Nesira

If Israel's "lights" walk in darkness, how can it be that we are close to the Redemption? Seeing the troubles that threaten Am Yisrael, and the world, how is it that the Light is close?

The rise of Malchut towards Keter has started covertly, in darkness, as I have explained with the help of Heaven. Just before the light breaks, the darkness increases. This is the secret of Nesira.

The prophet Yeshayahu (9:1) said: "The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light; they that dwelt in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined." Know that the darkness must be.

A Thought for the Fast

The Plan: Man must leave all kinds of idol worship, increase in Chochma, and through Chochma reach the Knowledge of HaShem. This is the Plan for every individual. This is the Plan for mankind.

When the time came for mankind to terminate idol worship, Am Yisrael should have led the world to progress, but in fact, Am Yisrael was the champion of idol worship. This brought the first exile, through which idol worship was abolished. Progress did come, though from "left field." Through the Babylonians.

When the time came for mankind to attain Chochma, Am Yisrael was again not ready to lead. This brought the second exile, through which Chochma is increasing. Progress did come, though from left field. Towards the end of the exile, Arizal, Ramchal, Vilna Gaon, and those who remained unknown, merited opening the gates of the upper Chochma. The lower Chochma came to the world largely through the secular Jew, though the initial sparks were Newton and Maxwell, non-Jews: The scientific revolution came from left field also.

Mankind will be led to the Knowledge of HaShem, and this must occur via the Jew. Am Yisrael is surely getting ready. Progress is coming, but watch out: It is coming from another left field. It cannot come from those who reject Chochma - lower or higher. Be ready. Have a good fast.

אין אדם מוצא לעתיד לבא אלא האור מה שהמשיך בידיעתו בעולם הזה. מי שידע הפנימיות יהנה באור הפנימי, ומי שלא השיגו לא יהנה ממנו על שום פנים. וכי יאמרו: הלא הדינים צריכים בישראל – הנעזוב אותם? לא, לא נעזוב אותם, אבל נקבע להם זמנים לפי שאי אפשר בלאו הכי, אך לא בהם נבלה זמננו ח"ו. הלא זה רע בעולם הזה, שרוב חכמי ישראל כבר רחקו מעל האמת ומן האור הנעים, כבוד ה' אלוקינו, ללכת אחרי פלפוליהם של הבל

(אגרות רמח"ל פ'ח)
(מכתב ס'ב)

Collapse

The politicians who print money to avoid the flood until they are gone, fan the flames. Suddenly, the loans with their high interest rates become Swords of Damocles, permanently disturbing the sleep of millions. Both borrower and lender live in fear. The former, of not being able to repay and thus losing his possessions. The latter - mostly banks - of the huge amounts of loans whose loss would spell disaster for a system already in deep crisis as billions of dollars in foreign loans to govermments overseas are quietly written off as unpayable. The explosion of the credit deck of cards is an arrow aimed at the heart of American democracy and social order. It will prove the illusory nature of the pension system - both governmental and private - a pension system that tens of millions innocently believe is there and theirs. Economic collapse will see raging mobs seeking both scapegoat and vengeance. The demagogues and haters will gladly present both. The scapegoat will be the minority who is so visible in his wealth and success; whose name in taverns and bars (the only places where one really hears the truth of what America thinks) brings forth hideous envy and jealousy and hate. His name is the Jew.

(Rav Meir Kahane - taken from "Forty Years")

Have We Gone Mad?

“In its time will I hurry it” (Isaiah 60). And the Rabbis explain: “If they, (the Jews) merit it, it (the redemption) will come hurriedly. If they do not merit it – it will come (only) in its time.” (Sanhedrin 96)

The question that arises is: If the Jew does not merit it, why should the Almighty bring him redemption at all? What is this “time” that is mentioned in the Scriptures hat is a final point at which, regardless of the lack of merits of the Jew, the final redemption will come? Why should it come and when we expect it to come – what are the signs that presage its arrival? […] The key to the bringing of the final redemption is the descent, so to speak, of the Almighty, the G-d of Israel, into such desecration, contempt and humiliation in the eyes of the nations as to question not only his Omnipotence, but indeed, His basic existence!

