I heard from Hagaon Hatzadik Rav Tzvi Meir Zilberberg Shlit"a (and it can be heard on Kol Halashon [at minute 37:15]) that he said that he heard from Jews who heard from Hagaon Rav Elchonon Wasserman HY"D, who spoke in the United States in the year 5699 - on the eve of the Holocaust - and told them the following words:
I received with Ru'ah Hakodesh that we are standing before a terrible war that will conclude in the year 5705, after which will come 10 Shemitot of Preparation for Mashiah. And the end of the 10 Shemitot - that conclude in the year 5775 - is the time of Be'itah when Mashiah is obligated to come.
The Klausenberger Rebbe's Warning
And we will bring words said by the Klausenberger Rebbe on Motza'ei Simhat Torah, 5775 (found in the pamphlet "Betzila Demehemnuta", No'ah, 5775):
O Holy Israel, "It is a time of trouble for Yaakov" and the Children of Israel need Heavenly mercy - both in the Holy Land and in other places. All the nations - from one end of the earth until the other - are rising against us, whether in public or in private. We just passed an extremely difficult year - with much fear and panic, especially during the days of the difficult war with the children of Yishmael, YMS"V. And we should not be like those fools who already imagine to themselves that everything is over - for such is a complete mistake - for it has not finished whatsoever. And it's possible to say that [the war] didn't even start yet - that this was but a taste where they revealed a minute amount of their power and what they are able to do. And the end is dependent upon us and on - it is clear and agreed upon that we have no one to rely upon except upon our Father in Heaven, and we have no other option except to cling to Hashem Yitbarach.
Heshvan as a month for Punishment and Geula
[After the Zohar talks about the 274 years from the morning of the sixth millennium - which can refer to 5774:] And we see from the Zohar that in the month of Heshvan will complete the rule of the Kelipot that rule in Eretz Yisrael. And this will be such that the idols that rule over Eretz Yisrael - meaning the rule of the Erev Rav - will start wars in the world. And while they are starting wars in the world, the people of Edom will come in and rule over Eretz Yisrael for 12 months, at the end of which comes Mashiah. And we will bring the wording of the Zohar [Zohar Hadash Balak 56c]:
And in the month of Bul [Heshvan], the enemies of Israel will fall, and all the idols that remained in the Holy Land will be removed. And from there, [Israel] will go and wage wars on the world. And while they are waging wars on all the people of the world, the children of Edom will enter the Holy Land and capture it and rule over it for 12 months.
Our eyes see that all the decrees that begin against the Jewish People from the kingdoms and new taxes and levies always begin in MarHeshvan. And he said the reason is since in this month, there was a rebellion against the Kingdom of the House of David and they inaugurated Yeravam to the throne, therefore, the decrees of the kingdoms are in MarHeshvan.
And also because in MarHeshvan, the Flood came down according to Ribbi Eliezer.
And behold, according to this, you should contemplate that being that Israel sinned and said then in this month "see to thine own house, David", therefore, at the time of the Tikkun speedily in our days, behold the king from the House of David - Mashiah Tzidkenu - will rule, and he will consecrate the Beit Hamikdash in MarHeshvan, and the world will be rectified with a kingdom. And behold, according to this, the order of the consecrations of the Batei Mikdash is: the first Beit Mikdash was in Tishri, which relates to Ephraim. The second Beit Mikdash was in Kislev, which relates to Binyamin. The hoped for [third] Beit Mikdash speedily in our days - we should merit to see it - will be consecrated in MarHeshvan, a month that relates to Menashe.
]
R' Tzion David Siboni adds that חשון [Heshvan] is the gematria of השטן [the Satan] and מר [Mar] is the gematria of עמלק [Amalek].
R' A. M. adds that the letters נחש [snake] appear in the word חשון [Heshvan].
5775/Shemita Gematrias and Sofei Teivot
The Sofei Teivot of the Milui of תשע"ה is תי"ו שי"ן עי"ן ה"י, which spells ינון - a name of Mashiah.
R' M.P. adds that the middle letters of מצאי שבעית stands of 91 - which is the gematria of הוי"ה אדנ"י in the worlds of בריאה יצירה עשיה, which is the Sod of the Geula, as the Ramhal put in his Siddur at the end of the Amida - to join Atzilut with בי"ע [the other 3 worlds].
R' Tzion David Siboni adds that שנת השמיטה is the gematria of שמע ישראל ה' אלקינו ה' אחד.
Also, מוצאי שביעית plus the letters is the gematria of שמע ישראל.
(A 7-day-old boy's father passed away. His name was Avraham. The child was given the name Avraham Hayim at the Berit. The second name was added likely because the father died relatively young. As MIC points out, this week's Perasha contains the verse וְהָיָה שִׁמְךָ אַבְרָהָם.)
