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.

The Divine Metaphor; Nuclear Fusion and the Bible.

The Zohar tells us 600,000 angels accompanied the 70 Israelites (Jacob’s family) into Egypt, and in our last article (on parsha VaYigash) we also learned from the Zohar that the chariot Joseph harnessed and rode to greet his father was of angelic (divine) origin, the same one that appeared in Ezekiel’s famous vision. In a few weeks (17 chapters or 50 paragraphs, from now), we’ll read in the Torah (parsha BeShalach) how Pharaoh sent 600 chariots chasing after the 600,000 Israelites, who had just used the 70 Angels (Triplets, Names) to split and cross the Sea of Reeds.

Let’s take a moment to examine all that.

We know that 17 is the numerical value of Tov (good) and always implies this when designated specifically in the Torah, such as Joseph’s age when he was sold by his brothers and such as the 17 good years Jacob lived in Egypt (Goshen). We also know that 50, or an interval of 50, always refers to the 50 Gates of Binah and in turn to the 50-year jubilee period.

So it can be easily inferred that this period from the entrance of Jacob and his 70 family members with their 600,000 escorting angles to their 600,000 descendants exit 210 years later was a good thing and that it relates to Binah and the jubilee counting system. And indeed, we know from the Zohar that they did overcome the negativity of Egypt and reach the 50^th Gate of Binah at Mt Sinai, 210 years later. Moreover, those 210 years were exactly 4.2 jubilee years, a reference to the al-important 42-Letter Name of G-d.

210 = 4.2 Jubilee Years

This is very important to the understanding of why the Israelites were in Egypt, why we’re still in exile, and when we’re coming out of exile.

Let us note further that exactly 44 jubilee years passed from Adam to Joseph’s birth (2200 years) and the first and essence of the 10 Plagues was in Hebrew dam (DM), meaning blood, of numerical value 44, like the blood Joseph’s brothers spread on his coat that they showed Jacob.

Nevertheless, according to the Zohar, the Israelites were in Egypt for one main purpose, to recuperate the holy sparks scattered there at the shattering of the 10 disconnected vessels (sefirot/dimensions) that existed prior to the Creation of the Tree-of-life. And so as the expanded from 70 to 600,000 they physically absorbed those sparks 600,000 and the 70 angles. Meanwhile, the 600,000 protecting angels went from 8571.428 angels per Israelite to 1, and the Sea of Reeds was in front of them and Pharaoh’s 600 chariots behind them.

In order to overcome their situation, the Israelites were forced to band together, unify, conjoin their 600,000 angels and concentrate their energy through the 70 Names. Theses 70 Names are also called today the 72 Names, as they are comprised of the 216 letters derived from the 3 consecutive 72-letter verses in BeShalach, but of the 72 Triplets there are only 70 unique Names as emphasized by the Zohar and as we can see for ourselves.

There is to this day still only 600,000 Israelite soul roots that originated from the 70 family members, the 12 sons of Jacob, the 3 Patriarchs and Adam, and we may have to reunite once again to end this exile as our ancestors did in the first. After all, it took Ester, Morchachai and Ezra to unite our ancestors trapped in Babylon to end their 70 years of exile as well. It stands to reason, unity amongst our souls is key.

Let’s set that aside for the moment and take a closer look at those 70 Israelites. Interestingly enough, there are an awful lot of 7’s in this story. Jacob “began his journey” by leaving Beer Sheba, the 7^th Well. He then worked 7 years for Leah, 7 years for Rachel, and 7 years for himself. Then there was Pharaoh’s dream of 7 cows emerging from the reeds, 7 more emaciated cows, 7 ears of corn, 7 more shriveled ears of corn, which were translated by Joseph to 7 good years and 7 fallow years. Jacob worked 7 years for Leah, 7 years for Rachel, and 7 years for himself.

Then on the way to Goshen, Jacob, now called Israel, “began his journey” and stopped back at Beer Sheba, the 7^th Well, where God spoke to him in a night vision, very similar to the prior time when he had just left Beer Sheba and had his famous vision of the angels racing up and down the ladder. When G-d reiterates his Covenant with Jacob that He had made with Abraham and Isaac, the Torah tells us Jacob set out from Beer Sheba, “the 7^th well”.

