New Online Book: Yovel & Geulah

For Shabbat BeHar / Yom Yerushalayim

Comments can be posted here or emailed to me.  Slightly updated, includes the visual aids.

Here it is.

NEW: Hebrew version here.

The Three Oaths in Tazria

I was contemplating why it is that the GR"A is the only one to explain the oath of Ketubot 111a as referring to Har HaBayit and not Eretz Yisrael. First, the text of the Gemara there:

אחת שלא יעלו ישראל בחומה ואחת שהשביע הקדוש ברוך הוא את ישראל שלא ימרדו באומות העולם ואחת שהשביע הקדוש ברוך הוא את אומות העולם שלא ישתעבדו בהן בישראל יותר מדאי

1. That Israel shall not go up as a wall
2. That HaKadosh Baruch Hu imposed an oath on Israel that they won't rebel against the nations.
3. That HaKadosh Baruch Hu imposed an oath on the nations of the world not to oppress Israel too much.

The GR"A's commentary to Tikkunei Zohar (without translation), page 157:

ובמה כו' בימינא - ר"ל תורה מימינו כו' נשבע ה' בימינו וזהו ע"פ המים וז"ש עד דייתי כו' וזהו ורוח וכו' על כו' שתחלה צריך לתורה ואח"כ בא משיח אלא שמוזהרין שלא ידחקו את הקץ וז"ש בימינא שעתה השיב אחור ימינו כמ"ש כיון שגלו אין לך ביטול כו' וכמ"ש בכמה מקומות במה יתערון למשיח באורייתא אלא שמושבעין שלא יצאו מאליהם לבנות בה"מ שושנה דלעילא עד שיבא

I think that all three of these oaths can be seen from VaYikra 12:4

ושלשים יום ושלשת ימים תשב בדמי טהרה, בכל קדש לא תגע, ואל המקדש לא תבא, עד-מלאת  ימי טהרה

And for 33 days she shall sit in her dam tohar, and she shall touch nothing holy, and she shall not come to the Mikdash, until the completion of the days of purity.

To parse differently:

And for 33 days

1. She shall sit in her dam tohar (Knesset Yisrael shall sit in Exile and not rebel)
2. She shall touch nothing holy (Don't read she shall not, but rather you shall not tough anything holy, meaning the Holy Nation)
3. She shall not come to the Mikdash (That Am Yisrael shall not go up to build the Mikdash until the appointed time, the end of the 33 days.

Chronology - Pshat or Drash?

There are a number of places where our chronology is not based on the pshat of the Tanach.

• Chumash - One can determine, using only the text of the Chumash, when the exile in Mitzraim began.  One cannot, however, determine when it ended.  Pirkei d'Rebbi Eliezer chapter 48, for example, asserts that Yocheved was born when Am Yisrael entered Mitzraim, and she was 130 when Moshe was born.  But this is not in the Chumash.  The Chumash leaves this open for drash.
• Shoftim Period - Melachim Alef, 6:1 states that the building of the 1st Beit HaMikdash began 480 years after the Exodus.  The exact chronology of events, and duration of time the mishkan was in each location during this 480 year period seems to be from mesorah and not the text.
• Galut Bavel - The length of Galut Bavel is 70 years, but what does that mean precisely?  As I have mentioned before, there are multiple 70 year periods at play.  The period between the building of the 2nd Beit HaMikdash and the arrival of Ezra haSofer is made much shorter by Chazal's identification of Artachshasta as Daryavesh (Bavli Rosh Hashanah 3b).

Halachah of Yovel

Mishnah Rosh Hashanah 3:4 Yovel is equal to Rosh Hashanah in blowing (of the shofar), and in blessings.

Question: Was this halachah ever observed?  Brachot were put in place during the time of the 2nd Beit HaMikdash.  According to most opinions, Yovel has not been in force as a mitzvah d'oraita since the time of the 1st Beit HaMikdash.  It would seem that the shofar would not be observed if Yovel were marked d'rabbanan, but the brachot could be recited during the musaf prayer.

I have not seen any evidence of this, I was wondering if anyone else had seen anything, or had any other insight.  Comments welcome.

For Tazria

A link to Geulat Mitzraim to Yemot HaMoshiach

Ever so slightly updated.

Yovel - Beit HaMikdash Connections

The Yovel year in which Yehezkel received his vision of the 3rd Beit HaMikdash took place in 3353.  The year we mark as the beginning of Bayit Sheini is 3409.  That is a 56 year difference.

The Yovel year in which Am Yisrael returned to all of Yerushalayim was 5727.  Another 56 years brings us to 5783.

Dividing the Hours of the 6th Day

According to the counting system presented in Kol HaTor, we are currently in the 7th hour of the 6th day, since we count only the 2nd half of the 6th millennium.  According to Talmud Bavli Sanhedrin 38b and Pirkei d'Rebbi Eliezer chapter 11, this is the hour in which Hashem made Chava for Adam.

If we divide the 7th hour again in to 24 parts, the new 7th hour falls from 5782 to 5784 (ignoring the fractions of years).

What is interesting as well is that during the 3rd hour, Adam stretches out his limbs.  This covers 5775 to 5777, covering the next Yovel.

