Higgs and the Big Bang

Today was the first time that the ATLAS device was operated at CERN. After having seen a lot of misinformaton about this event, I feel enticed to join the chorus of commenters.

1. The Big Bang is not being reproduced at CERN. The Big Bang was first and foremost the creation of space and time. It cannot be reproduced within space and time. Even so, in a very indirect way, the ATLAS experiments may teach us something about the Big Bang. See below.

2. The experiments at CERN will create conditions under which the so-called Standard Model, the theory which describes Electro-Magnetism and the force called "Weak Interaction", should cease to be valid. The Standard Model has a built-in validity limit. At energies above the so-called Higgs mass there is not much reason to believe the theory can hold. In the propaganda, it is said that physicists want to show that the Higgs boson exists. I cannot understand how someone who understands the Standard Model can honestly expect the Higgs boson to exist. A few months from now the headlines will say that the search for the Higgs boson has brought surprises.

3. I have seen hugely distorted claims about "Higgs". It is claimed that the Higgs boson explains how elementary particles get mass, or even how anything gets mass. In reality, the Higgs boson explored by ATLAS has nothing to do with the masses of protons and neutrons. A macroscopic body derives almost all of its mass from its constituent protons and neutrons. The massiveness of protons and neutrons is not coming from the Higgs mechanism. They are composite particles, and their mass equals their energy content, which is predominantly due to the Strong Interaction.

4. The Higgs mechanism in the Standard Model is a sophisticated but artificial mathematical device, used to "give mass" to the W and Z bosons, the particles that intermediate the Weak Interaction like the photon intermediates Electro-Magnetism, and to elementary fermions that carry both electric and weak charge - electrons and quarks. The massiveness of the W and Z bosons and the short-range nature of the Weak Interaction are almost synonymous notions. One could more modestly say that the Higgs boson was introduced to explain why the Weak Interaction works only at very short distances despite its kinship to the Electro-Magnetic force, which works over long distances.

5. The last statement illustrates the nature of the Higgs mechanism. It is an attempt to describe what is called symmetry breaking. Though symmetry breaking is a fact of Nature, and thus must be an essential ingredient of the theory, its expression in terms of the Standard Model's Higgs boson is not.

6. Despite the artificial nature of the Higgs sector of the Standard Model, theorists have used it to audaciously explore aspects of symmetry breaking in the very early Universe, its so-called inflationary phase, and to explain how a once very uniform Universe could have generated its current level of inhomogeneity. It is because of this that the upcoming experiments will have impact on our understanding of the Big Bang. I estimate that a lot of the Higgs-based stuff will turn out to be wrong.

7. The realistic expectation is that the experiments will reveal new physics - aspects of reality that are really different from what we know and that we have not been able to guess. I estimate that the new physics will spur great progress towards understanding all forces of Nature in a unified way - a sine qua non for understanding the primordial evolution of the Universe, and key to understanding how everything came from One.

כח

Parallels

The counts of Keter Yosef (Keter Yesod) and Keter Yehuda (Keter Malchut) each have a parallel. As mentioned in the previous post, the parallel of Keter Yosef counts "days" of 64 years since Yetziat Mitzrayim in the year 1329. The following is a summary of these days:

Day 41 (3889-3953) brought the rebellion of Bar Kochba and the teachings of rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai. Day 59 (5041-5105) brought the appearance of the Zohar. Day 63 (5297-5361) brought the work and teachings of the Arizal. Day 66 (5489-5553) brought the work and teachings of Ramchal and the Vilna Gaon. The land of Israel came into Jewish control in day 69 (5681-5745). We live in day 70 (5745-5809), the generation of Moshiach's coming. Day 72 (5873-5937) will see Techiat HaMetim of the Tzadikim.

Keter Yosef has parallel climaxes at 41, 59, 66, 69, 70, and 72.

The parallel of Keter Yehuda is the count of Chochma. When Chochma reached 56, the state of Israel arose. When Chochma reached 59, Yerushalayim was liberated. Chochma will have further climaxes at counts 66 and 66.5 (the definition of a half was given here in the context of the count of Chesed). Keter Yehuda has parallel climaxes at 56, 59, 66, and 66.5.

Keter Yosef will reach 66 in year 5782, when the count of Chochma will reach 66.5. This confluence is highly significant in view this quote of Zohar VaYera 119a:

Rebbi Shimon opened up and said: "And I will remember My covenant with Yaakov" (Vayikra 26:42) . (Yaakov is written) full with a Vav, why? But in 2 sides is the secret of Chochmah, one which is a secret on the level of Chochmah, the place where Yaakov dwells, but this verse is said about the Galut of Israel, for when they are in Galus, the time that they are remembered (the House of Yaakov), they are remembered via the secret of Vav. And that is that in the 6th millenium, and the Rememberance (Pekidah) is in the secret of Vav, 6 moments and a half time and in the time of the 60th year to the bar on the door in the 6th millenium, the G-d of Heaven will raise a rememberance for the Daughter of Yaakov, and from that time until the Full Rememberance (Zechirah) will be 6 years and a half, and from that time another 6 years, and these are 72 and a half. In 66, the King Moshiach will be revealed in the Land of Galilee.

In 5783, Keter Yehuda will reach 56, a new Yom HaAtzma'ut. A short time after the appearance of Moshiach ben Yosef, Israel will have emerged victorious. As Israel rises, Edom falls.

In 5786, Keter Yehuda reaches 59, a new Yom Yerushalayim. This same year, I suggested, has the third Pekida. It is 1335 years after the construction of the Dome of the Rock. Moreover, Keter Yosef reaches 70 in 5786.

