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.

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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.

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