Update:

A commentor reminded me of a Baraita in the Yerushalmi Brachot 1:1 that goes as follows:

רבי אומר ארבע אשמורות ביום וארבע אשמורות בלילה העונה אחד מעשרים וארבעה לשעה העת אחד מעשרים וארבעה לעונה הרגע אחד מעשרים וארבעה לעת

Rebbi says: There are four watches of the day and four watches of the night.  An "onah" is 1/24th of an hour.  An "et" is 1/24th of an "onah".  A "rega" is 1/24th of an "et".

Doing the math recursively, the 7th rega of the 7th et of the 7th onah of the 7th hour of the 6th day brings us to approximately half way through 5783.  And the 3rd et of the 3rd onah of the 7th hour of the 6th day brings us to approximately 1/3 in to 5776.

Symbolism of the Four Cups

The First Cup

1. Said over Kiddush
2. Corresponds to this world, to signal that we should sanctify ourselves in this world.
3. Corresponds to the word "והוצאתי", "and I will take you out"
4. Corresponds to the Geulah of 56, the Israeli War of Independence

The Second Cup

1. Said over Magid
2. Corresponds to Yemot HaMoshiach, when we will still mention Yetziat Mitzraim
3. Corresponds to the word "והצלתי", "and I will save you"
4. Corresponds to the Geulah of 60, the Six-Day War, the Pekidah.

The Third Cup

1. Said over Birkat HaMazon
2. Corresponds to Atid Lavo, when we will have Seudat Livyatan
3. Corresponds to the word "וגאלתי" "and I will redeem", but on the side of Chesed, "בזרוע נטויה", "with an outstretched arm"
4. Corresponds to the Geulah of 66, with Moshiach ben Yosef, followed by the Zechirah.

The Fourth Cup

1. Said over the Great Hallel
2. Corresponds to Techiyat HaMeitim, when we will say the Great Hallel
3. Corresponds to the word "וגאלתי" "and I will redeem", but on the side of Din, "ובשפטים גדולים" "with great judgments
4. Corresponds to the Geulah of 72, with Moshiach ben David

Notes

Numbers 2 and 3 of every list are according to the GR"A, who held that the common relationship between expressions of Geulah and the cups was incorrect, but rather it was all from a single pasuk:

שמות ו:ו - לכן אמר לבני ישראל, אני ה', והוצאתי אתכם מתחת סבלת מצרים, והצלתי אתכם מעבדתם, וגאלתי אתכם בזרוע נטויה, ובשפטים גדלים

Therefore, the question of whether or not five cups are needed goes away.

Number 4 is according to the Zohar Raya Mehemna on Pinchas.  On the first and second cups, the correlation between 3 and 4 works well.  "And I will take you out" is well suited for the Kibbutz Galuyot of 600,000 achieved at the time of the war in 5708.  The threat of immenent destruction that preceded the war in 5727 goes well with "And I will save you".  The question is how Moshiach ben Yosef has to do with the Geulah on the side of Chesed, and Moshiach ben David with Geulah on the side of Din.  Perhaps the answer is that Moshiach ben Yosef will come in the zechut of the work of Am Yisrael in the Keitz Meguleh, and therefore the experience will be sweeter, whereas the Geulah of Moshiach ben David will be one of more Din, as it is related to the final war of Gog uMagog.

For more symbolism, see Yerushalmi Pesachim 10:1.

On Cycle-Accuracy

The Lunar Cycle

We have a tradition that the average Molad interval is 29 days, 12 hours, and 793 chalakim, where there are 1080 chalakim in an hour.  Written differently, 29 days, 12 hours, 40 minutes, 73 chalakim (this is the way it is written in Pirkei d'Rebbi Eliezer).  

In Pirkei d'Rebbi Eliezer chapter 7 it is written:

The total of the days of the lunar year is 354 days, 8 hours and 876 chalakim.  All the hours of the lunar month are 708 hours and two thirds of an hour.  All the hours of a lunar year are 8504 hours.

That is to say that it gives the precise length of the lunar year, and then goes on to get imprecise.  First it drops the 876 chalakim, and then it reworks the calculations without the "pesky" chalakim.  If all the hours of a lunar month are 708 hours and 2/3 of an hour, then that means that a lunar month is 29 days, 12 hours, and 40 minutes.  That means that the imprecision is 73/1080 of an hour, or approximately 4 minutes.

The Solar Cycle

The year that we use for Birkat HaChamah is 365 days and 6 hours.  The difference between this and the solar year of Rav Adda is 365 days, 5 hours, and approximately 997 chalakim, or 365 days, 5 hours, 2/3 of an hour, and 277 chalakim.  The difference between the two is about 83 chalakim per year, or about 4.6 minutes per year.

In both places, we have inaccuracies on the "small" scale of less than 5 minutes per unit (lunar month or solar year). 

Birkat HaChamah Online Book

I've been writing a (short) book on the math behind Birkat HaChamah for the last year or so, and I have decided to start to make it public online with Google's new web publishing app.  I have 8 chapters, an appendix, and I've translated Pirkei D'Rebbi Eliezer chapters 6 and 7.  Please leave comments on this post if you have any.

