Moses and 770!

Did some counting to determine how many times the name Moses (משה) occurs in Tanach.

You might think Torah mentions it 649 times,
and you might think Tanach mentions it 770 times.

UPDATE: BIG MISTAKE! See correction here.

The Rebbe Confides in a Little Girl

Rabbi S. Jacobson tells of a letter he received from a lady in Pennsylvania who many years earlier had been raised in Crown Heights, Brooklyn.

Here's what she said:

In the year 5706 [1946] she attended the public school on Schenectady and Eastern Parkway, where her grandfather used to pick her up. Once, the Rebbe was walking down the street and the grandfather, pointing out the Rebbe, said to her, "This is a great rabbi; He's the son-in-law of the [Previous] Rebbe; You should go over to him and receive his blessing."

It happened at a later date, when she saw this dignified-looking rabbi, that she mustered courage and approached the Rebbe. The Rebbe opened the conversation. "What are you studying?" the Rebbe asked. "Asimov", she said. The Rebbe then said, "You know that Asimov, when writing science-fiction for children, wrote a series based on the concept of 'Foundation', where in the future planets will be civilized by being connected to their source on Earth."

"I have a similar vision," continued the Rebbe, "where one day there will be Jewish outposts all over the globe, all connected to one source."

The Final "My Garden" of a Jew

Many a Jew thinks the final "resting place", the very end address of his life and of his fellow Jews is - Gan Eden.

Nope! Gan-Eden is merely a "station break". The final and greatest place Jews will transcend into is - this world and none other!

Yes Gan Eden may well be as sweet as it can be but it is nowhere near the ultimate goodie that awaits every Jew - and that place is right here on this lowly earth, decked out in full materialistic garb.

In fact, this earth was the "personal" "Garden of God". It retained that stature until Adam and Eve sinned. That sin, and those from forthcoming generations (e.g. Kayin's murder, Enosh's idolatry, the Flood generation, the Tower of Babel generation) brought the world into progressively more "darkness", where the Presence of God became progressively harder to discern.

Not only will this nethermost of worlds achieve the original eminence in initially held, but the pristine clarity of God's Presence will shine forth even more than it did when the world was, back then, first created.

When that ultimate era shall finally dawn, all Jewish souls residing temporarily in Gan Eden will be reinstated in bodies and "transported" to this world where God will make for Himself "His Living Quarters" (דירה בתחתונים).

This is one of the meanings inherent in the verse, "I have come to my garden, my sister bride" (Song of Songs 5:1)

So the next time you're out taking a drive, or next to a sefer, or in prayer, or wherever - know you're in the very place where God will one day turn "On" the switch and you will suddenly experience a sensory transformation where all layers of physicality will project mosaics of divinity in ways you can today not even begin to imagine. How happy we must be, for how happy will be our lot.

Adventure in Animal Kingdom

Wonders of Hashem

"What's for lunch", you ask?
That's probably what the alligator was thinking.
You might be surprised ...

When the Jew Must Fight

Just before Jews made their way into the ocean, with Pharaoh and his army of chariots in hot pursuit, God told Moshe to tell the Jews there was no need doing battle with the Egyptians because God will do the fighting for them. (Ex.14:14)

Four weeks later, when Amalek pounced on the Jews, Moshe tells his people "Go out and fight Amalek!" (Ex.17:9)

Why should Jews sometimes let God do the fighting for them, while other times Jews must put up a fight?

Depends on the enemy's agenda. Egyptians wanted to take the Jews back to slavery. Amalek, on the other hand, sought to prevent Jews from their association with Torah.

Whenever a Jew confronts that which would prevent him from learning Torah, he must fight off this enemy!

Expression of Jewish Instinct

A week after their flight to safety, Jews fleeing Egypt felt a sudden fright. Suddenly they saw a mighty, rumbling army in fearsome array, rapidly advancing in pursuit after them.

Torah testifies (Ex.14:10):
 "וייראו מאד ויצעקו בני ישראל אל יהוה"

The Jews were trapped in a beach enclave with no flank to escape to, caught between the desert and the sea. These were dreadful moments. King Pharoah himself, in armored chariot, led the charge. The mighty empire's army, a juggernaut excited for victory, kicked up dust as they charged forward.

Jews acted on instinct; They turned to God. Out of fright, their prayers issued forth as screams from the pit of their hearts.

The unique context of their present situation gave these prayers its vocal character. Jews always prayed to God, but any other time of day or day of the week, they would have evoked a different sort of prayer. This special situation they found themselves in is what now cast their form of invocation.

(Only after they saw their prayers go unanswered they turned on Moses to complain.)

