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.