Triennial Cycle (Triennial Torah Cycle) / Septennial Cycle (Septennial Torah Cycle)

 

 

Candle Lighting and Habdalah Times:

https://www.chabad.org/calendar/candlelighting.htm

 

Roll of Honor:

 

His Eminence Rabbi Dr. Hillel ben David and beloved wife HH Giberet Batsheva bat Sarah

His Eminence Rabbi Dr. Eliyahu ben Abraham and beloved wife HH Giberet Dr. Elisheba bat Sarah

His Honor Paqid Adon David ben Abraham

His Honor Paqid Adon Ezra ben Abraham and beloved wife HH Giberet Karmela bat Sarah,

His Honor Paqid Adon Tsuriel ben Abraham and beloved wife HH Giberet Gibora bat Sarah

Her Excellency Giberet Sarai bat Sarah & beloved family

His Excellency Adon Barth Lindemann & beloved family

His Excellency Adon John Batchelor & beloved wife

Her Excellency Giberet Leah bat Sarah & beloved mother

Her Excellency Giberet Zahavah bat Sarah & beloved family

His Excellency Adon Gabriel ben Abraham and beloved wife HE Giberet Elisheba bat Sarah

His Excellency Adon Yehoshua ben Abraham and beloved wife HE Giberet Rut bat Sarah

His Excellency Adon Michael ben Yosef and beloved wife HE Giberet Sheba bat Sarah

Her Excellency Giberet Prof. Dr. Emunah bat Sarah & beloved family

His Excellency Adon Robert Dick & beloved wife HE Giberet Cobena Dick

is Excellency Adon Ovadya ben Abraham and beloved wife HE Giberet Mirit bat Sarah

His Excellency Adon Brad Gaskill and beloved wife Cynthia Gaskill

His Excellency Adon Shlomo ben Avraham

 

For their regular and sacrificial giving, providing the best oil for the lamps, we pray that GOD’s richest blessings be upon their lives and those of their loved ones, together with all Yisrael and her Torah Scholars, amen ve amen!

Also a great thank you and great blessings be upon all who send comments to the list about the contents and commentary of the weekly Torah Seder and allied topics. If you want to subscribe to our list and ensure that you never loose any of our commentaries, or would like your friends also to receive this commentary, please do send me an E-Mail to gkilli@aol.com with your E-Mail or the E-Mail addresses of your friends. Toda Rabba!

 

 

We pray for our beloved Hakham His Eminence Rabbi Dr. Yosef ben Haggai. Mi Sheberach…He who blessed our forefathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, Moses and Aaron, David and Solomon, may He bless and heal the sick person HE Rabbi Dr. Yosef ben Haggai, May the Holy One, Blessed is He, be filled with compassion for him to restore his health, to heal him, to strengthen him, and to revivify him. And may He send him speedily a complete recovery from heaven, among the other sick people of Yisrael, a recovery of the body and a recovery of the spirit, swiftly and soon, and we will say amen ve amen!

 

Blessings Before Torah Study

 

Blessed are You, Ha-Shem our God, King of the universe, Who has sanctified us through Your commandments, and commanded us to actively study Torah. Amen!

 

Please Ha-Shem, our God, sweeten the words of Your Torah in our mouths and in the mouths of all Your people Israel. May we and our offspring, and our offspring's offspring, and all the offspring of Your people, the House of Israel, may we all, together, know Your Name and study Your Torah for the sake of fulfilling Your delight. Blessed are You, Ha-Shem, Who teaches Torah to His people Israel. Amen!

 

Blessed are You, Ha-Shem our God, King of the universe, Who chose us from all the nations, and gave us the Torah. Blessed are You, Ha-Shem, Giver of the Torah. Amen!

 

Ha-Shem spoke to Moses, explaining a Commandment. "Speak to Aaron and his sons, and teach them the following Commandment: This is how you should bless the Children of Israel. Say to the Children of Israel:

 

May Ha-Shem bless you and keep watch over you; - Amen!

May Ha-Shem make His Presence enlighten you, and may He be kind to you; - Amen!

May Ha-Shem bestow favor on you, and grant you peace. – Amen!

 

This way, the priests will link My Name with the Israelites, and I will bless them."

 

These are the Laws for which the Torah did not mandate specific amounts: How much growing produce must be left in the corner of the field for the poor; how much of the first fruits must be offered at the Holy Temple; how much one must bring as an offering when one visits the Holy Temple three times a year; how much one must do when doing acts of kindness; and there is no maximum amount of Torah that a person must study.

 

These are the Laws whose benefits a person can often enjoy even in this world, even though the primary reward is in the Next World: They are: Honouring one's father and mother; doing acts of kindness; early attendance at the place of Torah study -- morning and night; showing hospitality to guests; visiting the sick; providing for the financial needs of a bride; escorting the dead; being very engrossed in prayer; bringing peace between two people, and between husband and wife; but the study of Torah is as great as all of them together. Amen!

 

 

 

 

Shabbat: “Ki Y’Daber” – “When shall speak unto you”

&

Shabbat Mevar’chim HaChodesh Kislev

(Proclamation of the New Moon of Kislev)

(Monday Evening 13^th of November – Tuesday Evening 14^th of November, 2023)

 

 

Contents of the Torah Seder

 

·        Moses, Aaron and the magicians – Exodus 7:8-13

·        The First Plague – Water turning into Blood – Exodus 7:14-25

·        The Second Plague – Frogs – Exodus 7:26 – 8:11

·        The Third Plague – Gnats – Exodus 8:12-15

 

Rashi & Targum Pseudo Jonathan for: Sh’mot (Exodus) ‎7:8 – 8:15

 

 

 

 

 

Welcome to the World of P’shat Exegesis

 

In order to understand the finished work of the P’shat mode of interpretation of the Torah, one needs to take into account that the P’shat is intended to produce a catechetical output, whereby a question/s is/are raised and an answer/a is/are given using the seven Hermeneutic Laws of R. Hillel and as well as the laws of Hebrew Grammar and Hebrew expression.

 

The Seven Hermeneutic Laws of R. Hillel are as follows

[cf. http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=472&letter=R]:

 

1. Ḳal va-ḥomer: "Argumentum a minori ad majus" or "a majori ad minus"; corresponding to the scholastic proof a fortiori.

2. Gezerah shavah: Argument from analogy. Biblical passages containing synonyms or homonyms are subject, however much they differ in other respects, to identical definitions and applications.

3. Binyan ab mi-katub eḥad: Application of a provision found in one passage only to passages which are related to the first in content but do not contain the provision in question.

4. Binyan ab mi-shene ketubim: The same as the preceding, except that the provision is generalized from two Biblical passages.

5. Kelal u-Peraṭ and Peraṭ u-kelal: Definition of the general by the particular, and of the particular by the general.

6. Ka-yoẓe bo mi-maḳom aḥer: Similarity in content to another Scriptural passage.

7. Dabar ha-lamed me-'inyano: Interpretation deduced from the context.

 

Welcome to the World of Remes Exegesis

 

Thirteen rules compiled by Rabbi Ishmael b. Elisha for the elucidation of the Torah and for making halakic deductions from it. They are, strictly speaking, mere amplifications of the seven Rules of Hillel, and are collected in the Baraita of R. Ishmael, forming the introduction to the Sifra and reading as follows:

 

1. Ḳal va-ḥomer: Identical with the first rule of Hillel.

2. Gezerah shawah: Identical with the second rule of Hillel.

3. Binyan ab: Rules deduced from a single passage of Scripture and rules deduced from two passages. This rule is a combination of the third and fourth rules of Hillel.

4. Kelal u-Peraṭ: The general and the particular.

5. u-Peraṭ u-kelal: The particular and the general.

6. Kelal u-Peraṭ u-kelal: The general, the particular, and the general.

7. The general which requires elucidation by the particular, and the particular which requires elucidation by the general.

8. The particular implied in the general and excepted from it for pedagogic purposes elucidates the general as well as the particular.

9. The particular implied in the general and excepted from it on account of the special regulation which corresponds in concept to the general, is thus isolated to decrease rather than to increase the rigidity of its application.

10. The particular implied in the general and excepted from it on account of some other special regulation which does not correspond in concept to the general, is thus isolated either to decrease or to increase the rigidity of its application.

11. The particular implied in the general and excepted from it on account of a new and reversed decision can be referred to the general only in case the passage under consideration makes an explicit reference to it.

12. Deduction from the context.

13. When two Biblical passages contradict each other the contradiction in question must be solved by reference to a third passage.

 

Rules seven to eleven are formed by a subdivision of the fifth rule of Hillel; rule twelve corresponds to the seventh rule of Hillel, but is amplified in certain particulars; rule thirteen does not occur in Hillel, while, on the other hand, the sixth rule of Hillel is omitted by Ishmael. With regard to the rules and their application in general. These rules are found also on the morning prayers of any Jewish Orthodox Siddur.

 

 

Rashi Commentary for: ‎ Shemot (Exodus) 7:8 – 8:15

 

9 a sign-Heb. מוֹפֵת, a sign to make [it] known that there is power in the One who is sending you.- [from Onkelos]

 

a serpent Heb. תלְתַנִין, a serpent.

 

11 with their magic-Heb. בְּלַהֲטֵיהֶם [Onkelos renders בְּלַחֲשֵהון], [meaning] with their incantations. It [the word בְּלַהֲטֵיהֶם has no similarity in the [rest of] Scripture. It may, however, be compared to “the blade of (לַהַט)the revolving sword” (Gen. 3:24), which seemed to be revolving because of a magic spell.

 

12 but Aaron’s staff swallowed their staffs-After it had again become a staff, it swallowed them all.-[from Shab. 97a]

 

14 is heavy Heb. כָּבֵד. Its Aramaic translation is יַקִיר [heavy], and not אִתְיַקַר [has become heavy], because it is the name of a thing [an adjective and not a verb], as in for the matter is too heavy (כָבֵד) for you (Exod. 18:18).

