Chanukah: 8 Days Designed to Bring Moshiach and Light Up the 70 Nations.

Chanukah: Eight days of Miracles Designed to Bring Mashiach

This year more than ever, we must connect with all the cosmic windows. And it can be as simple as a child’s dreidel, or the chocolate gelt. Four sides corresponding to the Tetragrammaton (YHVH), but 4 sides engraved with the Hebrew Letters G, H, N, and Sh. Four letters whose numerical value add to to 358, that of Mashiach, the Messiah.

From the games we play to candles we light, the entire Chanukah event is designed to help us bring Moshiach. And that’s where our consciousness should be. The eight days are a cosmic event, not a celebration of a miracle that happened because it occurred during this cosmic event. The light we ignite each night are to connect us to the special light of miracles available to us once a year for 8 days staring every 25th of Kislev (Sagittarius). It’s different light/energy than what’s available to us in the 8 days of Sukkot-Shemini Atzeret; and it’s different from the light available to us during the 8 days of Pesach (Passover); and it’s different from the energy available to us on the 8 other holidays throughout the year. In total there are 32 days of varying special Light/energy (besides the special light of Shabbat). These 32 days connects to the 32 Paths of Wisdom of the Tree-of-Life, through which these various lights shine unto us.

The oil lasted 8 days because the Light of Chanukah, Mashiach Light, lasted 8 days, not the other way around. As soon as the special Light of Moshiach (Or Ganuz) was revealed into our existence, it was hidden. I learned from my teacher that on the first Shabbat of Creation, it was brought out for 32 hours then hidden away for the time of the Messiah. But for 8 days every year we can taste of the Light.

The letters of Mashiach (MShYCh) spell out Madlikim Shmona Yemei Chanukah (“lighting up eight days of Chanukah.”)

Chanukah Meditations

How to Count the 8 Days

As tasty as the jelly donuts are, the purpose of Channukah is not the joy of the celebration, but the joy of bringing Moshiach.

Even the books of the Maccabees dates the first war as 3585 HC, which coincides with the numerical value of Moshiach, which is 358. The fight was for liberation, and so is ours today, liberating ourselves from the clutches of physicality.

One of the key elements of Chanukah is based on the spiritual tenet that nothing can ever be lost; once it goes from a latent(potential) state to physical one it’s forever present in the universe, whether we can physically see it or not. So the light of the first night, is added to the second and so forth until the 8th day when we have the light of 1+2+3+4+5+6+7+8 = 36 days of light.

That explained, we can note that the sum of all the Torah occurrences of the words “first” through “eighth”—echad, sheni, shlishi, reve’i, chamishi, shishi, sheve’I, and shemeni—is (189+125+2+2+2+2+0+0) = 322 and since the sum of days (numbers) 1-8 representing all the summary Chanukah lights for the 8 days is 36 , and (322 + 36) = 358, the value of Moshiach yet again. And while 36 is just the result of rounding off the numerical term 35.8, the number 36 to the kabbalists represents the lamed-vav tzaddikim, or 36 righteous souls necessary at all times to maintain our existence in the universe.

The 44 Candles Sweeten the Judgment

How to count the candles

On a simple level, over the 8 nights, we’re lighting 44 candles in total including the shamesh every night, these corresponding to the ordinal value of the letters in Chanukah (ChNVCH), which is 44. It also corresponds to first letters of all 10 plagues, which also add up to 44. So you can see the power to create miracles is built into every aspect of these 8 days.

Moreover, the first plague was blood, dam, also of numerical value 44, and as the Arizal explains “the word “m’damei“, whose numerical value (89) equals that of the word “Chanukah“, is rooted in the letters dalet and mem, which spell the Hebrew word for “blood.” Blood represents the negative powers of judgment; our mission it is to sweeten that judgement and the lighting of the 44 candles are designed to help us. They nullify the kelipot before us.”

With every candle we light, we can sweeten the judgment in out lives and in the world.

As we’ll explore within the blessings, the 44 candles connect first and foremost to the regressive spelling of the higher name of G-d, Ehyeh, whose numerical value is 44, thus connecting us to Chochma and Binah;

(E – EH – EHY – EHYH)

Counting Candles:

If our actions of lighting the chanukiya each night rekindle the energy from the night before and culminate in completeness on Zot Chanukah (the final night) then: On the 1st night we light 1 candle and it stays lit metaphysically for (at least) 8 days; and on the second night we light 2 candles that stay lit, we have a total of 3 lit (rekindled) that second night. On the 3rd night we are lighting (rekindling) 1 + 2 + 3 or a total of six; and so on, until we have 1 + 3 + 6 + 10 + 15 + 21 + 28 + 36 = 120, a familiar mathematical progression that seems to be oft used in the deeper meditations and connections of the Torah, and that we first learned about from Abraham in the Sefer Yetzirah, The Book of Formation.

In the same way, the Shamesh would be 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 5 + 6 + 7 + 8 = 36. Thus 120 + 36 = 156 candles would be metaphysically lit, and 156 = 6 X 26 with 26 being the numerical value of the Tetragrammaton (YHVH). Moreover, the Arizal explains that 78 is the value of mazal (fortune), an integral part of the lighting meditations as will be explained below, and 156 = 2 X 78.

The Arizal further explains that the eight days of Chanukah are, or end up, at the level of hod, the same as a brit whose 8 days expire at hod before the brit can be performed at the level of yesod. Well, considering this, it’s noteworthy that if we assume that all our candles/oil last for 8 days, then in total, we are lighting 120 lights (which would correspond to the 120 permutations of Elohim) and the 120 years of Moses, whose soul is part and parcel with that of Moshiach in every generation. Then if we add the 36 lights for the 8 Shamesh (helper candle) that we light, totals 156, the numerical value for Yosef, who represents the level of Yesod. It’s also the value of Zion. And Yosef was born in 2198 HC, exactly 3580 years before the year 5778, when Moshiach (numerical value 358) is supposed to be manifest in our world.

