#72 - Lashes of Kindness

Thought of writing this post in the last day or two, but as Hashgacha Pratit/Divine Providence had it, I didn't write it until tonight. You see, I already thought of the title to this blog, but little did I know a little earlier how much of a significance this would represent. To my great sorrow, today on Monday afternoon, the world lost a most holy and beloved saint Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu ZTVK"L - may the memory of the righteous and holy be for a blessing. Thank G-d, I was fortunate to hear him speak, meet him in person and shake his hands since I made Aliyah. I found out the sad news a little too late - only via the internet, several hours after I had attended a Simcha in the Old City of Jerusalem, as he was to be buried tonight in the Har HaMenuchot cemetery on the outskirts of Jerusalem, while I live south of Jerusalem.

While I am not here to make a whole eulogy about a rabbi who made such an impact on Jews by his sense of unity of all segments of Jews in the religion pyramid, there is something that was not mentioned in the various articles that I read this evening about his passing. Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu was the one responsible for requesting Yaakov "Ketzeleh" Katz to head the National Union party in the Knesset which resulted in four seats, which is currently the ONLY party not afraid to speak the truth about what is really happening in Israel thanks to the corruption of the system - government, courts, and police. It is not all that surprising how Rabbi Eliayhu knew the good choice to make, as he already had a good track record of fighting as a pro-Israel activist which landed him in 10 months in Israeli prison in the early 1950s and had no fear declaring that soldiers were forbidden to take part in the expulsion of Jews from Gush Katif, despite his close political ties, including his former post as Sephardic Chief Rabbi of Israel (1983-1993) which is a position that is paid by the government.

But perhaps what he was most popular for in the long run was his great kindness for Jews. Among the many such stories, it was far from beneath his dignity to visit Jonathan Pollard in a North Carolina prison for several times, and offered to the previous few U.S. presidents to be in prison in lieu of Jonathan Pollard, something that few others would dare to even think of doing. Jonathan Pollard, a hero to Israel (and yes, he is also an American hero whether the United States wants to admit it or not!) for revealing secrets of nuclear threats to Israel that the United States was obligated to reveal to Israel but didn't do so, was betrayed by the Israeli government who refused to grant him asylum and handed him over into the arms of the FBI which claimed that he revealed these secrets for "monetary gain", and the U.S. court took advantage of his plea bargain to give him a life sentence when his one count of giving classified information should have landed him in prison with no more than 2-4 years according to American law.

And as a piece of Gematria which perfectly fits with the lifestory of Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu, there are 13 Midot Rachamim/Divine Attributes of Mercy of how Hashem treats the Jewish people with mercy. The sixth one (according to the count of the great Kabbalist Rabbi Isaac Luria, also known as the Arizal) is Rav Chesed - Abundant in Kindness. As mentioned in the Chasidic Sefer called Bnei Yissaschar which are Torah thoughts about Shabbat and the Jewish holidays, in reference to Mordechai of the Purim story, the name Mordechai is the Gematria of Rav Chesed - 274.
Just as Mordechai of the Purim story truly embodied this principle of how well he treated the Jewish people as related in the final verse of Megillat Esther/Book of Esther, so did today's Mordechai - HaRAV Mordechai Eliyahu emboddy this principle. In short - the rabbi (or Rav) of kindness. And indeed, as this is my 72th post, Chesed/Kindness is the Gematria of 72.

It was months ago when Rabbi Eliyahu had told family members that his suffering of sickness and pain was an atonement for the Jewish people to spare them of suffering, as the righteous suffer in this world as an atonement for Jews. Indeed, it can be said that he was willing to suffer LASHES on all of our behalf as a KINDNESS for us.

But interestingly, when I thought of writing this post with the title "Lashes of Kindess", which I had originally planned to write a couple of nights ago, but it didn't quite work out as I knew that I would have to travel early the next morning, and for some other reason, it didn't work out last night, I had in mind about the current tractate of the Babylonian Talmud studied in the program of Daf Yomi, the worldwide daily study of a double sided page of Talmud, which began starting this past Motzoei Shabbat/Saturday night, called Makkot, which means blows, referring to the lashes that was administered by a Beit Din/Jewish court to a sinner, as discussed in this tractate. Personally, I feel a special connection to this tractate, because the name of this tracatate - Makkot - is the Gematria of my first name Shimon - 466!

Anyways, whether the sinner who was granted lashes wanted to admit it or not, these lashes were actually LASHES OF KINDNESS. You see, the actual word for lashes, which is Malkut, make up the same letters that read Mavet Kal - light death. In actually, whenever anyone does a Aveira/sin, he or she technically deserves death as that sinner disobeyed the King of Kings. However, Hashem in his great kindness will quite often grant punishments in lieu of death to 1) hint to the sinner that he/she did something wrong, who will hopefully figure it out, 2) be an atonement in lieu of death or Gehinnom/Purgatory, and 3) give one a chance to do it right the coming time.

