Tag: Rav Ashlag

Rav Ashlag’s Final Words and the Secret of the Final Redemption.

Rav Ashlag was the greatest kabbalist of the past century. Known as Hasulam (the ladder), he was not only the first to translate the Zohar from Aramaic to Hebrew but he wrote volumes of explanations as well and could have written hundreds more by his own account had he had the financial means to cover the pens and paper.  His legacy included several other books including The Ten Luminous Emanations, which brought new light and understanding to the study of the Tree-of-life as taught by the Arizal 400 years earlier.

Rabbi Yehuda Halevi Ashlag died at the age of 70, on Yom Kippur, 1954, and with his last divine breath uttered these 5 words , quoted from Psalm 91:16 אֹרֶךְ יָמִים, אַשְׂבִּיעֵהוּ;    וְאַרְאֵהוּ, בִּישׁוּעָתִי.

which translates to “With long life will I satisfy him, and make Him to behold My salvation.”

For 56 years now, since his passing, these words were shrouded in mystery. Yet, we have to look no further than the initials of the 5 words (Alef,Yud, Alef,Vav, Bet), whose gematria miliui (spelled-out numerical value) is exactly 666.

Now, for sure Rav Ashlag wasn’t referring to the infamous number of Revelations, but to the year that the kabbalistic proportion of .666 points to for the geula (final redemption), 5778 HC (2018 CE). After all, it was Rav Ashlag who taught it to me. (Please see The Divine Calendar or our article on the missing 222 years.)

Like the design of the Tree-of-life itself, Rav Ashlag separated the 6 millennium (6000 years) into those years dedicated to G-d (upper 1/3. or .333), and those to the self (lower 2/3, or .666), thus 2000 and 4000 respectively, giving us a base of 4000 selfish (malchut) years. Thus leaving us 2000 years to purify ourselves.

This .666 proportion by the way is not arbitrary and has deep divine origins, which we’ll explain in another article very soon.

Nevertheless, taking those 2000 years, then separated them into 666.66 (667) and 1333.33 years, he came up with a total of 5333.33 base years and 666.66 years that were left to be purified further, which not so coincidentally coincided with the death of the Arizal. These final 666.66 years he separated once again into 444.44 base years and 222.22 spiritual ones.

This left Rav Ashalg, of blessed memory, with the year for Moshiach at 5777.78 with 222.22 spiritual years set aside.  So of our 6000 year allotment, as specified by the sages, only 222 are of a higher spiritual nature, giving us a proportion of 222/6000, or .0370 percent or 1/27.01, which is why to a great extent the total numerical value of the Torah’s first verse is 2701 (See The Genesis Prayer).

The same goes for the total value of the 42-Letter Name of G-d, 3701, which is the Kabbalistic inverse of 2701 and is directly derived from that first Torah verse. Moreover, the complete gematria sofit of the 42-Letter Name equals 5778, while the final letters of each of the 7 lines of the 42-Letter Name matrix add up to 2448, the year of the exodus from Egypt and that the 10 Commandments were received at Sinai, exactly 66.6 jubilee years prior to 5778.

6000: 4000          +       2000

2000:   1333.33     +          666.67

666.67:  444.44     +           222.22

5777.78   +          222.22 =  6000

But back to Rav Ashlag’s final 5 words:

Psalm 91:16 אֹרֶךְ יָמִים, אַשְׂבִּיעֵהוּ;    וְאַרְאֵהוּ, בִּישׁוּעָתִי.

While it’s true that the 5 words with their ordinal values add up to 1998 when 1 is added for the kolel and 1998 = 3 x 666, adding the kolel for the 27 letters and subtracting that 5 words gives us 2019, the year (2019 ce) that the new era is slated to begin (see Nothing is Random in the Universe).

