Rosh Hashana 5771

Wishing all my readers all of the following wishes:

שנה טובה

כתיבה וחתימה טובה

תזכו לשנים רבות - נעימות וטובות

לשנה טובה תכתבו ותחתמו לאלטר לחיים טובים ארוכים ולשלום

We beseech Hashem:

  קָרֵב לִי שְׁנַת גֹּאֵל, וּפְדֵנִי

We also beseech Hashem:

 וֶאֱמֹר לְצִיּוֹן בָּא זְמַן הַיְשׁוּעָה

יִנּוֹן וְאֵלִיָּה אֲנִי שׁוֹלֵחַ

May this be a year blessed with true peace upon all of Israel.

Minha Gedola and Tzel Part 4

If you haven't read the previous installments of this, here are the links:

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3 - if you haven't read the update to this part, please do so. It's enlightening.
Spreadsheet

In the update to our previous post, we quoted the Mikdash Melech, who understands the Zohar which says "שית קמצין ופלגא" to mean 6.5 hours, albeit using a 12-hour day instead of a 24-hour day  (See Gilui's post how both counting systems are דברי אלקים חיים).  The Mikdash Melech says that קמצין literally mean "Tefahim", but in this context, mean "hours".  If you look at the Mikdash Melech inside, he refers to the beginning of the fifth Perek of Pesahim (58a). The Mishna there says that when Erev Pesah falls out on Friday, the Korban Tamid of the afternoon is slaughtered at the 6½ hour (i.e. Minha Gedola). The gemara explains that biblically, that is when it should be slaughtered every day, but since the Tamid must be the last Korban brought, to allow more time for Nedarim and Nedavot (private voluntary offerings), it is normally pushed off by 2 hours. On an Erev Pesah that falls on Friday, however, since you need to allow for the time to both bring the Korban Pesah and roast it after the Tamid is brought, the rabbis pushed the Tamid's time up back to the 6½ hour.

Interestingly enough, the expression the Gemara uses to denote the biblical time for bringing the afternoon Tamid being at the 6½ hour is the following:

אלא אמר רבא מצותו דתמיד משינטו צללי ערב

which is a paraphrase of the verse in Yirmiya that is brought down by the Zohar. To me, this is strong evidence that the Zohar means the 6½ hour (Minha Gedola). And the Mikdash Melech agrees.

The way I see it, we are in Erev Pesah (i.e., the eve of the Final Redemption according to the great rabbis of our time) that falls out on Erev Shabbat (i.e., the 6th millennium) and we're quickly approaching Minha Gedola of that "day".

Ribbono Shel Olam, we need the time to serve You properly before the millennium is over - there is so much to do - so much Torah to learn, so much growth in Yir'at Shamayim to achieve.  It's too difficult to do in Galut.   Minha Gedola of the sixth millennium is coming up this Rosh Hodesh Av, 5771. On the eve of Rosh Hashana, 5771, we humbly request that You have mercy on Your Shechina and Your nation, and that the Ge'ula come this year with mercy.

More on Minha Gedola and Tzel

Josh commented with tongue-in-cheek 2 posts ago that he predicts that "in the coming year, people will kvetch sources and err in their calculations so as to predict with absolute certainty that THIS is the year".

Not to disappoint, I will be the first to kvetch a source - even before the year begins!  Just for the record, I say nothing with absolute certainty, and it's very possible I might err too.

The commenters on my last post on the subject convinced me that Minha Gedola of the sixth millennium will occur in Av of 5771 - not 5770 as originally thought.
If you recall in that last post, we used the verse ימי כצל נטוי ואני כעשב איבש and showed how the shadow starts to lengthen at Minha Gedola.