With this being said, the sinner should have considered himself very lucky that he was only granted lashes, despite the pain, blood, and torn skin that he incurred, because the Beit Din granted far heavier punishments to other types of sinners - including one of four methods of execution. In fact, one who already incurred lashes on two separate occasions by the Beit Din was put in prison on his third offense, only to be fed barley to make his stomach burst, and would die instantly. I guess you can call this instant barleymeal, similar to the instant oatmeal brand.



OUTLINE OF TRACTATE MAKKOT


Tractate Makkot consists of three chapters, each of which focus on a particular subject:

Chapter One - False witnesses - in this context, called Eidim Zomemin - who attempted to have someone punished by the court, and are oftentimes granted the punishment they attempted to have granted to the innocent subject. If for certain reasons, a type of punishement could not be granted to these false witnesses as learned out from the Torah, then they were granted lashes instead.

Chapter Two - Cities of refuge that served to protect one who accidentally killed another, and remained in the city of refuge that he fled to until the death of the current Cohen Gadol/High Priest

Chapter Three - Lashes for the listed sins mentioned in the beginning of this chapter.



CONNECTON OF TRACTATE MAKKOT TO PREVIOUS TRACTATE SANHEDRIN


It seems that according to some, Tractate Makkot may have originally been part of Tractate Sanhedrin, as this brief tractate of 23 Dafim (double sided pages) in effect
mentions other punishments as related to Tractate Sanhedrin that discusses monetary cases and capital punishment. It's most interesting to note that in the second Mishna of Tractate Sanhedrin, in the midst of listing the amount of judges needed for any given type of issue to be judged by the court, it mentions that Makkot, referring to lashes, was judged by a panel of three judges, and it was quoted in Rabbi Yishmael's name that it was a panel of 23 judges. Lo and behold - Tractate Makkot consists of three chapters and 23 Dafim.

In any case, the beginning of Tractate Makkot mentions the exceptional case of false witnesses of being granted a different punishment than the one they sought to give to the innocent subject, rather than the usual case of being granted the same punishment. In this scenario, they claimed that one whose father is a Cohen has a mother who has the status of being a Gerusha/divorced woman, which is forbidden in marriage to a Cohen, and any children issuing from such a union disqualifies their children and future descendants from having the status of a Cohen. The reason for beginning the tractate or chapter with an exceptional case is because it parallels the last Mishna of the previous Tractate Sanhedrin (as listed in the Mishnayot but not the Talmud where the last two chapters are reversed) where it mentions that the daughter of a Cohen who committed adultery was subject to death by burning, but the one who slept with her was sentenced to death by strangulation as well as false witnesses who falsely claimed in court that a daughter of a Cohen committed adultery which was not true, in which they also received the strangulation death penalty which differed from the burning death penalty that she would have received had she not been saved at the last minute by witnesses who disproved these false witnesses.

Looking a little more closely, there is another parallel between the last Mishna of Sanhedrin & the first Mishna of Makkot. Both of them mention a case of one who is a child of a Cohen. Moreover - the first letters of the first three words of Tractate Makkot, of the question Keitzad HaEidim Na'asin Zomemin "How do the witnesses become plotting witnesses?" - these three letters spell the word Cohen - Caf, Hei, Noon! Is there an underlying spiritual message here?



MAGIC MEM IS BACK!

In my 40th post, I had mentioned numerous similarities that shared the letter Mem, which is the Gematria of 40, when I was in my 40th year. Accordingly, I am now 40 years old, which means I have lived 40 years on Planet Earth. There are numerous words here in connection with the Sanhedrin and the various penalties that they meted out to sinners that all begin with the letter Mem.

As I began this post writing about two great Tzadikim/righteous people whose names was Mordechai, the Mordechai of the Purim story was part of the Sanhedrin in his time. All the names of the Mitzvot of Purim begin with a Mem - 1) Megillat Esther - Reading the Booking of Esther, 2) Matanot L'Evyonim - Gift of money to two poor people, 3) Mishloach Manot - Gifts of two foods to someone, 4) Ma'achal & Mishteh - Food and Drink - the festive meal eaten during the daytime of Purim. This is bearing in mind that the word Mitzva/Commandment begins with a Mem.

And so you wonder, what is the significance here of the letter Mem as it relates to Purim? Read on...

Now let's get to the punishments that the Sanhedrin or Beit Din meted out to sinners, or requirements that they obligated litigants to:
1)Mitot - The four death penalties - stoning, burning, decapitation, and strangulation, the subject of which makes up most of the latter half of Tractate Sanhedrin.
2)Malkut or Makkot - Lashes
3)Mammon - Money that one owes his opposing litigant or is levied on him as a fine
4)Miklat - Cities of refuge that one who killed someone accidentally had to flee to, which would protect him legally from being killed by a relative of the one whom he killed.

So, am I implying a connection here between the Mitzvot of Purim, and the punishments of the Jewish court?

Indeed, the bridge between these two subjects is Mordechai. The Jews in his time spritually fell prey to the assimilation of the gentiles due to which they were nearly exterminated by Haman. It was only when at his behest that upon fasting for three days with a sincere repentence did Hashem arrange things to remove the evil decree of extermination from them. In any case, instead of his usual stance as Sanhedrin member to simply punish sinners, he felt great compassion for his people.

