Imrei Binah gives importance to the year 5719 for 2 reasons:
The count given in Imrei Binah assumes the count of Rebbi Yehudah, starting in the year 3416, which is the same start-year as the Rambam. That being said, it is not 5769 that is the Yovel, but this year, 5768, which is the Yovel. Of course this conflicts with our halachah l'maaseh, and I don't see any rationale for adding a year to this count to make 5769 the Yovel, since the sefer is fairly explicit that it starts to count from Molad BaHaRa"D. As such, the prior Yovel would be in the year 5719 (1959).
Come and see "And Yosef died (at the age of) 110 years". Rebbi Shimon opened and said "Behold the maiden is pregnant and is giving birth to a son, and you shall call him Imanuel" (Yeshayah 7:14). Pregnancy and birth that is filled for the exiles and great troubles and evil times, and even though it will be in these, the Queen is shaken and distanced from Her Husband, and She will be with us in Galut, (for) 110 years She was with us (as an) additional engraving, that is to say that it would pass from the Galut 110 years, and 290 they are 400 years. And the Galut of Yaakov was only counted once Yosef died. "And the days of the years of Yaakov's life were one hundred fourty seven, here is hte secret of the Galut in its count, fixed for the sons that are exiled, in Midat HaDin 3 exiles. The first is of Mitzraim that is likened to 7 years. Rebbi Chiya opened and said "I have imposed an oath upon you, daughters of Yerushalayim by gazelles or by the hinds, etc".
Rebbi Shimon said: from here "From a distance Hashem has appeared to me, and eternal love I have loved you" etc (Yirmiyahu 31). Here is the secret in galut the decree that B'nei Yisrael will be allowed (in?) exiles, and that will want to say that the holy sons, who are exiled justly for their sins many years, it will be "7 like your sins" (Vayikra 26). "For sevenfold will be put up for Kayin" (Breishit 4), in the first Galut of Mitzraim which is small. The second, of the Shoftim, which is likened to 40 years, to 7 which are more numerous than it.
The 3rd exile that we are in is long, and is likened to 100 years to 40 years. And that is what the Upper One revealed when he said "And from the time of the cessation of the Tamid and to the giving of the destolate abomination. (Daniel 12)"
(See here for context)
The sefer Imrei Binah attaches significance to the 48th Yovel in particular because the Gematria of Yovel is 48, therefore this is Yovel of "Yovel" (as opposed to the Yovel of Yovels that I have mentioned before which would be number 50.
By the logic in this sefer, that would refer to the year 5720 (1960), wherein no great events of mention took place for Am Yisrael.
Rather, I would here point to the system that I have shown here, that the 47th Yovel was 5727, the Six Day War.
There are some positives to this method that I have developed.
See here for the text of the Mishneh Torah.
Halachah 3 - Avraham said: This is is according to the opinion of Rebbi Yehudah, who said (Arachin 12b) that the 50th year counts here and there (i.e. the 50th year is the 1st of the next cycle), but rather according to Rabbanan, who subtract the 7 years of conquering (in the time of Yehoshua) and the 7 years of division, but rather the amount of the Yovel years, as it is said and what is it that he said the 36th year of the Yovel, that is according to Rabbanan, for according to Rebbi Yehudah it would be the 3rd year of the Yovel.
א"א הגאונים שאמרו שאין מונין משנת החרבן אלא שבע אולי ג"כ קודם החרבן כי יש מפרשים דסבירא להו כרבי יהודה דאמר שנת חמשים עולה לכאן ולכאן וסומכין את דבריהם למה שאמרו בגמרא דע"ז ונשקול מכל מאה תרתי ונשדי אפרטי כי אמרו אלו המפרשים לא יתכן לחשב אחר החרבן זכר לבנין חשבון אחר זולתי החשבון הראשון מ"מ אני איני סובר לא כדבריהם ולא כדבריו ואיני מפרש נשקול מכל מאה תרתי ונשדי אפרטי על דרך פירושם אלא לומר שאינם נותנים ליובל אחר חרבן שם זכר קדושה אלא כשאר שני שבוע שהם חול מ"מ חמשים חמשים הם מונין דלא כר' יהודה כמו שהיו מונין בתחלה ואולי דעת הגאונים כך הוא
Halachah 6,7 - Avraham said: the Geonim who said that you only count from the year of the Churban only (every) 7 years, perhaps before the Churban as well, for there are those that explain according to Rebbi Yehudah that said that the 50th year counts here and there, and they base their words on what is written in the Gemara (Avodah Zarah 9b) "Let's take 2 from every 100, and throw away the details. For those people have explained that it is not possible that after the Churban, there will be as a memory for the original count something that is different than the original count (i.e. if we did like Rabbanan during the time of the Beit HaMikdash, we would also afterwards. And since we see that afterwards we do like Rebbi Yehudah, we must have also done like him during the time of the Beit HaMikdash). In any case, I don't explain like their words or like his (the Rambam?) words, and I don't explain (the expression from Avodah Zarah) like their explanation, except to say that after the Churban, we don't give the Yovel any bit of kedushah as a memory, rather we treat it like all other years of the Shmitah cycle which are profane, and in any case 50 year cycles are counted, which is not like Rebbi Yehudah, like they were counting at the beginning, and perhaps that is the opinion of the Geonim.