The Blessings

The Ignition to all the Blessings

When we start the blessing with the word Baruch, we need to keep in mind that it has the numerical sofit value of 708, which is the same as that of the 42 letters of the upper Mem-Bet, which is the ineffable Name YHVH spelled out through 3 iterations. This is no coincidence as it is from this Name that the blessings flow downward through the 6 levels (dimensions) of zeir anpin and into our world. It is also for this reason that the first gate from the Holy of Holies into our world has the dimensions 6 x 7 (the Gate of 42):

YHVH

YVD HY VYV HY

YVD VYV DLT HY YVD VYV YVD VYV HY YVD

L’hadleek Ner Chanukah

Now regarding the Chanukah blessings on the words L’hadleek Ner Chanukah and the kavanot that we’ve learned from the Arizal, the 3 first letters Lamed, Nun and Chet, spell out in small gematria, 3,5,8 or 358, Mashiach.

The initials in L’hadleek Ner Chanukah (to light the Chanukah candle) spell the word Nachal (a holy Name that means stream or river, and also inheritance) and it has a numerical value of 88, which when aided by a kolel of 1 = 89, that of Chanukah itself.

Nevertheless, the concept of a stream is very important because by lighting the candles with the right consciousness we’re opening a stream of light (the energy of sustenance or shefa) from above into our lives and world. And the inheritance is the Messiah (the Moshiach).

As explained by the Arizal,the secret of 3 letters N, CH. L and Nachal comes from the 3 words that comprise the 8th and 9th of the 13 Attributes of G-d : “Notzer Chesed L‘alefim.” The Ari further explains that the 8th sefira (level), which is Binah (Imma/Understanding) is where we are drawing this upper light from. Moreover, a key secret here is that once the 8th level is tapped into, all 3 upper levels (Binah, Chochma and Keter) are at once available to us. A river of divine light and blessing can flow into our world if we attune ourselves to it during the blessing and candle lighting.

So the first mediation is on opening up the flowing river (Nachal) from Binah, Chochma and Keter through Binah into Zeir Anpin (the heavenly ladder that connects our world to Binah (the upper world). Zeir Anpin is represented by the aspect of the spe;;ed-out Tetragrammaton (YVD HE VEV HE) at the level called (Mah) of numerical value 45.

This is very important

We are further told that Mah combines with Binah through the alef(E) in the letter vav (VEV) to the regressively spelled Name Ehyeh (E, EH EHY EHYH) which is associated with Binah and has a numerical value of 44, just like the 44 total Chanukah candles that we will physically light over the 8 days.

Together, these two intersecting Names of G-d total numerically 45 + 44 = 89, once again the value of Chanukah(ChNVCH). Please note that it’s the Names that are important, the numbers just help us understanding a little of what is going on energetically in the spiritual framework.

It’s very important we grasp this unification because as Rabbi Chaim Vital of blessed memory explains, it through this very union of the YHVH (26) and the regressive EHYH (44) that the 70 Minsters of the 70 Nations are governed and thus all that stems from it in the count of 70, such as the final 70 years from Israel becoming a nation until the advent of Moshiach consciousness throughout the world. Through the proper lighting of the 44 candles this year we have the power to guide that process forward.

→

(E, EH EHY EHYH + YVD HE VEV HE)

45 + 44 = 89

(Shefa flowing from Binah into Zeir Anpin)

Second Meditation:

The value of the word L’hadleek plus the kolel (1) = (179 +1) = 180, and partially because of this the Arizal tells us at this point in the blessing to meditate on the 3 upper aspects of the Tetragrammaton (Av, Sag, Mah), which total numerically (72+63+45) = 180.

Av: (YVD HY VYV HY) = 72

Sag: (YVD HY VEV HY) = 63

Mah: (YVD HE VEV HE) = 45

= 180

Any number times 10 indicates that number spreading throughout the 10 sefirot of the tree-of-life. In this case, it’s 18 (Chai, life), and as Rabbi Chaim Vital of blessed memory explains “All Torah Light is spread by squaring,” so we see within the square root of 18: 4.2426. This is significant because 424 is the value for “Mashiach Ben David” and 26 is the value of the Tetragrammaton (YHVH).

Now, specific to the Channukah blessing is that the spelled-out (gematria milui) value of the letters nun (NVN) and that of the lamed (LMD) of L’hadleek Ner is also 180, thus giving us yet another connection to “Mashiach Ben David and the tree-of-life.”

From the 18 words of the 13 Attributes, the phrase “Notzer Chesed L‘alefim” means “He preserves kindness for 2000 years” which is a hint that our time of exile for the past 2000 years is coming to a close, and if we add the 18 to it, we get 2018 CE (5778 HC), the year the tzaddikim have prophesied for the coming of the messiah and the final redemption (geula). It is also the year (2018 HC) that G-d made His Covenant with Abraham, our inheritance (Nachal).

Indeed, the word candle, Ner, has a numerical value of 250 and thus the 8 candles have a collective value of 250 x 8 = 2000.

And so when we add the 180 of Av, Sag. Mah aspects of the YHVH to the 180 of L’hadleek Ner plus the kolel of 3 for said 3 aspects, we get 180 + 180 + 3 = 363, the numerical value of H’Mashiach, (“the Messiah”), which is what we should be mediating on when we recite L’hadleek Ner:

(Receiving H’Mashiach)

L’Hadleek

Ner

Regarding Ner, the Arizal tells us to combine the Names Ehyeh, Elohim, and Adonai with YHVH on the 3 different levels (Av, Sag, and Mah) to draw down the light properly from Binah to Malchut:

(EHYH, ELHYM, EDNY).