 

15 behold, he is going forth to the water-to relieve himself, for he had deified himself and said that he did not need to relieve himself; so, early in the morning he went out to the Nile and there he would perform his needs.-[from Mid. Tanchuma, Va’era 14; Exod. Rabbah 9:8]

 

16 until now Heb. עַד-כּֽה, [meaning] until now [Onkelos]. Its midrashic interpretation is: Until you hear from me [the announcement of] the plague of the firstborn, which I will introduce with “So (כּֽה said the Lord, ‘When the night divides…’” (Exod. 11:4).-[from an unknown midrashic source]

 

17 and it will turn to blood Since there is no rainfall in Egypt, and the Nile ascends and waters the land, so the Egyptians worship the Nile. He therefore smote their deity and afterwards He smote them.-[from Sifrei, Devarim 38; Exod. Rabbah 9:9; Tanchuma, Va’era 13]

 

18 and the Egyptians will weary-Heb. וְנִלְאוּ [I.e., the Egyptians will become weary trying] to seek a remedy for the waters of the Nile so that it would be fit to drink.-[from Jonathan]

 

19 Say to Aaron-Since the Nile protected Moses when he was cast into it, it therefore was not smitten by him, neither with blood nor with frogs, but was smitten by Aaron.-[from Tanchuma, Va’era 14] their rivers They are the rivers that flow, like our rivers.

 

their canals-Heb. יְאֽרֵיהֶם. These are man-made pools and ditches, [extending] from the riverbank to the fields. [When] the waters of the Nile increase, it [the Nile] rises through the canals and irrigates the fields.-[from Othioth d’Rabbi Akiva

 

their ponds-Water that does not spring [from beneath the ground] and does not flow [to any other place] but stands in one place. It is called estanc [in Old French], pond.

 

throughout the entire land of Egypt-Even in the bathhouses, and in the bathtubs in the houses.

 

even in wood and in stone-Water in wooden vessels and in stone vessels.-[from Onkelos, Jonathan, Exod. Rabbah 9:11]

 

22 with their secret rites-Heb. בְּלָטֵיהֶם, an incantation which they uttered silently and in secret (בְּלָּט). [This follows Onkelos.] Our Rabbis, however, said: בְּלָטֵיהֶם means acts of demons. בְּלַהֲטֵיהֶם means acts of magic.-[from Sanh. 67b] [See above commentary on verse 11.]

 

and Pharaoh’s heart was steadfast-saying, “You are doing this through sorcery. ‘You are bringing straw to Aphraim,’ a city that is full of straw. So too you bring magic to Egypt, which is [already] full of magic.”- from Exod. Rabbah 9:11, Men. 85a]

 

23 even to this-Neither to the sign of the staff that had turned into a serpent nor to this one of blood.

 

25 Seven full days passed-Heb. וַיְּמָּלֵא, literally, seven days were filled. Since the word וַיְּמָּלֵא is singular, Rashi explains: The number of seven days that the Nile did not return to its original state [was filled], for the plague would be in effect for a quarter of a month, and for three quarters [of the month], he [Moses] would exhort and warn them.-[from Tanchuma, Va’era 13, Exod. Rabbah 9:12, as explained by Mizrachi and Gur Aryeh].

 

27 But if you refuse-Heb. מָאֵן, [which means] and if you are a refuser. מָאֵן is like מְמָאֵן, refuses, but Scripture calls the person by his action, like “tranquil (שָׁלֵו) and still (וְשָׁקֵט) ” (see Job 16:12) 4; “sad and upset(וְזָעֵף)” (I Kings 20:43).

 

smite all your borders-Heb. נֽגֵף, [means] smite. Similarly every expression of מַגֵּפָה, plague, [also means a smiting,] “and they strike (וְנָגְפוּ) a pregnant woman” (Exod. 21:22), does not mean [striking to] death. Similarly “before your feet are dashed (יִתְנַגְּפוּ) ” (Jer. 13:16); “lest your foot be dashed (תִּגּֽף) on a stone” (Ps. 91:12); “a stone upon which to dash oneself (נֶגֶף) ” (Isa. 8:14).

 

28 and they will go up-from the Nile.

 

into your house -and afterwards, into the house of your servants. He [Pharaoh] introduced the plan first, [as it is written:] “He said to his people…” (Exod. 1:9), and with him the retribution started.-[from Sotah 11a]

 

29 and into you and into your people and into all your servants-They [the frogs] would go into their intestines and croak.-[from Tanna d’vei Eliyahu, Seder Eliyahu Rabbah, ch. 7]

 

Chapter 8

 

2 and the frogs came up Heb. וַתַּעַל הַצְפַרְדֵעַ, literally, and the frog came up. It was one frog, and they [the Egyptians] hit it, and it split into many swarms of frogs. This is its midrashic interpretation (Tanchuma, Va’era 14); for its simple meaning, it can be said that the swarming of the frogs is referred to as singular, and likewise, “and the lice were (וַתְּהִי הַכִּנָם) ” (verse 13), the swarming, pedoiliyere in Old French, swarming of lice, and also וַתַּעַל הַצְּפַרְדֵּע, grenoylede in Old French, swarming of frogs.

 

5 Boast [of your superiority] over me Heb. הִתְפָּאֵר עָלַי, similar to “Shall the axe boast (הֲיִתְפָּאֵר) over the one who hews with it” (Isa. 10:15). It praises itself, saying, “I am greater than you,” vanter in Old French. Similarly, הִתְפָּאֵר עָלַי, [Moses says to Pharaoh,] “you praise yourself by acting cleverly and asking a difficult thing and saying that I will be unable to do it.”

 

For when shall I entreat for you-Heb. לְמָתַי. That which I will entreat for you today regarding the extermination of the frogs [tell me,] when do you wish them to be exterminated? And you will see whether I fulfill my words for the time that you set for me. If it were stated, מָתַי אַעְתִּיר לְךָ it would mean “When shall I pray?” Now that it says, לְמָתַי [and thus it means:] Today I will pray for you that the frogs will be exterminated at the time that you set for me. Tell me, on which day do you want them to be exterminated? [The Torah uses three words:] אַעְתִּיר, I will entreat;  הַעְתִּירוּ((verse 4), entreat (command form); וְהַעְתַּרְתִּי(verse 25), and I will entreat [all in the “hiph’il,” causative conjugation], and it does not say, אֶעְתַּר, עִתְרוּ, and וְעָתַרְתִּי [in the “kal,” simple conjugation], because every expression of עתר means to pray very much, and just as one says אַרְבֶּה, I will increase, הַרְבּוּ, increase [command form], וְהִרְבֵּיתִי, and I will increase, in the “hiph’il” conjugation, so does one say: אַעְתִּיר, I will increase,  הַעְתִּירוּ(verse 4), increase [command form]וְהַעְתַּרְתִּי (verse 25), and I will increase words, and the “father” [i.e., the main proof] of them all is: “  הַעְתַּרְתֶּםyour words” (Ezek. 35:13), you have multiplied.

 

6 And he [Pharaoh] said, “For tomorrow”-Pray today that they should be exterminated tomorrow.

 

8 And Moses and Aaron went away from Pharaoh, and Moses cried out-immediately that they be destroyed on the morrow.

 

10 many heaps-Heb. חֳמָרִם חֳמָרִם, many piles, as the Targum [Onkelos] renders: דְּגוֹרִין, heaps.

 

11 he hardened his heart-Heb. וְהַכְבֵּד. It is the infinitive form, like “continually traveling” (הָלוֹךְ וְנָסוֹעַ) (Gen. 12:9); “and similarly, and slew (וְהַכּוֹת) the Moabites” (II Kings 3:24); “and by inquiring (וְשָׁאוֹל) of God on his behalf” (I Sam. 22:13); “striking and wounding (הכֵּה וּפָצֽעַ)” (I Kings 20:37).

 

as the Lord had spoken-Now at what point did He speak? “But Pharaoh will not hearken to you” (Exod. 7:4).

 

12 Say to Aaron-It was inappropriate for the dust to be smitten through Moses since it had protected him when he slew the Egyptian and had hidden him in the sand. [Therefore,] it was smitten through Aaron [instead].-[from Tanchuma, Va’era 14, Exod. Rabbah 10:7]

 

13 and the lice were-The swarming, pedoiliee in Old French, the swarming of lice. [This accounts for the singular verb form.]

 

14 to bring out the lice To create them (another version: to bring them out) from someplace else.

 

but they could not-Because a demon has no power over a creature smaller than a barleycorn.-[from Sanh. 67b, Tanchuma, Va’era 14, Exod. Rabbah 10: 7]

 

15 It is the finger of God-This plague is not through sorcery; it is from the Omnipresent.-[from Exod. Rabbah 10:7]

 

as the Lord had spoken - “But Pharaoh will not hearken to you” (Exod. 7:4).

 

Reading Assignment

 

 

 

 Ketubim: Tehillim (Psalms) 46:1-12

 

 

Rashi’s Commentary for: Tehillim (Psalms) 46:1-12

 

1 on alamoth The name of a musical instrument in Chronicles (I Chron. 15:20).

 

3 when the earth changes in the future, on the day concerning which Scripture states (Isa. 51:6): “and the earth shall rot away like a garment.” The sons of Korah saw the miracle that was performed for them, that all those around them were swallowed up while they [the sons of Korah] stood in the air and said to Israel, through the holy spirit, that a similar miracle would be performed for them in the future.

 

4 His waters shall stir and be muddied Heb. יחמרו, they shall cast up mud, clay (חמר), and dirt as is their wont. Menachem (pp. 90f.), however, associated it with (Lam. 1:20), “my reins have shriveled (חמרמרו),” regrezeliront in Old French, have shriveled.

 

mountains shall quake from His pride [The pride] of the Holy One, blessed be He, Who is mentioned in the beginning of the psalm (verse 2).

 

5 But as for the river its rivulets Heb. פלגיו, ses ruisseaux in French, its rivulets.

 

the river of Paradise.

 

6 as morning approaches at the end of the redemption.

 

7 Nations have stirred Heb. המו, an expression of stirring.

 

shall melt Shall melt - so explained Menachem, similar to (Exod. 15:15), “all the inhabitants of Canaan melted (נמוגו),” and to (Ezek. 21:12), “every heart will melt (למוג).” But Dunash explained it as an expression of movement, as in (I Sam. 14:16), “the multitude was wandering (נמוג), and it was coming closer,” and so in every instance.

 

9 that He has wrought devastation That He has made the lands of the nations desolate.

 

10 He puts a stop to wars from upon us.

 

until the end of the earth that all the lands of the nations shall be at peace with us.

 

the bow of the nations He shall break.

 

wagons He will burn with fire The war chariots of the nations of the world. [The war chariots of the star worshippers.]

 

11 Desist all nations from further marching upon Jerusalem.

 

and know that I am God That I will execute judgment upon you.