Next the Torah describes the make-up of the 70 family members and we find out that 7 are directly from Rachel, 14 from Rachel’s handmaiden, making 21 indirectly from Rachel in total, or 3 times 7. And the other 49 family members were from Leah and her handmaiden (33 and 16 respectively), or 7 times 7. We have 1 x 7 + 2 x 7 + 7 x 7 = 70.

Yup! That’s a lot of 7’s. Could it be possible that the life and journey of Jacob was about establishing Zeir Anpin, the trunk of the tree-of-Life, comprised of the 7 lower sefirot (dimensions) and their 10 sub-dimensions each, or 70? Even the 16 offspring from Leah’s handmaiden corresponded to the 16 times Beer-Sheba (the 7^th Well) is mentioned in the Torah and their 49 members are almost split in a 70/30 ratio.

Nevertheless, when we apply the ration 8571.428 angels per family member, it works out to exactly 180,000 angels for Rachel’s camp and 420,000 for Leah’s camp, very interesting round numbers, especially considering that the square root of 180,000 angels is 424.26, with 424 being the numerical value if Moshiach Ben David and 26 of the Tetragrammaton (26).

Nevertheless, back to the 8571.428 angels/person. If those angels were assigned to guard the 12 directions, as explained by the Zohar (think of the edges of a cube), and each of those groups (714.28 angels) were to be split up to guard the right, left, and central columns of their particular direction, then there would be 238.095… per group. Yet another interesting number, considering that 238 is the numerical value of Rachel, and also that 1/42 = .0238095.

And yes, 238.095… is also the atomic weight of Uranium₂₃₈.

Moreover, the Atomic number of Uranium₂₃₈ is 92 because it has 92 Protons in its’ nucleus and also 92 electrons circling it. Since Joseph was born in 2200 HC, Jacob was 92 at his birth. And of course, the numerical value of Rachel, his beloved, and Joseph’s mother is 238.

Smelling something fishy? What about the fact that 2200 HC is the year 1560 BCE in the Gregorian calendar and the numerical value of Joseph is 156. Is this all a big Divine metaphor?

So what’s the power here? Nuclear? Nuclear Fusion? Is that the power behind the conjoining of our souls.

Mathematically, what went on here? Following the instructions of the Arizal, we simply took 600,000 and divided it by 70 and then again by 12 and again by 3, mimicking the soul route of the Israelites from Adam to the 3 Patriarchs to the 12 sons (tribes) to the 70 family members, or 600,000/2520. And what is 2520, but the year of the Exodus and revelation at Sinai, 2448, plus 72, as in the 72 Triplets (Names that were utilized to effect the final fusion.

(2448 +72) = 2520

Therefore

600,000/(2448 + 72) = 238.095 = Uranium₂₃₈.

So why was Joseph’s family split into Rachel’s camp of 21 and Leah’s camp of 49? It’s because 21/49 = 3/7 = .428 and that forms the relationship of the upper 3 sefirot (dimensions) with the lower 7 sefirot. In other words, it mimics the Tree-of-Life and it was planned that the Israelites would spread along the branches of that tree. kabbalistically, Leah is always representative of he upper levels, and Rachel of the lower ones, Malchut, but this is not what the Torah is showing us here. Except that the Zohar confirms that Leah’s children are the real malchut, while Joseph was of Yesod of the upper worlds.

There are many more secrets here. To be continued…

We Were Told to Count to 50!

We were told to count to 50, yet every year we count to 49, and let G-d count the 50th day for us? But that’s not what we were told to do.
As an adjunct to our last Article on the splitting of the Torah at Bamidbar (Numbers) Chapter 1 into the precise Phi proportions and to the connection to the year 5778 (2018 CE), we’d like to add a secret about the 12 tribes, actually 13, listed in the 54 verses of Bamidbar chapter 1. They appear to be listed haphazardly, but that is anything from the truth. The sages and the Zohar tell us that they are listed in a specific in order for us to connect through them to the stars and to destiny, but there is a deeper, never been reveled secret about them as well.

The 13 initials in there order of appearance are R for Reuben, then Sh for Shimon, then G for Gad, then Y for Yehuda, then Y for Issacar, then Tz for Tzebelun, then E for Ephraim, then M for Menash, then B for Benjamin, then D for Dan, then E for Asher, then N for Naphtali, then finally L for Levi.

