the beginning of the return of the Shechinah is hinted at in Yeshayahu 52:2, "Shake the dust off of yourself, rise and sit, Yerushalayim". This is in this week's haftarah.

This is related to the Pekidah, which occurs at 60. So what, then are the 10 steps back to Geulah?

In Kol HaTor chapter 5, part 1, we have the following:

For everything there is a time, and an appointed season to every desire - Hidden hints in the ways of the Atchalta in the sod of Tzofnat Pa'aneach. Appointed end times in the secret of "The time of the song bird" and "The time to favor her", within the 7 Pekidot from the 1st hour of the light of the morning of the 6th millenium in the age of the End of Days in the Last Generation until the Final End, the Wonderous End in Daniel 9.

The surprising thing here is that the phrase "the Wonderous End" does not occur in Daniel 9, but in Daniel 12. Daniel 9 is alone among the later chapters of Daniel as being interpreted widely as about something not related to the End of Days, namely the time of Bayit Sheini.

The 70 weeks of Daniel 9 are (partially) related to the 100 steps of Yesod that I've mentioned before.

As such, the final 10 steps are the steps between the beginning of the Pekidah and the Final End mentioned, by which time the Shechinah will be back in its place.

70 Years: Shmitah, Daniel

This week's parshah, Bechukotai, gives a list of blessings for following the ways of Hashem, and curses for straying from His paths. It links the curse of exile with a specific mitzvah: Shmitah. It is written as follows:

ויקרא כו:לז - אז תרצה הארץ את שבתתיה כל ימי השמה, ואתם בארץ איביכם, אז תשבת הארץ, והרצת את שבתתיה

Vayikra 26:37 - Then the land will be appeased of its sabbaticals, all the days of desolation, and you are in the land of your enemies, then the land will rest, and be appeased of its sabbaticals.

Basically, from the time of Yehoshua bin Nun (2488) until the time of the destruction of the 1st Beit HaMikdash (3338), there are 70 Shmitah's worth of sin that need atonement. One might say that the starting date is either when Yehoshua entered the land (2488), or it is really after the land fell to Yehoshua after 7 years of conquering, in the year 2495. Either way, it is slightly over 840 years total.

For explanations as to the exact substance of these 70 years, see the commentators both on this chapter of Vayikra, as well as Divrei HaYamim II, 36:21. Rashi has a detailed list in Divrei HaYamim, but also see the GR"A there.

In Daniel 9:24, we learn that the decree put upon Am Yisrael is not 70 years, but 70 weeks of years, i.e. 490 years. This is the time from the destruction of the 1st Beit HaMikdash to the destruction of the 2nd. 3338 until 3828.

If so, we can see, perhaps, that the 70 years in Galus Bavel were a tikkun for the Shmitah years before the destruction of Bayit Rishon, and the 420 years thereafter are for the other years. Violation of Shmitah brings the punishment of exile, so this punishment, of exile from the land, came first.

The period from Yehoshua until the Churban was more aligned with Chesed, with open miracles and prophecy and Jewish autonomy for a majority of the time, whereas the 2nd Beit HaMikdash was more aligned with Din. Miracles were on a more natural level (Purim is one example), prophecy came to an end, and Jewish autonomy was for but a minority of the time.

Daniel - Summary

The visions of Daniel regarding the End of Days are from chapters 7 - 12.

The different chapters occur at different times, presented in chronological order:

• Chapter 7 - The 1st year of Belshatzar
• Chapter 8 - The 3rd year of Belshatzar
• Chapter 9 - The 1st year of Daryavesh of Madai
• Chapter 10 - The 3rd year of Koresh, King of Paras
• Chapter 11 - Recounted to Daniel during the 3rd year of Koresh, but recounts what happened during the 1st year of Daryavesh of Madai
• Chapter 12 - Continuation of chapter 11.

The general content is as follows:

• Chapter 7 - Description of history, ending with the revelation of Moshiach ben David on the "clouds of heaven". This is a description that is beginning to end.
• Chapter 8 - Description of history, from the fall of Babylon until the founding of the State of Israel, the 1st Geulah. This is the vision of "evening, morning, 2300"
• Chapter 9 - Description of the 2nd Beit HaMikdash period. Alternatively, as brought in the comments to some of our posts, a description of the Steps of Moshiach, therefore putting the end of this chapter after that of chapter 8, a logical progression. This is the vision of "70 Weeks".
• Chapter 10 - An introduction to chapter 11
• Chapter 11 - A description of a time of great trouble (per the beginning of chapter 12, which is a continuation of chapter 11). This is towards the end. Being this is also regarding the 1st year of Daryavesh, it appears to be related to the "70 Weeks" of chapter 9.
• Chapter 12 (verse 4 - 13) - Daniel requests further explanation, and is given 2 signs. Moed, Moadim, Va'cheitzi (Time, Times and a Half), and the 1290/1335 days.

