As stated in our previous blog, the prophet Joel informs us that despite the perils that await the Jewish Nation, as well as the rest of the world right before the Great Day of Hashem, there is a path to safety. We are informed in 3(5) that anyone who calls in the Name of Hashem will escape. The Hebrew words for this is והיה כּל אשׁר יקרא בּשׁם יקוק ימלט. But what does it mean to call in the name of G-d?
If we examine these 7 words a little closer we see a great hint. For the gematria of the first letter of these 7 words add up to 59. This number 59 is the same value as the word אחן, which means I will be gracious and show favor. G-d tells this to Moses in Exodus 33(19) after Moses requests of G-d that He show him His glory, that is, His ways. The entire verse states that Hashem shall show favor when He chooses to show favor, and shall show mercy when He chooses to show mercy. But how does Hashem choose? He doesn't treat us based on some pre-determined fate that we have. Everything that occurs in our lives is based on our individual actions. So many think that we don't have any free will if G-d knows what our actions and thus our ultimate fate will be. Nothing can be further from the truth. We have total free will to act in a pure, truthful, faithful manner to the G-d of the Universe and to our fellow man and woman. We can love and fear G-d with total free will and thus grow closer to Hashem. But remember, the closer we are to G-d, the greater responsibility we will have for our actions. And G-d knows exactly what our actions, decisions, words, sincerity and true committment will be. He knows the future. He know what we will choose to do. That is not an obstacle to our actions. He simply knows every single act that we will choose in our lifetimes. If two teams have to play a game, G-d knows who will win and who will lose. No one else does. And so the game still has to be played and both teams must try with all their skills to be victorious. G-d observes and weighs each of our deeds, good and bad. So often we are not aware of our misdeeds and wrong and hurtful words to each other. We say to ourselves so often, "Oh that was just a joke. I tried to be funny."
If someone receives a gift from someone, we automically thank the donor either in writing or orally. So wouldn't it be logical that when G-d grants us a great day, a new job, nachas and joy from our children, and simply a day totally free of pain, discomfort and troubles that we should seek Hashem, and thank Him. Say more to Him than just "Baruch Hashem, or thanks G-d." Thank Him like you would thank a donor for his gift. If you thank G-d and call on Him when things go well, then He will listen to you when you call on G-d when things are not going well. A child away from his parents can keep calling on them when they need money and things. But do they call their parents awhile later when this money and things lead to success and happiness? Hashem wants to hear from His children more than, "Give me, give me or help me now." He wants to hear how thankful we are for all the good He has already given us. He wants us to tell Him "good news." If we can do this then G-d will indeed be gracious to us and show favor when we call.
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Monday, October 26, 2009
16 Drops Of Wine
In the Passover Haggadah there is a section where one dips their finger into their cup of wine and dabs a bit of wine onto their plate. They do this 16 times. The process begins after the words "I will do miracles in heaven and on earth." We then say the words דם ואשׁ ותימרות עשׁן, "Blood and Fire and Pillars of Smoke." Everything we recite from the Haggadah until we wash and eat deals with our exodus from Egypt (our first redemption). Everything that is, except for this one verse. "Blood and Fire and Pillars of Smoke" do not deal with the happenings in Egypt. It is a verse from the prophet Joel 3(3)and deals with events that will occur (or have occurred already) at the end of days. Sure it can be argued that Blood was prevalent in Egypt. Blood was indeed the first plague. And fire was part of the hail that contained both water and fire in a miraculous fashion. But most commentators agree that this verse, strangely included here, deals with our final redemption. But why here? Perhaps its inclusion hints that just as our first redemption was filled with plagues upon our enemies in a miraculous manner, Hashem will do the same at the time of our final redemption.
Or it can be argued that these events might have already happened and simply signal a timeline. For instance, the Holocaust surely had Blood, and Fire with Pillars of Smoke in their destructive ovens of death. When the darkness cleared, the world learned what really happened in the camps and across the villages in Europe. For just a brief moment of time the nations felt sorry for the Jews, allowing The State of Israel to be reborn. This was the start of the redemption process, for how can you have a redemption without an Israel? And then on 9/11 there was plenty of Blood, Fire and Pillars of Smoke that rose for weeks after. This signaled the beginning of the end of days. The 9/11 events resulted in the unexplained, strange response by President Bush. Despite the fact that 15 of the 19 terrorists responsible for the attack came from Saudi Arabia, no action against that nation was even thought of. After all the Bush family had a close relationship with the Saudi ruling family. So Bush went after an easy target. He decided to invade Iraq declaring that Saddam Hussein was evil and that he had weapons of mass destruction. Saddam's family had no involvement with the 9/11 attacks and either never possessed or hid the suspected weapons. Meanwhile the mastermind of the attacks Osama bin Laden was never close to being killed or captured. The world grew tired of the war in Iraq and when Bush's term was over the international approval rating for his foreign policies was less than 20%. This massive disappoval and distrust of Bush resulted in the unlikely election of an anti-Semitic Demi God named Barack Hussein Obama as America's 44th President. Bush indirectly opened the White House doors for Obama.
So many Jews have wondered and cried about the lateness of the coming of Mashiach. But not until an enemy of the Jewish People, the most powerful man in the world, an Obama, would arise and oppose the Jews, could our Mashiach reveal himself and oppose this force of evil. That time is now. It's no surprise that 80% of the Jews remained in Egypt and did not believe in redemption, and 80% of the current American Jews think Obama is doing a wonderful job as President and truly support him. The verse from Joel 3(3) referred to above is indeed a timeline. But it's more than that. It's a statement from G-d through His prophet as to who will be the focus of his wrath and the subject of His punishing miracles. Let's take a closer look at this entire section of the Haggadah. If you take the values of the first letters of each of the 4 words in דם ואשׁ ותימרות עשׁן, you get 86 which is the value of Hashem's Elokim name. This indicates that just like in Egypt, Hashem will Himself inflict the punishing blows. Then the Haggadah continues with several lines stating that "Another explanation is thus: with a mighty hand, denotes 2 plagues, and with an outstretched arm, 2 more, and with great terror, 2 more, and with instructive signs, 2 more, and with punishing miracles 2 more. These are the 10 plagues which the Holy One Blessed Be He, brought upon the Egyptians in Egypt, and they are as follows." These very words in Hebrew contain 112 letters. This indicates when this will occur, and what will occur, for the atbash of משׁיח, our redeemer, שׁלום, the peace that will follow, and כּושׁ, Cush, the land holding and protecting the Ark of the Covenant, all have an atbash of 112. In addition, as stated in a previous blog, 112 represents the time value of Daniel's famous Time, Times and a half of Time, the angel's response to his inquiry as to when all this will happen. Then the Haggadah lists the 10 plagues that were inflicted on the Egyptians. The value of the first letters of the 11 words making up the 10 plagues add up to 541 and tells us where Hashem's future actions will take place. For 541 is the value of ישׂראל, Israel. Next the Haggadah states that Rabbi Yehuda formed a mnemonic of the Hebrew initials of the 10 plagues. The first letters of the 6 Hebrew words making up this verse equals the value of 327. This tells us who will witness and understand the actions of Hashem. For 327 is the value of העברים, the Hebrews. The Jewish People will see the Hand of G-d close up. Finally, the actual mnemonic of the 10 plagues reveals who will be responsible for these plagues. This will be a person similiar to Pharaoh who witnessed the power of G-d but failed to recognize the severity of these actions. By the time he understood the truth his entire army was destroyed. The gematria of the mnemonic דצך עדשׁ בּאחב is 501, the same value as Barack Hussein Obama in Hebrew. Will he also fail to recognize and acknowlege the power of G-d and risk the safety of his armies and his people? Shemos Rabbah 8(3) states that this mnemonic was inscribed on the staff of Moses. In fact if we take the atbash of the first letters: daled from דם, and the aleph from אשׁ, and the taf from תימרות, we arrive at the same 501 value.
Several verses after the one that states, "blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke," the prophet Joel relays a message from Hashem. "It will be that anyone who calls in the Name of Hashem will escape (these plagues and dangers), for on the mountain of Zion and in Jerusalem there will be refuge." In the next chapter, Joel repeats that, "Hashem will be a shelter for His people." And right near the end of his prophecy, Joel states that "Edom will become a desolate wilderness." American Jews may not like to hear it, but WE live in Edom. America is Edom. When most people read that in the future there will be "blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke," most people imagine a nuclear explosion. That scary thought combined with the prophet's statement that Edom or America will become a desolate wilderness should be enough to give everyone, Jew or non-Jew, religous or non-religous, black or white, republican or democrat, liberal or conservative, a reason to stop and pause and reflect and think about the direction of this once great and blessed nation. It might not be obvious yet, but people are naive not to project our President's attention towards the State of Israel. The innocent lambs appear to be an easy target for the wolf. When Obama takes that first step attacking Israel with his mouth and troops, and attacks G-d in his heart, there will be blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke. Indeed, there will be wonders in the heavens and on earth. And then, each Jew remaining in Edom will have the most important decision to make in their lives. Do they side with Obama and America or with Hashem and Israel? There will be no room for hesitation or a middle ground.
Or it can be argued that these events might have already happened and simply signal a timeline. For instance, the Holocaust surely had Blood, and Fire with Pillars of Smoke in their destructive ovens of death. When the darkness cleared, the world learned what really happened in the camps and across the villages in Europe. For just a brief moment of time the nations felt sorry for the Jews, allowing The State of Israel to be reborn. This was the start of the redemption process, for how can you have a redemption without an Israel? And then on 9/11 there was plenty of Blood, Fire and Pillars of Smoke that rose for weeks after. This signaled the beginning of the end of days. The 9/11 events resulted in the unexplained, strange response by President Bush. Despite the fact that 15 of the 19 terrorists responsible for the attack came from Saudi Arabia, no action against that nation was even thought of. After all the Bush family had a close relationship with the Saudi ruling family. So Bush went after an easy target. He decided to invade Iraq declaring that Saddam Hussein was evil and that he had weapons of mass destruction. Saddam's family had no involvement with the 9/11 attacks and either never possessed or hid the suspected weapons. Meanwhile the mastermind of the attacks Osama bin Laden was never close to being killed or captured. The world grew tired of the war in Iraq and when Bush's term was over the international approval rating for his foreign policies was less than 20%. This massive disappoval and distrust of Bush resulted in the unlikely election of an anti-Semitic Demi God named Barack Hussein Obama as America's 44th President. Bush indirectly opened the White House doors for Obama.
So many Jews have wondered and cried about the lateness of the coming of Mashiach. But not until an enemy of the Jewish People, the most powerful man in the world, an Obama, would arise and oppose the Jews, could our Mashiach reveal himself and oppose this force of evil. That time is now. It's no surprise that 80% of the Jews remained in Egypt and did not believe in redemption, and 80% of the current American Jews think Obama is doing a wonderful job as President and truly support him. The verse from Joel 3(3) referred to above is indeed a timeline. But it's more than that. It's a statement from G-d through His prophet as to who will be the focus of his wrath and the subject of His punishing miracles. Let's take a closer look at this entire section of the Haggadah. If you take the values of the first letters of each of the 4 words in דם ואשׁ ותימרות עשׁן, you get 86 which is the value of Hashem's Elokim name. This indicates that just like in Egypt, Hashem will Himself inflict the punishing blows. Then the Haggadah continues with several lines stating that "Another explanation is thus: with a mighty hand, denotes 2 plagues, and with an outstretched arm, 2 more, and with great terror, 2 more, and with instructive signs, 2 more, and with punishing miracles 2 more. These are the 10 plagues which the Holy One Blessed Be He, brought upon the Egyptians in Egypt, and they are as follows." These very words in Hebrew contain 112 letters. This indicates when this will occur, and what will occur, for the atbash of משׁיח, our redeemer, שׁלום, the peace that will follow, and כּושׁ, Cush, the land holding and protecting the Ark of the Covenant, all have an atbash of 112. In addition, as stated in a previous blog, 112 represents the time value of Daniel's famous Time, Times and a half of Time, the angel's response to his inquiry as to when all this will happen. Then the Haggadah lists the 10 plagues that were inflicted on the Egyptians. The value of the first letters of the 11 words making up the 10 plagues add up to 541 and tells us where Hashem's future actions will take place. For 541 is the value of ישׂראל, Israel. Next the Haggadah states that Rabbi Yehuda formed a mnemonic of the Hebrew initials of the 10 plagues. The first letters of the 6 Hebrew words making up this verse equals the value of 327. This tells us who will witness and understand the actions of Hashem. For 327 is the value of העברים, the Hebrews. The Jewish People will see the Hand of G-d close up. Finally, the actual mnemonic of the 10 plagues reveals who will be responsible for these plagues. This will be a person similiar to Pharaoh who witnessed the power of G-d but failed to recognize the severity of these actions. By the time he understood the truth his entire army was destroyed. The gematria of the mnemonic דצך עדשׁ בּאחב is 501, the same value as Barack Hussein Obama in Hebrew. Will he also fail to recognize and acknowlege the power of G-d and risk the safety of his armies and his people? Shemos Rabbah 8(3) states that this mnemonic was inscribed on the staff of Moses. In fact if we take the atbash of the first letters: daled from דם, and the aleph from אשׁ, and the taf from תימרות, we arrive at the same 501 value.
Several verses after the one that states, "blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke," the prophet Joel relays a message from Hashem. "It will be that anyone who calls in the Name of Hashem will escape (these plagues and dangers), for on the mountain of Zion and in Jerusalem there will be refuge." In the next chapter, Joel repeats that, "Hashem will be a shelter for His people." And right near the end of his prophecy, Joel states that "Edom will become a desolate wilderness." American Jews may not like to hear it, but WE live in Edom. America is Edom. When most people read that in the future there will be "blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke," most people imagine a nuclear explosion. That scary thought combined with the prophet's statement that Edom or America will become a desolate wilderness should be enough to give everyone, Jew or non-Jew, religous or non-religous, black or white, republican or democrat, liberal or conservative, a reason to stop and pause and reflect and think about the direction of this once great and blessed nation. It might not be obvious yet, but people are naive not to project our President's attention towards the State of Israel. The innocent lambs appear to be an easy target for the wolf. When Obama takes that first step attacking Israel with his mouth and troops, and attacks G-d in his heart, there will be blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke. Indeed, there will be wonders in the heavens and on earth. And then, each Jew remaining in Edom will have the most important decision to make in their lives. Do they side with Obama and America or with Hashem and Israel? There will be no room for hesitation or a middle ground.
Sunday, October 18, 2009
America Is Dying
"America is dying, what a shame for she's so young,
Though no one will admit it, it shows when our song is sung.
Our throats all lack the passion, our fathers had long ago,
Their voices were like thunder, but ours sound like falling snow.
We mumble our great anthem, and glance at our flag's brisk wave,
The words, the land of the free, precede the home of the brave.
How true it is that our land's as free as a breath of air,
Free to rob, mug, loot, and kill, protest and live on welfare.
Free to steal a sweet apple, then smile at the employee,
Tell me why I can't take it? Isn't America free?"
These are the opening lines of a poem that I wrote over 40 years ago when I was in college. I actually wrote the entire poem on the day that Robert F. Kennedy was murdered. It was turbulent times filled with war, civil unrest, distrust of government, and a desire for our voices to be heard. The Vietnam War was raging in full force. It was a war based upon a theory, the Domino Theory. We believed that if we allowed South Vietnam to be taken over by Communist North Vietnam, then the neighboring countries Thailand and Laos would then fall and also become Communist, to be followed by others. One after another they would fall, just like dominoes, and become Communist. We were worried and concerned that this would happen even though we were thousands of miles away. The theory proved to be false and the war resulted in over 55,000 deaths and hundreds of thousands of severe injuries. It also had a great mental impact on every brave soldier that was there. And when these soldiers came home they were shown very little respect, couldn't find jobs, and were looked upon as if they, somehow, were responsible for the war. Many avoided the military draft by fleeing to Canada, sitting in jail, or staying in college as long as they could. Some escaped by becoming very religious suddenly and were deferred as divinity students. But the brave men and women who saw action loved America and risked their very lives and futures for a "cause." The cause was that we must fight Communism even at the risk of giving up our lives. We must do whatever it takes to prevent it from invading and spreading in our nation.
Forty years later, despite lessons from the Vietnam War, as well as the Cold War with Russia, we have placed an unknown man in the White House with close ties to people who are Communists, or who have studied and written about the virtues of Communism and Marxism. Obama has stated on various occassions that America should have a "redistribution of wealth." That is, take from the rich and give it over to the poor. Take from those who have worked and struggled their whole lives and paid huge taxes on the income that they earned and give it over to those who can't work or can't find work or simply don't want to work and have paid little if any taxes in their years. Obama keeps insisting that that is the "moral thing to do." When I was young, the book, "Robin Hood" was banned from the New York City school system because it contained "Communist overtures." That is, it dealt with a small band of thieves who robbed the rich and gave it over to the poor.
Capitalism is the reason America has been the greatest, strongest, richest and most successful country in world history. To replace it with Socialist and Communist ideas would be the "death blow" to America. Communism is not just an "economic system." It is a way of life (and sometimes death). In theory, Communism is a socioeconomic structure and political ideology that promotes the establishment of a classless society based upon common ownership. It seems like we just described a large, modern day "commune." So what could be bad? Historically, Communism has been run by ruthless, coercive governments concerned with the preservation of their own power. In this type of environment, all economic and social activity is controlled by a totalitarian state dominated by a single tyrant or his political party. In the past, it has left behind a trail of blood of those that dared to oppose this ideology. In the United States the very fear of Communism entering our borders has caused aggressive investigations, blacklisting, and the deportation of people suspected of following these ideas. Many famous Americans were put on a blacklist in the early 1950's preventing them from finding employment. Communism creeps up on a nation very quietly as the size of government grows.
