5786 is Starting Off Wild

שופר is gematria 586.

Add the 100 Kolot from the first day of Rosh Hashana and the 100 Kolot from the second day of Rosh Hashana and you get 786 - corresponding to the year 5786.

Before blowing Shofar, Sepharadim recite the piyut ה' בקול שופר.

Note how the entire piyut talks about Mashiah, but this stanza talks about the Ketz of Mashiah being revealed:

ה' בְּקוֹל שׁוֹפָר יְגַלֶּה קֵץ וּזְמַן

עֵת יִתְקַע וְהָלַךְ בְּסַעֲרוֹת תֵּימָן

וּמַלְכוּת הָרִשְׁעָה אֲזַי תִּהְיֶה פְרוּעָה

עָלָה אֱלֹהִים בִּתְרוּעָה ה' בְּקוֹל שׁוֹפָר

So the Ketz of Mashiah is revealed in the Kol of the Shofar.  Does that possibly mean the 200 Kolot we said on Rosh Hashana plus the gematria of Shofar - 586?

Note also how this stanza talks about the סערות תימן - referring to Zecharia 9:14 at the time of the Teki'a.  On the second day of Rosh Hashana, when shofarot were being heard, Yemen struck Eilat and injured over 20 people.  The next day, Israel struck back against the Houthis' military targets in Yemen.  Sounds like סערות תימן to me.

Meanwhile, in the Mediterranean, Italy (and Spain) have sent warships to aid the flotilla that is headed to Gaza.  וְצִים מִיַּד כִּתִּים, anyone?

May we all be blessed with Mashiah's arrival speedily and with mercy in 5786.

All Alone

CNN:

Netanyahu admits Israel faces prolonged ‘isolation’ over war in Gaza

Bamidbar 23:9: 

ט  כִּי-מֵרֹאשׁ צֻרִים אֶרְאֶנּוּ, וּמִגְּבָעוֹת אֲשׁוּרֶנּוּ:  הֶן-עָם לְבָדָד יִשְׁכֹּן, וּבַגּוֹיִם לֹא יִתְחַשָּׁב.

9 For from the top of the rocks I see him, and from the hills I behold him: lo, it is a people that shall dwell alone, and shall not be reckoned among the nations.

This verse has always been a part of who we are.  But in a sense, it is also a part of who we are destined to be.  This verse is both a Jewish obligation and the reality of how we are treated by others.

We use this verse to show how the Jewish people are separate and should be separate from the nations.  And that we don't count among them.  That is very true.

However, it also is a prophecy whereby we are ostracized and isolated by the global community - for better or for worse.  At first glance, it seems that it's for the worse, but I claim that it's for the better.

The gematria of הֶן-עָם לְבָדָד יִשְׁכֹּן, וּבַגּוֹיִם לֹא יִתְחַשָּׁב, when using 600 for the Final Mems and 700 for the Final Nuns comes out to 3823.  More on that soon.

The Midrash Rabba on the beginning of the verse says:

“For from the top of precipices I will see it” – this is to inform of the hatred of that wicked one, as from his blessings, you ascertain his thoughts. To what is the matter comparable? It is to a person who comes to chop down a tree. One who is not expert, cuts each and every branch and exhausts himself. But the clever man exposes the roots and cuts. So that wicked one said: ‘Why should I curse each and every tribe? I will go to their root.’ He came to harm them, but found that they were hard. That is why he said: “For from the top of precipices I will see it.”
Another matter, “for from the top [of precipices]” – these are the patriarchs; “and from the hills” – these are the matriarchs.

(And Rashi on this verse summarizes this Midrash as well.)  

In other words, Bil'am tried to harm the Jews from their roots, but found the roots to be solid.  And who are the roots of the Jewish people?  The Avot and Imahot, the first of whom are Avraham and Sarah.

Avraham, the founder of our nation was himself an עם לבדד - alone in his beliefs in relation to the rest of the world.  According to some, he recognized Hashem's uniqueness as the only G-d in the world at age 3.  But he could not become an עם - a nation - until 10 years later at age 13, his Bar Mitzvah.  (And we know that Avraham Avinu kept all the Mitzvot so being a Bar Mitzvah was significant.)

If Avraham was born in the year 1948 from Creation, then the year of his Bar Mitzvah was 1961.  

Sarah was born in the year 1958 from Creation, but, like Rivka after her, did not reach early womanhood and become eligible for marriage until age 3, again in the year 1961.  (Sources tell us that Sarah actually got married to Avraham later when she was age 15.)