Continuing from the last post.
This blog post brings the 1st Ra'avad to say that 5769 is a Yovel year. The text quoted is to be found here, the page in question is the first 1st page of the book.
There are some calculations given.
At Har Sinai, a voice went out and said "In this Yovel year you shall return, a man to his inheritance". In 1938 years after Churban HaBayit, each man will return to his inheritance, and the year after those years is the Great Yovel...
... the explanation of this is that the year of the Yovel is the 48th Yovel...
... come and see that the holy nation counted 59 Shmitah years when the Beit HaMikdash arose, and when it was destroyed, they ceased to count, and until the time of the Redemption is 277 Shmitah years that aren't counted, in the secret of "is it not revealed to me..." (Devarim 32:34)
Let's start on the last paragraph. We should just look at these 59 Shmitah years.
Per my charts here, there are a total of 57 Shmitah years that were counted during the time of Bayit Rishon. Starting in 3409, there are exactly 59 Shmitah years to 3829, the year of Churban Bayit Sheini. What's the problem with this? Shmitah was still on "auto-pilot" for the first 7 years of Bayit Sheini, until after Ezra arrived (3416). The year Ezra arrived was a Shmitah year (3415).
There is another option in order to arrive at 59. If we take year 1 of the first cycle to be 3416, but only count 7 year cycles, then the 59th Shmitah is 3829.
We can figure out which of these 2 is at work by going backwards. It is said that the Great Yovel will be the 48th Yovel.
If we take everything to be according to Rebbi Yehudah since the time of Ezra, we see the following:
3929 + 1938 = 5768 (this is the Shmitah year, not according to our halachah l'maaseh)
49 * 48 + 3416 = 5768 (this would be the Yovel year)
So it seems that these calculations are based on the following:
This is all made explicit later on the book, which after having glanced over, I see mentions the same calculation at least 1 more time.
The difference between this, and the 48th Yovel year that I mention elsewhere on this blog is that during the time of Bayit Sheini, there were 8 Yovel years, which pushes back the calculation by 7 years total, arriving at 5776.
Regarding the authorship of this book: This book is attributed to Rav Avraham ben David HaLevi, who is known as the 1st Ra'avad, as opposed to the more famous Ra'avad who commented on the Rambam, who was the 3rd Ra'avad.
(For more on Yovel, click here)
Lately this blog has been getting some extra traffic searching for the term Yovel (when is Yovel, etc), which I believe is stemming from 2 blog posts at Dreaming of Moshiach. Allow me to address these posts.
This post writes in the name of Chesed L'Avraham that the Geulah will be in the year of Yovel.
The actual text quoted is available online here. Here is the sentence in question:
ויהיה דור יובל דור גאולה וחירות
And it will be the Generation of the Yovel that is (to be the) Generation of Redemption and Freedom.
We can see from this that it is referring to the generation of the Yovel. What can this be? It would seem to me that this refers to the Yovel Cycle as being indicative of the generation. We are set to enter, in 7 years and 1 month, the 49th Yovel Cycle. During Galus, the 49th year is the year of Yovel, and this is the cycle in which the Geulah will occur in its time.
(For more on the subject of Yovel, click here to go to the Table of Contents.)
Between Parshat Re'eh and Parshat Shoftim, we learn the basics of how to deal with a prophet.