We really don't know why our President believes so much in Communism. He is indeed a man of mystery. His college records are frozen so we don't know the courses he took in school. But concern is in order when you see the people that he has surrounded himself with. How could he not be influenced by this "garbage?" These people truly hate America and Capitalism. Was this Obama's secret plan cultivated over the last years? Or is he just ignorant and incompetent? Why does he want to change the total complexion of America so fast? Because he anticipates that his popularity and support will fade and he wants to pass as many bills (filled with unbelievable, destructive laws buried within) while the Democrats have a majority voice. America (pre-Obama) was an indestructible nation. But his fingerprints are all over the very foundation of our dear nation, causing it to begin to crumble. America is indeed dying and it needs your help and support in a last ditch effort to save it. We must put pressure on our representatives in Congress. After all, in theory they are supposed to represent the peoples' wishes not their own. We must vote out of office any Democrat that does not have the guts to oppose Obama's extreme policies. Obama's weakness is that he cannot handle criticsm. He wants to hear everyone tell him what a great job he is doing. That is what he only heard growing up. If we are like passive sheep, the wolf will do whatever he wants. Soon we will wake up one morning and will not recognize America. Band together, speak out, write to your media before Obama controls all media outlets. And most important of all, pray with all your might to Hashem that He protects us from this radical President so that all the efforts of the previous 43 Presidents and 233 years of the hard work of good Americans, like you, are not in vain.
Though no one will admit it, it shows when our song is sung.
Our throats all lack the passion, our fathers had long ago,
Their voices were like thunder, but ours sound like falling snow.
We mumble our great anthem, and glance at our flag's brisk wave,
The words, the land of the free, precede the home of the brave.
How true it is that our land's as free as a breath of air,
Free to rob, mug, loot, and kill, protest and live on welfare.
Free to steal a sweet apple, then smile at the employee,
Tell me why I can't take it? Isn't America free?"
These are the opening lines of a poem that I wrote over 40 years ago when I was in college. I actually wrote the entire poem on the day that Robert F. Kennedy was murdered. It was turbulent times filled with war, civil unrest, distrust of government, and a desire for our voices to be heard. The Vietnam War was raging in full force. It was a war based upon a theory, the Domino Theory. We believed that if we allowed South Vietnam to be taken over by Communist North Vietnam, then the neighboring countries Thailand and Laos would then fall and also become Communist, to be followed by others. One after another they would fall, just like dominoes, and become Communist. We were worried and concerned that this would happen even though we were thousands of miles away. The theory proved to be false and the war resulted in over 55,000 deaths and hundreds of thousands of severe injuries. It also had a great mental impact on every brave soldier that was there. And when these soldiers came home they were shown very little respect, couldn't find jobs, and were looked upon as if they, somehow, were responsible for the war. Many avoided the military draft by fleeing to Canada, sitting in jail, or staying in college as long as they could. Some escaped by becoming very religious suddenly and were deferred as divinity students. But the brave men and women who saw action loved America and risked their very lives and futures for a "cause." The cause was that we must fight Communism even at the risk of giving up our lives. We must do whatever it takes to prevent it from invading and spreading in our nation.
Forty years later, despite lessons from the Vietnam War, as well as the Cold War with Russia, we have placed an unknown man in the White House with close ties to people who are Communists, or who have studied and written about the virtues of Communism and Marxism. Obama has stated on various occassions that America should have a "redistribution of wealth." That is, take from the rich and give it over to the poor. Take from those who have worked and struggled their whole lives and paid huge taxes on the income that they earned and give it over to those who can't work or can't find work or simply don't want to work and have paid little if any taxes in their years. Obama keeps insisting that that is the "moral thing to do." When I was young, the book, "Robin Hood" was banned from the New York City school system because it contained "Communist overtures." That is, it dealt with a small band of thieves who robbed the rich and gave it over to the poor.
Capitalism is the reason America has been the greatest, strongest, richest and most successful country in world history. To replace it with Socialist and Communist ideas would be the "death blow" to America. Communism is not just an "economic system." It is a way of life (and sometimes death). In theory, Communism is a socioeconomic structure and political ideology that promotes the establishment of a classless society based upon common ownership. It seems like we just described a large, modern day "commune." So what could be bad? Historically, Communism has been run by ruthless, coercive governments concerned with the preservation of their own power. In this type of environment, all economic and social activity is controlled by a totalitarian state dominated by a single tyrant or his political party. In the past, it has left behind a trail of blood of those that dared to oppose this ideology. In the United States the very fear of Communism entering our borders has caused aggressive investigations, blacklisting, and the deportation of people suspected of following these ideas. Many famous Americans were put on a blacklist in the early 1950's preventing them from finding employment. Communism creeps up on a nation very quietly as the size of government grows.
We really don't know why our President believes so much in Communism. He is indeed a man of mystery. His college records are frozen so we don't know the courses he took in school. But concern is in order when you see the people that he has surrounded himself with. How could he not be influenced by this "garbage?" These people truly hate America and Capitalism. Was this Obama's secret plan cultivated over the last years? Or is he just ignorant and incompetent? Why does he want to change the total complexion of America so fast? Because he anticipates that his popularity and support will fade and he wants to pass as many bills (filled with unbelievable, destructive laws buried within) while the Democrats have a majority voice. America (pre-Obama) was an indestructible nation. But his fingerprints are all over the very foundation of our dear nation, causing it to begin to crumble. America is indeed dying and it needs your help and support in a last ditch effort to save it. We must put pressure on our representatives in Congress. After all, in theory they are supposed to represent the peoples' wishes not their own. We must vote out of office any Democrat that does not have the guts to oppose Obama's extreme policies. Obama's weakness is that he cannot handle criticsm. He wants to hear everyone tell him what a great job he is doing. That is what he only heard growing up. If we are like passive sheep, the wolf will do whatever he wants. Soon we will wake up one morning and will not recognize America. Band together, speak out, write to your media before Obama controls all media outlets. And most important of all, pray with all your might to Hashem that He protects us from this radical President so that all the efforts of the previous 43 Presidents and 233 years of the hard work of good Americans, like you, are not in vain.
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Our King, Our Ruler
The gematria of Rosh Hashanah ראשׁ השׁנה is 861, the same value as בּית המקדשׁ, Bais Hamikdosh (the Temple). And considering that the atbash, or reverse gematria of Rosh Hashanah is 596, the same value as ירושׁלים, Jerusalem, there appears to be an important connection between Rosh Hashanah and our Holy Temple, soon to be rebuilt by G-d Himself in Jerusalem, and thus, last forever.
The main focus of Rosh Hashanah is the sovereignty of Hashem. For two days our service is filled with references to G-d as King. Without the subjects of a kingdom voluntarily proclaiming their king, as their king, there is no real recognition of his sovereignty. Before the creation of man, G-d had no one with free will to proclaim Him as the King of the Universe. The angels who were created before man, have no evil inclination and are pure agents of G-d's will. They see the truth and only the truth of G-d's existence and ways, and are not capable of any doubt. But because of this lack of choice, the angels see G-d not as their King, but as their Ruler. G-d wants the people of His Kingdom to proclaim Him their King not because He needs the recognition. By accepting Him as the King of the Universe we would be benefiting G-d by showing Him how we have elevated ourselves. With free will G-d is our King. With no free will G-d is our ruler. Obviously, because there are forces attempting to pull us off the path of the truth, it is much greater for us to proclaim G-d as our King rather than as our Ruler. But time is running short. When Mashiach comes and chases the Soton away, we too will resemble the angels and only see the ways of truth, and will also proclaim G-d as our Ruler. In fact the atbash of the word for Ruler מושׁל has the same atbash as Mashiach.
On Rosh Hashanah the shofar is sounded both before and during Mussaf. We have been taught that it is done this way in order to confuse and trick the Soton. But the confusion caused by all our different customs (how many times we blow, when do we blow during Mussaf and at the end of Mussaf) actually gives the Soton ammunition. This provides evidence against us as to the total lack of unity that we have. We trick the Soton not because of the number of blows or when we blow. We trick the Soton because of what the prophet Amos states in 3(6), "Is the shofar ever sounded in a city and the people not tremble?" When the Soton sees the intensity of the Jewish People as they prepare to listen, when he hears the total silence during the blowing, when he feels our souls trembling, the Soton temporarily loses his power and goes into hiding. Our trembling neutralizes the Soton. He is tricked into believing that this time it's for real. This time the Jewish People have totally repented. This time it will last and we won't revert back. The Soton knows that the gematria of Amos' words, עם לא יחרדו, "the people not tremble," is 369, the same as ונשׁובה, "And we shall return."
On Yom Kippur, we resemble an angel. We don't eat, we don't drink, we dress in white, we stand with our feet together (this resembles angels which appear to have one foot), and we say בּרוך שׁם aloud instead of in a whisper. But we are greater than angels for we have free will to choose. We can grow to greater heights. We can turn our lives completely around. The connection between Rosh Hashanah and our redemption period, when we will all be in Jerusalem together and witness the Temple with our own eyes, is that at that time, Hashem will be our ruler. We will finally be free of the Soton and will only see the path of truth. We won't need the shofar blasts to cause our souls to tremble for we will all follow Hashem's ways as the knowledge of His words fill the air. And then we will learn to Love Hashem, and when we do, He will finally be our King, not as before for just a few days, but forever and ever.
The main focus of Rosh Hashanah is the sovereignty of Hashem. For two days our service is filled with references to G-d as King. Without the subjects of a kingdom voluntarily proclaiming their king, as their king, there is no real recognition of his sovereignty. Before the creation of man, G-d had no one with free will to proclaim Him as the King of the Universe. The angels who were created before man, have no evil inclination and are pure agents of G-d's will. They see the truth and only the truth of G-d's existence and ways, and are not capable of any doubt. But because of this lack of choice, the angels see G-d not as their King, but as their Ruler. G-d wants the people of His Kingdom to proclaim Him their King not because He needs the recognition. By accepting Him as the King of the Universe we would be benefiting G-d by showing Him how we have elevated ourselves. With free will G-d is our King. With no free will G-d is our ruler. Obviously, because there are forces attempting to pull us off the path of the truth, it is much greater for us to proclaim G-d as our King rather than as our Ruler. But time is running short. When Mashiach comes and chases the Soton away, we too will resemble the angels and only see the ways of truth, and will also proclaim G-d as our Ruler. In fact the atbash of the word for Ruler מושׁל has the same atbash as Mashiach.
On Rosh Hashanah the shofar is sounded both before and during Mussaf. We have been taught that it is done this way in order to confuse and trick the Soton. But the confusion caused by all our different customs (how many times we blow, when do we blow during Mussaf and at the end of Mussaf) actually gives the Soton ammunition. This provides evidence against us as to the total lack of unity that we have. We trick the Soton not because of the number of blows or when we blow. We trick the Soton because of what the prophet Amos states in 3(6), "Is the shofar ever sounded in a city and the people not tremble?" When the Soton sees the intensity of the Jewish People as they prepare to listen, when he hears the total silence during the blowing, when he feels our souls trembling, the Soton temporarily loses his power and goes into hiding. Our trembling neutralizes the Soton. He is tricked into believing that this time it's for real. This time the Jewish People have totally repented. This time it will last and we won't revert back. The Soton knows that the gematria of Amos' words, עם לא יחרדו, "the people not tremble," is 369, the same as ונשׁובה, "And we shall return."
On Yom Kippur, we resemble an angel. We don't eat, we don't drink, we dress in white, we stand with our feet together (this resembles angels which appear to have one foot), and we say בּרוך שׁם aloud instead of in a whisper. But we are greater than angels for we have free will to choose. We can grow to greater heights. We can turn our lives completely around. The connection between Rosh Hashanah and our redemption period, when we will all be in Jerusalem together and witness the Temple with our own eyes, is that at that time, Hashem will be our ruler. We will finally be free of the Soton and will only see the path of truth. We won't need the shofar blasts to cause our souls to tremble for we will all follow Hashem's ways as the knowledge of His words fill the air. And then we will learn to Love Hashem, and when we do, He will finally be our King, not as before for just a few days, but forever and ever.
Thursday, September 3, 2009
The Soton Never Sleeps
On behalf of Dr. Wolf and myself we apologize for postponing our interview with Tamar Yonah of Israel National Radio. We understand that many of our followers, as well as a large audience of Tamar Yonah, had anticipated our interview dealing with the real possibility that the missing Ark of the Covenant has been hidden in front of our eyes for thousands of years. I must undergo an additional medical procedure shortly, and then with renewed strength that Hashem will hopefully bless me with, I will continue my personal battle with the Soton. We each have our own personal war with the Soton who influences each of our evil inclinations within us. But for me personally my battle is extreme and intense. When you deal with bringing many Jews closer to G-d, when you teach and explain the concepts of the Messianic Era, when you open people's eyes to the hidden secrets of Torah, when you encourage so many to begin to do Tshuvah now and not wait for your local Rabbis to tell you to, when you warn the world that Barack Hussein Obama is the evil the Jewish People and most Americans will be exposed to at the End of Days, when you tell Jews in America that they should have an exit plan if they suddenly have to run to Israel, when you explain that Hashem loves each and every Jew and all the righteous non-Jews, when you suggest that we are really entering a Jewish year much later than 5770 because of missing years from the Jewish calendar, when you warn people not to be fooled by the tricks of the Soton, this Soton, realizing that its days are numbered, fights for its very survival. I will be fine with Hashems's loving kindness. I urge you all to fight from within, and counter any plot or deception that he brings into your lives. Recognize it, when you meet it, and be strong, faithful, and courageous, so that you will overcome its power.
Monday, August 31, 2009
The Gift Of Wisdom Is The Gift Of Fear
When King Solomon succeeded his father as King at a very young age, Hashem asked him to request what He should give him. Imagine having such a wish! King Solomon requested an understanding heart, the ability to judge the Jewish People, and to be able to distinguish between good and evil. In other words, the request was for wisdom, חכמה. But what King Solomon was really wishing for was "the fear of G-d." He remembered what his father, King David had said in Tehillim 111(10), that "the beginning of wisdom is the fear of Hashem." And so at the beginning of Proverbs, King Solomon repeats this teaching of his father by saying in 1(7) that "the fear of Hashem is the beginning of knowledge." But he goes further by adding that "foolish ones scorn wisdom (that is the fear of G-d) and discipline." They don't follow G-d's guidelines for a good life and use their own twisted logic to justify their inappropriate actions.
How interesting it is that one of the first blessings we make every day, a blessing that we say every time we leave the bathroom, begins with words blessing G-d for fashioning man with wisdom, חכמה. While fools never have G-d on their mind, righteous people think about, and thank G-d constantly. And that includes routine trips to relieve ourselves. We thank Hashem for giving us an understanding that He created us with a body so perfected in its function. We realize that if just one small opening would be ruptured we could not survive and continue to serve Him. With wisdom we can understand and appreciate Hashem's care in creating our bodies and maintaining and healing them when needed. Knowing this can indeed cause us to fear G-d because of His constant watch of our thoughts and actions. It certainly is not difficult to fear G-d when we are ill, or suffering or exposed to dangers. That is a natural human emotion. We can actually sense the might of G-d touching us. But a higher level of the fear of G-d is when things are going well in our lives. When Hashem has granted us the fulfillment of our prayers, when happiness and satisfaction has surrounded us, when love and contentment and sufficient wealth has filled our moments, that is the time to experience true wisdom and fear G-d. When we understand that G-d has focused His attention upon us and has given us what we desired, we should be in awe of Him and try our utmost not to disappoint Him. Like a child who does not want to disappoint his parents after they have rewarded him with a gift, we too should not disappoint Hashem after He has fulfilled our lives with goodness. We should fear that we might lose the good that we were gifted, or that we did not deserve this kindness in the first place. We should be flattered that G-d has demonstrated that there is a connection between Him and our lives. We should fear that someday we might cause this union to be severed.
When we have true wisdom through the fear of G-d we have a feeling that we can call on Hashem whenever we need Him. And we have the confidence that He will grant us what we request of Him. We will call upon Him constantly, just like a friend. We will talk to Him constantly and will establish a close relationship with Him. That is true wisdom. That is true חכמה. Indeed, the atbash gematria of חכמה is 190, the same value as יענני, "He will answer me."
May we all establish a close relationship to G-d, call on Him constantly, and may He always answer us when we call.
How interesting it is that one of the first blessings we make every day, a blessing that we say every time we leave the bathroom, begins with words blessing G-d for fashioning man with wisdom, חכמה. While fools never have G-d on their mind, righteous people think about, and thank G-d constantly. And that includes routine trips to relieve ourselves. We thank Hashem for giving us an understanding that He created us with a body so perfected in its function. We realize that if just one small opening would be ruptured we could not survive and continue to serve Him. With wisdom we can understand and appreciate Hashem's care in creating our bodies and maintaining and healing them when needed. Knowing this can indeed cause us to fear G-d because of His constant watch of our thoughts and actions. It certainly is not difficult to fear G-d when we are ill, or suffering or exposed to dangers. That is a natural human emotion. We can actually sense the might of G-d touching us. But a higher level of the fear of G-d is when things are going well in our lives. When Hashem has granted us the fulfillment of our prayers, when happiness and satisfaction has surrounded us, when love and contentment and sufficient wealth has filled our moments, that is the time to experience true wisdom and fear G-d. When we understand that G-d has focused His attention upon us and has given us what we desired, we should be in awe of Him and try our utmost not to disappoint Him. Like a child who does not want to disappoint his parents after they have rewarded him with a gift, we too should not disappoint Hashem after He has fulfilled our lives with goodness. We should fear that we might lose the good that we were gifted, or that we did not deserve this kindness in the first place. We should be flattered that G-d has demonstrated that there is a connection between Him and our lives. We should fear that someday we might cause this union to be severed.