Happy is One Who Waits...

Daniel 12

9. And he said, go Daniel, for closed and sealed are the words until the time of the Keitz. 10. Many will be refined, whitened, and the wicked will do wickedly, and the wicked will not understand, and the enlighted will understand. 11. And from the time of the cessation of the Tamid, and to the giving of the Desolate Abomination, days: one thousand two hundred and ninety. 12. Happy is the one who waits and arrives to days: one thousand three hundred and thirty five. 13. And you Daniel, go to the end, and rest and stand for your destiny for the Keitz HaYamin.

The Introduction to Tikkunei Zohar on page 4b

And immediately after it went up, "and they went without strength before the pursuer", and because of this the masters of the mishnah have set up, that everyone that says Amen Yehei Shmeh Rabba with all his might, (in heaven) they tear up a sentence of 70 years, that these 70 years, are after 1200 years, that the Beit HaMikdash was destroyed, and there are those that calculate it from the time that the Tamid ceased, because the Keitz of the Redemption is dependent on the level of Yaakov, which is the level of Truth, and that is what is written "Give truth to Yaakov" (Michah 7), which is the sign for 1290, and there are those that add a further 2, from "Close is Hashem to those that call Him, to all those that call Him in truth (in truth has 2 more in gematria), to know in the land Your ways, thus it is here with land, Aleph Ra"tz (i.e. Elef, or 1000, and Ra"tz which is the gematria of 290), 90, to fulfill with it Truth sprouts up from the Land, so that there will be a value of Land (i.e. 1290), but the sentence itself is 70 years.

I do not want to enter in to the subject that is actually being discussed, which is 1200 years of Galus.

Note the following:

• The time of the destruction of the Beit HaMikdash is taken as a different year than the cessation of the Tamid. When dealing with years, 3 weeks (between the 17th of Tamuz and the 9th of Av) is not significant.
• The juxtaposition of the two year counts, 1200 and 1290, indicates that they start at the same time.

So the question is, are we referring to the 1st Beit HaMikdash or the 2nd Beit HaMikdash?

The GR"A's peirush on the Tikkunei Zohar answers this implicitly. On the words "and there are those that calculate it from the cessation of the Tamid", he writes that the Tamid ceased to be brought 20 years prior to the destruction of the Beit HaMikdash. In his notes on the bottom of the page, on the issue of the 2 years for the letter beit, he writes that in reality it was 18 years.

(Explanation - We go 20 years back, and then count 1292 years, or go forward 2 years before counting 1290. Alternatively, subtract 18 from the year of destruction.)

The 1st Beit HaMikdash was destroyed in the year 3338. If we look 18 years prior, we find the year that Nevuchadnezar first came to Yerushalayim. The writers of the Tikkunei Zohar are referring us to this year as our starting point.

So theoretically, if we add 1290 years to this point, we should find our answer as to the identity of the Desolate Abomination.

• 3338 - 18 = 3320
• 3320 + 1290 = 4610
• 4610 - 3760 = 850 CE

What happened in 850 CE of note that might shed light on the matter? Nothing.

However, according to the physical reality, the 1st Beit HaMikdash was not destroyed 2430 years ago, but rather a further 163 years prior in the year 3175 (586 BCE).

• 3175 - 18 = 3157
• 3157 + 1290 = 4447
• 4447 - 3760 = 687 CE

That year was the beginning of the construction of the Dome of the Rock.

That is it.

The verses say to count days. Why would it say days if the meaning is years? I propose that the word days is given to indicate to us that these are physical years. Why? If I tell you to count a number of days, you can actually count the number of days very easily. If I tell you to count a number of years, you will most likely find an outside event as a reference point for your beginning and end. Days represent the physical reality, while years represent a different, yet not contradictory, spiritual reality based on the Jewish year count.

It is clear as day that 45 years later (i.e. 1335 years from the starting point) was not something to rejoice over. We must start over at 0 and count to 1335 starting the next year.

4448 + 1335 = 5783

Construction continued until 4451.

4451 + 1335 = 5786

Indeed happy we will be to witness the events that will occur during those years.

