The 10-Week Plan
There was a blogpost 9 years ago on Geula Perspectives that pointed to a Maharsha on Mo'ed Katan 28a who talked about Shavuot in relation to the 25th of Adar.
The Maharsha said that the world was created on the 25th of Adar (according to one opinion) and that Shavuot is 70 days later. These 70 days correspond to the years of a person's life, per the verse in Tehillim. The first 20 days correspond to childhood and the next 50 - adulthood. Lag Ba'omer corresponds to 2/3rds the way to completion and Shavuot corresponds to completion.
Ari Goldwag from Geula Perspectives adds that just as we know that the 7 weeks of Sefirat Ha'omer corresponds to the 7 lower sefirot, the 3 weeks prior to Pesah correspond to Keter, Hochma, and Binah. In Ari's words from 9 years ago:
Whatever happened in the last week of Adar is being brought down into the world, being revealed - culminating in Shavuos. The final week of the count, which we now find ourselves in, represents a full reflection (malchus) of the first week. It is a full development of what happened in the last week of Adar. The 'baby' that was conceived starting from Rosh Chodesh Av of last year, and was labored with and born in the last week of Adar - it now develops through another process into something greater which is revealed on Shavuos in its completion.This year, Shabbat Parashat Vayakhel-Pekudei fell out on the 25th of Adar. This was the first Shabbat that many of us were away from synagogues. I'm aware that each community is different and there are even differences of opinion within each community.
Here, in Chicago, we received a notice on the 21st of Adar, just 4 days prior to the 25th, that all synagogues should close. Then, last week, we received 2 differing versions by 2 rabbinic organizations whether we are ready or not to open synagogues yet. Like the students of Hillel and Shamai, both organizations have a great amount of respect for the opinions of the other.
This difference of opinion has led to some synagogues having had opened already, some being in the process of opening, and some not quite ready to open. The median opening time seems to be around Shavuot.
If the week where the synagogues closed down corresponds to Keter (corona), what does Shavuot have in store? Have we reached our completion?
posted by yaak @ 5/24/2020 02:35:00 PM
1 comments
1 Comments:
I believe the heat wave, followed by the blessing of rain on the last day of Iyar (as I posted) are simanim from Shamayim that the “most” if Not Alll of the disease is removed or being eradicated from ISRAEL. In Chu”l it will take a while longer, as expected. But it’s definitely on the way out. About the Shuls, it depends on the size and spacing of seating, and the ventilation which is very important. Usually when one is davening in a smaller shul, after a while one can smell and breathe the breath of the total mispallelim. That’s why the ventilation is crucial as men come back to shul.
The BIG point to all of this is still the Teshuva expected from all Jews. Since we have no Direct notification of “WHY” this occurred, each one of us, I believe, is to do his/her own heshbon ha Nefesh.
PS the trajectory of any pandemic follows a certain curve, a Gaussian curve, no matter how one deals with it. The only safety feature is isolation, as was done in Teveria in 1786. The 1918 pandemic was complicated by soldiers moving all over the world during and after the war and the lack of any cleanliness.
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