Prayer to G-d comes natural for the Jew. Abraham, Isaac and Yaakov worked hard on this form of worship, so much so that this inculcation projected and bequeathed a congenital instinct to their children. They prayed - not because they elected for something in particular this one time, but rather because prayer of the Jew connects him to God! Prayer is the vehicle by which the Jew bonds to G-d. He prays every day, year in year out.

It's not so much a Jew wants something for himself when he prays. Rather, the Jew wants to bond with Hashem. Yes, the Jew asks for personal and selfish concerns too, but all the while he rates his personal desires less than primary. Worship of Hashem is what is paramount in a Jew's life.

The Torah is quite specific; "They were frightful, so they screamed." Any other moment of the day their prayers would have manifest differently, but pray - they always would.

But why pray now - with the Egyptian army ready to steamroll them; If they trusted God will spare them, again, there was no need for prayer now; And if they held doubts about God's salvation, then what good would prayers do?

Rashi explains (Ex.14:10): Because Jews always first prayed to God - for anything - because they worshipped God and always wanted to cleave to Him. Any other day, it could have been in quiet earnestness, but at this point in time - they cried out.

Dad's Dad - One of 6 Million

  אהרן מאיר אייכענשטיין  הי''ד

This father of 10 lived in Czechoslovakia during Germany's WWII occupation. He had left Poland, where his surname was פרידלנדר, and adopted his wife’s surname as a precaution against Poles who might pursue him to draft him into their army.

All his children lived in Europe except for one daughter who lived with her husband in America.

This was during a troubled era for European Jewry. Much of his offspring gravitated to the lure of a bankrupt, secular "Zionism", but several held tightly and mightily to live the Torah life.

He went to the Germans to ask what they required for documentation in order for him to leave for America. They provided him with a list of requirements. His daughter in America sent him all that he needed. When he showed up again at the German office with his documentation in hand, they said, “You have, in fact, everything required – except for one thing: You need to shave off your beard!”

Because he refused they shipped him off to Auschwitz-Birkenau where they burned him.

The above was probably his passport picture.

About 10 years ago, at a simchah in Boro Park, an elderly gentleman approached me and asked if my name is אייכנשטיין. I said Yes. He said he knew my grandfather because he had been “shipped” to Auschwitz in the very same cattle-car as was my grandfather. My grandfather, he said, told everybody inside that cattle-car they should know that this “trip” they were on – will be the last trip of their lives. He said, when they were unloaded onto the platform at Auschwitz, my grandfather actually started dancing!

I bring this anecdote to your attention because Jews in the Holocaust offered their lives in self-sacrifice to Hashem for being Jewish, and proud of it.

I'd venture to say that very deep down every Jew who gave his life, in the face of then European "humanity", had to have harbored even a slight touch of happiness.

Rebbe's Letter re: Jewish Survival

By the Grace of G-d
25 Sivan, 5740 [1980]
Brooklyn N.Y.

Greeting and Blessing:

I was pleasantly surprised to receive a copy of your letter to Mr. S. Peres, together with the "Fields" publications.

As you no doubt expect some comment, let me say that your creative ideas are impressive in their sweep and ingenuity. However, I must add at once, as I have observed in previous correspondence, that we have to concern ourselves with utilizing our resources to meet the emergencies of the present, rather than with solutions that, at best, lie only in the future. I say "at best" because the ultimate solutions are not always in our hands, whereas there is much we can, and must, do to cope with pressing emergencies.

In light of the above, while I wholeheartedly agree with you that the potential of our Jewish people is limitless, our immediate concern must be to ensure the survival of our people. Surely, when a person who has an inordinate capacity to save the world is seriously ill, the first thing to do is to help him recover his health, so that he will indeed be able to realize his potential later on.

I am referring particularly to the state of our young Jewish generation, whose potential certainly is to move mountains, but at the moment is, by and large, overwhelmed by forces of assimilation and alienation and in danger of being lost to us.

As you know, only a small percentage of Jewish children in this day and age grow up with a Jewish education strong enough to preserve their Jewish identity in the face of the pressures of assimilation. The remainder are heading for the precipice. There is a vast field of action that has to be tackled in order to save thousands of Jewish young men and women from the cults and from intermarriage. It is an emergency situation that calls for an all-out effort in terms of well organized, planned, and amply funded programs. Many have to be taught starting literally from the Alep-Beth of Judaism; Others must be given the opportunity to deepen their knowledge and experience of what it means to be truly Jewish.