At the downside, as mentioned in the previous post, Moshiach ben Yosef may die at 73 of Keter Yosef. This is at 62 of Keter Yehuda, and in the parallel, rabbi Meir Kahane was killed in a year of Din when Chochma stood at 62. We read: "And after 62 weeks a Moshiach will be cut off (Daniel 9:26)." May we merit that Moshiach ben Yosef will not die.

כז

Midrash Ne'elam and the Vav Principle

I have explained how the count to 144 towards Techiat HaMetim mentioned in Zohar Shemot 10 ends in the year 6129. Midrash Ne'elam Toldot also mentions a count to Techiat HaMetim, stating that it occurs after 408 years of the sixth millenium. What is the connection? This matter refers to the principle of Vav and is quite complicated. The word Vav contains two Vav's. This is reflected in a ubiquitous doubling of things, in couplings of overt things to hidden things.

Before it reveals the count to 144, Zohar Shemot mentions two counts to 132. The number 408 mentioned in Midrash Ne'elam does not denote a period of 408 consecutive years until Techiat HaMetim. Rather, the number is the sum of the counts appearing in Zohar Shemot: 132 + 132 + 144 = 408. In other words, Midrash Ne'elam does not describe an independent scenario of events. Rather, its statements are made in reference to the counts of Zohar Shemot. The double count to 132 is an instance of the doubling principle: The first count to 132 is overt, while the second is hidden.

The Zohar specifies that the first count of 132 starts off with a count to 66 (twice Vav), complemented by another count to 66. The first 66 is said to be after the 1200 years of Galut. Therefore, this is the count of Da'at. The count of Da'at is of a hidden nature. The associated overt count occurs after that. In accordance with the Vav principle, there are two ways to count to 66 after the count of Da'at. They are the counts of Chochma and Bina, two instantiations of the same principle - the first count to 132 - one (Chochma) overt and the other (Bina) hidden.

The second count of 132 mentioned by the Zohar hints at a count we did not mention yet in its prophetic context: Keter. This count signifies the return in stages of the Hanhaga of Arich Anpin. Again, there are two instantiations, one overt and one hidden.

The overt instantation of the second 132 years is associated to Moshiach ben David and starts with the count of Chochma, which started in the year 5309. The count reached 59 in the year 5727. In that year, a count "Keter Yehuda" of 73 literal years started towards the end of the task of Moshiach ben David, which thus will be in the year 5800, 24 years after Chochma reached 66 in 5776.

The hidden instantiation of the second 132 years is associated to Moshiach ben Yosef and starts with the count of Bina, which started in the year 5310. The count reached 59 in the year 5716. In that year, a count "Keter Yosef" of 73 literal years started towards the end of the task of Moshiach ben Yosef, which thus will be in the year 5789, 24 years after Bina reached 66 in 5765.

After the second 132 years, the Zohar states that there will be a revival of the dead. This refers to Moshiach ben Yosef and Techiat HaMetim of the Tzadikim, as follows.

It appears that Keter Yosef is parallel to 73 generations of 64 years of Zeir Anpin, from Yetziat Mitzrayim in year 1329 to year 6001. Thereafter, HaShem will be Supreme alone and revive us after two "days" (Hoshea 6:2), in 6129. Likewise, Moshiach ben Yosef will disappear at 73, possibly through death, to return at 75, 210 years before year 6001, 40 years into the last generation. (When Keter Yosef reaches 75, Keter Yehuda reaches 64. One could deduce that at 64 of Chochma, in the year 5765, some shadow event should have happened. It think this deduction is correct. See next post.) As an aside, we learn from Hoshea 6:2 that a 64-year generation is a day for who knows how to calculate the days of exile (Bereshit Rabba 63:13).

The count of Keter Yehuda reaches 59 in the year 5786, the start of a count of 40 years that indicates the return in stages of the Hanhaga of Atik Yamim, and is mentioned in Midrash Ne'elam Toldot as the forty years from Kibbutz Galuyot to Techiat HaMetim of the Tzadikim. These (hidden) 40 years are counted in the same fashion as the (overt) 40 years of Atik Yamim towards the general Techiat HaMetim after the 100 of Chochma. That is, we count 40 years of Chesed and Din starting with the year of Din 5786, and so reach forty in the year 5919. Hence, with general Techiat HaMetim in 6129, there are 210 years between the two instances of Techiat HaMetim, in accordance with the words of rabbi Yehuda in Midrash Ne'elam Toldot.

The alternative length of this period, 214 years, the opinion of Rabbi Yitzchak, will be if the general Techiat HaMetim will be in the year 6133. As I have hinted before this is a distinct possibility and the timing is in the hands of Israel. The years of Chesed are the years of the 12-year cycle plus in every calendar cycle of 19 years, the year in which Pesach occurs later than in all other years with respect to the Solar year. In the current calendar (leap years 3, 6, 8, 11, 14, 17, 19 of the cycle) the latest Pesach is in year 8. When Sanhedrin will be restored, the leap years will almost certainly be changed to be years 1, 4, 6, 9, 12, 15, 17 of the cycle, and that will make year 6 into the year of the latest Pesach. With this assumption, the count to 144 ends in year 6129. However, by 6129, it could be that the leap years will be 1, 4, 7, 9, 12, 15, 17. If so, the latest Pesach will be in year 17. With this assumption, the count to 144 will end in 6133. The prophecy יש תקוה לאחריתך (Yirmyahu 31) may hint at year 6133, which is 511 (תקו"ה) times 12 years after year 1.

Midrash Ne'elam associates the sixth millenium to the 408 "years". In accordance with the above, the explanation is that the end of the sixth day of history coincides with the end of the count to 144 (going with rabbi Yehuda) and therefore with the end of the 408 years. Interestingly, the beginning of the first count to 132 coincides with the beginning of the fifth day, so that the 408 "years" exactly cover all of the last two days of history, the period of Moshiach.