In Parshat Re'eh (Devarim 12), we learn of the prophet of avodah zarah: Hashem sometimes gives false prophets the ability to bring a sign or a wonder in order to test our love of Hashem. Do not fear these false prophets.
In Parshat Shoftim (Devarim 18), we learn of the prophet of Hashem: Hashem will only give a prophet that speaks in the name of Hashem the ability to bring a sign or a wonder if he is a real prophet.
To summarize:
False Prophet
True Prophet
All of Am Yisrael received prophecy at Har Sinai. That is the implication of what is written in Devarim 18:16-18.
The prophet is our connection to that level of revelation. May that connection soon return.
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.
In Rosh Hashanah 31a, it is brought that the Shechinah went through 10 stops on the way to its Exile in the time of Churban Bayit Rishon, and that as a parallel, the Sanhedrin went through 10 stops on its way in to Exile.
The Shechinah's departure from its proper resting place caused the removal of the highest form of Truth that is available to us, prophecy.
The Sanhedrin's departure from its proper resting place caused the removal of the highest expression of Torah in man's hands.
Both were not immediate, the departure of the Shechinah stretched for years, the departure of the Sanhedrin was generations.
Let us not be surprised that the reversal of this problem also takes time.
Continuing this line of posts.
If the period prior to Moshiach is akin to the period in Mitzriam regarding practice of Sod HaIbbur, then it is obviously not that during Galus Mitzraim that leap months were not intercalated.
What, then, was missing? Could it be simply the 19 year cycle itself, which was known among the goyim for sure at least 2400 years ago?
There is hidden power within the 19 year cycle, the Ibbur Cycle, and this can only be used by Am Yisrael by the Sanhedrin's use of the leap cycle.
So what is / was missing is the knowledge of this sod and the actual usage thereof.
This, of course, is not the entirety of Sod HaIbbur, as can be seen from Rosh Hashanah 20b.
Over at Kankan Chadash, there is a translation of part of the Rambam's Commentary on the Mishnah for Perek Cheilek. Check it out if you are not familiar with it.
Following up on the last post, we should ask, what does it mean that the Ibbur will become less during the stages before Moshiach's arrival, as it was during Galus Mitzraim?
Pirkei D'Rebbi Eliezer doesn't say that B'nei Yisrael did not practice Sod HaIbbur, it just says it was lessened. I would propose that the parallel between then and now could be the accuracy of our calendar.
Brief background: Our calendar is based on a 19 year cycle of lunar years, with 7 of these years having leap months. This is because 19 solar years is very close in length to 235 (19 * 12 + 7) lunar months. There is a set pattern of how we add leap months, and it created an accurate calendar, for its time, some 1600 years ago. Over time, however, the calendar has a drift, so that more and more years out of the 19 year cycle are too late.
In Rosh Hashanah 20b, Shmuel says that he can set up a calendar for the entire Golah. He doesn't mean the place; the calendar for Babylon and for Monsey are the same. Rather, Shmuel could make a calculation that would make a calendar that stays reasonably accurate until such time as a Sanhedrin could fix it. This is in our days.
Chapter 8 of Pirkei D'Rebbi Eliezer brings a history of Sod HaIbbur (Sod HaIbbur meaning the secrets behind the calendar. On a base level, this means when to add a leap month.).
First Hashem took care of Sod HaIbbur. Then He passed it on to Adam HaRishon in Gan Eden (Which is problematic if we are to say that there were no years before Adam HaRishon's stay in Gan Eden).
It goes on to say there that just as during Galus Mitzraim, the leap months became lessened, so to it will be towards the time of the end of the servitude to the Fourth Kingdom, until the coming of Moshiach.
And just like Hashem was revealed to Moshe and Aharon to bring Sod HaIbbur back to Am Yisrael, thus too Hashem will be revealed in the future to bring it back to us.
A brief commentary on this post.
If there are 1000 years for the Sitra Achra to reign, we can look at 1000 year histories starting at the beginning of Galus.
It would seem that the earliest date to examine would be the time of the cessation of the Tamid, 3157.
3157 + 1000 = 4157 - 3760 = 397CE. This is 2 years after the split in the Roman Empire in to 2.
The later time for the start of the 1000 years of Galus would be Galus Edom's start, 3830.
