5777 Geula Gematria from Sefer Daniel - Part 2

See part 1 here.



Daniel 7:25:

כה  וּמִלִּין, לְצַד עליא (עִלָּאָה) יְמַלִּל, וּלְקַדִּישֵׁי עֶלְיוֹנִין, יְבַלֵּא; וְיִסְבַּר, לְהַשְׁנָיָה זִמְנִין וְדָת, וְיִתְיַהֲבוּן בִּידֵהּ, עַד-עִדָּן וְעִדָּנִין וּפְלַג עִדָּן.

25 And he shall speak words against the Most High, and shall wear out the saints of the Most High; and he shall think to change the seasons and the law; and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and half a time.

Daniel 12:7:

ז  וָאֶשְׁמַע אֶת-הָאִישׁ לְבוּשׁ הַבַּדִּים, אֲשֶׁר מִמַּעַל לְמֵימֵי הַיְאֹר, וַיָּרֶם יְמִינוֹ וּשְׂמֹאלוֹ אֶל-הַשָּׁמַיִם, וַיִּשָּׁבַע בְּחֵי הָעוֹלָם:  כִּי לְמוֹעֵד מוֹעֲדִים וָחֵצִי, וּכְכַלּוֹת נַפֵּץ יַד-עַם-קֹדֶשׁ--תִּכְלֶינָה כָל-אֵלֶּה.

7 And I heard the man clothed in linen, who was above the waters of the river, when he lifted up his right hand and his left hand unto heaven, and swore by Him that liveth for ever that it shall be for a time, times, and a half; and when they have made an end of breaking in pieces the power of the holy people, all these things shall be finished.

Many great people have tried to figure out what עדן עדנין ופלג עדן and למועד מועדים וחצי [time, times, and a half] mean and bring down various interpretations and calculations.  Of course, I'm not worthy of being mentioned in the same breath as those who tried before me.  Nevertheless, I'll humbly offer up another to add to the list - one that can perhaps show something about this year.

There's a Midrash called "Aggadat Ribbi Yishmael"(link1|link2|link3), which calculates Galut Edom as 700 years.  This is based on a number of factors that are mentioned in the Midrash:
1) It corresponds to the number of years that we angered HKB"H since Yehoshua brought the Israelites into the land
2) It corresponds to the 1000 years that were given over to the nations to subjugate us minus the 300 years for the other 3 exiles (Bavel - 70, Paras Umadai - 52, Yavan - 180, and subtract the 2 years that was swallowed up between them).
3) It is hinted to in Daniel 9:24 when it talks about שָׁבֻעִים שִׁבְעִים [the 70 "weeks".  A possible interpretation as to how this is hinted can be found here].

We see that although Galut Edom lasted much longer than the 700 years mentioned by the Midrash, we can nevertheless consider the 700 years as a valid time period¹ to be called a Mo'ed (in Hebrew) or Idan (in Aramaic)².

Using this information, we can calculate from the year of Galut Yechonya, which occurred in the year 3327 as the starting point of this calculation since that was the beginning of the exile.

Mo'ed     = Idan                 = 1
Mo'adim = Idanin              = 2
Hetzi      = Pelag Idan        = ½
--------------------------------------
                                            3½

So if 700 years is a Mo'ed/Idan, then 3½ times that would make:

 700
x 3.5
------
2450 years

And therefore,

  3327
+2450
---------
  5777

This brings us to the year that we are currently in - 5777.

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However, perhaps, we're reading it all wrong.  Why, in the Aramaic from 7:25, does it say ופלג עדן, whereas in the Hebrew in 12:7, it doesn't say "וחצי מועד" [and half a time] - it simply says "וחצי" [and a half]?

Perhaps, the two verses are telling us 2 different calculations.  עדן עדנין ופלג עדן is a calculation like we said earlier, but perhaps מועד מועדים וחצי means something else entirely, albeit related.  Perhaps, we need to look at another verse - Yirmiya 24:1:

א  הִרְאַנִי, יְהוָה, וְהִנֵּה שְׁנֵי דּוּדָאֵי תְאֵנִים, מוּעָדִים לִפְנֵי הֵיכַל יְהוָה:  אַחֲרֵי הַגְלוֹת נְבוּכַדְרֶאצַּר מֶלֶךְ-בָּבֶל אֶת-יְכָנְיָהוּ בֶן-יְהוֹיָקִים מֶלֶךְ-יְהוּדָה וְאֶת-שָׂרֵי יְהוּדָה וְאֶת-הֶחָרָשׁ וְאֶת-הַמַּסְגֵּר, מִירוּשָׁלִַם, וַיְבִאֵם, בָּבֶל.

1 The LORD showed me, and behold two baskets of figs set before the temple of the LORD; after that Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon had carried away captive Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, and the princes of Judah, with the craftsmen and smiths, from Jerusalem, and had brought them to Babylon.

Here, Hashem is showing the Prophet Yirmiya a vision that after the exile, there will be a returning to the Land of Israel.  (Notice, that this verse refers to Galut Yechonya and this prophecy came to him after that occurred, which relates back to our starting point for עדן עדנין ופלג עדן.)

Now, notice the 7th word in the verse - מוּעָדִים.  Perhaps, Daniel's vision of מועד מועדים וחצי is telling us the following:

Mo'ed - The set time will be:
Mo'adim (read as Mu'adim) - Take from Yirmiyahu's vision of the figs starting after the word מוּעָדִים.
VaHetzi - and use the second half of that verse starting right after that word.

The gematria of the words:

לִפְנֵי הֵיכַל יְהוָה: אַחֲרֵי הַגְלוֹת נְבוּכַדְרֶאצַּר מֶלֶךְ-בָּבֶל אֶת-יְכָנְיָהוּ בֶן-יְהוֹיָקִים מֶלֶךְ-יְהוּדָה וְאֶת-שָׂרֵי יְהוּדָה וְאֶת-הֶחָרָשׁ וְאֶת-הַמַּסְגֵּר, מִירוּשָׁלִַם, וַיְבִאֵם, בָּבֶל.

equals 5777.

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1) Interestingly, there is an argument in the Midrash Hagadol in Bereishit as to the size of the width of the Tree of Life in the Garden of Eden. Ribbi Yehuda says it's the distance to travel for 400 years while Ribbi Me'ir says it's the distance to travel for 700 years. Perhaps, Ribbi Yehuda considers the Exodus from Egypt and receiving of the Torah the main path to the Tree of Life since those occurred after the 400-year Ketz promised to Avraham Avinu. And Ribbi Me'ir says that we will not have a path to the Tree of Life until the coming of Mashiah, which comes after the 700-year Ketz.

2) Interestingly, the Midrash starts off by saying how Ribbi Yishmael was calculating endtimes, including explicitly mentioning "עדן ועדנין מועד ומועדים", which perhaps shows that the 700 years that he uses is not an absolute, but can be used as a time to be factored into the calculation.  ויש לדחות.