Makom HaMikdash

The representatives of Edom display an unparalleled drive to force Israel to compromise in Zion. It brings to mind the behavior of Doeg the Edomite after David had figured out Makom HaMikdash, and Edom's desire to kill his brother before he encounters "the place" in this week's parasha. Might it be the will of HaShem that now is the time to again find the place?

Rav Yisrael Teitel sent me a document written by Rav Michael Bar Ron and him. It convinced me that Makom HaMikdash must be to the South of the Haram. Talmud Yerushalmi in Shekalim, Perek 6, Halacha 2 effectively describes the topology. The Mizbeach is on the eastern slope of the natural hill. Therefore it cannot have been under the El Aksa mosque, as I have suggested.

If we combine shitot, I think we can pinpoint the exact place. The Mizbeach must be on the line from the top to the Gihon. This line runs in parallel to the Western wall. If we understand Yechezkel 43:12 to mean that Kodesh Kodeshim in the "plan" of Yechezkel (which Hordus followed at least in a basic sense) is on Gav HaHar, the highest point going from the Mizbeach to the West, the place is fixed if we know the Midot of Hordus' temple complex. That is where the Mishna comes in.

In the back of my mind I always thought that the fact that the width of the Haram is close to 500 Amot must mean that the southern wall was part of the Temple complex, even though the thought nagged that it is a bit too long. I think the explanation is that Hordus made things elegant. The extrapolation of the western wall of the Haram crossed the North-West corner of the Temple walls. Likewise, the extrapolation of the Eastern wall crossed the North-East corner of the Temple walls. If so, because the Haram is not an exact rectangle, the northern wall of Hordus' Temple complex would have been a welcome ten to twenty meters shorter than the southern wall of the Haram.

My mind has settled. I think we found it. Ernest Martin was right. We have to accept the truth from whoever says it, and who cannot admit mistakes will never find the truth.

After encountering the place of the Mikdash, Ya'akov was strenghtened and Edom was weakened. When David understood the place, Doeg the Edomite was weakened. May HaShem be with us.

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Sources:

תלמוד בבלי מסכת מגילה דף כו עמוד א

דתניא: מה היה בחלקו של יהודה - הר הבית, הלשכות והעזרות. ומה היה בחלקו של בנימין - אולם והיכל ובית קדשי הקדשים. ורצועה היתה יוצאת מחלקו של יהודה ונכנסת בחלקו של בנימין, ובה מזבח בנוי

- The border between Yehudah and Benyamin was right to the East of the Mizbeach, with a small indentation precisely at the position of the Mizbeach. This border runs in North-South direction, with the area of Benyamin in the West.

יהושע פרק טו פסוק ח-ט

וְעָלָה הַגְּבוּל גֵּי בֶן הִנֹּם אֶל כֶּתֶף הַיְבוּסִי מִנֶּגֶב הִיא יְרוּשָׁלִָם וְעָלָה הַגְּבוּל אֶל רֹאשׁ הָהָר אֲשֶׁר עַל פְּנֵי גֵי הִנֹּם יָמָּה אֲשֶׁר בִּקְצֵה עֵמֶק רְפָאִים צָפֹנָה:
וְתָאַר הַגְּבוּל מֵרֹאשׁ הָהָר אֶל מַעְיַן מֵי נֶפְתּוֹחַ וְיָצָא אֶל עָרֵי הַר עֶפְרוֹן וְתָאַר הַגְּבוּל בַּעֲלָה הִיא קִרְיַת יְעָרִים

- The border between Yehudah and Benyamin runs from the top of the hill (Dome of the Rock) to the Gihon (the only open water source in the area). From North to South, indeed. Conclusion: Makom HaMikdash must be significantly lower than the top. If it is to be at the Eastern slope of the natural hill, one ends up where Martin said it was, in accordance with Flavius Yosephus.

במסכת מידות פרק ב', משנה ו', המשנה מספר על 13 השערים של בית המקדש

...שער העליון, שער הדלק, שער הבכורות, שער המים. ולמה נרקא שער המים? שבו מכניסין צלוחית של מים של נסוך בחג. ר' אליעזר אומר: בו המים המפכים עתידין להיות יוצאין מתחת מפתן הבית


תלמוד ירושלמי מסכת שקלים פרק ו דף נ טור א /ה"ב

כתיב והיה ביום ההוא יצאו מים חיים מירושלם וגו' תני בית קודש הקדשים עד הפרכות כקרני סיליי וכיליי מן הפרכות עד מזבח הזהב כקרני חגבים ממזבח הזהב ועד העזרות כחוט של שתי מן העזרות ועד מפתן הבית כחוט של ערב מיכן והילך כמפי הפך והנה מים מפכים מן הכתף הימנית כתיב בצאת האיש קדים וקו בידו וימד אלף באמה ויעבירני במים


רמב"ם בתחילת פרק ו' בהלכות בית הבחירה

המקדש כולו לא היה במישור, אלא במעלה ההר: כשאדם נכנס משער מזרחי של הר הבית, מהלך עד סוף החיל בשווה; ועולה מן החיל לעזרת הנשים בשתים עשרה מעלות, רום כל מעלה חצי אמה ושלחה חצי אמה


יוסף בן מתתיהו, מלחמות היהודים

(בציטוטו של הניאום האחרון של אלעזר במצדה)
איפה העיר אשר... ה' שכן בתוכו? עכשיו היא נחרבת עד יסודותיה ואין בה שום דבר חוץ מן המצבת זיכרון הנשמרת, אני מתכוון המחנה של אלו שהרסו אותה, שהיא עדיין עומדת על שרידיה. ספר 7, 8:7

בית המקדש היה מבצר ששמר על העיר, ואנטוניה שמר והשקיף על המקדש מן הצפון—המבצר של המבצר. חסם את הנוף של המקדש מן הצפון. החיילים השקיפו על העם בבית המקדש מן המבצר, שלא יעיזו למרוד. ספר 5, 5:6

השתמשו בה כבסיס צבאי של הלגיון העשירי... מדובר בעיר בתוך עיר... נבנה מסביב סלע ענק. ספר 5, 5:8

עכשיו המקדש הזה, כמו שאמרתי כבר, היה בנוי על הר חזק. לראשונה, המישור בפסגה לא היה מספיק לבית המקדש ולמזבח, כי השטח מסביב לא היה ישר, וכמו צוק תלול. החומה המזרחית אשר שמלה היה צריך לבנות על מנת לחזק ולהרחיב את ההר, החומה הגיעה לתחתית ההר. ספר 5, 5:1


