Tish'a Be'av, 5770
This Tish'a Be'av is the 1,942nd year since the Hurban - the destruction of the Beit Hamikdash. The number 1942 is only divisible by 971 and 2, as 971 is a prime number.
Hashem told Avraham:
וְאֶת-בְּרִיתִי, אָקִים אֶת-יִצְחָק, אֲשֶׁר תֵּלֵד לְךָ שָׂרָה לַמּוֹעֵד הַזֶּה, בַּשָּׁנָה הָאַחֶרֶת.
The words "בשנה האחרת" have the gematria of 971. This tells us that a Mo'ed is 971 years.
The Book of Daniel gives us a time of לְמוֹעֵד מוֹעֲדִים וָחֵצִי, which tells us to multiply 971 x 3.5, which gives us 3398.5. We are currently in the year 5770. 5770 - 3398.5 = 2371.5. 2371 is around the year of the birth of Moshe Rabbeinu, give or take a few years. It is also around the time of הבה נתחכמה לו - when Pharaoh showed us the first recorded case of anti-semitism towards the Jewish people as a nation. Notice that the words that follow לְמוֹעֵד מוֹעֲדִים וָחֵצִי in the Book of Daniel are "וּכְכַלּוֹת נַפֵּץ יַד-עַם-קֹדֶשׁ" - "and when they have made an end of breaking in pieces the power of the holy people". This is saying that from the time when anti-semitism began until it ends will be לְמוֹעֵד מוֹעֲדִים וָחֵצִי.
We need to split up the 4 parts of these 3398.5 years. First, comes the full Mo'ed, then the half Mo'ed, followed by the first half of "Mo'adim", and finally the second half of "Mo'adim".
1) The full Mo'ed starts at הבה נתחכמה לו, and ends with the destruction of the first Beit Hamikdash. Although the beginning and end of this period were terrible for the Jewish people, a good chunk of the middle of this period was very good.
2) The half Mo'ed starts at Galut Bavel and ends with the destruction of the second Beit Hamikdash. Just like the full Mo'ed, the beginning and end of this period were terrible, whereas the middle showed some signs of promise, including the Hashmonaic Kingdom.
3) The Mo'adim were vastly different. There was never a time of national stability - never a time that we had the Beit Hamikdash. The first half of "Mo'adim" went from the destruction of the second Beit Hamikdash until the end of the Ge'onic period. With the death of Rav Hai Gaon in 4798, the period of Halachic uniformity had been lost. At this point, the Galut intensified.
4) The period of the Rishonim started the second half of "Mo'adim". The halacha was split into camps based on geographic and philosophic differences. We started with a Rashkebeha"g, but he didn't wield as much halachic power as the Ge'onim of the past. At times, Torah flourished, but we were far from united as a people. Today, we have the land of Israel, which should have theoretically united our nation, but alas, we are still far from united.
Nevertheless, we are at the end of the "Mo'adim" period. How can we be at the end of this period, which signifies the Keitz, and still be a divided nation?
The answer might be that despite our divisions, we do see small glimpses of unity. It almost always comes after tragedy. We saw it for the most part in the prayers against the Disengagement. We saw it after the Merkaz Harav massacre. We saw it for the funeral of Rav Mordechai Eliyahu.
The Chicago Jewish community, and especially the Skokie, IL community has been going through a particularly rough 3 weeks and 9 days period. All kinds of tragedies occurred to young and old, lo aleinu.
My minhag is to read Ha'azinu on Tish'a Be'av in place of Az Yashir. The following verse comes to mind after such tragedies. Devarim 32:25:
מִחוּץ, תְּשַׁכֶּל-חֶרֶב, וּמֵחֲדָרִים, אֵימָה; גַּם-בָּחוּר, גַּם-בְּתוּלָה--יוֹנֵק, עִם-אִישׁ שֵׂיבָה
Without shall the sword bereave, and in the chambers terror; slaying both young man and virgin, the suckling with the man of gray hairs. In wake of this, the community has come together, unified, to help the bereaved families and friends with psychological counseling and other help.
The gemara in Sanhedrin (98a) says that if you see Tzarot coming like a river, wait for Mashiah. Perhaps, the explanation is that the Tzarot cause the community to be united, and that acts as a Tikkun for our Sin'at Hinam.
We have much reason to cry this Tish'a Be'av. Nevertheless, we do see signs of hope. We hope for the end of our Galut. We hope for the reconstruction of our third and final Beit Hamikdash. We hope that the Mo'adim period is finally over.
May this Tish'a Be'av be turned Miyagon LeSimha. Amen.