So the beginning of the verse tells us that the צרים and גבעות refer to the Avot and Imahot, of whom Avraham and Sarah are the first.  And Avraham became a nation and Sarah became an early woman in 1961.  Add the 3823 from the gematria of the second half of the verse and we get 5784, the year of the October 7th Massacre.  That was the year when we ironically started becoming more isolated from the world in our beliefs and this isolation only increased ever since.  Eradicating evil should not be controversial.  And yet, Israel finds itself almost alone in this war.  It seems as if Hashem is moving us closer to an Avraham-style isolationism of thought and beliefs.  And this is a good thing for the Jews (not so for the rest of the world).

Why is it good? Because it shows the difference between the moral clarity of the (majority of the) Jews in Israel and the utter depravity of the nations.  It's similar to what the Apter Rebbe ZTVK"L says about how the Jewish nation gets merits on every January 1st.  This is because Hashem sees how Jews behave on our New Year and how the nations behave on their New Year. 

Another verse that contains the words אראנו and אשורנו comes a chapter later:

יז  אֶרְאֶנּוּ וְלֹא עַתָּה, אֲשׁוּרֶנּוּ וְלֹא קָרוֹב; דָּרַךְ כּוֹכָב מִיַּעֲקֹב, וְקָם שֵׁבֶט מִיִּשְׂרָאֵל, וּמָחַץ פַּאֲתֵי מוֹאָב, וְקַרְקַר כָּל-בְּנֵי-שֵׁת.

17 I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not nigh; there shall step forth a star out of Jacob, and a scepter shall rise out of Israel, and shall smite through the corners of Moab, and break down all the sons of Seth.

This verse is referring to Mashiah's era.  Once the עם לבדד process is complete, Mashiah cannot be far behind.  May we witness his coming very soon.

1957 Years

 Bereishit 15:5:

ה  וַיּוֹצֵא אֹתוֹ הַחוּצָה, וַיֹּאמֶר הַבֶּט-נָא הַשָּׁמַיְמָה וּסְפֹר הַכּוֹכָבִים--אִם-תּוּכַל, לִסְפֹּר אֹתָם; וַיֹּאמֶר לוֹ, כֹּה יִהְיֶה זַרְעֶךָ.

5 And He brought him forth abroad, and said: 'Look now toward heaven, and count the stars, if thou be able to count them'; and He said unto him: 'So shall thy seed be.'

Hashem asks Avraham Avinu to count the stars in Shamayim and compares them to his descendants - the Jewish people.

On a deeper level, however, perhaps, we can say that Hashem was asking Avraham Avinu to count the word "הכוכבים" - meaning to count the gematria of הכוכבים, which equals 103.

A couple notes:

1. The word וספר is the first word in the Torah where a word with the Shoresh of ספר - meaning to count - appears in the Torah.  (The word in Bereishit 5:1 doesn't seem to mean "to count".)
2. The word הכוכבים is the first word in the Torah with the gematria of 103.

How is the number 103 significant?

We recently experienced Tish'a Be'av, when we commemorated the destruction of the 2nd Beit Hamikdash, the start of our current Galut.  According to traditional Jewish sources, the destruction occurred in the year 68 CE, כמנין חיים (3828).  (Others put the date 1 or 2 years later, but I'm going with the traditional Jewish sources.)

That means that we have been in Galut for 1957 years.  Many synagogues actually recite the number of years since the destruction at the end of Kinot on the night of Tish'a Be'av.

1957 is a multiple of 19, which we know is a significant number when it comes to counting years.  The מחזור הקטן - the calendrical 19-year cycle is how we reconcile the lunar to solar calendars.

So how many 19-year cycles have we experienced since the חורבן (the destruction of the Beit Hamikdash)?  Exactly 103.

Perhaps, Hashem was asking Avraham Avinu to count הכוכבים - to count 103 19-year cycles of Galut.  אם תוכל לספר אתם - if Avraham Avinu could bear counting such a long period of time of Galut without experiencing sadness due to its length.  And only then, כה יהיה זרעך - will the Jewish people be the powerhouse of a people that we were meant to be.

ו  וְהֶאֱמִן, בַּיהוָה; וַיַּחְשְׁבֶהָ לּוֹ, צְדָקָה.

6 And he believed in the LORD; and He counted it to him for righteousness.

Then, Avraham Avinu not only had the Emuna in Hashem, but והאמן - which is לשון הפעיל - he gave over this Emuna to his descendants to wait these 1957 years, always longing for the Geula.  And as he foresaw that the Jewish people may not be deserving of Geula, ויחשבה לו צדקה - he foresaw that this Geula is considered a Tzedaka - charity from Hashem even though we may not deserve it.  And that the only possible merit we have is due to our Emuna in the Geula, which was bequeathed to us by Avraham.