משנה מסכת יומא פרק ה משנה ב

משניטל הארון אבן היתה שם מימות נביאים ראשונים ושתיה היתה נקראת גבוהה מן הארץ שלש אצבעות ועליה היה נותן


תהילים קטז:יח-יט

נְדָרַי, לַה' אֲשַׁלֵּם; נֶגְדָה-נָּא, לְכָל-עַמּוֹ. בְּחַצְרוֹת, בֵּית ה'-- בְּתוֹכֵכִי יְרוּשָׁלִָם: הַלְלוּ-יָהּ


מלכים א פרק ג :א

וַיִתְחַתֵּן שְׁלֹמֹה אֶת פַּרְעֹה מֶלֶךְ מִצְרָיִם וַיִּקַּח אֶת בַּת פַּרְעֹה וַיְבִיאֶהָ אֶל עִיר דָּוִד עַד כַּלֹּתוֹ לִבְנוֹת אֶת בֵּיתוֹ וְאֶת בֵּית יְקֹוָק וְאֶת חוֹמַת יְרוּשָׁלִַם סָבִיב


רב עזריה דרוסי, מאור עיניים

מקום הקדוש שלנו לא נהפך לבית תפילה לשום עם אחר


יוטיכיוס, בשנת 876 למניין הכללי ,מתוך ספרו של ארנסט ל. מרטין

אז עומר אמר לסופרוניוס (ארכיבישוף הביזנטי של ירושלים): "אתה חייב לי חוב. תן לי מקום שבו אני יכול לבנות מסגד." הארכיבישוף אמר לו: "אני אתן ל'מפקד הנאמנים' [הח'ליף] מקום לבנות מסגד במקום שמלכי ה'רום' [הרומאים] לא היו מסוגלים לבנות. הוא היה אבן איפה שה' דיבר עם יעקב, אשר יעקוב קרא 'שער השמיים' וקראו קודש הקודשים. הוא המרכז של העולם ומקדש לישראלים... הביזנטים הזניחו אותו, ולא הייתה להם יראת כבוד לו, וגם לא בנו כנסייה עליו

Flavius Yosephus, Antiquities of the Jews 15, 11:4-5:

4. Now on the north side [of the temple] was built a citadel, whose walls were square, and strong, and of extraordinary firmness. This citadel was built by the kings of the Asamonean race, who were also high priests before Herod, and they called it the Tower, in which were reposited the vestments of the high priest, which the high priest only put on at the time when he was to offer sacrifice. These vestments king Herod kept in that place; and after his death they were under the power of the Romans, until the time of Tiberius Caesar; under whose reign Vitellius, the president of Syria, when he once came to Jerusalem, and had been most magnificently received by the multitude, he had a mind to make them some requital for the kindness they had shewn him; so, upon their petition to have those holy vestments in their own power, he wrote about them to Tiberius Caesar, who granted his request: and this their power over the sacerdotal vestments continued with the Jews till the death of king Agrippa; but after that, Cassius Longinus, who was president of Syria, and Cuspius Fadus, who was procurator of Judea, enjoined the Jews to reposit those vestments in the tower of Antonia, for that they ought to have them in their power, as they formerly had. However, the Jews sent ambassadors to Claudius Caesar, to intercede with him for them; upon whose coming, king Agrippa, junior, being then at Rome, asked for and obtained the power over them from the emperor, who gave command to Vitellius, who was then commander in Syria, to give it them accordingly. Before that time they were kept under the seal of the high priest, and of the treasurers of the temple; which treasurers, the day before a festival, went up to the Roman captain of the temple guards, and viewed their own seal, and received the vestments; and again, when the festival was over, they brought it to the same place, and showed the captain of the temple guards their seal, which corresponded with his seal, and reposited them there. And that these things were so, the afflictions that happened to us afterwards [about them] are sufficient evidence. But for the tower itself, when Herod the king of the Jews had fortified it more firmly than before, in order to secure and guard the temple, he gratified Antonius, who was his friend, and the Roman ruler, and then gave it the name of the Tower of Antonia.

5. Now in the western quarters of the enclosure of the temple there were four gates; the first led to the king's palace, and went to a passage over the intermediate valley; two more led to the suburbs of the city; and the last led to the other city, where the road descended down into the valley by a great number of steps, and thence up again by the ascent for the city lay over against the temple in the manner of a theater, and was encompassed with a deep valley along the entire south quarter; but the fourth front of the temple, which was southward, had indeed itself gates in its middle, as also it had the royal cloisters, with three walks, which reached in length from the east valley unto that on the west, for it was impossible it should reach any farther: and this cloister deserves to be mentioned better than any other under the sun; for while the valley was very deep, and its bottom could not be seen, if you looked from above into the depth, this further vastly high elevation of the cloister stood upon that height, insomuch that if any one looked down from the top of the battlements, or down both those altitudes, he would be giddy, while his sight could not reach to such an immense depth. This cloister had pillars that stood in four rows one over against the other all along, for the fourth row was interwoven into the wall, which [also was built of stone]; and the thickness of each pillar was such, that three men might, with their arms extended, fathom it round, and join their hands again, while its length was twenty-seven feet, with a double spiral at its basis; and the number of all the pillars [in that court] was a hundred and sixty-two. Their chapiters were made with sculptures after the Corinthian order, and caused an amazement [to the spectators], by reason of the grandeur of the whole. These four rows of pillars included three intervals for walking in the middle of this cloister; two of which walks were made parallel to each other, and were contrived after the same manner; the breadth of each of them was thirty feet, the length was a furlong, and the height fifty feet; but the breadth of the middle part of the cloister was one and a half of the other, and the height was double, for it was much higher than those on each side; but the roofs were adorned with deep sculptures in wood, representing many sorts of figures. The middle was much higher than the rest, and the wall of the front was adorned with beams, resting upon pillars, that were interwoven into it, and that front was all of polished stone, insomuch that its fineness, to such as had not seen it, was incredible, and to such as had seen it, was greatly amazing. Thus was the first enclosure. In the midst of which, and not far from it, was the second, to be gone up to by a few steps: this was encompassed by a stone wall for a partition, with an inscription, which forbade any foreigner to go in under pain of death. Now this inner enclosure had on its southern and northern quarters three gates [equally] distant one from another; but on the east quarter, towards the sun-rising, there was one large gate, through which such as were pure came in, together with their wives; but the temple further inward in that gate was not allowed to the women; but still more inward was there a third [court of the] temple, whereinto it was not lawful for any but the priests alone to enter. The temple itself was within this; and before that temple was the altar, upon which we offer our sacrifices and burnt-offerings to God. Into none of these three did king Herod enter, for he was forbidden, because he was not a priest. However, he took care of the cloisters and the outer enclosures, and these he built in eight years.