As you may have noticed the initials M-B as in the 42-Letter Name (MB Shemot) appears in the middle of them, the Name the sages have said is necessary for bringing about the Geula (final redemption), but what the true secret is that that the first 11 Names add up to 577 and the final 2 to 80, a well-conceived allusion to 5778-0, especially considering that the prior two portions in the Torah had 57-78 verse respectively.

They are further arranged so that the 6 tribes numbered 4 through 9 would add up to 70, as in the 70 Nations, the 70 years of King David, and the last 70 years from when Israel became a Nation in 5708 HC.

In his commentaries on this portion (Bamidbar) the Arizal discusses the reason that the Levites were counted from age 30 and everyone else from age 20. In essence, it is because the Levites represent the left side of the Tree-of-Life, the side of Gevurah, which is comprised of the 5 crowns (or proto Gevurah) within the sefira (dimension) of Da’at; the 5 midot (emotional expressions) of Gevurah within Zeir Anpin that are the dimensions of Chesed, Gevurah, Tiferet, Netzach and Hod; and the 5 manifesting stages of Gevurah within the dimension of Yesod, for a total of 15. Since there are male and female aspects to each, the total is 15 plus 15 or 30. 30 is also the numerical value for the letter Lamed (L), the initial of the tribe of Levi.

Not coincidentally, Lamed is one of the two central letters of the Hebrew alef-bet, the other being Caf (C), nor is it coincidental that that complete numerical value (standard plus ordinal) is 42; or that the complete value of Caf(C)is 31, that of El (G-d); or that the complete value of Caf-Lamed (CL), spelling Kol, meaning “All (everyone)”, is 73, the same as Chochma (wisdom). And using a little known, but highly revelatory form of ancient gematria we see at the essence of the letters Caf-Lamed (CL): (42 x 31)/(42+31) = 26.04, the sum of the 4 letters of the Tetragreammatom (YHVH), which oddly enough is the same as 2 x (42 x 31), which is also = 2604, further emphasizing this important connection.

The Beginning

Nevertheless, the letter Lamed(L) as seen from above starts out as a point, becomes a straight line and spirals into a circle, a metaphor for the formation of the universe as described in Rav Ashlag’s Ten Luminous Emanations. It’s one of two letters that spiral; the other being the letter Pe(P), and as we’re told by Abraham, The Patriarch in his Sefer Yetzirah (The Book of Formation) these are the two letters (PL) that control (have dominion over) the month of Tishrei, which begins with Rosh HaShannah. This is also why the sequence of the counting of the tribes begins with the word for counting (Pekudaihem) and ends with Levi, thus (PL).

Now, the letter (P) forms a more natural recognizable spiral, and thus is associated with the spiraling numerical constant Phi, as opposed to the Letter (L), which is associated with the mathematical constant Pi, as would be appropriate for a line becoming a circle.

What bother these letters also have in common is that they are both composed of the letters Caf (C) and Vav(V) as in (CV), representing the number 26, associated with the Tetragrammaton (YHVH). Nevertheless, it’s their association together within the letter Alef (ELP) that is significant to our discussion. The letter Alef (E), as prototypical energy, existed before the Torah and thus physical existence began and it was comprised of an upper and lower Yud(Y) with two Vavs(V) splitting apart the two Yuds (Y). It was from the lower Yud (Y) that a sea of energy emanated and formed the skeletal structure of out universe, and within that sea were the mathematical constants Pi and Phi (represented by L and P)to guide the currents of physicality. Thus was completed the Alef (ELP) prior to the Bet (B) of the Torah.

We spoke earlier of the 15 aspects of Gevurah (the filter of judgment) represented by the Lamed(L), but there are also 15 aspects of Chesed (loving kindness) to balance them out, making 30 aspects in total, which happens to be the ordinal value of E-L-P (the letter Alef spelled out). Now the letter Alef, (E) has a letter value 1 and the spelled out letter’s numerical value is 111, or Oneness in every sense of the word. And from that oneness came everything (kol).