Here's the link.

Update:  All parts of this book have been put online.

The Three Weeks

America's celebrated date marking the declaration of its independence, July 4th, 1776, was the 17th of Tamuz, 5536.  If we count forward until the 9th of Av using 12 days per year, we arrive at 5788, which is towards the end of a "day" which spans 5777-5789.

Birkat HaChamah - Mezarim

From my translation of chapter 6 of Pirkei d'Rebbi Eliezer:

And in 366 degrees (not 360), the Sun goes up and down, 183 it goes up in the East, and 183 it goes down in the West, corresponding to the days of the solar year. And in 366 windows, the Sun goes out, and it comes in the East, 91 days on the southern end, and 91 days on the northern end, and 1 window in the middle called the Nogah window. In Tekufat Tishrei, it (the sun) starts from the Nogah window and goes around to the southern end, window after window, until it arrives in the Shabbtai window. In Tekufat Tevet, it starts from the Shabbtai window and goes around and returns back, window after window, until it arrives to the Taalumah window, from where the light goes out, as it says, "And Taalumah brings out light" (Iyov, 28:11). In Tekufat Nisan, it starts from the Taalumah window, from where the light goes out, and it goes to the northern side, window after window, until it arrives in the Naamon window. In Tekufat Tamuz it starts from the Naamon window and goes around and returns back, window by window, until it reaches the Cheder window, from where the storm wind (ruach sufah) goes, as it says (I'm not going to translate the pasuk, but its Iyov 37:9).

In those [windows] that are in the East, it would go out, and correspondingly in the West, it comes in, and the Shechinah is always in the West. It comes in and prostrates itself before HaKadosh Baruch Hu, and says before Him, "Master of the Universe, I did all that you commanded of me".

The window in the middle of the Firmament, its name is Mezarim, and it (the sun) doesn't go out and enter in it aside from one time in the great cycle, that through (the window), it goes out on the day that it was created, in the night, in the west.

החלון שבאמצע הרקיע, שמו מזרים, ואינו יוצא ונכנס בו אלא פעם אחת של מחזור גדול, שבו יוצא ביום שנברא בלילה במערב

On the Significance of Birkat HaChamah

My online book regarding Birkat HaChamah is mostly complete, one chapter of translation is in editing.  Again, you can find it here.

Therein, I describe how the midrashim related to Birkat HaChamah serve as a cover for other cycles underneath it that help in understanding the course of our history.

There is another great theory that has been published, by Moshe Lerman, which shows that using these midrashim, we can actually determine approximately when and how the Jewish calendar was created.  You can find the article here.

Kaftor VaFerach ch. 51 on Yovel - English

On the matter of Yovel: The beginning of the count was from 14 years after they entered the Land.  From Yetziat Mitzraim to the building of Bayit Rishon is 480 years.  In the desert, 40 years, 14 years of conquering and division, therefore 54 years (after Yetziat Mitzraim was the beginning of the counting).  Take these (54 years) from the 480 years, and you end up with 426 years, and then Bayit Rishon was built.  Add this to the 410 years that it stood, and you get 836, and then it was destroyed.  800 years is 16 Yovels.  If so, it was during the 36th year of the 17th Yovel that it was destroyed.  Take the remaining 14 years from the 70 years (of Galut Bavel) and you have 56 years.  And the 420 years that (the 2nd Beit HaMikdash) stood, behold that is 9 Yovels, and you are left with 26 years from the 10th Yovel cycle.  If so, the Yovel took place 24 years after the Churban.  Take 24 years away from 172 (which complete 4000 years), and you are left with 148 years.  If so, the count of Yovels is from 148 years after the Churban.  For example, for our date that we have mentioned, add 148 and the complete 5th millennium years and 82 years, and you will have 1230 years.  1200 years is 24 Yovels.  And we are in the 30th year of the 25h Yovel, and thus on this pattern.  And Chazal have already said: Just like the Shmitah makes rest one year for every seven, thus the world will rest for one thousand years for every seven thousand years, as is brought in Perek Chelek (Masechet Sanhedrin)

Kaftor VaFerach ch. 51 on Yovel - Hebrew

ביובל:  תחילת המנין מי"ד שנה אחר שנכנסו לארץ.  כבר קדם שמיציאת מצרים עד הבנין ת"פ.  במדבר היו מ' וי"ד כבוד וחלוק, הרי נ"ד.  ואז התחילו למנות.  תגרעם מת"פ וישאר תכ"ו ואז נבנה בית ראשון.  חבר על זה ת"י מהבית ויהיו תתל"ו ואז נחרבה הראשונה.  ת"ת הם י"ו יובלות.  אם כן אל ל"ו מהיובל הי"ז נחרבה.  ואל י"ד אחריו היה יובל.  ולזה מאותם ע' שנה של גלות בבל אל י"ד מהם היה יובל.  הסר י"ד משבעים נשאר נ"ו.  ות"כ שעמדה הרי ט' יובלות וישאר כ"ו מהיובל העשירי.  אם כן, אל כ"ד שנה אחר החרבן היה יובל.  נגרע כ"ד מקע"ב וישאר קמ"ח.  ואם כן תחלת מנין ליובלות הוא מן קמ"ח אל החרבן.  דמיון:  לתאריכנו הנזכר, חבר קמ"ח ואלף החמישי שלם ופ"ב ויהיו אלף ור"ל.  אלף ור' הם כ"ד יובלות.  ואנו בשנת השלשים מיובל כ"ה, וכל על זה הדרך.  וכבר אמרו חכמים ז"ל:  כשם שהשמטה משמטת שנה אחת לשבע שנים, כך העולם משמט אלף שנה לשבעת אלפים וכדאיתא פרק חלק.