And as the Scriptures and the Rabbis again and again emphasize, the power of the G-d of Israel and His very existence are weighed and proven to the nations by the strength and victory of His people, Israel, or “disproven” by their weakness and defeat. This humiliation of the Jew is seen as the weakness and indeed, non-existence of the G-d of the Jew, a thing that is known as Hillul Hashem, the vacuum and void in which the Almighty is simply non-existent. Jewish power and victory, on the other hand, are seen as proof that there is a G-d in Israel, all-powerful, controlling, the world. That is why the Exile, with all its horrors and humiliations and defeats for the Jew, was the very essence of Hillul Hashem, while a return to the Land of Israel, in spite of the enemies of the Jew, is proof of G-d’s Omnipotence and is, the very opposite – Kiddush Hashem, the introduction and inviting of the Almighty into the world – because He exists in all His power and does indeed control it.

That is the reason for redemption “in its time,” despite the unworthiness of the Jew. And clearly we are living in that era today. One who does not understand is partner to one who refuses to understand. The era of the beginning of the redemption is surely at hand and woe unto the deceivers who deliberately refuse to accept this and who raise the specious and fraudulent arguments that many times in the past during our exile did people rise claiming to be the Messiah and Jews believed that they were living in the era of the redemption, only to be bitterly disappointed.

Of course, there were such periods and many were those who, like Shabtai Zvi, proved to be false Messiahs. But can one compare any of the eras of the false Messiahs to that of today? Did any of the false Messiahs produce a mass return to Eretz Yisrael and an independent Jewish state, no matter how barren of Judaism? What do we make of the Almighty when, with the wave of a hand, we dismiss the rise, after 2,000 years of the Exile, of an independent Jewish state and th return of more than a million Jews from the Exile, as nothing Divine? Do we understand what an incredible miracle is this State, again without reference to its religiosity? Is it a game of chance, an ordinary thing, that a Jewish State arises and so many exiles are ingathered, exactly as the Prophets promised?

Is it an accident of “fate” that ‘old men and old women sit in the broad places of Jerusalem’ and ‘the broad places of the city are filled with boys and girls playing,’ exactly as the prophet envisioned (Zecharia 8)? Do we make of the Almighty a non-player in the world, one who is divorced from all these incredible events? Do we do to Him what the nations did to Him during the long Exile – proclaim His irrelevancy or even His non-existence? Have we gone mad?

(Rav Meir Kahane - taken from "Forty Years")

In Its Time

“Behold the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil; and now, lest he put forth his hand and take of the Tree of Life and eat and live forever.” (Genesis 3)

Man comes full circle. The putting forth of the hand in an attempt to reach immortality, to be as G-d. To be G-d! The essence of unbridled arrogant pride and ambition, the apex of Hillul Hashem. Yesterday, the first man, we, those of the final era.

Lasers, superconductors, transplants, near-human computer intelligence, artificial insemination and birth outside the womb, and above all, the discovery, tinkering with - and soon – creation of genes. Life itself, creation, becomes the goal of the neo-Adam. And he moves closer and closer to attainment of the moment when he sees himself as becoming Creator, Omnipotent and sovereign of life itself. It is the apex of Hillul Hashem and [...] the reason why this era - by its very nature - becomes the moment of [redemption] “in its time.” The moment when Man begins to move toward Divinity is the moment when G-d rises to touch him and say, “You who come from the dust and who wishes to rule – go; Go and rule the dust.”

And as an integral part of all this and so as to emphasize even more the reason for this era being the moment of “its time,” is the fact that in the arrogant attack on G-d as Creator and King, it is the Jew who, sadly, leads all the rest. And the words of the Rabbis echo throughout the ages: ‘This nation (the Jews) is likened to the dust and the stars: When they go down, they go down to the dust and when they rise, they rise to the stars.” (Megila 16). And the reference is not only to Jewish destiny. It is true, too, for the very characteristics of the Jew. One who is capable of achieving the highest spiritual heights, of climbing the tallest elevation of the soul. And one who is also capable of leading all the rest in descent to the depths of anarchy and rebellion and decadence and the casting off of the yoke of Heaven. Intoxicated and seduced by his intelligence, it is exactly that which becomes for the Jew the source of an arrogance that leads him, the son of the people that gave the world the idea of One G-d, to reject with contempt, the very existence of G-d. No one is a s vociferous and as much a leader in the struggle to deny G-d and enthrone Man and his intellect on the throne of Creation, as the Jew. And because of this, too, this must be the era of “its time.”

(Rav Meir Kahane - taken from "Forty Years")

How?