כו

Count to The Last Generation

I have explained the perush that year 5751 is the end of the 62 weeks mentioned in chapter 9 of the book of Daniel, every week being in between two years of Din.

From what was brought down by his students, it appears that the GR"A understood by a similar calculation that the end of the third quarter of the sixth millenium would be the end spoken of in Daniel 9. This is the secret of תספרו לדור אחרון (count to the last generation, Tehilim 48:14), and of ארבעים שנה אקוט בדור (forty years I quarrel with a generation, Tehilim 95:10).

This refers to the return of the spiritual inclinations of the generation of the Midbar. This return started in 5751 (תספרו לדור, count TO the generation). I submit that the three major national sins of the generation of the Midbar have since been repeated. The worship of the late Lubavitcher Rebbe is a repetition of Chet HaEgel. Despising the Land of Israel, culminating in the expulsion of Jews from the Gaza strip, is a repetition of Chet HaMeraglim. The personal corruption of the elite is a return to the rebellion of Korach.

The GR"A taught that there would be 7 Pekidot of 36 years in the third quarter of the sixth millenium. This is the secret of עת הזמיר הגיע (the time of the song has arrived, Shir HaShirim 2:12). The historical realization of these Pekidot is less than clear to me. I humbly suggest that they are to be actualized in the third quarter of the sixth day as I have defined it. This would mean that the first Pekida started in 5729. With every Pekida lasting about 28.5 years, the beginning of the next, third, Pekida would be in the year 5786.

This would be in accordance with Zohar VaYera 119a, which addresses the process of the redemption and the Pekida that heralds its beginning, and states that this Pekida will be at the time of a count reaching 60. This count then, whould be the count of Chochma, which reached 60 in the year 5729.

כה

Worship of Man

Something very painful is the case. A great Birur has occurred in the Land of Israel. The matter cannot be hidden and will not go away, as some seem to hope. It is recorded in Shamayim. It was recorded in thousands and thousands of instances of human documentation. The goyim rejoiced - they will not forget the victory. The faithful of Israel mourned - they will never forget the loss.

Pursue peace, the Rav proclaimed, return the Land, Pikuach Nefesh overrides all. Such was his Da'as Torah. The Oslo disaster ensued. The government gave autonomy to the PLO, gave them weapons, and called it peace. The Arabs called it war and used the acquired freedom and the received weapons to shoot Jews and explode busses. Who would believe it? Pikuach Nefesh! Go tell the victims, the families and friends of the 1500 murdered Jews, the myriads of wounded.

Astonishingly, the rebellion continued. Da'as Torah brought us another disaster. We shall not forget the dates: 10 Tevet 5765 and 9 Av 5765.

Da'as Torah brought us the Disengagement. The absurd, senseless, and wanton destruction of the life's work of thousands of productive Jews, the destruction of Jewish villages, Jewish industry, Jewish agriculture, Jewish learning institutes, synagogues, graves, without any reason, without any purpose.

Once more "Pikuach Nefesh" was claimed. Who can still bear hearing these words, uttered by "gedolim?" Too much they sound like "Sinat Chinam."

Pikuach Nefesh - Who would believe it? Only fools do not shiver at what is happening today. Very very dangerous rockets are transported from Egypt to the northern border of Gaza. Israel's major cities are becoming shooting targets.

The worship of man has evolved into outright rebellion. The Chabad heresy is challenging the first commandment. It seeks to replace the proper longing for Moshiach, and to demolish the proper perception of the Divine. Myriads of souls it has caught. A complementary mirror image is found in the world of Da'as Torah. Having enslaved the many souls of their insulated communities, the "gedolim" have come to use their power to challenge the commandment to settle the Land of Israel, and to fight the miraculous settling that has already occurred.

When rockets are fired from Gaza, all understand that the Arabs did it. Most will acknowledge that the Left enabled the Arabs to fire. The standing challenge is to clearly and loudly identify the enablers of the Left, and to fight them with the sword of the truth.

יכבשו רחמיך את כעסך

כד

Anshei Amana

We live in the three weeks towards Tisha B'Av, the commemoration date of the destruction of Beit HaMikdash. Daniel 8:12 states that with the ceasing of the Tamid, the truth was thrown onto the ground. The meaning of this statement reaches very far. The Tamid is not only the daily sacrifice that was once brought in Beit HaMikdash. It is also the continuous dwelling of the Shechina among Israel. It is the presence of men of truth, prophets. After the destruction of Beit HaMikdash, all this truth was thrown onto the ground. Prophecy stopped. At a lower level, the Chachamim of Sanhedrin became the embodiment of truth, and continued the heritage of the prophets. (Though we learn that a Chacham is at a higher level than a prophet, this is restricted to matters in which both reach the truth.) When also Sanhedrin disappeared, the last Tamid ceased. What remains is the Talmud.

Am Yisrael took the Talmud as its absolute guideline. Until prophecy returns, nothing will supersede it, because its teachings, though formulated by the sages, are based on the heritage that came from prophets. This sounds heroic, but we must internalize: The truth was thrown onto the ground. The sages of Sanhedrin did not always understand the prophets, because they were not at the same level. And for the same reason, later sages did not always understand earlier sages. And we do not always understand the sages. A desolating Shikutz appeared in our midst. With the truth on the ground, dogma took over. We became increasingly liable to reject truth in the name of Torah.