Source: part 1, part 2.

Haftarat Parah

A few words of Torah before my brother's second yartzheit on yom shlishi.

The haftarah for Parshat Parah has a few points that we should ponder:

• Yehezkel 36:20 - The goyim see Jews living in Chutz La'Aretz and they say to themselves that this is the nation of Hashem, and they have left His land.  This is considered a Chillul Hashem.  It does not refer to the religious level of the Jew in Galus.  The very existence of Jews being physically out of Eretz Yisrael is a Chillul Hashem.
• After Kibbutz Galuyot comes divine assistance in Teshuvah.  Verse 24 states that Hashem will gather us in, verse 25 states He will then sprinkle upon us clean water.  This is of course analagous to what is stated in chapter 30 of Devarim.  Am Yisrael will do some level of Teshuvah, and after Kibbutz Galuyot, Hashem will help us achieve he rest.

I have been learning the Perek Yomi cycle of Mishnayot for a year and a half now.  This morning's chapter begins with the words:

ארץ ישראל טהורה ומקוואותיה טהורין

Eretz Yisrael is pure, and its mikvaot are pure.

For a person to purify himself in a mikveh, he must submerge completely.  For Am Yisrael to become pure, we must all come home.

Iterations of 2/3

On comments to a  previous post, someone left a comment pointing to their blog, which brought an idea that the Geulah is related to iterations of 2/3.

• 6000 * 2/3 = 4000
• 4000 + (6000-4000) * 2/3 = 5333.333
• 5333.333 + (6000 - 5333.333) * 2/3 = 5777.777

The implication is that once we reach this 2/3 point, the Geulah will arrive and Moshiach will come, either in late 5777 or in 5778.  This is obviously at odds with things that I've written here, but it corresponds nicely to something else that I've written here.  The basic idea is that yes, Ateret HaYesod (the 2/3 point), which is related to the Geulah, will start in that year, but it is mixed with Yesod until 5783.

Yesod

It is brought in Kabbalah that Yesod is made up of 3 sections.  The first 2 are Yesod, and the 3rd is Ateret HaYesod.  Furthermore, Yesod of Chochmah stands in such a way that Ateret HaYesod of Chochmah corresponds to the full length of Yesod of Z"A.  So therefore if the 100 years mentioned in the Zohar relate to Yesod of Z"A, there are 200 years prior to this that relate to the first 2/3 of Yesod of Chochmah.  This explains the wording of the Zohar that there is a Keitz referred to as רנ"ו, the Gematria of 256.  This means that after the 200 years of Yesod of Chochmah, there are 56 on the level of Yesod of Z"A, bringing us to the year the State of Israel was founded.  A further Keitz of רע"ב is mentioned, which is yet ahead of us.  It appears that the 200 years mentioned began in the early life of Shlomo HaMelech, who requested from Hashem Chochmah (Melachim Aleph 5:9).

But the timing of the start of Yesod of Z"A is due to a sin that took place in Am Yisrael's history.  The 100 years should have started earlier.  If so, it appears that the 200 years of Yesod of Chochmah would therefore have started during Moshe Rabbeinu's youth, and as is known, Moshe Rabbeinu was an emmanation of Yesod of Chochmah.

For Everything There is a Time

לכל זמן ועת לכל חפץ תחת השמים

עת ללדת - יציאת מצרים, שנמשלה ללידה, הן בעולם התחתון והן בעולם העליון

עת למות - הוא עונש לחטא המרגלים, במדבר הזה יתמו, ושם ימתו - במדמר יד:לה

עת לטעת - הוא הכניסה לארץ כדכתיב בויקרא יט:כג - וכי תבאו אל הארץ ונטעתם

ועת לעקור נטוע - המלאכה בכניסה לארץ כדכתיב בדברים יב:ג - ונתצתם את-מזבחתם, ושברתם את מצבתם, ואשריהם תשרפון באש, ופסילי אלהיהם תגדעון ואבדתם את-שמם, מן המקום ההוא