The Carmel disaster triggered an endless blame game. Rav Ovadia Yosef blamed Chillul Shabbat. The media blamed Yishai and Netanyahu. Yishai blamed Ariel Sharon. Others blamed Dan Chalutz. Chalutz blames the current government. Kadima wants Netanyahu to resign.

How could the burned bus not remind one of the scores of burned busses of the second "Intifada?" Unbelievably, the blame game was never really pursued regarding the uncountable horrors commanded by Arafat et al. Land for peace was too holy - an untouchable faith. And so it came to be that until this very day the priests of land-for-peace are the Gedolei HaDor, holding key positions in the State of Israel. Shimon Peres sits on high on the secular side, and you know who sits high on the religious side. How did we let this happen? And how is Ehud Barak, the igniter of Arafat and the enabler of Hezbolla, our minister of Defense? How is this man speaking his blatantly foolish mind on behalf of the Jewish State as if he were the minister of Foreign Affairs? Could there be a better cause for heavenly fire than such brazen national refusal to mend our ways?

Kahane was right.

The Oil Rally

The world's currencies are being inflated almost without precedent. The European Union is avoiding the bankruptcy of European countries by lending them new money. The US issues huge amounts of money, lending to itself. Likewise, the UK inflates the pound, South American countries inflate their currencies, and so forth. We are entering an age of inflation. The demand for oil exceeds the supply, which can no longer be increased. The demand must therefore be reduced, and the inflation is to accomplish this. The price of oil has started a long rally, one that will bring great trouble to the world. To the right you can see the price of crude oil in real time.

Painful Questions

Was it not the great Radbaz who paskened that the Dome of the Rock stands on Makom HaMikdash? Could it be that the Jewish consensus regarding the Temple Mount is off? Could it be that the Arabs, ever lying, are right when they say that the Jewish Temples did not stand on the Temple Mount?

The questions are painful, but must be posed. Below is an interesting warning from the Rambam's letter to the community of Marseille. The Rambam addresses astrology, but I submit that the same logic applies to those who hold that Tradition and Psak trump the Truth. It is much harder to assess the truth than to assume it. However, the former is the task of every generation, as Rabbi Eliezer Ashkenazi put it: "all the generations who have entered the covenant, are duty bound to examine the secrets of the Torah and to straighten out our faith concerning it by accepting the truth from whomever says it." And now the Rambam:

Thus you ought to know that fools have composed thousands of books of nothingness and emptiness. Any number of men, great in years but not in wisdom, wasted all their days in studying these books and imagined that these follies are science. They came to think of themselves as wise men because they knew that science. The thing about which most of the world errs, or all of it—save for a few individuals, “the remnant of whom the Lord shall call” (Joel 3:5)—is that thing of which I am apprising you. The great sickness and the “grievous evil” (Eccles. 5:12, 15) consist in this: that all the things that man finds written in books, he presumes to think of as true—and all the more so if the books are old. And since many individuals have busied themselves with those books and have engaged in discussions concerning them, the rash fellow’s mind at once leaps to the conclusion that these are words of wisdom, and he says to himself: “Has the pen of the scribes written in vain” (Jer. 8:8), and have they vainly engaged in these things? This is why our kingdom was lost and our Temple was destroyed...

Fort Antonia

Flavius Josephus writes in "The War of the Jews"(5:8):

Now as to the tower of Antonia, it was situated at the corner of two cloisters of the court of the temple; of that on the west, and that on the north; it was erected upon a rock of fifty cubits in height, and was on a great precipice; it was the work of king Herod, wherein he demonstrated his natural magnanimity. In the first place, the rock itself was covered over with smooth pieces of stone, from its foundation, both for ornament, and that any one who would either try to get up or to go down it might not be able to hold his feet upon it. Next to this, and before you come to the edifice of the tower itself, there was a wall three cubits high; but within that wall all the space of the tower of Antonia itself was built upon, to the height of forty cubits. The inward parts had the largeness and form of a palace, it being parted into all kinds of rooms and other conveniences, such as courts, and places for bathing, and broad spaces for camps; insomuch that, by having all conveniences that cities wanted, it might seem to be composed of several cities, but by its magnificence it seemed a palace. And as the entire structure resembled that of a tower, it contained also four other distinct towers at its four corners; whereof the others were but fifty cubits high; whereas that which lay upon the southeast corner was seventy cubits high, that from thence the whole temple might be viewed; but on the corner where it joined to the two cloisters of the temple, it had passages down to them both, through which the guard (for there always lay in this tower a Roman legion) went several ways among the cloisters, with their arms, on the Jewish festivals, in order to watch the people, that they might not there attempt to make any innovations; for the temple was a fortress that guarded the city, as was the tower of Antonia a guard to the temple; and in that tower were the guards of those three.

