psalms – KabbalahSecrets.com

The Hidden Columns of The Torah

I know we were going to discuss Jacob’s prophetic vision, but while perusing a Mashiach blog, a pearl about Jacob’s family entering Egypt and Tehilim (Psalms) that enticed me to look closer at the first verse from the VaYigash paragraphs we had just been studying in their connection to the Israelite soul root and to the chariot from Ezekiel‘s prophetic vision:

Bereshit (Genesis) 46:8

ואלה שמות בני ישראל הבאים מצרימה “And these are the names of the sons of Israel who are coming into Egypt…”

It just so happens that the 6 initials of this phrase, the phrase that initiates the exile in Egypt (Goshen) and the beginning of the fulfillment of G-d’s Covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are the very same letters that appear at the head of the 6 of the 248 columns of the Torah that are not the letter Vav (V):

B’YH ShMV

In other words, of the 248 columns of the Torah, all but six (6) columns begin with the level Vav(V), itself of numerical value 6, representing the standard level of the Torah, Zeir Anpin. These special 6 letters, beginning with the first letter of the Torah, the Bet(B) of Bereshit, are our connection to the higher sefira (dimension) of Binah (Understanding).

According to chazal, they spell out the phrase, B’YH ShMV, “In the Name of G-d (YH) and they have the numerical value of 363, that of H’Moshiach (The Messiah), and also of “Moses Lives (Moshe Chai)”.

Then, oddly enough, the exact phrase is repeated again in the first verse of Shmot (Exodus) 1:1. And since the letter Vav(V) is the one distinguished by these two very special phrases, it’s notable that there are 778 Vavs in the Torah separating the two verses (from Genesis 46:8- Exodus 1:1).

It’s notable because H’Moshiach is supposed to arrival, according to the tzaddikim in the year 5778, which is 222 years before the 6th millennium. And those 778 Vavs have a total value of 4668, which is 1110 or 10 x 111 (the numerical value of the first letter Alef), less than 5778.

778 x 6 = 5778 – 111 x 10

As explained in prior articles, Alef is representative of the Tree-of-life and whenever any Torah numbers are in multiples of 10, it’s also a reference to the 10 sefirot (dimensions) of the Tree-of-life.

So obviously this phrase is very telling. It’s the beginning of the Israelite Journey. And like all Torah journeys, it’s connected to the 42-Letter Name of G-d.

So it’s not surprising that the first word of this key phrase has the numerical value 42 and that the second word is Shmot (Names), as in the 42-Letter Name of G-d, the understanding of which chazal has said will be what brings about H’Mashiach and the geula (Final redemption), or the end of days as some like to call it. We prefer to think of it as a new beginning, the time when the 10 Sefirot (dimensions) of the Tree-of-Life become a reality for us.

And just in case we were to doubt that these two identical verses aren’t supposed to be linked together, we should note that the total gematria of both phrases together with their ordinal values is 4240 or 10 times 424, the numerical value of Mashiach Ben David.

424 x 10

But there’s more to these verses than just setting our course for receiving Moshiach Ben David in 5778. The Torah’s depth and technology is infinite and the deeper we probe, the more we align ourselves with the Tree-of-life reality.

Bereshit 46:8 continues: “And these are the names of the sons of Israel who are coming into Egypt: Jacob and his sons. Reuben was Jacob’s first born.”

Simple enough, except that the Torah slipped in the word first-born (Becor, BCR) except that BRC is the root of merkava, MRCBH, which as we’ve discussed (VaYigash) is both the chariot that Joseph harassed to meet his father and complete the Tree-of-life and the one Ezekiel saw in his famous prophetic vision. We’ll explain, or rather let the Arizal explain this in a moment, but first we want to draw the parallel, to occurrence 54 paragraphs later, of the 10th plague, the killing of the first born.

This is far from coincidental as there are 54 letters in both the phrases cited above and because as we know 54 x 107 = 5778, which is not an arbitrary equation because all the integers through 107 also = 5778.

Moreover, the Torah immediately goes on to tell us that “Reuben sons were Chanoch..,” as in the 7th Man in the lineage of Adam, Chanoch(Enoch), who chazal has explained became the archangel Metatron, the angel in Ezekiel’s vision.