The Talmud in Tractate Megilla tells us that the Jews in the Purim story reaffirmed what they accepted at the giving of the Torah. The meaning behind this is that originally, the Jews in the time of Moshe Rabbeinu - whose name starts with a Mem - were in fact forced to receive the Torah, which was specifically the Oral Torah which was not written down in the nice Bible book; and towards this end, Hashem lifted up Mt. Sinai on them which would kill them if they would not accept everything without exception. Whether this happened literally, or in a figurative sense, what is clear is that the Jews felt they had no choice at that time about receiving the Torah, though they were willing to accept the Torah far more than all the other nations.

The Jews in the time of Purim, following the near extermination of Haman, were more than happy afterwards to reaccept the Torah. In demonstration of this, they were granted special Mitzvot of Purim to display this great happiness, which was instituted by Mordechai - whose name starts with a Mem - & the Sanhedrin of which Mordechai was a part of, representing the Oral Torah that is handed down from rabbis from one generation to the next.

And as the direction connection of Jews with the letter Mem, a few days before they were to receive the Torah, Hashem called them Mamlechet Cohanim - a kingdom of priests. The first two letters of Mamlechet - kindgom of, spells the name of the letter Mem. Hence, with this kingly status as beginning with the word Mem, the Jews now had the power to fulfill their maximum potential by performing Mitzvot & Ma'asim Tovim/good actions, both which start with the letter Mem.

Yes, gentiles throughout the centuries have plotted against and accused Jews - the Mamlechet Cohanim - just as the plotting witnesses who give false witness such as in the case of the son or daughter of a Cohen, of all types of crimes that they themselves were guilty of, including the blood libels accusing us of murdering a Christian boy for blood in making Matzot. However, when we truly behave as a Mamlechet Cohanim, then Hashem will go out of His way so to speak to defend this title of ours and then as the verse continues V'Goy Kadosh "and a holy nation". While it may seem ironic that we are called a holy Goy, as this word Goy normally refers to non-Jews, it is we who are the true HOLY nation, while the gentiles may pretend that they are living holy lives praying to G-d and...Jesus - in whose name, did these "saints" (such as St.____) murder millions of Jews for almost two thousand years.



UNIQUENESS OF NUMBER FOUR DURING THIS PAST SHABBAT


Last year, I wrote in Post #32 about the Mitzva of Tzitzit, wearing fringes on each corner of a FOUR cornered garment, which is at the end of the FOURTH Parsha - Shlach, of the FOURTH Sefer of the Torah - Bamidbar. Well, this year, the number four played an extra special role here.

Just as we have here the concept of the number four as it relates to Torah She'B'Tav/Written Torah; so too do we have the concept of the number four as it relates to Torah She'B'Al'Peh/Oral Torah. Would you belive it - on that same Shabbat day that we read Parshat Shlach - the FOURTH Parsha of the FOURTH Sefer of the Torah, Jews worldwide also learned the final Daf of Masechet Sanhedrin - the FOURTH tracate of Seder Nezikin - the FOURTH Seder/volume of the Talmud!

There is in fact a connection between Parshat Shlach & Masechet Sanhedrin. Near the end of Parshat Shlach, the one who gathered wood in violation of Shabbat was sentenced to death by stoning, the first and strictest of the FOUR deaths as meted out by the Sanhedrin. And in Masechet Sanhedrin, the FOURTH and final sinner listed who was slated for the FOURTH and last of the list of deaths meted out by the Sanhedrin was the Navi HaSheker - the false prophet, who either falsely claimed that Hashem told him a certain prophecy, or claimed a certain prophecy that in fact was revealed as prophecy to a different person. Where this is mentoned in Talmud Sanhedrin 89a at the beginning of the Mishna, the very end of the Mishna (Note: In the Mishnayot text, this is dealt as two Mishna paragraphs) mentions the case of the daughter of a Cohen, to which there is a parallel case in the beginning of Tractate Makkot pertaining to false witnesses who attempted to have someone's status be demoted for something that was not true. And if this was not enough, the Daf Yomi of Sanhedrin 89 was learnt on Yom Yerushalayim/Jerusalem Day of this year, which began the 44th year from the liberation of the holiest area in the world of the Temple grounds, on which there were three groups of Jewish courts, including the Sanhedrin. Yes, I mentioned here the number 44 - a number that is spelled as a double four.

Now, the word Din/Law or Justice, as well as Dayan/Judge begins with the letter Dalet, which is the Gematria of FOUR. Similarly, Hashem as the Judge of Judges makes decisions about every single human as well as the rest of the living creatures and inanimate object of our planetary system. Accordingly, of the 10 Makkot - blows or plauges that Hashem wrought on the Egyptians, the first one was Dam/blood, which begins with a Dalet=4. And the Gematria of this word is 44, a number that spells the number FOUR twice. And who is the leader of today's world power? Obama, the
44th president of the United States! As I mentioned in Post #69, it seems that, may Hashem help us, in this 44th year of the liberation of Jerusalem and the Temple grounds that Obama, the 44th president of the United States, will have all the nations of the world fight Israel, particularly Jerusalem. In fact, my prediction unfortunately has been proven true since. John O. Brennan, deputy national security adviser for homeland security and counterterrorism, was given orders from Obama to help make trouble for Israel with the Hamas flotillas, as I was sent an E-mail about this! You will not find this out in virtually any media outlet, but the United States has already started war with Israel, about which very few Israelis or even the politicians in Israel know about or be willing to admit to.