 

I will be exalted among the nations I will be exalted with My vengeance which I will wreak upon those nations.

 

 

Meditation from the Psalms

Tehillim (Psalms) ‎‎46:1-12

By: H.Em. Rabbi Dr. Hillel ben David

 

This chapter of psalms was composed by the sons of Qorach who became inspired by a spirit of prophecy when their father disappeared before their eyes^[1] Qorach's sons were saved; therefore, they recited this song.^[2]

 

HaShem delivered Qorach's sons from the earth which opened and threatened to swallow them with their father. This event taught Qorach's sons that Divine salvation is never distant from those who deserve it, no matter how hopeless their plight may appear.

 

During their moment of inspiration, Qorach's sons foresaw occasions in which Israel was destined to be endangered by armies and cataclysms which would threaten to tear the earth asunder. One such occasion occurred when the mighty Sennacherib and his hordes convulsed the entire globe and uprooted all of the nations.^[3] Another will occur during the War of Gog and Magog, when the peoples of the earth will gather to devastate Jerusalem.^[4] In each case, G-d will foil the enemy's plots and miraculously rescue His chosen people from danger.

 

This song is titled עלמות (which alludes to עולמות “many worlds”), to indicate that G-d's salvation is expressed constantly, throughout the world.^[5] Furthermore, we are obliged to trust G-d's guidance, which controls every aspect of life, although His deeds are נעלמות, hidden and concealed.^[6] [7]

 

Meam Loez indicates that this chapter of psalms speaks of the pangs of the messianic age and the war launched by Gog and Magog.^[8]

 

HaShem showed^[9] Qorach’s His miracles even as He showed His Miracle to the Bne Israel in our Torah portion this week.^[10] In fact, the three plagues mentioned in our parasha, this week, will see the last of the slavery of the Bne Israel. Starting on Rosh HaShana, with the fourth plague,^[11] slavery ended for the Jews in Egypt as they waited for the last seven plagues to be completed so that they could go out to freedom.

 

Rosh HaShana 11a It has been taught: R. Eliezer says: In Tishri the world was created; in Tishri the Patriarchs^[12] were born; in Tishri the Patriarchs died; on Passover Isaac was born; on New Year Sarah, Rachel and Hannah were visited;^[13] on New Year Joseph went forth from prison; on New Year the bondage of our ancestors in Egypt ceased;^[14] in Nisan they were redeemed and in Nisan they will be redeemed in the time to come. R. Joshua says: In Nisan the world was created; in Nisan the Patriarchs were born; in Nisan the Patriarchs died; on Passover Isaac was born; on New Year Sarah, Rachel and Hannah were visited; on New Year Joseph went forth from prison; on New Year the bondage of our ancestors ceased in Egypt; and in Nisan they will be redeemed in time to come.

 

The Lord of hosts is with us.^[15] The sons of Qorach said to the righteous: "Fear not. We saw all the miracles which He wrought for us," as is said And the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed them up, and their households.^[16] "And where were we in that hour? Aloft in space," as is written The sons of Qorach died not.^[17] According to R. Nehemiah, at the time the earth opened and the two hundred and fifty men were swallowed up, the Holy One, blessed be He, made it possible for the sons of Qorach to stand like a mast: They stood as a sign, for it is said What time the fire devoured two hundred and fifty men, they became a sign.^[18] Thus the sons of Qorach said: "You righteous, fear not the terror of the day of judgment, for you will not be taken with the wicked, even as we were not taken with them." Hence it is said, Therefore will we not fear, though the earth be removed,^[19] and also it is said For the mountains may depart, and the hills be removed; but My kindness shall not depart from you, neither shall the covenant of My peace be removed, says the Lord that has mercy on you.^[20]

 

We are taught to say, "everything that HaShem does is beneficial".  Certainly the "War of Gog and Magog" is not good, but it is beneficial.

 

Our Ashlamata picks up on the miracles associated with Passover. Yoel 3:3 speaks of “blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke”, which is quoted in our Haggada as we tell the Exodus story. Curiously, this is quoted in the verse that contains the verbal tally ‘show / utter/’^[21] from the Torah for both our Psalm and our Ashlamata.

 

The prophet Ezekiel^[22] describes a climactic battle that will be instigated by Gog and of Magog, and will be waged against Israel and HaShem. The defeat of Gog and Magog will precipitate the messianic redemption. It is difficult to dwell on this topic because it is so shrouded in mystery. We are uncertain as to the identity of Gog^[23] and Magog,^[24] whether Gog and Magog are the names of nations or individuals, whether this battle will be a physical or spiritual battle, and even whether it has already occurred or not.

 

Keep in mind when considering the identities of Gog and Magog that their explicit mention is found primarily in the Prophets (Yechezkel chapter 38 and 39 and Zechariah chapter 14). Their genealogical root is also listed in Bereshit 10:2 as being descendants of Yaphet ben Noach. The importance of this idea is that the books of the Prophets were chosen by the men of the Great Assembly from among many other prophetical books because those prophecies were relevant to and applicable to each and every generation. Like with the book of Bereshit, they are paradigms and not simply historical records.

 

So in that context, the identities of Gog and Magog can be different throughout history.

 

Every Shabbat chol HaMoed Succoth^[25] we read the Haftarah^[26] about the final confrontation at the end of days between Gog and Magog and the Children of Israel. How does Succoth connect with Gog and Magog and the end of days? Every year, when the Jew leaves his home for a week to eat, sleep and live in a Succah; a flimsy structure with a roof made of bits of wood, reed, bamboo, etc., he actualizes the idea that his ultimate care and protection come only from HaShem. The word “Gog” in Hebrew means roof.^[27]

 

The reading of the haftarah^[28] of Gog and Magog on Shabbat Chol HaMoed Succoth is not merely a custom, but an obligation of Talmudic law. The Gemara^[29] mentions it along with the other haftarot read on the various holidays to this very day; we thus see that Chazal already saw an essential connection between the prophecy and the festival.

 

Chazal^[30] have taught us that the battle with Gog and Magog will take place during Succoth, on the eve of the Messianic era. The mitzvot of Succoth are the survival mechanism for this great war. The Succah and the waving of the lulav and etrog are essential to our survival during this war. Complete trust is the critical requirement against a foe who trusts only in his own might.

 

The Haftarah on Shabbat chol HaMoed is taken from Ezekiel 38, which contains a prophecy of the terrible war of Gog and Magog. This will be the last war ever to be fought, but it will engulf the whole world. Then will come a new era of peace, when HaShem will be recognized by all the nations of the world.

 

In the brazen Plishtim^[31] (Palistinians) of his day, David detected the seeds of גוג ומגוג, Gog and Magog, the arch-enemies of Messiah. The war of Gog and Magog begins when all seventy nations^[32] of the world unite against Israel (the numerical value of God and Magog, גוג ומגלג, is seventy). All of those nations will suffer internal instability, and will be plagued by revolution, audacity, atheism, scandal, and unbridled inflation. Truth will be virtually non-existent and falsehood will prevail.^[33]

 

This number, seventy, conveys a specific understanding. Seventy Shmita cycles were ignored during the time of the First Temple, so we were exiled for seventy years into Babylonia, at the end of which we were tormented by Haman, whose rise to and fall from power is documented in Megillat Esther in seventy verses. This indicated that Haman was the Divine response to the Jewish people buying into the gentile approach to life instead of the Torah approach to life.

 

* * *

 

Hakham’s interlude:  This number “seventy” is especially appropo to understanding Mashiach. It is well known that the 50 days between Pesach and Shavuot are associated with the seven lower sephirot. As we count the omer we meditate on the lower seven sephirot.  The lower seven sephirot are manifest in the world through the counting of the omer.

 

3 hidden

7 revealed

--------------

10 sephirot

 

49 (7 x 7) days between Pesach and Shavuot correspond to the 7 revealed sepirot.

 

21 (3 x 7) days before Pesach (Adar 25) correspond to the 3 hidden sephirot.  Adar 25 was the Creation of the heavens and earth.  In this example of seventy, we see that from the creation of the world till the giving of the Torah, demonstrates that the world was created only so that the Bne Israel could accept the Torah.

 

49 days plus 21 days = 70 days

between Adar 25 and Sivan 6.

 

The ultimate unification of the community of Israel was established with the giving of the Torah at Mt. Sinai where Rashi teaches us that we stood at that time as one man, completely unified with one heart.

 

In the eighth cycle of the 19 years, we have the following leap years (pregnant years). Note that each of the years listed in this table are exactly 19 years apart:

 

 

BTW, 5790 is also a “pregnant” year.

 

1948 - State of Israel

1967 - 6 day war

1986 - Pollard arrested. New Israeli shekel.

2005 - Gave up Gush Kativ

2024 - Gaza massacre.

16th podcast

 

In a leap year (a pregnant year - שנת העיבור - shenat habur), unusual events begin in Av. This is because the earliest date one can intercalate the calendar is in Av. 

 

Yosef’s power is secretly coronated in Av, and is revealed in Adar – to the greatest extent that is possible for it to be revealed. Whatever began in Av of 5783 is currently being revealed in Adar of 5784. Thus we have nine (9) months between Av and Adar bet. The Haggada says that nine are the months of childbearing, of pregnancy. Av is the conception of that which will be born in Adar. Never the less, that which was conceived in Av becomes visible three months later, just as a pregnant woman begins to show three months after conception.

 

The Gemara says, as I understand it, something happens in every leap year. Every time we have a leap year in the third year, the sixth year, the eighth year etc. of the 19 year cycle, every time you have a leap year something is conceived in a hidden way – in Av - and is revealed at the end of those nine months and moves forward the Messianic process.

 

Three months after a woman becomes pregnant she begins to show her pregnancy. This suggests that three months before Heshvan, in the leap year of the cycle, (Av, Elul, Tishri) the conception of an issue which will manifest at the end of Tishri.

 

•             The expulsion of Gush Kativ (August 15, 2005 – Av 10, 5783) and economic reform led directly to Hamas being able to massacre people on Tishri 22, 5784.

 

•             Judicial reform in Av (Av 8, 5783 – July 23, 2023) led to the massacre of the Jews on Shemini Atzeret (October 7, 2023 - Tishri 22, 5784)

 

The advent of Mashiach ben David happens because Mashiach ben Yosef dies in the war.