Fort Antonia was huge, like a city, big enough to house a Roman legion. It seems to me that it must be that it was built around the rock that is now under the Dome. Thus it was in between two deep valleys, one to the East and one to the West. On the northern side was an artificial ditch. I would guess that the part of the Antonian rock that was made smooth was the southern side of the ditch. Flavius Josephus relates to the ditch when he describes "The War of the Jews"(5:2) the Betseda hill:

It [Betseda] lies over against the tower Antonia, but is divided from it by a deep valley, which was dug on purpose, and that in order to hinder the foundations of the tower of Antonia from joining to this hill, and thereby affording an opportunity for getting to it with ease, and hindering the security that arose from its superior elevation; for which reason also that depth of the ditch made the elevation of the towers more remarkable.

Hippodrome?

I found that some say that the Roman building mentioned in the previous post was a hippodrome. A hippodrome surely fits Aelia Capatolina, and the location would perhaps fit the teaser Hadrian. Yet, the building in the model seems different. If you know more, please leave a comment.

An Intriguing Model

I saw this intriguing model, carved out of rock, in a public place in the "Old City" of Yerushalayim. Towards the right, it shows how Hadrian restructured fort Antonia, nowadays known as the Temple Mount. To the left (South) of fort Antonia, an apparently Roman structure stands on the place of the Mikdash. The location of the model is just outside of fort Antonia, near its North-Western corner. Should someone have any knowledge about it or about the structure standing on Makom HaMikdash, please leave a comment.

הליך הגאולה

כתיב במדרש, כי יתנדבו הרבה מישראל תופסי תורה וחסידים ואנשי מעשה לבא לדור בארץ ישראל ולהתישב בירושלים עיר הקדש איש איש כפי נדבת לבו, ונצנצה בו רוח טהרה והכשר חבת הקדש מארבע פנות העולם אחד מעיר ושנים ממשפחה, וכאשר יתישבו שם למען היות לו ניר ויתד נאמן בהר הקדש בירושלים, ועל זה נאמר: ולקחתי אתכם אחד מעיר ושנים ממשפחה, וכאשר יתישבו שם החסידים ההם ירבו להתפלל בהר הקדש בירושלים וישמע הבורא יתברך שמו ויתקרב קץ הגאולה. וארבע שנים קדם זמן הגאולה יבא משיח בן יוסף ושמו נחמיה בן חושיאל מזרע אפרים בן יוסף, וכפי מה שיהיו מעשינו כן תהיה ביאתו כמו ששנינו בפרק חלק: כתיב עני ורוכב על חמור וכתיב וארו עם ענני שמיא כבר אנש אתא הוה, וזכו וארו עם ענני שמיא, ולא זכו עני ורוכב על חמור, ויתקבצו אליו בירושלים מגבורי ישראל מארבע רוחות העולם ויעשה חיל ויכה מנציבי ארם וישמעאל שבירושלים ויגרש ממנה הערלים ויצא שמו בכל המדינות, וכאשר ישמעו כל ישראל כן כי הבאיש המלך המשיח בערלים יתחזקו ידם ויתקבצו אליו כל איש אשר ידבנו לבו ויקבץ מלך אדום כל חילו להלחם אתו, ומלך המשיח גם הוא יקבץ כל הנמצאים אתו וארבעים אלף מגבורי אפרים יבאו אליו דרך המדבר לעזרה ויפול מלך אדום בידו ולא יוסיף קום לעולם. וגם לשרו של עשו יפיל אותו הבורא יתברך לפניו, שנאמר: יפקד ה' על צבא המרום במרום ועל מלכי האדמה וגו'. ויכבש כל ארץ ישראל מן אמות העולם ויכבש שכינה אדום ומואב ועמון, שנאמר: אדום ומואב משלוח ידם ובני עמון משמעתם, ויבא להלחם על רומי ויחריבנה, שנאמר: והאביד שריד מעיר, ואחר כך יכרית כל זרע עשו שנאמר: ולא יהיה שריד לבית עשו, וישמעו כל האמות ויראו ממנו ויביאו לו היהודים במנחה, שנאמר: והביאו את כל אחיכם מכל הגוים מנחה לה' עד שלא ישאר אחד, ועל אותה שעה נאמר: כאשר שמע למצרים יחילו כשמע צור ואז יתישבו כל ישראל בארץ ישראל ויהיו שם חמש שנים, בשנה הששית לנחמיה יעלו שרי מלך פרס על נחמיה בן חושיאל כי לפרס תהיה המלוכה וידקר את נחמיה בשערי ירושלים ותהיה נבלתו משלכת שם ארבעים יום, ואדם ובהמה וחיה לא יגעו בה, ולאחר ארבעים יום יסתירנה הבורא יתברך בקברות בית יהודה ויספדו לו כל ישראל ארבעים ואחד יום, ועליו נאמר: וספדה הארץ משפחות, ותהיה צרה גדולה לישראל וינוסו דרך המדבר ביערים ובהרים בצחיחים ובמערות ויאכלו עשבי המדבר ויהיו שם ברעב ובצמא ובערום ובחסר כל ולא יוכלו להסתר מפני גויי הארץ, ובצרה ההיא יצרפו ויתלבנו וכל מי שהרהר רע על בוראו יתברך אז אמות העולם הורגים אותו והאחרים יחזקו במעוזינו תמיד ויעמדו במדבר חמשה וארבעים ימים, ועליו נאמר: והולכתיה במדבר ודברתי על לבה, וחכמי ישראל יתקבצו בגליל העליון, ואז תצא חפצי בה אם מנחם ומטה אשר נתן לה הבורא יתברך ויפלו לפניה האמות פגרים, כי יהרגו איש את אחיו ואת רעהו. וברומי יש צלם מאבן שיש ואז יצא ממנו ארמילוס בן השטן ויביא עמו עשרה מלכים ויגלה ישראל פעם שנית למדברות וחפצי בה תעמד בשער המזרח ויתר העם לא יכרת מהעיר, ותהיה שם מלחמה בחדש אב ובניסן יבא משיח בן דוד ושמו מנחם בן עמיאל, ועליו אמר משה: שלח נא ביד תשלח