This is explicit in the ban of rabbi Eliezer ben Hyrcanos because of a halachic matter in which he was right. Although Heaven attested that rabbi Eliezer was right, his opinion was rejected by Sanhedrin, and he was banned. The message of our sages is very honest and sobering. Because we are not at the level of prophets, we cannot attain truth in their way. Therefore, we can only decide Halacha by majority. There are many ways to make believe that this was progress in disguise. Lo B'Shamayim Hi - Torah is not in the Heavens; it is in the hands of man. However, by logic, truth is not in the hands of man. Truth is. Therefore, in truth, the matter is a deeply saddening aspect of the exile. While the men of dogma claim the truth, the truth is that in essence the truth is in exile from us.

Woe to those who insist to remain in the exile of dogma. The redemption depends on the return of men of truth, Anshei Amana. This refers to the return of Sanhedrin, and to the return of prophecy. It refers to renewed understanding of Torah, the words of the ancient prophets. The men of dogma will not forever be able to repress the emergence of the men of truth. The hearts of the fathers must return to the children. The hearts of the children will return to the fathers.

כג

Regarding 5769

We are approaching the year 5769. I promised earlier to elaborate on its significance. In the light of preceding posts the following two statements seem in place.

1. Parallel to the count of Chochma, the count of Bina is the final leg of the Din count. Bina starts in 5310, one year after the start of Chochma. The count of Bina reaches 60 in 5723, 66 in 5765, and 72 in 5807. In 5769 it will reach 66.5. The Zohar VaYera 119a promises great things in the year 66 and a half. Though Bina is not the main clock of history, and this Zohar does not directly refer to it, a relationship does exist. May we see the beginning of good things.

2. The year 5769 is 40 years after the auspicious year 5729. In line with what I explained before, tbis is 40 years into the second half of the sixth day of history. If the 800 years of this day are divided into 24 hours of 60 minutes, 40 years is 72 minutes. Both 40 and 72 are numbers that indicate completion.

There are two methods to define the Halachic day and divide it into hours. In the first method, the day is divided into 12 hours of 60 minutes from sunrise to sunset. The second method takes the first method to define minutes rather than hours, and defines an hour as 72 of these minutes. The Halachic day, then, is defined to last 12 hours of 72 minutes, starting one hour of 72 minutes before sunrise, with the appearance of the earliest daylight, and ending one hour of 72 minues after sunset, with the appearance of the first stars.

The second definition of the Halachic day is most commonly used to determine until when we can recite Sh'ma Yisrael in the morning. We can fulfill this Mitzva until two hours of 72 minutes after sunrise. If we apply this to the sixth day of history, year 5769 is 400 years before the stars come out. At one hour after sunrise in 5729, the appointed time for accepting the Yoke of Heaven - Sh'ma Yisrael - is forty more years.

כב

חוזה ישראל

לעניות דעתי הגיע הזמן ליוזמה חדשה ומפלגה פוליטית חדשה. נציע לעם ישראל את ההוזה הבא:

למען השלמת כיבוש ארץ ישראל: נעודד הגירתם של לא-יהודים המתגוררים בארץ ישראל אבל גם גיורם ליהדות. נספח את יהודה ושומרון למדינת ישראל. אזרחים ערביים של אזורים אלה יקבלו מסמכי נסיעה וזכויות התגוררות. זכויות לאומיות לא יקבלו לעולם. מי שלא יקבל ריבונות יהודית על ארץ ישראל יגורש ממנה.

למען אחדות עם ישראל: נאפשר נישואין אזרחיים ככה שחתונה אזרחית בין שני יהודים תהיה תקפה על פי ההלכה. המדינה תתנתק באופן רשמי מכל מוסדי הדת עד שיקום בית דין הגדול בישראל. עד אז, נסתדר בלי רבנות מוכרת על ידי המדינה. ההפיכה תהיה כאשר בית דין הגדול יכריז שהוא התקבל כפוסק הלכה לכל ישראל .בעקבות אימות יסודי של הכרזה כזו, הכנסת תיתן לבית דין הגדול שלוש זכויות כדי לממש יסוד שייקרא מוסר מעל החוק:

א': כל חוק מאושר על ידי הכנסת יכנס לתקפו רק דרך אישורו של בית דין הגדול.
ב': בית דין הגדול יוכל לבטל כל החלטה של בג''ץ.
ג': המדינה תכיר בבתי דין שיוקמו על ידי בית דין הגדול. אזרחים יוכלו לפנות לבתי דין אלה ללא הגבלות, ויוכלו לתבוע את מוסדי השלטון הנוגעים בהם, כגון מועצות אזוריות והמשטרה.

כל המועמדים ברשימת המפלגה הם בעלי מידות מעל כל חשש והם תרמו באופן משמעותי וחיובי לחברה בתחומים מחוץ לתחום הפוליטי.

בעזרת ה' נעשה ונצליח.

In my humble opinion, it is time for a new initiative and new political party. Let us propose to the Nation of Israel the following contract:

Complete settling the Land of Israel: We stimulate emigration of the non-Jewish population of Israel, but also their conversion to Judaism. We annex Yehuda and Shomron to the State of Israel. The Arab citizens of the annexed areas will receive green cards and travel documents, but they will never receive national rights. Who does not accept Jewish sovereignty over the Land of Israel will be deported from it.

Create Unity in the Nation of Israel: We institute Civil Marriage, such that the Civil Marriage of two Jews will be halachically binding. The state will disengage officially from all religious institutions, until Sanhedrin will arise. Until this time, we will do without rabbinical authority that is officially recognized by the State.
The turning point will be when Sanhedrin announces that it has gained acceptance as the decisor of Halacha for all of Israel. After thorough validation of this announcement, the Knesset will grant three rights to the Sanhedrin, thereby implementing the principle "ethics overrules civil law":

1. Every law passed by the Knesset will only attain its validity though approval of Sanhedrin.
2. Every decision of the High court of Justice can be overruled by Sanhedrin.
3. Judicial courts established by Sanhedrin will be recognized by the State. Civilians will be able to turn to religious courts in all matters, and may challenge there government institutions that affect them, like local government and the police.