If we take the first two letters of each Name (EH, EL, ED), they add up to 6 + 31+ 5 = 42, as in the 42-Letter Name of G-d, (the Shem Mem-Bet, known as the Ana B’koach).

Then if we take the third letter (EHYH, ELHYM, EDNY) in each (YHN) they add up to 10 + 5 + 50 = 65 the numerical value of Adonai (EDNY), which leaves (H,YM, Y) which sum to 5 + 50 + 10 = 65, Adonai (EDNY) again.

The main point, though, is that the 3 Names represent the 42-letter Name and 130, which is the numerical value of the two synonyms, Sinai and Sulam (ladder). Now the total numerical value of the 3 Names (EHYH, ELHYM, EDNY) is 172, and when we add 1 for the kolel, it’s 173, as in the small gematria numerical value for the 42-letter Name.

The Ari further explains that at the word Ner in the blessing we should concentrate on combining the 3 Names (EHYH, ELHYM, EDNY) with the 3 simple (YHVH)’s. These 3 YHVH’s add up to 26 + 26 + 26 = 78, the gematria of Mazla, aramaic for mazal, fortune, which we want to draw into our lives when lighting the Chanukah candles. This process mimics the flow of the shefa, (life-giving light) that emanates from the 3 YHVH’s and flows from the Holy of Holies through the Gate of 42 into the Holy Temple and then our world.

Now the main point of the Arizal was that the 6 Names (YHVH–EHYH, YHVH–ELHYM, YHVH–EDNY)-add up to 250, the value of Ner, candle, but if we add 6 as the kolel, we get 256, which is the value for both H’Aron (Ark of the Covenant) and for Aaron who lit the Menorah as channel for us all.

Ner

So when we recite Ner, we want to meditate on the 42-Letter name (the Ana B’koach), receiving mazal, letting Aaron, the high priest and the only person in the Torah assigned the title Mashiach, be our channel to light the Menorah in our lives and world.

אבג יתץ

קרע שטן

נגד יכש

בטר צתג

חקב טנע

יגל פזק

שקו צית

together with the 6 Names merging together as follows.

YHVH – EHYH (Chochma – Ehyeh)

YHVH – ELHYM (Binah – Elohim)

YHVH – EDNY (Malchut – Adonai)

We draw the light of blessing down from Chochma to Binah to our world, Malchut.

Now for the full understanding, we take the 3 Names Ehyeh, Elohim and Adonai plus the 3 Names Av, Sag, Mah from the L’hadleek Ner kavanot and numerically add them (172 + 180) + 6 (kolel for the 6 Names) and get 358, Mashiach

So completing the recitation of Baruch though Ner, we want to have in mind drawing down the light from the Upper 42-Letter Name to the Lower 42-Letter Name though the 3 YHVH’s and into the 3 Names (Ehyeh, Elohim and Adonai) and thus igniting the spark of Moshiach consciousness in all of us and spreading it throughout the 70 nations.

The Candle

The candle we’re lighting is the light of the Torah itself as evidenced by the spelled out, gematria milui of the letters (nun-resh) of Ner (candle): (NVN RShY) = (106 + 510) = 616, which is the numerical value of H’Torah, which helps explain Proverb 6:23:

“A mitzvah is a candle, and the Torah is light.”

The Shamesh

The Shamesh, or 9th candle is much more than a simple helper candle. The 9th sefira is that of Chochma, Wisdom. and the unification from above that is associated with the 9th sefira is YHVH x EHYH or in numerical terms 26 x 21 = 546, which is the sum of the initials of all 10 sefirot, a clue that this unification helps us draw the energy down through all 10 sefirot.

The value 546 is also the total value of the Names of the 3 Patriarchs whose names began with the letter Yud, which connects them to Chochma (wisdom), the 9th sefira: Isaac (208), Jacob(182), and Jospeh(156). It’s likewise a connection to Israel, which has a value of 546 when the kolel for the 5 letters is included, and whose name is found 546 times in the Torah.

So as we light the Shamesh we should meditate to draw down the light through the 10 sefirot and to put joy in our hearts.

The 25th of Kislev

Yet another connection between the kavanot and the words of the blessing is found between the 25 letters of the union of the 6 Names and the value of Ner, 250, since 250/10 = 25, but most important these would be the 25 letters that the Zohar says is missing for the completion of the Mishkan and the 25 words that we know are missing from the completion of the Torah, which is exactly (80,000 – 25 words). It’s also a connection between the 25 letters of the Shma Israel phrase and the 25^th of Kislev, as explained by the Zohar.

The next obvious further connection is between the 80,000 words and the 8 lights and nights of Chanukah, since the 4^th root of the sum of all the words, letters, and verses of the Torah = 25 exactly. There are also 25 letters in lamed-vav (36) milui.

So note that the 25 letters in the verse “Shma Israel, Adonai Elohenu, Adonai Echad” (Hear O Israel, G-d our Lord is One) is found at Devarim 6:4 and the word Chanukah (ChNV-CH) can be broken down to the two numerical values 64 (ChNV) and 25 (CH), and moreover that the numerical value of the first and last words in that verse, Shma (ShMY) and Echad (EChD) plus the kolel (1) = 410 + 13 + 1 = 424, the numerical value of Mashiach Ben David.

Further to this line of reasoning, and as connected by the Zohar, are the 24 days of Kislev that proceed Chanukah and the 24 letters in the Baruch Shem phrase that follows the Shma Israel phrase.

So on the first night before lighting we should connect to the Shma Israel and mediate that we are completing the Torah as in the days of Moshiach, B”H soon.

The OiI

The word for eight (8) in Hebrew is shemonah, and a simple permutation of the letters in shemonah (ShMNH) gives us hashemen. “the oil” (HShMN), and also neshama (soul, NShMH), all of which have the numerical value of 395, that of the 5th word in the Torah, H’Shama’im (the Heavens).