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Yosephus' description of Hordus' Temple complex makes no sense if it was a square around the top of the hill on the Haram. If it would be there, how would one get dizzy of looking down from the south side. Why could the walks along the southern wall not reach any furter? Which suburbs of the city would be to the West without going through the valley?

טו

The Footsteps of the Moshiach

Completely invisible to the eyes of the world, the personal perfection reached by saintly Jews is the greatest cause of human progress. Around the Jewish year 5330, world history was fundamentally changed by one of the greatest of Jewish sages - the Arizal. Standing on the shoulders of his teachers, his spiritual accomplishments brought a decisive "tikun" (repair) to the world, which ended the long era of the dark ages, and started the era of "Ikveta DeMeshicha" - the footsteps of the Moshiach.

Three dates serve to characterize the life of the Arizal. He started his study of Kabbala in the year 5310, under the guidance of Rabbi Betzalel Ashkenazi. In the year 5317, he received a copy of the Zohar. It was likely the most pivotal event in his live and clearly a great impetus to his studies. In the beginning of the year 5331, the Arizal started teaching in the city of Zefat in the Land of Israel.

If the Arizal repaired something, how did it get broken? The world was existentially broken by the destructions of the first and second Temples. After the "tikun" in the time of the Arizal, the world regained as it were the level of spiritual harmony that had been before the destruction of the second Temple.

The destruction of the second Temple was the fulfillment of an old decree, recorded in Daniel 9:27: "After half a week He will cause the sacrifice and the offering to cease." If the 6000 years of world history are divided into 50 "days" of 120 years, half a "week" is 420 years, which was the time our sages say the second Temple stood.

It is important to realize that the days of the second Temple were only a shadow of the days of the first Temple. Moreover, the period of the second Temple was one of steady spiritual decline. For that reason, as much as was accomplished by the Arizal, much more was to be gained in his footsteps. Hence, parallel to the 420 years of decline during the time of the second Temple, a compensating half "week" of spiritual growth was decreed, to recover the level of spiritual harmony that had been at the time of the completion of the second Temple, the time of the latest prophets. In the beginning of the year 5751, 420 years after the Arizal started revealing his knowledge, this "tikun" was completed.

At this very time, the beginning of the year 5751, a horrendous tragedy happened: Rabbi Meir Kahane was murdered. It was 434 years after the Arizal started his study of the Zohar. Could it be that more words of Daniel were fulfilled in 5751? We read: "And after 62 weeks a Moshiach will be cut off, and none will be left to him (Daniel 9:26)." Seven times 62 equals 434. Could there be a more appropriate description of the rejected prophet Rabbi Meir Kahane than "none will be left to him?"

Rabbi Kahane was Moshiach ben Yosef. In his last shiur in his Yeshiva, Rabbi Kahane taught about Moshiach ben Yosef, the self-sacrificing Moshiach who is not recognized by his brothers, but prepares them for the coming of Moshiach ben David. In his magnificent book Or HaRa'ayon, which Rabbi Kahane was frantically working on in the final months of his life, and which he almost finished, the subject of Moshiach ben Yosef stands out because two independent chapters are devoted to it. He was not given the time to merge the material into one chapter.

After the 62 weeks, seven weeks were decreed until another Moshiach, as it says: "Know therefore and understand that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Yerushalayim until a royal Moshiach, shall be seven weeks. (Daniel 9:25)."

Perhaps not by chance the number 5751 is one plus a multiple of 50. If indeed the 62 year-weeks ended in 5751, that year was the penultimate "Yovel" year, and the subsequent seven year-weeks are as seven "Shmita" countings towards the final "Yovel" year.

Alternatively, the seven final year-weeks are like the seven weeks of the counting of the Omer, a counting towards the final giving of the Torah in the 50th year.

As a corroboration of my thesis I propose that the "Shmita" years 5765, 5772, 5779, 5786, 5793, and 5800 are all hinted at by two famously intractable verses of the book of Daniel about the very last phase of history:

"It shall be for time (mo'ed), times (mo'adim), and a half, and when the crushing of the power of the holy people shall have been completed, all these things shall be finished." (Daniel 12:7)

"And from the time that the daily sacrifice shall be taken way and the abomination that makes desolate be set up, there shall be 1290 days. Fortunate is he who waits, and reaches 1335 days." (Daniel 12:11-12)

The year 5765 is one Mo'ed of 1290 years after after the abomination that makes desolate was set up. This abomination is the El Aksa mosque, finished in the year 4475, close to the location of the Temples of Shlomo and Zerubavel. It follows from "Why Do We Live in the Year 5765" that the year 3192 was in a sense year zero of the Jewish counting of the years (see also this). The year 5772 is two mo'adim of 1290 years after this year zero. The year 5786 is one mo'ed of 1335 years after another abomination that makes desolate was set up. This abomination is the mosque that was erected in the year 4451, at the spot where many think once the temple stood. The year 5800 is two mo'adim, one mo'ed of 1290 years and one mo'ed of 1335 years, after the daily sacrifice of the first Temple was taken away in the year 3175.

Concerning the last figure, the Seder Olam brings down that the first Temple was destroyed in the year 3338. Historical sources, however, corroborated by biblical data, quite unanimously and precisely prove that the real year of the destruction was 163 years earlier. We accept the truth from who says it.

Returning to the topic of the "Shmita" years, one can see the verse Daniel 12:7 being fulfilled in the fact that the mo'ed year 5786 is exactly halfway the two mo'adim years 5772 and 5800. Moreover, the intermediate "Shmita" years 5779 and 5793 can be seen as other fulfillments of the same verse: both are exactly halfway a mo'adim year and the mo'ed year.

The Talmud teaches in Sanhedrin 99 that the "days of Moshiach" (the final period towards the redemption) are three generations. It brings two opinions about the length of this period in years. In one view, the "days of Moshiach" are 40 years; in the other view they are 70 years.

The three generations are the generations of Moshiach ben Yosef, Eliya the prophet, and the royal Moshiach, Moshiach ben David. The task of Eliya the prophet is to connect Moshiach ben Yosef and Moshiach ben David, by "turning the heart of the fathers to the children and the heart of the children to their fathers (Malachi 3:24)."

The parallel between the "days of Moshiach" and the 70 years that were decreed for the Babylonian exile is obvious. Like the 420 years of "Ikveta DeMeshicha" undid the spiritual damage of the second-Temple period, the "days of Moshiach" are to be a tikun for the Babylonian exile.