To be sure, the human resource manpower to meet these challenges fully is at present inadequate. Moreover, it suffers from attrition in that many dedicated young men engaged in Jewish Education in its broader sense - including teaching, administrative jobs, reach-out programs, etc. - come to a point in their family life, where their meager salaries can no longer support their growing families, and they must find Parnosso elsewhere. Yet all these problems could not only be coped with, but also turned around - if the financial resources were available.

Having always been candid with you - on the basis of our mutual relationship, and being confident that you will not take my remarks amiss, I must say regretfully, that I have not noted in your correspondence, as yet, anything that would encourage me to think that you are using your capacities and influence in the direction indicated above, at any rate to the fullest extent.

Since, as mentioned, the basic problem is financial, there are surely many Jewish philanthropists, Endowment Funds and Foundations - to mention some of the more obvious sources - that could be tapped for the vital cause of Jewish survival. On the other hand, there are such national organizations as, e.g., Anti-Shemad, Committee For Furtherance of Jewish Education, Torah uMesorah, and others, which are eminently qualified and deserving of the utmost financial support, not only to keep them afloat, but to enable them to expand dramatically in keeping with the drastic situation.

I trust you will not think for a moment that this letter is intended as a direct or indirect appeal for Lubavitch institutions, and will not embarrass me by responding with a check. To quote a familiar phrase in the Torah, "Give me the persons and keep the goods" - it is your personal involvement in the cause of Jewish Education that I am after. However involved you may be with promulgating a global or holistic perception and perspective, etc., I am certain that there is ample room in your heart and mind to take a soulful interest in the cause of Jewish Education, not only to become personally involved, but also inspire others within the sphere of your influence to follow your example.

Please forgive me if any of the foregoing expressions have embarrassed you in any way; far be it from me.

Through mutual friends I occasionally receive regards from you and your son. My prayerful wishes are always with you both and yours for good health and Hatzlocho in all your affairs, materially and spiritually.

With esteem and blessing,

Technology as a Reflection of the Past

We're told of the miracle the night of the 10th plague (Rashi, Ex. 12:37), where the Jews managed, as a collective body, to abandon Egypt in haste - so hasty, in fact, that they traveled from Raamses to Sokkos, a journey of 3 full days, in the time it takes to cover the distance by an eagle; In practically "no time!"

Of course the very fact all Jews departed from one solitary city - that in itself was part of the miracle. After all, they had been spread out in the province of Goshen.

In Torah-like vernacular, the Jews experienced the miracle as a "leap across the way" - "קפיצת הדרך".

The very best proof that this miraculous phenomenon was a sign of the times, something that actually happened to our forefathers - in their times - is the fact that today too, in our own times, we too witness the miracle of swift transport across great distances at a time.

Because we live in a latter century, the miracle manifests under different conditions, but the miracle of modern-day transportation definitely has us experiencing this miracle daily, as a matter of fact.

Similarly, the best proof we have of former-day prophetic powers to "know" what is happening in distal quarters, referred to in Torah-like jargon as "רוח הקודש", is our own miracle of knowing what happens in far-off places, as we experience the technological marvels of TV, radio and internet streaming.

We may not be privy to to these "miracles" as such, in which case we suffer spiritual myopia. (אין בעל הנס מכיר בנסו)

Truth is, we're into the Era of Redemption and it is all crystalizing before our senses. It's just that it's about time for the "real thing" and, as they say, "enough with the signs!"

Some See "Half-Empty"; But Others See "Half-Full"

Let it not pass unnoticed that Haman, the Amalekite, our notorious hero in the holy Scroll of Esther - lived in Persia.

The Midrash (Isaiah chpt. 60, Yalkut Shimoni) prophecied that a "The King of Persia" (link) will fight the King of Arabia ..."

That Midrash, invoked by the Rebbe, signaled that that Midrash referred to our current time - our current Moshiach times! Accordingly, we have our current day Haman, and, curiously enough, sporting the same name, albeit somewhat differently pronounced, "Homeini" - instead of Haman.

The "King of Arabia" most likely refers to the king of Saudi Arabia, who will then seek help from "Aram" - which sure sounds like "America" or "Euro-America". The Yalkut does not present a pretty picture of events that will unfold - except for one, solitary exception; And that is, whatever is happening is happening for THE GOOD OF THE JEWISH PEOPLE!

Truth is, it looks like things are rolling along quite ordinarily, and as if some future disaster upon the world can bring furious havoc to all. While that may be true, that it does seem ordinary and expected, given the free reins offered to Iran to build the atomic weapon, given the upheaval Arabs are causing the world over, given the severe deterioration of morality in America, given the foolishness of Israeli-governmental policy, given the rise in world anti-Semitism, etc., things are not what they seem! Things are turning in favor of world Jewry - much as outrageous as that sounds while the world slides downwards.