Note how this period coincides with the time that Moshiach ben Yosef will finally be completely free of the Klipah of the Left as I wrote in The Sprouting of Moshiach. The implication is clear. The reason that we are to pray for the survival of Moshiach ben Yosef during the blessing regarding the building of Yerushalayim is now understood. Moshiach ben Yosef will build the Beit HaMikdash. He will be in danger at that time, but he is destined to succeed, for Moshiach ben Yosef does and he succeeds.

Postscript: The chidush here is not the simplicity of seeing that 3175 is about 1290 years before the Dome of the Rock was built, but rather:

• The calculation for the exact year comes directly from an ancient Jewish source, Tikkunei Zohar, made more precise/explicit by the GR"A.
• The "secular" dating of Churban Bayit Rishon also has its place in Torah.
• If the Geulah follows the order of prayer, we can have a further sense of where we are and where we're going.

Further, it opens up further interesting questions to ponder:

• What date was the introduction to Tikkunei Zohar written?
• Though the GR"A obviously lived after the Dome of the Rock was built, did he know the actual year it was built?

Daniel 9

The 9th chapter of Daniel takes place in the year 3390, the year of the great Pekidah of Koresh, where all Jews were invited back to the land of Israel. See Ezra chapter 1. The majority of the chapter is a prayer for the rebuilding of Yerushalayim. Verses 21-27 describe what happened to Daniel as he finished his prayer.

Gavriel appears to Daniel and explains to him that 490 years have been decreed. The term used of Shavua is explained as meaning cycles of 7 years. This expression is used in the Mishnah to refer to which year of the shmitah cycle. See Masechet Shvi'it 4:7 for one such example.

Summary/Explanation (Summarized according to some of the commentators):

24. Seventy Weeks have been decreed upon Israel and Yerushalayim. This period starts with the beginning of the atonement of the sins of Israel and Yerushalayim: 3338. It lasted 490 years (70 * 7 years) until 3828 with the destruction of the 2nd Beit HaMikdash. This tells us from the beginning that the existence of the 2nd Beit HaMikdash was in a way a Chesed from above, not bestowed due to merit. The period is made up of 70 years of Galut Bavel, and 420 years of the 2nd Beit HaMikdash.

During these 70 Weeks:

• Am Yisrael's sin was to be atoned for.
• A Beit HaMikdash was to be built.
• Prophecy was to cease

25. From the time of the going out of the word to return and build Yerushalayim until the anointed leader is 7 Weeks. The is the time from the destruction (and the prophecy about the rebuilding) until the decree of Koresh to rebuild Yerushalayim. From the time of the destruction in 3338 to the decree of Koresh is 52 years, which is 7 Weeks and 3 years. Only the full weeks are counted. For 62 Weeks, the city will be built and settled, however it will be a time of trouble. 62 weeks * 7 years = 434. 3390 + 434 = 3824, 4 years before the destruction of the 2nd Beit HaMikdash.

So to summarize, there are 3 periods: 70 weeks, and then its division to 7 weeks and 62 weeks. The missing week is the years on top of the 7 weeks and the 62 weeks.

In other words, it is 7 Weeks and 3 years, 62 Weeks and 4 years.

There is an important message to be gleaned from the decree of 70 Weeks: It is possible for Am Yisrael to be granted the Beit HaMikdash in spite of a lack of merit. We should not expect any different in our day. When the 3rd Beit HaMikdash is built, we will have a tremendous opportunity to do Teshuvah, and indeed its building is a great act of Teshuvah by itself. However the building of the Beit HaMikdash is not indicative of our arrival at the Final Goal.

Daniel 8

The 8th chapter of Daniel discusses the Four Great Kingdoms that were to span history from the time of the fall of Bavel. It includes within it one of the well-known predictions in the book.

At the end, the question is asked: How long will it take for all this to transpire? The answer is terse enough:

He said to me: Until evening morning, two thousand, three hundred, and the holy one will be justified. (Daniel 8:14)

Among the commentators we see the opinion that the 2300 mentioned is 2300 years, see Rav Sa'adiah Gaon, Rashi, etc. The question, however, before looking to see what the end-date is, is to ask: what is the start date?

And the vision of the evening and the morning that was said, it is true; And you - hide the vision, for it is for many days. (Daniel 8:26)

Daniel indeed hid the true meaning of his vision, as he did later on in chapter 12, however in a different manner.