עת להרוג - בפילגש בגבעה

ועת לרפוא - אחרי פילגש בגבעה, נזכר בסוף ספר שופטים

עת לפרוץ - הוא אצל דוד באומרו כל מכה יבוסי

ועת לבנות - הוא עיר דוד

עת לבכות - מעשה אמנון ותמר

ועת לשחוק - בנצחון דוד על אויביו, כדכתיב בשירו בשמואל ב כב:מג - ואשחקם, כעפר ארץ

עת ספוד - על אבשלום

עת רקוד - בבניין הבית, כדכתיב וביום שמחת לבו

עת להשליך אבנים - בזמן גלות

ועת כנוס אבנים - בזמן פקידת כורש, והרי לא כתיב כנוס כל האבנים אלא כנוס אבנים

עת לחבוק - ורבים מעמי הארץ מתיהדים כי נפל פחד היהודים עליהם

ועת לרחק מחבק - בעניין הנשים הנכריות בימי עזרא

עת לבקש - בקשת אנשי הכנסת הגדולה לסלק יצר הרע לעבודה זרה

ועת לאבד - הסתלקות הנבואה

עת לשמור - פך השמן בימי החשמונאים

ועת להשליך - עם ישראל הולך לגלות

עת לקרוע - על החורבן הבית וחורבן ביתר

ועת לתפור - עם המשנה וגמרא

עת לחשות - בין חתימת הש"ס לתקופת הגאונים

ועת לדבר - פיתוח תורה שבעל פה בימי הגאונים, הראשונים, ואחרונים

עת לאהב - החזרה לארץ, כי רצו עבדיך את אבניה ואת עפרה יחננו

ועת לשנא - הרדיפות באירופה

עת מלחמה - הוא עכשיו, זמן מלחמת גוג ומגוג

ועת שלום - הוא בארבעים השנים המוזכרות במדרש נעלם פרשת תולדות שהם אחרי קיבוץ גלויות

On Gematrias of Years

5770 may indeed include 770, which is the Gematra of Beit Moshiach, בית משיח

but... Beit Moshiach doesn't necessarily have to do with Moshiach's arrival.

Bi'at HaMoshiach, ביאת המשיח, which translates as Moshiach's Coming, is equal to 776, indicating 5776.

Misconceptions - Geulah in 5770

Last year, I posted a translation of Zohar Chadash: Ma'amar Darach Kokhav miYaakov.  In this section of the Zohar, there is a description of wars and troubles that will befall Am Yisrael during the Geulah process.  Towards the end of this section, it is mentioned that this will be at 60 years in the 6th millennium, and at the end, that this will be during the 70 years that are in the 6th millennium.

It recently came to my attention that in the Bar Ilan Project's version of this Zohar, there is a mention of the 59th year before that mention of the 60th year.  Therefore, it is reasonable to assume that the calculation of Shmitah and Yovel together actually refers to the 59th year.

At some point, someone tried to connect all of this to Mumbai.  This is a major stretch, as not only are many details ignored, but how exactly, to their explanation, is that the 59th year or the 60th year?

Regardless, at some point, a calculation of days was given from the Mumbai massacre to the 8th day of Chanukah.  Someone then calculated that there are exactly 9 months from the 8th day of Chanukah to Rosh Hashanah 5770, and since the year ends with 70, and also with 770, this is an auspicious sign regarding the Geulah.

The problems with this are numerous:

• The Zohar gives a calculation in order to figure out the timing of the events in question.  How can Mumbai be at 59, or even 60, and then 9 months later is 70?  Rather, no one gives an explanation of how 5769 can be the 59 mentioned.
• Furthermore, how does 5769 fulfill the statement of Shmitah and Yovel together?
• And all of this is besides the fact that there is no actual relationship between this Zohar and the events that took place in Mumbai months ago.

But rather, these numbers, 59, 60, 70, are all related to the 100 years of Yesod that I have mentioned.

The Zohar Chadash does not predict the revelation of Moshiach in the year 5770.

On Israeli Politics

Anyone who has followed this blog and follows Israeli politics can realize that my views jive with the Ichud Leumi.  There is no other parliamentary party which represents those ideas as much as they do.  Nonetheless, I voted for the Likud, as I did in the last elections.  Obviously I did not do this due to any great love and admiration for Binyamin Netanyahu.  Rather, for years I have been a supporter of the ideology of Manhigut Yehudit.

One of the main ideas is that in order to achieve our ideological goals, we must strive for no less than the national leadership, and to do that, we must enter and compete for the leadership of the largest nationalist party, the Likud.  The only way to guarantee influence in the Likud is to be in it.  To illustrate, there is nothing stopping the Likud today from leaving the Ichud Leumi out of the government, and indeed Bibi can even set up a government with left-wing parties.  The tiny "settlers' party" can easily be relegated to irrelevance.

Israel needs, for the sake of stability, electoral reform, the result of which would be, to a large extent, the elimination of small parties.  At such time, the different interest groups in Israel will be forced to make coalitions within the parties.  For example, in America, we know that the Democrats strive to represent the labor unions and the immigrants.  In Israel we would have the labor union party (See Amir Peretz) and the immigrants party (See Yisrael Ba'Aliyah).  In America, the Republicans represent the gun owners and the business owners.  Can anyone imagine that there would be an National Rifle Association party?  The natural situation for which we should work is that the Likud would represent the traditional, religious, and the right-wing.  The party should know that in order to get the votes from its sector, it must live up to their expectations as much as possible.  This would be done by having representatives of the sectors on the Knesset lists, not by separate parliamentary groups.