3830 + 1000 = 4830 - 3760 = 1070CE.
This is 1 year before the Battle of Manzikert, described here as the immediate cause of the Crusades.
And for the whole strong hand - In the 1000 years, which are the 1000 unholy days (of galut), that thus it needs to be, that during them, the Sitra Achra is in charge, as has been explained.
And for the great terror - In the rest of the years (after the 1000), until the Geulah Sheimah will be ready. That all those years (after the 1000), the Sitra Achra is afraid for sure from the day of the Geulah. And at the time that Yisrael blows the shofar, it is frightened, because of another shofar that is aroused, and that is Imma that awakes due to Am Yisrael's teshuvah, that the upper Heh (Imma) returns on the children.
After the teshuvah, the lower Heh (Shechinah) will return to its place, upon all of those that have been pulled after her. And Imma will stretch out downwards. Then a flame goes out from her, as it is said about her "and the flame burned up the wicked" (Tehillim 106:18), and it says about her "And the house of Yaakov will be fire and the house of Yosef a flame (Ovadyah 1:18). And fire - that is the fire that stands to refine Yisrael, as it is said about them: "And He will sit as a refiner" (Malachi 3:3). And afterwards that flame will arise at the end of it all, and will burn all the sinners, as it says "burned up the wicked" (Tehillim 106:18).
And further, and all the strong hand, this.
This is a portion that is found on page 6 of the girsah printed with the GR"A's commentary. I'm also putting in selected parts of the GR"A's commentary.
… And because of this, it is said about the Tsaddik vayechulu, that ע"ב goes out, in which the 3 forefathers are included, about whom it is said בכ"ל מכ"ל כ"ל, and in these 3 levels “and I will see her” to the Shechinah, to remember the eternal covenant – in Tsaddik, which is the 6th millennium, the 6th day, and took the right side which is Chesed which is made up of ע"ב.
[Beiur HaGR"A - Now he explains all the pesukim that he brought before, that is to say that the 6th millenium will be the Geulah, and all the kitzim are after ע"ב in the 6th millenium as is written further on, and that is "and the rainbow is seen in the cloud", that is to say ע"ב which is the cloud, as above, and the 6th millenium is the rainbow, then "and I will see her", and that is the 6th day, the 6th millenium, Vayechulu, which is equal to ע"ב, then "and He rested", which is the Geulah, and that is what is written "the 6th millenium is a day", etc.]
And of this it is said (Daniel 12) “And you, go to the Keitz, and rest in Tsaddik and stand for your destiny for the Keitz of the Right, that it is its right, “For eye to eye they will see when Hashem returns Tzion and takes in עב of the middle column of it, (Breishit) “and it will be a separation between water and water”
And of this it is said “To my heart I revealed (it), to the ministering angels I didn’t reveal (it). To my heart I revealed it, to my limbs I didn’t reveal (it) [text is missing here]
(It appears that there is a Keitz) in every single generation according to their merit, in every leader of the generation, because the majority of the generation goes after them, and if the sins become great, the redemption is delayed until another generation. And because of this, all the Kitzim have passed, and it is all dependent upon Teshuvah and the merit of the midah of each generation. But the Keitz and time that HaKadosh Baruch Hu has set is not dependent on merit and character of any generation but rather it is dependent on Him, it is says (Yeshayahu 48) “For Me, For Me, I will do”, (Yehezkel 20) “And I will do it for My Name”.
And due to this, every Keitz on every level is according to the merit of man, but the Keitz of HaKadosh Baruch Hu (ר"ל דעד"א) is not dependent on their merit.
And there is ע"ב after (1) the 5th millennium (2) according to that midah, and there is ע"ב after 1200 (3) according to that midah, and there is 235 according to that midah, and there is 256 (4) according to that midah, and after that is “for eye to eye they will see”. (This paragraph is according to the Girsah of the GR”A in his hagahot)
(1) [Beiur HaGR"A - That after all of the kitzim there needs to be 70 years of Chevlei Moshiach, as it says in the Introduction to Tikkunei Zohar that there is a gzar din of 70 years which are 70 years etc, and there are those that add 2, as is brought in Raya Mehemna Parshat Pinchas page 249, that at 70 she starts and at 2 she gives birth]
(2) [Beiur HaGR"A - That is the Keitz of all Chochmah, for thousands is in Keter, hundreds in Chochmah and Binah, and tens in the 7 lower Sefirot.