All candidates on the party's election list are of impeccable character and contributed significantly and positively to society in fields outside of politics.

May HaShem help us to succeed.

כא

In the Honor of Yom Yerushalayim

The count of Chesed (or Malchut) reaches 499 in year 5727, the year in which Yerushalayim was reunited. The Zohar Chadash refers to the year 5727. A translation of the relevant section is here. The bold section reads:

"At the time of the End of Days, according to the hour of the day, at the time that the sun shines, from the 6th Day, at the time that is ready according to the count of years, of Yovel and Shmitah together, which is רע"ד (Raa'd, 274 in Gematria) from the 6th Day. At that time a single voice is prepared to awaken at the heights of the upper heavens, a sad and bitter voice, such that hasn't been since the day that the world was created."

The year 5727 is 274 years from the end of the conventional sixth "day", year 6001. The text speaks about Yovel and Shmita being together. This seems impossible, because a Yovel year is always one year after a Shmita year. However, the count of Chesed presents an explanation of the phrase "at the time that is ready according to the count of years, of Yovel and Shmitah together".

The phrase "according to the hour of the day, at the time that the sun shines" refers to the sunrise of the sixth day of history as defined in the previous post, which is the year 5729. The year 5727 is at the very brink of this sunrise. "The time that is ready according to the count of years" refers to the Chesed count reaching 499. After the year 5309, the Chesed count is every 12 and every 19 years. On average, this is close to every seven years. Thus, the years of Chesed are akin to Shmita years, and year 5727 is such a year. Moreover, year 5727 was also a Yovel year. See this post to learn about the Yovel years from the time of Bayit Sheni.

The hint is that the Chesed count to 499 is a long count towards the Yovel year 5727. From this year onwards, Yovel years are included in the Chesed count. The first such year was 5727. Hence, the year 5727 counts 499 of Chesed, but also 500. The next Yovel will be 5776, and after that it will be according to what Sanhedrin will decide. The addition of Yovel years to the count of the right is an instance of the principle B'Ita Achishena - in its time I will hasten it - (Yeshaya 60:22): When Chesed nears the end, when it is 499, I will hasten it to reach 500 in the same year, and I will hasten the count of Chochma, and so hasten the redemption. Yovel counting as Chesed (Tzekek) is the very hidden Sod תו מ''י of Zohar Teruma 140.

Summarizing, the count of Chesed is a sum of three cycles. It started as a 12 year cycle. In the year 5309, the 19-year cycle was added, the years of the latest Pesach. In the year 5727, the Yovel cycle was added.

The count of Chochma is the final leg of the Chesed count. It starts with the double count in 5309, reaches 72 in 5813, and 100 just before the end of the sixth millenium, in 5993 (cf. Zohar VaYera 119). This assumes that Sanhedrin will decide that three Yovel years will be between 5776 and 5993, e.g. years 5851, 5901, 5951. Sanhedrin will surely decide to shift the year of the latest Pesach, and that will affect the years of Chesed in the 19-year cycle. It is in the hands of man.

Until it expired when it reached 500, the count of Chesed was the principal clock of history. Without the inclusion of the Yovel years from year 5727 onwards, 500 would have been reached in year 5729, exactly 1200 years after the 1200 years of Galut had ended. The year 5729 was uniquely the year in which universal aspirations were reached - the year in which man set foot on the Moon, the year of the Woodstock "liberation." Due to its being a Yovel year, 500 was reached in 5727, uniquely the year in which Jewish aspirations were reached - the year of the liberation of the Land of Israel from the sea until the Jordan, the year of the liberation of Yerushalayim. As 5727 became 500 in the count of Chesed, 5729 became 60 in the count of Chochma. At this value, the count of Chochma became the principal clock of history, replacing the expired count of Chesed (cf. Zohar Parshat VaYera 119a, Zohar Parshat Shemot 9,10).

The Zohar in Shemot 10 says that Techiat HaMetim will be after a count of 144 years, 100 plus 40 plus 4. After Chochma reaches 100, a new Hanhaga starts, associated to a different count. After 5993, we count years of Chesed and years of Din, until their sum is 40. Assuming the most likely decisions of Sanhedrin, this will be in year 6125. Four years later is year 6129. Forty hints at the return of the Hanhaga of Atik Yamim. Four hints at the return of the Hanhaga of Yesod Adam Kadmon, under which the laws of Nature are subject to change.

ומקים אמונתו לישני עפר

I have hereby fulfilled my promise to explain my claim about the year 6129. I have restricted myself in the process. To the serious student, the above can be strenghtened. In particular, the preceding can be accommodated with what is written regarding Techiat HaMetim in Midrash Ne'elam Toldot. That is, it can be shown how Techiat HaMetim of the Tsadikim is 210 years before 6129, and 40 "years" after Kibbutz Galuyot, in year חי of the third Yovel period, if the Yovel years will be as assumed above. It can also be shown under which circumstance the time distance between the two instances of Techiat HaMetim is 214 years. This understanding is in fact key to my confidence. Without it, I would not have dared to write the last five posts, but I cannot elaborate.

כ

About Hanhagot and Sephirot

Most of the history of Homo Sapiens was under the Hanhaga (rule) of Partzuf Keter, or Arich Anpin, associated to the 72-letter Name. After the end of 72*1000 years of this Hanhaga, until the beginning of the Hanhaga of Zeir Anpin in year 1329, were 1440 years. They were ruled by the Parzufim under Keter and above Zeir Anpin. In decreasing order of elevation, these are Chochma, Bina, and Da'at. In between the length of Keter (72), and that of Da'at (135), Bina and Chochma have length 100. Chochma ruled over the first 5*100 of the 1440 intermediate years, Bina over the subsequent 4*100, and Da'at over the final 4*135 years.