Continue here.

Ne'ila

A thought came to me during Ne'ila, regarding the Shita of Rebbi:

The year 5744 (6129-385) had 385 days. The year 5746 (6129-383) had 383 days. The year 5775 (6129-354) will have 354 days. If 5776 (6129-353) would not be a leap year, it would be 355 days. Perhaps one can say that the decision to make year 5776 a year of 355 days should be taken 355 years before year 6129.

Perhaps I had a vision, about the Ne'ila of Rebbi's Shita. May we not miss it, and see the Geula soon, very soon. Shana Tova.

Hillel The Elder

Yeranen Yaakov has another inspired post. My comment is that the event אוי לנו כי פנה היום כי ינטו צללי ערב, regarding Bayit Sheni, appears to be the death of Hillel in 3771.

Hillel brought about a spiritual revolution, through his Midot, his love of man, his humility, his ethics. Jewish Law follows Hillel, not because of his superior learning, but because of Hillel's moral standing. Chazal teach in Shabbat 30b:

לעולם יהא אדם ענוותן כהלל, ואל יהא קפדן כשמאי

One should always be a humble person like Hillel, and not a formalist like Shammai.

Too often, Halacha is applied in Shammai's way. Too often, basic ethics and exemplary behavior are sacrificed on the altar of Halachic stringencies. May the coming year, 2000 years after his death, see the revival of Hillel's revolution.

P.S. Someone showed me this:

One rabbi close to the affair called the new process "unprecedented humiliation," and said it was the direct consequence of new guidelines to prove Jewishness the Chief Rabbinate recently implemented.

That is what I meant...

Chizkiyahu HaMelech

Chazal teach us (Sanhedrin 94a) that HaShem wanted to make king Chizkiyahu Moshiach. The previous post raises the question how he fits in. Chizkiyahu ruled from 3202-3230 in the Seder-Olam based calendar that has the first Churban in year 3339. Historically, the Churban took place 164 years before, in the year 3175. Historically, then, it appears that Chizkiyahu died in 3066.

If so, we can say that Chizkiyahu fits the Shita of Rav Yehuda who said in the name of Shmuel (Sanhedrin 99a) that Moshiach comes halfway year 1 and the Keitz. With the Keitz in 6129, the time for Moshiach would be 3065, one year before Chizkiyahu's death.

On The Years Moshiach Can Come

I saw this post. I appreciate the positive take of the author, but I think his silver lining is an illusion.