We can’t say whether Rav Ashlag was pointing to that when he uttered his very last words, but we know he was very well aware of the date prognosticated and that using the 2/3 (.666) proportion 3 times gets you there, as illustrated above. And we know he could have chose any final words to leave us with. So just perhaps, he wanted to make sure that those of us with whom he shared this secret would pass it on in time.

And have faith, since the sum of the first and last letters in each of the 5 words sum to 102, the numerical value of emunah, meaning “faith,”and with the kolel for the 5 words, we have 107, as in the sum of integers through 107 = 5778, the 107th triangular number.

And with the events that transpired this week, the time is now, if ever, but we’ll get into that in our next article as it appears the battle is upon us.

How Far is it From Jerusalem To Zion?

Where is Jerusalem? What is Zion? How can the distance to the final redemption be measured? How far away is it? The Torah and Zohar have all the answers.

First, we have to understand what and where is Zion, so let’s turn to Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai and the Zohar and the commentary by Rav Yehuda Halevi Ashlag of blessed memory(Hasulam):

32. Acharei Mot : 28. As is done below so is done above
Verse 175. “We have learned that when the Holy One, blessed be He, wanted to create the lower world, He made it all similar to the upper. He made Jerusalem the center of the entire earth, and one place above it called Zion, WHOSE SECRET IS YESOD. It receives blessings from this place. Through this place of Zion, the earth started to be built, and through it the world was built. This is what the verse says, “El Elohim, Hashem, has spoken, and called the earth from the rising of the sun to the going down thereof” (Tehilim 50:1). From which place? “Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, Elohim has shown forth” (Ibid. 2), meaning Elohim did appear from Zion, which is the ultimate beauty of the world. Come and see that Jerusalem, WHICH IS MALCHUT, was blessed only from Zion, WHICH IS YESOD, and Zion WAS BLESSED from above, MEANING ZEIR ANPIN. Everything is one, one bonded into one, AS ZEIR ANPIN AND MALCHUT, THE SECRET OF ONE ON ONE, ARE JOINED BY ZION.”

29. Shmini : 2. Zion and Jerusalem
Verse 11. “Rabbi Pinchas opened the discussion with the verse: “Hashem shall bless you out of Zion and you shall see the good of Jerusalem” (Tehilim 128:5). AND HE ASKS: Why “out of Zion”? HE ANSWERS: Because FROM ZION, WHICH IS THE YESOD OF MALCHUT, all blessings come out to all, as it is written: “For there Hashem has commanded the blessings, even eternal life” (Tehilim 133:3). Hence, “Hashem shall bless you out of Zion,” since from there blessings emanate to everything. “And you shall see the good of Jerusalem.” For the sake of Zion, Jerusalem – WHICH IS MALCHUT – is blessed, BECAUSE ZION IS THE YESOD OF MALCHUT and Mercy rests there. When Jerusalem is blessed, all the people are blessed.”

We can understand from these and many other references to Zion in the Zohar that Zion is a spiritual place, a point above the physical Jerusalem, which is manifest in Malchut. In terms of the tree-of-life, Zion is Yesod of Malchut.  There are 10 Major sefirot (dimensions) in the Tree-of-life and each are subdivided into 10 similar ones, thus 10 x 10 sefirot.  The bottom most (the 100th one) is Malchut which just receives from the others and the one on the scale just above it (say the 99th one), is Yesod of Malchut. It is from this point that all the light (energy, life-force) from all the others gets channeled through. This is Zion.

The further removed we are from Zion, the further away we are from purity and from the life-sustaining light. We need to know how far we have to climb for Malchut of Malchut to join with Yesod of Malchut to become one with the Light, with G-d, with the Tree-of-life reality. That answer was given to us by the Torah.

From Jerusalem (M’Yerushalem, MYRVShLYM) To Zion (B‘TzYVN). The prefixes, “From” and “To,” “Mem” and “Bet,” are the designated letters  (MB) that add up to 42, and that the Torah uses to initialize all spiritual journeys, including all 42 times that the Israelites journeyed in their 40-year trek from exile to the Promised Land.