When we have true wisdom through the fear of G-d we have a feeling that we can call on Hashem whenever we need Him. And we have the confidence that He will grant us what we request of Him. We will call upon Him constantly, just like a friend. We will talk to Him constantly and will establish a close relationship with Him. That is true wisdom. That is true חכמה. Indeed, the atbash gematria of חכמה is 190, the same value as יענני, "He will answer me."
May we all establish a close relationship to G-d, call on Him constantly, and may He always answer us when we call.
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Emulating The Keepers Of The Ark
Our recent blog article dealing with the Ark of the Covenant being in Axum, Ethiopia has raised not only a renewed interest in this great mystery, but has also brought out other theories as to the whereabouts of this extremely holy artifact. Tamar Yonah of Israel National Radio will be interviewing us about this subject at midnight on August 31st (NY time). Our theories and proofs have been just as shocking to our listeners as the statements we made previously about Obama's sure win as President when he was a longshot to win. The issue is not so much where the Ark is located. It's about how a group of men have dedicated their lives, by serving G-d with honor, dedication and sacrifice. Though many have laughed at them, they simply go forward fulfilling their days and hours with faith and love of G-d and his holy Ark. We should not look down on them in any way. Instead we should learn a valuable lesson at such committment.
The Ark contains tablets inscribed by the finger of G-d. And yet we, ourselves, contain a more holy substance than the Ark. It's our holy soul which is a very part of G-d's essense. Our souls might be darkened by our sins but they still contain the powerful light of G-d's presence. So many of us have turned their backs on the Jewish religion for various, personal reasons. Some have explored other religions not knowing that many of their underlying concepts originated from Judaism. Our bodies are the Arks that contain our holy souls. As we approach the New Year 5770 we must try and maintain a level of purity as if our own bodies were surrounded by the waters of Gan Eden. What we view with our eyes, what our ears hear, the words that come out of our mouths, the places our feet take us to, and the foods our tongues taste, should be of a nature that emulates someone watching and guarding their bodies 24/7 protecting its inner contents.
The Ark contains tablets inscribed by the finger of G-d. And yet we, ourselves, contain a more holy substance than the Ark. It's our holy soul which is a very part of G-d's essense. Our souls might be darkened by our sins but they still contain the powerful light of G-d's presence. So many of us have turned their backs on the Jewish religion for various, personal reasons. Some have explored other religions not knowing that many of their underlying concepts originated from Judaism. Our bodies are the Arks that contain our holy souls. As we approach the New Year 5770 we must try and maintain a level of purity as if our own bodies were surrounded by the waters of Gan Eden. What we view with our eyes, what our ears hear, the words that come out of our mouths, the places our feet take us to, and the foods our tongues taste, should be of a nature that emulates someone watching and guarding their bodies 24/7 protecting its inner contents.
Monday, August 10, 2009
Rosh Hashanah & Obama's Healthcare Plan
The debate over Obama's attempt to once again change the character of our nation is pitting Americans against Americans. One of the reasons America is dying is because of the intense loyalty that Republicans and Democrats have for their elected leaders. Congress has become "the yes people," that is they will side with their party's President no matter how outrageous his ideas or proposals are. It's as if Obama is a young child seeing how much he can get away with. If the Democrats in Congress wanted to display some courage, they would stand up and tell Obama, "Sorry Mr. President we will not allow you to do those things for they are detrimental to the soundness of our democratic society." Instead they quote him, vote for his policies, and argue when Republicans oppose these unimaginable ideas.
The latest idea of Obama is that we must change (there's that word again) the healthcare system of America. Despite the fact that this country is flat broke and needs to borrow funds constantly, there has been little Democratic opposition to this foolishness. Instead of taking a fraction of the proposed amount of money needed and building numerous medical clinics for those without health insurance, his proposal will equalize all Americans in their ability to acquire proper and correct medical care. The most dangerous part of the bill is that the government, that is Barack Hussein Obama, will have the "power" to decide whether someone is too old, too sick or too expendable to receive treatment.
Countries with socialized medicine have produced numerous cases where treatment has been denied to patients who needed competent medical care to save their lives. Mr. Obama is longing to have the ability of deciding "who will live and who will die." But despite this wish of his, only Hashem has that ability. There is only one God in heaven. Obama is just a mere mortal with many faults. Men like Hitler believed that they had the power to decide who will live and who will die.
On Rosh Hashanah we recite a prayer בּראשׁ השׁנה, which describes that on this holy day it is Hashem who decides the judgment that every human faces for the coming year. The most chilling words are "who will live and who will die." The prayer then mentions that for those who will die this coming year, who will die before their time or at their predestined time. And then it lists the methods of how they will die. The first methods listed are, "who by water and who by fire." מי במים ומי באשׁ. The prayer could have said who by the hands of President Obama for the gematria of this phrase is 501 the same as בּרק חוסיין אובּאמה, Barack Hussein Obama.
The latest idea of Obama is that we must change (there's that word again) the healthcare system of America. Despite the fact that this country is flat broke and needs to borrow funds constantly, there has been little Democratic opposition to this foolishness. Instead of taking a fraction of the proposed amount of money needed and building numerous medical clinics for those without health insurance, his proposal will equalize all Americans in their ability to acquire proper and correct medical care. The most dangerous part of the bill is that the government, that is Barack Hussein Obama, will have the "power" to decide whether someone is too old, too sick or too expendable to receive treatment.
Countries with socialized medicine have produced numerous cases where treatment has been denied to patients who needed competent medical care to save their lives. Mr. Obama is longing to have the ability of deciding "who will live and who will die." But despite this wish of his, only Hashem has that ability. There is only one God in heaven. Obama is just a mere mortal with many faults. Men like Hitler believed that they had the power to decide who will live and who will die.
On Rosh Hashanah we recite a prayer בּראשׁ השׁנה, which describes that on this holy day it is Hashem who decides the judgment that every human faces for the coming year. The most chilling words are "who will live and who will die." The prayer then mentions that for those who will die this coming year, who will die before their time or at their predestined time. And then it lists the methods of how they will die. The first methods listed are, "who by water and who by fire." מי במים ומי באשׁ. The prayer could have said who by the hands of President Obama for the gematria of this phrase is 501 the same as בּרק חוסיין אובּאמה, Barack Hussein Obama.
Thursday, August 6, 2009
The Ark Of The Covenant Of Hashem
In the movie Raiders Of The Lost Ark, the hero Indiana Jones, not only searches for the missing holy Ark, but actually finds it. But that takes place in the fictional world, not in the real world that we live in. Most Jews have totally forgotten that the Ark of the Convenant has been missing for nearly 3,000 years. The prophet Jeremiah saw that this would happen at this time (the days preceding Mashiach) when he proclaimed in 3(16), "In those days they will no longer say, The Ark of the Covenant of Hashem, and it will not come to mind, they will not mention it and will not recall it."
While current day archaeologists search Israel for the hidden Ark, 1,600 miles away in Ethiopia a "watchman" spends his entire days, weeks, months, years and lifetime guarding a sacred object. Ethiopia is the modern day name for Cush. Does anybody stop and think for a moment why Cush is mentioned in the 44th verse in Torah? G-d just completed creating the world, the universe, the animal and vegetable world, and Adam. Just 6 verses after the creation of man, Cush is mentioned. Let's examine several verses preceding the one mentioning Cush. In Genesis 2(8) "Hashem G-d planted a garden in Eden, to the east, and placed there the man whom He had formed. And Hashem G-d caused to sprout from the ground every tree that was pleasing to the sight and good for food; also the Tree of Life in the midst of the garden, and the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Bad. A river issues forth from Eden to water the garden, and from there it is divided and becomes 4 headwaters. The name of the first is Pishon, the one that encircles the whole land of Havilah, where the gold is. The gold of that land is good, the bedolach is there, and the shoham stone. The name of the second river is Gihon גיחון, the one that encircles the whole land of כּושׁ Cush." What is going on here? The holy waters of Gan Eden surrounds Cush and purifies it. Why Cush?
Let's turn the clock back to the Jewish year 2948 exactly 500 years after we left Egypt. King Solomon, the son of King David, had just completed building both the first Temple (which took 7 years) and his own magnificant palace (which took 13 years). It was at this time that the Queen of Sheba מלכּת שׁבא paid King Solomon a visit. She had heard of the King's great wisdom, and according to Kings 1, 10(1) she came to test him with riddles בּחידת. Most commentators discuss the content of the questions she asked the King and how he answered all of them. She was overwhelmed by the answers to all of her riddled questions. But there is a deeper, hidden secret in this episode. For the 793 gematria of Queen of Sheba, מלכּת שׁבא, is the same as חתם הספר, "Seal the Book." That is, until the Time of the End according to Daniel 12(4). There certainly was more that she searched for. There was a question that she needed to know. In Kings 1, 10(2) she came before Solomon and she spoke about all that was in her heart. What was this question or riddle that brought her from a distant nation? The answer is hidden in the word for riddles itself. This word, בּחידת, spoken by Hashem Himself in Numbers 12(8) is holy because it's gematria is 424, the same as משׁיח בּן דוד, Mashiach son of David. She believed that this great man, King Solomon, the true son of David, who had just completed the building of the Temple, who was the smartest person in the history of the world, was the Mashiach. He then answered her in Kings 1, 10(3), ויגד לה שׁלמה את כּל, "Solomon told her everything." What did he tell her? He told her that he couldn't be the Mashiach because certain events had to occur before the final redemption. Look at the first letters of these 5 words. They add up to 357 the same as בּרק אובּאמה, Barack Obama. Now look at the last letters of these same 5 words. They add up to 444. This is the atbash of ככלות נפּץ יד עם קדשׁ, "When the crushing of the power of the holy people." King Solomon explained to her that Mashiach cannot come until an evil, arrogant leader named Barack Obama causes havoc to the Jewish People and crushes the power they had attained through the course of history.
King Solomon had 700 wives and 300 concubines. He loved them all, as it says in Kings 1, 11(2), "Solomon clung to them for love." Before the Queen of Sheba left, she blessed Hashem. Then in Kings 1, 10(13) King Solomon gave the Queen of Sheba "whatever she desired." This word for desire חפצה, has an atbash gematria equal to הדבקים, "who cling." Whether or not the Queen of Sheba had any offspring through her relationship with King Solomon is not mentioned in the Tanach. The 700 year old Kebra Negast, an ancient compilation of Ethiopian traditions, is regarded as the final authority on the early history of Ethiopia. It claims, with explicit detail, that the Queen was pregnant when she left, and gave birth back in Ethiopia to a male child. King Solomon gave her a ring to give the child as proof that he was indeed his son. The child's name was Menelek, the son of King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba. Twenty years later Menelek visited his father and showed him the ring. King Solomon welcomed him and invited him to stay permanently with him. But he desired to return to Ethiopia and to his mother. Modern day Ethiopians claim that their rulers were all descended from Menelek, also known as "the son of the wise man." He would establish the kingdom of David in Ethiopia (Cush), a dynasty that would reign until Haile Selassie was overthrown in 1974. The Ethiopian nation would eventually convert from the worship of the sun, moon, and stars, to the "Lord G-d of Israel." The entire period covered 225 different kings, all descended without interruption from Menelek. It's no coincidence that it was 225 for it's the gematria of הטהור, "the clean." No wonder at all, since the waters of Gan Eden encircles the land of Ethiopia.
Let's now move ahead, 2800 years later. If you know anyone from Ethiopia, ask them a simple question. "Do you know where the Holy Ark is located?" You'll be amazed when they respond, "Of course I do. Everyone in Ethiopia knows that it is kept in a special treasury next to the Church of St. Mary of Zion in Axum, Ethiopia. They'll also tell you that the ark cannot be seen by anyone but the high priest of Axum, an elderly, holy monk who is charged with its care and preservation for life. He doesn't leave the premises and names his successor on his death bed. His name is Abba Tesfa Mariam. He is the 30th guardian in history who never left that same enclosure. He as well as the guardians before him, worship 13 hours a day in front of the Holy Ark. So how did the Ark wind up in Ethiopia?
When King Solomon realized that his son Menelek was determined to go back to his mother, the Queen of Sheba in Axum, Ethiopia, he gave him a replica of the Ark of the Covenant. This would constantly remind him of the real one and be a source of spiritual inspiration that he would need when he was so far away from Jerusalem. Menelek was escorted on his journey with men hand picked by his father. Before he reached Ethiopia he realized that someone, somehow had substituted the real Ark for the replica. Was it just an accident? Did one of the men do it and why? Is it possible that King Solomon himself did it? He was about to go back to Jerusalem when he interpreted the incident to be a message from G-d. He realized that it was divine providence that he had the possession of this sacred object. Everyone will seek to find it in Jerusalem. No one will ever think for a moment that this precious, holy item would be in the dark, uncivilized land of Cush.
Several months ago Abuna Pauolos, Patriarch of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, claimed that the real Ark of the Covenant rests indeed in Axum. Most, if not all, Ethiopian churches contain replicas of the Ark in order to protect the secret location of the real one. If the replicas are removed they are considered impure. These replicas are considered extremely holy. He said, "The Ark of the Covenant is located in Axum, Ethiopia and only G-d knows for how much longer." He continued that, "the artifact is described perfectly in the Bible, and it is in good condition. After a meeting with the Pope in Italy it was decided that the time had come to reveal the sacred object to the world and to house it in a planned museum. A press conference was scheduled for the following day, and all the details would then be revealed to the world. But there was no press conference in Italy the next day. Some mysterious person must have spoken to him that night for he ran out of the country straight back to Ethiopia like a man running for his life. All he would say was that he was misquoted and that the Holy Ark must be protected from the "gaze of the public."
Some of you might be skeptical. Some might be in disbelief. But before you decide whether the above is the truth or just a good script for a movie or book, please bear in mind the following:
1. The atbash of כּושׁ Cush, is 112. This number represents the time period of Daniel's famous, "Time, Times, and a half of Time." See our blog entitled, "The Connection Between The Blessing Of The Sun And The Final Redemption."
2. The flag of Ethiopia during Haile Selassie's reign depicted a lion. Selassie referred to himself as "The Lion of Judah." King David, King Solomon, Menelek, and all the kings until Selassie were all descended from Judah. Currently the flag of Ethiopia portrays its national emblem, a 6 pointed star corresponding to the shield of King David.
3. Zipporah, the wife of Moses, is described in Numbers 12(1) as a Cushite woman. But she was a Midianite. Why was she described this way? Gemara Moed Katan addresses this question and discusses 3 additional cases where a non-Cushite is described as a Cushite. The answer for all 4 cases is that, "just as a Cushite is unusual in the aspect of their skin, so was Zipporah and the other people mentioned, unusual in the aspect of their deeds." But why not compare these people to Abraham our Father, if they were so filled with kindness and good deeds? It's perhaps because Zipporah and the others were unusual with respect to their purity. As we mentioned before, the Gihon river flows from Gan Eden and encircles the whole land of Cush. If a Cushite exemplifies one special trait, it must be that of purity, the same trait that illustrates the holiness of the Ark of the Convenant of Hashem.
4. The name Cush appears in the 44th verse in Torah corresponding to the 44th word, ולחשׁך, "And to the darkness" as well as to our 44th President. This indicates that at this current time when the 44th President became elected not because he was filled with kindness, good deeds or purity, but simply because he resembled a Cushite with respect to the aspect of his skin, know for sure that this is the time when the secret of the missing Ark of the Covenant of Hashem will be revealed to the world.
While current day archaeologists search Israel for the hidden Ark, 1,600 miles away in Ethiopia a "watchman" spends his entire days, weeks, months, years and lifetime guarding a sacred object. Ethiopia is the modern day name for Cush. Does anybody stop and think for a moment why Cush is mentioned in the 44th verse in Torah? G-d just completed creating the world, the universe, the animal and vegetable world, and Adam. Just 6 verses after the creation of man, Cush is mentioned. Let's examine several verses preceding the one mentioning Cush. In Genesis 2(8) "Hashem G-d planted a garden in Eden, to the east, and placed there the man whom He had formed. And Hashem G-d caused to sprout from the ground every tree that was pleasing to the sight and good for food; also the Tree of Life in the midst of the garden, and the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Bad. A river issues forth from Eden to water the garden, and from there it is divided and becomes 4 headwaters. The name of the first is Pishon, the one that encircles the whole land of Havilah, where the gold is. The gold of that land is good, the bedolach is there, and the shoham stone. The name of the second river is Gihon גיחון, the one that encircles the whole land of כּושׁ Cush." What is going on here? The holy waters of Gan Eden surrounds Cush and purifies it. Why Cush?