I found an interesting Zohar that seems to have relevance.  The Zohar in Va'et'hanan (p. 270) says:

ומדשארי צל למעבד בשירותא דיומא אחרא, כמה בזמנא
דאתחריב מקדשא הוה, ונטה צל למיעל, הה"ד, אוי לנו כי פנה היום כי
ינטו צללי ערב. יום וצל, הוא סוף גלותא. ושיעורא דהאי צל, שית קמצין
ופלגא. ובגודל דמשחא דבר נש, גבר בין גוברין. ודוכרנא דהאי רזא דבין
חברייא, דכתיב כי תמול אנחנו ולא נדע כי צל ימינו עלי ארץ. כי תמול
אנחנו בגלותא, ולא הוינא ידעי כי צל ימינו עלי ארץ, לאשראה לון קב״ה
עלי ארץ.

Although it says בשירותא - which seems to mean the beginning of the millennium - it possibly could mean the beginning of the evening shadow, which is at Minha Gedola.  The reason to say this is because the Zohar compares it to the destruction of the second Beit Hamikdash, in the year 3828 - only about 50-60 years after Minha Gedola of the 4th millennium.  It also uses the verse in Yirmiyah 6:4.  Here is the full verse:

קַדְּשׁוּ עָלֶיהָ מִלְחָמָה, קוּמוּ וְנַעֲלֶה בַצָּהֳרָיִם; אוֹי לָנוּ כִּי-פָנָה הַיּוֹם, כִּי יִנָּטוּ צִלְלֵי-עָרֶב

'Prepare ye war against her; arise, and let us go up at noon!' 'Woe unto us! for the day declineth, for the shadows of the evening are stretched out!'

Here again, we have the words נטה and צל.  We can again use Rashi in Shabbat 9b to show that Minha Gedola is when the sun is נוטה toward the west.  And from this verse, it seems to be a time not far after צהרים - noon.  What this Zohar might be saying is: Just like the destruction of the Beit Hamikdash is sometime after Minha Gedola, similarly the end of Galut will be at the beginning בשירותא of the time after Minha Gedola where the shadow starts to lengthen.  The word בשירותא modifies the whole phrase "דיומא אחרא, כמה בזמנא דאתחריב מקדשא הוה, ונטה צל למיעל".

This Zohar then says the Galut will last יום וצל - a day and a shadow.  "Day" refers to the 5th millennium.  "Shadow" refers to a portion of the 6th millennium.  It mentions the measurement of this shadow being 6.5 Kamtzin.  What is a Kamtza?  The Sulam seems to say it's the measurement of man.  I saw another explanation that says that it's a Tefah.  לולי דמסתפינא, could a Kamtza be a daylight hour?  That means 6.5 daylight hours, which is exactly Minha Gedola.  And knowing that an hour is 41.666666 years, Minha Gedola will be Av, 5771.  That would make sense as the measurement of צל since that is when the shadow starts to lengthen.

And it only starts to lengthen then when you have ובגודל דמשחא דבר נש, גבר בין גוברין - an average man's height.  A shorter man's shadow may not be recognizable until later.

OK, it's a kvetch, but I like it.

May we merit to see Mashiah come even today.

Update: I am very excited to find a Sefer (the Bechorei Yaakov, quoting the Mikdash Melech) who agrees with me in saying that קמצין means "hours". He seems to say it in regard to Mashiah coming in 5541 since 1000 / 12 * 6.5 = 541.67. If we use a 24 hour day instead of a 12 hour day, however, we will get to 5771 since 5501 + (500 / 12 * 6.5) = 5771. ברוך שכוונתי. Maybe it's not such a Kvetch after all...

We're in the Century of Nitzavim-Vayelech

From YWN's Parsha Potpourri by Oizer Alport:

V’shavta ad Hashem Elokecha v’shamata b’kolo k’chol asher anochi m’tzav’cha hayom atah u’banecha b’chol l’vav’cha uv’chol nafsh’cha (30:2)

Since the Torah is the blueprint for the entire Creation, it inherently contains within it allusions to everything which will ever exist or occur in the universe. The Vilna Gaon explains that the Torah’s recounting of the episode of Creation contains the events which transpired in the first 1000 years of history, with the second 1000 years hidden in the remainder of Sefer Bereishis, the third 1000 years in Sefer Shemos, the fourth 1000 years in Sefer Vayikra, the fifth 1000 years in Sefer Bamidbar, and the final 1000 years in Sefer Devorim.