If the "days of Moshiach" are 70 years, and if Rabbi Meir Kahane was Moshiach ben Yosef, the days of Moshiach ben Yosef were the twenty years before 5751 and the days of Eliya the prophet and Moshiach ben David are the fifty subsequent years. Therefore, we must now be living in the years of Eliya the prophet. If so, soon prophecy will return, the Sanhedrin will be restored, and the hearts of the children will turn to their fathers. Regarding the "days of Moshiach," with the help of HaShem, I will elaborate in later posts.

The principle "time, times and a half" yields two more dates, both in between "Shmita" years. Taking the mean of the Mo'ed year 5765 and the Mo'adim year 5800 brings one to 5782/5883. And halfway the "Shmita" period from 5765 to 5772, in 5769 it will be three and a half years after the expulsion from Gush Katif. The years 5769 and 5782/5783 should be dramatic years of Pekidah. With the help of Heaven, I will elaborate later.

The Zohar brings, at the end of Parshat Va’Era: "Come and see, for four hundred years the minister of the sons of Ishmael stood and requested before HaKadosh Baruch Hu and asked Him: Who is circumcised, does he have a reward in Your Name? And He replied yes."

Which reward did Ishmael get?

The Zohar explains: "The sons of Ishmael will rule a long time over the Holy Land when it is empty of everything, just like their circumcision is empty, lacking completeness. And they will delay the return of the sons of Israel to their place, until this merit of the sons of Ishmael will be completed."

The merit of their empty circumcision at age 13 gave them the right to rule the empty Land for 13 centuries.

The Zohar goes on to explain what we should expect when the merit of the sons of Ishmael is completed: "The sons of Ishmael will cause strong wars in the world and the sons of Edom will be gathered to them and cause war against them."

Rabbi Kahane was murdered, by a son of Ishmael, in 5751, 1300 years after the erection of the Dome of the Rock. The period 5769 to 5775 is 1300 years after the period during which the El Aksa mosque was built.

יד

Evolution of Life

Chazal did not kmow about the evolution of life. This knowledge was bestowed upon mankind only recently, a fantastic present to man showing us the Hand of the Creator. Evolution of life happened. Some try to cast doubt by saying that we do not understand the mechanics of evolution. This is deceit. The body of every human started out as one cell. We know that with absolute certainty, even though there are many things we do not know about the subsequent evolution of this one cell into the marvel of a new baby. Likewise, there are many things we do not know about the evolution of life. Mysteries abound. But it happened. The knowledge rests on solid ground: geology, paleontology, genetics, physiology, and other fields of biology. Astronomy and cosmology paint the background.

Some point to foreign influences on the theory of evolution. Some suggest that the theory has an anti-Torah agenda. Among the ancient philosophers some have indeed conjectured theories that a posteori may seem to be in line with modern insights. Among scientists some indeed construe evolution as an argument for a g-dless world. Yet, also this is deceit. Many have theorized and conjectured in many directions. Some guessed wrong, others guessed somewhat right. But a guess without evidence does not equate to knowledge even if it is correct. The ancients did not have the tools to obtain valid knowledge about the evolution of life. Our current insights, however, are based upon solid evidence, and not upon pre-conceived philosophy, whether ancient or recent.

There is no shame in admitting that Chazal did not know everything. There is great shame, however, in denial of knowledge and in the spirit of deceit that underlies such denial.

Look around. Look at man, look at all these souls. After fourteen billion years, a seemingly wild and random process resulted in this wonderful creation, almost angels, a combination of Heaven and Earth. Ma Rabu Ma'asecha!

Chazal did also not know that the conception of a human being occurs through the combination of a cell of the mother carrying fifty percent of her genes and a cell of the father carrying fifty percent of his genes. Chazal did surely wish to know this, and they made various conjectures regarding the process of conception, but they did not come very close to the truth that we now know. There is no shame in admitting this. But there is shame in denying the truth that we merited knowing. The proper response to learning that this is how HaShem brings a new Neshama into the world is "Ma Rabu Ma'asecha". And this is what we should be teaching the world. And not, Chas v'Shalom, denial of truth. Denials in the name of Judaism cause honest people to conclude that modern insights conflict with Torah. Chas v'Shalom, one might be led to hedonism as a result. We must do the opposite: Teach the truth!

יג

I Will Raise a Prophet

In Parshat Shoftim, the Torah states that the king of Israel should not have too many horses for himself, that he should not return the people to Egypt in order to increase horses, that he should not have too many wives, and that he should not greatly increase silver and gold for himself (Devarim 17:16,17).

King Shlomo violated each of these prohibitions, except, it would seem at first glance, that he did not bring the people back to Egypt. However, if the Hyksos were Bnei Yisrael as I suggested, also this evil thing was done, and the above verses turn into an accurate prophetic description of the thousand years of united Israel under "Shlomo".

In another passage of Parshat Shoftim, the Torah states: "Regarding all that you asked of HaShem, your G-d, in Horev on the day of the congregation, saying: "I can no longer hear the voice of HaShem, my G-d, and this fire I can no longer see, so that I shall not die." Then HaShem said to me: They have done well in what they have said. I will raise a prophet for them from among their brothers, like you, and I will place My words in his mouth; He shall speak to them everything that I will command them." (Devarim 18:16-18)

Moshe was stunned at the request of the people that he be their intermediary. How it could be that the people will remain walking in the way of HaShem without communicating with the Divine? HaShem consoled him by assuring that, though the people would indeed likely go astray without direct communication with the Divine, He would then raise for them a prophet like Moshe to bring them back. It seems that the Torah speaks about one particular prophet: Eliyahu. Eliyahu was very much like Moshe. Both started as a relative outsider, and both left without leaving a grave. Chazal (Sanhedrin 21b) say that Ezra received the Torah in Aramaic, as it says that he went up from Bavel, as Moshe went up to G-d. Of Eliyahu it is said that he went up to the mountain of G-d, Chorev, forty days and forty nights, like Moshe.

The Sages say that Eliyahu is Pinchas, the prime student of Moshe who even surpassed his master at one occasion. The Rambam brings that Eliyahu was the student of Achiya: "Achiya HaShiloni was from those who left Egypt. He was a Levi, and learned from Moshe, but his stature was low in the days of Moshe, and he received the tradition from David and his court. Eliyahu received the tradition from Achiya HaShiloni and his court. (Hakdamah to the Mishneh Torah).

This is full of paradoxes. What would Achiya have to learn from David? He learned from Moshe himself! If Eliyahu is Pinchas, what could he learn from Achiya the insignificant student of Moshe? Why would he at all have to learn from Achiya? He heard from Moshe himself!

