How Many Jews Will There Be for the Geula?
Well, there are many opinions about this, but the נזר הקדש on the Midrash of this week's Perasha, quoting the Yalkut Shimoni in Micha seems to say 1,207,100.
The verses in Micha (2:12-13) say:
יב אָסֹף אֶאֱסֹף יַעֲקֹב כֻּלָּךְ, קַבֵּץ אֲקַבֵּץ שְׁאֵרִית יִשְׂרָאֵל--יַחַד אֲשִׂימֶנּוּ, כְּצֹאן בָּצְרָה: כְּעֵדֶר בְּתוֹךְ הַדָּבְרוֹ, תְּהִימֶנָה מֵאָדָם.
12 I will surely assemble, O Jacob, all of thee; I will surely gather the remnant of Israel; I will render them all as sheep in a fold; as a flock in the midst of their pasture; they shall make great noise by reason of the multitude of men.
יג עָלָה הַפֹּרֵץ, לִפְנֵיהֶם--פָּרְצוּ וַיַּעֲבֹרוּ, שַׁעַר וַיֵּצְאוּ בוֹ; וַיַּעֲבֹר מַלְכָּם לִפְנֵיהֶם, וַיהוָה בְּרֹאשָׁם.
13 The breaker is gone up before them; they have broken forth and passed on, by the gate, and are gone out thereat; and their king is passed on before them, and the LORD at the head of them.
Bereishit Rabba 73:11 says:
ויפרוץ האיש
ר' שמעון בר אבא אמר: מלמד, שנפרצה לו פרצה מעין דוגמא של עולם הבא, היך מה דאת אמר (מיכה ב): עלה הפורץ לפניהם.
רבי אבא בר כהנא אמר: מאה ותרתין רבוון, שבעה אלפים מאתן עדרין, הוו ליה לאבינו יעקב.
And the man increased.
Ribbi Shimon Bar Abba said: This teaches us that an opening was opened for him similar to the World to Come. This is what is meant by the verse (Micha 2:13) The breaker is gone up before them.
Ribbi Abba Bar Kahana said: 1,207,100 flocks of sheep Yaakov Avinu had.
The Yalkut Shimoni on the verse in Micha (Remez 551) says:
אמר רבי תנחומא בר אבא מאה ועשרים רבוא של צאן היו לו שנאמר ויפרוץ האיש מאד מאד, וכתיב וירב העם ויעצמו מאד, מה להלן ששים רבוא וכתיב מאד אף כאן ק"כ רבוא דכתיב מאד מאד, ולעתיד לבא אני פורץ אותן לבניו שנאמר עלה הפורץ וגו':
Said Ribbi Tanhuma Bar Abba: 1,200,000 [flocks] of sheep had he, as it says "And the man increased exceedingly". And it is written [regarding the Israelites in Egypt], "And the people multiplied and they became very strong". Just like there, there were 600,000, and it says "מאד", so too, here, 1,200,000, since it says "מאד מאד". And in the future to come, I open them up to his children, as it says, "The breaker is gone up before them."
The Nezer Hakodesh explains this to mean that this, or more precisely, 1,207,100, will be the number of Jews in the time of the Geula.
If there are 13.2 million Jews in the world today, even if the 1.2 million figure only includes men from 20-60, the outlook is scary.
What can we do? Make sure we're one of them. Teshuva is the answer.
posted by yaak @ 11/24/2009 12:35:00 AM
3 comments
3 Comments:
Scary Numbers
First of all, Moshiach when he comes,
"And he shall smell with the awe of G-d" habayitah.blogspot.com/2009/11/soul-smell.html
Moshiach will be able to tell who's a Jew. There is a possibility that not everyone who seems to be a Jew 'is' according to Moshiach (and Halacha).
There must be other estimates. Could they have been referring to Jews in ONLY Israel? Maybe that is the number of neshomas that will be eligible at the end of the Geula. And not all Jews are separate neshomas; they may be aspects of an older neshoma that have had to return many times to do teshuva.
Was this the (total) number of neshomas at Har Sinai? And aren't these the ONLY neshomas that survive?
Sorry for the random thoughts.
Neshamah, I believe you are correct. Not all Jews according to Halachah have a soul of a Jew, just goyim doing mitzvoth of men as prophecied in the Tanach. True the mashiach will be able to tell whom is who. According to the late Rav Kaduri, the secular Jews will accept him much easier then will the religious, why? Because he will be whom haShem decides on, Not the rabbi's (I say that with respect to them, as some of them are incredibly kosher). I think that haShem know's what's best for us. It may not be popular, actually I am convinced the so called religious will absoulutly hate him. Revealed, concealed (right now, yes today) and finally revealed for the last time. We cannot see the forest for the trees. Maybe that's good, otherwise the chosen one from haShem, that some Orthodox Israeli rabbi's already annointed with oil, added a vav to his name, therefore accepting the choice of haShem, would probably end up dead by those reincarnations and decendents of Erev Rav. Speculation is not too accurate. Only those actually involved know what's happening and are keeping the sheeple in the dark. Is this where the Baal Shem Tov stated that the rabbi's will delay the geulah? I think too, that exposing who the Mashiach is, will again take the focus off of haShem. This is not what we need, we need to all turn to haShem the easy way, now, not the hard way which we are heading.
The Gemara states that we will get the Mashiach we never wanted. Don't take it too hard and don't be too disappointed. I don't think haShem will do us wrong. Don't forget, according to the Tanach, haShem will do this (the geulah) not for our sake, but to save His Great Name. In other words, we blew it. But in the end, even the Erev Rav will repent. (They are not who you think, as it may not be taught, you will find out who they are in the kabbalah).
May we merit it to be soon.
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