LASHES OF KINDNESS?!


The one time in history that almost everyone will ask or exclaim this question is the Holocaust.

Now, before delving into this most sensitive subject, The Mishna in the last chapter of Tractate Berachot (means blessings) states that one is obligated to bless Hashem for the bad as he does for the good. The BIG question is the three letter word WHY?
For one who doesn't believe in Heaven or Hell, no answer will suffice. But one who believes in eternity and that after our short existance on earth, we will forever be rewarded or punished according to our level of good or evil deeds that we performed, the answer is very obvious, since Hashem in fact does good or kindness for us when he punishes us in this world instead of the future world. If anything, one should worry that if he "has it made", maybe Hashem is paying him off in this world for the good deeds he has done, only to find himself empty of reward in the world to come!

There is no denying that the Holocaust was virtually the worst thing perpretated on Jews and other mankind for that matter. True, there were major programs and Crusades that murdered tens of thousands of Jews as Christian mobs and crusaders were travelling from town to town, not even caring about enjoying family life and making love with their wives, as murdering Jews was the sweetest thing to them. However, the Holocaust combined modern technology to not only murder Jews in mass numbers, but the methods of murdering them - from simply shooting them with guns to burning them in the gas chambers while their screams pierced the walls of those fatal rooms.

It must be remembered that the Holocaust happened at a time that Jews were assimilated like crazy. As much as Hitler hated Jews, it was totally illogical from a business standpoint to take highly intellectual people who could boost the country's economy and instead decimate them, until it happened in Germany that one had a choice between paying a wheelbarrel of currency for a loaf of bread or shooting each other in the street due to the war.

No doubt that Hashem had a plan behind this. Yes, the gentiles in playing the roles that Hashem allowed them to perform to remind us that we are Jews went way too far. However, as even as it seems so illogical how Hashem allowed so many observant Jews and Jewish institutions to be done away with, it has to remembered that ultimately, Hashem wants quality from us, not just quantity; otherwise, we would be a billion Jews today like a billion Chinese. So, aside from all the cruel things that the Nazis did to some six million Jews, while it was a tremendous loss of teaching Torah to the next generation, this is not the first time that something of this scale took place, as when Rabbi Akiva's 24,000 students died in a short time because they had a lack of respect for each other, forcing him to teach Torah to only five students who were responsible for a good percentage of Torah learning to the next generation. Besides, Hashem warned us about the Holocaust, in the first half of Parshat Nitzavim.

Now, let's make a comparison here between the slated 6,000 years of this world's existance and the first 20 generations from Adam through Abraham, as is hinted in the
verse that states "These are the accounts of the heavens and the earth, WHEN HE (Hashem) CREATED THEM". The Hebrew word for the capitalized words here is B'Hibar'am, which when reread as letters in a different order, can be read as "through Abraham", that is, it was through his merit in particular that the world was created. With this being said, we can divide the slated 6,000 years of the world's existance into 20 parts, thus consisting of 300 years each.

Now, it states (Psalms 89:3) "The world was built through kindness". And as we mentioned here that it was in Abraham's merit that the world was created, it was Abraham who excelled in the trait of kindness.

Touching on Abraham's life, we learn in rabbinical sources that Abraham recognized Hashem at the age of three, following a stint of worshipping idols. Indeed, the Ba'al HaTurim, a commentary on the Chumash, states that where it says Eikev Asher Shama Avraham B'Koli - "Because Abraham listened to My voice" (Genesis 26:5), the word Eikev (because) is the Gematria of 172, as Abraham lived 175 years, but it was only at the age of three that he recognized Hashem, so only 172 years of his life was counted as far as spiritual progess was concerned.

Now that we mentioned that Abraham was the 20th generation from Adam & Eve, the 20th and final period of 300 years began from around the year 5700 from creation. And as we know, it was during the years 5700-5705, a most dark time in Jewish history, that the Holocaust took place.

Before explaining further, the truth is that Abraham was really supposed to live 180 years like his son Isaac was going to live. However, thanks to his evil grandson Esau, Hashem had Abraham leave this world five years earlier to avoid ending off his life being aggrevated from his grandson's behavior. Hence, the first three years of Abraham's life was 1/60th of his originally slated 180 years. Corresponding to this, the five years of the Holocaust was 1/60 and the first part of the last period of 300 years.

As the Midrash tells us, Ma'aseh Avot Siman L'Banim, "The deeds of the forefathers are a sign for their descendants". As Abraham's first three years was dark and devoid of true spirituality as coming from Hashem, so was the Holocaust period - a most dark time in the life of the Jewish people - which also wiped out much Jewish spiritualness.