 

19 Year Cycle – Cyan years are leap years (in the coming table), Jewish ‘leap year’ – In Hebrew שנת העיבור - shenat haibur. Literally shenat haibur means ‘pregnant year,’ and there is actually, an underlying connection between the concept of pregnancy and the Jewish leap year. Kabbalah teaches us that the ‘pregnant year’ includes a deep secret about the world and the Jewish path. Let us take this opportunity to delve deeper into understanding the significance of the Hebrew calendar in general, and the secret of shenat haibur in particular.

 

Watch the month of spring (Aviv), and observe Pesach to Hashem your G-d: for in the month of spring Hashem your G-d brought you out of Egypt by night.”

 

Rashi explains that the word Aviv indicates the season in which ripe ears for the Omer offering is produced. The Torah instructs us to watch before the month of Pesach (Nissan) whether this would be the case, if not then we must intercalate the year.”  This is the most well-known Torah source for establishing a pregnant year. Therefore, we need to adjust our lunar calendar to the solar calendar by adding an extra month before the month of Pesach, whenever the discrepancy between the lunar and the solar cycle adds up enough days to fill a month.

 

The Secret of the Pregnant Year (Sod HaIbur)

 

The reason Jewish leap year is called a ‘pregnant year’ rather than a ‘leap year’ is explained through the concept in Kabbalah called sod haibur – The secret pregnancy. This inner secret symbolizes that our bleak mundane reality carries within it a secret higher level of reality – the pregnancy of a new reality growing within the womb of the established realm. Just as pregnancy entails the existence of a fetus growing within the womb of the mother, the hidden reality of sod haibur keeps growing within our revealed level of existence. It demonstrates the existence of the renewal within the established. Within the framework of year, grows the pattern of months. Just as pregnancy is hidden and not recognizable until at least a third of its term, likewise the external established world is pregnant with an inner hidden spiritual reality.

 

Finally, The number seventy signifies a primary way of establishing an elevated connection, of building a community. The number 70 is the expanded sense of 7, the world with a sense of completion. Seventy is intimately associated with concept and with actualization.

 

The following table delineates some of the seventy day connections found in our Jewish calendar. Study the chart and try to see the “conception” and the “actualization”.

 

 

II Adar 25 (Let there be light)	till	Shavuot (Sivan 6)	70 days	Adar 25 was the Creation of the heavens and earth. In this example, we see that from the creation of the world till the giving of the Torah, demonstrates that the world was created only so that the Bne Israel could accept the Torah.
Fast of Gedalia (Nisan 3)	till	Kislev 13	70 days	Gedaliah, the Babylonian-appointed, Jewish, official charged with administering the Jewish population remaining in Judah following the destruction of the Temple and exile in 586 B.C.E. 70 days later,  Ezra (the new Babylonian-appointed, Jewish, official) and the Israelites rest after their trip returning from Babylon.  Ezra 8:32
Shabbat HaGadol (Nisan 12)	till	Sivan 23	70 days	The Sabbath before Pesach is called “Shabbat Hagadol” (Lit. The Great Sabbath) when we read the haftorah which tells us of the “Great (Gadol) and Awesome day”, before the redemption when Elijah the Prophet will come with his unique message found in Malachi 3:4-24. One of the reasons this haftorah is chosen is because on Pesach the world is judged for its crops. Our Sages relate that for not observing the laws of the tithes, famine (remember Ruth!) comes. On Sivan 23, Mordechai's edict to save the Jews is sent. Esther 8:9-11, Mid. Rab. - Gen C:7
Destruction decree (Nisan 13)	till	Letters sent (Sivan 23)	70 days	Recall, in Megillat Esther, that the original decree calling for the destruction of the Jews was sent out on the 13th day of Nisan (3:12).  Several days later Haman was hanged and Esther pleaded from the king to repeal this decree (8:3‑6).  Achashverosh agreed; however, the actual letters were not sent out until the 23rd of Sivan - some two months later (8:9)!  What took so long? By carefully comparing these two dates, we again find an amazing reminder of Yirmiyahu's prophecy of the seventy years.  Between the 13th of Nisan until the 23rd of Sivan - 70 days elapsed (17+30+23).  During these seventy days, all of the Jews throughout the Persian empire were under the tremendous peril of impending destruction, thinking that their doom was inevitable.  Could this be an ironic reminder to the Jewish people that they had not heeded Yirmiyahu's prophecy of what he expected from Bne Israel once the seventy years had expired?
Pesach Sheni (Iyar 15)	till	Shivah Asar B’Tammuz (Tammuz 17)	70 days	The second Passover allowed those who were defiled by the dead on Passover to have a korban Pesach. On Tammuz 17 the luchot were broken, the korban tamid was discontinued, Jerusalem’s walls were breached, Apostamus burnt the Torah scroll, and an Idol was placed in the Temple. These 5 things defiled the Temple.
Lag B’Omer (Iyar 18)	till	Rosh Hodesh Av (the 9 days)	70 days	Lag B’Omer is an oasis of joy in the midst of the sad Sephirah period. Lag BaOmer, according to our Sages, deals with the deepest secrets of the future Messianic Age. Rosh Chodesh Av begins a period of -mourning leading up to Tisha B'Av, the ninth day of Av on which both Temples in Jerusalem were destroyed.
Yom Yerushalim (Iyar 28)	till	Tisha B’Av (Av 9)	70 days	Temple was destroyed on Tisha B’Av and 1900+ years earlier, and 70 days later, we gained the Temple mount again.
Shivah Asar B’Tammuz (Tammuz 17)	till	4th Day of Creation (Elul 28)	70 days	On Tammuz 17 the luchot were broken, the korban tamid was discontinued, Jerusalem’s walls were breached, Apostamus burnt the Torah scroll, and an Idol was placed in the Temple. Each of these five removed the light of world. On the fourth day God created the sun, moon, and stars.
Tammuz 18	till	Rosh Hashana (Tishri 1)	70 days	On Tammuz 18  Moses ascended Mt. Sinai to atone for the sin of the golden calf. The erev rav had made a different god. On Hoshana Rabba we crown HaShem as our King.
Rosh Chodesh Av (the 9 days)	till	Yom Kippurim	70 days	Av 9 is a day of intense mourning for the Temple destroyed because of our sins. 70 days later we celebrate Yom Kippurim, the holiest day of the year, when we are closest to God and to the essence of our souls. Yom Kippurim means “Day of Atonements”, as the verse states, “For on this day He will forgive you, to purify you, that you be cleansed from all your sins before G‑d”.
Tisha B’Ab (Ab 9)	till	Hoshana Rabbah (Tishri 21)	70 days	On Tisha B’Av God judged His people by destroying His House. On Hoshana Rabbah God completes His judgment of the world.
Shabbat Shuva (Tishri 3)	till	Kislev 13	70 days	On Shabbat shuva we repent and return to HaShem. On Kislev 13, Ezra and the Israelites returned to Jerusalem, from Babylon. They left on the 12th day of Nisan.  Ezra 8:31-32
Succoth (Tishri 15)	till	1st day of Chanukah (Kislev 15)	70 days	From the Yom Tob of Succoth when we rest in HaShem’s protection in our Succah, till the first day of Chanukah when we rest from a victorious war gainst our enemies by relighting the menora in the Temple.
Hoshana Rabbah (Tishri 21)	till	7th day of Chanukah (Tevet 1)	70 days	Hoshana Rabbah means: “bring us great salvation, please”. On Chanukah we celebrate the great salvation from the Syrian-Greeks.
Shemini Atzeret (Tishri 22)	till	8th day of Chanukah (Tevet 2)	70 days	This suggests that in two periods of 70 days we went from the destruction of both the first and second Temples, on Tisha B’Av, to the date when the Temple was re-dedicated after being cleansed and restored in the days of the Maccabees. We went from the disasters to the restoration.
Heshvan 27	till	Tu B’Shevat (Shevat 15)	70 days	Noach leaves the ark, receives the rainbow covenant, and plants a grape tree. Tu B’Shevat is the new year for trees. The Pri Tzaddik points out, it is not called the "Rosh Hashanah for the trees," but for "the tree" (singular); whenever the word "tree" is used, it always refers to Torah, which is called "Aitz Chaim," the Tree of Life.
1st day of chanukah (Kislev 25)	till	Adar 7	70 days	Mattathias the priest (Maccabee) rises up to lead the Jewish people against the Syrian Greeks in a war of independence. 70 days later we see the birth of Moshe the priest is born to lead the Jewish people in redemption. Moshe also died on this day.
8th day of Chanukah (Tevet 2)	till	Purim (II Adar 14)	70 days	Now we go from the rest from destroying our enemies, and we come to Purim which was the celebration of the destruction of our enemies.
Asarah B'Tevet (Tevet 10)	till	Purim Katan (I Adar 14)	70 days	Babylonian emperor Nebuchadnezzar laid siege to Jerusalem on Tevet 10. The Talmud[34] suggests we avoid doing anything sad on Purim Katan, such as giving eulogies or saying the penitential prayer, called Tachanun.
Tu B’Shevat (Shevat 15)	till	II Adar 25	70 days	Tu B’Shevat is the new year for trees. The Pri Tzaddik points out, it is not called the "Rosh Hashanah for the trees", but for "the tree" (singular); whenever the word "tree" is used, it always refers to Torah, which is called "Aitz Chaim", the Tree of Life. This is an allusion to the fact that Noach’s world was a re-creation which mirrored creation. Seventy days later we come to the date of the creation of the world, when God said, “Let there be light”.
I Adar 5 (or Shevat 5)	till	Passover 2nd day (Nisan 16)	70 days	Barley for the wave offering on Nisan 16 is planted 70 days before Passover on I Adar 3.[35] On I Adar 3, Ezra's temple is complete and inauguration begins.  Ezra 6:15
Purim (II Adar 14)	till	Lag B’Omer (Iyar 18)	70 days	The end of the Sephirah period of mourning. The anniversary of the death of the author of the Zohar, Hakham Shimon Bar Yochai. On this day he revealed the deepest secrets of the Torah, as found in the Zohar, and it was the day his soul ascended to its source. Lag B’Omer is an oasis of joy in the midst of the sad Sephirah period. Lag BaOmer, according to our Sages, deals with the deepest secrets of the future Messianic Age.
Passover 7th day	till	Tammuz 3	70 days	Pesach is the celebration of our redemption from Egypt after 10 great miracles, includng the 7th plague of hail mixed with fire. On Tammuz 3, HaShem took some of the hail leftover from the plague and hurled them at Gibeon in the days of Joshua. At the same time Joshua ordered the sun and the moon to stand still.