Note: the above regarding "Mo'adim" is speculative. This theory may be totally incorrect.
posted by yaak @ 7/19/2010 02:21:00 PM
11 comments
11 Comments:
I think I may have just made a startling observation. In
Esther 7:9:
וַיֹּ֣אמֶר חַ֠רְבוֹנָה אֶחָ֨ד מִן־הַסָּֽרִיסִ֜ים לִפְנֵ֣י הַמֶּ֗לֶךְ גַּ֣ם הִנֵּֽה־הָעֵ֣ץ אֲשֶׁר־עָשָׂ֪ה הָמָ֟ן לְֽמָרְדֳּכַ֞י אֲשֶׁ֧ר דִּבֶּר־ט֣וֹב עַל־הַמֶּ֗לֶךְ עֹמֵד֙ בְּבֵ֣ית הָמָ֔ן גָּבֹ֖הַּ חֲמִשִּׁ֣ים אַמָּ֑ה וַיֹּ֥אמֶר הַמֶּ֖לֶךְ תְּלֻ֥הוּ עָלָֽיו Then said Harbonah, one of the chamberlains before the king, "Also, behold the gallows that Haman made for Mordecai, who spoke well for the king, standing in Haman's house, fifty cubits high!" And the king said, "Hang him on it!" The words אֲשֶׁר־עָשָׂ֪ה הָמָ֟ן have unusual taamim/cantillation marks that appear there for the only time in the whole book. It just so happens that the numerical value is 971!
Also, עָשָׂ֪ה contains all the letters of the year 5770 except for the tav. With the exception of the unusual sized letters which only appear exclusively in the passage listing Haman's sons, ( The code of 5707 which is no longer mysterious) the only anomaly in the text after אֲשֶׁר־עָשָׂ֪ה הָמָ֟ן is in Ch. 9 Verse 29 with the first word וַ֠תִּכְתֹּב in which the first tav is enlarged. Perhaps( and I mean perhaps) this could be a hidden reference to 5770? I'm not quite so sure, but it's an interesting observation. Furthermore the two letters shin and mem in the phrase אֲשֶׁר־עָשָׂ֪ה הָמָ֟ן , the letters in which the unusual cantillation marks are directly placed have a numerical value of 340, same as Paras/Iran.
This is all so cool. Love it.
Are you sure about the date? My rav has been saying it's the 1940th since the destruction of the Beit Hamikdash. Most places/sources last year have said it was the 1939th since the destruction
Anonymous, very interesting. I like it.
Devorah, thanks.
Leah, see here. Our tradition is that it's Keminyan "חיים" - the gematria of Hayim, which is 68CE. The Xtians use the date 70CE.
That article "proves" from Flavius Yosephus that 67 CE (why not say 3827?) was a sabbatical year, but does not even address how, then, the year 5768 was a sabbatical year. The difference is pretty far from a multipe of seven!
In addition, the article rejects the Rambam's opinion that the destruction was in the Sabathical year. I understand, because combining the Rambam and Flavius, the destruction comes out to be in 67 CE.
If one follows the Rambam, and calculates backwards from our sabbatial years, one does not need Flavius to conclude that the destruction was in sabbatical year 3829 (69 CE). Without the Rambam's explanation of Chazal, one gets 70 CE, the year after the sabbatical year.
As per the Hebrew year 2371 in relationship to Moshe Rabbeinu, he turned three years old in this year, the age of a Jewish boy when he receives his first upsherin (haircut), based on the Issur of Orlah of allowing a fruit tree to grow for three years before benefitting from its fruit.
I am suprised that you didn't mention the suffering of Sholom Mordechai Halevi Rubashkin and his family. His cause has united (chasidim, litvaks, MO)from Boro park, Monsey, Lakewood, Miami, etc. In addition, the Mumbai tragedy that has united yidden all over the world.
Anonymous: You cannot compare Rubashkin with the Mumbai tragedy. That is outrageous.
The words/phrase אֲשֶׁר־עָשָׂ֪ה הָמָ֟ן in Esther 7:9 have a value of 971. It clearly stands out because it's the only place where those cantillation marks are used in the whole book. 1942 is a multiple of 971(971 x 2). It so happens that in 1942 CE on January 20, it was officially decided at the Wannsee Conference to carry out the "final solution" for the Jews, just as their great-grandfather Haman had done about 2300 years earlier. Surely this is not coincidental. The very next anomaly in the text of Esther is where it lists Haman's sons being executed. Indeed, the very year in which the 10 sons of Haman would be executed in the future is encoded in that very part of the text(5707/1946CE).
Once again, the number 1942, a multiple of 971, comes into play as it is the 1942nd anniversary in the year 5770 since the destruction of the Second Temple(I believe it happened in 68 CE). Perhaps there could be even another hidden message in the phrase אֲשֶׁר־עָשָׂ֪ה הָמָ֟ן . All the letters of the year 5770 are in the word עָשָׂ֪ה except for the tav. Perhaps the enlarged tav in the word וַ֠תִּכְתֹּב in ch. 9:29 could be connected to it? Also, the word אֲשֶׁר connected to the word עָשָׂ֪ה is the same value as BHO(501). The year 5707 that is clearly encoded in the text also contains the same digits as 5770. The fact that the number 1942 comes into play again is what seems most significant.
One final observation I made is that it is 68 years since 1942 CE this year, and it is also 1942 years since 68 CE.
And another link : the same date: Jan 20, is the date of inauguration of American Presidents: most recently in 2009 - when BHO was inaugurated.
The Book of Daniel gives us a time of לְמוֹעֵד מוֹעֲדִים וָחֵצִי
Which is 434 (7 x 62), another time stamp, another דלת.
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