Terumah - Excitement vs Joy

What is the difference between the Mishkan (Tabernacle) and the Mikdash (Temple)? Why does one constantly move, while one is only in a single location? What is the difference between the joy of the month of Adar and Purim as opposed to the month of Nissan and Pesach (Passover)? What is the depth behind the two ways people gave to the Mishkan - some from heirlooms passed for generations for this purpose, others from wealth they had just obtained? What is the difference between Moshiach ben Yosef and Moshiach ben Dovid?

Find out in this week's parsha podcast.

Running time: 24:20

Terumah - Drawing Down Holiness

What is the difference between the Mishkan (Tabernacle) and the Mikdash (Holy Temple)? What is the significance of the connection of the Mishkan to Yosef, as opposed to the Mikdash which is connected to Yehudah/David? How does this tie in to the concept of the month of Adar?

Find out in this week's parsha podcast.

Running Time: 15:55

Tzav - Traversing Adar and Nissan

Why does the dedication of the sanctuary begin in Adar and finish in Nissan? Why does the creation of the world start in Adar and end in Nissan? What is the connection between Purim and Pesach? Why does Purim continue to be celebrated after Moshiach comes, whereas Pesach is not? What is the significance of Adar being connected to laughter, while Nissan is connected to speech? What is the meaning of the statement of our sages that the Mishkan will last forever? How does the Mishkan parallel Moshiach ben Yosef, while the Temple parallels Moshiach ben Dovid?

Find out in this week's Parsha Podcast.

Running time: 24:54

Maharsha Moed Katan 28

Hashem dropped another Maharsha onto me which I believe is extremely significant. It is worth seeing inside, and can be found in Moed Katan on page 28. I heard it said over at a Shalom Zachar this past Friday night, and yesterday in the morning, it hit me as to why I needed to hear it.

The Maharsha talks about the day of Lag B'omer and says that although it is the thirty third day of the sefirah, it is actually the fifty third day of a different count that started twenty days earlier. He brings down the opinion that the world was created in Nissan. This would mean that Adam Harishon was created on Rosh Chodesh Nissan, and the first day of creation occurred on the twenty fifth of Adar. If we count twenty days from then, it brings us to the first day of Pesach, the fifteenth of Adar. Add the next fifty days until Shavuos, and you end up with a count of seventy. The number seventy represents the days of a person's life (ימי שנותינו בהם שבעים שנה). The first twenty days correspond to the first twenty years of a person's life, when he does not bear the responsibility of the death penalty. After twenty, one is mature and enters the prime of his life. Two thirds of the way into the second period of life (the fifty) represent 'most of the years' of one's life. This brings you to Lag b'omer. (Anybody got that?) Shavuos, says the Maharsha, represents the ultimate purpose of the person's life, where he reaches his completion.

What hit me was that we have ten sets of seven days (or years). For our purposes, there are ten weeks. In the explanation of the Maharsha in Sanhedrin, we spoke about the nine/ten months of the process of the leap year which begins - in a hidden way - in Av/Elul/Tishrei, the first three months. It continues to be revealed through the following six until you reach yesod, which corresponds to Yosef - which is the second Adar. It comes into full bloom in Nissan, which is Malchus. In that post, we spoke about how the last week of Adar is the climax of the birth of the transformation of פשע - sin - into שפע - influx.

Incredibly, what we see here is that the last week of Adar is the beginning of another series of ten, but this time, it is ten weeks. The first week is Keser - the inspiration, the transcendental realm. The weeks that follow, which are the first two weeks of Nissan, are Chochma and Bina. All three of these are in the head - they are hidden, and are not part of the sefirah count. But at the same time, of course, they are! 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.

Of course, this is not the end, but again the beginning of another great spiral upwards for the Jewish people. The aspect of Moshiach ben Yosef continues to make its way higher and higher as we get closer and closer to the time we are all waiting for, בב"א.

Moshiach podcast number 7

So this is the long awaited Moshiach podcast. I had a lot to say, and I didn't even say it all, but the running time is a little over forty five minutes. I don't think you will be bored. We explore what's going on now in light of the Maharsha in Sanhedrin 12A, and we explore the ramifications on the state of current events. There is a lot of food for thought, and I stress (as I did in the podcast), that everything here is conjecture. I do not like guesswork and I do not like making predictions because you look really stupid when the world doesn't end on the day you said it would :)

But, as I said in the podcast, I believe that Hashem is openly showing what is going on right now, and He gave me a strong dose of good intuition, so it is my hope that it will serve you in understanding the broader picture of what is going on right now in the world, and how Hashem is moving the chess pieces into checkmate position.