But that's just it. It's all mirrors, all distractive fluff, all effects that SEEM like things will be getting worse. But that illusion merely fronts for the undercurrent activity that is accelerating Moshiach's arrival for all the world to very soon be witness to.

The sooner the better. Moshaich now!

Rabbi Avigdor Miller's Latest Book

The recently published book "A Divine Madness", by Rabbi Avigdor Miller, tells about how Jewish reformist elements across Europe tore at the flesh of Orthodox Judaism, effectively bringing the traditional love and sanctity of Judaic lifestyle to the brink of extinction. Then came the terrible holocaust that, paradoxically, left mostly orthodoxy in its wake.

Rabbi Miller's words pack with emotion and plenty of detail as he describes European Jewry gutting that which had been so dear to Jewish people for millennia, and the subsequent horrific abuse and slaughter of the Jewish people.

He never quite says so, but the implication you are left with is - that the holocaust came as a result of the abandonment of religion.

Truth is, correlation does not prove causation. Every fact Rabbi Miller writes about is true, but nowhere, in fact, does the good Rabbi explicitly state that the former state of affairs caused the latter catastrophe.

I say this because the Rebbe had said that nobody can claim knowledge of why so great a horror was wrought upon the Jewish people. Just as sure as Abraham was surprised to learn his offspring will suffer for 400 years, with no reason offered, so too the holocaust came about as a decree of God - one that nobody can understand. The ways of God remain a mystery to Man and the holocaust, he said, was just such a decree. Nobody, said the Rebbe, can say this supreme tragedy came as the result of punishment.

It is important to note, therefore, that - in fact - Rabbi Miller possessed this manuscript for many years, as per the book's prologue, but never finished it and never published it. It's present publication was initiated by some of his students and admirers (of which I myself count as one) posthumously. Perhaps it was because, in fact, Rabbi Miller shared the Rebbe's view and therefore could not bring himself to establish with certainty real cause and effect.

Having said that, I really enjoyed every word in the book, including its great running commentary. The Rabbi, as in all his books, knows so much and delivers his diatribe against those who would dilute Judaism with brilliance and impact.

The book's subtitle, "Rabbi Avigdor Miller's Defense of Hashem in the Matter of the Holocaust", may well have been Rabbi Miller's reason for his writing the manuscript. "Defending Hashem" for the holocaust may just mean it worked out that Hashem's plan had full import, but this could be said of anything and everything Hashem does. However, the actual and many reasons for the holocaust will never and can never be known in this world.

What Difference Moshiach's Identity?

Overheard this dialogue:

What difference does it make who Moshiach is? Do I care if it's Daniel, who comes from the dead, or someone else, who comes from among us today - what difference does it make?! Whoever he is - we'll accept him! Period! So why push someone's identity if it makes no difference?

Your question might seem like a solid question, but then ask yourself why, if his identity is unimportant, why does Maimonides, in one of his final chapters, which deals with Moshiach, why is it he enumerated the qualifications for Moshiach's identity? The Rambam did not, in his amazing compendium of laws, use words cheaply. Every word, you and I feel sure of, is important. How much more so an entire set of qualifications on how to identify Moshiach!

OK, so why, in fact, does it make a difference?

Not sure.

Personally, I can only conjecture. Perhaps because by knowing his identity you can then educate yourself further in what he, that particular tzaddik, taught. After all, such a personality is not merely a name but a personal and Torah-laden dynamo. Just see what great powers he must have to qualify.

Perhaps it's to get you to become more interested, because if it's some unknown long-ago figure who you know little about personally, maybe you'd not change yourself one iota for the better, because, after all, no one compels you to do so - for his sake! In other words, it may be important enough to strike these qualifications into the stone of law because you thereby will have to judge for yourself and determine whether or not to believe it in the first place, or not, else why the laws?

Perhaps by knowing you also now have to behave accordingly; As long as the figure is a far-fetched, nebulous personality, you will bide your time for however much longer you want to remain disattached; But a Jew and the Jewish people are given reasons for upward mobility and this issue may be important enough for each individual so as to move the entire mass of the Jewish body to accept something they yet know nothing about - as long as this figure remains some vague vision. Then you can contemplate and introspect all you want - but it will cost you nothing in "anticipating Moshiach"!

Conversation Overheard

Do you believe the Rebbe is Moshiach?

You mean - as of now?

Yes.

I do.

And the event of Gimmel Tammuz, how does that square with your belief?

It doesn't touch it. I believe he was Moshiach before that date, and what happened Gimmel Tammuz merely strains the belief when given over to doubts in the words of the Rebbe. Some of us, however, never doubted the Rebbe and think he well knew the challenge we stand to face with "Nature bickerers". In fact, his words hold much greater sway than any pessimism some would like to instil.