The timing of Bar Kochba is according to Rav Nachman bar Yitzchak, indeed. The year of the Keitz of the Smol (see Zohar Parshat Noach 62b,63a) is 6129 or 6133. The Mabul was in year 1657, 1656 years after Adam. The middle is 3893/3895, within the period of the Bar Kochba rebellion. After we missed Moshiach at that time, the Shita of Rav Nachman lost its relevance. Keitz HaSmol remains what it was, but now the Shita of Rebbi enters: The time for Moshiach is a "year" before the Keitz. That is, the number of years between Moshiach and the Keitz are as the days of a year.

According to the Shita of Rebbe, around the time of the Vilna Gaon, Moshiach could have come a "year" (384, 365 or 354 years) before Keitz HaYamin, year 5919, which is 210 (214) years before Keitz HaSmol (6129 or 6133). According to the Shita of Rebbi, Moshiach could therefore have come in 5535, or in 5554, four years before the Gaon's death. According to the Shita of rabbi Dosa (Sanhedrin 88a), Moshiach could have come in 5519, 400 years before year 5919. Interestingly, when the Talmidim of the GR"A arrived in Eretz Yisrael, in 5569, the window was already closed: 5569 = 6133-210-354.

In our times, Moshiach could have come in 5729 (or 5733), in 5745 (or 5749), or in 5764 (or 5768).

Halfway the Mabul and Keitz HaYamin is 3788, 40 years before the Churban, the time of Yeshu. Before Keitz HaYamin is Keitz HaEmtza, 5791, 210 years before 6001. Halfway the Mabul and Keitz HaEmtza is 3724, the time of Hillel. Shabtai Tzvi's period of fame was between 384 and 354 years before Keitz HaEmtza. Even false Meshichim do not come at arbitrary times.

Change Ahead

In the light of this post, the year 5770 was the year of Har Shafer, and 5771 will be the year of Charada. Targum Yonatan describes the transition as follows (BaMidbar 33:24):

ונטלו מטוורא דשפירן פירוי ושרו בחרדה אתר דתווהו על בישתא דמותנא

Year 5770 was a year of beautiful fruits. There was rain, and the Israeli economy blossomed more than any advanced economy. Threats of war were not actualized and we did not worry about them too much. This will change. There will be fear and bewilderment over בישתא דמותנא.

יכבשו רחמיך את כעסך - May Your Mercy Overcome Your Anger

Caroline Glick About Iran

Three Times 70 Weeks

The previous post can be reformulated as follows. From the beginning of Jewish national suffering in 2366, 417 years after the birth of Avraham, until the final Tikkun are three times 70 "weeks."

From 2366 until 3339 - the year of the first Churban - is a Moed, 973 years, 69.5 "weeks" of fourteen years each. From 3339 until 3829 - the year of the second Churban - is half a Moed, 70 "weeks" of seven years. From 3829 until 5775 is the period of Moadim, 69.5 "weeks" of 28 years, the length of the Machzor Gadol. The second Churban was in year ת of the 15th Machzor Gadol. The additional 69.5 "weeks" bring us to year ז of the 85th Machzor.

Daniel 9:27 says about the last of the 70 weeks: "He will forge a strong covenant with the great ones for a week, and at half a week he will abolish sacrifice and meal-offering." This is what happened to Bayit Rishon, after 69.5 weeks of its Moed.

Daniel 9:26 says that after 62 weeks a Moshiach is cut off. King Chizkiyah died (it seems) in 3230, at 61.71 "weeks."

We saw earlier that the first Churban came one Shmita period before the end of Yovel 36, and that the first Shmita of Yovel 85 comes to complete Yovel 36. From the present point of view, then, we see that it comes to complete the Moed of Bayit Rishon and makes it into 70 whole "weeks" of fourteen years.

In this light, I venture to say the following. After the Moadim's 69.5 weeks of 28 years, the Jewish sacrifices at the Altar of the Exile will stop. I note that the Vilna Gaon died in 5558, at 61.75 "weeks."

The first Shmita of Yovel 85 culminates in year eight of the Yovel, year Samech of Mazchor 85, which represents Yovel year 36. After this year, the 70 "weeks" of the Moadim are completed. Thirteen years remain until the Tikkun of the third Aleph Sofit at the end of the Machzor. This leaves one year for the completion of the Moadim. That year is the year of the third Samech. See this post and its references.

[Update: As pointed out in the comments, during Bayit Sheni, Hillel died in 3771, at 61.71 "weeks." At 69.5, Eliezer ben Hananiah stopped the sacrifices for the Emperor of Rome.]