Rav Eliyahu Lapian ZT"L quotes Rav Elchonon Wasserman ZT"L, who quotes the Hafetz Hayim, saying that the Gog Umagog War will be divided into 3 parts: WWI, WWII, and WWIII, followed by Mashiah. R' A. Raviv adds that we find in the Midrash (Yalkut Shimoni Tehilim 875) that the 3 verses from Hallel: כָּל-גּוֹיִם סְבָבוּנִי; בְּשֵׁם יְהוָה, כִּי אֲמִילַם. סַבּוּנִי גַם-סְבָבוּנִי; בְּשֵׁם יְהוָה, כִּי אֲמִילַם. סַבּוּנִי כִדְבוֹרִים-- דֹּעֲכוּ, כְּאֵשׁ קוֹצִים; בְּשֵׁם יְהוָה, כִּי אֲמִילַם refer to the 3 times Gog will come against Yerushalayim.
We see that the third time he comes to Yerushalayim is hinted to by: סַבּוּנִי כִדְבוֹרִים-- דֹּעֲכוּ, כְּאֵשׁ קוֹצִים [They compass me about like bees; they are quenched as the fire of thorns]. A bee symbolizes the trait of suicide terrorism of the Yishmaelim.
Also, דאע"ש [ISIS] is hinted to in דעכו כאש, while the letters in the middle - כו"כ - can be interchanged with גוג using the גיכ"ק interchanging group.
As we see, the Gog Umagog War started from ISIS since Gog Umagog is a religious war between Muslims and Xtians, as the Malbim on Yehezkel 32:17 writes that it's specifically because their beliefs are divergent.
Also, קוצים [thorns] symbolizes Esav, whom the Yishmaelim - the bees - fight.
We find that Haman, who came from Esav, is compared to a thorn (Esther Rabba 9:2).
Also, Xtian legend says that a crown of thorns was placed on the head of Oto Ha'ish before his crucifixion.
Also, the victory over Esav is by way of fire consuming straw, as Rashi on Bereishit 30:25 quotes Ovadia 1:18 וְהָיָה בֵית-יַעֲקֹב אֵשׁ וּבֵית יוֹסֵף לֶהָבָה, וּבֵית עֵשָׂו לְקַשׁ [And the house of Jacob shall be a fire, and the house of Joseph a flame, and the house of Esau for stubble].
And דאע"ש [ISIS] hints to דא אש [this is fire].
And we see that they have spread in the world like a fire in field of thorns.
R' Tzion David Siboni adds that the verse עַד אֲשֶׁר-אָבֹא אֶל-אֲדֹנִי, שֵׂעִירָה is gematria of עריפת ראש [beheading].
Caliph of ISIS אבו בכר אל בגדאדי hints to שבע בן בכרי, who was the head of the בוגדים [traitors] against King David.
The Zohar (Va'era 32a) talks about what will happen at the End of Days, where a nation will destroy Edom and then Yishmael and only the power of Israel will remain because "the Holy Name is on the right, the Torah is on the right, and therefore, everything is dependent on the right. And we learned that one needs to straighten the right over the left, as they explained, as it says מימינו אש דת למו [at His right hand was a fiery law unto them]."
R' Yisrael Goldberg adds that ISIS belongs to Yishmael - the right side of the Kelipa, which evolved from the right side of holiness, from where is the Sod of Ketz Hayamin, which is connected to the hidden secrets of the Torah. Therefore, דאעש [ISIS] is hinted to in מימינו אש דת למו since they awaken the אש דת - fire of religion - meaning, the religious war between the nations, which is the War of Gog Umagog.
[After mentioning that the Rashbatz's peirush on the Ritz Ge'ut's Piyut says that when Hashem commanded תדשא הארץ דשא עשב מזריע זרע, there were 1290 different kinds of grass that grew, which seems to hint to the 1290 years of exile mentioned by Daniel,] R' Tzion David Siboni adds that דאעש is hinted to in דשא עשב.
5775/5776
The verse about the End of Days אֶרְאֶנּוּ וְלֹא עַתָּה [I see him, but not now] has the gematria with its letters of ה'תשע"ו.
ה"א אלפים תשע"ו is also hinted in עתה אשורנו
תשע"ה is hinted to in the verse שָׁמְעוּ כִּי נֶאֱנָחָה אָנִי, אֵין מְנַחֵם לִי--כָּל-אֹיְבַי שָׁמְעוּ רָעָתִי שָׂשׂוּ, כִּי אַתָּה עָשִׂיתָ; הֵבֵאתָ יוֹם-קָרָאתָ, וְיִהְיוּ כָמֹנִי [They have heard that I sigh, there is none to comfort me; all mine enemies have heard of my trouble, and are glad, for Thou hast done it; Thou wilt bring the day that Thou hast proclaimed, and they shall be like unto me.] meaning that this destruction will last only until 5775 and no longer.