The Manhigut Yehudit idea includes basically us forcing the Likud to represent us, by becoming active in its institutions and voting in the internal elections and indeed voting for the Likud in the general elections.  Essentially by becomings its constituents.  This is instead of waiting for the aforementioned electoral reform.  I believe in working towards long-term goals.  Voting for the Likud is part of working towards a long-term goal of bringing leadership that represents Jewish ideals to power.

If you don't believe that there is any way to improve our situation, or that we should only be considering short-term goals, then obviously this message does inherently speak to you.  Until the very end, I will put my lot with those that try to find the next step towards our ultimate goal, as taught in Kol HaTor.  And indeed it was at a Manhigut Yehudit Shabbaton years ago that a certain rav  gave a shiur on Kol HaTor.

Sha'ar Maamrei Rashbi - VaEra

There (meaning Zohar, section 2) on page 27a, at the end of the page, it is written like this: Rebbi Elazar said from the upper right side go out 13 deep upper wells, etc, 499 lakes and a half from this side and 499 from here, etc. This matter is explanned by me in Drush HaYichudim, and check there, for there I have explained it, and it requires examination there. And the matter is that he is speaking about the aspect of the connectino of Zeir Anpin and Nukveh with them being in the secret of back to back, and see in the Idra by Naso on page 132a, "in that first world, which is thousands of thousands, myriads of myriads" etc. And there we explained the matter of those thousand and what their matter is and how they are brought down and how they spread from the two upper shoulders, for shoulder in gematria is 500, and two shoulders is one thousand, and afterwards from these shoulders were made two crowns called Chesed and Gevurah, and one shoulder which is Chesed is drawn down and it is given to Zeir Anpin. And the second shoulder which is called Gevurah is drawn down to Nukva of Zeir Anpin and therefore it is found that the two shoulders of Zeir Anpin are really only one shoulder, and the two shoulders of Nukva are also only one shoulder, and therefore the length fo Zeir Anpin is 500 years. And thus is the length of Nukva. Therefore when the two of them connected together back to back, there was only one wall separating between them, half of its width to this, and half of its width to that. Therefore for this one there was 499 and a half from this side, and 499 and a half from this side, for the wall that is between them is divided, half to this and half to that, but after the female is separated from his back, then from the one wall, two walls are made for each, and then it is 500 complete for Zeir Anpin against the shoulder of Chesed which is in gematria 500, and 500 complete for his Nukva against the shoulder of Gevurah. And behold this middle wall that is made now together as one, in it is the secret of the backsides. Therefore the judgments are drawn down from it. Therefore his head is red like a rose in the secret of the redness of judgment. One also needs to know that the entire matter is in the aspect of Netzach and Hod of Zeir Anpin which against them stands his Nukva back to back, and you already knew that the backsides are the aspect of the judgments. And behold there are here Netzach, Hod, and Yesod of Zeir Anpin, and Netzach, Hod, and Yesod of his Nukva, and it is all one back side from those in its place and that is in the secret of the thousand rivers and another 13 like we will xplain, with G-d's help. And we will explain the aspect of Netzach, Hod, and Yesod of Zeir Anpin and from them we will connect to the Netzach, Hod, and Yesod of his Nukva, for there it is also on the way of these.

Behold, you already know that Netzach and Hod and Yesod are called Tzeva'ot, and the name Tzeva'ot in Gematria is 499, and therefore (you know) how Netzach Hod and Yesod are in gematria 499, and the Netzach Hod and Yesod of the male is 499 from here, and the Netzach Hod and Yesod of Nukva from here are another 499, and because they are connected back to back, they are two times Tzeva'ot, which is Netzach Hod and Yesod of the male and Netzach Hod and Yesod of the female, and there is nothing between them but one wall which connects them, and the wall is divided, half to this name Tzeva'ot, and half to this one, and therefore it is 499 and a half from here and 499 and a half from here which is 1000 minus 1. And in a way that they are 499 and 499, which are Tzeva't of Netzach Hod and Yesod of the male and Tzeva'ot of Netzach Hod and Yesod of Nukva. And there is between them 1 wall which divides between these two Tzeva'ot, and that is the wall divided in half that is mentioned, half from this side and half from that side. You also need to know that being that these two Tzeva'ot are connected back to back by this wall that divides between them, there is also in the middle of these two Tzevao't, which is the middle of NH"Y of Zeir Anpin and NH"Y of Nukva, there is between them in the middle another 13 rivers, six and a half from this side and six and a half from that side. And therefore it is left that they divide to each back, 506 and a half from here and 506 and a half from there, and that is the secret of the two names ABGYT"Tz, the first name of the 42 letter name as is known. And that name is equal in gematria to 506 to teach about these 13 rivers that were mentioned which are in the middle between the back to back. And therefore the 2 letters Yud Gimel are put in the middle of this name, A"B from here and T"Tz from here, and 13 in the middle, to teach about the 13 rivers which are in the middle as was mentioned. And it is already known that the 42 letter name is in Gevurah which is the aspect of the back sides which are the secret of judgments and thus the matter is in her NH"Y, to other backsides in these, and all the klipot attach in the aspect of these backsides.