There are more questions. If Eliyahu is the prophet that will teach us Torah in the future, how come he did not leave us any teachings in Tenach? Why is there no book of Eliyahu in Tenach?

The words of the Rambam describe how HaShem fulfilled his promise to Moshe by raising a prophet like Moshe to bring the people back to the true path. A thousand years after David, when the tradition was largely lost, and idol worship was rampant, HaShem first raised a prophet, Eliyahu, to bring the people back to the Torah of Moshe, to the tradition of Achiya, who lived in the days of Shlomo. The Zohar explains that Moshe said: Like it was said about Aharon that he will be my mouth, also his son (Pinchas aka Eliyahu) will be my mouth (Raya Mehemana Tzav 28a). Eliyahu's name may hint that he is the composer of what is called the EJ source, the core of the Torah text that we have today. It fits the famous declaration at Har Carmel: HaShem Hu HaElohim. [I hypothesize that Eliyahu's document and two documents by the authors of Yeshayahu I and II were the three sources that Ezra combined. Cf. Sofrim 6:4.]

The revolution of Eliyahu lacked permanent success. Worse, soon after the days of Eliyahu the powers of the world, Egypt, Syria, Babylonia, started threatening Yerushalayim. As all seemded lost, the prophets of the old Israel received the vision that the Jewish nation would be exiled, but would return and reestablish itself in its Land in the end of time. After the return, the nations of the world would again arise against Israel, but with opposite results: Israel will prevail miraculously and the whole world will see the Truth. The prophets canonized the Torah as the defining document that would preserve Israel in the exile as a separate nation, until the end of time, to be a tool in the Hands of HaShem when he will reveal Himself.

Know that the Torah system that we follow is a means rather than a purpose. It is a system of landmarks for the individual Jew and for Israel as a nation to find the way back to what was in the early days, as prescribed by Yeremiah the prophet: "Set for yourself landmarks (31:20)". It was for this purpose that the prophets and the Sages refined the system step by step in the face of exile, when they canonized Tenach, and wrote the Mishna, and the Talmud, to preserve the nation, and to instill in it the desire to return to the days of old.

Behold, I will send a Eliya, the prophet, before the coming of the great and dreadful day of HaShem, and he will turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the Land with a curse." (Malachi 3-23-24)

יב

On "Secular" Dating

Many think that the Jewish tradition and "secular" insights must be at odds if they speak differently. I fervently disagree. To reject scientific data, one needs a scientific reason. It is wrong and foolish to look down upon "secular" dating for "religious" reasons. It is the work of truthful people figuring out a puzzle. Beware. Not only may we not reject for foolish reasons, we must accept the truth from who says it. In my eyes, this is an utterly critical issue. In the course of time, many things were lost or hidden. It seems to me that only by accepting all truth it will be possible to redeem the truth. To illustrate the idea, the following is an attempt to combine scientific and Torah insights in a novel way.

The Torah dating appears to use "480" code. From Yetziat Mitsrayim to Bayit Rishon was 480 years, says Melachim I, 6:1. From Bayit Risfhon to Bayit Sheni is 410 plus 70, says Seder Olam. Again 480. A code number, to make history symmetric. From Har Sinai to Bayit Rishon, is as from Bayit Rishon to Bayit Sheni. It seems that Seder Olam records a prophetic tradition from the time of Daniel. Bayit Sheni would stand for 420 years, and before that were 480 years to Bayit Rishon. The dates of events such as the destruction of Bayit Rishon, were calculated afterwards, from the actual year of destruction of Bayit Sheni. Daniel's numbers are all code - 420 years is half a week if 6000 years are 50 days - for the time of the End.

Multiply 480 symbolic years by 10/3 and get 1600 real years. How do I know 10/3? Firstly, there is a source for such a number - Daniel 7:25: עד-עידן ועידנין ופלג עידן. Secondly, multiply 70 by 10/3 and get 233 years and a third real years for Galut Bavel. That is close: Bayit Rishon was destroyed in Av 3175 and the building of Bayit Sheni was finished in the first half of 3409. Bayit Sheni was 3409 in our year count, as the Gemara says to add one to the Tana (Seder Olam). And we conclude: the beginning of the building of Bayit Rishon, the fourh year of the rule of Shlomo HaMelech, was 1600 years before 3409, in 1809.

Shlomo had a thousand wives. Did he marry every other week during all of his reign? Or did he marry every week for twenty years? Sheva Brachot every day? What about נקי יהיה לביתו שנה אחת? Taking a thousand wives must be a hint at a thousand years. Don't read נשים - read שנים. Not a thousand women - a thousand years.

[Note that the period in which the year count existed, and the period covered by Seder Olam are largely complementary. Seder Olam records symbolic years, for lack of a better word, from the beginning of time until the dedication of Bayit Sheni. Until Bayit Rishon, every earthly year equals a symbolic year. From Bayit Rishon to Bayit Sheni every symbolic year is 10/3 earthly years.]

I think that Tenach alludes quite explicitly to the factor 10/3 in the very matter of Shlomo's one thousand wives. Out of these thousand wives, three hundred are described as concubines, Pelagshim (Melachim I, 11). The three hundred are to the 480 revealed years as the 700 real wives are to the 1120 hidden years. The factor is 1.6. The 1120 hidden years are 164 of Galut Bavel (from 3175 to 3409 only seventy years are counted in Seder Olam) and 956 hidden years in which the sons of David ruled over all of Israel. Together with 44 revealed such years (Shlomo's 40 years and the first four years of Rechavam's rule, until the raid of Shishak who came to support Yarav'am - see Melachim I, 14:25) the sons of David ruled a thousand years over the united tribes of Israel. It follows that Paraoh Shishak, the first Paraoh Tenach mentions by name, took the riches of Israel in 2806.

The code is precise internally - "10/3" gives a thousand years from the first year of Shlomo to the raid of Shishak- yet historically it is approximate. I am not claiming that precisely 1000 historical years passed from Shlomo to Shishak. The proper interpretation of the 1000 years might be "many generations", during which Yerushalayim initially exercised regional power, but in the end only controlled (part of) the Land of Israel (Sanhedrin 20b).