Also, מה"א תשע"ה is hinted to in the verse סוֹף דָּבָר, הַכֹּל נִשְׁמָע: אֶת-הָאֱלֹהִים יְרָא וְאֶת-מִצְוֹתָיו שְׁמוֹר [The end of the matter, all having been heard: fear God, and keep His commandments].
Iram and Obama
R' A. Raviv adds that the last chief of Esav is Iram [YY - see also here], and it hints to עשו ישמעאל רם where רם has the gematria of Amalek - because when Esav and Yishmael connect, then the power of Amalek comes to the world. And Obama's father is Muslim and his mother is Xtian - the connection of Esav and Yishmael. And he himself is a Muslim in private and rules over the biggest Xtian nation. Therefore, he brings to the world the power of Amalek who will come to fight against Israel. And we find in Midrash that it connects Chief Iram to Mashiah: "The chief of Iram - Why was he called Iram? Because he is destined to empty out his treasury [to give to] the King Mashiah."
Rav Shelomo Moshe Amar and Rav Aryeh Stern - Chief Rabbis of Yerushalayim
The 11.5-year drought for Yerushalayim without chief rabbis is over. Rav Shelomo Moshe Amar Shlit"a and Rav Aryeh Stern Shlit"a have been appointed as the new Chief Rabbis of Yerushalayim. Mazal Tov to them!
The previous Chief Rabbi of Yerushalayim was Rav Shalom Messas ZT"L. He passed away in 5763.
I was hoping for Rav Amar to win. He has traveled to Chicago several times - both as Chief Rabbi of Israel and afterwards - speaking to our community. He spent 3 weeks here last Tevet, during one of the polar vortexes (vortices?). He is a Ga'on Atzum and a person who knows how to speak to the people, similar to Rav Ovadia ZT"L. He knows when to be Matir and when to be Osser. He is not afraid to do either when appropriate. I personally saw how he conducts himself, and one can see the humble royalty oozing from his persona. He is more than qualified for the position.
Rav Shemuel Eliyahu Shlit"a was also a worthy candidate, who would have made a good chief rabbi. Of course, he is a son of Rav Mordechai Eliyahu ZT"L. He had the support of Rav Shteinman Shlit"a, which boosted his campaign. I felt bad for him for being derided by the leftists so much in the final days of this race. He has been quoted by this blog many times. I wish him well as he continues as Chief Rabbi of Tzefat.
Rav Moshe Chaim Lau Shlit"a was also a worthy candidate, who would have made a good chief rabbi. The son of the former Chief Rabbi of Israel and brother of the current Chief Rabbi of Israel is unlikely to have disappointed. He had the support of all the Haredi parties, but not enough to come up on top. May he succeed in all his future endeavors.
May the chief rabbis serve the residents of the city well until the heart of Yerushalayim is rebuilt, speedily in our days, Amen.
19 years later (one Mahzor Katan), in 5755, the second major outbreak occurred in the Democratic Republic of Congo, coinciding with the Hollywood hit movie Outbreak. There were some other outbreaks after that. 19 years later (one Mahzor Katan), in 5774, the worst Ebola outbreak ever recorded broke out in Guinea, exceeding the sum of all previous cases combined. It is still not contained and is continuing, לא עלינו, into 5775.
The original source of the current outbreak is mentioned by Wikipedia:
and the stork, and the heron after its kinds, and the hoopoe, and the bat.
If you take the gematria of the entire verse in Vayikra, you get 2308. If you take the gematria of the Milui (Hehin) of the entire verse in Devarim, you get 3467. Add them together and you get 5775.
Yom Hakippurim is called a Shabbat Shabbaton, or as Mechon Mamre translates it, "A sabbath of solemn rest." It is the ultimate Shabbat. This year, this is especially true, since Kippur falls out on Shabbat.
The Jewish people's commitment to Shabbat is one of the fundamentals of our faith. It is mentioned in the Aseret Hadiberot and its laws were given over even before we reached Mt. Sinai. It is one of the few Mitzvot which we absolutely require a new convert to observe fully and it is one of the few Mitzvot where we say that one who desecrates it publicly is considered a Mumar for the entire Torah and his wine becomes prohibited.
There are two very public events taking place in the Jewish world right now regarding Shabbat that warrant attention.
The first is The Shabbos Project, a beautiful initiative started by Chief Rabbi Warren Goldstein of South Africa. Last year, he started it for his own country of South Africa and was wildly successful. This year, he has gone global, even spurring on local versions of this project. Even some celebrities are getting in on it:
The world-wide Shabbat event is scheduled for this Parshat No'ah, at which time those who already keep Shabbat are encouraged to invite those who don't do so yet over to their house to see and experience what a Shabbat meal is all about at least for that one Shabbat. What a wonderful initiative and a great way to start off the year right after the high of the holidays!