 

END OF INTERLUDE

 

According to tradition, the central personality in this war is Mashiach ben Yosef – the Living Torah.^[36] Mashiach ben Yosef will be killed in the war against Gog and Magog. Again, it is unclear whether the death will be in physical battle, or as a result of the spiritual battles which he will wage against the forces of evil. Either way, the prophet Zechariah^[37] describes the national mourning that will follow his death.

 

According to tradition, when the nations hear of the success of the Jewish people in rebuilding their land, they will gather to do battle against them near Jerusalem, led by Gog, the king of Magog. The battle will symbolize the final war between good and evil. In Jerusalem, all evil will ultimately be vanquished.

 

According to Chazal, at the battle of Gog and Magog, every human, in and around the Holy City, will be given the mark of the Hebrew letter, tav, upon their forehead. According to the Tanach^[38] and the Talmud,^[39] the mark of HaShem, the tav - ת, will be placed upon everyone in and around Jerusalem. Those that receive the mark in ink will be the righteous and those that receive the mark in blood will be condemned.

 

It will be likewise at the End-of-Days as well:

 

Sanhedrin 97b Rav said, “All the dates of redemption have already passed, and now it depends upon repentance and good deeds.” Shmuel said, “It is enough that the mourner remains in mourning!” This is like an earlier disagreement: Rebi Eliezer said, “If Israel will repent then they will be redeemed, and if they will not, then they will not be redeemed.” Rebi Yehoshua said to him, “If they do not repent they will not be redeemed?! Rather, The Holy One, Blessed is He, will cause a king to arise who will make decrees as difficult as Haman’s and Israel will [be forced to] repent and return to the right path.”

 

This is why the gematria of Gog u’Magog is so significant. It hints to the fact that it is a war that comes to correct the way Jews think, just like in Mordechai’s and Esther’s time. Haman came to turn the minds and hearts of the Jewish people back towards G-d, in a Shmita-kind of way, that is, in way that we learn to rely upon Him completely, and love His Torah.

 

Kaddish

 

The Mourner’s Kaddish that Jews have been reciting for centuries at funerals and in synagogues mentions nothing about death or mourning the loss of a loved one. It’s not, what many believe, a prayer for the dead, even though its recitation benefits the soul of a departed loved one. Rather, it’s a heartfelt plea for the complete redemption of the Jewish people and the much-awaited Messianic era. More than that, Kaddish actually begins where the War of Gog and Magog ends.

 

The tone-setting opening line: “Yitgadal v’yitkadash sh’mei rabba”. The prayer books usually translate it as: “Magnified and sanctified be His great Name”. The first two words of Kaddish are taken from G-d’s declaration in Yehezechel (Ezekiel) 38:23, “I will be magnified and sanctified,” meaning the entire world will recognize G-d’s greatness and sanctity. And this declaration will occur only after the War of Gog and Magog reaches its earth-shattering climax.

 

As prophesied by Ezekiel^[40] and Zechariah,^[41] Gog and Magog will invade the Jews in the land of Israel with a massive alliance of seventy enemy nations. These nations eventually attack each other with “the sword,” and it is then that G-d will judge them with "plague, blood, torrential rain and hailstones, fire and sulfur".^[42] This is how the War of Gog and Magog ends. And it’s how the messianic era begins.

 

According to Rabbi Avraham Greenbaum, author and translator of many classic Breslev texts, Ezekiel’s Gog-and-Magog prophecy teaches “that the assault of the nations occurs AFTER the ingathering of Israel, or the greater part of them, from exile…. It is plain that this refers to our present era, when for the first time in two thousand years a majority of the world's population of Jews lives in Israel”.^[43]

 

All of which means the War of Gog and Magog could likely occur in our days. Eeeeek!

 

Many say that the physical War of Gog and Magog against the Jewish nation had already occurred and peaked with the unfathomable horrors of the Holocaust. If so, it’s the spiritual War of Gog and Magog we’re currently facing, a dangerous assault to uproot us from the Torah, from the Land of Israel and, most importantly, from our connection with G-d.

 

Others believe the physical War of Gog and Magog is yet to come, especially today with the entire world’s focus on Iran’s nuclear ambitions. Interestingly, one of the key nations Ezekiel foresaw joining Gog in his invasion of Israel is Persia, which is today’s Iran.

 

The Vilna Gaon taught that there are three parts to the war of Gog u’Magog. This is based upon Midrash Tehillim. The first part coincides with the Holocaust and the detonation of the nuclear weapons over Hiroshima and Nagasaki. This is alluded to in Tikkuninim Chadashim of Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzato. It is also following the schedule of the redemption as outlined in Sefer Avkat Rochel of Rabbeinu Makir ben Abba Mori.

 

Note that the War of Gog and Magog is divided into three stages or time periods. In the context of the allegory of the labor pains, this corresponds to the three general stages of labor in the delivery of a human child. This is like is found in Midrash Shocher Tov and elsewhere to Tehillim chapter 118:10-12 which mentions all the nations surrounding me to make war with me and afflict me, three times. This idea of being surrounded by those that want to afflict me also corresponds to the physical manifestation of the contractions experienced during labor and delivery, which often originate from behind and encircle the abdomen of the mother.

 

That first stage (What is called the Stage of Early and Active Labor.) is described in the first 3 signs of Avkat Rochel. It describes the rise of the 3 leaders of the Axis Powers in World War II, Hitler, Mussolini and Hirohito, the condition of the Jewish people at that time and their increasing level of suffering and anxiety, and the events of the Holocaust itself in detail.

 

The second and third signs describes in graphic detail the detonation of the nuclear bombs over Hiroshima and Nagasaki to conclude the war in the Pacific and the resulting black rain and severe radiation sickness that kills hundreds of thousands when they drink that rainwater to quench their parched throats from the effects of the blast. The 3rd sign explicitly connects this event to Yoel the Prophet 3:3 which says:

 

Yoel (Joel) 3:3 And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke.

 

That the Pillars of Smoke are pillars in the shape of Date Palm trees, which can also be described as the form as a mushroom cloud.

 

 

Israel National News reported a few years ago that Rabbi Moshe Wolfson of Brooklyn’s Yeshiva Torah Vodaath warned of a millennia-old prediction that Persia (Iran) would destroy the world in the time immediately before the complete redemption of the Jewish people.

 

"Our Sages of blessed memory say that Persia will destroy the entire world and the Jews will be in a difficult situation," Rabbi Wolfson said. "Why are we quiet? Where is the awakening? Why is everyone apathetic? Why is everyone busy with silly and unimportant things? Do we not hear the alarm? Do we not know that we must break open the gates of Heaven and ask for mercy from G-d?"

 

In another Israel National News article about the Iranian threat, Rabbi Wolfson also said that “HaShem will perform miracles for us”, and that above all, Jews should keep in mind that we live in “momentous times, and we should prepare for the upcoming era with emunah^[44] and bitachon”.^[45]

 

Though it seems Israel will be center stage during the war of Gog and Magog, many strongly feel that Israel, the Land of Emunah, will be the safest place on earth for Jews if, G-d forbid, there’s any kind of global attack against the Jewish people. In fact, it’s the Jews outside Israel who could face the greatest danger as they find themselves once again defenseless in countries savagely hostile to Jews.

 

All this makes the Kaddish prayer an urgent, timely plea for the painful birth pangs before the Messianic period to end swiftly, and for G-d’s greatness to be universally recognized with the coming of Mashiach and the building of the Third Temple soon. This isn’t a prayer for some distant future. It’s a prayer for today.

 

So perhaps one reason why mourners recite Kaddish is to help our loved ones’ souls as we strengthen our emunah in G-d, trust in His miraculous redemption of ourselves and ask Him to quickly usher in a new era of incredible light, peace and G-d awareness, not to mention getting others to answer, “Amen, may His great Name be blessed forever and ever”.

 

Further, Kaddish is an expression of longing for redemption. In a fragment of a commentary, on the Kaddish, Hai Gaon^[46] refers to “the promises of the visionaries”, and writes that HaShem will be “glorified”, as the Kaddish says, “with the coming of the Messiah ... when the nations of the world gather to make war on the people of Israel, and Israel flees to Jerusalem ... and the Holy One will reveal Himself to them in Jerusalem and make war”—and there the fragment ends. And in France, in the Vitry Machzor,^[47] perhaps as early as the eleventh century, the apocalyptic reading of the Kaddish is fully elaborated.^[48] The passage begins by noting that the opening line of the Kaddish: “Magnified and sanctified may His great Name be”, that is based on a verse in Ezekiel: "Thus will I magnify myself and sanctify myself, and I will be known in the eyes of many nations, and they shall know that I am the Lord.”^[49] This is the language of apotheosis,^[50] of eschatological climax. The Vitry Machzor explains, a little curtly: “The text is referring to the war of Gog and Magog”. In that final war, HaShem will right an ancient wrong. He will avenge Himself for nothing less than the fracturing of His Name. When the Israelites left Egypt, remember, they were attacked by the Amalekites;^[51] and after the Israelites defeated the Amalekites in battle, HaShem swore eternal enmity toward Amalek. Moses built an altar and proclaimed HaShem’s vow, taken with His hand on His throne, “that the Lord will have war with Amalek from generation to generation.” But the Name of HaShem that Moses invoked at that ceremony was a truncated name, an incomplete name.^[52] Thus the Kaddish, according to the Vitry Machzor, is a prayer for the repair of HaShem’s Name, an affirmation of the hope that "the letters of HaShem’s Name will be rejoined, that is, the Name that was cut in half when He vowed to make war on Amalek”. The basis for this is the spelling of the Aramaic word for “His Name” in the opening line of the Kaddish, which makes it possible to read the phrase (I can give only a rough English equivalent) not as “may His great Name be” but as “may His Name be great,” that is, larger than it has been until now, in the eon in which the war with Amalek is not yet won. In the desert, “HaShem swore that in our time and on His throne His Name will never be complete until he avenges Himself on Amalek”. And this is how the Kaddish saddens HaShem. It reminds Him of His own rupture in the desert.