From the rule of Chochma in year -111 until 6129 are 6240 years, by Hashgacha a number close to 6000. These are the years that saw the rise and the evolution of human culture. The word B'Reshit hints, via the letter Bet, at two beginnings, the first through Keter and beyond, and the second through Chochma. During the ages, until modern times, the beginning through Keter was not known. Only the beginning through Chochma was revealed. Correspondingly, the world was held to be young. Correspondingly, the final redemption could not come until our times.

The rule of Zeir Anpin reaches from 1329, when the Shechina came down at Mount Sinai, until 6129. These 4800 years are naturally divided in six periods of 800 years, with each period associated to one Sephira of Zeir Anpin: Chesed, Gevura, Tiferet, Netzach, Hod, Yesod.

This is at variance with the traditional attribution of 1000 years to every Sephira, but this is not a real problem. The 800-years attribution cannot be stated without revealing the non-physical nature of the years of Malchut. Secrets are secrets (Raya Mehemana Tzav 28a). The wise will understand and the practical difference is not big. The Arizal started teaching in the very beginning of the period of Yesod. In the same vein, notice that the beginning of the Hanhaga of Da'at and the beginning of the period of Hod coincide.

Chazal divide human history into three equal parts - the period of Tohu, the period of Torah, and the period of Moshiach. We can now understand this teaching in a new light. The period of Tohu was from Yetziat Mitzrayim until Eliyahu (physical year 2929). The period of Torah was from the secret work of Eliyahu and other prophets until the secret work of the Stammaim, the editors of the Talmud. After 4529, the end of the 1200 years of Galut, is the period of Moshiach.

Ergo, mentions of 1000 years in our sources may refer to 800 physical years. Scaling 1000 to 800, 600 becomes 480. The Zohar in Vayera 117 announces the revelation of upper and lower Chochma 600 years into the last "day" of history. This may therefore be taken to refer to 480 years after 5329, a parallel to the 480 years of the first day until Bayit Rishon and Shlomo HaMelech.

The first half of every day of 800 years is to be considered its night, followed by sunrise, followed by daylight. With this, history is naturally divided into units of 400 years. Since Bayit Sheni, the 400 year periods start with years 3729 (day four, start of Roman hegomony over the land of Israel), 4129 (sunrise day four, end of Sanhedrin), 4529 (day five, closing of the Talmud), 4929 (sunrise day five, Rambam), 5329 (day six, Arizal), 5729 (sunrise day six, Jewish control over the Land of Israel).

יט

The Hanhaga of Da'at and the 1200 Years of Galut

In the previous post, I explained the counts of Malchut and Zeir Anpin, Partzufim of the world of Atzilut. The higher Partzufim of this world, Da'at, Bina, Chochma, and Keter, also have associated counts, bringing the total to six counts (cf. Zohar VaYera 117).

Partzuf Da'at has a hidden nature, and is usually not counted among the Partzufim. Likewise, its count has a hidden nature and the Zohar more or less hides it when mentioning year counts related to the process of redemption. However, in the translation of Zohar numbers to historical years, the count of Da'at is to be inserted.

Insertion of the count of Da'at makes the Galut longer than would seem from the Pshat of the Zohar. In particular, the Zohar mentions in several places that the Galut is 1200 years, 100 years for every tribe, and promises that the redemption will occur a relatively short time after these 1200 years. Obviously, the years of Galut are much more than 1200. The Zohar is not mistaken. It is hiding its secrets. The numbers of the Zohar are closed to who does not know this.

In the system of the Zohar, the 100*12 years of Galut are the first 1200 years of the 1290 "days" mentioned in the book of Daniel, which started when Korban HaTamid ceased to be offered (Husar HaTamid). This refers to the destruction of Bayit Rishon. The Zohar indicates that the Tamid was stopped before the actual Churban in year 3339 of Malchut. The Galut years being 100*12 suggests that the Galut years are synchronized with the 12-year cycle of Malchut. The last year in this cycle before the Churban was year 3329. Counting 1200 years of Galut from there leads to 4529.

Counting Chesed years from 4529 (4529 is "one", 4541 is "two", etc.), 66 is reached in 5309. The Zohar brings the number 66 in several places as the time of great events. Notice that year 5309, is approximately 1200 years after the true dark ages started with the disappearance of Sanhedrin, surely a fulfillment of the prophecy regarding Husar HaTamid (Raya Mehemana Tzav 28b).

The count starting at 4529, after the 1200 years of Galut, is the count of Da'at. It is to be seen as counting towards the completion of Daniel's 1290 "days". Hence, 1266 "days" are reached when the count reaches 66, in year 5309. Staying in sync with the count of Malchut, 1290 "days" are reached in year 5480, the year in which the GR"A was born. Da'at reached 72 in 5347, the year in which Chaim Vital received official recognition in Yerushalayim. The total length of Da'at is 135, reaching until the end of Daniel's 1335 "days", but what will happen at that point, and when it will be, is still beyond our scope.

[many thanks to Gedaliah]

יח

Din and Chesed until a Thousand minus One

In a number of posts, I will B'Ezrat HaShem state a number of principles and definitions. I will not give a rationale or source for every statement. The best rationale is the emergence of the whole picture. Therefore, be patient.