Since Sefer Devorim contains 10 parshios (counting Nitzavim and Vayeilech as one, as they are often read together as a double portion), each portion hints to the events of one century of the sixth millennium. Based on this explanation of the Vilna Gaon, it has been noted that the early years of the Holocaust, the greatest national tragedy in modern history, fall out in the century which is hinted to in Parshas Ki Savo, which contains words of rebuke and hair-raising threats of terrible suffering which will befall the Jewish people.

However, consolation may be found by recognizing that we are currently living in the century which corresponds to Parshas Nitzavim-Vayeilech, which is commonly referred to as the portion of repentance. Not surprisingly, the years since World War II have seen an extraordinary wave of uneducated Jews returning to their roots on an unprecedented scale, precisely as predicated by the Torah.

Pesukim with Gematrias of 5771

I typed "5771" into the GezaGeza Gematria application, and it came up with 2 Pesukim:

The first comes from Melachim I 7:24

ופקעים מתחת לשפתו סביב, סבבים אתו:עשר באמה, מקפים את הים סביב; שני טורים הפקעים, יצקים ביצקתו.

And under the brim of it round about there were knops which did compass it, for ten cubits, compassing the sea round about; the knops were in two rows, cast when it was cast.


The second comes from Divrei Hayamim II 20:25

ויבא יהושפט ועמו, לבז את שללם, וימצאו בהם לרב ורכוש ופגרים וכלי חמדות, וינצלו להם לאין משא; ויהיו ימים שלושה בזזים את השלל, כי רב הוא.

And when Jehoshaphat and his people came to take the spoil of them, they found among them in abundance both riches and dead bodies, and precious jewels, which they stripped off for themselves, more than they could carry away; and they were three days in taking the spoil, it was so much.

What do these Pesukim mean for the year ahead?

I really don't know, but here's a guess if I were to expound on this gematria:

The first Pasuk describes the Yam Shel Shelomo - the "Sea of Solomon" - a brass circular tub, which was used for the Kohanim to purify themselves (see Divrei Hayamim II 4:6).  This signifies the fact that Hashem wants us to purify ourselves during the next year.  If we do so, we will receive the blessing of the next Pasuk, which deals with the Judean people collecting the abundant spoils from a war that Hashem fought for them without them lifting a finger.

May we merit to receive this blessing speedily.  Amen.

4 Jews Murdered by Hamas

Ames Family (picture from VIN)

Hashem, how much longer to this Galut? This week's Perasha says:

ואנכי הסתר אסתיר את פני ביום ההוא

How much longer can we live in this age of הסתר פנים?

Today, 4 Jews were murdered near Kiryat Arba by Pirei Adam.

• Yitzhak and Talia Ames
• Kochava Ben Chaim
• Avishai Shindler

See Akiva's angry reaction with a lot of relevant data on how many "peace" concessions took place recently.

Very disturbing was the news that one of the victims had his license for a weapon suspended recently.

Particularly sad was the news that a Zaka volunteer, responding to the incident, found his wife's body among the dead.

Jerusalem - ZAKA volunteer Momy Ben-Haim was dispatched to the scene of the terrorist attack with his colleagues, where to his horror he discovered his wife’s body among the dead.

“We saw a crying volunteer, and at first we did not understand what was happening - he has seen many disasters before,” Zaka volunteer Isaac Bernstein told The Jerusalem Post.

“Then he started shouting, ‘That’s my wife! That’s my wife!’ We took him away from the scene immediately,” Bernstein added.