And when we spell out the Shin-Mem-Nun root letters of the Oil they add up to 546, so we must keep in mind (Proverbs 27:9): “Oil and incense rejoice the heart,” and be joyful as we light the oil for that joy will spread through the 10 sefirot and be contagious throughout the world.

Proverbs 27:9 “Oil and incense rejoice the heart”

The 8 Nights of Lights

Now know this for every candle we light below, one is lit above. So for all the 156 metaphysical candles we light below plus 1 collective one (the kolel), another 157 are lit above, making 314 in total, and 314 is the numerical value of the Name of G-d Shadai (ShDY) and also of Mettatron. As for the 156 candles , it’s the numerical value of Zion and as we said previously, Joseph, who represents Yesod of Malchut, where the light of Binah ends up on the 8th day. It’s is also the point where all the divine sustenance funnels into out lives and our world. Incidentally, Zion, of numerical value 156, is found 107 times in Tanakh and the sum of all the positive integers from 1 to 107 is 5778.

Moreover, if we consider all the cumulative lit Chanukah lights as a multiple of 8 days: 1 x 3 x 6 x 10 x 15 x 21 x 28 x 36 = 1008 then add 1 for the kolel, and double them for above and below, they total 2018 candles in all. So in essence, each and every year, by fulfilling the mitzvot of lighting the Channukah candles we’re preparing for the arrival of Moshiach in the year 2018 CE (5778 HC), our inheritance.

Chanukah Gelt

Even the parve chocolate gelt we give to our children on Chanukah connects to Mashiach, as the Aramaic word for gelt is Dami (DMY) of numerical value 54, and since 5778 is the sum of all the integers from 1 to 107 and 5778 = 107 x 54, then 54, and thus Dami (Gelt), plays yet another role in connecting all of us to the coming of H’Mashiach, B’H very soon.

So bring joy to your heart and joy to the world this Chanukah and help bring the gift of Mashiach into our lives.

Who knew? The Mark of the Beast Really is 666.

The number 666 is infamous, made so by the phrase in the final chapters of the Christian Bible: Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man: His number is 666.

In our next couple posts, we’ll explain what this has to do with the geula (final redemption) and Rav Yehuda Halevi Ashlag’s last words, and separately, what is has to do with the Tree-of-life.

Meanwhile, today we’ll supply some of that yearned for wisdom: what the number 666 has to do with both the beast and the man, as given to us by the Tanakh (Old Testament), several hundred years “Revelations” was written.

The answer lies in the Hebrew and its gematria, even the English translation of Ecclesiastes 3:21, “Who knows the spirit of man whether it goes upward, and the spirit of the beast whether it goes downward to the earth?” is evocative of the much later written verse in the Christian Revelations.

TIKKUN 46 of the Tikkune Zohar brings up Ecclesiastes 3:21 in its discussion of בְּרֵאשִׁית , “In the beginning”, the first word of the Torah. It forms two words , בָּרָא שִׁית, meaning “created six(6)”.
The Zohar tells us that this refers to the six (6) bundled sefirot (dimensions) of Zeir Anpin (chesed gevurah, tiferet, netzach, hod and yesod), which form the central column. It is represented by the letter Vav of the Tetragrammaton YHVH name. It is the connector between Binah (the upper world), which is the provider of the light, to Malchut (our dimension).

“From Binah came out the six days that are the element of time that create the process. Working and following the process during the six days lead us to the seventh day when we have rest and ability to connect to the Light of Binah.”

Then the Zohar, brings up the following verse from Ecclesiastes, where we also find the famous 28 Times (A time to live, a times to die, etc)

Ecclesiastes 3:21
“מִי יוֹדֵעַ, רוּחַ בְּנֵי הָאָדָם–הָעֹלָה הִיא, לְמָעְלָה; וְרוּחַ, הַבְּהֵמָה–הַיֹּרֶדֶת הִיא, לְמַטָּה לָאָרֶץ”
“Who knows the spirit of man whether it goes upward, and the spirit of the beast whether it goes downward to the earth?”

So let’s understand what this verse has to do with 6 and more importantly for this conversation, 666. The prefix Hey (H) in Hebrew is the article meaning “the” and in this case it was inserted somewhat superfluously 6 times in the verse. When we discount it, we find that the words in the verse that pertain to the beast part of the spirit that goes down (הַבְּהֵמָה–הַיֹּרֶדֶת) has the gematria (numerical value) of 666, and moreover, for those familiar with the apocalyptic predictions of Revelations and the 42 month period, it’s important to note that the 666 value 2 word (10-letter) phrase for beast begins on the 32nd and ends on the 42nd letter of this verse.

It’s significant that the tree-of-life is structured with 32 Paths of Wisdom, that link together the 10 sefirot, for as Rabbi Chaim Vital of blessed memory points out, these total 42 and are associated with the 42–Letter Name of G-d.

At this point we can easily say that the number and its association with the 666 had it’s origins with the writings in Ecclesiastes, but that would simply be doing a disservice to those very profound writings.

The verse clearly and symmetrically juxtaposes the spirit of a mad with that of a beast, moving in opposite directions, one up, one down. But that’s on the surface. Underneath, we find that once again without the superfluous prefix (H), the words for Man (בְּנֵי הָאָדָם) also have the gematria value (less the kolel of 1) of 666. Literally the words state “son of the Man (Adam).

Is the verse saying we have the beast within us and that negativity will sink to the earth, while the pure spirit will rise up?

Who knows? The gematria with the kolel of the verse’s first 3 words (מִי יוֹדֵעַ, רוּחַ) is 358, that of Moshiach, the Messiah. And even more surprisingly, the gematria of the last 3 words (הִיא, לְמַטָּה לָאָרֶץ) with the kolel (3) for the 3 words is 424, the same as that of Moshiach Ben David.