Let's turn the clock back to the Jewish year 2948 exactly 500 years after we left Egypt. King Solomon, the son of King David, had just completed building both the first Temple (which took 7 years) and his own magnificant palace (which took 13 years). It was at this time that the Queen of Sheba מלכּת שׁבא paid King Solomon a visit. She had heard of the King's great wisdom, and according to Kings 1, 10(1) she came to test him with riddles בּחידת. Most commentators discuss the content of the questions she asked the King and how he answered all of them. She was overwhelmed by the answers to all of her riddled questions. But there is a deeper, hidden secret in this episode. For the 793 gematria of Queen of Sheba, מלכּת שׁבא, is the same as חתם הספר, "Seal the Book." That is, until the Time of the End according to Daniel 12(4). There certainly was more that she searched for. There was a question that she needed to know. In Kings 1, 10(2) she came before Solomon and she spoke about all that was in her heart. What was this question or riddle that brought her from a distant nation? The answer is hidden in the word for riddles itself. This word, בּחידת, spoken by Hashem Himself in Numbers 12(8) is holy because it's gematria is 424, the same as משׁיח בּן דוד, Mashiach son of David. She believed that this great man, King Solomon, the true son of David, who had just completed the building of the Temple, who was the smartest person in the history of the world, was the Mashiach. He then answered her in Kings 1, 10(3), ויגד לה שׁלמה את כּל, "Solomon told her everything." What did he tell her? He told her that he couldn't be the Mashiach because certain events had to occur before the final redemption. Look at the first letters of these 5 words. They add up to 357 the same as בּרק אובּאמה, Barack Obama. Now look at the last letters of these same 5 words. They add up to 444. This is the atbash of ככלות נפּץ יד עם קדשׁ, "When the crushing of the power of the holy people." King Solomon explained to her that Mashiach cannot come until an evil, arrogant leader named Barack Obama causes havoc to the Jewish People and crushes the power they had attained through the course of history.
King Solomon had 700 wives and 300 concubines. He loved them all, as it says in Kings 1, 11(2), "Solomon clung to them for love." Before the Queen of Sheba left, she blessed Hashem. Then in Kings 1, 10(13) King Solomon gave the Queen of Sheba "whatever she desired." This word for desire חפצה, has an atbash gematria equal to הדבקים, "who cling." Whether or not the Queen of Sheba had any offspring through her relationship with King Solomon is not mentioned in the Tanach. The 700 year old Kebra Negast, an ancient compilation of Ethiopian traditions, is regarded as the final authority on the early history of Ethiopia. It claims, with explicit detail, that the Queen was pregnant when she left, and gave birth back in Ethiopia to a male child. King Solomon gave her a ring to give the child as proof that he was indeed his son. The child's name was Menelek, the son of King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba. Twenty years later Menelek visited his father and showed him the ring. King Solomon welcomed him and invited him to stay permanently with him. But he desired to return to Ethiopia and to his mother. Modern day Ethiopians claim that their rulers were all descended from Menelek, also known as "the son of the wise man." He would establish the kingdom of David in Ethiopia (Cush), a dynasty that would reign until Haile Selassie was overthrown in 1974. The Ethiopian nation would eventually convert from the worship of the sun, moon, and stars, to the "Lord G-d of Israel." The entire period covered 225 different kings, all descended without interruption from Menelek. It's no coincidence that it was 225 for it's the gematria of הטהור, "the clean." No wonder at all, since the waters of Gan Eden encircles the land of Ethiopia.
Let's now move ahead, 2800 years later. If you know anyone from Ethiopia, ask them a simple question. "Do you know where the Holy Ark is located?" You'll be amazed when they respond, "Of course I do. Everyone in Ethiopia knows that it is kept in a special treasury next to the Church of St. Mary of Zion in Axum, Ethiopia. They'll also tell you that the ark cannot be seen by anyone but the high priest of Axum, an elderly, holy monk who is charged with its care and preservation for life. He doesn't leave the premises and names his successor on his death bed. His name is Abba Tesfa Mariam. He is the 30th guardian in history who never left that same enclosure. He as well as the guardians before him, worship 13 hours a day in front of the Holy Ark. So how did the Ark wind up in Ethiopia?
When King Solomon realized that his son Menelek was determined to go back to his mother, the Queen of Sheba in Axum, Ethiopia, he gave him a replica of the Ark of the Covenant. This would constantly remind him of the real one and be a source of spiritual inspiration that he would need when he was so far away from Jerusalem. Menelek was escorted on his journey with men hand picked by his father. Before he reached Ethiopia he realized that someone, somehow had substituted the real Ark for the replica. Was it just an accident? Did one of the men do it and why? Is it possible that King Solomon himself did it? He was about to go back to Jerusalem when he interpreted the incident to be a message from G-d. He realized that it was divine providence that he had the possession of this sacred object. Everyone will seek to find it in Jerusalem. No one will ever think for a moment that this precious, holy item would be in the dark, uncivilized land of Cush.
Several months ago Abuna Pauolos, Patriarch of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, claimed that the real Ark of the Covenant rests indeed in Axum. Most, if not all, Ethiopian churches contain replicas of the Ark in order to protect the secret location of the real one. If the replicas are removed they are considered impure. These replicas are considered extremely holy. He said, "The Ark of the Covenant is located in Axum, Ethiopia and only G-d knows for how much longer." He continued that, "the artifact is described perfectly in the Bible, and it is in good condition. After a meeting with the Pope in Italy it was decided that the time had come to reveal the sacred object to the world and to house it in a planned museum. A press conference was scheduled for the following day, and all the details would then be revealed to the world. But there was no press conference in Italy the next day. Some mysterious person must have spoken to him that night for he ran out of the country straight back to Ethiopia like a man running for his life. All he would say was that he was misquoted and that the Holy Ark must be protected from the "gaze of the public."
Some of you might be skeptical. Some might be in disbelief. But before you decide whether the above is the truth or just a good script for a movie or book, please bear in mind the following:
1. The atbash of כּושׁ Cush, is 112. This number represents the time period of Daniel's famous, "Time, Times, and a half of Time." See our blog entitled, "The Connection Between The Blessing Of The Sun And The Final Redemption."
2. The flag of Ethiopia during Haile Selassie's reign depicted a lion. Selassie referred to himself as "The Lion of Judah." King David, King Solomon, Menelek, and all the kings until Selassie were all descended from Judah. Currently the flag of Ethiopia portrays its national emblem, a 6 pointed star corresponding to the shield of King David.
3. Zipporah, the wife of Moses, is described in Numbers 12(1) as a Cushite woman. But she was a Midianite. Why was she described this way? Gemara Moed Katan addresses this question and discusses 3 additional cases where a non-Cushite is described as a Cushite. The answer for all 4 cases is that, "just as a Cushite is unusual in the aspect of their skin, so was Zipporah and the other people mentioned, unusual in the aspect of their deeds." But why not compare these people to Abraham our Father, if they were so filled with kindness and good deeds? It's perhaps because Zipporah and the others were unusual with respect to their purity. As we mentioned before, the Gihon river flows from Gan Eden and encircles the whole land of Cush. If a Cushite exemplifies one special trait, it must be that of purity, the same trait that illustrates the holiness of the Ark of the Convenant of Hashem.
4. The name Cush appears in the 44th verse in Torah corresponding to the 44th word, ולחשׁך, "And to the darkness" as well as to our 44th President. This indicates that at this current time when the 44th President became elected not because he was filled with kindness, good deeds or purity, but simply because he resembled a Cushite with respect to the aspect of his skin, know for sure that this is the time when the secret of the missing Ark of the Covenant of Hashem will be revealed to the world.
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Madoff Should Have Seen The Writing On The Wall
The name Madoff, that is "Made Off," is secretly coded in Tehillim 21(12). His name in Hebrew is spelled, מאדוף. Look at the 6th and 7th words of verse 12, מאד ופחד, translated as "exceedingly, and a fright." Madoff's name is spelled out from the first 5 letters of these words. The word מאד means exceedingly and certainly the amount of money involved in the fraud was a record amount, and the extent of the ponzi scheme fraud, was of frightful proportions.
But there is a further lesson that Hashem is teaching us through the Madoff code. For there is another location that the name Madoff appears secretly in. It begins in the Book of Daniel in chapter 5(25), and ends in the beginning of the next chapter. Verse 25 describes a secret message written by the Hand of G-d. It's known as the "writing on the wall." Let's just backtrack for a second and provide some historical details preceding this writing. King Nebuchadnezzar was a powerful king who was the instrument that G-d used to destroy the Holy Temple. He was powerful and feared by all. But when he became haughty and his heart grew proud, G-d stripped him of his power and glory. But his grandson King Belshazzar didn't learn from this episode. About 50 years later, he made a great feast for a thousand nobles who all drank wine from golden vessels that had been removed from the Temple by his grandfather. They praised gods made from gold, silver, and other items, and celebrated the suppressed condition of the Jewish People.
And then at that very moment, fingers of a human hand appeared and wrote on the wall of the king's palace. The king saw the hand as it was writing. He was terrified and challenged all his advisors, wise men, and sorcerers to explain the written message. No one had any idea what the message was conveying, for the message was written in cryptic code and in a script unknown to the Babylonians. Until this message was written, scribes wrote in the easier to write ancient Hebrew script. This terrifying event was seen as a sign from heaven that letters written in this manner are holier, and since then scribes have written Hebrew letters in the same style as they appeared on the wall. The writing consisted of 15 letters that formed the words, מנא מנא תקל ופרסין. The prophet Daniel who had helped the king's grandfather interpret several dreams was located and agreed to reveal the meaning of these words after he first admonished the king for his arrogance. Daniel interpreted these words to mean, "counted, counted, weighed and broken up." G-d has counted the years of your kingship and it will be terminated. You have been weighed on the scales and have been found wanting. Your kingdom is to be split and given to Media and Persia. King Belshazzar accepted the interpretation of Daniel and that very night he was killed. For thousands of years this was the accepted meaning of the message of the writing on the wall, for it came true immediately. Most people have heard of and have used this expression but never realized that it came from an incident thousands of years ago involving an arrogant king who despised the Jews. But there is a deeper message here buried in the moments of time.
It's a message of hope to Jews around the globe, a message to all people signifying the power, might, and oneness of G-d. Many have sensed and suspected that there was a deeper, hidden message in these letters. Some have tried to scramble the letters to form other words. But many times the hidden truth is only kept from us because our eyes are only half opened. If you take the plain, normal gematria of these 15 letters regardless of how you scramble or rearrange the letters, you will have a total gematria or numerical value of 1118. This is the same value as a statement Jews make several times a day, a statement of faith that is buried deep in the chambers of our souls. שׁמע ישׂראל יקוק אלקינו יקוק אחד, "Hear O' Israel, Hashem is our G-d, Hashem is one and only one." These 6 words in Hebrew have the same value as the letters written on the wall, written by the same hand that wrote the entire Torah given to Moses. When we say the words of the Shema, we proclaim our faith. We accept G-d as our King willingly, gladly, and with a sense of priviledge that He allows us to serve Him. In fact when we pray alone we add, קל מלך נאמן, "G-d is a trustworthy King.
This writing by the King of the universe was a message to an arrogant king that was an enemy of the Jews. Today, this secret has a similar message to those kings who despise Israel and the Jewish People. Ahmadinejad, Putin, Obama, various Arab rulers, and all those who think that they are kings with unlimited power better take note. The message from Hashem is that their power and world attention is only temporary and can vanish instantly. Isn't it ironic that the name of a man that used his wealth and resources for greed and selfishness, totally opposite to the message of the Shema, became the name to be embedded in code, hidden until the end of days, telling the world of the power and oneness of G-d.
But there is a further lesson that Hashem is teaching us through the Madoff code. For there is another location that the name Madoff appears secretly in. It begins in the Book of Daniel in chapter 5(25), and ends in the beginning of the next chapter. Verse 25 describes a secret message written by the Hand of G-d. It's known as the "writing on the wall." Let's just backtrack for a second and provide some historical details preceding this writing. King Nebuchadnezzar was a powerful king who was the instrument that G-d used to destroy the Holy Temple. He was powerful and feared by all. But when he became haughty and his heart grew proud, G-d stripped him of his power and glory. But his grandson King Belshazzar didn't learn from this episode. About 50 years later, he made a great feast for a thousand nobles who all drank wine from golden vessels that had been removed from the Temple by his grandfather. They praised gods made from gold, silver, and other items, and celebrated the suppressed condition of the Jewish People.
And then at that very moment, fingers of a human hand appeared and wrote on the wall of the king's palace. The king saw the hand as it was writing. He was terrified and challenged all his advisors, wise men, and sorcerers to explain the written message. No one had any idea what the message was conveying, for the message was written in cryptic code and in a script unknown to the Babylonians. Until this message was written, scribes wrote in the easier to write ancient Hebrew script. This terrifying event was seen as a sign from heaven that letters written in this manner are holier, and since then scribes have written Hebrew letters in the same style as they appeared on the wall. The writing consisted of 15 letters that formed the words, מנא מנא תקל ופרסין. The prophet Daniel who had helped the king's grandfather interpret several dreams was located and agreed to reveal the meaning of these words after he first admonished the king for his arrogance. Daniel interpreted these words to mean, "counted, counted, weighed and broken up." G-d has counted the years of your kingship and it will be terminated. You have been weighed on the scales and have been found wanting. Your kingdom is to be split and given to Media and Persia. King Belshazzar accepted the interpretation of Daniel and that very night he was killed. For thousands of years this was the accepted meaning of the message of the writing on the wall, for it came true immediately. Most people have heard of and have used this expression but never realized that it came from an incident thousands of years ago involving an arrogant king who despised the Jews. But there is a deeper message here buried in the moments of time.
It's a message of hope to Jews around the globe, a message to all people signifying the power, might, and oneness of G-d. Many have sensed and suspected that there was a deeper, hidden message in these letters. Some have tried to scramble the letters to form other words. But many times the hidden truth is only kept from us because our eyes are only half opened. If you take the plain, normal gematria of these 15 letters regardless of how you scramble or rearrange the letters, you will have a total gematria or numerical value of 1118. This is the same value as a statement Jews make several times a day, a statement of faith that is buried deep in the chambers of our souls. שׁמע ישׂראל יקוק אלקינו יקוק אחד, "Hear O' Israel, Hashem is our G-d, Hashem is one and only one." These 6 words in Hebrew have the same value as the letters written on the wall, written by the same hand that wrote the entire Torah given to Moses. When we say the words of the Shema, we proclaim our faith. We accept G-d as our King willingly, gladly, and with a sense of priviledge that He allows us to serve Him. In fact when we pray alone we add, קל מלך נאמן, "G-d is a trustworthy King.
This writing by the King of the universe was a message to an arrogant king that was an enemy of the Jews. Today, this secret has a similar message to those kings who despise Israel and the Jewish People. Ahmadinejad, Putin, Obama, various Arab rulers, and all those who think that they are kings with unlimited power better take note. The message from Hashem is that their power and world attention is only temporary and can vanish instantly. Isn't it ironic that the name of a man that used his wealth and resources for greed and selfishness, totally opposite to the message of the Shema, became the name to be embedded in code, hidden until the end of days, telling the world of the power and oneness of G-d.
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Haggadah Secrets
The Haggadah of Passover contains many deep secrets. Here are some of them:
1. The hidden clue in מצרים, reflects the role of water in Egypt. If you move over the first letter, the מ, two places to the left, you now have the words צר מים (distress of water). This is pertinent considering that the Egyptians threw Jewish male babies into the Nile, and that the water of the Egyptians turned to blood, and that the entire Egyptian army drowned in the Red Sea.
2. Moses, משׁה is mentioned in the Haggadah only one time and even then it's in the capacity of Hashem's servant. Hashem wants us to know that it was only He that redeemed us from Egypt. But the name משׁה is hidden secretly. But where? Look at the section where the Haggadah states that it was G-d that took us out, not מלאך (an angel), and not שׂרף (a seraph), and finally not השׁליח (a messenger). Notice that the first letters of these 3 words spell משׁה.
3. According to Rabbi Akiva, there were 50 plagues in Egypt, representing the power of G-d's full hand, and another 250 plagues at the Red Sea, for a total of 300. These plagues represented the power of G-d. So it's no wonder that the atbash of Hashem's yud kay vav kay name is 300.
4. This is the "bread of affliction" הא לחמא עניא. This bread of affliction, or matzah, humbles us. Hashem takes notice and remembers the humble, the oppressed, the widows, orphans and the distressed. This "bread of affliction" has the same 216 gematria as ויקוק פּקד, "And Hashem Remembered.
5. In the verse צא ולמד, "Go and learn" Lavan, the Aramean, is mentioned as the example of one who hated us so that he planned to destroy the entire Jewish Nation. The atbash of Aramean, הארמי, is 543. This represents the modern version of such hatred. For 543 is the combined value of Russia רוסיה, and Iran איראן.
1. The hidden clue in מצרים, reflects the role of water in Egypt. If you move over the first letter, the מ, two places to the left, you now have the words צר מים (distress of water). This is pertinent considering that the Egyptians threw Jewish male babies into the Nile, and that the water of the Egyptians turned to blood, and that the entire Egyptian army drowned in the Red Sea.
2. Moses, משׁה is mentioned in the Haggadah only one time and even then it's in the capacity of Hashem's servant. Hashem wants us to know that it was only He that redeemed us from Egypt. But the name משׁה is hidden secretly. But where? Look at the section where the Haggadah states that it was G-d that took us out, not מלאך (an angel), and not שׂרף (a seraph), and finally not השׁליח (a messenger). Notice that the first letters of these 3 words spell משׁה.
3. According to Rabbi Akiva, there were 50 plagues in Egypt, representing the power of G-d's full hand, and another 250 plagues at the Red Sea, for a total of 300. These plagues represented the power of G-d. So it's no wonder that the atbash of Hashem's yud kay vav kay name is 300.
4. This is the "bread of affliction" הא לחמא עניא. This bread of affliction, or matzah, humbles us. Hashem takes notice and remembers the humble, the oppressed, the widows, orphans and the distressed. This "bread of affliction" has the same 216 gematria as ויקוק פּקד, "And Hashem Remembered.