 

“May His great Name be blessed.” On these words in the Kaddish, the anonymous author in the Vitry Machzor has this to say: “It is imperative that the individual prolong the word ‘great’ with all his might, and while he prolongs it he must meditate in his heart on the legends [about Gog and Magog and Amalek] that we have just explained. For when the Holy One hears that the Jews deliberately come together to remind Him of the oath that He swore to wipe out the memory of Amalek ... when He hears them proclaiming, with all their might, this language of praise [in which they hope for His Name to be made great], immediately He says: 'Woe to the children who have been banished from their father’s table, and woe to the father who has distanced his children from his table and they praise him like this!’ For this reason, the sorrow on high is great in that hour [when the Kaddish is recited]. For it reminds Him of Amalek’s outrage against heaven, which caused His Name to be divided, and so there is great sorrow on high. And when the angels hear and see this great sadness in the presence of the Holy One, they are rattled and shaken and stunned into silence, because they do not know why there is this sorrow in HaShem’s presence, since they do not understand Aramaic.” But we understand Aramaic, and so we must console HaShem for the fate that we have just recalled. We lowered His spirits, and so we must raise them. “Now we must provide Him with solace for His sorrow.... Be sure you understand the sense in which we speak [in the Kaddish] of ‘consolations’ toward heaven. After all, there is no solace where there is no sorrow. But lo, the sorrow on high is huge, and it is this sorrow for which we provide solace. And that is why we speak in Aramaic: for the purpose of consolation.”

 

Is the Kaddish, banal? Not according to such a reading. Its subject is the restitution of the godhead! The liturgical trifle becomes a regular exercise in esotericism. Thus, near the conclusion of the Kaddish, when HaShem is petitioned that “a great peace from heaven, and life, be upon us,” the plea for life must be understood, according to the Vitry Machzor, in the severe terms of the war at the end of days. “The blessing of life is called down upon Israel because there will be only a few survivors of that redemption, only one in a city and two in a family. Indeed, as it is stated, ‘let the messiah come, but let me not see him’,^[53] owing to the adversities that are fated to arrive in that time.^[54]

 

Rashi says the War of Gog and Magog will take place at the “End of Years”.^[55] And today’s Torah leaders agree we’re currently living in the historical time period of the End of Years (also called the End of Days), the time directly before the messianic era.

 

Thus we can also say, along with the psalmist:

 

Tehillim (Psalms) 46:7-8 Nations were in tumult, kingdoms were moved; He uttered^[56] His voice, the earth melted. 8 HaShem of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our high tower. Selah

 

What a perfect description of the war of Gog and Magog, and the Jews praise of HaShem for His redemption!

 

For those who would like to see one opinion of what the end of days would look like, consider the following:

 

Chevlei Mashiach[57] (Birth pangs of the Messiah) The End of Days[58] - Tribulation period	Lasting 70 years beginning about:	Tishri 1, 5721
Kibbutz Galiot (Ingathering of Exiles)	Must begin before date:	Tishri 1, 5751 September 20, 1990
Sanhedrin 97a the 7 years leading up to the coming of Mashiach ben Yosef.	Beginning on:	Tishri 1, 5783 September 25, 2022
Techiyat HaMeitim (The Resurrection of the Dead[59])	“no later than” date:	Tishri 1, 5791 September 28, 2030
Ikveta deMashicha[60] (The footsteps of The Mashiach)	Years leading up to:	Tishri 1, 5791 September 28, 2030
Eliyahu will arrive.	3 days before Mashiach
Yemot HaMashiach[61] (The Days of Mashiach) Mashiach ben Yosef > Mashiach ben David[62] .	Must occur before –date:	Tishri 1, 5791 September 28, 2030
War of Gog U’Magog[63] (Armageddon) (splitting of the sea = final stages of this war.)[64]	Three hours before "Hanetz HaChama" (crack of dawn)[65] Last only 3 hours, on Succoth of the first year of a Sabbatical cycle.	During this period
Rebuilding (the descent from heaven) the Temple		During this period
Olam HaBa (The Coming World)	beginning on:	Tishri 1, 7000 September 20, 3239

Ashlamatah: Yoel (Joel) 3:3 – 4:6, 16

 

 

Rashi’s Commentary on Yoel (Joel) 3:3 – 4:6, 16

 

Chapter 3

 

1 And it shall come to pass afterwards -in the future.

 

upon all flesh -I.e, upon anyone whose heart becomes soft as flesh. Comp. (Ezekiel 36:26) “And I will give you a heart of flesh.”

 

3 and pillars of smoke Heb. וְתִימְרוֹת. Perpendicular pillars of smoke, as tall as a palm tree.

 

4 shall turn to darkness -to embarrass those who prostrate themselves to the sun.

 

5 And it shall come to pass that whoever shall call etc. as... said -And where did He say it? (Deut. 28:10), “And all the peoples of the earth shall see that the Name of the Lord is called on you.” [fromMechilta, Ex. 12:25]

 

and among the survivors -And in the remnant that will remain.

 

whom the Lord invites Heb. קֽרֵא, an expression of those invited to a banquet or to the service of the king, an expression of invitation.

 

Chapter 4

 

2 to the Valley of Jehoshaphat -I will descend with them to the depth of justice.

 

Jehoshaphat -The judgments of the Lord.

 

3 they cast lots Heb. יִדּוּ. Like (Lam. 3:53) “And they cast (וַ יַּדּוּ) a stone upon me.”

 

4 Are you paying Me recompense -Is this the recompense for what Solomon gave Hiram, the king of Tyre, twenty cities (I Kings 9:11)?

 

swiftly Heb. קַל מְה רָה, an expression of eagerness.

 

8 to the Shebaites -To the children of Sheba.

 

for the Lord has spoken -Now where did He speak? (Gen. 9:25) “A slave of slaves shall he be to his brothers.” So it is explained in Mechilta (Ex. 12:25).

 

9 prepare war -if you can wage war against Me.

 

10 your plowshares Heb. אִתֵּיכֶם, koltres in O.F:, colters.

 

and your pruning hooks Heb. וּמַזְמ רוֹתֵיכֶם, serpes in French.

 

11 Gather Heb. עוּשׁוּ. Like חוּשוּ, hasten, so did Menahem associate it. Jonathan, however, renders: they shall gather, and I say that it is an expression of a block of iron (עֶשֶת), which is gathered together, masse in French, and the “tav” is not a radical.

 

there the Lord shall break your mighty men Heb. הַנְחַת. There in the gathering of the Valley of Jehoshaphat, He will break your might. So did Jonathan render it, but I do not know whether it is an Aramaic expression of lowering (נחת) or an expression of breaking (חתת), and the “nun” is defective. Cf. (Dan. 2:25) “brought Daniel in (הנְעַל) before the king,” which has no radical but על.

 

13 Stretch out a sickle etc. -Draw the swords, you who go on My mission to destroy the nations.

 

for the harvest is ripe -I.e, for their time has arrived, and he compared the matter to harvest, which is harvested with sickles when it becomes completely ripe.

 

come press for the winepress is full -of grapes. Come and tread them; i. e., the measure of their iniquity is full.

 

press Heb. רְדוּ, an expression of pressing [or ruling]. Cf. (Gen. 1:28) “And rule (וּרְדוּ) over the fish of the sea.”

 

and the vats shall roar -The sound of the stream of the wine going down in the vats before the winepresses is heard.

 

14 in the valley of decision -For there it is decided that the judgment is true. And so did Jonathan render: the valley of judgment.

 

15 have withdrawn their shining - Have taken in their shining.

 

16 shall roar from Zion -Because of what they did to Zion.

 

and the heavens and earth shall quake -He will deal retribution upon the heavenly princes and then upon the nations.

 

a shelter Heb. מַחֲסֶה, an expression of a cover, abrier in O.F., abri in modern French, a shelter.

 

18 springs Heb. אֲפִיקֵי, a place of the source of water.

 

and water the valley of Shittim -According to its apparent meaning, and it will water the valley of Shittim (Targum), and, according to its Midrashic meaning, He will atone for the iniquity of Peor.

 

19 Egypt etc. and Edom -He juxtaposed them as regards their retribution. You find that, were it not for Egypt, Edom would not exist, as it is stated: (I Kings 11:16 21) “For Joab and all Israel remained [stationed] there for six months etc. every male in Edom.” And it is stated there: (verse 17) “Adad fled, he and some Edomite men etc. And Hadad pleased Pharaoh very much etc. And Hadad etc. that David slept with his fathers etc.” And, at the end, (verse 25) “And he was an adversary to Solomon (sic).” Said the Holy One, blessed be He: I will destroy both of them.

 

because of the violence done to the children of Judah -Because of the violence they did to the children of Judah, viz., that they shed their blood.

 

21 Now should I cleanse, their blood I will not cleanse -Even if I cleanse them of other sins in their hands, and of the evils they have done to Me, I will not cleanse them of the blood of the children of Judah. When will this come to pass? At the time the Holy One, blessed be He, dwells in Zion.

                                                                                    

Shabbat Mevarchim Special Ashlamata

Rashi & Targum Pseudo Jonathan for: Shmuel alef (I Samuel) 20:18-42

 

Rashi’s Commentary for: Shmuel alef (I Samuel) 20:18-42

 

18 Tomorrow is the new moon: and it is the custom of all those who eat at the king’s table to come on the festive day to the table.

 

and you will be remembered: My father will remember you, and ask where you are.

 

for your seat will be vacant: for your seat in which you sit, will be vacant, and so did Jonathan render: and you will be sought, for your seat will be vacant.

 

and you will be remembered: [ונפקדת is] an expression of remembering.

 

will be vacant: [יפקד is] an expression of lacking.

 

19 And for three days you shall hide very well: And you shall triple the days, and then you shall descend very much, i.e., when the third day arrives, you shall descend into a secret place, and hide very well, for then they will seek you. And you shall come to this secret place, wherein you are hiding today, which is a workday. And so did Jonathan render: on the weekday, for he hid on that day, as it is stated: (infra v. 24) “And David hid in the field;” immediately, “and it was the new moon” on the morrow.

 

the travelers’ stone: (Heb. ‘even-ha azel,’ lit., the going stone, i.e.) a stone which was a sign (a landmark) for travelers.

 

Ha-azel: those who go on the road. And so did Jonathan render: even atha, the stone which was a sign.

 

20 to the side, I shall shoot: This is not a ‘mappiq-heh’ (aspirate ‘heh’). צדה is to be interpreted like לצד, to a side, for every word which requires a ‘lamed’ as a prefix, the Scripture gives a ‘he’ as a suffix. (Jeb. 13b) At the side of that stone, I shall shoot arrows to a mark, so that the youth will not understand, and this sign shall be for you to divine whether you must flee.