In conventionally dated Egyptian history, Paraoh Soshenq (I) raided Israel and Yehudah in the year 2836, 30 years later then the code implies. From the raid by Shishak to the demise of the Bayit Rishon was 369 years in the Seder Olam code. After the raid of Shishak, Bayit Rishon stood only 339 historical years. Similarly, the code says that from the destruction of Bayit Rishon in Av 3175 to Bayit Sheni was 233 and 1/3 years. That brings one to Kislev 3409. The dedication of Bayit Sheni was a few months later, in Adar. One could argue that the code might be deeper than history. Conceivably, the dedication of Bayit Sheni should have taken place in Kislev (and Chanukka would be a repair of the "mistake"). Along this line, perhaps, Bayit Sheni should have been raided thirty years before it actually happened. Perhaps, then, the delay was in the merit of Abraham's 30 years of exile (see Counting the Centuries). For a somewhat similar concept in Chazal, see Rashi at Devarim 4:25.

If we would take the thousand years literally, and thus the fourth year of Shlomo would be 1809, subtract from that 480 years and get 1329, the time of Yetziat Mitzrayim, right in the old Egyptian kingdom. In 5769, that will be 4440 years ago. It seems that archeological findings regarding the destructions of Yericho and HaAi fit this chronology quite well, as well as the age of flood deposits in Mesopotamia. Among the thousand wives was the daughter of Par'oh. It appears to be another hint: The Hyksos who conquered the old world and became kings in Egypt were Bnei Yisrael, though in the records of Israel their years were not counted.

Let me illustrate the 480 code by using it to decipher Chazal's puzzling statements regarding the reign of Achashverosh in Megila 11. Chazal seem completely mistaken: They claim that Achashverosh was the direct successor of Koresh, and reigned for 14 years, his reign ending two years before the 70 years of Galut Bavel were over. This is a big puzzle. After Koresh, his son Cambyses ruled. There seems to be no connection between historical records and the statements of Chazal.

However, if Chazal is assumed to have used the above 10/3 scaling, their claim that Achashverosh' reign covered years 54 to 68 of the 70 years of Galut Bavel, has a surprising translation. Multiplying with 10/3, we get that his rule started 180 (54*10/3) after Churban Bayit Rishon, i.e., in 3355, and lasted 47 years (14*10/3). We conclude that Achashveros would have ruled from 3355-3402. In the historical records we find that Artaxerxes II ruled from 3357 to 3403. So that's him!

This could also be the solution of another enigma - the rule of Daryavesh the Mede. Chazal have him conquer Bavel right before, or together with, Koresh. There is no historical record at all of this Daryavesh. However, Artaxerxes II succeeded his father Daryavesh II, who ruled for 19 years, starting 161 years after the Churban. The Talmud has it that Daryavesh and Koresh ruled somehow together for five years, starting 49 years after the Churban. The ratio is quite ok: 49*10/3=163.

Do not conclude that Chazal were falsifying history. They understood reality differently. Their logic and perception escape us, but they are truly valid. Chazal are explaining to us how things are in the prophetic tradition. The are explaining to us things about the system that underlies reality. They understood that it must be that Bayit Sheni stood 420 years, Daniel's half a week. They understood that it must be that the Galut before these 420 years lasted for 70 years, as Yirimyahu had said. Finally, the Zohar explains the necessity of using code. As long as the Erev Rav is around, secrets must be hidden from them (Raya Mehemana Tzav 28a).

Finally, to finish the picture: The Talmud states that after Achashveros, another Daryavesh ruled. This is the Daryavesh mentioned in Ezra 4, who gave permission to finish Bayit Sheni, 70 years after Churban Bayit Rishon. He is Daryavesh I of history. The Artaxerxes mentioned in Ezra 4 is Achashveros. The author followed the chronology of the Talmud, but substituted what he knew to be a synonym.

יא

בנו לנו סדום

We should reflect about the persistent parade threat in Yerushalayim. There may be a message deeper than we want to think. The Mishna Pirkei Avot 5:13 speaks about the Midah (mentality) of Sedom. Rav Ovadiah MiBartenura comments that in Sedom they could not stand the prosperity of others, even if they did not lack anything, and they refused to let others benefit from what they had. The Midah of Sedom is marketed with words that sound good, like it says in the Mishna: What is mine is mine and what is yours is yours. It is a subtle kind of cruelty of heart sold as the rule of law, as a matter of high principle. Sedom was not destroyed for its sexual sins. It had to be destroyed because of its general legalization of evil.

How did so many enjoy the destruction of the successful settlements of the Gaza strip? And were these settlements not destroyed according to the rule of law? The corruption of our leaders is being displayed for all to see. But the problem is not limited to the leaders. They were elected by people who know how they are. We have built a society in which ethical principles are shamelessly sacrificed for the pursuit of money. Add to this the sexual scandals of public figures, and the spreading addiction to pornography. This is Sedom.

Jews cannot rule over Eretz Yisrael the way Gentiles do in other lands. The governmental and judicial bodies have to be subservient to Torah. If this is not the case, Sedom is rebuilt. History repeats itself.

The parade, allowed under the rule of law, is a sign on the wall. They have built us Sedom in Israel. If we will not destroy it, we will be destroyed.

Hear, the word of HaShem, leaders of Sedom, listen to the Torah of our G-d, people of Amora (Yeshaya 1:10).


PS. It looks like the government chose to confirm as explicitly as they can that they indeed aspire to be leaders of Sedom. Look at this and this.

י

It Is Obvious

We keep certain mourning customs until day 33 of Sefirat Ha'Omer because 24,000 students of Rabbi Akiva died. Surely, it was a big disaster for Israel, a blow to the world of Torah. How could so many students of rabbi Akiva die in such a short period? If there was a plague, did other people not die of it? How come that we mourn for the students of Rabbi Akiva, but not for the enormous disaster that happened in the years of Rabbi Akiva, which cost many more than 24,000 lives - the defeat of Bar Kochba?

The Talmud hides the true reason of the death of the students of Rabbi Akiva. They died at the hands of the Romans, during Bar Kochba's rebellion. The Babylonian Talmud systematically avoids explicit mentions of Bar Kochba. The reason is that after the defeat the Sages ruled that great care should be taken in actions to bring the redemption. The three oaths of Ketubot 111a are a reflection of this. Their decision led to a status quo of centuries.

But around the year 5,000 there was a turn-around. We see a revival of the wish to return to the Land. We see that Yehudah HaLevi denies the relevance of the three oaths and argues for a massive Aliya to prepare the redemption. We see that the Rambam bases his psakim regarding Moshiach on the example of davka Bar Kochba. We see that the Ramban went up to rebuild Yerushalayim. And so forth, until the Gra who sent his talmidim to the Land to prepare the redemption, and the talmidim of the Besht and many more doing the same.

Making Aliyah in the face of diseases and Arab murderers, clearly many endangered themselves. There were some spiritual losses also. We had Shabtai Tzvi and similar cases.