In our next post, we’ll be further discussing the word (root) BCR (Becor) and it’s important connection to Jacob’s prophecies and his lap (knees), BRCY, and also to the root of all blessing, BRC, as in Baruch (BRVC), etc, but right now, let’s see what the Arizal has to say about the killing of the first born of Egypt and the final plague:

“The initials of these three sefirot – keter, reishit chochma, bina – spell the word for “firstborn” [in Hebrew, “bechor“BCR]. This is similar to what is explained in the Zohar (Tikunei Zohar 70, pg.119b) regarding the word for “blessed” [in Hebrew, “baruch“] and the name of the River Kevar.”

The Ari is saying that these three letters (energy sources) when taken together connect to the top 3 sefirot: Keter, Chochma, and Binah.

He continues, “Chochma is referred to as “reishit chochma” (“the beginning of wisdom”) based on Psalms 111:10: “The beginning of wisdom is the fear of G-d.” Also, chochma is the first conscious sefira, and is therefore known as “the beginning”.

Please note that Wisdom is connected to 111:10 and as we saw earlier these two verses were also connected to 111 x 10. This is Wisdom, not coincidence. And likewise the Ari is connecting Chochma (numerical value 73) with reishit, the beginning, partially because the numerical value of the Torah’s 1st verse is equivalent to all the integers through 73.

And if you don’t think these 2 verses, including the very first verse of Shmot (Exodus) don’t hark back to the seed of the Torah–it’s very first word, please take note that the 6 letters word Bereshit (“In the Beginning”) itself (BREShYT) are found in each of the 6 words of these prophetic phrases.

ואלה שמות בני ישראל הבאים מצרימה

ETBShYR = BREShYT

Now we can understand why the equation alluded to by the phrase above 6000 -222 = 5778 is significant, because 222 is the numerical value not only of 2 x 111 (alef) but of BCR, the root of all blessing and the chariot that will take us there.

In Exodus 1:1 “And these are the names of the sons of Israel who are coming into Egypt…” the word used is Haba’im, meaning literally”the ones coming.” The first time the Torah dictated this phrase it made sense, but the second time it did not, since they were already in Egypt, which means the Torah must have been alluding to the future exile, which in turn means it was written for us, so that we could deal with the exile, and know our time to exodus from it. The gates are opening.

Just to be thorough, we’d like to point out that the simple numerical value of both phrases together including the kolel for the the 27 identical letters is 3695 and the simple numerical value of the rest of that first verse (Genesis 46:8) is 2083, so combined they equal 3695+2083 = 5778.

“Joseph harnessed his chariot and went up to meet his father Israel in Goshen.” (Gen. 46:29)

From the Zohar Rabbi Yitzchak began his discourse, citing the verse “There was a likeness of an expanse above the heads of the Chaya, like the color of the awesome ice, spread out above their heads from above” (Ezekiel 1:22).”

The numerical value of Chayot, the animating forces, of the Chariot is 424, so the 2 phrase that sum to 4240, or 10 x 424, take us deeper into the vision of Ezekiel and closer to the Tree-of-life.

The secrets are all in the letters; the path is through the letters. Th numbers help guide us, but the 27 Hebrew letters are the key. Let wisdom be our guide.

The Mystery of the 1000 Generations

Aisha Torah published this excellent devrai Torah, but we wanted to add a couple notes to help clear up this Talmudic mystery, paradox if you will. We bring this matter up, because we are soon to write about the Erev Rav and their ties to the dating of the final redemption, and some have suggestion that the 974 generations mentioned in Mishna of the 1000 mentioned in Psalms are the original Erev Rav (we’ll get into that in another article).

As you’ll see profoundly discussed below and excerpted from Psalms 105:8-10, there are supposed to be 1000 generations (“He commanded to a thousand generations, the covenant which He made with Abraham, and his oath to Isaac. And confirmed the same to Jacob for a law, and to Israel for an everlasting covenant.” )

There are also supposed 974 generations created before creation, as excerpted from Chagiga 14, “Rabbi Shimon the Pious said: “These are the nine hundred and seventy four generations who pressed themselves forward to be created before the world was created….”

Readers of this blog and The Divine Calendar know that (1000 -974) = 26 and that in all probability these 26 generations are the 26 generations from Adam to Moses when the Torah was revealed, fulfilling the statement above. but this is only a partial answer.