During most of human history, a heavenly hindrance existed that prevented Malchut to reach maturity. I will not go into the mechanics of the hindrance. The Zohar in Parshat VaEra tells us about a thousand minus one streams (Yeorin) that have to be passed. The GR"A teaches that Isaiah 60:22 ("the least shall become a thousand") refers to this 999. The principle is often called תצ''ט, the number 499, because, according to the teachings of the Arizal and the GR"A, the 999 streams split up into 499.5 on the left and 499.5 on the right. The left count is called the count of Din, and the right count is called the count of Chesed (see Kol HaTor, chapter 2:60).

The background of the Din and Chesed counts and their convergence, is what would have been if Am Yisrael would not have drawn Din onto itself in an early stage of its existence. In this scenario, the count to 999 would have been what I will call "a priori", as follows.

A priori, the count on the right is obtained by viewing the 6,000 years of Malchut as 500 times 12. The number 12 denotes Chesed. The planet of Chesed is Tsedek (Jupiter), which revolves around the Sun every 12 years. Every 12 years, in what is called a year of Chesed, Chesed flows to the world. Point zero of the count of Chesed is year 5 of the years of Malchut. That is, at year 17 we count "one", at year 29 we count "two", until year 5993, which is 499. Half a count of Chesed is 6 years, so that 499.5 would be reached in the year 5999.

A priori, the count on the left started when 14 years after entering the Land, Am Yisrael started counting Shmita years. The Land was entered in the year 2489, and the first Shmita period therefore started in 2503. Counting every seven years, 2510 is "one", 2517 is "two", et cetera, one arrives at 499 in year 5996. Half a count of Din is 3.5 years, so that 499.5 would be reached within months from when the 499.5 count of Chesed would be reached.

This would have been, but Am Yisrael sinned. The first collective Sin, to be repaired fully only in the course of history, was the selling of Yosef by his brothers. The Din and Chesed counts both changed in the wake of this Sin. The Din count changed because of the Sin, the Chesed count changed in the merit of its repair.

The Sin of Yosef's brothers shifted point zero of the count of Din to the year 2237, the beginning of the seven years of drought that were to bring the brothers to Yosef. And so, 2244 is "one", 2251 is "two", and 499 is in 5730. In other words, the count of Din became 38 (38 times 7 years) ahead of what it would have been "a priori" and instead of reaching the end of 6,000 years together at 499.5, the two counts cross each other at value 446.5, reached in both counts by the year 5363, with 5366 being the first year of Din surpassing the Chesed count, 22*10 years of Din after 3826 (see Zohar Chadash, Parshat VaYeshev, page 29), the onset of the destruction of Bayit Sheni because of Sin'at Chinam among Yisrael.

Din crossing Chesed before reaching 499.5 would have destroyed the world. However, the holy Arizal achieved the full repair for the Sin of the sale of Yosef through his studies of the secrets of Torah, and the destruction was prevented. The Chesed count was changed such so that the convergence at 499.5 was restored. In addition to every 12 years, also every 19 years became a year of Chesed, starting with year 5309. The combined Chesed count arrives at 499 in the year 5727. Value 499.5 is reached half a count of Chesed later in 5733, whereas the count of Din reaches this value 3.5 years after 5730. The addition of the 19-year cycle to the count of Chesed is an instance of the principle B'Ita Achishena - in its time I will hasten it - (Yeshaya 60:22): When a premature end nears, I will hasten the count of the right.

[It is sometimes thought that the death of Aseret Harugei HaMalchut atoned for the sin of the sale of Yosef. However, this death was in part punishment for a repetition of this sin - the ban of Rabbi Eliezer ben Hyrcanos. As a sign of the Tikun of the Arizal, the banning of Rav Azaryah Di Rossi's magnum opus Me'or Einayim was prevented by Heaven. However, rejection of truth in the name of Torah is a desolating Shikutz. The attempted ban clarifies why redemption could not come at the time.]

That is, the two counts meet at the Yom Kippur war, the turning point of history. As for preceding historical turning points, Israeli independence was declared in the year 5708, which was a year of Chesed due to the 19-year cycle, and Yerushalayim was reunited and Makom HaMikdash regained in the year 5727, likewise a year of Chesed.

Note that the above cycle lengths are known numbers: 19 is the length of the calendar cycle, which has 7 leap years and 12 normal years. The Chesed count added at the time of the Arizal takes place in the 8th year of the calendar cycle, the year in which the solar date of Pesach is later than in all other years.

In terms of Partzufim, the Chesed count is called the count of Malchut, because originally it covers all of Malchut, and the count of Din is called the count of Zeir Anpin, because it started with the advent of Yisrael. The counts to 500 can be viewed as counts to 500/7, close to 72. Four other "72" counts exist, corresponding to four other Partzufim, as we shall see.

[thanks to Gedaliah]

[A reader of this post made this spreadsheet with three tables. The first features the "a priori" counts of Zeir Anpin and Malchut. The second features the change at Mechirat Yosef and the resulting would-be crossing of Din and Chesed at 446.5. The third table features the counts of Zeir Anpin and Malchut taking account both Mechirat Yosef and the Repair.]

יז

In the Honor of Lag B'Omer and Rabbi Shimon

In terms of the secrets of Torah, we live in the period of the Partzuf "Malchut", which represents all human souls on one side, and is the gate of Divine influence on the physical world, on the other. In the course of history, Partzufim of higher elevation than Malchut exert their influence to make Malchut grow to completeness, so that mankind may perfect and elevate the world.