May we experience it very soon.

Mamdani and Korah

Rabbi Pini Dunner compares New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani (YM"S) and Korah.

He writes:

Mamdani is reading straight from Korach’s script — only the costume has changed. He doesn’t want to improve New York; he wants to dismantle it. He doesn’t seek to reform flawed systems; he seeks to uproot and replace them with a radical ideology that divides rather than unites. To him, opponents aren’t fellow citizens with different ideas — they’re villains in a moral crusade.

...

And in the end, just like Korach, populists like Mamdani always go down with the ship they set ablaze.

Interestingly enough, the gematria of זוהרן ממדאני (with the final nun as 700) is 1063.

The only Pasuk in the Torah with the gematria of 1063 is Shemot 6:21:

כא  וּבְנֵי, יִצְהָר--קֹרַח וָנֶפֶג, וְזִכְרִי.

21 And the sons of Izhar: Korah, and Nepheg, and Zichri.

which is the first Pasuk in the Torah that mentions Korah.

Shmulik Sukkot - Beota Hashaa

From the words of Rebbe Elimelech of Lizhensk

I Hope We Won't Need to Qom Back to Fordow

Although we are hearing conflicting reports, the preliminary report is that the Fordow nuclear facility is B"H destroyed.  We'll have to wait for the final assessment, but we hope that that is the case.  However, before the underground facility was known by its closest town of Fordow (population of 839 as of 10 years ago), it was known by its closest metropolis - Qom (population almost 1.4 million).

So, back in 2009, right before Yom Kippur, I wrote a post on how Qom was similar to the Hebrew word קום (Kum).  I noted that Haman was referred to (Megilla 11a) in the verse לולא ה' שהיה לנו בקום עלינו אדם.  Similarly, Iran threatened us with Qom.

Two days later, on the day after Yom Kippur, I wrote another post with some more verses:

Yonah 1:6:

מַה-לְּךָ נִרְדָּם; קוּם, קְרָא אֶל-אֱלֹהֶיךָ

Drash: Why are you sleeping, O world? Qom is being built! Go call out to your G-d!

And another verse that we can understand much better now:

Tehillim 36:13:

שָׁם נָפְלוּ, פֹּעֲלֵי אָוֶן; דֹּחוּ, וְלֹא-יָכְלוּ קוּם

Drash: There the workers of iniquity have fallen. They have been thrust down, and they were not able to build weapons at Qom.

And then in 2012, Rav Fish quoted someone who compared it to Amos 5:6:

נָפְלָה לֹא-תוֹסִיף קוּם, בְּתוּלַת יִשְׂרָאֵל

which as the gemara in Berachot 4b writes, can be interpreted in 2 ways:

1) Virgin of Israel has fallen and will never arise (Has Veshalom)

2) Israel has fallen, but will fall no more.  Arise, oh Virgin of Israel!

Before this past Shabbat, it was in doubt which interpretation would take effect (until Mashiah, of course).  After this past Shabbat, with Hashem's help, it seems clear that the 2nd interpretation will take effect.  We had fallen on October 7th, but we have risen again and again until the nuclear facility in Qom was destroyed.

Another verse comes to mind:

ח  בְּשֶׁצֶף קֶצֶף, הִסְתַּרְתִּי פָנַי רֶגַע מִמֵּךְ, וּבְחֶסֶד עוֹלָם, רִחַמְתִּיךְ--אָמַר גֹּאֲלֵךְ, יְהוָה.

8 In a little wrath I hid My face from thee for a moment; but with everlasting kindness will I have compassion on thee, saith the LORD thy Redeemer.

May this continue to be true with the coming of Mashiah speedily in our days.

Elam's Destruction

Of course, we should all be praying for אחינו כל בית ישראל הנתונים בצרה ובשביה. May HKB"H save all of us from all types of trials and tribulations, including Iranian missles.