Here is the seventh edition of the Moshiach podcast.

If there is anyone who would be willing to type it out, it would be a big chesed, as I am sure more people would get the message if it was typed. If you can do it, please contact me at my email address arigoldwag@gmail.com.

Running time: 45:17

Purim-Pesach-MBY

If we follow the line of thought of the previous post, we find that the month of Nissan, centering around Pesach is a very great tikkun - the completion or bringing out of the nine month tikkun from Av until Adar Beis. What is interesting is that if we go back to the story of Purim, we find that Esther's test with entering into Achashverosh's private quarters was also centered around Pesach. Rashi there says that the three days of fasting were the 14th, 15th (first day of Pesach), and 16th. This was where the salvation of Purim actually occurred. It is also worth noting that Esther mentions that she had not been called in to the king in thirty days. This means that the difficulty she had been going through had been 'on pause' since Purim (or what would later be Purim), the center of the month of Adar, when the tikkun of Moshiach ben Yosef peaks in this cycle. Again, it would seem possible that there will be some kind of interesting events centering around the beginning of Pesach, just as it was in the time of the Exodus, as well as the time of Purim.

ולכפרת פשע - Sins atoned

There is an interesting anomaly in the Mussaf prayer of Rosh Chodesh, the beginning of the month. During a leap year, we say an addition in the text of the middle blessing, where we request that the coming month be renewed for good and blessings, for Sasson-joy and Simcha-joy, for salvation and consolation, for livelihood and sustenance, for life and peace, for Mechila-forgiveness of Chet-sin and Selicha-forgiveness for Avon-sin. On Rosh Chodesh during a leap year, we add in a request for Kaparah-forgiveness of Pesha-sin. The interesting thing is that it is only added until Rosh Chodesh of the second Adar. I always wondered why.

It could be that according to our understanding of the Maharsha in Sanhedrin 12, one could say a very deep pshat in this anomaly. The basic idea of the maharsha, as we understood it, is that there is a tikkun-rectification that is accomplished by Moshiach ben Yosef that begins in Av of the year prior to the leap year. This tikkun is in a completely hidden form until, and including, Tishrei of the ensuing year. (This would correspond to the mochin-brains of Chochmah, Bina and Da'as, which are hidden in the skull. There is no Rosh Chodesh benching of Rosh Chodesh Tishrei, which is Rosh Hashana!)

As the new year, the leap year, begins, the tikkun he is doing starts to be revealed in a more open way (at least, perhaps, to himself), but in a way of deep difficulty and suffering for Moshiach ben Yosef, for he accomplishes the tikkun through suffering. (The middle three are Cheshvon-Kislev-Teves where the tikkun is beginning. These correspond to Chesed-Gevurah-Tiferes, which are the arms and torso, and represent the mode of giving, withholding or balanced giving - but only in theory, without the receiver there yet.)

As the year progresses, it could be said that his difficulties deepen until they peak over Tu B'shvat, Purim Katan, and finally Purim. The center of the month is especially significant, as it is then that the moon is full, and there is full reflection. (These three correspond to the next three sefiros of Netsach-Hod-Yesod, where the interactive aspect of the sefiros comes into play.) Here the tikkun is being completed, through the difficulties themselves, based on the passuk "עת צרה היא ליעקב וממנו יוושע" - "It is a time of difficulty for Jacob, and through it, he is saved." The salvation comes about through the actual difficulty itself, meaning, the difficulty produces the merit necessary for the salvation to occur. It is remarkable to note (as we observed in the end of that previous post), that we saw a lot of movement in the world centering around Purim Katan, from Tunisia to Egypt. As we got into Adar Beis, we saw some serious movement around Purim Gadol, with the Earthquake and Tsunami in Japan, as well as the Libyan invasion and the beginnings of what might, Heaven forbid, be a third intifada.

In my theory which I want to share with you (and of course, is totally up for grabs whether it is true), it could be that as the month of Adar Beis comes to a close, Moshiach ben Yosef (both the individual and those who share his aspect, as well as the process itself) come to a climax of tikkun - it is the end of the month of Yesod, which is the aspect of Yosef Hatzadik (as in the passuk צדיק יסוד עולם) - and the suffering is finally redeemed as the month comes to a close.