Off topic: I was at the supermarket...

This has absolutely nothing to do with the subject matter of this blog.  But regardless...

I was in line at the local supermarket yesterday morning.  All of a sudden, the cashier's computer started to receive an update.  It was coming down the pipe at approximately 20kb per second, far slower than one would expect on a LAN connection.  Fairly slow for the times.

Then the computer rebooted.

80486 flashed on the screen during the POST.

The file was unpacked at a DOS prompt by PKUnzip.

The files went in to a subdirectory of C:\PC-DOS

Why is Galus Edom So Long?

It occurred to me that we have never examined in detail why Galus Edom is longer than the punishment for Mechirat Yosef.  (That is to say specifically why Galus Edom is so long, even though it has been explained why there are 2503 of Galus; All non-Beit HaMikdash time after Yetziat Mitzrayim combined)

As brought before from the Zohar Chadash Maamar Mechirat Yosef, the punishment meted out on Am Yisrael for Mechirat Yosef is calculated like this:

• 22 years that Yosef didn't see his father
• 10 tribes that caused the sin
• 7 times the punishment, per the pasuk in Vayikra "seven upon their sins"

22 * 10 * 7 = 1540 years.

And these 1540 years begin in the year 3826, completing in the year 5366.

But that leaves us from the year 5366 until 5783 that the Galus continues.  From where are these 417 years?

The 417 years is slightly less than the 420 years of the 2nd Beit HaMikdash, hinting at the period of Ezra, perhaps the 1953 years should have really started in the time of Ezra.

We have the following in the Talmud Bavli Masechet Yoma 9b

ריש לקיש הוי סחי בירדנא אתא רבה בר בר חנה יהב ליה ידא א"ל אלהא סנינא לכו דכתיב (שיר השירים ח) אם חומה היא נבנה עליה טירת כסף ואם דלת היא נצור עליה לוח ארז אם עשיתם עצמכם כחומה ועליתם כולכם בימי עזרא נמשלתם ככסף שאין רקב שולט בו עכשיו שעליתם כדלתות נמשלתם כארז שהרקב שולט בו

Reish Lakish was bathing in the Jordan River.  Raba Bar Bar Chanah came and gave him his hand (to help him out of the water).  He (Reish Lakish) said to him: By G-d I hate you (the Jews of Babylon in general), as it says (Shir HaShirim 8) "If it is a wall, we will build upon it a turret of silver, and if it is a door, we will enclose it with a boards of cedar."  If you would have made yourselves as a wall and all of you had come up in the days of Ezra, you would have been likened to silver, which does not rot.  And now that you came up (as you have), you are likened to cedars, which are subject to rotting.

The historical context is there as well.  The return to Eretz Yisrael began began in the generations following the end of the 1540 years related to Mechirat Yosef.  We are now in the end of the period related to the Sin of Galus Bavel, the sin of not choosing to come home.

And the Land Opened Its Mouth

http://www.ynet.co.il/articles/0,7340,L-3664948,00.html

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3664985,00.html

This article states that the UNRWA school for Arab girls is in the Old City.  I had been under the impression that it is just south (and a bit east) of Sha'ar HaAshpot.  Is this a different school?  Digs make more sense outside the Old City walls.

I'm Back

There was recently a tragic death in the family, shivah is ending, and I just got back from Chu"l.  May Hashem comfort the mourners.

The False Prophets

See these two videos:

• Yitzchak Rabin discusses the idea of missiles on cities in Israel.
• Members of the Knesset discuss how the Disengagement will bring a better security situation in the south.

Thank you to those that posted these videos as well as those that are passing them around.

We have a general rule in prophecy, which is something like this: Good prophecies that are true will always come about.  Bad prophecies that are true can be annulled by teshuvah.

Here we see false prophecies.  Their good never came about.  Do not forget what these people said, remind others constantly.  Unity does not stand in the way of truth.

On Zohar Vayechi

See the translation here.

The Zohar lists 3 exiles:

• Galut Mitzraim
• Galut Shoftim
• The "Current" Galut, which started at the time of the cessation of the Tamid.

This of course raises questions:

• Why is the time of the Shoftim listed as being Exile?
• Why is Galut Bavel not listed separately from Galut Edom?

Indeed the Sulam solves these problems by changing the girsah altogether: He moves mention of the Tamid to the prior ma'amar, and changes the word Shoftim to Bavel.  For him, problem solved.

Alternatively, let's consider the following:

• The time of the Shoftim (2489-2929) was a time of Katnut, which is the same basic idea of Galut Bavel and Galut Edom.  Therefore this time can be referred to as Galut.
• The time of the cessation of the Tamid does in fact refer to the end of Bayit Rishon (3157 or 3321, depending on how we count), as I have written before, and that signals the beginning even of our Galut (though there was a cessation of Galut at the time of Bayit Sheini).  For there is a major defect of Galut Bavel that has still not been fixed: The majority of Am Yisrael has not lived in Eretz Yisrael since the generation that saw the cessation of the Tamid.

The text is rather cryptic, and as such I do not feel comfortable presenting a solid thesis as to the meaning of the calculations (the 7, the 40, and the 100 years).