In this portion of Bamidbar, Moses counted all the Israelites over the age of 20 except the Levites, which he counted over the age of 30, together they represented 20+30 or Caf(C) plus Lamed (L) making CL (kol), everyone. And 20+30 = 50, as in the 50 days which we were told by G-d to count in preparation for receiving the Torah in marriage every year at Shavuot. This is just as it was when the 600,000 Israelites counted the 50 days in the desert (bamidbar) from the crossing of the “End Sea” (Yam Suf) to the reception of the 10 Commandments and the Tree-of-life reality (10 sefirot/dimensional existence beyond physicality) at Mt Sinai.

Of course, 600/50 = 12, as in the 12 Tribes that Moses was counting.

And if you recall, Pharaoh sent and lost at sea his 600 choice chariots (governing angels) in that same sea crossing, so it’s not coincidental that 20 x 30 = 600 or that “sea” (YM) has a numerical value of 50. Nor is it coincidental that the Torah mentions the exodus 50 times יציאת מצרים, which literally means going out of the “straits of the sea” מצר ים.

A Deeper Code

A clue to the depth of the Torah encoding is further found within the word which we broke down above “straits of the sea” מצר ים, since two of the first three letters (Resh-Zaddi) represent the central core (heart) of the 42-Letter Name Matrix and the third letter Mem (numerical value 40) represents the rest of the 40 letters. This was in the same was that CL was at the core/heart of the alef-bet. And since we know from the sages and tzaddikim, including the Baal Shem Tov of blessed memory that the 42-Letter Name represents not only the 42 journeys that the Israelites made in the desert (BMDBR) but the 42 journeys we much make in life and the 42 journeys of our soul on the way to redemption, we may infer that going out of the “straits of the sea” מצר ים is also exiting through the 42-Letter Name.

Counting 50

As discussed in previous articles, the Torah repeatedly insists that we count the 50-year jubilee cycle and first tells us to do so in the first chapter of the Behar-Bechukatai 57-78 connection. Nowadays, because there is no Temple, we pretty much ignore that command. Are we making a mistake?

Should we be counting 50?

Yitro (Jethro), whose gematria value is 616, the same as “The Torah,” told Moses how to manage his 600,000 Israelites, which was an allusion to how the universe is managed from above. He told him that Moses should put leaders and sub-leaders over 1000’s, 100’s, 50’s and 10’s? Thousands, hundreds and tens is logical and is more than suggestive of how the 10 sefirot are divided and subdivided by 10’s, but why subdivide by 50 as well?

It doesn’t make sense to have someone over essentially only two people (100/50) so there must be a secret in here, a hidden message Yitro was conveying to Moses, especially since it was conveyed to Moses moments (Torah time) before receiving the 10 Commandments.

The full answer to the meaning of counting 50 lies in the spiritual dimensions of time and space itself, but there are some simpler ones that we can grasp. For instance, if we count the jubilee years (50-year intervals) from the birth of Adam to the midpoint of the 70-year life of King David (2854 HC – 2924) we get precisely 57.78 jubilee years. And from that pivotal midpoint (2889 HC) to the year 5778 HC, when the Geula is prophesized to occur, we get another 57.78 jubilee years.

Of course, 2889 HC is exactly 441 years after the Torah was received on Mt Sinai in 2448 HC and 441 is the numerical value of Emet (Truth) and 21².

And of course there are 66.6 jubilee years from 2448 to 5778 and 66.6 jubilee years from Adam to the destruction of the First Holy Temple in 3338. But all this can be found in The Divine Calendar, except this new tidbit that there are 325,077.8 sidereal days in the 17.8 jubilee years from 2448 HC to 3338 HC.

This doesn’t answer the question why we should count 50; that deeper meaning, whose answer lies in the 32 sides of the 5th dimensional hypercube, will take time to explain. But our time already seems to be marked, whether it’s the temperature of the surface of the Sun, 5778 K or 57.78 jubilee years, the year 5778 (2018 CE) is hurtling towards us. This is also why that first chapter in Bamidbar that split the Torah into the Phi proportion has 54 verses (like the 54 portions in the Torah and the 54 special letters in the Torah) because the sum of the positive integers through 107 is 5778 and 107 x 54 = 5778, and Phi¹⁸ = 5778.000

It’s been said by the sages that the Israelites, stuck in Egypt (MZR YM), were at the 49th gate of negativity and counting by 50 we see that in 2448 HC they were also in the 49th Jubilee year from Adam. It’s also been said that if we reach the Tree-of-Life reality, we will have reached the 50th Gate of Binah. Now that’s something worth counting.