We also know that the Covenant of Abraham was made in 2018 HC, 70 years after his birth in 1948 and that Israel became a nation in 1948 CE, 70 years before the fulfillment of the Zohar’s prophesy on 2018 CE (5778 HC) when Rav Yehuda Halevi Ashlag advised the Tree-of-life reality would be manifest.

So now let’s look at what was hidden in the 974 generations. First off, it is half 1948, or in other words 974 x 2 years = 1948. And as we learned in our recent article on Miketz and the Final Redemption, the Arizal advised us that “2 years (which Joseph spent in prison) was a hidden secret of when the journey to Moshiach would begin and end. He advised in was in 1976 CE, or as we saw, 42 years before 2018, also give by the gematria of 2 years (ShNTYM YMYM).

It’s simple math that reveals that (1000 + 974 + 2 years) = 1976, and also that (1000 + 974 – 26 years) = 1948, so it would appear there are indeed hidden codes given to us by King David in Psalms and Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai of blessed memory.

Since everything in creation was created in two parts, we see that 974 years is exactly half the period to the birth of Abraham, and also exactly half the period from the destruction of the Second Holy Temple in 70 CE to 2018 CE (1948/2 years).

We know also, as previously discussed that time is not statics and was greatly compressed in first few days before Adam’s creation and in the 2000 years that the Torah existed before Creation, easily accounting for the 974 generations. Nevertheless, lets say we take the paradox literally, and see how many generations there are until 5778 from the birth of Moses (the 26th generation), in order to complete the 1000 generations. As it turns out from 2368 (Moses’ birth) to 5778, there are precisely 974 generations of 3.5 (three and a half) years.

What is this end of days prophecy is this reminiscent of?

“time, times, and half a time” from Daniel 12:7

And

1290 days = 3.5 years from Daniel 12:11

So there you have it. There is no real paradox unless you want to take the Torah, Mishna, Tanakh completely literally and disregard what our sages knew that days, months, years, 1000’s and generations are interchangeable reflections of the same spiritual concept. Once you grasp that, you can begin to grasp the reality of the Tree-of-life where there are no physical limitations or illusions.

Happy Chanukah!

From Aisha Torah:

Bereishit(Genesis 1:1-6:8)

The First Man

In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And a wind from God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, “Let there be light;” and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness. And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, one day. (Genesis 1:1-5)

With these epic words, the Torah, and indeed the world, begins. The beginning is clouded in mystery, perhaps allegory and allusion. The Mishna (Chagiga 11b) dissuades even the sage from attempting to penetrate the unfathomable.¹ Nonetheless, there are hints about the dawn and predawn — or perhaps the term should be twilight — of creation in our tradition.² When commenting on this Mishna, the Talmud makes an obscure reference:

Rabbi Shimon the Pious said: “These are the nine hundred and seventy four generations who pressed themselves forward to be created before the world was created, but were not created. The Holy One, blessed be He, arose and planted them in every generation, and it is they who are the insolent of each generation.” (Chagiga 13b-14a)³

There are those who were created, yet not created, who were “pressed” or contracted, and placed into future generations.⁴ Rashi explains this passage by presenting a verse in Psalms:⁵

He has remembered His covenant forever, the word He commanded to a thousand generations, the covenant which He made with Abraham, and his oath to Isaac. And confirmed the same to Jacob for a law, and to Israel for an everlasting covenant. (Psalms 105:8-10)

A cursory reading of this verse might lead to the understanding that the Torah is of limited scope and efficacy, for the verse speaks of a “mere” thousand generations. Rashi, however, explains that the Torah was given, not for a thousand generations, but to the thousandth generation. One could have simply attributed the term to vernacular usage and metaphor, citing other poetic uses of the “thousand years” or “thousand generations” coin of speech:

* * *

A THOUSAND

“A thousand” is used in a verse in Ecclesiastes describing the futility of man’s aspirations:

And though he live one thousand years twice told, yet has he seen no good; do not all go to one place? All the labor of man is for his mouth, and yet the appetite is not filled. (Ecclesiastes 6:6-7)

While we know that God transcends time, the Psalmist nonetheless utilizes this same “thousand” expression to describe Divine time:

A Prayer of Moses, the man of God: Lord, you have been our dwelling place in all generations. Before the mountains were brought forth, before you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting, You are God. You turn man back to dust; and say, ‘Turn back, O children of men!’ For a thousand years in your sight are but like yesterday when it is past, and like a watch in the night. (Psalms 90:1-4)

Apparently, Rashi did not want to allow the possibility of a misunderstanding, of the suggestion that the Torah has an expiration date — a “shelf life” of one thousand generations. Therefore, Rashi explains that the verse means the word of God was commanded to the “thousandth generation.”⁶

Rashi did not want to allow the possibility of a misunderstanding that the Torah has an expiration date.