 

21 And behold, I shall send, etc.: And it is customary for one who seeks an arrow which has been shot, to go to the place where he sees the arrow flying, but he cannot ascertain exactly. Sometimes he searches for it, and the arrow is beyond him, and sometimes he goes beyond the arrow and searches for it, and you shall have this sign.

 

If I say to the youth… take it and come: you yourself emerge from your hiding place, and take it, and come to me, for you have not to fear, for it is well with you. The Holy One Blessed be He, desires that you be here, and even if I have heard evil from Father.

 

22 But, if I say thus… Go! For the Lord has sent you away: The Holy One Blessed be He tells you to flee and escape.

 

23 And concerning the matter which we have spoken: the covenant which we made together.

 

behold, the Lord is between me and you: as Witness concerning that matter.

 

25 the seat by the wall: at the head of the couch beside the wall.

 

and Jonathan arose: He got up from his place, since it is not proper for a son to recline beside his father. Since their custom was to eat reclining on couches and David would recline between Jonathan and Saul, now that David did not come, Jonathan did not recline until Abner sat down beside Saul, and afterwards, Jonathan sat beside Abner. And if you say that he did not sit at all, the Scripture states: (infra v. 34) “And Jonathan arose from the table,” implying that he had been sitting.

 

26 It is an incident: He has experienced a seminal emission.

 

he is not clean: and he has not yet immersed himself, for had he immersed himself for the uncleanness of his emission, he would not have to wait until sunset in order to eat ordinary food.

 

for he is not clean: This clause gives the reason for the matter; i.e., since he is not clean, he, therefore, did not come, lest he contaminate the feast.

 

27 on the morrow of the new moon: on the morrow of the renewal of the moon.

 

the second: on the second day of the month.

 

29 and he, my brother, commanded me: The eldest of the house, commanded me that I be there. And he is my brother Eliab.

 

let me slip away: ‘Escamoter’ in French. I shall go away for one day and come back.

 

30 a straying woman, deserving of punishment: (בן נעות המרדות) An expression of straying and wandering, נע ונד, a gadding woman. Just as you say זעוה from זע, and the ‘tav’ is for the construct state, for it is connected to the word המרדות.

 

deserving of punishment: (Heb. המרדות), who deserves to be chastised and disciplined. Another explanation is as follows: When the men of Benjamin grabbed the girls of Shiloh, who came out to dance in the vineyards (Jud. 21:21), Saul was bashful, and did not want to grab [a girl], until she came herself, behaving insolently, and pursued him.

 

straying woman: because of the vineyards. And that is a winepress, like (the Talmudical passage): Purge the winepress (which was used for forbidden wine) (Ab. Zarah 74b); His winepresses will drip with wine (Targum Onkelos, Gen. 40:12)….(The last three words of Rashi are incomprehensible, and are probably erroneous. The correct version is unknown to us.)

 

34 he was grieved (lit.) to David: concerning David.

 

for his father had put him to shame: concerning David.

 

35 at David’s appointed time: at the time which David had set for him.

 

36 to cause it to go beyond him.: The arrow went beyond the boy.

 

41 from a place toward the south: (lit., from by the south. Jonathan renders:) from the side of the travelers’ (or sign) stone which was toward the south.

 

until David exceeded: He cried more.

 

42 Go in peace!: And the oath which we have sworn, may the Lord be witness thereon forever.

 

 

Verbal Tallies

By: H.Em. Rabbi Dr. Hillel ben David

& H.H. Giberet Dr. Elisheba bat Sarah

 

Shemot (Exodus) 7:8 -8:15

Yoel (Joel) 3:3 – 4:6, 16 [2:30 – 3:6, 16]

Tehillim (Psalms) 46

Mk 5:35-43, Lk 8:49-56

 

The verbal tallies between the Torah and the Psalm are:

LORD - יהוה, Strong’s number 03068.

Show / uttered - נתן, Strong’s number 05414.

 

The verbal tallies between the Torah and the Ashlamata are:

LORD - יהוה, Strong’s number 03068.

Spake / Saying / Said - אמר, Strong’s number 0559.

Show / uttered - נתן, Strong’s number 05414.

Wonder / miracle - מופת, Strong’s number 04159.

Take / Taken - לקח, Strong’s number 03947.

Before - פנים, Strong’s number 06440.

 

Shemot (Exodus) 7:8 And the LORD <03068> spake <0559> (8799) unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying <0559> (8800), 9  When Pharaoh shall speak unto you, saying <0559> (8800), Shew <05414> (8798) a miracle <04159> for you: then thou shalt say <0559> (8804) unto Aaron, Take <03947> (8798) thy rod, and cast it before <06440> Pharaoh, and it shall become a serpent.

 

Tehillim (Psalms) 46:7 The heathen raged, the kingdoms were moved: he uttered <05414> (8804) his voice, the earth melted.

Tehillim (Psalms) 46:8 The LORD <03068> of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah.

 

Yoel (Joel) 2:30 And I will shew <05414> (8804) wonders <04159> in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke.

Yoel (Joel) 2:31 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before <06440> the great and the terrible day of the LORD <03068> come.

Yoel (Joel) 2:32 And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the LORD <03068> shall be delivered: for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the LORD <03068> hath said <0559> (8804), and in the remnant whom the LORD <03068> shall call.

Yoel (Joel) 3:5 Because ye have taken <03947> (8804) my silver and my gold, and have carried into your temples my goodly pleasant things:

 

Hebrew:

 

 

 

Greek:

 

 

 

Nazarean Talmud

Sidra Of Shmot (Exodus) 7:8 - 8:15

“Ki Y’Daber” “When will speak”

By: Hakham Dr. Adon Eliyahu ben Abraham &

Hakham Dr. Yosef ben Haggai

 

 

Nazarean Codicil to be read in conjunction with the following Torah Seder:

 

 

Commentary to Hakham Tsefet’s School of Peshat

 

This particular section of Mordechai is one, which is the least understood by Christian Exegetes. The reason for this is their lack of understanding of Jewish Halakha. In the previous pericope, we left of the Master having brought healing to a woman with an issue of blood for twelve years, and which healing rendered him in a state of ceremonial uncleanness because the woman had touched his Tsitsit. This complicated matters very much with regards to the healing of the daughter of Yair, Rosh HaKenesét (the President of the local Esnoga).

 

v. 35 – As he (the Master) was speaking, there came from the chief of the synagogue's house, certain, saying: “Your daughter has died, why do you still trouble the Master?” – As we read in the previous pericope, the healing of the woman with an issue of blood had rendered the Master ceremonially unclean and therefore complicating matters with regards to the Master’s ability to effect healing on this young girl. For the multitude and Yair, may have thought that it would be impossible for a ceremonially unclean person to be a conduit for Ha-Shem’s healing. But, if this was not problematic enough, news comes that the daughter of Yair has died. To understand the gravity and despair of the situation let us contrast Mordechai 5:23 with 5:35

 

5:23 – “My little daughter is sick unto death, please having come, you may lay on her your hands, so ‎that she may be saved, and she will live.”

 

5:35 – “Your daughter has died, why do you still trouble the Master?”

 

In verse 23 we breathe a deep cry of hope, but now it appears that the time for hope has vanished and it is time to call for the mourners. The messengers even add a note of cruelty: “Why do you still trouble the Master?” Young’s Literal translation has even a more vivid expression capturing the intention of the Greek: “Why do you still harass the Master?” From all in the congregation present, Yair still believes deep within him that there is still hope, that the great Master of Halakha before him can find a way to beseech G-d to restore his daughter to life and health within the bounds of Halakha. Yair is not an ordinary man, he is the Rosh HaKenesét (the President of the local Esnoga) and a man of deep faithful obedience, acquainted with the workings of G-d’s governance in the heavens and on earth.

 

What no one present, in an atmosphere charged with great negativity, despite the witnessing of the miraculous healing of a woman with an issue of blood for twelve years by G-d through the Master, could contemplate was what G-d, most blessed be He was trying loudly to indicate. Ha-Shem, most blessed be He, was loudly saying: “Stop! My logic is not always your logic. If I am able to restore to full health a woman with an issue of blood for twelve years, how much the more should I not be able and willing to restore the life of a twelve year old young girl?” In the first instance, the woman’s faithful obedience had saved her from her twelve-year-long affliction, in this instance Yair, his wife and three Talmidim together with the Master are asked to trust Ha-Shem for awakening this twelve year old little girl from the sleep of death.

 

v. 36 – And Yeshua immediately, having overheard what they said, spoke to the Rosh HaKenesét, “Do not be afraid, only trust in Ha-Shem.” – Notice the word “immediately” with which this Mishnaic writing of Mordechai repeatedly provides. In the mind, soul and spirit of the faithfully obedient servant of G-d there is NO room for negativity or commiseration, but rather for creativity, possibility and an ear attuned to G-d’s speech through the circumstances before us. Immediately, the Master Sage, has perceived a Halakhic creative solution to the problem at hand. Therefore, he informs Yair, the Rosh HaKenesét (the President of the local Esnoga), not to be terrorized by the news he has heard, but rather to trust Ha-Shem with all of his heart, mind and soul, that He is more than able to provide a solution to any problem no matter how difficult it may be.

 

Most Christian commentators, propose that Yeshua is calling upon Yair to trust in his vivifying power even when the news of the death of his beloved daughter is staring at him. We must disagree totally with this notion. His Majesty King Yeshua is here setting an example of how should a servant of G-d think and behave. So much vivifying power had Yeshua as any faithful obedient servant of G-d at any point in time. We are but conduits of Ha-Shem’s healing and vivification. The problem is that many have fallen into a stupor of laziness, teaching that miracles were for a season and are no longer for today. These lazy human beings are afraid to show how little trust in Ha-Shem, and how little faithful obedience to His Commandments they have. They are terrorized to live a life in total obedience and submission before G-d for the sake of the wellbeing of others.

 

Please, let this horrible false teaching be far from us, for the Master taught in another occasion:

 

“Amen, amen, I tell you, the one who faithfully obeys me, the works which I do, that one will do also, and greater than these he will do, because I go to my Father (Creator).” (Yochanan 14:12)

 

Not only are we commanded and given the ability to do the works (miracles, teachings, healings, halakhic rulings) like the Master did, but we are promised that if we are faithfully obedient to him and to Torah: “greater than these we will do.” The competition here is not who does greater miracles, but who is being faithfully obedient to Torah and to the Master, living the life that he did. This is where the rubber meets the road, the rest is but distractions.