These letters (MB) are also representative of the Shem Mem-Bet, the 42-Letter Name of G-d, that is Zeir Anpin and where we can find Zion hidden in Yesod of Malchut.  If you will, please notice that in the center of the last line of the 42-Letter Name matrix are the letters Vav-Tzadi-Yud, preceded by the letter Koof which is composed of a Caf or Resh and a final (sofit) letter Nun. Thus we have the letters Tzadi-Yud–Vav-Nun sofit which spells TzYVN (ZION).

This is not coincidence; it is a gateway, but being that as it may, how to we go from Jerusalem to Zion, in order to receive all the blessings of the final redemption.

So the question must first be how do we measure spiritual distance? We can’t use a tape measure because there isn’t a rope, not even an invisible one that stretches from one dimension to the next. The only thing that spans that distance is energy, and the only way to measure this energy is with gematria, for in spirituality distance is measured by similarity of form and that is what gematria reads, how similar or dissimilar an objects energy is.

When we add up the gematria value of “From Jerusalem (M’Yerushalim, MYRVShLYM) To Zion (B‘TzYVN)” we get 2017, or maybe 2018 with the Kolel, given that Abraham’s journey and thus the entire Israelite and monotheistic journey began in 2018 HC at paragraph 42 in the Torah.

So how close are we?

The events predicted by Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai in the Zohar are being played out including the revelations of kabbalah and the secrets of the Ana B’koach, the 42-Letter Name, the 70 years of Israel being a Nation, the role of the secret Rome, and more…

Well, what else has followed our society’s spiritual journey lately?

The attack in Mombasa on Nov 28th, 2002; the earthquake in Bam, Iran on Dec 26th 2003; the Tsunami (mabul) off the coast of Meulaboh, Indonesia on Dec 26th 2004; the attack on/in Mumbai on Nov 26th 2008;  Bernie Madoff on Dec 11th, 2008; the massive blackbird kill on Jan 1, 2011 (1/1/11) at Beebee, Arkansas; Mubarak’s downfall on Jan 26th, 2011 and ultimate ouster on the hillula of Moshe Rabbeinu, Feb 11th, 2011. Of course, there is President Obama, and now the Muslim Brotherhood.

As for the 11’s, they could relate to the 11 sefirot, etc, but 26 is definitely the numerical value of the Tetragrammaton (YHVH).  And some would say that the ultimate 11 was on 9/11/01 with the attach on the Borough of Manhattan.  In our on-going series on the 10 Commandments, we’ll soon see how this all ties together.

Don’t see the connection? Need a divine oracle? Seeing as this week’s Torah portion was Tetzaveh, how about using the high Priest’s Breastplate and garments, the Choshen and the Urim and Tumim. No, it’s true they are no longer available to us but they did house and rely on the divine power of the Shem Mem-Bet (42-Letter Name) that is still very much available to us. And while the numerical value of Choshen is 358, the same as Moshiach (Messiah), the numerical value (gematria complete sofit) of the Urim and the Tumim (HEVRYM V’HTMYM) with the kolel is 2018 yet again.

Thus even without its presence today, we can understand the chazal’s explanation that the understanding of the Shem Mem-Bet with bring about the geula (final redemption) and Rav Yehuda Ashlag of blessed memory’s explanation that the Moshiach will be manifest in 2018 (5778).

The distance shortens everyday. Are we ready? Remember, 3330 years ago, the distance narrowed to zero, but we weren’t ready. Are we ready today?

Shavua Tov

Ezra

Silence is more than Golden; It Can Be Everything.

Years back, I was the announcer at our shul for HaRav, whether we barely had a minion, or had our typical 300 people for Shabbat, or a 1000 for a Shabbaton. What this meant was that I was responsible for making sure everyone understood what was going on, were aware of the unifications and encoding of the prayers as the chazan made them and that they could follow along in the proper consciousness, including leading them through certain meditations.  One day I asked the Rav if there was anything I could do for him and he replied simply that I could keep everyone quite for him during the Amidah, the silent standing prayer.