(3) [Beiur HaGR"A - In Chesed as above, and this is the Keitz that the Zohar chooses in every place, in the Introduction of Tikkunei Zohar as above, in Raya Mehemna as above, because this Keitz is from ע"ב of Chesed as above.]
(4) [Beiur HaGR"A - That is to say ע"ב afterwards, and this is based on what is above, and this is the Keitz of Malchut, that Yesod is called רנ"ו, as is written in the Introduction to Tikkunei Zohar, that thousands are for Keter, hundreds for Chochmah and Binah, 50's for Chesed, Gevurah, Tiferet, Netzach, Hod, and Yesod, for up to that point the 50 gates of Binah spread, and 6 in Yesod, the small Vav, which is the 6th day, about which it is said Vayechulu, gematria 72, as above, then He rested on the 7th day, Malchut]
There is another Keitz, 245 according to that midah, and this level of desire that will be (with?) HaKadosh Baruch Hu. Two other Kitzim I will (describe) at length, and that is all calculations and gematriot of kitzim are spices of wisdom.
From Keter above, there is no keitz or calculation, as is said in Sefer Yetzirah “and before 1, what can you count?”
The head of all kitzim is Chochmah, and the end of all kitzim is Tsadik (Yesod)…
In Machaneh Yehudah there is currently (again) a store with Otzar HaAretz's signs and hechsher. It is the same store and owner as last time.
This time, I was able to successfully reach someone at the Otzar HaAretz toll free number.
They did indeed give him a hechsher again, but it was only for the month of Tammuz.
The goods he is selling are not from Otzar HaAretz.
There was a time in our history that wearing tefillin all day was taken as a sign of being an honest person. Eventually that came to not be the case. (I believe this is brought in the 2nd or 3rd perek of Yerushalmi Brachot)
A kippah, unfortunately, is not a teudat kashrut.
The following is part of Kol HaTor chapter 2, part 1, number 131:
And it is a major principle that all suffering and all pain that Israel suffers from the nations of the world, in general and in particular, and all the more so in the work of Kibbutz Galuyot, these (sufferings and pain) decrease the suffering of the War of Gug uMagog (whose opening was in the year "Efraim my firstborn" [which refers to the year 5569], as is known)
It seems to be saying here that the War of Gog uMagog started 199 years ago.
If the sod of 60 is taken to the Left, but this time really until 60 instead of 59, see the resultant second and third opening of the War. HaMevin Yavin.
As I quoted from the Ramchal, there are 3 times that Gog rises against Yerushalayim. These wars should not be seen as singular events, but rather they are processes like the entire Geulah.
I word put forth that the general identity of Gog is as follows:Furthermore, I would put forth that this is hinted at in a well-known verse in Vayikra:
ויקרא כו:מב - וזכרתי את בריתי יעקוב, ואף את בריתי יצחק ואף את בריתי אברהם אזכור, והארץ אזכור
Vayikra 26:42 - And I will remember my covenant with Yaakov, and even my covenant with Yitzchak, and even my covenant with Avraham I will remember, and I will remember the land.
There are 3 progressive levels that Am Yisrael must develop, Yaakov, Yitzchak, and Avraham. Against each comes a different aspect of Gog. Their fall brings us to the completion of that level.
This implies the idea of the verse in Yirmiyahu:
ירמיהו ל:ז - הוי כי גדול היום ההוא, מאין כמהו, ועת צרה היא ליעקב וממנה יושע
Yirmiyahu 30:7 - Oy, for that day is great, there is none like it, and it is a time of trouble for Yaakov, and from it, he will be saved.
Kol HaTor interprets this in chapter 1 that specifically from within the trouble comes the salvation.
When the time of trouble for each of the Klipot comes upon us, we are saved in the zechut of the forefather that opposes that Klipah.
It is a picture with many details, but you can piece this together from other places, namely here and here.
Please excuse my digression in to a Hebrew grammar lecture.
In Hebrew, there are 6* letters which have different pronunciation, depending on whether or not there is a dagesh in the letter. Modern Hebrew speakers normally only differentiate between 2 of these 6 letters.
* Sefer Yetzirah lists 7 letters, adding the Reish.