There always was the other approach, the one of the oaths. Let us wait, wait for Moshiach. It naturally tends to get stronger when it becomes clear that the Land is acquired through yissurim, suffering.

What is the answer? Who is right? How can HaShem put us in such an awkward position? We have no prophets. How can we know what to do? Should we be Bar Kochba, or Yochanan ben Zakai? The GR"A or the Satmar Rebbe? Meir Kahane or Aharon Lichtenstein?

My answer is that obviously we should be Bar Kochba (not repeating his sins of course). This is what is behind what the Rambam writes. Moshiach does not need to do miracles, teaches the Rambam. He will come in a natural way, step by step, in the way of Bar Kochba. In other words, the redemption depends on our actions.

The psak to stay put was valid only for a limited time. It was Et La'asot L'Hashem. The holy principle is opposite. In the name of this principle, Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakai should not have given up Yerushalayim, and our Sages make this clear (Gittin 56). Only, there was a divine decree: The Temple was to be destroyed. Rabbi Yochanan was forced, by Heaven, to make a mistake. His decision does not change the holy principle.

Not by chance, day 33 of Sephirat HaOmer is the day that the Jewish masses visit the grave of rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, who miraculously survived persecution after having spoken out against the Romans. He was the prime student of rabbi Akiva and the teacher of rabbi Yehuda HaNasi, the author of the Mishna. Rabbi Akiva, Shimon bar Yochai, Yehuda HaNasi, it is from them that we learn the Torah.

Judaism is not like Christianity. Christians also wait for their Moshiach, passively. Nothing in the daily life of the Christian can bring his Moshiach closer. For the Christian this is natural. Daily life is mundane. But we think different, opposite. For a Jew, everything he does is spiritual. Nothing is mundane. The physical is sanctified, through the Mitzvot. By moving to the Land we bring Moshiach closer. Is it hard, dangerous even? Yes, and this must be so. It is the price of what is acquired.

In discussions about Eretz Yisrael, often the Halacha Shulchan Aruch O"C 329 is thrown in by those who oppose concessions of the Land-for-peace type. This Halacha rules that Shabbat should be violated if an enemy comes to steal from a border city, because even the stealing might lead to future Pikuach Nefesh. Halachot like this do not decide this issue. It is not really related to Eretz Yisrael, and Pikuach Nefesh depends on circumstances.

Also the very often cited Minchat Chinuch on the Mitzvot regarding killing the seven nations and Amalek is not conclusive in itself (the Minchat Chinuch rules that these Mitzvot are not pushed aside by Pikuach Nefesh). The case is not the same as the issue of Eretz Yisrael, and besides the Chinuch rules differently.

Rather, it is obvious.

ט

Counting the Centuries

The State of Israel arose in the year 5708, very close to 23 centuries after the dedication of the second Temple in the year 3409. Except for one century following the Maccabean revolt, the Jews were governed by other nations during all remaining 22 centuries.

The verse Shemot 12:40 may be taken to hint at the length of the exile. It reads: "The habitation of the Children of Israel during which they dwelled in Egypt was four hundred and thirty years." The key to understanding the meaning of this verse is in the teaching of our sages that Israel was actually only 210 years in Egypt.

I propose that the verse Shemot 12:40 is a prophecy for our times and that the missing 220 years correspond to the 220 exilic decades between the dedication of the second Temple and the rise of the State of Israel.

The sages explain that the 220 missing years correspond to 30 years of Abraham, the years from the covenant between the parts until the birth of Isaac, followed by 60 years of Isaac, from his birth until the birth of Jacob (Bereshit 25:26) , followed by 130 years of Jacob, from his birth until he entered Egypt (Bereshit 47:9).

If so, the 30 years of Abraham correspond to 30 second-Temple decades during which the Persians, the Greeks and the Romans ruled over the Jews. The 190 years of Isaac and Jacob correspond to the 19 centuries of the second stage of the Roman exile, which started when the Roman rule became a severe oppression and Jews started to move to foreign lands. Together with the 210 years of Egyptian exile, these 190 years fulfill the verse Bereshit 15:13: "Know with certainty that your offspring shall be aliens in a land not their own, they will serve them, and they will suppress them four hundred years."

The 60 years of Isaac correspond to 6 centuries of relatively mild exile which lasted until Jerusalem came under the rule of Islam. The 130 years of Jacob correspond to the 13 centuries that followed. They fulfill what Jacob said about them: "The days of the years of my sojourns have been a hundred and thirty years. Few and bad have been the days of the years of my life." (Bereshit 47:9)

Why did the 22 centuries of exile start with the second Temple? What about the preceding, Babylonian exile? The period between the destruction of the first Temple and the dedication of the second Temple stands apart, as it was subject to the separate decree of Jeremiah 29:10: "For thus says HaShem, that after seventy years are completed in Bavel, I will take heed of you and I will fulfill for you My good words and bring you back to this place." Historically, the Babylonian exile lasted 163 years longer than 70 years. From the destruction of the first Temple to the dedication of the second Temple were 233 years: 70 times 10 divided by three.

Let us summarize. Altogether, 500 years of exile were decreed, 430 plus 70, and they have all gone by. The Egyptian exile was 210 years. The Babylonian exile took 70 prophetic years, where each prophetic year was three years and four months of history. From the second Temple onwards, prophetic years map to ten years of history. The Persian and Greek exiles and the first stage of the Roman exile together lasted for 30 prophetic years. Between the Greeks and the Romans, there was one century of Jewish independence. After the Roman rule became a severe oppression, there were 60 prophetic years of exile until the Land of Israel came under the rule of Islam, which were followed by 130 prophetic years of severe exile until the renewed Jewish sovereignty over the Land of Israel.

The Zohar brings, at the end of Parshat Va’Era: "Come and see, for four hundred years the minister of the sons of Ishmael stood and requested before HaKadosh Baruch Hu and asked Him: Who is circumcised, does he have a reward in Your Name? And He replied yes."

During which four hundred years did the minister plead on behalf of Ishmael? During the years that Israel was in the Egyptian and in Roman exiles. And which reward did Ishmael get?

The Zohar goes on to explain: "The sons of Ishmael will rule a long time over the Holy Land when it is empty of everything, just like their circumcision is empty, lacking completeness. And they will delay the return of the sons of Israel to their place, until this merit of the sons of Ishmael will be completed."

The merit of their empty circumcision at age 13 gave them the right to rule the empty Land for 13 centuries. The Zohar goes on to explain what we should expect when the merit of the sons of Ishmael is completed: "The sons of Ishmael will cause strong wars in the world and the sons of Edom will be gathered to them and cause war against them."