In the third year of the kingdom of Belshatzar the king, a vision appeared to me; me, Daniel, after what appeared to me at the beginning. And I saw in the vision, and it was when I was seeing, I was in Shushan... (Daniel 8:1-2)

The third year of Belshatzar was the last year of Belshatzar, and indeed the 70th year of the kingdom of Bavel, as brought in Megillah 11b. The Ibn Ezra takes note of this and states that it couldn't be that Daniel went to Shushan and came back even the same year. He saw himself in the future in Shushan.

Daniel is hinting to us that the starting point of the vision is in the future during the reign of Paras uMadai. The vision starts at the tachlit of their kingdom, the construction of the 2nd Beit HaMikdash, which came to fruition in 3408.

The year 3408 was a beginning that went awry. It would be a full cycle to start over.

And there was evening and there was morning, one day (Breishit 1:5)

It would be 2300 years to restart the cycle.

3408 + 2300 = 5708

Now, unlike then, we achieved the minimum threshold of ingathering, 600,000 souls. The Geulah is proceeding according to Daniel's vision, with the order of tefillah as its guide.

70 Years

For the 10th of Tevet, let us take a short look at one small aspect of Galut Bavel.

The theme of 70 years shows up 3 times regarding Galut Bavel (See Seder Olam Rabba chapter 28, the GR"A there).

(The following years are mainly taken from Seder HaDorot HaKatzar by Rav Shlomo Binizri, which largely follows Seder Olam Rabba)

3319 - Nevuchadnetzar becomes king of Bavel. (Seder HaDorot HaKatzar, based on Seder Olam chapter 24 with the GR"A there, and Yirmiyahu 46).

3320 - Nevuchadnetzar captures Yerushalayim.

3338 - Destruction of the Beit HaMikdash

3389 - The death of Belshatzar, the last king of Bavel, as recorded in Daniel chapter 5. Beginning of the kingdom of Paras uMadai.

3390 - First year of the reign of Koresh, Koresh declares that the Jews can return to Eretz Yisrael and build the Beit HaMikdash.

3408 - Construction Resumes on 2nd Beit HaMikdash, this is considered the year it was built (although construction continued for a few years)

We therefore end up with three periods.

3319 - 3389 - 70 Years of Bavel, from the beginning of the reign of Nevuchadnetzar to the murder of Belshatzar

3320 - 3390 - 70 Years from the initial capture of Yerushalayim until the order for Yerushalayim to be rebuilt

3338 - 3408 - 70 Years from the destruction of the 1st Beit HaMikdash to the construction of the 2nd Beit HaMikdash

The Tamid

In the Mishnah of Masechet Taanit we have the following:

(4:6) Five things happened to our fathers on the 17th of Tamuz, and 5 on the 9th of Av. On the 17th of Tamuz:

• The tablets were broken
• The Tamid offering was ceased
• The walls of the city were breached
• Apastumus burned the Torah
• And he put up an image in the Heichal

On the 9th of Av:

• Our fathers were sentenced to not enter the Land
• The First Beit HaMikdash was destroyed
• And the Second (Beit HaMikdash was destroyed)
• Beitar was captured
• The city (Yerushalayim) was plowed

I would like to examine just the underlined items in blue shown above, regarding the walls of Yerushalayim and the Tamid offering.

The Zohar Chadash says that from the time of the cessation of the Tamid to the destruction, for both of the Batei Mikdash was 22 days. Note that it is 22 days and not 21 days; this is connected to the drash in Mechirat Yosef where this statement is made, where 22 is related to the 22 years that Yosef didn't see Yaacov.

The Talmud Yerushalmi (4:5) comments on both events separately. Regarding the Tamid, it recounts how during the sieges on Yerushalayim, the Jews used to send money out over the city walls in exchange for animals for the korbanot, and then one time the Romans sent up 2 pigs. It then goes on to say from that time, the sins caused the Tamid to cease and the Beit HaMikdash to be destroyed. See there for the entire account, which is also recounted in Yerushalmi Brachot. The next section of the Gemara is already dealing with the breach of the walls. The section regarding the breaching of the walls has to do with the actual dating of the events, because of the difficulty regarding the dates we go by and the dates which appear in the Tanach. The Yerushalmi states that the dates that are recorded in the Tanach are wrong, and were incorrect due to the troubles occuring at the time. See the mefarshim there on the daf for more.

The Bavli (Tannit 28b) is even more terse regarding the Tamid. It has one word: Gemara. Rashi there says "thus we have received from our fathers". I.e. it is a tradition that it occured on this day. On the breach of the walls, the Bavli says that it is not a problem, 17th of Tamuz is only for the 2nd Beit HaMikdash, the other date, namely the 9th of Tamuz, was for the 1st Beit HaMikdash. The Yerushalmi also brings this as a secondary explanation aside from the one I mentioned above.

