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

Tetzaveh-Purim - Power of Prayer

What is the concept behind the special clothes of the Kohanim? What is the Torah referring to when it says 'this is the thing that you shall do to sanctify the Kohanim unto me?' Why did Mordechai return to his fasting, praying and sackcloth even after he saw that the tide was turning and the Jews were soon to be saved? How can we atone for our sins without the sacrifices of the Temple? What is the true power of prayer?

Find out in this week's parsha podcast.

Running time: 22:53

Obama, Gog, Trump and Geulah Berachamim in 5776

It's been a long time since I've written anything on this blog, besides for posting my Parsha Podcast. And for good reason. There have been numerous times where I've wanted to write, but made the decision not to. There have been many times that I've seen something written in the Moshiach blogosphere and I was on the edge of saying something.

But I chose not to.

With the close of the Obama presidency, however, the remarkable nature of what has transpired is just to great to ignore. I hope that what I write will give pause to the many writers and many more readers of the Moshiach blog world.

One of the things that brought me out of my skepticism (for a very short time) of this world that I used to be a part of was the fantastic near death experience that was spread far and wide about a year ago. It put Obama as Gog and said 'this is the year!' Although we'd all heard that one before (think autistics and other false messiahs), it confirmed something that I really believed, and so did many of you - that Obama was the man - Gog. And that this was the time.

Because I believed that 5776 would really be the year of Moshiach. I had felt that already five years ago when I stopped writing for this blog. I had a lot of different thoughts and ideas and a really strong gut feeling that pointed in the direction of 5776. Even amazing gematriahs (as if they didn't exist for any other years)!

But, once again 5776 came and went. Another Moshiach year has bitten the dust.

Or has it?

I want to present to you with a theory that is both exciting and boring. It is a precise prediction, but it leaves open when Moshiach comes. It is absolutely true and completely questionable.

I still believe that Obama was Gog. And I believe that there was some truth in what the autistics and the near deathers etc. etc. etc. have predicted. A little bit of truth. And a lot of falsehood. Because it is so important to understand that the world is not two dimensional. It is not just a world of judgment where anyone who wears a wig is going to burn eternally. And where a soul is dipped into 7 levels of fire, which can be named because someone was just there.

That description - the description that the Moshiach Blogosphere is used to talking about and describing - is the side of judgment - din.

And it is interesting that that young man experienced and saw all these things during his near death experience time in the space of judgment - which is where a soul goes immediately after death. It is called the world of Z"A - which we don't even pronounce as its component words (Z'er Anpin) because it denotes extreme judgment, which we don't want to call into play.

The world of Z"A is where they speak from. But there are other worlds - the world of Beriyah - above Z"A - crowning Z'A and Nukva. It is transcendent and there is no evil there. It is the world of the throne, the world of the souls where no evil can penetrate from our realm.

But even our realm is not the world of Z"A - we do not live in a world of pure judgment. We live in a world where there is a balancing act between Din and Rachamim, between judgment and mercy.

And in the real world, there is no such thing as unmitigated judgment.

Many of you might be familiar with the fact that the Gemara in Succah speaks about Moshiach ben Yosef, describing the great mourning that occurs after his death in the war of Gog Umagog.

But the Gra's opinion is that Moshiach ben Yosef will not die. The Gemara itself hints to such an opinion when it refers to the same mourning as NOT being for Moshiach ben Yosef (but for the Yetzer Hara). The Gra's opines that MBY won't die, because the reason he was meant to die has already been atoned for by the length of the exile we've endured.

Moshiach does not have to arrive with death, destruction and mayhem.

And I still believe that Obama was Gog, and that something amazing is unfolding right in front of our eyes. Because if Gog could not do anything more than create an ineffective UN resolution, then we are looking at Geulah Berachamim - redemption with mercy.

I believe that we experienced the judgment 70 years ago with World War II.

And that now is the time for redemption with mercy.

If you listened to my most recent podcast, you heard what the war of Gog Umagog is about - it is about a claim to Jerusalem. It is about a claim to being the spiritual conduit of Hashem. Which is an exclusive right of the Jewish people. Gog comes to Jerusalem to try to remove the Jewish people's claim to Jerusalem; to deny the Jewish people's chosen status. To claim that other religions and peoples have replaced us as the conduit of spirituality into the world.

But on the day that the greatest of the 70 nations of the world moves its embassy to Jerusalem, it is the greatest statement that Jerusalem belongs to the Jewish people.

I don't want to say too much more, but a parallel is spoken of between the Purim story and the future redemption. It is why Iran/Persia is part of the story. And it is hard to ignore the people who have been in the life of the incoming president before this story started.

I haven't written and haven't wanted to predict, because I have not wanted to say things that look silly within a small amount of time.

But I'm writing now, because I think it's time to start seeing that things are turning. We may look back in a couple of years and see in hindsight that 5776 was a significant year in the coming of Moshiach Berachamim.

Balak - Threshold Immorality

After 540 years of existence as the Jewish people, why do they face such a great test in licentious behavior just as they are entering Israel? What is parallel to Avraham and his interaction with Sodom as he is about to conceive Isaac? What is the concept of the 'Shittim River' which causes those who drink of it to be involved in licentious behavior? Why was there a special desire for this type of behavior immediately before the rebuilding of the Second Temple?

