The Prophetic War and Amalek

There are three levels of Amalek listed in Kol Hator by the Vilna Gaon: The Heart, Spiritual, and Physical.

a)Heart = Taiva, Yetzer HaRah
b)Spiritual = Satan, Lamed Lamed,etc.
c)Physical = Esav, Yishmael, and Erev Rav (all the more so Erev Katan - the main adversary at the Golden Calf)

All 3 of the levels are listed as Amalek.

The Erev Katan (corresponding with Mincha Katana, a lesser more dense entity) have been explained by Rabbi Bakst, as illuminated by the Vilna Gaon and based on the Talmud:

[for clarification - Erev Zeir, is Aramaic for Katan, which is Hebrew for Smaller, as opposed to Rav, which is Bigger in Hebrew]

The Talmud (Succah 48b ) records the following tradition:

Once there were two Jewish heretics,[307] one was called Sasson (joy) and the other was called Simcha (happiness). Sasson said to Simcha, "I am better than you, since it is written, 'They will obtain Sasson [first] and [then] Simcha'" (Isaiah 35:10). "I," said Simcha to Sasson, "am better than you, since it is written, 'The Jews had Simcha [first] and [then] Sasson'" (Esther 8:17). "One day," said Sasson to Simcha, "they will take you out [from heaven] and make you a runner, since it is written, 'For with Simcha they will go forth'" (Isaiah 55:12). "One day," said Simcha to Sasson, "they will take you out [from heaven] and use you to draw water, for it is written, 'You will draw water with Sasson from the wellsprings of salvation"' (Isaiah 12:3).

The Jewish heretic whose name was Sasson once said to R. Abbahu, "You are destined to draw water for me in the World to Come, for it is written, 'Therefore with Sasson you will draw water from the wellsprings of salvation.'" "If," R. Abbahu retorted, "it had been written, for Sasson (L'Sasson) it would be as you say, but since it is written with Sasson (B'Sasson), the meaning must be that a water-pouch will be made of your skin, and water will be drawn with it.

It is very clear that Sasson and Simcha are a pair. An obvious symmetry exists between them and one cannot exist without the other. Yet, basing himself on the GRA's sod of "the Torah that has been given over to the external forces," R. Yitzchak Izik speaks only of the collective personality of Sasson. He is strangely silent concerning the nature of Sasson's compatriot Simcha. It may be suggested that since the Talmud only records a secular-religious debate between R. Abbahu and Sasson, and not with Simcha, R. Yitzchak Izik likewise saw fit to concentrate exclusively on the sod of Sasson.

The Erev Rav is also alluded to in the verse, "Woe to us for the day has turned and the shadows of the evening (erev ) have stretched out" (Jeremiah 6:4). The "evening shadows" are the Erev Rav that began constructing the Golden Calf at the 6th hour of the day (high noon), as the Talmud interprets the verse, "The people saw that Moshe was late (bo-shesh ) in coming down the mountain" (Exodus 32:1). The Talmud (Shabbat 89a) explains that the word bo-shesh (literally, "the 6th hour has come") alludes to the fact that the "people," the Erev Rav, gained their power only at the 6th hour. This is the period known as Erev Rav, the Greater Evening.[369]

There is also an Erev Zeir, a Lesser Evening. This is the significance of the term Bein HaArvayim, which means literally, "Between the Evenings," and indicates that there are two evenings, a Greater Evening and a Lesser Evening. Paralleling these, the sages instituted two periods for praying the afternoon Minchah service - Minchah Gedolah (the Greater Minchah) and Minchah Katanah (the Lesser Minchah) - in order to weaken the power of the Klipot of the two Erevs.

The GRA has made it clear that the Erev Zeir is a necessary counterpart to the Erev Rav. He has also explained that the collective soul of the Erev Rav transmigrates in every generation. The next logical step is to conclude that this must also be the case with the Erev Zeir. Our question now is, who are the Erev Rav today and, correspondingly, who are the Erev Zeir? The answer to this question will supply the missing clue to the riddle of Simcha's identity and to the unique form of his disbelief.

It has been pointed out by a number of Torah masters and accepted as religious truth for many decades in certain Orthodox Torah circles that the contemporary manifestation of the Erev Rav is none other than the secular Zionist leadership.[371] According to this school of thought, it is to the phenomenon of secular Zionism that the sages referred when they prophesied, "In the Ikveta D'Meshicha [i.e. prior to Mashiach ben David] Chutzpah-Arrogance will increase" (Sota 9:16). It was the leaders of the "New Erev Rav" who consciously led an entire generation of Jewish youth away from a life of Torah and away from the deeper meaning and purpose of the Jewish People. They rallied around the idolatry of a new Golden Calf - a secular state fueled exclusively from secular aspirations and secular knowledge. They struggled hard to remove and uproot traditional Torah values and, in 1948, when the incarnated Erev Rav gained political control over the Land of Israel they hopefully predicted that Orthodox Judaism would all but disappear within a generation.

Yet it was these very men and women whose blood, sweat and tears powered by a mighty spirit paved the way for a whole generation of Jews to enter into a new era and into a new land - Palestine. With their statesmanship, scholarship, artistic vision, literary talent and technical knowledge they led and continue to lead and influence much of the Jewish world. How do we explain the powerful, almost miraculous phenomenon of secular Zionism?