When the count to 500 reached its end, 600,000 Jews gathered in the Land of Israel, and Jewish sovereignty was returned to them. The message is clear, let us not ignore it. The exile is over. We are living in the period of Yamot HaMoshiach, the period in which Moshiach will come.

This period may last forty years, or seventy years, or three generations - the opinions of the sages differ. In any case, we are getting close to the culmination of history. The State of Israel now exists almost 59 years. We are fast approaching the point that the majority of the world's Jews will be living in the Land of Israel. Soon, forty years will have passed since the liberation of Jerusalem, which occurred almost exactly 19 centuries after the destruction of the second Temple in the year 3829. Again, 19 centuries. Again, the message is clear. We must prepare for the redemption. It is around the corner.

ח

Words of Warning

A very short time after having experienced Matan Torah, the giving of the Torah, the sons of Israel fell into the pit of idolatry and worshipped the golden calf. HaShem informed Moshe that He would destroy the nation because of this. However, after Moshe appealed the punishment, HaShem relented (Shemot 32: 11-14).

Nevertheless, about three thousand men were subsequently killed by Moshe and the tribe of Levi, while an additional number of people perished in a plague (Shemot 32:28-35). If HaShem granted forgiveness to the nation, why did these people deserve to die?

Rashi explains in the name of the sages that the three thousand men sinned before witnesses after having been warned that their sin was punishable by death. Acting according to the principles of Jewish Law, Moshe could not touch those who did sin but were not properly warned, and they were the ones who were killed by the hands of Heaven.

Death penalty can only be administered if the accused acted after having been properly warned. It must be established beyond doubt that the accused sinned willfully and in full awareness of the consequences. This is not just a legal precept – it is an expression of basic morality. Can it be, then, that HaShem acted against this principle?

The answer may be in the enigmatic closeness of the sin of the golden calf to Matan Torah. A warning went out when Israel was preparing for Matan Torah: "Beware of ascending the mountain or touching its edge; whoever touches the mountain shall surely die" (Shemot 19:12). A little while later the warning was emphatically repeated (Shemot 19:21-25).

Our sages teach (Chagiga 14b) that certain kinds of knowledge and certain experiences can be beneficial for exalted souls yet disastrous to others. The most famous example is the fate of the three men that went into the Pardes with rabbi Akiva. After having glanced at the divine Presence, only rabbi Akiva came out in peace. Of the others, one died, another went crazy, and the third became a heretic.

Those who violated the prohibition to not touch Mount Sinai would have met a similar fate. Though this is not explicitly stated in the Torah, circumstantial evidence indicates that some indeed entered the forbidden area. Firstly, from the repeated warnings in Shemot 19, it appears that there was a strong temptation to advance beyond the boundary that Moshe had set. Secondly, quite suddenly heretics arose. Thirdly, if these heretics were those who stepped beyond the boundary, they did violate a command for which they were warned in the most serious terms, and this would justify the punishment of death at the hands of Heaven.

The final redemption will be similar to the redemption from Egypt. However, because the final redemption will not be followed by a regression, there must be some qualitative differences. With this principle in hand, we see that the background of the sin of the golden calf sheds light on the nature of the final redemption.

Without the top-down nature of the first redemption the Torah could not have been given, but it contributed to the regression that ensued. From this we can understand that the nature of the coming redemption must be opposite.

Indeed, our sages teach that the final redemption will be triggered by an awakening from below. At Mount Sinai, an insufficiently prepared nation watched from afar how its leaders climbed to the top. The final redemption will not come until a holy nation arises that will be worthy to climb the shoulder of Mount Moriah. There is a tradition that this nation will be identified by an event in the desert. I think that we saw the principle at work in Kfar Maimon.

If the first redemption was feminine, the coming redemption will be masculine. After the revelation at Mount Sinai, heretics succeeded to interrupt the process of the redemption. They succeeded because the punishment for their transgressions did not come immediately. From this we can understand that the coming redemption will be harsher.

Indeed, our sages sternly warn those who will try to interfere when HaShem will finally redeem His holy nation. They will meet the horrendous fate of one who interferes with two lions that have set out to mate (Sanhredrin 106a). I think that the principle applied to Ariel Sharon. Let the words of the sages be a warning to whomever it may concern.

ז

About HaShem

Awe for the names of HaShem is central to Jewish tradition. For example, we treat the tetragrammaton name, YHVH, with so much awe that we do not pronounce it as a word. Rather, we refer to it as “HaShem”, which means “The Name”. Jewish tradition says further that it is possible to achieve knowledge of an array of names of HaShem which are secrets to other people. What can be the use of a prohibition to pronounce a word? What is behind the secrecy and mystics?

In Parshat Va’eira, it says that HaShem was not known to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob by the name YHVH. By contrast, Moshe did know this name (Shemot 6:3). Rashi explains that understanding of the depth of faithfulness expressed by this name is only accessible to who witnessed the fulfillment of promises made generations ago.

Knowledge of a name of HaShem is not knowledge of a particular sequence of letters. Who knows a name of HaShem does not know some magic code. Who knows a name of HaShem understands an attribute of the Divine.

Why then do we say that we know a name when really we understand something much deeper than a sequence of letters? Human understanding is limited. No matter how much we understand, it is as if we know nothing. Compared to the Essence of Hashem, all we can possibly know is as superficial as a name. The prohibition to pronounce the tetragrammaton name expresses that there is an infinite difference between the Divine and our understanding of Him.

At the human level, however, knowledge of HaShem is of the essence. It is our very purpose in life: To serve HaShem and to know Him, each in his own way. Knowledge of HaShem requires the study of Torah, in all of its aspects, but some of His names are accessible even through “secular” wisdoms, such as science.

From the Jewish point of view, who knows science knows very deep secrets. He posesses understanding of the name Elokim, and he is truly fortunate. And yet, the scientist should know that what he knows is as nothing. What he knows is only a description, a name. The Essence of the Divine evades him.

To learn science, one needs to be smart. Torah reaches further but to learn it is harder, as you need to be holy. The depth of understanding is according to the aspiration and purity of the soul. The sky is the limit.

"For this commandment that I command you today, it is not hidden from you and it is not distant. It is not in the heavens, so that you would say, 'Who can ascend to the heavens for us and take it for us, and let us hear it, so that we can perform it?' Nor is it across the sea, so that you would say, 'Who can cross to the other side of the sea for us and take it for us, and let us hear it, so that we can perform it?' Rather, the matter is very near to you, in your mouth and in your heart, to perform it." (Devarim 30:11-30:14)

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