Once again, the concept if time slips into the writings of Ecclesiastes, as we begin Man’s journey with Moshiach, a primordial figure and energy (consciousness) that existed before the counting of time, which began with Adam. Then our journey through physicality ends with Moshiach Ben David, after the negativity (represented by the beast) is separated out and drawn into the earth.

But When?

This verse provides several hints to the answers. It can be found in its’ 5th word, the name/word Adam (EDM), which the sages tell us is an acronym for Adam-David-Moshiach and if we make the midpoint in David’s life (2889 HC) the halfway point to Moshiach Ben David, then the date would be 5778, just Rav Ashlag suggested based on the kabbalistic calculation using the principle of 2/3 (.666). See The Divine Calendar for a fuller explanation. The halfway point coincides with the middle 6 words of this special verse whose final letters equal exactly 424, once again the numerical value of Moshaich Ben David.

The next hint is found in the total gematria of the verse, 2084 when we subtract 53 for the number of letters and 14 for the number of words in the verse as the Arizal was apt to do, and get 2017, as in the year 2017 ce, or 5777-5778 HC.

And finally, we spoke of how the first 3 words of the 14 words and the last 3 words and also the middle 6 words all add up to either Moshiach or Moshaich Ben David, but that leaves two words unaccounted for Bnei H’Adam (בְּנֵי הָאָדָם) and together they add up to in simple gematria, 107, which is curious as we know that the sum of all the integers through 107 is 5778.

And then there is the gematria sofit of the final letters in the 14 words of the verse, which the sages tell us point to the future and in this case they add up to 2028 or 10 years more than 2018 ce. Does this indicate a 10 year process for the 10 sefirot beginning in 2018. Who knows?

As for the beast…

The words used for the beast (הַבְּהֵמָה–הַיֹּרֶדֶת) can be permuted to form H’BrYT DM, meaning the covenant of blood or H’BrYT DMH, meaning the covenant of her blood, which is also the angel of the death level.

Ecclesiastes 3:21
“מִי יוֹדֵעַ, רוּחַ בְּנֵי הָאָדָם–הָעֹלָה הִיא, לְמָעְלָה; וְרוּחַ, הַבְּהֵמָה–הַיֹּרֶדֶת הִיא, לְמַטָּה לָאָרֶץ”
“Who knows the spirit of man whether it goes upward, and the spirit of the beast whether it goes downward to the earth?”

Indeed, who knows? With the promise of Moshiach and the Tree-of-life reality upon us, we should make sure we are doing everything we can to separate ourselves from the beast within us, the klippot (negative husks) and selfish desires that weigh us down and anchor us to this earth.

As stated earlier, we’ll soon explain what this has to do with the geula (final redemption) and Rav Yehuda Halevi Ashlag’s last words, and separately, what is has to do with the Tree-of-life.

Armed with wisdom, may G-d bless us all with the strength to overcome our own nature.

The 10 Plagues, Then and Now.

The Hidden Message in the 10 Plagues

It’s mandatory to celebrate Passover (Pesach) every year and recount the story of the exodus, including the explicit listing of the 10 plagues. Why? Is it just so we don’t forget? Wouldn’t it be better to instead concentrate on the 10 miracles G-d performed for the Israelites on their way to receiving the 10 Commandments and the Torah?

A most common form of Torah analysis performed by the sages is to examine initials of key word groupings, phrases, or verses. The sum of the nominal value of the initials in the 11 words that comprise the 10 plagues is 541, the numerical value of the name Israel, which is not only the last word in the Torah, but Israel was arguably formed out of the end of the exile immediately precipitated by the 10 plagues, especially the last plague, the killing of the firstborn, whose initials are Mem-Bet.

Mem-Bet is not only the 42-Letter Name of G-d, profoundly associated with the time of redemption, but it is named justly because it has the numerical value of 42, as in the 42 places the Israelites traveled through on their way out of Egypt to the Promised Land. It is also aligned with the journey every process must take through the 42 letters of the 11 sefirot.

The first letter of the 40 letters in the 10 plagues is dalet, with the numerical value of 4, as in the number of letters in Tetragrammaton and in the Name of G-d, Ehyeh, the Name used in “I am that I am.” The first plague, dam, blood, is spelled dalet-mem, which is numerically 4 plus 40 or 44.

The deeper secret is in the blood. The first plague is Dam (Dalet-Mem), whose initial is dalet. The initial of the last plague is Mem, thus the whole 10 plagues can be collapsed in abbreviated form into Dam (Dalet-Mem), the first plague. Not only does eth letter Mem, complete the word dam, but it in effect encompasses and represents the full 40 letters in the 10 plagues, because of its numerical value, 40.

Please note that that also means that there are an exact average of 40/10 or 4 letters per plague, the numerical value of Dalet.

We use the word encompasses because the final mem is not only shaped like a closed womb, but according to the sages it is supposed to represent one as well, and if we subtract the numerical value of dam (blood) from that of Da’at, the 11th and balancing sefira, we get 474 – 44 = 430, both the numerical value of nefesh, (the animalistic or lower part of the soul), which the sages tell us is housed in the blood, and also the number of years the Jews were in exile through the end of the 10 plagues.

Blood is also a fitting metaphor because from the womb flows both the blood of judgment unto the Egyptians, and the mercy to the Jews in the birth of the Israel.

We know from the sages that the Passover passage out of Egypt was about Da’at, the serifa of balance and knowledge, and also that Da’at was represented in the Dalet of Dam, the first letter of the first plague. Furthermore, Dalet, when spelled out, has the numerical value of 434, while da’at has the numerical value of 474, leaving a difference of 40 between them, the numerical value of Mem, showing us that the full word dam, blood, is included in Da’at.