5. In the verse צא ולמד, "Go and learn" Lavan, the Aramean, is mentioned as the example of one who hated us so that he planned to destroy the entire Jewish Nation. The atbash of Aramean, הארמי, is 543. This represents the modern version of such hatred. For 543 is the combined value of Russia רוסיה, and Iran איראן.
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Justice For The Convert
Without the use of a computer, the Vilna Gaon, a true Torah giant, realized that the Hebrew letter "ג" is never followed by the letter "ט" in the 5 Books of Moses. Together, these letters would spell "גט" or a Jewish divorce document. The Gaon observes that this document was given the name גט, Get, because the marriage was torn apart, and the couple is completely separate.
With the use of a high speed computer and a Torah Code search program, we verified that the Gaon's finding was absolutely correct. However, we did find an additional discovery. These 2 separate letters do come together backwards. That is, on one occasion in the 5 Books of Moses, the letters come together when the "ט" is followed by a "ג". The appearance is in Deuteronomy 24(17) as the last letter of the 3rd word, the "ט" is followed by the first letter of the 4th word, the "ג". The 2 words together, משׁפּט גר, means justice for the convert to Judaism. These 2 letters, which are never together, come together to teach us that when the גר (the convert) turns their back on their prior life and seeks to join the Jewish People, we must reach out and connect with them and make them feel that they are an integral part of our people.
Shortly, when Hashem reveals to the world His Oneness and Power, all those who seek the truth and the protection of G-d's shelter, will run to join the Jewish People. We must extend our arms and welcome them with warm hearts and encouraging words, as Holy sparks enter their souls.
With the use of a high speed computer and a Torah Code search program, we verified that the Gaon's finding was absolutely correct. However, we did find an additional discovery. These 2 separate letters do come together backwards. That is, on one occasion in the 5 Books of Moses, the letters come together when the "ט" is followed by a "ג". The appearance is in Deuteronomy 24(17) as the last letter of the 3rd word, the "ט" is followed by the first letter of the 4th word, the "ג". The 2 words together, משׁפּט גר, means justice for the convert to Judaism. These 2 letters, which are never together, come together to teach us that when the גר (the convert) turns their back on their prior life and seeks to join the Jewish People, we must reach out and connect with them and make them feel that they are an integral part of our people.
Shortly, when Hashem reveals to the world His Oneness and Power, all those who seek the truth and the protection of G-d's shelter, will run to join the Jewish People. We must extend our arms and welcome them with warm hearts and encouraging words, as Holy sparks enter their souls.
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
The Song Of Devorah
In our previous article we mentioned the importance of emulating the geniune tshuvah of Sisera's mother. There is a word בּשׁשׁ that means "delayed" and it's spoken by Sisera's mother when she cries worriedly for her son, "Why is his chariot so long in coming?" This word is used only once in Chumash. It appears in the Book of Exodus 32(1). This verse is the longest verse in the 5 Books of Moses, with 34 words. The people saw that Moses was delayed in coming down from Mount Sinai. The people made a mistake. They thought that Moses would be gone for 40 days and nights and that the day of his ascent counted. But it didn't. They were wrong. So, what did they do? Did they wait and cry like Sisera's mother and say, "where is he already?" No they didn't. Instead they made a calf of gold and called it their god. There is a connection between the longest verse in Chumash and our longest exile. We too are not waiting for Mashiach like the worried mother of Sisera. Instead, we have also given up hope and have created a god of gold through our worship of the almighty dollar, with a fiery passion.
The Zohar says that the upcoming, final war of Gog and Magog will be similar to the war with Sisera in that it will also have tremendous miracles. These miracles will be due to the merit of Devorah. And a Torah Code analysis of the Song of Devorah, confirms this. The words, Mashiach, Gog and Magog, are all secretly coded in the song, overlapping each other, each coded with an interval of 102 spaces. 102 is the gematria of emunah (true faith). And it's interesting that the codes appear in the verses where Devorah admonishes the tribes that didn't participate in the war, and praises the ones that did. This is a hint that we all must be willing to fight for Jewish survival. When Hashem sees our emunah and effort, He then takes over.
Devorah's Song is located in the haftorah for Parsha Beshalach. We should read it, and if we can, sing it often, for her song is indeed about the final redemption and Mashiach. We should sing this song now and show our great emunah to Hashem, thanking Him in advance for destroying our enemies completely.
The Song of Devorah applies to all Jews, but it is especially connected to the Jews in America. In order to place our complete trust and faith in G-d, we must place our entire essence in Hashem's hands. But how can we do that when we, and most of our possessions, time and energy, are invested in lands away from our true home. The Song of Devorah is the key to unlock the door to our redemption, because it is the Song of total freedom. Freedom from the world of material possessions, the urge to accumulate, and the phony happiness and pleasures we derive from our wealth. This total freedom, will free us from the Soton's hold on us. The Song of Devorah can break the chains that bind us to the material temptations of America. Evidencing this is the fact that there are 356 words in the song, the same as the gematria of America, אמריקה.
The Zohar says that the upcoming, final war of Gog and Magog will be similar to the war with Sisera in that it will also have tremendous miracles. These miracles will be due to the merit of Devorah. And a Torah Code analysis of the Song of Devorah, confirms this. The words, Mashiach, Gog and Magog, are all secretly coded in the song, overlapping each other, each coded with an interval of 102 spaces. 102 is the gematria of emunah (true faith). And it's interesting that the codes appear in the verses where Devorah admonishes the tribes that didn't participate in the war, and praises the ones that did. This is a hint that we all must be willing to fight for Jewish survival. When Hashem sees our emunah and effort, He then takes over.
Devorah's Song is located in the haftorah for Parsha Beshalach. We should read it, and if we can, sing it often, for her song is indeed about the final redemption and Mashiach. We should sing this song now and show our great emunah to Hashem, thanking Him in advance for destroying our enemies completely.
The Song of Devorah applies to all Jews, but it is especially connected to the Jews in America. In order to place our complete trust and faith in G-d, we must place our entire essence in Hashem's hands. But how can we do that when we, and most of our possessions, time and energy, are invested in lands away from our true home. The Song of Devorah is the key to unlock the door to our redemption, because it is the Song of total freedom. Freedom from the world of material possessions, the urge to accumulate, and the phony happiness and pleasures we derive from our wealth. This total freedom, will free us from the Soton's hold on us. The Song of Devorah can break the chains that bind us to the material temptations of America. Evidencing this is the fact that there are 356 words in the song, the same as the gematria of America, אמריקה.
Monday, July 6, 2009
The Cries Of Sisera's Mother
On Rosh Hashanah the blowing of the shofar resembles our souls crying. The 100 blasts of shofar are like 100 cries. But why 100? We have been taught a strange answer to this question. The 100 shofar cries equate the 100 cries of Sisera's mother. Imagine that! Why should we emulate a woman who was just as evil as her son, the mighty Sisera. She couldn't wait for her son to return with spoils taken from the Jewish People. Sisera was the evil general for Yavin, the king of Canaan, and together they ruled with iron fists. Sisera oppressed the Children of Israel for 20 years. Some say he was the strongest man who ever lived who was able to destroy the walls of major cities with just his mighty voice. There is a special message hidden here for the gematria of Sisera סיסרא is 331, the same as, מאמר הגאולה, "secrets of the redemption."
Devorah, on the other hand, was the good against this evil. She was the only woman to be both a judge and a prophetess. Her influence spread among the Jewish People who repented and returned to G-d. She summoned Barak Ben Avinoam to lead 10,000 men against Sisera. He hesitated from his fear of Sisera but finally agreed to go when Devorah consented to accompany him. He knew that it was only Hashem who determines victory, not the horses, army or chariots. Victory is to the one who fears G-d and follows His ways. Sisera's army was much larger than the one Barak formed, and the intimidation and fear of Sisera spread to Barak's soldiers. But the encouraging words of Devorah gave them strength and then Hashem took over. The Canaanites heard a terrible, loud noise and believed that a tremendous army was coming to attack them, while violent rain and hail bombarded them. By the time Barak's army had appeared, the army of Sisera was fleeing in a panic state. Barak's army killed many, and those that escaped, drowned in a small, tame stream that suddenly turned into a powerful river.
Sisera was really a coward without his men, and fled on foot to the tent of Yael. Poor choice on his part for she was also a judge, extremely brave, who began to make plans for his destruction. Yael, a righteous convert descending from Yisro, knew she couldn't kill him unless he was asleep, so when he asked for a drink, she gave him warm, sour milk to make him sleepy, and then seduced him several times until he fell asleep. Although this was thoroughly against her nature, she did this to save the Jewish People. Since she had no weapons, she took a simple tent pin and drove it into his temple and killed him. And so, the strongest man who ever lived was killed by a woman and a tent pin.
There are numerous similarities between the destruction of Sisera and Pharaoh. Both threatened Israel with powerful armies and chariots, and in both cases, their armies drowned. Both times Hashem fought for the Jewish People and victory came in a miraculous way. Devorah led the people in song just as Moses had done. And in both cases the opposing armies were totally destroyed. The only survivors were Pharaoh, and Sisera. Pharaoh fled when his army was decimated. He was spared so he could tell the world of G-d's greatness. After he was saved, this non-believer said, "Who is like You among the powers, O God?" He went to Nineveh, a major city where he became the king. When Jonah, the prophet, was sent there to warn the people that G-d had taken notice of their evil and was going to destroy them, Pharaoh immediately rose from his throne, tore his garment and dressed in sackcloth and ashes. The people of Nineveh did the same and G-d spared them.
Every person sees the Hand of G-d at some point in their life. But most of us ignore and deny it. We say to ourselves, "what a coincidence that was." But in life, there are no coincidences. Who knows? Maybe Sisera would have also done tshuvah if he survived. Although Sisera did not have the opportunity to do tshuvah, his mother did. There is very interesting language in the part of the Song of Devorah dealing with Sisera's mother. The English translation reads, "at the window, the mother of Sisera looks out and weeps, at the window." The first time window is mentioned, the Hebrew word is החלון, but the second time it's האשׁנב. The different wording seems to indicate that there were 2 different windows. One was a normal window which allowed her to look out and see if her son was coming, and the other window was to look into the future. The Zohar says that this window was used by her for astrology. Some say that it was a magic mirror allowing her to see faraway events. And since the gematria of האשׁנב is 358, the same as Mashiach, it's possible that she could even see our generation, the generation of Mashaich.
When Sisera's mother peered into this window, she saw her son with a woman. She thought that he was up to his old tricks and that's the reason he was delayed. The woman she saw was, of course, Yael. As the hours passed without Sisera returning, her hatred for the Jews increased. In fact, you can rearrange the letters of האשׁנב (magic window), and spell בּשׂנאה (in hatred), to describe her manner towards the Jewish People. But when she looked at the window again, this time, she began to cry. She cried 100 times evidenced by the number of letters in the Book of Judges 5 (28-29), which describes her crying. Something she saw in her special window made her cry. The union between her son and Yael would produce a child. And generations later a descendant from that union, would change the Jewish world forever. A descendant known as Rabbi Akiva. The last 4 words of Devorah's song were added generations later, and the very last 2 words ארבּעים שׁנה (forty years),describe how the land was at rest for 40 years. If you take the gematria of שׁנה which is 355 and add ארבּעים or forty, you get 395, exactly the same gematria or numerical value of Akiva ben Yosef, עקיבה בּן יוסף, the real name of Rabbi Akiva. And it's also interesting to note that it was not until the age of 40 that Rabbi Akiva began to learn and follow the Torah.
Sisera's mother cried when she realized that her son had fathered the ancestor of the "head of all the Jewish sages." Rabbi Akiva, for the first 40 years of his life was an unlearned, enemy of the Rabbis. But at the age of 40, he did tshuvah and while learning, placed himself at the feet of those same Rabbis he previously detested.
The Jewish People would not blow shofar 100 times just because an evil woman cried 100 times for her son. Through our shofars we emulate her crying when she did tshuvah, just like Rabbi Akiva. That's the connection to Rosh Hashanah and shofar blowing. The genuine, tshuvah from someone who was at the lowest point a person can drop to. Can you get any lower than a blatant, anti-Semite? The Jewish People do not need any lessons in crying for our children. Through the pogroms, the holocaust, the suicide bombings etc. we have cried enough tears that could drown all our enemies. But perhaps we need a lesson in genuine tshuvah, that is, repentance that change our lives completely. Major adjustments in our lives that literally create a new person. The Jewish People have a tendency to ask for forgiveness, while knowing deep down inside that they will certainly repeat their errors. Perhaps intensely listening to the crying of the shofar can give us the strength to overcome the temptations of life that the Soton constantly places in front of us. If an evil person like Sisera's mother was rewarded with a Rabbi Akiva for her tshuvah, then imagine how great our reward will be.
Devorah, on the other hand, was the good against this evil. She was the only woman to be both a judge and a prophetess. Her influence spread among the Jewish People who repented and returned to G-d. She summoned Barak Ben Avinoam to lead 10,000 men against Sisera. He hesitated from his fear of Sisera but finally agreed to go when Devorah consented to accompany him. He knew that it was only Hashem who determines victory, not the horses, army or chariots. Victory is to the one who fears G-d and follows His ways. Sisera's army was much larger than the one Barak formed, and the intimidation and fear of Sisera spread to Barak's soldiers. But the encouraging words of Devorah gave them strength and then Hashem took over. The Canaanites heard a terrible, loud noise and believed that a tremendous army was coming to attack them, while violent rain and hail bombarded them. By the time Barak's army had appeared, the army of Sisera was fleeing in a panic state. Barak's army killed many, and those that escaped, drowned in a small, tame stream that suddenly turned into a powerful river.
Sisera was really a coward without his men, and fled on foot to the tent of Yael. Poor choice on his part for she was also a judge, extremely brave, who began to make plans for his destruction. Yael, a righteous convert descending from Yisro, knew she couldn't kill him unless he was asleep, so when he asked for a drink, she gave him warm, sour milk to make him sleepy, and then seduced him several times until he fell asleep. Although this was thoroughly against her nature, she did this to save the Jewish People. Since she had no weapons, she took a simple tent pin and drove it into his temple and killed him. And so, the strongest man who ever lived was killed by a woman and a tent pin.
There are numerous similarities between the destruction of Sisera and Pharaoh. Both threatened Israel with powerful armies and chariots, and in both cases, their armies drowned. Both times Hashem fought for the Jewish People and victory came in a miraculous way. Devorah led the people in song just as Moses had done. And in both cases the opposing armies were totally destroyed. The only survivors were Pharaoh, and Sisera. Pharaoh fled when his army was decimated. He was spared so he could tell the world of G-d's greatness. After he was saved, this non-believer said, "Who is like You among the powers, O God?" He went to Nineveh, a major city where he became the king. When Jonah, the prophet, was sent there to warn the people that G-d had taken notice of their evil and was going to destroy them, Pharaoh immediately rose from his throne, tore his garment and dressed in sackcloth and ashes. The people of Nineveh did the same and G-d spared them.
Every person sees the Hand of G-d at some point in their life. But most of us ignore and deny it. We say to ourselves, "what a coincidence that was." But in life, there are no coincidences. Who knows? Maybe Sisera would have also done tshuvah if he survived. Although Sisera did not have the opportunity to do tshuvah, his mother did. There is very interesting language in the part of the Song of Devorah dealing with Sisera's mother. The English translation reads, "at the window, the mother of Sisera looks out and weeps, at the window." The first time window is mentioned, the Hebrew word is החלון, but the second time it's האשׁנב. The different wording seems to indicate that there were 2 different windows. One was a normal window which allowed her to look out and see if her son was coming, and the other window was to look into the future. The Zohar says that this window was used by her for astrology. Some say that it was a magic mirror allowing her to see faraway events. And since the gematria of האשׁנב is 358, the same as Mashiach, it's possible that she could even see our generation, the generation of Mashaich.
When Sisera's mother peered into this window, she saw her son with a woman. She thought that he was up to his old tricks and that's the reason he was delayed. The woman she saw was, of course, Yael. As the hours passed without Sisera returning, her hatred for the Jews increased. In fact, you can rearrange the letters of האשׁנב (magic window), and spell בּשׂנאה (in hatred), to describe her manner towards the Jewish People. But when she looked at the window again, this time, she began to cry. She cried 100 times evidenced by the number of letters in the Book of Judges 5 (28-29), which describes her crying. Something she saw in her special window made her cry. The union between her son and Yael would produce a child. And generations later a descendant from that union, would change the Jewish world forever. A descendant known as Rabbi Akiva. The last 4 words of Devorah's song were added generations later, and the very last 2 words ארבּעים שׁנה (forty years),describe how the land was at rest for 40 years. If you take the gematria of שׁנה which is 355 and add ארבּעים or forty, you get 395, exactly the same gematria or numerical value of Akiva ben Yosef, עקיבה בּן יוסף, the real name of Rabbi Akiva. And it's also interesting to note that it was not until the age of 40 that Rabbi Akiva began to learn and follow the Torah.
Sisera's mother cried when she realized that her son had fathered the ancestor of the "head of all the Jewish sages." Rabbi Akiva, for the first 40 years of his life was an unlearned, enemy of the Rabbis. But at the age of 40, he did tshuvah and while learning, placed himself at the feet of those same Rabbis he previously detested.