As we can see from the two Talmuds, there is no explicit saying that the Tamid offering ceased the same year that the Beit HaMikdash was destroyed. The closest statement is the line from the Yerushalmi that in that hour, the sins caused the cessation of the Tamid and the Beit HaMikdash to be destroyed. However, just as all that was not in "that hour", so too not necessarily in that year.

The Zohar Chadash on Mechirat Yosef, however, is more of a problem. It says 22 days difference, and it links it to the Tamid, not the breach of the walls. However, I think the important item for this drash is that it is 22 days apart on the calendar, not necessarily that it is the same year. I have reason to believe, because of elsewhere in the Zohar, that this is the case, and that there is no contradiction.

From this we see the source of the different traditions regarding when the cessation of the Tamid offering took place. For some the different possibilities, see Mikraot Gedolot on Daniel. I do not believe, however, that the answer is to be found in the Mikraot Gedolot. HaMevin Yavin.

Different Approaches to Daniel

As a continuation of the last post, I would like to show a couple of different approaches among the Rishonim on Daniel.

Ramban (in Sefer HaGeulah) and Rashi both take the 1290 and 1335 to represent years. Both of them take them to be 2 periods of time with the same starting point related to the cessation of the Tamid offering. In other words, at 1290 years, there will be something which can be called the desolate abomination, and happy is one who makes it 45 years after that.

The years offered by Rashi and Ramban have of course passed already. The math shows that 1335 years passed the time of the last Tamid offering hundreds of years ago. If the wording in Daniel is literal, from the time of the cessation of the Tamid offering in the Beit HaMikdash, we cannot assume that it is two overlapping counts with a 45-year difference in length. Assuming the days are years and the Tamid is referring to something in the Beit HaMikdash, we must look for another way.

Ibn Ezra, on the other hand, takes the days to be literally days. He also takes them to be 2 separate periods of time. He says that the 1290 days is in reference to 3 years leading up to the destruction of the 2nd Beit HaMikdash. He goes on to say that we do not know the starting point of the 1335 days.

The Ramban argues on this idea. According to the Ramban, Daniel did not know the meaning of Moed, Moadim va'Chetzi (A time, times, and a half), and therefore the angel gave extra information to make him understand, being the 1290 and 1335. The Ramban takes from this that he didn't understand before, but at the end, he did understand. If so, the 1335 cannot have an unknown starting point, which by extension argues against the Ibn Ezra's positioning of the 1290 days to the time of the destruction of the 2nd Beit HaMikdash.

די למבין

Daniel

Daniel Chapter 12

9. And he said: Go Daniel, for shut and sealed are these things until the time of the Keitz.

10. Many shall be purified, whitened, and refined; the wicked shall do wickedly, and all of the wicked shall not understand, but the wise will understand.

11. And from the time of the ceasing of the eternal, and to giving of the desolate abomination, one thousand, two hundred and ninety days.

12. Happy is the one who waits, and arrives; to days - a thousand, three hundred, and thirty five.

13. And you, go to the Keitz, and rest and rise for your fate, at Keitz HaYamin.

These verses have intrigued over the ages as they seem to point to the final Keitz. So let us ask a few questions:

• The eternal, this is the word used for the daily offering in the Beit HaMikdash. This may be referring to the cessation of the bringing of the Tamid offering.
• If so, the first or the second Beit HaMikdash?
• The Tamid offering, according to certain opinions, did not cease 3 weeks before the destruction on the 17th of Tamuz, but rather some years prior (in the month of Tamuz for both Batei Mikdash). See Rashi on Daniel for example.
• The second item mentioned, the abominate desolation, is most likely related to the same essence as the Tamid mentioned.
• There are two numbers given, 1290 and 1335 days. Are these days or years? Ibn Ezra, for example, takes them to be days, whereas Ramban takes them to be years.
• If days are really years, why didn't the angel just say years?
• There seem to be 3 options regarding these two numbers:

1. They are two independent counts. This seems not to be true since the 1290 is given a starting point, 1335 is not.
2. The 1290 and the 1335 have the same starting point, where there is only 45 days/years extra to achieve the "happy is the one who waits" result.
3. The 1290 and the 1335 are two consecutive periods of time.

דניאל יב:ג- והמסכלים יזהרו כזהר הרקיע, ומצדיקי הרבים ככוכבים לעולם ועד