It’s all about Four (4)

While many of the significant mandated elements of Pesach (Passover) including the 4 questions, the 4 cups of wine, the 4 sons, the 4 aspects of the Tetragrammaton and the 4 letters in it and also in the name Eyheh, we been told by the sages that they correspond to the 4 exiles.

The first plague, blood, is spelled Dalet-Mem, with the first letter having the numerical value of 4, and the next letter having the value of 40, or 10 x 4. Meanwhile, not only does the first letter of the last plague, the killing of the first born, also has the value of 40, but there are 40 letters in the 10 plagues, making 4 the exact average number of letters per plague. And while the final letter of the 10 plagues is 400 or 10 X 40, the second plague, frogs, has a numerical value of 444, or 4 X 111, the numerical value of Aleph, the first letter in the Hebrew alphabet.

Moreover, the 4 letters of the Name Ehyeh, (EHYH)—the Name revealed to Moses just prior to the plagues–can be expanded through progressive method– sometimes called squaring–to (E, EH, EHY, EHYH), which is numerically equivalent to 44, the same as dam, blood, the first plague.

The connection to 4 for Pesach and the 10 plagues at the end of the 1^st exile is interesting because 10 is an extension both numerically and spiritually of 4. Numerically, the 4^th triangular number has a value of 10, just as 10 is the sum of the first 4 integers, as in 1+2+3+4 = 10.

Spiritually, both the 4 letters of the Tetragrammaton and of the Name Eyheh when expanded by spelling them out have 10 letters each. Moreover, as we mentioned earlier, Passover is about da’at, which begins with the letter Dalet, of numerical value 4, while da’at is a sefira or dimension that combines the dimensions of Chochma and Binah, whose initials’ numerical values of 8 and 2 add up to 10.

So in a sense we see the 10 plagues extending throughout the 4 exiles, for a total of 40, as in the 40 letters in the 10 plagues, which is yet another reason it’s mandated we read the haggada and review all the plagues, etc every year throughout the various exiles.

The plagues didn’t just happen 66.6 jubilee years ago, they’ve been reoccurring continually throughout the 4 exiles in one form or another. As for the first plague, dam, blood, there have been many times in these past 3330 years when tens and even hundreds of thousands have died and rivers of blood have flowed.

The 10 Plagues were Planned at the Beginning of Time.

While the 11 words of the 10 plagues correspond to the 11 unique letters in the first verse of the Torah, the first 4 letters of the Torah have an ordinal value of 44, the same as Dam, the first plague.

The next 2 letters, completing the entire first word of the Torah, Bereshit, “In the Beginning” have an ordinal value of 32, as in the value of the 4 components of the letter Aleph, connecting as we’ve discussed in other articles to the 32 Paths of Wisdom that define the structure of the universe and that house the 10 sefirot (dimensions). When we add them together, we get numerically 76, or the fully expanded Tetragrammaton at the highest level of Av (chochma), but alphabetically they spell out Aleph-Dalet-Mem, or Adam(ELP).

Adam represents the start of Jewish soul, the source of which, as we’ve written about in other articles, is in the primordial Aleph that exists before the Torah, and dam, or blood, represents both the flesh and the flow of the lower soul (nefesh) throughout time, throughout the generations.

With Aleph as the source, we can note that the 11 initials of the 10 plagues have an ordinal value of 100 and if we add 11 as the kolel to 100 we get 111, the numerical value of the name of the letter Aleph(ELP). And once again we can connect with the primordial Aleph before the Dam (first plague) to get Adam

There is yet another analogy connection between the letter Aleph, whose 4 component letters (Y,V,V,Y) sum to 32, and the 10 plagues, and moreover to the initials of the final plague, Mem-Bet, as provided by Rabbi Chaim Vital of blessed Memory. The eminent sage explained that the 10 sefirot (dimensions) plus the 32 Paths of Wisdom that link them together form the structure of the greater universe and together they comprise the 42-Letters of the 42-Letter Name, the Shem Mem-Bet.

As explained in detail in The Genesis Prayer, the first verse of the Torah is where the Shem Mem-Bet, or the 42-Letter Name of G-d, is derived from, and if we take the sum of the numerical values of the initials of each of the 7 words of that first verse, which is 22—obviously representative of the 22 normal letters of the Hebrew alphabet—and add it to the ordinal value of those same 7 letters, which is also 22, we get 44, once again, the value of the first plague, dam, blood.

Incidentally, and again as discussed in detail in The Genesis Prayer, the first verse of the Torah is integrally connected in multiple ways to both the numerical value of Mashiach, the Messiah, 358 and to the mathematical constant PI to an astounding precision, and one of the simplest ways is through the average value of those 7 letters, 22/7 or 3.14.

Now, if we think this is coincidence we need only examine the full first 10 letters of the Torah and see that the sum of their ordinal values equals 100 (keter, the crowning highest dimension), the exact same 100 as the sum of the ordinal values of the initials of the 10 plagues. Moreover, as mentioned earlier, the sum of the nominal value of those same initials is 541, the numerical value of the name Israel, the last word in the Torah.

The process of gematria computation allows us to subtract the kolel, as well as add it, and though I rarely use that approach, in this case if we subtract the sum of he ordinal values from the initials of the plagues (100) from the sum of their numerical values (541), we get 541 – 100 = 441, which is not only the numerical value of emet, truth, an allusion both to the Torah and to the 42-Letter Name of G-d, but it is also 21², or the square of the numerical value of the higher Name of G-d, Ehyeh.

Since the initials of the final plague are Mem-Bet and since the sum of all the initials of all 10 plagues (11 words) is 541, the numerical value of Israel, one interpretation is that the 10 plagues and 42 places lead to Israel. Another is that it will take 10 plagues, corresponding to the 10 sefirot (dimensions) and the Mem-Bet to reach the final redemption.