Ben-Haim was taken to his home in Bet Hagai by his colleagues.

I don't cry often, but I cried after reading this.

Ribono Shel Olam, Ad Matai?

Whom do You Have in Mind When Saying שיתמו?

Just about everyone in the media is blasting the פאר הדור - Rav Ovadia Yosef, Shlit"a for a statement he said against "Abu Mazen and these Palestinians". Unjustifiably, in my opinion.

(Click here to hear the audio of the "offensive" line.)

Can everyone take a step back for a second and realize what exactly was said?
Rav Ovadia, Shlit"a, was giving a Shiur in Halacha regarding the Simanim on Rosh Hashana.  No less than three of the Simanim on Rosh Hashana deal with getting rid of our enemies:
The Yehi Ratzon for dates is:

יהי רצון...שיתמו אויבינו ושונאינו וכל מבקשי רעתינו

May it be Your will....that our enemies and haters and all those who seek us harm should cease to exist.
The Yehi Ratzon for leek is:

יהי רצון...שיכרתו אויבינו ושונאינו וכל מבקשי רעתינו

May it be Your will....that our enemies and haters and all those who seek us harm should be cut off.
The Yehi Ratzon for "Silka" (beets or spinach) is:

יהי רצון...שיסתלקו אויבינו ושונאינו וכל מבקשי רעתינו

May it be Your will....that our enemies and haters and all those who seek us harm should be removed [from the world].

Now, let me ask you a question:
Who in the world would be considered "our enemies and haters and all those who seek us harm"?
I could think of many nations, but one close one in particular who has been at the forefront of seeking us harm in the past century is the Palestinians and their leadership.

Abu Mazen, an unrepentant Holocaust-denier and unrepentant former terrorist should be near or at the top of the list. His willingness to conduct "peace negotiations" doesn't mean a thing. He has yet to recognize Israel, which should be a sign to all that he still dreams of its destruction, ח"ו.

Back to what Rav Ovadia, Shlit"a, was saying, he was giving us an example of what intent we should have when reciting these Yehi Ratzones. Other examples might include Nasralla, Ahmedinejad, and Meshal ימש"ו. That was Rav Ovadia's point. Is it more PC in G-d's eyes to ask for the destruction of Ahmedinejad than that of Abu Mazen? Hashem knows that the goal of both is the same - one is more open about it than the other in this world, so some people get offended by Rav Ovadia's statement, but in the Olam Ha'emet, Hashem knows that they both share the same goals - the destruction of Israel ל"ע. Rav Ovadia is more connected to the Olam Ha'emet than we are, so he's not worried about what's PC and what's not.

Regarding his asking for the destruction of "these Palestinians", he wasn't, of course, asking for the destruction of all Palestinians. The only nation we want eradicated is Amalek. Rather, he was referring to the Palestinians who were connected to Abu Mazen and his cronies. This is clear from the context for all who actually heard the audio.

There are those who agree with Rav Ovadia, but disagree with the fact that he said it publicly. To these people, I say: he was giving a halachic shiur, and in the course of halachic discourse, examples often need to be used. Would you have been so upset if he used "Ahmedinejad" instead? If not, see what I just wrote above why there is no difference. Perhaps, he was even using Abu Mazen as the bigger Hiddush (לאפוקי those with a PC-bent).

I didn't even mention the fact that the secular media is constantly watching Rav Ovadia "to see what he's going to say next" to try to break the next negative story against him. This is a given. Sometimes, Rav Ovadia gives them what they want to hear. The more PC your mindset is, the more of a shock his words will be to you, but know that his words are always rooted in Torah Hashkafa. If it shocks you, maybe you need a higher dose of Torah.

Update: See also Elder of Ziyon.

Yom Hadin is Coming. Be Prepared.

With Rosh Hashana coming up in less than 2 weeks, the Boy Scouts' motto seems very apropos.

Taken from JewishCartoon.com.