 Yirmiya 49:34-39:

לד  אֲשֶׁר הָיָה דְבַר-יְהוָה אֶל-יִרְמְיָהוּ הַנָּבִיא, אֶל-עֵילָם:  בְּרֵאשִׁית, מַלְכוּת צִדְקִיָּה מֶלֶךְ-יְהוּדָה--לֵאמֹר.	34 The word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning Elam in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, saying:
לה  כֹּה אָמַר יְהוָה צְבָאוֹת, הִנְנִי שֹׁבֵר אֶת-קֶשֶׁת עֵילָם, רֵאשִׁית, גְּבוּרָתָם.	35 Thus saith the LORD of hosts: behold, I will break the bow of Elam, the chief of their might.
לו  וְהֵבֵאתִי אֶל-עֵילָם אַרְבַּע רוּחוֹת, מֵאַרְבַּע קְצוֹת הַשָּׁמַיִם, וְזֵרִתִים, לְכֹל הָרֻחוֹת הָאֵלֶּה; וְלֹא-יִהְיֶה הַגּוֹי, אֲשֶׁר לֹא-יָבוֹא שָׁם נִדְּחֵי עולם עֵילָם.	36 And I will bring against Elam the four winds from the four quarters of heaven, and will scatter them toward all those winds; and there shall be no nation whither the dispersed of Elam shall not come.
לז  וְהַחְתַּתִּי אֶת-עֵילָם לִפְנֵי אֹיְבֵיהֶם וְלִפְנֵי מְבַקְשֵׁי נַפְשָׁם, וְהֵבֵאתִי עֲלֵיהֶם רָעָה אֶת-חֲרוֹן אַפִּי--נְאֻם-יְהוָה; וְשִׁלַּחְתִּי אַחֲרֵיהֶם אֶת-הַחֶרֶב, עַד כַּלּוֹתִי אוֹתָם.	37 And I will cause Elam to be dismayed before their enemies, and before them that seek their life; and I will bring evil upon them, even My fierce anger, saith the LORD; and I will send the sword after them, till I have consumed them;
לח  וְשַׂמְתִּי כִסְאִי, בְּעֵילָם; וְהַאֲבַדְתִּי מִשָּׁם מֶלֶךְ וְשָׂרִים, נְאֻם-יְהוָה.	38 And I will set My throne in Elam, and will destroy from thence king and princes, saith the LORD.
לט  וְהָיָה בְּאַחֲרִית הַיָּמִים, אשוב אָשִׁיב אֶת-שבית שְׁבוּת עֵילָם--נְאֻם-יְהוָה.  {פ}	39 But it shall come to pass in the end of days, that I will bring back the captivity of Elam, saith the LORD. {P}

Let's go Pasuk by Pasuk.

34: Hashem is telling Yirmiyahu Hanavi what will be the fate of Elam. Elam is part of the area known today as Iran.

35: Keshet Elam - Rashi says 2 explanations:

1) Elam's hope

2) Elam's strength

Both can apply to Iran's nukes.

Metzudat David says that they use their bow (and arrow) as their main strength.  This is, in modern terminology, ballistic missiles to deliver the nukes, לא עלינו.  It also shows their religious relationship to Yishmael, who was also an archer (see Bereishit 21:20).

36: The 4 winds - Targum Yonatan says that it refers to 4 kings.  We so far only see Israel entering the conflict.  Will the US join?  Any others?

And there shall be no nation... - perhaps it's referring to Tehran itself, where there is a mass exodus of people trying to flee the capital city.  Or perhaps, it refers to the whole country and we haven't seen this yet.

37: No explanation needed.

38: And I will set My throne in Elam - from Israel's amazing first strike of the war, it was proven without a doubt that Hashem is in charge.

King and princes - Princes - yes.  King - not yet.

39: End of days - This year?

The captivity of Elam - the people of Elam will return to be ruled by Mashiah instead of Ayatollahs.

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Iran is the "head of the octopus", as Naftali Bennett and others like to say.  Similarly, when the 4 kings fought against the 5 kings in Bereishit chapter 14, Chedorla'omer the King of Elam was the main guy in the war.  As Rashi points out, he was נכנס בעובי הקורה - he carried the heaviest part of the beam - i.e. he had the most responsibility.

Eventually, Avraham Avinu and team demolished his whole army.  Any similarities to what's happening today are purely coincidental ;-)  

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Note that the Cosmic Clock on the sidebar of the page has reached 12:50 PM on Friday afternoon.  Note that the destruction of Iraq began in 1991 when the Cosmic Clock was at or near 12:00 noon.  And the destruction of Iran has begun around the time when the Cosmic Clock turned to 12:50 PM.

If 50 minutes is a period of Bein Hashemashot in the USA according to Rav Moshe Feinstein ZT"L, and is therefore the largest Bein Hashemashot period for the vast majority of World Jewry, then we can understand why there is a 50-minute difference between the sunsets of 2 of the 4 Malchuyot.  Hopefully, we won't need to wait long for the rest.

For further reading of the topics discussed in this post, see here, here, and here.