Find out in this week's parsha podcast.

Running time: 25:11

Tzav and Purim - North and South

Why is the korban olah (fully burnt sacrifice) related to the north, while the shelamim (partly burned, partly eaten) is related to the south? Why are the concepts of exile, Gog and Moshiach related to the north, while redemption, Gog's fall, and the rebuilding of the Temple related to the south? Why can't a northerly and southerly wind blow at the same time? What does it mean that both will blow in the future time? Why can't a groom enter the house before he is invited by his bride?

Find out in this week's parsha podcast.

Running time: 26:27

Tetzaveh - Mishkan and Purim

Why do we have two Parshios that speak of the construction of the Mishkan before and after the sin of the Golden Calf? What is the depth of the concept of Purim, where Hashem brings an aspect of the light of redemption into the beginning of the story - a cure before the sickness? What is the difference between the name Jacob and Israel? What is the significance of the seemingly insignificant acts of selflessness? Wny is Purim still celebrated after Moshiach's advent?

Find out in this week's Parsha Podcast.

Running time: 23:38

Terumah - Expansion in Constriction

What is the significance of the fact that the Holy Ark carried those who carried it? And that it took up no space? And that Hashem spoke to Moshe from on top of the angelic figures that stood upon it? And that it corresponds to Hashem's throne? What is the significance of giving charity at the time of the festivals? How does this connect to the expansion that occurs on Purim?

Find out in this week's Parsha Podcast.

Running time: 19:16

Noach - Illusion and Reality

If water is a creative force, why is the world being destroyed by water? What is the connection between the cooling of the waters and cooling of the anger of Achashverosh in the story of Purim? What is the parallel between the water's destruction here, and the water's destruction of the Egyptians as the Jews made their exodus? What is the significance of the Jewish people traversing 'dry land in the midst of the sea?' Why is Noach called 'Ish Ha'adamah' - isn't this the opposite of the concept of tzaddik who we would equate with water?

Find out in this week's Parsha Podcast.

Running time: 19:31

More on seventy

It was prophesied that there would be seventy years between the first and second batei Mikdash. Nobody knew when the count started, so there was confusion as to when the second Beish Hamikdash was to be built.

This was the root of the party of Achashverosh, and how he thought he could take out and use the vessels from the temple. He thought the seventy years had ended and that Hashem had forsaken His people.

But there is a deep secret here, which I spoke about at length in the 12th Moshiach podcast. That secret is that he was right. And so were those who counted seventy years and came up with an earlier date. And so were those who came up with a later date.

Because all the seventy year counts represented a starting and finishing point where something was conceived, a process began, and where that something was born, the process was completed.

Sometimes the process yields another process.

Sometimes the process yields a challenge that brings about the final stages of a process that began a short time after the first process.

We can not know when the end will be.

We can not say Moshiach will come or reveal himself or hide himself or anything in Av of 5772. Or 5769. Or 5776. Or 5778. Or 5750. Or 5770. Or any date.

We don't know the end.

We can't know the end.

Because the end is not determined yet.

Reality is fluid because everything depends on our free will.

And at the same time, there are processes that began seventy years ago, and seventy years before that.

I mentioned that each day of Succos is exactly seventy days before each day Chanukah. This would seem to indicate that each day of Chanukah is the culmination of each day of Succos. And 'zos chanukah' is the culmination of Shmini Atzeres. So what? That is for each of us to answer.

What is the significance of the fact that we are seventy years after the Final Solution?

What is the significance of the fact that 2018 will be seventy years after the Jewish people stood up as a nation in Israel?

What is the significance of the fact that 2037 will be seventy years after Jerusalem was reunited?

If Moshiach comes in Av, will these questions matter?

If he doesn't, chas v'shalom, will anyone stop reading Moshiach blogs?

I still maintain that we do a lot more for bringing Moshiach when we live our lives and try our best to do Hashem's will. He's the One doing everything, anyway. He doesn't need us meddling in His affairs. Does it really get us anywhere? Does it make us better people? Do we suddenly believe we are so brilliant because we might have figured something out? Are we humbled when things don't work out the way someone predicted? Do we continue to guess and guess?

Is it any wonder that Chazal say תיפח רוחם של מחשבי הקץ - the spirit of those who predict the end becomes engorged?

Ki Sisa - Secret of the Ibbur

How do we understand the great disparity between Moshe receiving the Torah at the very moment the Jewish people are worshipping the Golden Calf? This is especially difficult in light of the fact that Moshe is the combining soul of the Jewish people. How does this connect to the miracle of Purim? What is the concept of the twelve and thirteen tribes and the twelve and thirteen months of the year? Why does the miracle of Purim occur in Adar? What is the significance of the fish as its zodiac sign? What is the spiritual concept of the fish?

Find out in this week's Parsha Podcast.

Running time: 22:46

Nitsavim-Vayelech - Today

Why does Moshe keep repeating the word 'today?' What is the concept of today? How is it related to Moshe Rabenu's death? How is it connected to Rosh Hashana? What was Haman's mistake about Moshe's date of death?