The period of Malchut is limited. It lasts 6,000 years, and these are the years that are counted by the Jewish counting of the years. Hence, the Jewish year count starts with the appearance of human souls, and not with the creation of the physical world, as is often thought. In fact, before the emergence of mankind there were six periods of 7,000 years, corresponding to the six Sephirot that precede Malchut in the system of Kabbala: Chesed, Gevura, Tiferet, Netzach, Hod, and Yesod. The six periods total 42,000 years, which are called the years of Atik Yamim, the carrier of the 42-letter name of HaShem. The years of Atik Yamim are not physical years. Each year at this level corresponds to 3*100*1000 physical years. That makes 12.6 billion years, the age of the oldest stars. The six days of creation of the Torah correspond to these six Sephirot. Hence, the "Let there be light" of the first day corresponds to the creation of the first stars. Likewise, the creation of the Sun on the fourth day, corresponds to the creation of the Sun in the 2.1 billion years of the fourth Sephira, Netzach. The fifth Sephira, Hod, corresponds to the biological evolution towards the type of cells we are made off, eukaryotes. The sixth Sephira, Yesod, corresponds to the evolution from single cells to man. The number 42 is not only 6 times 7. It is also 40 plus 2, where the 2 corresponds to the 600 million years of the evolution of animal life.

Before the period of Atik Yamim was the rule of the Sephira preceding the seven Sephirot from Chesed to Malchut, i.e. the rule of the Sephira of Da'at, and of the Partzuf Yesod Adam Kadmon, corresponding to the 4-letter name of HaShem. This Partzuf is the most elevated spiritual concept we may conceive of. The above formula also applies to the translation of the rule of Yesod Adam Kadmon to physical years. Hence, here are another 4,000*3*100*1000 physical years, 1.2 billion. The years of Yesod Adam Kadmon saw the creation of time and space, the creation of the laws of Nature, a fast expansion of the Universe, and the breaking of the homogeneity of the spatial distribution of matter and energy, setting the stage for the stellar evolution.

Adding the years of Yesod Adam Kadmon to the years of Atik Yamim, we get 13.8 billion physical years. The latest scientific measurements for the age of the Universe give a value of 13.73 ± 0.12 years.

If the 42,000 years of the six Sephirot that preceded Malchut do not correspond to physical years, why would the subsequent period of 6,000 years of Malchut correspond to physical years? They do not. In order to explain how it really is, let me review the key years of the history of Malchut (Note the symmetry involving the number 480):

Year 1: Creation of Adam HaRishon
Year 2449: Yetziat Mitzrayim
Year 2929 (2449+480): Bayit Rishon
Year 3339: Churban Bayit Rishon
Year 3409 (2929+480): Bayit Sheni
Year 3829: Churban Bayit Sheni

Mankind exists already for a very long time, much longer than 6,000 years. To derive the physical years of the events of Malchut, we scale Malchut's years with similar yet smaller factors as above. Homo Sapiens arose not 2448 years but 2448*3*10 (73,440) years before Yetziat Mitzrayim. The 73,440 years hint at HaShem's name of 72, which corresponds to the Partzuf Arich Anpin or Keter, who ruled for 72,000 years. The remaining 1440 years were under the Partzufim Chochma, Bina and Da'at. (I will elaborate Bli Neder in later posts.)

As I explained before, the 480 Malchut years of Bayit Rishon until Bayit Sheni must be multiplied with a factor 10/3, so that they come out to be 1600 physical years. From Yetziat Mitzrayim until Bayit Rishon, and after Churban Bayit Sheni until the end of days, there is no scaling: physical years equal years of Malchut. The scaling of the period of Bayit Rishon until Bayit Sheni pushes back the date of Yetziat Mitzrayim to the year 1329.

Now, notice a remarkable numerical coincidence. If we add the 2300 years of Daniels prophecy (8:14) to the year of Churban Bayit Sheni, we get 6129, which year is exactly 10*480 years after Yetziat Mitzrayim in 1329 - another instance of scaling of 480 years.

I invented the proposal described here to harmonize historical and scientific findings with principles of Torah, combining knowledge with knowledge. As such it has merits, but its solution is not unique. However, after discovering the number 6129, a whole new dimension opened up, which gives the proposal a strong flavor of unique truth.

There is much more to the above proposal than meets the unaided eye, and more than I can expound now. I have an astounding Perush of Zohar Shemot 10 and Midrash Ne'elam Toldot regarding the dates of Techiat HaMetim, which confirms that the year 6129 will see the revival of the dead. [For completeness, Techiat HaMetim of the Tzadikim will take before this time, and the 6129 corresponds to the opinion of rabbi Yehuda in Midrash Ne'elam. Going with rabbi Yitzchak, it would be 6133.]

In upcoming posts, Bli Neder and B'Ezrat HaShem, I will try to explain the Perush. Step by step, slowly, because it is a lot of material, and because I must be careful. The Perush has strong implications regarding the timing of Biat HaMoshiach.

Let me conclude with some insights gleaned from the Perush: The six Sephirot before Malchut were elevated very much above the lower worlds. Hence the big scaling factor, 3*100*1000. With the advent of man, they formed together the Partzuf Zeir Anpin, which came down to the lower worlds together with Malchut.

Malchut came down gradually, and with ups and downs. This is the background of the various scaling factors. If the scaling factor is 1, Malchut is at the final destination, close to the lower worlds. If the scaling factor is higher, Malchut is elevated above the lower worlds. Until Yetziat Mitzrayim, Malchut was still quite removed from the lower worlds. Hence the scaling factor 10*3. After having come down all the way at Yetziat Mitzryaim, Malchut rose towards Zeir Anpin at Bayit Rishon, but lacking completeness, Malchut could not elevate the lower worlds, and became elevated from them. Hence the factor 10/3. At Bayit Sheni, Malchut made the final descent in order to go up forever at the time of Moshiach, together with the lower worlds.

Although the Partzufim Yesod Adam Kadmon and Atik Yamim withdrew when Malchut came down, and exerted only very little influence on the lower Partzufim in a direct way, this will change from the time of Moshiach onwards. From this we may understand the awesome nature of what is to come.

טז

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