As we believe in Judaism, martyrs who died as Jews go straight to Heaven in a special place that no one else can even touch. Abraham, the first Jew was also the first martyr when he was willing to rather be thrown into a burning furnace than deny Hashem's existance or worship idols. But he also represented the characteristic trait of kindness through which the world was created, which was what sustained the world until the Jews who accept the Torah in the future which would have meant that if not for this, then the world would turn back to total chaos.
In comparison to the Holocaust, as cruel as it was, the Torah does not change when it says that we thank Hashem for the bad as we do for the good. In this sense, the Holocaust was "Lashes of Kindness" - and it served as a warning for the remaining Jews among us to better our ways so we can merit eternal reward, but hopefully not in the same way as the martyrs who were turtured and murdered to reach that status.

Now, just as we find hints in the Torah, especially in the Chumash in terms of the Hidden Codes, about words being spelled in various ways - spelled backwards, spelled vertically, equidistant spelling, etc., so too, you can find words in the Talmud - the Oral Torah - that when their letters are rearranged or spelled backwards, they can hint to something. In my experience, I have already found this to work, such as in my 56th Post - "Time 4 Redemption", in which a word in Moshe's conversation with Hashem as recorded in the Talmud about not wanting to let the Jews know for how long they would suffer throughout the centuries, can be rearranged to spell "in 5770", to denote that the end of our troubles in exile is meant to end in this year! Similarly, in the very FIRST Daf of Tractate Makkot, the tractate that deals with lashes and cities of refuge to which an accident killer was exiled to for the duration of the life of the Cohen Gadol, there is a word that can be spelled backwards to also spell a Hebrew year. The word Hashata/imposition when spelled backwards - Hei Tav Shin Hei - spells the Hebrew year 5705, the year in which the Holocaust ended.

In the context of the Talmud, when one's ox gored a person to death, the Beit Din levied an amount on the owner of the ox to pay the family of the victim, which was to be the value, according to most of the rabbis, of the victim (unlike the view of Rabbi Yishmael who says that it is supposed to be the value of the owner of the ox).
This is learned out from another section in the same Parsha where a woman miscarried due to two guys fighting, in the midst of which one mistruck a blow, hitting the pregnant woman instead of his boxing fighting match. In both cases, the Torah uses a word that is the terminology of Hashatah/imposition, that is, an amount of money that the Beit Din levies on the damager, and since in the case of the pregnant woman,
the puncher pays the woman based on the value of the fetus that he caused her to loose, so too according to these rabbis, the owner of the ox pays the victim's family based on the value of the victim.

Thus, the concept of Hashata - the Beit Din levying an amount that the bully pays the victim or his/her family, represents the concept of Hashem judging the Anti-Semitic nations at the conclusion of their damage to the Jewish people. Just as the Salvation Army stepped in and Hitler committed suicide, the Holocaust was over, and the Jews were given financial support, starting with basic food supplies after being starved in the concentration camps to get back on their feet, and were given accomodations in the refuge camps until they were given the green light to travel to their ultimate country of destination, most of whom either moved to Israel or the United States. Hashem Himself, who orchestrated the Holocaust which was grossly taken advantage of by the cruel Nazis, made it up to the Jewish nation, and allowed Israel to be a country where Jews from all over the world could feel free to move to, having their own country, instead of continued rulership from the Romans to the British, the latter who were hardly better than the Nazis, and hung many Jews on the gallows in Israel, while keeping many more in prison. And in more recent years, Germany itself has been paying reparations money to Holocaust survivors.

It has been said that the 5708th verse in the Torah, as hinting to the establishment of the State of Israel, is the verse (Deutronomy 30:3): "Hashem your G-d will return your captives, and grant you mercy; He will return and gather you from all the nations where Hashem your G-d has scattered you there". Now, while it does mention about Hashem gathering us and taking us out of exile, it doesn't mention specifically about coming to Israel. And indeed, as there are 5,845 verses in the Torah, it didn't take long for me to figure out that this verse is actually the
5705th verse of the Torah, corresponding to the year 5705 (1945) when Hashem took us out of the exile of the Holocaust and started the process of gathering us to prepare us for home! As mentioned in Rashi, it's a process of redemption, which parallels the redemption from Egypt, but it would be 40 years before the Jews would enter Israel. Indeed, the Jewish captives of the Holocaust who were pajama like clothing representing their captive status, were finally freed of that status in 5705, just as this 5705th verse indicates!



TODAY'S HITLER

While there are a few Anti-Semitic leaders of countries who are sure candidates to qualify for the Hitler title, there is one in particular that I would give the Hitler award to. But first, let's write a bit about Hitler himself.

There is a well known Torah thought about Hitler being hinted to in the Torah. When Hashem tells Moshe to bring the plague of darkness on Egypt, He says V'Yamesh Choshech "The darkness will be felt". Now, when you take the word V'Yamesh "will be felt", and you look for the Hebrew letter before the letters of this word, that is, the letters before Vav-Yud-Mem-Shin spelling V'Yamesh are Hei-Teit-Lamed-Reish which spell Hitler! Yes, the Holocaust under the control of Hitler was a most dark time in Jewish history.