The sum of the first 9 plagues is 499, the numerical value of Tzva’ot, another of the Biblical Names of G-d; therefore, yet another possible interpretation is that we need to go through 9 sefirot (chochma) and the utilize the Shem Mem-Bet to break through to the level of Keter. The sages are quite clear that the 10 plagues correspond to the 10 sefirot and that the final one is at the level of keter(crown), but we can also see the word Keter (Caf-Tav-Reish) within the permutated letters of the final plague: Mem–caf-tav Bet–caf-vav-reish-vav-tav Permutes to Tav-Vav, Caf-Vav, Mem-Bet Caf-Tav-Reish.

Since Caf-Vav is 26 and an appellation of the Tetragrammaton, and since Tav-vav is the spelling of the last Hebrew letter, Tav, representing Malchut, which is our physical dimension, the lowest of the sefirot, we have the Tetragrammaton (26) and the Shem Mem-Bet helping us get from Malchut to Keter.

In addition, Mem-Bet Caf-Tav-Reish spells out Israel (YShREL) in gematria atbash (reverse alphabet cipher)

There are, of course, many deeper secrets and other possible interpretations here.

There are normally 41 letters in the 10 plagues with 41 being the number of letters in the name full Name Ehyeh spelled out, but In the Torah the word for beasts (or flies) is never spelled with the “vav” as it is in traditional Hebrew, leaving us with 40 letters.

The 11 Letters of the 10 Plagues and the Final Redemption

If we include the vav as is customary in most hagadahs, the sum of the 10 plagues using gematria sofit is 5546. And 546 is not only the sum of the initials of the 10 sefirot, but moreover, 5546 + 232 = 5778, the year preordained for the manifestation of the Tree-of-life reality, with 232 being the sum of the 4 aspects of the Tetragrammaton.

As we’ve noted extensively in The Divine Calendar, the dates of the Exodus in 2448 HC, the Final Redemption in 5778 HC and the fulcrum point of the Gregorian Calendar in 3760 HC are all integrally connected and aligned, so it’s no surprise that the sum of the 10 plagues in standard gematria equals 3290, and when we add the ordinal value of the 40 letters in the 10 plagues, 468, we get 3290 + 468 + 2 (the kolel for the 2 elements of the equation) equals 3760, or 26.26 jubilee years after the Exodus.

Interestingly enough, the two initials of the last plague, the killing of the first born, are Mem and Bet and if we were to add the value of the missing vav (6) mentioned above to the 352 times that the initials Mem-Bet appears sequentially in the Torah, we’d get 352 + 6= 358, the numerical value of Mashiach, the Messiah.

Furthermore, if you sum up the square roots of each of the 10 plagues, utilizing gematria sofit, which gives special values to the special 5 final letters, and add the square root of 232 you get 314….

In one of the sage’s prophecies it says. “Like the days you left Egypt, I will show you wonders”. This in reference to the final redemption.

According to the sages, Moses’ staff was engraved with both the Shem Mem-Bet (42-Letter Name) and the 72 Names of G-d, which are derived from the three consecutive 72 letter verses that narrate the crossing of the Red Sea (Sea of Reeds), were engraved on Moses’ staff and used in the splitting of the Sea.

Moreover, if we take the initials of the first and last plague together, we get Dalet-Mem-Bet, which is possibly connected to the 65th of the 72 Names of G-d: Dalet-Mem-Bet.

There are 11 unique letters in the first verse of the Torah, corresponding to the 11 spices of the Holy Temple and there are 11 first letters of the 10 plagues, which we can permute to spell out both the representative initials of the Shem Mem-Bet (the 42-letter Name) and the Ayin-Bet Shemot (the 72 Names) and more. These 11 letters can be permuted to form:

Echad (E,Ch,D)

Mem-bet (M,B)

Ayin-Bet (A,B)

Shaddai (Sh, D, Y)

Nun (N)

once the Tzaddi is broken into nun and yud. It’s said by the sages that in the time of Mashiach, the Messiah, the Tzaddi will split into Nun and Yud, then the Yud will change direction to facing forward) and then reconnect.

The significance of this is that they spell out Echad, One, as in “G-d is One;” Mem-Bet, as in the 42 Letter Name of G-d and the 42 places the Jews journeyed through on their way to Israel, and then Ayin-Bet, as in the 72 Names of G-d, both of which were used to split the Sea of Reeds according to chazal; and Shaddai, the Name of G-d that appears on all mezuzot and that starts of the mathematical constant Pi: and finally the letter Nun, whose numerical value is 50 as in the 50^th Gate, which chazal say the Israelites were at before crossing the Sea of Reeds; also as in the 50 times the Exodus is mentioned in the Torah; as in the 50 days from the Exodus to the reception of the Torah at Mt. Sinai, as in the 50 component letters used to construct the 27 letters of the Hebrew alphabet; as in the length of the biblical jubilee year (50 calendar years) used to reckon the arrival of H’Mashiach, and as in the value of the Hebrew word for “Sea”.

In many senses the 10 plagues were a cleansing of the Jewish and world soul, the nefesh housed in the blood, in preparation for the reception of the Torah 50 days later.

The Hebrew year 5778, the year given as the year of the Final Redemption, is 2018 in the Western calendar and 50 years earlier, one jubilee year, was the year 1968, the year of Revolution. It’s no coincidence the Beatles’ song Revolution came out that year. 1968 was the year the Vietcong launched the Tet Offensive and the world witnessed the My Lai Massacre; the year the Warsaw Pact invaded Czechoslovakia to crush the Prague Rebellion; the year of Black Power demonstrations in Howard University, the Mexico City Olympics, etc; the year of student protests in Poland and Germany and Tlatelolco Massacre of the students in Mexico; the year the French Governments was brought to the brink of revolution under siege by the student protests; the year of the Cantonsville Nine war protest and student war protests in universities all over the US; The year the war protesters clashed with the Chicago police outside the Democratic National Convention; the year Martin Luther King was assassinated and the riots that followed; the year Robert F Kennedy was assassinated; the year Nixon became president; and the year the Gold Standard was legally dropped and the dollar decoupled from gold, sealing the fate of the US economy; and finally the year Saddam Hussein took power in Iraq, setting us up for where we are today, ironically (coincidentally) mired in yet another Vietnam.