You see, the problem was that most people finished their standing prayers–the highest point in our very long morning connections–in a few minutes, and the Rav would routinely take 20 minutes or more.  It was obvious the Rav was praying at a much higher level than any of us could fathom, and to those of us with vision, he would even vanish entirely at points in the prayers.  Nevertheless, people being people, they would get restless and mundane conversations would break out everywhere, whispered and otherwise.

The Rav’s message to me was also obvious on a literal level: that he was making important connections and unifications for the congregation and the world and that we were distracting him.  But studying the writings of the Arizal last night, I realized there was a deeper message.

In parsha Beshalach, just prior to the crossing of the Sea of Reeds, in Shmot (Exodus) 14:14, we find one of the most important verses of the Torah: “God will fight for you, but you must remain silent (YHVH Yilachem lachem v’atem tacharishun).”

Moses is telling the Israelites and erev rav (mixed multitudes) accompanying him that in order to let G-d do his work (which Moses was channeling) they had to remain silent, in fact, that was all they had to do. They weren’t asked to unify themselves, to chant or meditate the Shem Mem-Bet (42-Letter Name) or the Ayin Bet Shimot (72 Names) in unison–Moses and his staff, which was engraved with both those Names) took care of that; all they had to do was silence their mouths and minds.

The spiritual process and unifications happen at a very high level and our speech and most of our thoughts occur at the lowest level (malchut) so all we do is weigh down G-d’s work and intentions and surround them with klippot (hard shells of negativity), regardless of our good intentions.

So if we want G-d in our lives, we need to be silent and realize that He does know best and is fighting for us. When we speak our minds, we’re just fighting back.

Now this verse is important for another reason. The first 3 words (YHVH YLChM LCM) form a key (YYL or YLY)that unlocks the 72 Names that follow in a few verses and are comprised of the proper assembly of the 3 consecutive verse of 72 letters each.

It’s also the key that unlocks the alternative special 72 Names, but more about that in a later article.

But while we’re on the 72 Names, note that it is in a matrix format and that only two of the Names have letters with consecutive triple tagin (crowns). They are found at column 5, row 7; and column 7, row 8, so like the 42-Letter Name, the 72 Names also contains the hidden date prophesied for the final redemption (geula), 5778 (2018 CE), as explained by Rav Yedhuda Halevi Ashlag (Hasulam) of blessed memory.

Nevertheless, Rabbi Chaim Vital of blessed memory in his book New Writings (Ktvim Chadashim) cautions against utilizing the 72 Names, and understanding what his teacher, the Arizal, was highlighting in examining the verse Exodus 14:14, we can see how best to utilize them: In silence.

We do no harm in connecting to the 72 Name Matrix if we silence our mouths and minds and let G-d do the work for us. So rather than stare at the Names and tell them, or the universe, what we want to happen, or G-d forbid try to recite them, we should simply silence ourselves, let go, and let G-d to what’s best for us.  Anything else, is pure ego, and nothing good can come of that.

In other words, we must make room for G-d in our lives, thoughts, and especially in our meditations.  And as the Rav asked of me, and Moses asked of the Israelites at the Sea of Reeds, we must make room for Moshiach (the Messiah) in our lives as well. Moses comes to us in every generation, and as Moshiach in this one, and we have know enough to step out of the way and allow him to split the seas for us, for that is the only way to reach the Tree-of-life on the other side.

And beware of those that will try to interfere.  Ask yourself this, if the plague killed all the Egyptian livestock and animals, where did Pharaoh get the 1200 horses and 600 mules for his 600 choice chariots? And the rest of the mules and horse for his other chariots?

We’ll give you the answer in out next post, but you already know it inside of you.

Shavua Tov.

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.