On Gaza

(The majority of the below was written during the week of Vayigash, before the IDF's invasion of the Gaza Strip.  I will post the dated sections as they are, regardless of it being slightly dated.)

The Jewish communities surrounding the Gaza Strip have been suffering from barrages of rockets from Hamas and other Muslim organizations for about 8 years now.  A short review of Gaza history is in order.  Israel expelled Jewish residents from Gaza in 2005, which did not stop the rocket fire.  In the summer of 2007, Hamas forcefully took control of the government of Gaza, at which time Israel imposed a blockade on the Gaza Strip, which has been largely in place until today.

Today we see in the news that Hamas is willing to resume a "cease-fire", on condition that the siege is lifted.  At this point, we must question ourselves as to why there was rocket fire on Israeli communities between the Disengagement of 2005 and the beginning of the blockade in the summer of 2007.  On the same note, we can also ask why we should assume that returning the Golan Heights to Syria would bring peace, as between 1948 and 1967, when Syria had the Golan, there was no peace.

As surely as the sky is blue, Hamas will not become a docile organization, just requesting to live side by side with Israel in peace.  Any cease-fire that they request would only be in order for them to strengthen their position before the next round.  Any cease-fire which doesn't include ridding the Gaza Strip of rockets permanently is only a bandaid.

So the next question must be, what are our material goals for ourselves?  This is one item for which there is broad concensus.  We desire to return "quiet" to the southern communities of the State of Israel.

How can this be achieved?  This is the painful question.

1. Selective air strikes - This does not work, as we have seen.  Israel inflicts heavy damage on the Gaza Strip, and the military wing of Hamas has now blended in to the "civilian" population, posing as doctors, hiding out in hospitals.  Israel, playing by its current rule book, is unable to inflict real damage, eliminating what rockets that it can see, but not those that will use the next set of rockets that they manage to build.
2. Large scale air strikes - Aerial strikes on any location in which Hamas operatives exist or military materials are maintained.  This is an option that the Israeli government cannot take, by its current rule book, due to the fact that Hamas hides in hospitals, and Israel is unwilling to inflict large amounts of civilian casualties.  However, this would protect the lives of our soldiers from harm, which, regardless of the standing of that idea in international law, is a positive from Jewish law.  Enemy civilians are not as valuable to us as our soldiers.
3. Temporary ground operation (akin to the 2nd Lebanon War of 2006) - This would most likely cause a high level of casualties on the Israeli side, as much of the fighting would be in tight quarters in the towns of Gaza, the most densely populated piece of land on the planet.  This is what Hamas wants.  Nevertheless, Israel will eventually withdraw, and Hamas will then rearm itself.  This could only be prevented by an even tighter blockade where Israel resumes control of the border between Gaza and Egypt on Tzir Filadelfi.  However, the Israeli government has a habit of letting its security be cared for by outsiders, like UNIFIL in Lebanon, and most likely Israel will not take the necessary precautions, and rearming will resume.
4. Conquering the Gaza Strip - This would involve returning to the military situation that existed before the Disengagement (for starters).  This is considered just as much an impossibility as option 2 above.

Chas v'Shalom that this entire discussion should be realpolitik, with no G-d, no Torah, no Cheshbon Nefesh.  There is an idea in Jewish thought regarding the cause and effect of sin and punishment, which is discussed in detail here (search for the phrase "Brachot page 5").

The basic idea is as follows:

1. If one is suffering, this person should search for a sin that may have caused it that seems related.  A simplistic example would be if a person's stomach hurts, they should check to see if they  ate kosher food, if they overate (naval birshut hatorah), etc.
2. If there is no sin in that area, that person should see if they are doing enouch Talmud Torah.
3. If all this is perfect, then one can attribute the suffering to suffering of love, Hashem is giving us merit through the suffering that we endure.

Gaza was the beginning of the actualization of the Oslo Fantasy back in 1994.  This of course culminates with the Disengagement of 2005.  The military Tikkun for the Sins of Oslo must include, and perhaps start with, the complete conquering of the Gaza Strip by Israel and the resettlement of the Jewish communities that were uprooted 3 and a half years ago.

We have a mitzvah of Yerushat HaAretz (Inheriting the Land).

The end of Devarim 11:31 states:

וירשתם אותה וישבתם בה

You shall inherit it, and you shall settle it.

On this verse, the GR"A writes in Aderet Eliyahu that in the merit of inheriting the land, we shall settle it (and the implication is that we will live in peace).  And how shall we inherit it?  בחזקה.  Kol HaTor points out that there are two meanings for this word, depending on the vowels.  One means by way of property acquisition, and the other means by strength.  The hint at this is that Ezra-Nechemiah is equal to Yehoshua in gematria.  That is to say sometimes we must conquer the land like Yehoshua, through military conquest, and sometimes we must conquer it like Ezra and Nechemiah, through purchasing and taking a stake in the land.

The time has come to take up the methods of Yehoshua bin-Nun.

We have this country in order to fulfill the mitzvot that are dependent on the entire nation.  In this one we have failed.  We must correct it.  There is no other way to make this pain disappear permanently than to fix what we have broken.