32 Years before the 2000 millennium, the year of Revolution began the final jubilee year, the last of the 66.6 jubilee years from the Exodus to the Final Redemption, the last of the 40 jubilee years from 3760 (0 CE) to 5778.

Frogs, Frogs and More Frogs–not a Freak Show.

Circus freak shows, usually include the world’s tallest and the world’s smallest, but Torah’s longest and shortest is no freak show–it’s very serious technology that can help greatly.

The Second plague, frogs, is very special indeed. In our last article, we showed how the word frogs contains the hidden word birds, itself a code for angels. Today, let’s look at the 10 places the Torah describes the frogs swarming the Egyptians. In the middle of them the Torah makes a point of saying that they will be in the Egyptian’s kneading troughs, which in Hebrew is the only 10-letter word in the Torah, matching the shortest verse in the Torah which we read a couple weeks ago, also 10 letters long: Genesis 46:23, “And the sons of Dan were Chushim” (VBNI DN ChShYM).

These all obviously have to do with the 10 sefirot (dimensions) of the Tree-of-life, but the word for kneading troughs, (VBMShERVTYC) is very interesting. first of all, it begins with and (V) the 42-Letter Name (ShMB) spelled out backwards (BMSh) and ends with the word Keter (CTR, the highest, crowning Sefira) backwards (VBMShERVTYC)

Similarly, the Name Israel in gematria atbash, leaving the central Resh (R) unchanged, transforms from YShREL to MBRTC or 42 – CTR (keter) backwards.

The rest of the letters in the 10 letter word (VBMShERVTYC) are spelling backwards, YVEV. We’ll get to that in a moment but first we should note that this word is the 15th in the verse and the total numerical value of this word is 985, therefore 985 + 15 = 1000 (keter of keter), the full manifestation of all the subsefirot (dimensions, 10 x 10 x 10) within the 10 sefirot.

The rest of the letters in the 10 letter word (VBMShERVTYC) are spelling backwards, YVEV, the masculine (or divine channeling) letters of the various Names of G-d., such as YHVH and EHYH. Notice that these Names have in common with YVEV the repetition of the 2nd and 4th letters–this pattern mimics the spiritual 4 phase process that Rav Ashlag explains in his Ten Luminous Emanations created the universe and still today guides our interaction with it.

The Zohar reveals about the Final Redemption that it connects to the Holy name for Zeir Anpin, which is the spelled name of YHVH in the form of יוד-הא-ואו-הא. When we removed the feminine or receptive letters (the VD of the letter Yud spelled out (YVD) and the two spelled out letter’s Hey (HE), we’re left with YVEV.

What’s left over of this Name are the letters יוד-הא-הא which have numerical value 32 as the first ב and last letters ל of the Torah. Together they spell לב, ‘heart’ with the numerical value 32, connecting also the 32 times the word ELOHM mentioned in the story of Creation, and especially to the 32 Pathways that comprise the tree-of-Life.

Before we get back to the Torah’s longest word and frogs, let’s take a quick look at the Torah’s shortest verse, and find that amidst the listing of the 70 Israelites who entered Egypt to begin the exile there, there is the Torah’s shortest verse, Genesis 46:23, “And the sons of Dan were Chushim” (VBNI DN ChShYM), and that similar to the Torah’s longest word and also to the structure of the Tree-of-life, it is 10 letters divided into 3 parts (words), one of which is a permutation of Moshiach (MShYCh). In fact, the verse contains the permutation of (MShYCh BN DVNY), or Mashaich Ben 70 since the last 4 letters have the numerical value of 70. It could even be (MShYCh BN DV – NY), or Mashiach Ben David, NY.

We also find that both begin with (VB), whose spelled-out format (VV BYT) has a numerical value equal to 424, that of Moshiach Ben David. And moreover, that both include the letters that spell out the acknowledged initials (VMBSh) for “and the 42-Letter Name). In this case the final letters add up to 1110 or 10 times Aleph (111) the first letter, and by design, the final plague, the killing of the first born, whose initials are (MB, 42) begins at Exodus 11:1.

The first plague, also of the life-flowing element water, is Dam, blood, of numerical value 44. Frogs (Tzfardim), the second of the 10 plagues is 444, and the value of the initials (based on their first mention) of the first 9 plagues is 444, the same as frogs. Why?

For one, they are stem from the 4 letters of the YHVH and represent not just the 1st exile but all 4–especially the 4th–exiles; and two, because the plagues are all about the angels, the hidden code within frogs (Tzfardim), and about rectifying and purifying the negative (anti-) Tree-of-life.

This is why 444 = 4 x 111 (aleph). This is why the value of the initials of the last 5 plagues = 358, Moshiach. This is why the initials of the 11 words in all 10 plagues = 541, Israel, and why the last plague’s initials are 42, MB, and also why there are 42 letters in the 11 Names of the sefirot in the Tree-of-life.

And it is probably why Obama is the 44th President at this time and came in with the 111th Congress.

It’s time to recognize the signs around us, and to recognize those within us as well. Change occurs internally and manifests externally. Once we change, so to will our environment. The plagues didn’t just occur outside the Egyptians windows, Torah makes the repeated point that they happened within the Egyptians homes.

Egypt (Mitzraim) means constriction in Hebrew, limitation. Don’t make Pharaoh’s mistake; don’t harden your heart as times get tough. We need to soften our hearts if we want to experience the world beyond limitations and illusions.