It is essential to understand that the Pesha-sin (פשע) of the Jewish people is borne by Moshiach ben Yosef (see Yeshaya 53, as per the deeper sources), and this is what produces his suffering. His job is to convert the Pesha-sin (פשע) into Shefa (שפע) - Divine influx - which has the exact same letters. This is accomplished through his suffering, and by withstanding difficulties and tests in the area of sexual desire, as did Yosef with Potifar's wife and his experience in Jail. At the end of this nine month period the sins (themselves!) have been converted into Divine influx, and Moshiach ben Yosef (the man himself, those who share his aspect, and the process) experiences a new reality of tikkun and expanded awareness.

If one looks at what is going on in current events, one can see an indication of this, with Goldstone's admission about his report. A smaller indication, perhaps, was what a cabbie mentioned to me was in the news, which was the murder of a famous actor in Israel whose mother was Jewish and father was Arab, who lived in Jenin and always supported the Arab side. These are not conclusive in any way, but they are definitely interesting points to notice.

This aspect of MBY's is also apparent in the word כפרה - Kaparah-atonement. Firstly, the word Kaparah is the same as the word כופר - Kofer, which can mean a replacement (כופר נפשו) or payment. This indicates the fact that Moshiach ben Yosef's suffering comes to atone for the sins of the Jewish people. The word can also be seen as a reference to MBY as it could be read Ke'parah - like a cow. The Parah-cow and Shor-ox are classic references to Moshiach ben Yosef. This is also part of the idea of the Parah Adumah - red heifer (והמבין יבין).

With this idea, we can understand why we only say "ולכפרת פשע" - "Kaparah-Atone for Pesha-sin" - from the beginning of the leap year until the second Adar. Once we move into Nissan, we no longer say it, because the Pesha has already been converted to Shefa through the difficulties of Moshiach ben Yosef, and we enter the last of the ten Sefiros - Malchus, which is pure reflection. This is representative of the full tikun that has been accomplished in the process, at the current stage.

I found out that there was supposed to have been a visit this past Monday night to Kever Yosef, attended by many busloads of people. These visits are few and far between because of security reasons, and are generally only done with the sanction of the IDF. At the last moment, it seems, the visit was canceled. It is interesting that the visit was to have been on Rosh Chodesh Nissan, the very day of the completion of MBY's nine month tikkun, in my theory. The cancellation would seem to indicate that although the tikkun was accomplished, it is not yet the final stage of full tikkun.

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What is very interesting about all this is that the implication of the Maharsha is that the Moshiach ben Yosef process is pushed ahead in a leap year with a special tikkun. What is fascinating is that there are seven leap years in a nineteen year cycle. Each one of these seven years is like a birth pang, moving the MBY process forward. I was struck with a possible understanding of the Gemara in Sanhedrin that speaks about the "week" in which Ben Dovid comes. The 'week' is usually explained to mean a Shmitah cycle, and most of us are familiar with the fact that the Gemara there speaks of a number of different signs of Moshiach's advent in each of those seven years, culminating with MBD's arrival after the seventh year. It could be that this 'week' is not a week of consecutive years, but rather, the 'week' of the seven years of leap years, in which the MBY process is pushed forward, as described above. It is worth looking at it, and lining it up with the leap years that occurred in the current cycle. The current 19-year cycle started in 5758 (Sep. 97- Sep. 98), and saw (or sees) leap years in 5760, 5763, 5765, 5768, 5771, 5774, and finally, the seventh leap year, which follows the Shmitah year, is 5776.

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Another thought that occurred to me is that chazal tell us that the six months prior to Nissan were when the Makkos took place in Mitzrayim (Egypt). This, again, lines up nicely with what we said above. It will be interesting to see what kind of events take place around the time of Pesach, as Pesach is the full revelation of all that occurred over the previous nine months, as we see in the time of the exodus.

Tzav and Purim - secret of seventy

What is the concept of seventy and seven? What is the significance of the seventy years between the two temples? Why is the gematria of wine (יין) and secret (סוד) both seventy? What is the depth of the idea of the seventy nations and the seventy offspring of Yakov? Why does the story climax with the fifty cubit high gallows of Haman? Why are there seven days of the Santuary's inauguration, and why are they in Adar?

Find out in this week's Parsha Podcast.

Running time: 19:06