Nevertheless, if he's Moshiach - is he alive now?

Yes, but don't ask me again how that and Nature see eye-to-eye. Gimmel Tammuz is a TEST, and nothing but the last test, before supernatural lenses will reveal the truth to us - that God is all about, and that God is, redeeming the Jewish people NOW, before our very eyes. To see this, to have it revealed, all it takes is rejecting man-made logic, and, instead, accepting simple, complete reliance on the words of the Rebbe, from back in 1991 when he said, for the umpteenth time, "We are in the Era of Redemption...." Do you doubt these words he spoke?

Yes. He did not speak to our sense of things.

This is where you and I differ. I take his words at face value. Fully believed, every one of his utterances. Some points I may well not understand, like how he can be alive and yet remain invisible to us, but that technicality I'll figure out when the time comes.

What about news items like Iran gaining nuclear capability, anti-Semitism the world over, the isolation of Israel, the apathy or hate countries have for Israel?

If anything, these very aspects of the "usual" all seem to point to things coming quickly to their end game. How much longer do you think God will let Iran threaten and, forget it, open with the nuclear option? We're at the brink already, if you see the entire scope of worldly affairs, as things "naturally" fall into play. What we do NOT see but WILL see very soon is how all the evil will be upstaged at the end - by God Almighty's intervention for salvation.

The Beautiful Eyes of Moshiach = 770

Targum Yonatan translates Genesis 49:12
(where Yaakov blesses Yehudah)
"His eyes sparkle more than wine ..."

חכלילי עינים מיין

as follows:

מה יאין הינון דמלכא משיחא

"How beautiful those eyes of King Moshiach ..."

The 4th Lubavitcher Rebbe (the Maharash), in discussing this Targum (Torat Shmuel 1872, p.142), curiously, "misquotes" the Targum by dropping one word and changing the spelling of the next word, to read,

מה יאין עיינין דמלכא משיחא

Slight as the change is, for the meaning rendered remains the same, no such change occurs for nothing, most especially by a Rebbe of Chabad - who is always meticulously precise! So a Lubavitcher chassid (heard from S.B. Zuta) took pencil to paper to doodle with the numbers. Amazingly, the modified version of the verse from Targum - as quoted by the Maharash - in Gematria - yields 770! It's as if the Maharash already back then had seen into the eyes of Moshiach and could not help himself from changing the words slightly, to offer an impulsive albeit cloaked prophecy, thereby implicating 770 as the future House of Moshiach (בית משיח = 770).

Some will of course say it's a coincidence. But there are no coincidences in the universe - especially for a Rebbe, the Moses of his generation!

Reform "Judaism" - The Bane of Jewish Traditon

The supplemental invocation we include in our daily prayers, as well as in the blessing after a meal, during Chanukah, elaborates miracles that occurred some 2,150 years ago during the Hasmonean uprising of Israel's Jews against the Greek/Syrian empire, which attempted to stifle the Jewish people's spiritual affiliation with God.

Part of that prayer, ostensibly, makes no sense. Of the list of 5 miracles that occurred during that 3-year war, the first two make good sense, namely:
"You delivered
1) "the strong into hands of the weak;
2) "the many into hands of the few".

But the latter 3 seem to make no sense at all, namely:
3) "the defiled into hands of the pure;
4) "the transgressors into hands of the righteous; and
5) "the reformists into hands of the Torah-true."

Why should "defiled" people necessarily be stronger than those with "hands of the pure", so much so that this qualified as a "miracle"? Besides, what two sectors of people are being referred to by "defiled" and "pure"?

Similarly, why assume "transgressors" and "reformists" are necessarily stronger than "righteous" or "Torah-true" Jews?

A little fact of history answers this question. Would you believe it - the Gentile army enjoyed as their ally a large segment from amidst the Jewish people themselves! These Jews sought to reform Torah in order to assimilate with the Greek culture. Once the righteous Hasmoneans began their fight, these assimilated "Hellenists" actually took up arms and fought against their Hasmonean brethren - in concert with the Gentiles whom they so admired.

(We can get a sense of this history by looking no further than the likes of movements such as "Peace Now", or the likes of those Reform women at the Kotel who antagonize religious culture.)

In other words, this Hellenist component more severely tilted the military odds against the Torah-true Jews.

Nevertheless, Torah-true Jews won the war.

So, while the first 2 miracles refer to the Gentile component of the adversary, the last 3 miracles refer to their Jewish sympathizers, who were also soundly shellacked.