I found another place in the Torah - the only such place in the entire Tanach/Bible -
where Hitler's name can be spelled. The last verse of Parshat Tazria (Leviticus 13:59), it states "This is the Torah law for a plague of Tzara'at ("leprosy") on a woolen or linen garment, the warp or the woof, or any utensils of skin, to delare it pure or impure". Now, the words in which Hitler's name can be spelled is Ohr L'Taharo "skin, to declare it pure" where Hitler's name can consecutively be spelled backwards. The connection? Hitler wanted what was called an "Aryan race", which hardly described Hitler himself, was the blond hair and light eyed type. Others who didn't fit this description weren't of the best race; but clearly to Hitler, Jews, blacks and gypsies were not of this description. Indeed, this is what was really called "ethnic cleaning", or "declaring pure" as the Aryan race only with certain skin, hair and eye features. Others who were the opposite were treated in the concentration camps like those with leprosy to be segregated from the rest of society, and were all - men and women alike - shaved of the hair of their head - just as one with Tzara'at ("leprosy") when cured of his condition in Temple times had to shave off all of his/her hair (women in Temple times had to be careful not to speak Lashon Hara/evil speech about others or be punished with Tzara'at, and risk looking beautiful by being bold, which would not look attractive to their husbands especially after being quaranteed outside of the Jewish camp for a period of time).

Now, for the Gematria, Hitler's family name equals 244. As one of the biggest bigots and hated people of all time, it seems ironic that he should have a connection in terms of numbers with the 244th Mitzva of the Torah (according to the count of the Rambam/Maimonides) which is V'Ahavta L'Reiacha Camocha - "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself", which is also the Gematria of the word Gemara, the Talmud explanation of the Mishna.

This type of concept is nothing new. Esau, Jacob's brother who turned to evil ways and lived by the sword, ancestor of the Romans who burnt our Second Temple which resulted in our near 2,000 year exile, has his name have the same Gematria as Shalom/peace (376), the opposite trait of what Esau represented. Similarly, Nachash/snake, the creature that enticed mankind to sin which brought the world full of sin and troubles, is the same Gematria as Moshiach (358), who will rectify the damage that the snake brought about.

Indeed, everything in this world is created as opposites or corresponding aspects. Hitler ultimately represented just the opposite of the Mitzva of loving another Jew, as Hitler's biggest hatred was for Jews. And the word Gemara, having the same Gematria as Hitler, and which has a connotation of Gemira - the finish, describes exactly what Hitler wanted to do to us Jews, to finish us all, as there are Anti-Semites to this day who say that "Hitler should have finished you all!"

Along these lines, as the Gematria of Hitler's name is 244, ending with a double FOUR, as I mentioned earlier about the Egyptian first plague of Dam/blood having the Gematria of 44, Obama as the 44th president of the United States also represents the aspect of darkness, as the 44th word of the Torah is V'La'Choshech "for the darkness". What is also amazing, as you have in Gematria the concept of Mispar Katan
"small number" which is the sum of the digits of a given number, the word Choshech having the Gematria of 328, when its digits are added: 3+2+8=13, then 1+3, equals FOUR. Similarly, the 44th word V'La'Chosech, which by the way is the Gematria of HaSatan - "The Satan" (as in my 44th Post entitled "Messages in REVERSE order") - when its numerical value of 364 has its digits added: 3+6+4=13, then 1+3, also equals FOUR.

The number four, as represented by Parshat Shlach, which mentions the fate of the evil spies and the Jews wandering in the desert and dying without entering Israel and the wood gatherer on Shabbat who got stoned, & Masechet Sanhedrin which describes the FOUR deaths that it imposed on sinners, represents the concept of judgment for sinners. When Hashem needs to remind us Jews not to assimilate or feel too comfortable in exile, Hashem sends leaders who will be Anti-Semitic to us. And as I mentioned in my 69th post about Barack Obama's name being the Gematria of 356 in relationship to Pharaoh's name (which by the way is the Gematria of 355, or 3+5+5=13 then 1+3=FOUR), it is the same Gematria as the word America!

And as mentioned in the past, Obama became politically born on Tisha B'Av 5764, the English year 2004 being called '04 in short. And as for Hitler, he was born from a union who were followers of the Sabbatical sect who slept with each other's wives on the night of Tisha B'Av (Note: Don't worry, Hitler did not have a Jewish mother); hence, his conception began on Tisha B'Av. Now, in Parshat Shlach, the day on which the Jews were cry babies for not wanting to move to Israel thanks to the spies' evil report happened on Tisha B'Av. And in the last chapter of Talmud Sanhedrin, it discusses much about Moshiach - who was born on Tisha B'Av, which at least in the fugurative sense means that the potential of Moshiach coming began on Tisha B'Av, the day that the Romans burnt our Second Temple.

Rewinding to the beginning of world history, after the sin of the forbidden fruit, Adam was confronted by Hashem with the question Ayeka - "Where are you?" Now, Hashem obviously didn't have to ask Adam where he was, but He meant this question in the sense of "Where are you spiritually now that you ate from the forbidden fruit that I told you not to eat?" This word Ayeka can be spelled the same way as the word Eicha - Aleph, Yud, Chaf, Hei - the beginning word of Megillat Eicha/Book of Lamentations that is read on Tisha B'Av. And as it was the snake that enticed mankind to eat of the forbidden fruit, Moshiach - who is connected with Tisha B'Av and whose title is the same Gematria as the word Nachash/snake, will come to finish the rectification of the sin that was triggered by the snake.