Sanhedrin 97b brings:

אמר ליה אליהו לרב יהודה אחוה דרב סלא חסידא: אין העולם פחות משמונים וחמשה יובלות, וביובל האחרון בן דוד בא. אמר ליה: בתחילתו או בסופו? אמר ליה: איני יודע. כלה או אינו כלה? - אמר ליה: איני יודע

Eliyahu said to Rav Yehuda, the brother of Rav Sala Chasida: The world does not last less than 85 Yovel periods, and in the last Yovel period Moshiach comes. [Rav Yehuda] said to him [Eliyahu]: "In the beginning or in the end (of the last Yovel period)?" [Eliyahu] said to him: "I do not know." Will it be completed or not? [Eliyahu] said to him: "I do not know."

I think that the above answers what Eliyahu did not know.

Tish'a B'Av

I saw this post by (Yeranen) Ya'akov. I think it was written with Ruach HaKodesh, and I would like to polish it a bit, in my way.

The period between the first and second Churban was 70 Shmitot, a repeat of the 70 Shmitot that were not kept before the first Churban. Thus, it seems proper to say that, in Yeranen Ya'akov's Shita, Sepher Daniel's half Moed is 70 Shmitot, which, after all, is also a concept of Sepher Daniel.

Note that the announcement of the crushing of Avraham's sons in exile, at the Brit Bein HaBetarim, was 70 years after Avraham's birth.

The crushing of Avraham's sons actually started right after Aharon was born, which was 417 years after the birth of Avraham. Moshe was born 420 years after the birth of Avraham. Note the appearance of the same numbers, 417 and 420, in this post.

The first Churban was 139 times seven years after the birth of Aharon. If 70 times 7 is half a Moed, 139 times 7 can be called a Moed. As 139 is one third of 417, it appears that the 417 years until Aharon reflect Daniel's three Moadim, just as the 70 years until Brit Bein HaBetarim reflect half a Moed.

After the half Moed had ended, the second Churban was in year 3829 in our year count (3828 in the count of the Tanna), and two times 139 Shmitot later will be Shmita year 5775. That, then, is the end of the crushing of Jews in exile.

After that comes the first Shmita of Yovel פ"ה.

Finally, the Gematria of "בשנה האחרת" is still saying what is a Moed. If Kollelim are included for the two words, one obtains 973 - 139 times 7.

Wafa Sultan

Wafa Sultan about Islam.
Translation of the video's title: "Wilders defends our way of life".

Obama's Predicament

America has sent warships into the direction of Iran. I suspect that the main purpose of this step is to impress Saudi Arabia. After the economic crash of 2008, the world's oil consumption has now returned to the level of 2008. Saudi Arabia holds most of the world's spare production capacity, about 4 million barrels per day. With the current growth of the world economy, an amazing 4 percent per year, we will run out of this spare production capacity by the summer of 2012.

For now, Saudi Arabia can keep oil prices low, and this is what Abdullah has promised to Obama, provided that Obama performs. The Saudis want Obama to create a Palestinian state, and to neutralize Iran. Here is Obama's predicament. It is dangerous to attack Iran. The oil prices would likely explode. America could collapse. Therefore, to ensure two years of economic stability, Obama will have to follow his fantasy and go for a Palestinian state. Israel should not comply. The coin can be flipped. If Obama cannot make a Palestinian state, he will have to tackle Iran.

Gadol, but not Kadosh

Bileam was a man of profound spiritual achievements. His understanding was at level of that of Moshe Rabbeinu. Bileam was also evil. How can this be?

After Bileam did not succeed to curse Israel, he understood why. He advised Balak that there was one way to hurt the Jews - by drawing them into sexual sin. Bileam had understood the great difference between himself and Moshe, between himself and the Jew. Mah Tovu Ohaleicha Ya'akov, how goodly are your tents, Ya'akov. Ya'akov was holy. Moshe was great and holy. Bileam was great and unholy. He was steeped in sexual sin.

Human status is naturally related to Gadlut, greatness. Not to Kedusha, holiness. This should have been different in the world of Torah, but often it is not. What counts, is to be a Talmid Chacham. The Torah warns us. It is possible to be Bileam. It is possible to be Gadol and to not be Kadosh. It is good to be Gadol, but only if one is also Kadosh. Without Kedusha, Gadlut does not help. Even worse, it hurts. Bileam was evil. Without Kedusha, Gadlut leads to evil.