The Jewish People would not blow shofar 100 times just because an evil woman cried 100 times for her son. Through our shofars we emulate her crying when she did tshuvah, just like Rabbi Akiva. That's the connection to Rosh Hashanah and shofar blowing. The genuine, tshuvah from someone who was at the lowest point a person can drop to. Can you get any lower than a blatant, anti-Semite? The Jewish People do not need any lessons in crying for our children. Through the pogroms, the holocaust, the suicide bombings etc. we have cried enough tears that could drown all our enemies. But perhaps we need a lesson in genuine tshuvah, that is, repentance that change our lives completely. Major adjustments in our lives that literally create a new person. The Jewish People have a tendency to ask for forgiveness, while knowing deep down inside that they will certainly repeat their errors. Perhaps intensely listening to the crying of the shofar can give us the strength to overcome the temptations of life that the Soton constantly places in front of us. If an evil person like Sisera's mother was rewarded with a Rabbi Akiva for her tshuvah, then imagine how great our reward will be.
Sunday, July 5, 2009
The Era Of Mashiach
The prophet Amos in 5(18) states, "Woe to those who desire the Day of Hashem (the Day of Judgment). Why do you seek this Day of Hashem? It is darkness and not light." To obtain a rose from its bush, one must carefully pass through the thorns. To get to the joyous festival of Succos, one must make it past the affliction of Yom Kippur. To earn the rewards of the "world to come" one must survive the perils of "this world." To experience the fruition of bringing a life into this world, one must experience the pains of childbirth. And to see the light of redemption, one must survive the travails of the days preceding Mashiach.
Several verses later Hashem scolds the Jewish People and says that He hates their insincere offerings and assemblies. He will not hear their songs and music. All G-d wants is true justice and righteousness. After all, G-d reminds us, I didn't require you to bring personal offerings during your 40 years of wandering in the Wilderness. The Gemara Sanhedrin cites a Baraisa: R' Eliezer says, "The Messianic Era will last 40 years," and he teaches that it will last as long as the "days You afflicted us." This refers to the years in the Wilderness. So like our wandering, the Messianic Era will last 40 years. And like the above examples, the darkness of affliction must precede the reward of light. Our 40 years of wandering preceded the reward of receiving the Land of Eretz Yisroel.
In the same gemara, Shmuel is quoted as saying that there is no difference between this world and that of the Messianic Era except for Jewish independence from the dominion of foreign kingdoms. The natural laws and even the basic norms of society will not change in the Messianic Era. The only major difference will be that the Jewish People will enjoy independence from foreign rule. This view is adopted by the Rambam who writes, "Do not think that in the Messianic Era any of the current norms will cease or that there will be a change in the natural order. Rather, the world will function in its normal manner. After Mashiach comes human society will be so exalted that "there will be no war or hunger, no jealousy or competition."
The words that describe our independence from foreign rule are, שׁעבּוד מלכיות בּלבד. These words have a gematria of 926. During this period of time, many non-Jews will join the Jewish People when the outcome of the redemption does not culminate in the manner they were taught. This is similiar to our redemption from Egypt when the Erev Rav became part of the Jewish Nation. But in a similiar manner to the complaints of the Erev Rav in the Wilderness, the people who will shortly join (who are not used to the constant afflictions the Jewish People have suffered) will begin to murmur. In fact, the word תּלונתם which means their murmurings, have the same 926 gematria. In a similiar manner as in the Wilderness, we will be isolated, provided for, protected, and will be able to draw close to Hashem. We will learn His ways and teachings through Mashiach in a similiar manner to the way Moses taught the Jewish People in the desert. It's very interesting how the gemara connects the 40 years in the Wilderness to the 40 years of the Messianic Era. So it's amazing that the phrase, ארבּעים שׁנה בּמדבּר, "forty years in the Wilderness" also has the same 926 gematria.
Several verses later Hashem scolds the Jewish People and says that He hates their insincere offerings and assemblies. He will not hear their songs and music. All G-d wants is true justice and righteousness. After all, G-d reminds us, I didn't require you to bring personal offerings during your 40 years of wandering in the Wilderness. The Gemara Sanhedrin cites a Baraisa: R' Eliezer says, "The Messianic Era will last 40 years," and he teaches that it will last as long as the "days You afflicted us." This refers to the years in the Wilderness. So like our wandering, the Messianic Era will last 40 years. And like the above examples, the darkness of affliction must precede the reward of light. Our 40 years of wandering preceded the reward of receiving the Land of Eretz Yisroel.
In the same gemara, Shmuel is quoted as saying that there is no difference between this world and that of the Messianic Era except for Jewish independence from the dominion of foreign kingdoms. The natural laws and even the basic norms of society will not change in the Messianic Era. The only major difference will be that the Jewish People will enjoy independence from foreign rule. This view is adopted by the Rambam who writes, "Do not think that in the Messianic Era any of the current norms will cease or that there will be a change in the natural order. Rather, the world will function in its normal manner. After Mashiach comes human society will be so exalted that "there will be no war or hunger, no jealousy or competition."
The words that describe our independence from foreign rule are, שׁעבּוד מלכיות בּלבד. These words have a gematria of 926. During this period of time, many non-Jews will join the Jewish People when the outcome of the redemption does not culminate in the manner they were taught. This is similiar to our redemption from Egypt when the Erev Rav became part of the Jewish Nation. But in a similiar manner to the complaints of the Erev Rav in the Wilderness, the people who will shortly join (who are not used to the constant afflictions the Jewish People have suffered) will begin to murmur. In fact, the word תּלונתם which means their murmurings, have the same 926 gematria. In a similiar manner as in the Wilderness, we will be isolated, provided for, protected, and will be able to draw close to Hashem. We will learn His ways and teachings through Mashiach in a similiar manner to the way Moses taught the Jewish People in the desert. It's very interesting how the gemara connects the 40 years in the Wilderness to the 40 years of the Messianic Era. So it's amazing that the phrase, ארבּעים שׁנה בּמדבּר, "forty years in the Wilderness" also has the same 926 gematria.
Thursday, July 2, 2009
A Time Of Terrible Distress
When Hillary Rodham Clinton lost the Democratic Nomination for President to Barack Hussein Obama, many thought that she would disappear from the world stage for years. But her name in Hebrew hinted that something different would happen. Our attention was gained by her unique name expressed in Hebrew letters. Never before did we see the following occur in anyone's name. Hillary הילרי, Rodham רודהם, and Clinton קלינטון each have a gematria of 255. Imagine that a person's first name, middle name and last name all have the same exact value! When the value of the entire name is calculated, the total gematria is 765 (255x3), the same value as עת צרה (Time of terrible distress). This finding indicated that Hillary would not disappear into the sunset so quickly. She would be (as she has become) an influential voice reprimanding the State of Israel.
The term עת צרה comes from the Book of Daniel 12(1) which describes the time when Michael, the guardian angel of Israel, will stand in defense of his people at this time of catastrophe. The atbash gematria of עת צרה is 106, the same value as the letter נ nun, spelled out נון.
No verse in the Ashrei prayer (Psalm 145) begins with the letter נ nun. There are 21 verses in this psalm and each verse (in order) begins with the remaining 21 letters of the Hebrew aleph bet. This is because in the verse that speaks of G-d supporting the fallen, the letter נ can be taken as an allusion to the word נפילה, Israel's future downfall, G-d forbid. King David refused to use a letter to begin a verse that could suggest such tragedy. But knowing that downfalls must take place as they have throughout our history, King David comforted Israel with the verse that begins with the letter ס samech (the letter that follows the nun in the Hebrew alphabet). The full verse beginning with the samech states "Hashem supports all the fallen ones and straightens all those who are bent." With this verse, King David made a guarantee to the Jewish People that even when a dreaded downfall occurs, the people can count on Hashem's support.
Today, the leader of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahou בּנימין נתניהו, has not one, but 4 nuns in his name, representing the 4 exiles of the Jewish People. We have gone from one exile to another, falling down and then being lifted up by Hashem. We kept falling into galus because we would not learn from our mistakes and make adjustments in our lives. The purpose of falling is to arise and lift ourselves to a higher level, not to the same plane. When G-d tests us in our personal lives and we fall down through illness, financial setbacks or person tragedy, we must pull ourselves not only back to where we were before the fall, but to greater heights.
In a previous blog that we posted on 5/25/09 dealing with The Blessing Of The Sun, we mentioned that our calculation of Daniel's famous "Time, Times and a half of Time," resulted in a time being 32, times being 64, and a half being 16. Thus, 112 represents the entire end period. Of course, no one knows whether it's 112 hours, days, weeks or years from a point in time. This will be revealed by Hashem in due course.
The question arises why 3 1/2 and not 4? Shouldn't there be a relationship between the 4 exiles and the final time period releasing us from exile permanently? If the other half (16) would be added on, the total time period would rise to 128 which would equal the word סומך, "to support." Perhaps our redemption is being held up by the imperfect 3 1/2. Perhaps our redemption will be realized when we can turn the imperfect 3 1/2 into 4 (representing all our exiles). How can we do this? When we finally push our arrogance aside and acknowledge that it wasn't because of our merits, or our actions, or the actions of our leaders or our armies that brought us out of our previous exiles, but by the HAND OF G-D that saved us over and over again. Then we can finally change the 3 1/2 time period into 4 complete periods and adjust the total value from 112 to 128. For it has always been Hashem that supports us like a parent encouraging, lifting up and supporting their child learning to walk. It has always been our Father In Heaven, and it's time to acknowledge that. The 16 (1/2 of time) that has been missing equals בּיד (by a hand). We must realize that to survive the terrible Time of Distress that the Jewish People will shortly face, we must grab and hold on to Hashem's Hand.
The letter נ is the 14th letter in the aleph bet. This is the gematria of דוד (David) whose descendant will shortly be sent by G-d to redeem us. May we all dance with joy when that wonderful moment arises.
The term עת צרה comes from the Book of Daniel 12(1) which describes the time when Michael, the guardian angel of Israel, will stand in defense of his people at this time of catastrophe. The atbash gematria of עת צרה is 106, the same value as the letter נ nun, spelled out נון.
No verse in the Ashrei prayer (Psalm 145) begins with the letter נ nun. There are 21 verses in this psalm and each verse (in order) begins with the remaining 21 letters of the Hebrew aleph bet. This is because in the verse that speaks of G-d supporting the fallen, the letter נ can be taken as an allusion to the word נפילה, Israel's future downfall, G-d forbid. King David refused to use a letter to begin a verse that could suggest such tragedy. But knowing that downfalls must take place as they have throughout our history, King David comforted Israel with the verse that begins with the letter ס samech (the letter that follows the nun in the Hebrew alphabet). The full verse beginning with the samech states "Hashem supports all the fallen ones and straightens all those who are bent." With this verse, King David made a guarantee to the Jewish People that even when a dreaded downfall occurs, the people can count on Hashem's support.
Today, the leader of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahou בּנימין נתניהו, has not one, but 4 nuns in his name, representing the 4 exiles of the Jewish People. We have gone from one exile to another, falling down and then being lifted up by Hashem. We kept falling into galus because we would not learn from our mistakes and make adjustments in our lives. The purpose of falling is to arise and lift ourselves to a higher level, not to the same plane. When G-d tests us in our personal lives and we fall down through illness, financial setbacks or person tragedy, we must pull ourselves not only back to where we were before the fall, but to greater heights.
In a previous blog that we posted on 5/25/09 dealing with The Blessing Of The Sun, we mentioned that our calculation of Daniel's famous "Time, Times and a half of Time," resulted in a time being 32, times being 64, and a half being 16. Thus, 112 represents the entire end period. Of course, no one knows whether it's 112 hours, days, weeks or years from a point in time. This will be revealed by Hashem in due course.
The question arises why 3 1/2 and not 4? Shouldn't there be a relationship between the 4 exiles and the final time period releasing us from exile permanently? If the other half (16) would be added on, the total time period would rise to 128 which would equal the word סומך, "to support." Perhaps our redemption is being held up by the imperfect 3 1/2. Perhaps our redemption will be realized when we can turn the imperfect 3 1/2 into 4 (representing all our exiles). How can we do this? When we finally push our arrogance aside and acknowledge that it wasn't because of our merits, or our actions, or the actions of our leaders or our armies that brought us out of our previous exiles, but by the HAND OF G-D that saved us over and over again. Then we can finally change the 3 1/2 time period into 4 complete periods and adjust the total value from 112 to 128. For it has always been Hashem that supports us like a parent encouraging, lifting up and supporting their child learning to walk. It has always been our Father In Heaven, and it's time to acknowledge that. The 16 (1/2 of time) that has been missing equals בּיד (by a hand). We must realize that to survive the terrible Time of Distress that the Jewish People will shortly face, we must grab and hold on to Hashem's Hand.
The letter נ is the 14th letter in the aleph bet. This is the gematria of דוד (David) whose descendant will shortly be sent by G-d to redeem us. May we all dance with joy when that wonderful moment arises.
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Kristallnacht-70 Years Later
Kristallnacht or the Night of Broken Glass, was an anti-Jewish pogrom in Nazi Germany on 11/9/38. That night is viewed by many historians as the beginning of the "Final Solution" leading towards the genocide of the Holocaust. One of the significant purposes of Kristallnacht was the disarmament of the German Jews. All Jewish owned firearms were confiscated.
On this one night of broken glass and darkness, 91 Jews were beaten to death, over 30,000 Jewish men were arrested and brought to concentration camps, over 200 synagogues were destroyed, as well as 7,000 Jewish shops. If you factor in the suspected suicides resulting from this terror, then there were approximately 2,500 deaths attributable to the Kristallnacht pogrom. Heavy fines followed and the Jews themselves were responsible for repairing the broken windows and their damaged shops by reaching deep into their own pockets.
Kristallnacht changed the nature of persecution from economic, political, and social to actual physical beatings, incarceration and outright murder. In other words, "Kristallnacht came and everything changed." That night of terror was instigated by Nazi party officials and the Nazi storm troopers. But this terrible night would not have reached such a level of destruction and death if not for the overwhelming hatred that the average German citizen had for the Jewish People. When the "green light" went on telling the German population that it was okay for them to beat, harass and torment any Jew they could find, there was no hesitation. There was a carnival atmosphere in the streets of broken glass.
Could this ever happen again? The late Rabbi Meir Kahane who had visions of truth, urged the Jewish People to make sure that this will NEVER AGAIN occur. But people did not want to hear of the remote possibility that such a nightmare might repeat itself. It's much easier thinking that this was an isolated, historical calamity, and that the evil that Hitler was filled with, will never occur again. And so, many Jewish synagogues refused Rabbi Kahane to speak. He was a special Jew who was way ahead of his time. His message regarding what would take place in the State of Israel if the Arabs were not expelled was prophetic. When you look around the world and see how the slow build up of anti-Semitism is exploding before our eyes, how countless countries are forcing Jews to flee from lands that they thought were safe, secure and protective, how Chavez in Venezuela turned on the green light allowing the people to harass the Jewish community, we must understand that NEVER AGAIN can only be realized if we lift up our voices, hearts, and tear filled eyes to Hashem in Heaven. Once the media of the nations follow the lead of the dictators, kings and rulers by urging the populace to boycott Jewish business (as they recently did in Venezuela), the memories of Kristallnacht reappear.
What about Obama's land, the land of the free? Aren't we protected there? Let's examine the Hebrew expression for Kristallnacht. It consists of 2 words in Hebrew meaning "NIGHT OF" and "BROKEN GLASS." ליל means "night of" with a gematria of 70, and הבדולח means "broken glass" with a gematria of 55. Kristallnacht occurred on 11/9/38 and almost exactly to the day 70 years later on 11/4/08 a new king was crowned in America. So the 70 gematria of "night of" stands for a dangerous date in Jewish history. Indeed 70 years after Kristallnacht was the "night of" the winning election of the most dangerous man the Jewish People have faced since Hitler. Who are we talking about? The gematria of "broken glass" is 55, the same as the value of OBAMA אובּאמה.
On this one night of broken glass and darkness, 91 Jews were beaten to death, over 30,000 Jewish men were arrested and brought to concentration camps, over 200 synagogues were destroyed, as well as 7,000 Jewish shops. If you factor in the suspected suicides resulting from this terror, then there were approximately 2,500 deaths attributable to the Kristallnacht pogrom. Heavy fines followed and the Jews themselves were responsible for repairing the broken windows and their damaged shops by reaching deep into their own pockets.
Kristallnacht changed the nature of persecution from economic, political, and social to actual physical beatings, incarceration and outright murder. In other words, "Kristallnacht came and everything changed." That night of terror was instigated by Nazi party officials and the Nazi storm troopers. But this terrible night would not have reached such a level of destruction and death if not for the overwhelming hatred that the average German citizen had for the Jewish People. When the "green light" went on telling the German population that it was okay for them to beat, harass and torment any Jew they could find, there was no hesitation. There was a carnival atmosphere in the streets of broken glass.
Could this ever happen again? The late Rabbi Meir Kahane who had visions of truth, urged the Jewish People to make sure that this will NEVER AGAIN occur. But people did not want to hear of the remote possibility that such a nightmare might repeat itself. It's much easier thinking that this was an isolated, historical calamity, and that the evil that Hitler was filled with, will never occur again. And so, many Jewish synagogues refused Rabbi Kahane to speak. He was a special Jew who was way ahead of his time. His message regarding what would take place in the State of Israel if the Arabs were not expelled was prophetic. When you look around the world and see how the slow build up of anti-Semitism is exploding before our eyes, how countless countries are forcing Jews to flee from lands that they thought were safe, secure and protective, how Chavez in Venezuela turned on the green light allowing the people to harass the Jewish community, we must understand that NEVER AGAIN can only be realized if we lift up our voices, hearts, and tear filled eyes to Hashem in Heaven. Once the media of the nations follow the lead of the dictators, kings and rulers by urging the populace to boycott Jewish business (as they recently did in Venezuela), the memories of Kristallnacht reappear.