Physical Coincidence

It’s probably just coincidental also that Euler’s Constant is .577215… and that when we use Euler’s Number, noted as ℮ (2.7182818…), which is the base of the natural logarithmic scale, in the equation ℮*Pi√Phi we get 5.277845, which one could argue is not 5.778 and they’d be right, but there are also 5845 verses in the Torah, as in 5.277845.

Of course, counting is just math and math is just at the core of physics, so when we ignore God’s Commandments in the Torah we are ignoring physics, not escaping them, as we would be in the Tree-of-Life reality.

The Chosen Ones! Who Me?

We are the Chosen Ones. What does it mean to be chosen?

My wife wasn’t feeling well the other day and when I left to drop my son off at a play date, I told my daughter she was in charge while I was gone. She immediately said, “Then I’m the boss,” so I explained to her that it meant that she had to take responsibility while I was away (45 minutes), not that she could boss anyone around.

A leader leads by example, not by decree. And that goes the same for a people (the chosen ones). We have to take responsibility for what’s happening all around us and to personally work to fix it, without telling anyone else what to do. If we can then inspire them to voluntarily help us, we will then be leaders.

We haven’t done that. Moses did. King David did. The Baal Shem Tov did. And a long list of tzaddikim understood that and did it on a smaller scales. But is anyone today doing it? Is anyone ready to step up?

The Geula (final redemption) will happen for those that are ready and have accepted the Tree-of-life reality, but for the majority it won’t, just like at Mt Sinai, as we’ve explained in numerous articles already. G-d provides cosmic windows for things to happen and either we’re ready and prepared for them, or we’re not. No one can just appear and do the work for us.

Think about it, if that we’re the case, why make us wait? If we weren’t going to change on our own anyway, why wait until now, the year 2500 would have been just as good a time.

It’s not about waiting for Moshiach (the Messiah) to come; it’s about becoming like the Mashiach. Those that have consciously accepted and prepare themselves for the Tree-of-life reality will step through it when the cosmic window opens.

But how do we reach the millions that don’t realize that, and are waiting for someone to do it for them? And if we don’t try to reach them, what does that say about whether we’ve fully embraced the Tree-of-life consciousness or understood the essence of the Torah, with its over-riding principle to love they neighbor as thyself.

We’ve been told Moshiach Ben Joseph will come first. Will he? It depends on us. Any one of us can stand up and become the leader that the world needs. If he steps up and takes responsibility, and inspires many others to follow and to take responsibility themselves, who would argue that he wouldn’t be Moshiach Ben Joseph.

Then the way will be paved for Moshiach Ben David to take us the rest of the way.

As the cosmic window of opportunity opens for us, someone needs to fulfill that mission, if not the 50^th gate will close again. Back at Sinai, in 2448, we were at the 49^th gate, which not coincidentally was the 49^th jubilee year (50-year Biblical period) since Adam.

As we finish our 5769^th 9^th of Av, we are reminded of the destruction of the First Holy Temple in 3338, 66.6 jubilee years after the sin of Adam, and are reminded of the darkness that comes from choosing the Tree-of-knowledge-of-good-and-evil over the tree-of-life. Now, 66.6 jubilee years after the revelation and opportunity at Sinai, we face the choice again. 5778, the year known to the tzaddikim, is just around the corner.

When that 50^th gate swings open will we go through as a tiny group, or as a whole people? Will we go through at all?

The First Holy Temple was destroyed in –422 BCE, and as readers of “The Divine Calendar” know, 422 is the gematria value of “Seventy(70).” The Second Holy Temple was destroyed in 70 CE. In 5778, the nation of Israel will be 70 years old, the age that King David died; will we go through the gate as a nation, or let fear, doubts, and hatred grip us as in the past?

We each have a choice to make.

It’s up to each of us to take responsibility and to step up, and for one of us to take it to heart and step higher, inspiring the rest of us to follow in his beautiful footsteps. Let’s all take that first step, and then the second to make it easier for him—9 years is not much time to work with and we all have a long way to go.

Let’s not waste anymore time.

Shabbat Shalom

Ezra