 

Note, that therefore every man who faithfully obeys Torah and upholds the Halakha of the Jewish people, and is as well faithfully obedient to the Master, has as much vivifying power as the Master had. Besides, the power is not ours, but we are mere vessels of Ha-Shem the Almighty, most blessed be He! Surely, the Master was/is very special, but he came to leave us an example to emulate, and even a command/promise to exceed him in what he did.

 

v.37 – And he (Yeshua) did not allow anyone to follow him, except Shimon HaTsefet, and Ya’aqob, and Yochanan the brother of Ya’aqob. – A question arises. Why the narrowing of who can come with the Master? Marcus^[67] puts it well, when he states:

 

“The common motive for the restriction is a feeling akin to that expressed in Matthew 7:6; certain doctrines and practices are too holy for general publicity. Consequently, Yeshua leaves the congregation behind when he goes with Yair to the place of death, and of his disciples he takes only the “Big Three,” Peter, James, and John (5:37). These are the same three followers who will be given a foretaste of Yeshua’s resurrection glory at the Transfiguration (9:2) but will also be called upon to share in the suffering at Gethsemane (14:33).”

   

I must add that these three also represent the three pillars of leadership of the Jewish Nazarean movement, as well as the three chief leaders of the Nazarean Supreme Court. Besides, the Law states that in the presence of two or three witnesses let everything be established (Deut. 17:6). Since the father and the mother are related to the little girl, they cannot become a witness.

 

Mk. 5:38-40 And he came to the house of Yair the Rosh HaKenesét, and saw an uproar, much weeping and wailing. And having gone in he said to them: “Why do you make an uproar, and weep? The child has not died, but is sleeping.” And they were laughing at him. And he, having put everyone out, he took the father of the child, and the mother, and those with him, and he went into where the child was lying.

 

Again, he arrives at the house of Yair, and finds a picture of total despair – the sight of the mourners bewailing the dead girl. But the true servant of G-d has been shown by G-d that there is a way out. He therefore informs the mourners that the child is not dead but is asleep.  The mourners, experts in death, answer in derision, after all, the girl is supposedly dead and dead people do not come to life.  But the master knows that after a person dies for some hours the spirit of that person hovers over its body, and if Ha-Shem, reveals to His servants that the girl can be revived it surely is possible for a revivification to occur. So the Master, having received revelation from G-d that he is to vivify the young girl, immediately and forcefully puts out all negativity from the house.

 

Note how many remain inside the house:

 

1 Master ------------------- Shabbat

1 Young girl sleeping ---  The first day of the week

2 Parents ------------------- The Second and Third days of the week

3 Talmidim ---------------- The Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth days of the week.

 

A whole menorah of people remain in the home and through whom G-d will speak and reveal His governance and mercy. The Master the centre branch of the Menorah, the young girl and her two parents to the right and his three Talmidim to the left of the menorah.

 

v.41 – And, having taken the hand of the child (having bound his Tsitsit on her hand), he said to her: “Talitha^[68] Cumi!” which is, being interpreted: “She who is in the Tallit (a young girl before bat-mitsvah), arise!” – Now we know that we have departed somewhat from the extant Greek and Aramaic texts of Mark, but we are of the sure belief that what we have placed in italics was originally there, or words to that effect.

 

You see, the Master had lost his state of ceremonial cleanliness and had become ceremonially unclean, therefore unable of his own to lay his pure hands on the young girl and effect G-d’s healing. So the only thing left for him was to use the Tallit which is holy, ceremonially clean channel to effect Ha-Shem’s healing. For, as we taught last pericope a Tallit no matter what touches it will never lose its state of sanctity, unless someone interferes or destroys any of its four Tsitsit. Therefore, the Master binds the Tsitsit if his Tallit on the young girl’s hand and uses the sanctity of the Tallit to affect this healing/vivification. In this way, no Halakha was violated and the vivification was entirely Kosher.

 

This episode brings to our attention the fact that we need as much as possible to remain in a state of spiritual, and physical cleanliness if we are to be of help to our fellowmen. And how do we remain in this relative state of spiritual cleanliness? Messiah King David answered:

 

Psa 119:9 With what does a young man purify his path? By observing [the Commandments] according to Your Word.

Psa 119:10  With all my heart I have sought You, Let me not err from Your commandments.

Psa 119:11  In my heart (mind) I have hid Your Word, that I sin not before You.

Psa 119:12  Blessed are You, O Ha-Shem, teach me Your statutes.

Psa 119:13  With my lips I have recounted all the judgments of Your mouth.

Psa 119:14  In the way of Your testimonies I have joyed, As over much wealth.

Psa 119:15  In Your precepts I meditate, And I behold attentively Your paths.

Psa 119:16  In Your statutes I delight myself, I do not forget Your Word.

 

The second teaching is to raise our awareness of the sanctity of the Tsitsit we wear inside our shirt, and of the Tallit we done when we pray. These represent the whole 613 commandments of Ha-Shem as well as His Holy Name, most blessed be He. By means of these Tsitsit we have a most powerful tool to be channels to revive and to heal. We should treat the Tsitsit therefore with great care and reverence.

 

Notice also that when the Master went to vivify the young girl, he bound her with Ha-Shem’s most Holy Name and with the whole of the Jewish Law (the 613 Commandments)! For this young girl this incident not only served for her to literally become born again, but also as her Bat-Mitzvah. And this in effect is what Bar/Bat Mitzvah is all about: i.e. one becomes bound to the Name of Ha-Shem and to the 613 commandments of the Torah. Blessed are those who sincerely choose of their free will to be bound to the Holy Name of G-d, the 613 commandments of the Torah, and the authority of the Hakhamim, because they surely will indeed be truly born again, and they will be vivified for the service of Ha-Shem, most blessed be He!

 

We also know that the Aramaic word “Talitha” means a young girl, but it can also mean “she that is inside the Tallit.” The reason for this is that there is a custom by which the Cohen (Priest) or Hakham of the Congregation when he recites the Priestly Blessing he will have all the children of the congregation under twelve years of age under his Tallit, whilst reciting the Priestly Blessing. Those that have witnessed this custom being exercised can understand therefore our translation of this verse, which is to be understood to mean that the little girl was over eleven years old, but had not yet reached her 12^th birthday, although for hermeneutical purposes we say that she was 12 (or close to Bat Mitzvah age). For at twelve a girl becomes of age and is now considered responsible before the Law of G-d, and as a woman in the congregation.

 

v. 42 – And immediately the young girl arose, and began walking, for she was nearly twelve years old; and they were overcome with a great amazement. – Mida K’Neged Mida (Measure for Measure), G-d responds in kind. Those who waste not a minute to obey the commandments of G-d, will receive an immediate answer, for   our G-d is debtor to no one. The Master went about IMMEDIATELY to put away all negativity and to show great ingenuity and elegance in the observance of the commandments, and G-d answered likewise! This is why it is so important that a follower of the Master be careful in choosing a good Hakham, and once the decision is made, be totally and promptly obedient to him, for G-d in seeing such faithful, prompt, and elegant obedience will reward that obedience beyond imaginable measure. We are Nazareans, we are a branch of Messiah King David who taught: “I delight to [promptly] do Your will, O My God; and Your Law is within My inmost being” (Psalm 40:8). 

 

Interesting, everyone was “amazed with a great amazement.” But for those who are faithfully obedient and prompt to execute most elegantly the will of Ha-Shem, most blessed be He, there is no amazement or bewilderment, but praise in our mouths. Nothing should catch us up by surprise! We must always be aware of what G-d is about to do, for he speaks loud and clear through the events taking place before us, not that we may panic, but rather that we may take hold of the silver lining and see the opportunity, be elegantly creative and take hold of the commandments before us, as the Master did.

 

v. 43 – And he charged them sternly, that no one should know this thing. And he said that there be given to her something to eat – No fanfare, no trumpeting, no calling the press! Miracles, healings, and even vivifications from the dead are to be kept secret. We are not merchandising miracles, we are not selling healings, we are not to show off what we are not. Since the healing and the miracles comes from G-d, and not from us. Oh, how great will be the punishment of those who advertise that healings and miracles will occur in such and such meeting, by such and such prophet or faith healer! If G-d has given you the gift, be silent about it and do the same as the Master did, command that: “no one should know this thing!” We are servants of G-d, of His Torah and of His Messiah, we are not here as Pirke Abot puts it: “to use the Torah as a spade to dig up with.” [A Jewish saying meaning to become famous or to enrich ourselves.]  

 

And he said that there be given to her [something] to eat. – Someone has said, that we make bread to have it with something and someone. The French word “compagnion” translated and transliterated almost into the English as “companion” means literally to have bread with someone. The young girl who had temporarily departed the intimate fellowship of her family and local Esnoga was again restored to that intimate fellowship, and bread represents that intimate fellowship which we depict in our recitation of Kiddush.

 

Questions for Reflection

 

1. From all the readings for this Shabbat which statement touched your heart and fired your imagination?

 

2. In your opinion, and taking into consideration all the above readings for this Shabbat, what is the prophetic message (the idea that encapsulates all the Scripture passages read) for this week?

 

Blessing After Torah Study

 

Barúch Atáh Adonai, Elohénu Meléch HaOlám,

Ashér Natán Lánu Torát Emét, V'Chayéi Olám Natá B'Tochénu.

Barúch Atáh Adonái, Notén HaToráh. Amen!

 

Blessed is Ha-Shem our God, King of the universe,

Who has given us a teaching of truth, implanting within us eternal life.

Blessed is Ha-Shem, Giver of the Torah. Amen!

 

“Now unto Him who is able to preserve you faultless, and spotless, and to establish you without a blemish,

before His majesty, with joy, [namely,] the only one God, our Deliverer, by means of Yeshua the Messiah our Master, be praise, and dominion, and honor, and majesty, both now and in all ages. Amen!”

 

Next Shabbat:

Shabbat: “Hashkem BaBoqer” – “(You) rise early in (the) morning”

 

 

   

                                                                                      

Hakham Dr. Yosef ben Haggai

Rabbi Dr. Hillel ben David

Rabbi Dr. Eliyahu ben Abraham