Find out in this week's Parsha Podcast.

Running time: 22:11

Emor - Transforming the physical

Why is this time period referred to as the counting of the omer? What is the significance of the sacrifice? And why is it brought on the second day of Pesach, as opposed to the first day? What about the korban omer creates the merit for the entrance into Israel? What is the connection between the the omer and the manna? Why is the omer brought from barley? Why is the offering waved in six directions? Why is the omer the merit that saves the Jewish people from Haman?

Find out in this week's Parsha Podcast.

Running time: 20:24

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.

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

Purim cards/Sefer Torah

A friend of mine is involved with the following project, which seems to be a worthy cause. Check it out for yourself.

Friends and family around the world?

Here is an easy and meaningful way to send them Purim cards in lieu of Shalach manos, with the click of a few buttons and benefit the needy in Ramat Bet Shemesh, at the same time!

http://www.torah-letters.com/purim_cards.php

These are not typical Purim cards.
By sending a Torah Letter Purim card, the recipient will own a letter in a Sefer Torah being donated to the Kotel thus enabling them to fulfill a rare mitzvah and providing them with a unique Purim treat!

http://www.torah-letters.com/purim_cards.php


Don't miss out, here is a great way to bring Purim joy to all - You benefit
by sending a unique and meaningful Purim card - easily - all from the comfort of your home The recipients benefit by receiving a memorable gift in honor of Purim.
And the needy in RBS benefit by receiving matanot l'eveyonim.

For more information, please visit

http://www.torah-letters.com/purim_cards.php

Ki Sisa - Rebuilding relationships

How could Aharon Hakohen be involved in the making of the Golden calf? If he was the one who pursued peace and was concerned with relationships, how could he be a party to this violation of the Jewish people's relationship with Hashem? What is the connection to the story of Purim? What is the significance of the two sets of luchos in the Aron?

Find out in this week's Parsha Podcast.

Running time: 14:16

Tetzaveh & Purim - Hidden connection

Why is Moshe's name absent from this parsha? Why did he want to be erased? What is the deeper understanding of the obligation to erase the memory of Amalek? Why is Hashem's name left out of the megillah?

Find out in this week's Parsha Podcast.

Rav Mendel Kessin in RBS

Rabbi Mendel Kessin will be returning to the RBS community and giving shiur in English. He is an internationally known speaker who has spoken extensively in Israel and worldwide on many topics of Hashkafa, Shmirat Ha'Lashon, and Current Events.

The shiur will be entitled:

"Removing the Mask of Purim: The True Story behind Purim and its Relevance to Current Events"

Date: Sunday February 21st 2010

Time: 8 to 10:00 PM

Location: Ramat Shalom, 43 Nachel Dolev, RBS Aleph

Separate Seating for Men and Women

Price: 25 NIS per person

Seeds of redemption

Before Purim, someone shared a beautiful pshat with me in the name of the Chasam Sofer (I believe).

If one goes back to the root of the miracle of Purim, we can trace the beginning stage to the party of Achashverosh that is described at the beginning of the story. During that party, the king asks Vashti to appear, but she refuses. In his anger, he heeds the advice to be rid of her, lest the women in the countries of his dominion learn of her intransigence and be led to do the same to their own husbands. Vashti is removed from the scene, leaving an opening for Esther to become a key player in the miracle of Purim.

What is most interesting is that the seeds for the miracle are sown at the very moment that the Jewish people were doing the sin that created the necessity for the miracle! They had been instructed by Mordechai to refrain from partaking in the party of Achashverosh, but they did not listen to the advice of the gadol. In their minds it was more important to join the party, as loyal citizens of Persia, rather than make a scene. Their mistake led to the decree of Haman to wipe out the Jewish people.

What comes out of it is that at the time the Jews were sinning and bringing upon themselves a great calamity, Hashem was concurrently preparing the miracle of their salvation. What an amazing chessed of Hashem! When His beloved people are straying from Him, in His great love He is thinking of them and creating the potential for the miracle of their salvation.

When I heard this idea, I could only think of our people today, many of whom may be entrenched in things that would pull us away from Hashem, ח"ו. Nevertheless, Hashem is constantly looking out for our best, planting the seeds of redemption even as we do things that perhaps make us unworthy! Could there be any greater kindness?

Why drink?

Hi Mr. Goldwag,
I have a question if you don't mind. Why is it a mitzvah to get drunk on Purim??
I hope you are having a wonderful Purim!

On the surface level, the mitzvah has to do with the fact that the miracles of Purim came about because of the mishteh - the parties that occurred. The main one was the party Esther made for Achashverosh and Haman. Haman's downfall was in that party when Achasverosh was drunk and angry and had him killed. On a deeper level, the whole story of Purim is one of finding Hashem beneath the surface of the story - removing the 'mask' of what is truly deeper. Wine accomplishes this same thing - נכנס יין יצא סוד - when wine enters, the secret comes out. This really means that wine reveals what is behind the 'mask' of a person - who they really are - a reflection of Hashem.

have a wonderful Purim,
Ari Goldwag