Saying that the Torah was given to the thousandth generation does solve the problem of suggesting that the Torah is limited. On the other hand, a separate problem is presented: When one counts the generations in the Torah from Adam until Moses, far less than a thousand are enumerated. In fact, according to tradition, the Torah was given to the 26^th generation.⁷

Rabbi Joshua ben Levi said: “To what do these twenty-six [verses of] ‘Give thanks’ correspond? To the twenty-six generations which the Holy One, blessed be He, created in His world; though He did not give them the Torah, He sustained them by His love.” (P’sachim 118a)

If the Torah was given to the thousandth generation, yet only twenty-six generations are discernible, nine-hundred seventy-four generations are “missing.” This, according to Rashi, is the lesson of the Talmud.

* * *

CREATED BUT NOT CREATED

According to this approach, both formulations are true: The Torah was given both to the thousandth generation and to the twenty-sixth generation. The solution lies in those who were “created but not created” before the world came into existence.

While this solution works mathematically, the theological implications seem challenging. The passage from the Talmud offered as an “explanation” is difficult to understand.

These are the nine hundred and seventy four generations who pressed themselves forward to be created before the world was created, but were not created. The Holy One, blessed be He, arose and planted them in every generation, and it is they who are the insolent of each generation. (Chagiga 13b-14a)

Were these people created or not? The entire passage seems paradoxical.

NOTES

The [subject of] forbidden relations may not be expounded in the presence of three, nor the work of creation in the presence of two, nor [the work of] the chariot in the presence of one, unless he is a sage and understands of his own knowledge. Whosoever speculates upon four things, a pity for him! He is as though he had not come into the world, [to wit], what is above, what is beneath, what before, what after. And whosoever takes no thought for the honor of his Maker, it were a mercy if he had not come into the world. (Chagiga 11b) (return to text)
The Torah describes the creation as twilight:
And there was evening and there was morning, one day. (return to text)
The Talmud in Shabbat also makes reference to these 974 generations:
R. Joshua b. Levi also said: “When Moses ascended on high, the ministering angels spoke before the Holy One, blessed be He: ‘Sovereign of the Universe! What business has one born of woman amongst us?’ ‘He has come to receive the Torah,’ answered He to them. Said they to Him, ‘That secret treasure, which has been hidden by Thee for nine hundred and seventy-four generations before the world was created.'” (Shabbat 88b) (return to text)
According to mystical tradition recorded in the Sefer HaBahir section 195, the souls of the 974 wicked generations are transmigrated into new bodies, who are then judged for deeds performed in the previous life. This is the Bahir’s explanation for theodicy. However, based on the Bahir’s context it sounds as if these people are presently righteous, while the Talmudic version makes these people sound presently wicked. See notes of Rav Reuven Margoliot in the Mosad Harav Kook edition, for other references in Kabbalistic literature. (return to text)
Rashi is based on Kohelet Rabba 1:35. (return to text)
This explanation is aided by the verse which follows:
And confirmed the same to Jacob for a law, and to Israel for an everlasting covenant. (Psalms 105:10) (return to text)
See Berishit Rabbah 1:4, 1:10, 21:9, Vayikra Rabba 9:3, Midrash Rabbah – The Song of Songs 2:6,5:13:
The mystics saw great significance in the Torah being given to the 26th generation, the number 26 is the numerical equivalent of the Divine name: Yud=10, heh=5, vav=6, heh=5 — equaling 26. (return to text)

The Secret of the Magen David And Moshiach Revealed by the Baal Shem Tov

Before we begin, keep in mind that the radiance of the sun as measured by its temperature at its surface is 5778 K, as in the date prophesied by the tzaddikim for the arrival of Moshiach and the geula (final redemption), and that the returning light radiance of the Earth by the same measurement is 248.573

From the Baal Shem Tov’s Teachings on Prayer there is a cryptic explanation about the tree-or-life and G-d structure of the universe, telling us that while inspiration cones from above our process and processing of it occurs in the columns of the realm of Zeir Anpin.