And speaking of kindness as in the title of this post; just as there are seven Sephirot/Divine Emanations as related to action, so too there are seven milleniums of the world's existance - the seventh being when the world will have rest with being desolate. Anyways, the first Sephira is Chesed/Kindness corresponding to the first millenium. Originally, Adam was supposed to live forever, but after his boo-boo, he was allowed to live for only 1,000, which was this first millenium, execpt that he gave 70 years of his life to the future King David, which was an act of Chesed on Adam's part.

Now getting back to Hitler & Obama, Barack Obama's black skin would have qualified him to be a perfect candidate for Hitler's ethnic cleaning program. However, both Hitler and Obama share(d) the same goals. Both were voted by Jews who made the difference of them being the next leader; yet, both in effect said "Thank you very much, but now I will do what I want to do to you people". The only problem about giving Obama the Hitler award, is that his Nobel "peace" prize award - the fake award - for which he was nominated for only several months after starting his presidency for which there is no precedent, needs to be removed to make place for the Hitler award.



FROM 5705 UNTIL THE END OF THIS WORLD'S EXISTANCE

As I had made the parallel a little earlier between Abraham's slated 180 years and the last 300 years of this world's existance, having shown how Abraham's first three years of worshipping idols corresponding to the Holocaust years during 5700-5705, the remaining period of history relates to masses of Jews starting their journey to Israel (though the period of Kibbutz Guluyot - gathering of the exiles - according to Kaballah - is supposed to take place between the years 5750-5790 which started with the fall of Communism allowing massive amount of Russian Jews to leave their previously imprisoned country) and has been continuing since until eventually all Jews will be living in Israel for once and for all.

As I noted above the verse "Because Abraham has listened to my voice", we see that Hashem told this to Isaac right after telling him to remain living in Israel, promising him that He will give to his descendants this land in accordance with the oath that He had made to his father Abraham (the 20th generation). It is in relationship to this that Hashem continued "Because..." Now normally, the word for because in Hebrew is Ki, as mentioned endless of times in the Tanach. However, in this instance, the word used is Eikev. One reason for this is what I had mentioned earlier from the Ba'al HaTurim about it being the Gematria of 172 representing Abraham's 172 years of serving Hashem. But if that is the case, why not pick another word that is the same Gematria?

The normal translation of Eikev is heel, as the heel of the foot. With this being said, indeed, the LAST 295 years of the slated 6,000 years of this world's existance can be compared to the HEEL, the very BOTTOM part of a person's body. And it is precisely in this very END time of history corresponding to the END or BOTTOM of a person's body, that Jews ON THEIR OWN will be declaring Israel as home following the Holocaust - even those who are secular Jews who aren't doing so because of the Torah per se - until all Jews presently living in this world will be living there once and for all without any further exiles. This is just like the time of Purim when the Jews - ON THEIR OWN following their near extermination by Haman - willingly accepted the Torah on themselves.

One other place in the Torah where the word Eikev is used in a different context than the literal meaning of heel, is the beginning of Parshat Eikev that is named after this word. Unlike in Hashem's conversation with Isaac where Hashem said that He would be giving the land of Israel to the Jews and bless them due to Abraham's listening to Him; in the beginning of Parshat Eikev, this word means IF - "It will be IF you (Jews) will listen...", then the Torah continues about mentioning the blessings that the Jews will have - "ON THE LAND that He has sworn to your forefathers to give to you". And at the conclusion of this Parshat Eikev, it gives the same basic message, just worded in a little different context.

As our Rabbis tell us, the Torah is the Neshama/soul, and Israel is the body. True, each concept is very special, but neither the Torah or the land of Israel alone tells the full picture of Judaism. That is, who are known as Torah or Yeshivish Jews who are living outside of Israel have no right to look down on secular Jews living in Israel who aren't looking to harm anyone, because neither have the full picture of Judaism. Perhaps if more of these of what many call very observant Jews would make the big move to Israel, then many more of these secular Jews living in Israel - some of whom made the big move earlier from their comfortable surroundings in the States - perhaps would have the opportunity of seeing the full picture by being taught the beauty of Judaism by these observant Jews who have become recent immigrants in Israel, and then Israel would have so much more meaning to these secular Jews who will now appreciate Israel ever much more from learning Torah and observing its commandments.



WHAT ELSE HAPPENED LAST SHABBAT?