These letters are:If we analyze these letters, they are really 3 pairs of letters. In each pair there is a vocalized and unvocalized letter.
The pairs are:
That is to say that there is little to no difference in these letters when whispering them, when they are unvocalized.
This parallel should also hold true for the forms without dagesh. Indeed this is the case.
I believe this analysis is logically sound, and shows the following:
I don’t have anything to draw this together, yet, but this is what I’ve come up with. Comments are welcome.
Both days have an issur on eating, drinking, anointing, wearing leather shoes, and marital relations. Tishah B’Av
Yom Kippur
And for all the mighty hand - At the time that Gog will come to the gates of Yerushalayim: for it is by way of accusation that he is aroused to come, because of the sin of Kayin.
And in the 1st time that he will come, a strong fire will be seen between the heavens and the earth for 3 days, and Gog will stand on the outside, opposite the gate, and the king Moshiach will be inside, and this fire will separate them, and they won't do anything to each other. Once he (Gog) will see that he can't attack, he will return to his place.
Afterwards, he will come a 2nd time, and then a strong darkness will be seen and much anger will be in the world, and great mountains will be broken, as it is said about them: "For the mountains will move, and the hills will collapse (Yeshayahu 54:10), and then: "And my kindness will not move from with you, etc (Isaiah 54:10). Then, Gog will go back.
But come and see, this wicked person, when time passes and he will consider being strengthened, like Par'oh the wicked did, as it is said about him "And Par'oh saw that he had an opportunity and he hardened his heart (Shemot 8:11), for he thought that the fear had left, and he could be strengthened, and if not now then after a bit of time.
Come and see, this wicked Gog will come a 3rd time certainly. But before he comes, HaKadosh Baruch Hu will rise up to take away the sin of Kayin from the world. And that is the secret of the verse "And he shall sit as a refiner" (Malachi 3:3). And because this wicked one (Gog) will come, the sin will already be gone. And that is the secret of the verse: "Why are the nations in an uproar, and the nations utter in vain" (Tehillim 2:1). Vain, for sure, that they thought they could become strengthened in that same sin (of Kayin), but behold that sin is already not to be found, and opposing this, the side of Kedushah needs to be strengthened for sure.
And all the strong hand - In the 2 (first) times that still the sin was not taken away.
And all the great terror - The refinement that (He will) refine, before the 3rd time he comes, that when he does come, it will be said about him: "The righteous are delivered from trouble, and the wicked come in his place" (Mishlei 11:8), really. And also, and all the hand, etc, is this.
There has been much talk in the Jewish blogs lately regarding the identity of Gog. It would seem that exerting of efforts to identify Gog are not productive. I might touch on those reasons later. What I wanted to mention was the ideas behind the Wars of Gog uMagog.
The Wars of Gog uMagog are mentioned 3 times:This is a scriptual support for the tradition that there are 3 Wars of Gog uMagog. It has been fairly well circulated in the name of the Chofetz Chayim that WW1 and WW2 were stages 1 and 2.
The Ramchal made this tradition regarding the 3 stages fairly explicit in his Tikkunim Chadashim, Tikkun # 60.
It would seem from the Ramchal (and other sources which I will not discuss now) that the 1st stage was WWII, not WWI: He states there that Gog will come up to Yerushalayim but won't be able to enter. All we need to do is take Yerushalayim to mean the entirety of Eretz Yisrael. The Nazis under Rommell were stopped in Egypt. This threat was one of the reasons for the founding of the Palmach. See also here.
Obviously with the above, there is no connection between the name Gog and the names of the characters involved, either for WWI or WWII.
In this week's parshah, we have a nevuah from Moshe Rabbeinu that Am Yisrael will end up being exiled from Eretz Yisrael.
I will provide a translation for a verse here in to English, and then a translation of Targum Onkelos in to English.
Devarim 4:28
Hebrew:
And there you will serve gods, the works of man, wood and stone, which cannot see and cannot hear, and don't eat and don't smell.
Targum:
And there you will serve idol worshipping nations, the works of man, wood and stone, that cannot see and cannot hear, and don't eat and don't smell
The Targum basically tells us that in the lands of exile we will not actually become idol worshippers, G-d forbid. But rather, our exile will lead us to serve nations that do serve gods of wood and stone. And this very fact is likened by Moshe to Am Yisrael themselves becoming idol worshippers.