The Three Terrors Con The World

Ma'ayan Mitgaber

The stream of oil leaking into the Gulf was first reported to be 1000 barrels per day. Later it became 5000 barrels per day, and now it is reported to be 60000 barrels per day. I think this is not only because the early estimates were wrong. The flow of oil from a deep high-pressure source naturally increases, as it causes erosion of blockages that hinder it.

The oil that flows into the Gulf is a natural example of a Ma'ayan Mitgaber, a spring that grows stronger. This one is a curse from Tehom, but it mirrors one that is a blessing from Shamayim.

Who merits "drilling into" the spiritual level of Keter experiences a Ma'ayan Mitgaber. The "fluids" coming from Keter flow via Chochma, Bina, Da'at into the "spine." As blockages are removed by the flow, the Ma'ayan becomes stronger and stronger. For who merits, Chidushim can become a continuous experience.

Ongoing Assault

Obama visited "the Gulf," for the fourth time, on day 56 of the disaster. Amazing, Obama now visits the Gulf more often than Mitchell visits Israel...

Obama exclaimed: "This is not simply one catastrophic event. It is an ongoing assault, whose movements are constantly changing."

I heard Obama describe his treatment of Israel: It is not simply one catastrophic event. It is an ongoing assault, whose movements are constantly changing.

On day 57, Obama spoke about the people of the Gulf coast who had been hoping to recover from hurricane Katrina. They had hoped for a good fishing season and a good tourist season. Instead, they are hit by the current tragedy. Obama is going to measure progress by how these people are helped.

Well, Obama's assault on Israel is hitting a people that had hoped to recover from the expulsion of Jews from the Gaza strip. They had hoped for a temporary freeze of international pressure. Instead, they are now hit by a building freeze, even in Yerushalayim, forced negotiations, and international flotillitis. Obama is being measured by his own yardstick.

The Wars of Ishmael

In the era of redemption Ishmael will rise up and become strong while hating Isaac, Jacob and their descendants. They will provoke kings and nations, while the world is sinking into a chaos of wars and tragedies. The following is from Pesikta Rabbati (Kumi Ori 36):

R. Yitzchak said: "The year the Messianic king is revealed... Persia will provoke Arabia, Arabia will go to Edom, to take counsel from them, and then Persia will go back and destroy the whole world... Israel will be in a tumultuous panic, asking: "Where shall we go? What shall we do?"

The Holy Zohar, likewise, often states that the Ishmaelites will attack the Jewish People and Eretz Yisrael in the end of days. The Zohar Bereshit, 119a, teaches: "At that time the Ishmaelites will be aroused together with all the nations of the world to attack Jerusalem." The Zohar further teaches (Vaera, 32a):

The Ishmaelites shall long have control over the Holy Land when it is empty... and will deter Israel from returning to their place... In the future, they will stir up major wars, and Edom's descendants will gather against them and wage war on them... one on the sea, one on dry land, and one near Jerusalem. These will employ great force against each other, and the Holy Land will not be given over to Edomite control.

Thus the war of Ishmael will be against Israel and will also be part of the series of wars between the nations.

All this will occur in an age of global collapse, which G-d will bring in order to punish the nations, sanctify His profaned name, defeat and eradicate false gods and religions, and publicize His Oneness to all the world.

[Rabbi Meir Kahane, Or HaRa'ayon - English translation - chapter 29]

Three times 11 around 66

We noted the special nature of 11 years around 66 of the right, four years before 66 plus seven years after 66, from 5772 to 5783.

Likewise, there are periods of 11 years around 66 of the left (in 5765) and around 66 of the center (in 5758).

The 11 years around 66 of the center are from 5754 until 66 of the left - 5765. This is the period of the great Jewish assault on Jewish destiny. The assault was initially led by the likes of Shimon Peres, Yossi Beilin, and Yitzchak Rabin, helped along by the devastating rabbinical support of Rav Ovadia Yosef. The assault was finalized by Ariel Sharon, helped by the devastating rabbinical support of Rav Yosef Shalom Elyashiv. The nations of the world applauded the Jewish assault unanimously.

The 11 years around 66 of the left are from 5761 until 5772. These are the years of Yishmael's response to the Jewish assault. In Israel, the start was the Intifada of 5761. In the West, the start was the attack on the Twin Towers. The climax will be in the coming two years. Subsequently, the 11 years around 66 of the right will start. There will be no relief.