Though what we read last Shabbat in Parshat Shlach was far from the happiest news that we read, the date of last Shabbat was 23 Sivan - the last Shabbat of Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu's life in this world - is a very significant date that observant Jews should be familiar with. In Megillat Esther, following King Achashverosh having Haman hung and placing Mordechai as the new viceroy in place of Haman, Esther asked the king to write up a new letter that would counteract the original letter that the king wrote on Haman's behest to exterminate the Jews in one day. Following this, the new letter that would allow the Jews to defend themselves, was written up on 23 Sivan, following which, the Jews were able to properly defend themselves when the gentiles came out to fight the Jews, and upon the Jews' victory, the holiday of Purim came into being. Hence, it is on this date of 23 Sivan that the events that took place directly led to the holiday of Purim being formed. And the concluding verse of Megillat Esther speaks of the praises of Mordechai, and how he "found favor with the masses of his people, he looked out for the good of his people, and spoke for the welfare of all his children (the Jewish people)."

Indeed, these final words of the Megilla might as well have been written about Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu, whose funeral was attended by some 100,000 people consisting of Jews of all walks of life - Sephardic & Ashkenazic, religious & secular, Ultra Orthodox & Modern Orthodox, the same way that he lived his life to whom Jews of all walks of life felt free to come to him for advice and blessings. His full Hebrew name - Mordechai Tzemach (Note: Eliyahu is his family name) - is the Gematria of the word Bayit/home or house (412) - for is the ONLY country that Jews can call home. Indeed, as Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu lived his whole life in Israel, having been born and passed away in its capital Jerusalem, having lived through the time that Israel became a place that masses of Jews from the FOUR corners of the world called home.

It's also very significant to note that Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu passed away on Yom Sheni/the second day of the week (Monday) of Parshat Korach. The Torah tells us, "Do not behave like Korach and his cohorts" (Numbers 17:5), one of the 17 Negative Commandments involved with the prohibition of saying Lashon Hora/evil speech of other Jews. Now, the Shir Shel Yom/Song of the Day that the Levites sang in the Temple for Monday was Psalm 48, the one Psalm of the week that was composed by Korach's three Levite sons who repented from following their father's footsteps before the last moment. The reason why this Psalm is for Yom Sheni/Monday is because it was on this day that Hashem divided the lower waters from the higher waters; and the lower waters were upset that they were separated from the more spiritual higher waters; hence causing friction, disaccord, and disagreement between the waters. In fact, because of this, unlike the other days of the week, it does not mention that Hashem saw that it was good, because fighting - unless truly done for the sake of Heaven which only leads to more love and unity between two parties - only leads to disunity, the opposite of peace. Perhaps the fact that Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu passed away on this very day of all days of the year - the 2nd day of Parshat Korach - should remind us all to stop fighting over petty differences, not to be prejudiced of our brethren's level of Judaism, and realize that the ultimate way of doing justice to his memory and elevating his holy soul to an even higher level is to follow in his footsteps by following in the ways of peace and unity that will only make a Kiddush Hashem/Sanctification of Hashem's Name.

On a final note, on the weekly Parsha sheet - called Kol Tzofayich - from the teachings of Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu for this last Shabbat, from a lecture that his son Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu, Shlita, Chief Rabbi of Safed, gave, he mentions the story of Haman leading Mordechai on a horse through the city on commands of the king. What is not mentioned in the Megillah but in the Talmud and other sources, is how Mordechai did things to make Haman feel low. For example, Mordechai told Haman that he would not ascend the horse until Haman would give him a haircut, a demeaning type of work for Haman the viceroy, while reminding Haman of his 22 years as a haircutter in some village. Next, when it actually came time to get on the horse, excusing himself saying that he was too weak to just climb on the horse, Haman had to bend down for Mordechai to climb on his back, upon which Mordechai used that opportunity to kick Haman.

So, why did Mordechai behave this way? Haman at the moment wasn't trying to kill him; on the contrary, Haman had strict orders from the king to honor Mordechai or else.

The answer is that Mordechai's purpose of demeaning Haman was to lower his morale, so that when it would be time to defeat him, Haman wouldn't feel the strength to keep standing up tall. As we see afterwards, when Haman came to the feast with the king and Esther, and Esther accused Haman of treason, not only did Haman not start making accusations back or stick to his position of innocence, but found himself begging Esther for his life, after which he was hung on the same gallows that he prepared for Mordechai.

Indeed, what timing for these words to be written up for the last Shabbat of Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu's life in this world! And the final message of this Shabbat sheet:
(Answering the question as to whether it is permitted to fight on a ship - such as the Hamas flotilla - where there are women and children). Just as the Biblical Samson - for whom Jacob prayed in his blessings to his ancestor Dan - had no fear fighting the Philistines of his day, so do we have today's Philistines - the "Palestinians" - of our day to fight, the same ones who make fun out of us and torture the family of Gilad Shalit. We too need the prayer of Jacob to help us against the "Palestinians", that we need to fight like Samson and not be confused. NOT to have mercy on terrorist families (INCLUDES women and children), so we shouldn't wind up being cruel to Jewish children, and to be able to show that we believe in "For Your salvation, do I hope for - Hashem" (Genesis 49:18 - end of Jacob's blessing to Dan).

For more on the teachings of Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu, check out http://www.harav.org/.

Yes, the ultimate LASHES OF KINDNESS for the Jewish people. Lashes to our Anti-Semitic enemies without mercy as the Torah of Truth tells us, which is the TRUE Kindness that we will be doing for our own people.

26 Sivan 5770