Parshat Ki Tavo also uses this expression, describing Am Yisrael being in Galus.
Devarim 28:64
And Hashem will disperse you amongst all the nations, from one end of the earth to the other end of the earth, and you will serve there other gods, that you did not know, and your fathers, wood and stone.
Chazal relate the curses of Devarim 28 to Galus Edom, the time when Am Yisrael has been under the rule of Esav and Yishmael. Neither of these kingdoms serve gods of wood or stone.
But alas, the two religions do turn their prayers toward wood and stone.
Christianity has the wooden cross.
Islam has the Ka'aba, the stone which lies in Mecca.
Even if not the object of worship, these items are focusing points of their prayer service.
It is brought in Kol HaTor that Moshiach ben Yosef and Moshiach ben David are hidden, as long as Am Yisrael and the Shechinah are in Galus.
This indeed has been the case during history.
As mentioned before, the main tasks of Moshiach ben Yosef are:
The Ariza"l and the GR"A, both identified in the role of Moshiach ben Yosef, revealed many secrets of Torah. The GR"A sent his students to start the work of Moshiach ben Yosef. But what about afterwards?
We find that the person who is credited as the father of Zionism is Theodore Herzl, a secular Jew. The First Zionist Congress in Basel, 1897, which was initiated and chaired by Herzl, was a pivotal event in the history of Zionism. Rav Kook referred to him as Moshiach ben Yosef (if anyone can supply an exact source for that, I would appreciate).
How can we consider Theodore Herzl as one of the many incarnations of Moshiach ben Yosef? He did not keep Torah and mitzvot; his life story is public knowledge for one that wants details.
That is exactly the key: Since Am Yisrael and the Shechinah were still in Galus, and the appointed time had come to arouse Am Yisrael to make Aliyah, the Moshiach ben Yosef who came forth had to be someone who did not fit the mold.
This also teaches another idea: the revelation of Moshiach is dependent on Am Yisrael returning to Eretz Yisrael.
In the 3rd Aliyah of Parshat Devarim, Moshe recounts the sin of the spies. As is known, the wording of Sefer Devarim is many times in a way to give reproof to Am Yisrael.
When recalling our sin, the evil report of the 10 spies is not mentioned.
דברים א:כה - ויקחו בידם מפרי הארץ, ויורדו אלינו, וישבו אתנו דבר, ויאמרו טובה הארץ אשר ה' אלקינו נתן לנו
דברים א:כו - ולא אביתם לעלת
As Rashi explains there, this is the testimony of Kalev ben Yefuneh and Yehoshua bin-Nun. Moshe leaves out the testimony of the 10 Spies. Am Yisrael went after the majority instead of Truth.Devarim 1:25 - And they took from the fruit of the land, and brought it down to us, and returned to us a word, and said "The land that Hashem our G-d gives us is good".
Devarim 1:26 - And you didn't want to go up (to the land) ...
As we approach Tish'ah B'Av, it is proper to consider the spiritual heights and depths that Am Yisrael has experienced, for they are related to the essence of Tish'ah B'Av.
At Har Sinai, Am Yisrael experienced an extremely high form of revelation, the truth was "seen" by all. From this time forward was the age of prophecy, where many individuals achieved a high level of prophecy.
The destruction of the 1st Beit HaMikdash brought the age of prophecy to a close. Churban HaBayit and Galut Bavel mark the beginning of the downward spiral of Truth down to the earth. With the withdrawal of prophecy, this level of connection to heaven was blocked. Truth, however, remained in the hands of the Sanhedrin.
Galut Edom brought a further fall, with the cessation of smichah, the disappearance of the Sanhedrin.
Binyan Beit HaMikdash and the end of Galut Edom will reverse this. Truth sprouts up from the ground, in the end it reaches the heavens.
Truth on the ground; that is the individuals fighting for truth. We find what is true, even if unpopular, even if it is against the common belief.
Above this is the Sanhedrin, where the Truth acts on a national level, leading the nation.
But the individuals will as well reach higher, attaining even prophecy as the Truth that they have found continues its path back to the Heavens.
The highest level is prophecy for all, where we will not need to seek out a teacher due to our innate connection to the Truth, as is brought in the Navi.
May Hashem help us to raise the Truth back up from the earth, and let it truly sprout forth.
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