What about Obama's land, the land of the free? Aren't we protected there? Let's examine the Hebrew expression for Kristallnacht. It consists of 2 words in Hebrew meaning "NIGHT OF" and "BROKEN GLASS." ליל means "night of" with a gematria of 70, and הבדולח means "broken glass" with a gematria of 55. Kristallnacht occurred on 11/9/38 and almost exactly to the day 70 years later on 11/4/08 a new king was crowned in America. So the 70 gematria of "night of" stands for a dangerous date in Jewish history. Indeed 70 years after Kristallnacht was the "night of" the winning election of the most dangerous man the Jewish People have faced since Hitler. Who are we talking about? The gematria of "broken glass" is 55, the same as the value of OBAMA אובּאמה.
Saturday, June 27, 2009
The Secret Behind Na Nach Nachma Nachman
The phrase Na Nach Nachma Nachman Me'Uman was revealed and taught by Rabbi Yisroel Ber Odesser. Rabbi Odesser was born in 1888 in Tiberias, and was among the first Breslover Hasidim in Israel. In 1921 on the Fast of Tammuz he became weak and hungry and broke his fast. He felt guilty afterwards that he was unable to overcome his physical temptation. He prayed continuously for 5 days until he heard a voice instructing him to go into his room. He did that and randomly opened a book. In the book was a piece of paper that he later called "The Letter from Heaven." The English translation of this letter reads as follows, "It was very hard for me to descend to you, my precious student, to tell you that I benefited greatly from your service. And to you I say, my fire will burn until the coming of the Messiah. Be strong and courageous in your service. Na Nach Nachma Nachman Me'Uman. And with this I shall tell you a secret: Full and heaped up from line to line, and with strong devotional services you will understand it. And the sign is: They will say you are not fasting on the 17th of Tammuz."
The Rabbi believed the letter to be a message of consolation, directly from Rebbe Nachman of Breslov's spirit to himself. He adopted this phrase as his personal meditation, and became so personally identified with it that he later said that he was, Na Nach Nachma Nachman Me'Uman. He died at the age of 106, and this very expression appears on his grave stone in Jerusalem.
Rabbi Nachman of Breslov stated that a "song of redemption" would be revealed before the coming of Mashiach, and that this song would be in a single, double, triple, quadruple form, just like this phrase. In 1984 Rabbi Moshe Feinstein wrote a letter of approbation endorsing Rabbi Odesser's efforts to raise funds for publishing Rav Nachman's books. Rabbi Feinstein mentioned that he was inspired by a secret document which Rabbi Odesser possessed. Despite this, not all Breslover Hasidim use Na Nach Nachma, and not everyone believes that it is an authentic writing. Some believe that the letter was written by Rav Nachman to someone else and was placed in the old book, while others simply believe it was forged by one of Rabbi Odesser's students to distract him from feeling guilty over breaking his fast. There is even a theory that when he was a young student, a friend of his was just playing a trick on him and put the note in a book. But the Rabbi never opened that book until many, many years later. When he finally discovered it, his friend revealed the details of the practical joke to him. But, Rabbi Odesser refused to believe it was anything but a message from heaven.
But even if it was meant simply as a joke, and the words were just made up without any real meaning, it did come as a message from heaven. For who other than Hashem put those words into the mind of the friend? Indeed, these words have a significant connection to the end of days, and our upcoming, final geula. The key to uncovering this message is the atbash form of gematria. Let's examine the phrase carefully:
נ נח נחמ נחמן. The atbash of נ is 9. The atbash of נח is 69. The atbash of נחמ is 79 and finally the atbash of נחמן is 88. The difference between 9 and 69 is 60, the difference between 69 and 79 is 10 and finally the difference between 79 and 88 is 9. Thus we get 60 10 9. If you eliminate the 2 zeroes you are left with the number 619.
The Book of Torah containing more secrets about the end of days than any other is the Book of Daniel. Towards the end of this Book, Daniel asks G-d, מה אחרדת אלה, "what is the end of these matters?" G-d responds with the words לך דניאל, "go your way Daniel." G-d is not telling Daniel to stop inquiring about the end. His response is indeed the answer to Daniels's question, for the atbash of לך דניאל, is 619 which is also the same value as אחרית, which means the end. Thus, G-d is answering Daniel by telling him that the end is indeed the end. But the end of what or whom? It will be the end of evil, scepticism, doubt, falsehood and conflict. And just when will this end period begin? The last word of the phrase מאומן Me'Uman tells us. For the gematria of this word is 137, the same value as מגדלין (Towers) and בּן לאדן (Bin Laden). Thus, this clue tells us that at the time that Bin Laden destroys the towers (the twin towers on 9/11/01), know for certain that the end of days has arrived.
The letter indeed was a letter from Heaven telling mankind that for some there will be a final end, but for others there will be a brand new beginning.
The Rabbi believed the letter to be a message of consolation, directly from Rebbe Nachman of Breslov's spirit to himself. He adopted this phrase as his personal meditation, and became so personally identified with it that he later said that he was, Na Nach Nachma Nachman Me'Uman. He died at the age of 106, and this very expression appears on his grave stone in Jerusalem.
Rabbi Nachman of Breslov stated that a "song of redemption" would be revealed before the coming of Mashiach, and that this song would be in a single, double, triple, quadruple form, just like this phrase. In 1984 Rabbi Moshe Feinstein wrote a letter of approbation endorsing Rabbi Odesser's efforts to raise funds for publishing Rav Nachman's books. Rabbi Feinstein mentioned that he was inspired by a secret document which Rabbi Odesser possessed. Despite this, not all Breslover Hasidim use Na Nach Nachma, and not everyone believes that it is an authentic writing. Some believe that the letter was written by Rav Nachman to someone else and was placed in the old book, while others simply believe it was forged by one of Rabbi Odesser's students to distract him from feeling guilty over breaking his fast. There is even a theory that when he was a young student, a friend of his was just playing a trick on him and put the note in a book. But the Rabbi never opened that book until many, many years later. When he finally discovered it, his friend revealed the details of the practical joke to him. But, Rabbi Odesser refused to believe it was anything but a message from heaven.
But even if it was meant simply as a joke, and the words were just made up without any real meaning, it did come as a message from heaven. For who other than Hashem put those words into the mind of the friend? Indeed, these words have a significant connection to the end of days, and our upcoming, final geula. The key to uncovering this message is the atbash form of gematria. Let's examine the phrase carefully:
נ נח נחמ נחמן. The atbash of נ is 9. The atbash of נח is 69. The atbash of נחמ is 79 and finally the atbash of נחמן is 88. The difference between 9 and 69 is 60, the difference between 69 and 79 is 10 and finally the difference between 79 and 88 is 9. Thus we get 60 10 9. If you eliminate the 2 zeroes you are left with the number 619.
The Book of Torah containing more secrets about the end of days than any other is the Book of Daniel. Towards the end of this Book, Daniel asks G-d, מה אחרדת אלה, "what is the end of these matters?" G-d responds with the words לך דניאל, "go your way Daniel." G-d is not telling Daniel to stop inquiring about the end. His response is indeed the answer to Daniels's question, for the atbash of לך דניאל, is 619 which is also the same value as אחרית, which means the end. Thus, G-d is answering Daniel by telling him that the end is indeed the end. But the end of what or whom? It will be the end of evil, scepticism, doubt, falsehood and conflict. And just when will this end period begin? The last word of the phrase מאומן Me'Uman tells us. For the gematria of this word is 137, the same value as מגדלין (Towers) and בּן לאדן (Bin Laden). Thus, this clue tells us that at the time that Bin Laden destroys the towers (the twin towers on 9/11/01), know for certain that the end of days has arrived.
The letter indeed was a letter from Heaven telling mankind that for some there will be a final end, but for others there will be a brand new beginning.
Friday, June 26, 2009
The Beauty Of Your Work-A Poem By Joel Gallis
The beauty of your work surrounds me,
From majestic mountains to graceful streams,
My eyes can only see your glory,
By day, by night, and in my dreams.
Sounds of praise I hear all around me,
From babies' first cries to the song of a bird,
My ears can only hear your glory,
By day, by night, your praise is heard.
Your touch I always feel about me,
From the winds' soft kiss to the warmth of the sun,
My soul can only feel your glory,
By day, by night, my G-d is one.
But with frigid hearts of stone,
There are many who stand alone,
They cannot see though their eyes are opened wide,
They walk on your ground,
Without hearing a holy sound,
They just don't realize that you're always at their side.
The darkest part of night,
Precedes the morning light,
You wait for us to walk in your ways,
Your arms are opened wide,
To take us for your bride,
And embrace us till the End of Days.
I long for the start of each new day,
And grow sad when darkness comes and chases it away,
For each moment is a chance to see your light,
May there soon come a day before the setting of the sun,
When their eyes will be opened, and they'll know you are one,
Then they'll see the beauty of your work day and night.
From majestic mountains to graceful streams,
My eyes can only see your glory,
By day, by night, and in my dreams.
Sounds of praise I hear all around me,
From babies' first cries to the song of a bird,
My ears can only hear your glory,
By day, by night, your praise is heard.
Your touch I always feel about me,
From the winds' soft kiss to the warmth of the sun,
My soul can only feel your glory,
By day, by night, my G-d is one.
But with frigid hearts of stone,
There are many who stand alone,
They cannot see though their eyes are opened wide,
They walk on your ground,
Without hearing a holy sound,
They just don't realize that you're always at their side.
The darkest part of night,
Precedes the morning light,
You wait for us to walk in your ways,
Your arms are opened wide,
To take us for your bride,
And embrace us till the End of Days.
I long for the start of each new day,
And grow sad when darkness comes and chases it away,
For each moment is a chance to see your light,
May there soon come a day before the setting of the sun,
When their eyes will be opened, and they'll know you are one,
Then they'll see the beauty of your work day and night.
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
The Jews In Egypt
Passover literally means that G-d had to pass over the houses of the Jewish People so that the Angel of Death could kill the Egyptian first born during the 10th and final plague. Why would that be necessary if the Jews lived separately from the Egyptians in their own distinct land? Hashem could have simply passed over the entire land of Goshen. But unfortunately this was not the case. We have previously mentioned that the Jews were in Egypt for 210 years. During that period they were enslaved for the final 116 years with hard labor. During the previous 94 years when things were going quite well for the Jews, they got tired of living in the Egyptian Boro Park section and moved out of Goshen. They moved to the other side of the tracks where they lived in close proximity to the Egyptians. They had business ventures and deals with the Egyptians, and some were able to get special treatment from them during the time of hard labor. It's interesting to note that despite being in Egypt for close to 100 years, the Jews were still looked upon as the newcomers, not good Egyptian civilians. The Egyptians wondered why should we respect people that don't respect themselves? Why do they treat our things dearer than their own?
The Egyptians actually did not bother the Jews as long as we kept to ourselves. But once we began to resemble "regular Egyptians", did the hatred begin. The Jewish Nation was called it by Pharaoh. Imagine being called "it"! That's the equivalent today of being called "you people". And suddenly without the necessary Jewish exposure and commitment to Jewish rituals and values their Jewish identity quickly vanished. They became slaves long before the Egyptians enforced slavery upon them because they had already become slaves to Egyptian culture, Egyptian fashion and Egyptian values. They were so engrossed and involved politically, and emotionally with this country that they would find it nearly impossible to pull themselves away when they had to. They looked upon themselves as good Egyptians who happened to be Jewish, instead of Jewish People who happened to be living temporarily in Egypt. This is very similar to American Jewry today.
Not only were the majority of Jews in Egypt blind to the redemption occurring right before their eyes, they were also blind to the plagues that were brought by Hashem through Moses and Aaron. These plagues were not natural disasters brought upon them by nature. They were afflictions sent upon the Egyptians to punish them measure for measure for their actions against the Jews. To quote Josephus Flavius, the Jewish historian who is actually mentioned by Rashi, "no such plagues ever happened to any other nation as happened to the Egyptians." The Jews who wound up leaving Egypt, unlike those who were too attached to Egyptian society to leave, saw the plagues from afar and understood what they meant. They knew the redemption was imminent and they prepared themselves for it. The current disasters that have struck the world over the past several years were really plagues. We are being tested at this current time period to see if we will close our eyes to what is really occurring, and go into denial, or if we will open our eyes and see the hand of G-d and the clear showing of His might. When we view these plagues we must be in awe of Hashem, pray that He protects us from them, and prepare ourselves for our imminent redemption.
The Egyptians actually did not bother the Jews as long as we kept to ourselves. But once we began to resemble "regular Egyptians", did the hatred begin. The Jewish Nation was called it by Pharaoh. Imagine being called "it"! That's the equivalent today of being called "you people". And suddenly without the necessary Jewish exposure and commitment to Jewish rituals and values their Jewish identity quickly vanished. They became slaves long before the Egyptians enforced slavery upon them because they had already become slaves to Egyptian culture, Egyptian fashion and Egyptian values. They were so engrossed and involved politically, and emotionally with this country that they would find it nearly impossible to pull themselves away when they had to. They looked upon themselves as good Egyptians who happened to be Jewish, instead of Jewish People who happened to be living temporarily in Egypt. This is very similar to American Jewry today.
Not only were the majority of Jews in Egypt blind to the redemption occurring right before their eyes, they were also blind to the plagues that were brought by Hashem through Moses and Aaron. These plagues were not natural disasters brought upon them by nature. They were afflictions sent upon the Egyptians to punish them measure for measure for their actions against the Jews. To quote Josephus Flavius, the Jewish historian who is actually mentioned by Rashi, "no such plagues ever happened to any other nation as happened to the Egyptians." The Jews who wound up leaving Egypt, unlike those who were too attached to Egyptian society to leave, saw the plagues from afar and understood what they meant. They knew the redemption was imminent and they prepared themselves for it. The current disasters that have struck the world over the past several years were really plagues. We are being tested at this current time period to see if we will close our eyes to what is really occurring, and go into denial, or if we will open our eyes and see the hand of G-d and the clear showing of His might. When we view these plagues we must be in awe of Hashem, pray that He protects us from them, and prepare ourselves for our imminent redemption.
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Speedily In Our Days
Even though G-d promised Avrohom that his descendants would be strangers in a land that was not theirs, and they would be oppressed for 400 years, according to the Torah we left Egypt 190 years earlier than we were supposed to, and only spent 210 years there. The reality is that we were meant to be in Egypt a full 400 years. What makes this even more interesting is the fact that we refer to the Final Redemption as קץ הימים, "end of days." However, if the words are read correctly, it should really say, "end of THE days." Which days are we referring to? The days remaining from the 190 years when we left Egypt early. Hashem spread out the terrible oppression of those 190 years over 33 centuries, but soon, any day now, any moment now, there will be an end of THOSE days. We always pray בּמהרה בימינו, that Mashiach and our final redemption should come speedily in our days. Speedily? It appears to be so late, our exile so long. Well, just as in Egypt, to the very second, when it was time to leave, the redemption came so fast. So too, when the DAYS of the 190 years have passed, at the exact second, our redemption will surround us and unfold "speedily." Thus, as you can see there is a great connection between the redemption from Egypt at the beginning of Jewish history, and the final redemption towards the end of the historical 6,000 year period that the world will last (as we know it). Perhaps now, we can understand the Passover Haggadah when it says that every Jew should feel as if he or she also left Egypt. And it's also interesting to note that the gematria of the word קץ (end), as in End Of Days, is amazingly 190.
Friday, June 19, 2009
The First Ray Of Redemption
Daniel 7(23) speaks about the 4th beast of exile (the exile of Edom and Yishmael). Whereas the majority of this exile dealt with the power and control of Edom, the final stage has shifted to Yishmael's might and their lack of concern for the lives of others. Verse 24 states that this beast of exile will have 10 horns (meaning 10 kings), and then an 11th one will arise different from the former ones. Notice that the number 11 is once again involved. As we have mentioned in several writings, the number 11 represents the current exile of Yishmael. Verse 25 continues to speak about the 11th horn or king (the final one). He will speak words against G-d, will exhaust the strength of the Jewish People, and will try to "change" השׁניה the times and the laws. The Jewish People will, G-d forbid, be under his rule for a certain period of time, known only to Hashem.
When you study the description of this "final king" with your eyes opened, you realize that King Obama is the one that is being referred to. He is the king who will "change everything" in his kingdom, especially as it affects the Jewish People. To doubt this and say instead, "Let's give him a chance. Let's see how he does. He really means well," is to repeat the same mistakes the Jewish People made 70 years ago in Germany.
But all is not bleak and grave. In fact, Obama and the darkness he has brought to the world through his arrogant mouth, has actually let in a dim light of hope. He can't see it, or understand it. When Avrohom took his son Yitzchok to offer him up on the altar according to G-d's command, they saw the location that G-d had shown them. They were escorted by Eliezer and Yishmael, and asked them, "have you also seen what we have seen on that distant mountain?" They replied, "we do not see anything, only a mountain." Avrohom knew then that they could not go any further and told them to stay behind with the donkey. Obama too cannot see the first ray of redemption. He can only see the darkness that he has created. How appropriate it is that the 44th word in Torah corresponding to the 44th President is ולחשׁך, (and to the darkness).
The word that he has made famous השׁניה meaning "change" has the same gematria as "speedily in our days" בּמהרה בימינו. This very term which has been used by Jewish men, women, and children for thousands of years as a wish that our redemption would come suddenly, and during our lives, is a term that is connected to the "change" that Obama has brought to the world. But like Yishmael who was left behind to stay with the donkey, Obama cannot see the holy mountain that Avrohom saw. He can only see the darkness caused by his changes while the Jewish People see the first ray of redemption.