He explains those 3 columns (right, left and central) as Chesed, Din and Rachamim. What was left unsaid was that the numerical value of Chesed, Din and Rachamim is that of Mashiach Ben David (424), the Messiah.

Chesed, Din and Rachamim means Love, Judgment, and Compassion, the 3 attributes we need working together proportionately and with proper and pure intent to bring H’Moshiach, the messiah . It also wasn’t said that Rachamim is just the plural of Racham of numerical value 248.

The Baal Shem Tov further explains ,as Translated by Rabbi Dr. Eliezer Stone, “It is impossible to look at the sun itself. We can, however, look at its light, and derive benefit from it because the sun’s strength has been diminished. Were the rays of the sun to be as brilliant as the sun, they would also be impossible to look at. Thus, it is written: “Sun and shield is Y-H-V-H Elokim” (Psalms 84:12). Kesser Shem Tov, part 2, p. 19d

We said at the outset that his teaching was cryptic, and what wisdom is hidden within! What beauty is hidden within the psalms and in this pasuk: “Sun and shield is Y-H-V-H Elokim” (Psalms 84:12)!

On the surface, the Rav is explaining about the process of filtering down the Light and inspiration for thought, speech through the 6 sefirot (dimensions) of Zeir Anpin, hence the mention of the 6 pointed Shield of David, the Magen David, which we know from chazal correspond with the 6 dimensions of Zeir Anpin and their respective Patriarchs, starting with Abraham (of numerical value 248).

But what was left unsaid for those that understand is that the numerical value of “Y-H-V-H Elokim,” the fusion of the upper and lower worlds, as discussed in our previous post “Science and Spirituality Collide,” is 107.

And moreover, the numerical value of Magen David (the Shield of David, more commonly known as the Star of David) is also 107.

And most significantly, the sum of all the positive integers through 107 = 5778.

As the time for the geula approaches and many dark veils descend, many more are being lifted for those that want to see, to see the tree-of-life reality. And as another veil has been lifted, we can now see that the structure of the tree-of-life universe and in particular, as given by the Baal Shem Tov’s examples, the 6 sefirot of Zeir Anpin that we can interact with, are designed to bring us Mashiach Ben David (424) in 5778, and that this structure is mimicked in our galaxy through the relationship of giver and receiver of Light of the Sun (5778K) and the returner of Compassion, Earth (248K).

And because this life-giving relationship and our need to give back racham (Compassion, as the proper mixture of Love and Judgment) is repeated on the level of our society and on us individually with Hashem, several facts bear repeating in this post:

1) Abraham, the Patriach, said in the Sefer Yetzirah that Moshiach would come through the letters controlling the month of Cheshvan (Scorpio), dalet and nun, which together add up to 54 and as it turns out 54 x 107 = 5778.

2) The relationship between the Light and returning light of the sun and Earth is 5778/248.573 = 23.2447 and 232 is the numerical value of the fully expanded Name of G-d, Tetragrammaton (YHVH: Av, Sag, Mah, Ban) and 2447 are both the years preceding the giving of the Torah at Sinai in 2448, and the total number of years of the 4 exiles when the last one ends in 5778.

3) Since the geula means the end of the exile from the 70 nations that too is built into relationship between the radiance of the Sun and the Earth, since the sum of all the positive integers through 70 is 2485 and as mentioned earlier, the returning light radiance of the Earth by is 248.573 K.

4) And for those skeptics about the sum of the integers having any significance, or about the spiritual tenet that nothing is ever lost such that in the example above the number 70 can house all the energy of the numbers before it and thus also equal 2485, know this:

While the sum of all the positive integers through the number 73 is equivalent to 2701, the numerical value of the Torah’s first verse; and the Torah’s first 33 letters have the numerical value of 3003 that of the sum of all the positive integers through 77: the total number of Yuds, Heys, and Vavs in the Torah, the letters in the Tetragrammaton(YHVH), is exactly 90,100, the sum of all the positive integers through 424 (Mashiach Ben David) is 90,100.

Do any of us need more signs of G-d’s perfection, or of His perfect design and Love for us? All we have to do is follow His rules. Return the Light by emanating Compassion. We need to make ourselves one with the design. “He and His Name are One.” We must be as well.