But as the Zohar teaches us, with every great thing that comes into the world on the side of Kedusha (holiness), there is an equally powerful force on the side of Tum'ah (spiritual uncleanliness). This is derived from the verse in Kohelet 7:14 גַּם אֶת-זֶה לְעֻמַּת-זֶה, עָשָׂה הָאֱלֹהִים [God hath made even the one as well as the other]. Notice, as well, that the Rashei Teivot of that verse make up the word עזאזל (Azazel). The two goats that were used during the service on Yom Hakippurim were to be exactly the same in appearance, height, etc. One is offered on the Mizbe'ah (LaHashem) and the other is shoved down a cliff (La'azazel). This is because את זה לעמת זה עשה האלקים.
The "le'umat zeh" to the Shabbos Project is something called the Shabbos App. Apparently, a bunch of Jewish software developers decided that it would be a good idea to develop a smartphone app in a technological way that would make it "permissible" to text on Shabbat.
We are a team of ehrlich’e yidden who want to make it easier to be a frumm’e Yid. Today, there are too many Yiddin going “off the derech” because they find Yiddishkeit too cumbersome and outdated. It doesn't need to be so!
In fact, there are lots of things that we as frum Yidden keep today that are not based on anything other than some chumros and minhugim according to a very small number of obscure Poiskim. Our goal is to change that and empower people with the knowledge that they can be good ehrlich’e Yidden and still keep up with the times.
Machloikes l’shaim shamayim is an integral part of Yiddishkeit as challah, chulent and gefilte fish. Rashi, Toisfes, and The Rambam pioneered the way and we can only imagine what they would hold of the Shabbos App. What we do know is that they would not be quick to pass an opinion in either direction, pro or against, without carefully weighing the information and taking into account that it is 2014.
Perhaps one thought to reflect upon would be the possibility of this Shabbos App bringing more Yidden to shemiras Shabbos! How many half-frei Yidden would be more frum if not for their phone being used on Shabbos? How many Yidden have elderly parents or teenagers and the stress and worry of their well being takes away from their munuchas Shabbos? How many Yidden feel that Yiddishkeit is old fashioned and antiquated and crave that their Yidishkeit grow with the times?
So much of Yiddishkeit creates separation and division. Now is our chance to bring everyone together and to be open to new opportunities and endless potential.
It is our hope and tefilah that the Shabbos App will enhance the Shabbos for everyone, and make the Reboin’eh Shel Oi’lem smile down from above.
Yiddishkeit is outdated, old-fashioned and antiquated? Keep up and grow with the times? Taking into account that it is 2014? These statements sound to me like they want to follow in the footsteps of the Conservative Movement, who originally wanted to follow Halacha, but not if it doesn't keep up with the times. "The times" always trumps halacha in their view. The fact is that Halachot brought down by many Poskim have very much kept up with the times, but within the confines of halacha. The group starting this app claim to be within the confines of halacha, but trying to fit Shemirat Shabbat into smartphone use is like trying to fit a square peg in a round hole. No matter what you do, it will not fit. The halachic problems that it purports to solve are not being solved. And even if they would solve all halachic issues, the Hashkafa behind it is (pardon my Yiddish) krum. Just as allowing single girls use the Mikveh is a terrible idea and will end up causing more problems than it tries to solve, the same with allowing gerama-based smartphone use on Shabbat. See also Rabbi Yair Spitz's good post and Rabbi Bechhofer's good post about it. In addition, the video that the app creators produced, besides being full of errors, is full of Bizui Talmidei Hachamim to boot.
No rabbi worth his Semicha will permit using this app, let alone support it, for non-Piku'ah Nefesh situations. As such, the creators of this app, if they go through with this project, will be considered in the category of Poretzei Geder and Mahti Et Harabim. I wish no such distinction upon them, and hope that the holiness of Yom Kippur will come upon them, prompting them to think twice about creating this app.
Whatever you do, stay away from this Shabbos App like you stay away from the Sa'ir La'azazel - lest you go down the cliff along with it.
Gemar Hatima Tova - may we all be sealed in the Book of Life.
Who is "yaak"?
I'm a half-Sepharadi, half-Ashkenazi, Haredi Zionist. I hope that clears it all up. :-)
I went to a Haredi elementary school, a mixed Haredi/modern high school, Haredi Yeshiva in Israel, and back to a mixed Yeshiva after that. I have a masters degree in computer science and Semicha.
BA"H Mash'ala, I'm married to a wonderful wife with 6 great children.
Hoping to meet each one of my readers in Yerushalayim when we are Olim LeRegel there very soon...