When you study the description of this "final king" with your eyes opened, you realize that King Obama is the one that is being referred to. He is the king who will "change everything" in his kingdom, especially as it affects the Jewish People. To doubt this and say instead, "Let's give him a chance. Let's see how he does. He really means well," is to repeat the same mistakes the Jewish People made 70 years ago in Germany.
But all is not bleak and grave. In fact, Obama and the darkness he has brought to the world through his arrogant mouth, has actually let in a dim light of hope. He can't see it, or understand it. When Avrohom took his son Yitzchok to offer him up on the altar according to G-d's command, they saw the location that G-d had shown them. They were escorted by Eliezer and Yishmael, and asked them, "have you also seen what we have seen on that distant mountain?" They replied, "we do not see anything, only a mountain." Avrohom knew then that they could not go any further and told them to stay behind with the donkey. Obama too cannot see the first ray of redemption. He can only see the darkness that he has created. How appropriate it is that the 44th word in Torah corresponding to the 44th President is ולחשׁך, (and to the darkness).
The word that he has made famous השׁניה meaning "change" has the same gematria as "speedily in our days" בּמהרה בימינו. This very term which has been used by Jewish men, women, and children for thousands of years as a wish that our redemption would come suddenly, and during our lives, is a term that is connected to the "change" that Obama has brought to the world. But like Yishmael who was left behind to stay with the donkey, Obama cannot see the holy mountain that Avrohom saw. He can only see the darkness caused by his changes while the Jewish People see the first ray of redemption.
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
The Message Of The Burning Bush
When Moses saw the burning bush, he was amazed that the bush did not burn. In fact he said, מדוע לא יבער הסנה, "why will the bush not be burned?" These Hebrew words have the same gematria 553 as the words, מחיה מתים, (who resurrects the dead). Moses could not understand how the roots of the bush were not destroyed by the fire. For as long as the roots were alive, there was a connection to life which allowed the bush to return each spring. There are many Jews who have intermarried, many who've changed their Jewish names, many who have lived a totally assimilated life sytle, and many who are totally non-believing individuals. They think their Jewish roots have been burned and destroyed by the "fires of assimilation" but they are wrong. Their connection to a Jewish life and Hashem is still alive. G-d resurrects us anew each morning from our deep sleep. We can start any day as a new person by turning our backs on yesterday's mistakes and beliefs. That's all past history. We can spend the rest of our lives as Jews connected to G-d and each other.
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Oprah And Obama
There was a moment in Obama's campaign when he needed credibility. He needed someone to endorse him who was well liked. Someone with influence, power and money. No, it wasn't the Kennedy family. It was someone more powerful, richer and better respected. A woman named Oprah. When she endorsed Obama, he suddenly had the credibility he needed. After all, when she recommends a certain book, it becomes a best seller. And when she publicizes an unknown doctor, he becomes a national celebrity and suddenly has his own TV show. And when she endorses a candidate for President, he must be taken seriously. Who knows? Perhaps the only reason Hashem allowed Oprah to become rich, famous and powerful was for her endorsement of Obama. So it's no surprise that Oprah אופרה, and Obama אובּאמה appear secretly in code in Tanach, overlapping each other in several overlooked verses that Hashem wants us to focus on during these times.
The verses are from Isaiah 30 (6-21). In these verses, Hashem admonishes the Jewish People for its reliance on Egypt, which represents all the exiled locations we have found ourselves in throughout our history. Reliance on foreign rulers have proven to be disastrous to us. And that is why the atbash of the words ומצרים הבל, (Egypt is vanity and emptiness) is 558, the same value as ויקם מלך חדשׁ, a new king arose, from Exodus 1 (8). This verse states that a new king arose who did not know of Joseph. This new king, with new policies and many "changes" found it convenient to ignore Joseph's monumental contributions to the country. In other words, the good that the Jews performed was no longer pertinent. In exile, new kings tend to point their finger at Jews when there are poor economic conditions.
Our new king here will also forget the good that the Jews contributed to America. Our new king's words of fire אשׁ will burn away any common sense and reasoning of the people. And when these words of fire come down from a brand new king, people believe it, because a new king's image is untarnished in the beginning of his reign. It's important to note that the atbash of אשׁ (fire) is 402, the same value as מלך חדשׁ.
Isaiah was instructed to write this prophecy down, and let it remain until the final days. The Jewish People are not willing to hear Hashem's words and instead say to our leaders in galus, "give us pleasant instructions, and see fantasies for us." This is just like the congregation telling the Rabbi what to say to them. Hashem compares this sin to that of a wall that has fallen quickly and suddenly, a total collapse culminating in tiny fragments and dust. This sounds just like 9/11 doesn't it? If we follow Hashem's will, and listen to His words and not the imaginary words we want to hear, then we are safeguarded from our enemies.
The verses are from Isaiah 30 (6-21). In these verses, Hashem admonishes the Jewish People for its reliance on Egypt, which represents all the exiled locations we have found ourselves in throughout our history. Reliance on foreign rulers have proven to be disastrous to us. And that is why the atbash of the words ומצרים הבל, (Egypt is vanity and emptiness) is 558, the same value as ויקם מלך חדשׁ, a new king arose, from Exodus 1 (8). This verse states that a new king arose who did not know of Joseph. This new king, with new policies and many "changes" found it convenient to ignore Joseph's monumental contributions to the country. In other words, the good that the Jews performed was no longer pertinent. In exile, new kings tend to point their finger at Jews when there are poor economic conditions.
Our new king here will also forget the good that the Jews contributed to America. Our new king's words of fire אשׁ will burn away any common sense and reasoning of the people. And when these words of fire come down from a brand new king, people believe it, because a new king's image is untarnished in the beginning of his reign. It's important to note that the atbash of אשׁ (fire) is 402, the same value as מלך חדשׁ.
Isaiah was instructed to write this prophecy down, and let it remain until the final days. The Jewish People are not willing to hear Hashem's words and instead say to our leaders in galus, "give us pleasant instructions, and see fantasies for us." This is just like the congregation telling the Rabbi what to say to them. Hashem compares this sin to that of a wall that has fallen quickly and suddenly, a total collapse culminating in tiny fragments and dust. This sounds just like 9/11 doesn't it? If we follow Hashem's will, and listen to His words and not the imaginary words we want to hear, then we are safeguarded from our enemies.
Lavan, Iran And A Nuclear Bomb
Lavan, the father-in-law of our Patriarch Jacob, was probably the greatest anti-Semite in history. The Zohar states that he was an expert in sorcery and wished to kill Jacob with the power of his mouth. He was so full of rage against his family and the values that they stood for, that he traveled a distance of 7 days in just 1 day in order to destroy them. Lavan's son was Beor, and his grandson was none other than the greatest non-Jewish prophet ever, Bilaam. According to various sources, there was nothing in the world that Hashem did not reveal to Bilaam. He was an advisor to Pharoah in Egypt and advised him to slaughter the Jews and bathe in their blood to be healed of his leprosy. The gemara Sanhedrin states that first he was a prophet, and then a sorcerer, a sorcerer so great that he could even fly. He learned everything that he knew about sorcery from his father, who in turn learned everything that he knew from Lavan. The power of Bilaam's words were so great that he was chosen by King Balak to curse the Jewish People. Of course, Hashem stepped in to save the day by forcing him to bless the Jewish People instead. Now, Hashem could have prevented Bilaam's curse from taking effect. But instead, he made him bless the Jewish People. That's how powerful his words really were.
Several commentators maintain that Lavan was seeking to wipe out everything spiritual that Jacob had inherited from his father and grandfather. His aim was to lead Jacob's family back to idolatry by having them remain under his influence. That's why Lavan said to Jacob, "the daughters are my daughters, and the sons are my sons." He saw the purity, wonderful middos, and devotion to G-d close up, and he hated it. He despised his own family because he couldn't make them believe and worship in his lifeless idols. His hatred for his family was really his hatred for G-d.
When Lavan saw the faith of his daughters' families, and their closeness to G-d, it brought on an intense envy and hatred of his own family. All his black magic and sorcery couldn't bring him success. He was unsuccessful before Jacob came to help him, and he became unsuccessful after he left. His worship to lifeless idols couldn't bring him the respect, love and nachas from his sons that Jacob received from his. And so, jealousy breeds unfounded accusations, which turn into the rage and actions of hateful anti-Semites.
Notice that in Parsha Vayeitzei 31(24), just when Lavan had caught up to Jacob and his family, that Hashem spoke to Lavan in a dream and warned him not to say a single word, good or bad to Jacob. Lavan had no chance of defeating Jacob in a conventional physical war. Jacob was more powerful and skillful in fighting than Lavan was, whose strength was through the power of his words. And so, knowing that Lavan's intent was to kill with his words, Hashem warned him not to speak at all. This way he could not cast a magic spell on Jacob. The sorcery, magic and power of his words were all unconventional weapons that Lavan could use to bring down more powerfully trained armies.
And so with this background, we now present to our readers, the startling finding that the word nuclear, spelled in Hebrew גרעיני, clearly representing the most powerful unconventional weapon in the history of the world, is secretly coded in only 2 places in the 5 Books of Moses, and amazingly both locations deal with Lavan, the greatest anti-Semite. And in one of the 2 locations, the coded name of nuclear, overlaps with the name Iran איראן. Imagine that! Now, the exact locations of the word nuclear are in Genesis 29 (10-13), and Genesis 31 (36-42). In the first location, Jacob sees Rachel for the first time, he displays his great physical strength by removing the large stone on the well's mouth, he kisses Rachel, cries, explains to her that he is her cousin, meets her father Lavan who then embraces and kisses Jacob. It is this location that also contains in code the name Iran. In the second location, the word nuclear appears in code in verses describing the anger of Jacob towards Lavan. He takes up his grievance with him, speaks up and demands to know what is his transgression. What did he do to this anti-Semite that would cause him to come after his family in hot pursuit, seeking to kill them? Jacob explains to his father-in-law how his hard work and honesty helped Lavan become successful, and he scolds Lavan for his dishonesty in constantly changing his wages. The reason Iran appears in code overlapping nuclear in the first example is because this is what happens when we make nice to our enemies. Jacob is embraced and kissed by the world's greatest anti-Semite. Imagine seeing this picture on page one of all the newspapers. We are at the greatest risk when our enemies sense that we want to have peace treaties, and want to exchange land for peace. When we embrace the hands that wish to kill us, we reveal our genuine weakness and our enemies pounce upon that weakness. But Iran does not overlap nuclear in the second example when instead of embracing our enemy, Jacob admonishes, scolds and displays his anger toward the enemy. This teaches us that instead of making nice to today's anti-Semites, we must lash out at them and challenge them that yes, the Holocaust did take place, and NEVER AGAIN will we allow our enemies to unleash their destructive force upon us. We must also stand up proudly against the liberal Jews and non-Jews who are embarrassed by loyal observant Jews following the will of G-d and ancient tradition.
So once again Torah Codes performed in a true Torah manner, can give us clues as to the state of world affairs affecting Jews around the world at the End of Days. The similarities between the entire Islamic movement and Lavan are amazing. Notice how both are unable to defeat us in a conventional battle. So Lavan and the current extremists resort to various unconventional methods.
But there is a greater secret being taught here. Most people, in Israel, fear of a nuclear attack from Iran. But they are safe. The names, Jerusalem ירושׁלם and Israel ישׂראל both appear in code only in Genesis 31 and not in chapter 29. And even when they appear in Chapter 31 they just miss the word for nuclear. Nuclear appears in verses 36-42, but Jerusalem appears in verses 26-29, and Israel appears in verses 21-27. While the State of Israel is fearful and on full alert for a possible attack from Iran, the new Obama led America is making a grave error by reaching out to the madman of Iran. You will never see a leader of Israel embracing the dictator Achmedinejad, but expect to see Obama hugging him very soon. The Torah Codes indicate that this will backfire.
We mentioned that nuclear appears in Genesis 29 (10-13). This overlaps with Iran located secretly in code in verses 4-13. Well someone should tell Obama that the name America אמריקה apears in code in verses 4-13, overlapping both Iran and Nuclear. This indicates a strong possibility of a nuclear attack on America by Iran. But exactly where? There is a word in the last chapter of The Book of Daniel יקיצו, which means will awaken. This refers to the resurrection of the dead. How scary it is to note that this word appears secretly coded in Genesis 29 (10-13) almost perfectly overlapping with nuclear. This indicates that severe loss of life is inevitable. But again, where? The main target has always been New York, a proud, arrogant city. The atbash gematria of New York נו יורק is 216. This is the same value as the word יקיצו, will awaken. We hope we are wrong!
Several commentators maintain that Lavan was seeking to wipe out everything spiritual that Jacob had inherited from his father and grandfather. His aim was to lead Jacob's family back to idolatry by having them remain under his influence. That's why Lavan said to Jacob, "the daughters are my daughters, and the sons are my sons." He saw the purity, wonderful middos, and devotion to G-d close up, and he hated it. He despised his own family because he couldn't make them believe and worship in his lifeless idols. His hatred for his family was really his hatred for G-d.
When Lavan saw the faith of his daughters' families, and their closeness to G-d, it brought on an intense envy and hatred of his own family. All his black magic and sorcery couldn't bring him success. He was unsuccessful before Jacob came to help him, and he became unsuccessful after he left. His worship to lifeless idols couldn't bring him the respect, love and nachas from his sons that Jacob received from his. And so, jealousy breeds unfounded accusations, which turn into the rage and actions of hateful anti-Semites.
Notice that in Parsha Vayeitzei 31(24), just when Lavan had caught up to Jacob and his family, that Hashem spoke to Lavan in a dream and warned him not to say a single word, good or bad to Jacob. Lavan had no chance of defeating Jacob in a conventional physical war. Jacob was more powerful and skillful in fighting than Lavan was, whose strength was through the power of his words. And so, knowing that Lavan's intent was to kill with his words, Hashem warned him not to speak at all. This way he could not cast a magic spell on Jacob. The sorcery, magic and power of his words were all unconventional weapons that Lavan could use to bring down more powerfully trained armies.
And so with this background, we now present to our readers, the startling finding that the word nuclear, spelled in Hebrew גרעיני, clearly representing the most powerful unconventional weapon in the history of the world, is secretly coded in only 2 places in the 5 Books of Moses, and amazingly both locations deal with Lavan, the greatest anti-Semite. And in one of the 2 locations, the coded name of nuclear, overlaps with the name Iran איראן. Imagine that! Now, the exact locations of the word nuclear are in Genesis 29 (10-13), and Genesis 31 (36-42). In the first location, Jacob sees Rachel for the first time, he displays his great physical strength by removing the large stone on the well's mouth, he kisses Rachel, cries, explains to her that he is her cousin, meets her father Lavan who then embraces and kisses Jacob. It is this location that also contains in code the name Iran. In the second location, the word nuclear appears in code in verses describing the anger of Jacob towards Lavan. He takes up his grievance with him, speaks up and demands to know what is his transgression. What did he do to this anti-Semite that would cause him to come after his family in hot pursuit, seeking to kill them? Jacob explains to his father-in-law how his hard work and honesty helped Lavan become successful, and he scolds Lavan for his dishonesty in constantly changing his wages. The reason Iran appears in code overlapping nuclear in the first example is because this is what happens when we make nice to our enemies. Jacob is embraced and kissed by the world's greatest anti-Semite. Imagine seeing this picture on page one of all the newspapers. We are at the greatest risk when our enemies sense that we want to have peace treaties, and want to exchange land for peace. When we embrace the hands that wish to kill us, we reveal our genuine weakness and our enemies pounce upon that weakness. But Iran does not overlap nuclear in the second example when instead of embracing our enemy, Jacob admonishes, scolds and displays his anger toward the enemy. This teaches us that instead of making nice to today's anti-Semites, we must lash out at them and challenge them that yes, the Holocaust did take place, and NEVER AGAIN will we allow our enemies to unleash their destructive force upon us. We must also stand up proudly against the liberal Jews and non-Jews who are embarrassed by loyal observant Jews following the will of G-d and ancient tradition.
So once again Torah Codes performed in a true Torah manner, can give us clues as to the state of world affairs affecting Jews around the world at the End of Days. The similarities between the entire Islamic movement and Lavan are amazing. Notice how both are unable to defeat us in a conventional battle. So Lavan and the current extremists resort to various unconventional methods.
But there is a greater secret being taught here. Most people, in Israel, fear of a nuclear attack from Iran. But they are safe. The names, Jerusalem ירושׁלם and Israel ישׂראל both appear in code only in Genesis 31 and not in chapter 29. And even when they appear in Chapter 31 they just miss the word for nuclear. Nuclear appears in verses 36-42, but Jerusalem appears in verses 26-29, and Israel appears in verses 21-27. While the State of Israel is fearful and on full alert for a possible attack from Iran, the new Obama led America is making a grave error by reaching out to the madman of Iran. You will never see a leader of Israel embracing the dictator Achmedinejad, but expect to see Obama hugging him very soon. The Torah Codes indicate that this will backfire.
We mentioned that nuclear appears in Genesis 29 (10-13). This overlaps with Iran located secretly in code in verses 4-13. Well someone should tell Obama that the name America אמריקה apears in code in verses 4-13, overlapping both Iran and Nuclear. This indicates a strong possibility of a nuclear attack on America by Iran. But exactly where? There is a word in the last chapter of The Book of Daniel יקיצו, which means will awaken. This refers to the resurrection of the dead. How scary it is to note that this word appears secretly coded in Genesis 29 (10-13) almost perfectly overlapping with nuclear. This indicates that severe loss of life is inevitable. But again, where? The main target has always been New York, a proud, arrogant city. The atbash gematria of New York נו יורק is 216. This is the same value as the word יקיצו, will awaken. We hope we are wrong!
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