According to the underlying geometry in this doctrine, the inverse side of the Erev Rav Klipah of secular Zionism is the subtle Erev Zeir Klipah of anti-Zionism. The former proclaims itself as a paradoxical "secular" fulfillment of historical Judaism. [It bases its claim to the Land of Israel on the very Biblical teachings that it scorns.] The latter manifests as an outright rejection of the secular state as a distortion of the Torah's prophetic teachings of redemption, or simply as apathy and non-involvement regarding the role of immigration in the redemption process. R. Hillel is very adamant about this last point. Concerning the refusal of the Torah leaders of his time (end of the 18th and beginning of the 19th centuries) to encourage immigration and to initiate the resettlement of Eretz Yisrael he writes:[374]

What will they say, those with their lame excuses, to the words of the sages, "When Jerusalem will be rebuilt then the Son of David will come"? Likewise, on the verse, "A redeemer will come to Zion" (Isaiah 59:20), the Midrash and Rashi both explain that, "As long as Zion is not built the Redeemer will not come." Rather, they are like the lichen growing out of the walls coming to do battle with the ceders of lebanon. Their excuses are none other than those of the Spies whom Moshe sent to scout the Land of Israel. They spread evil reports that discourage the Jewish People from emigrating to the Land. This is what the sages referred to when they said, "In the Ikveta D'Meshicha truth will become diminished and Chutzpah-Arrogance will increase." This arrogance is an attack against the holy words of our prophets and seers. It is an attack against the past Leaders of Israel and it is an attack against the conviction and holy commandment of the Saint of Israel, our master the GRA. It is our prayer that all of those within whom the spirit of Amalek dwells should quickly return from their evil ways. "[God] is merciful and He forgives iniquity."[375]

It is essential to note in what context R. Hillel is using the well known rabbinic formula "In the Ikveta D'Meshicha truth will become diminished and Chutzpah-Arrogance will increase." This has always been used to refer to modern secularism and atheism as was the case above with the heresy of Sasson. Here, however, it is used to refer to the religious leaders themselves! Thus, we now have another important symmetry in the larger formula. This time it is two modes of Chutzpah - the "Greater Chutzpah" of the Erev Rav and the "Lesser Chutzpah" of the Erev Zeir

From this we can see the prophetic war taking place between Erev Rav and Erev Katan, Simcha and Sasson, preceding the End of Days.

The battle over religious extremism in Israel now has an unexpected public face - that of a blonde, bespectacled eight-year-old girl.

She is Naama Margolese, the daughter of US immigrants who are observant modern Orthodox Jews. A television program at the weekend told the story of how Naama had become terrified of walking to her primary school in Beit Shemesh, a Jewish city between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, after ultra-Orthodox men spat on her, insulted her and called her a prostitute because her modest dress did not adhere exactly to their more rigorous dress code.

The country was outraged. Naama's picture has appeared on the front pages of all major Israeli newspapers. Although the Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said on Sunday that ''Israel is a democratic, Western, liberal state'' and pledged that ''the public sphere in Israel will be open and safe for all'', there have been days of confrontation.

Ultra-Orthodox men and boys from stringent sects have hurled rocks and eggs at the police and journalists, shouting ''Nazis'' at the security forces and assailing women reporters with epithets like ''whore'' and ''shikse'', a derogatory Yiddish term for a non-Jewish woman or girl.

For many Israelis, this is not a fight over one girl's walk to school. It is a struggle that could shape the character and soul of the country, against ultra-Orthodox zealots who have been encroaching on the public sphere with their interpretation of modesty rules, enforcing gender segregation and the exclusion of women.

The battle has grown increasingly visible. Orthodox male soldiers walked out of a ceremony where female soldiers were singing, adhering to what they consider to be a religious prohibition against hearing a woman's voice; women have challenged the seating arrangements on kosher buses, serving ultra-Orthodox neighbourhoods and some intercity routes where they are expected to sit at the back.

''We are working to save our city and to save our homes,'' Dov Lipman, 40, a local activist, rabbi and modern ultra-Orthodox who moved to Beit Shemesh from the US seven years ago, said. Seizing on the public mood of rejecting ultra-Orthodox bullying, Mr Lipman and supporters have been lobbying parliament, organising protests and working with a media consultant. He said that is how Naama's story came out.

In Ramat Beit Shemesh B, signs on buildings call for modesty, exhorting women and girls to dress in buttoned-up, long-sleeved blouses and long skirts. Outside a synagogue, a sign requested that females cross to the opposite sidewalk and not tarry outside the building.

Naama's school opened in September in an area with a large community of English-speaking observant Jews that borders on the strictest ultra-Orthodox neighbourhoods. She soon found she had to run a gantlet to get to school, even dressed in long sleeves and long skirts.

Riots broke out this week when the police accompanied media crews into Hazon Ish Street, where Naama's tormentors are believed to have come from. Hundreds of men and boys poured out of the synagogue and a seminary holding signs calling for the exclusion of women.

Many of the ultra-Orthodox agitators blamed the media for the unrest, saying they had come into ultra-Orthodox neighbourhoods to sow hatred and persecute residents for their beliefs.

Meanwhile, some residents insisted that Beit Shemesh was a tolerant city but defended some gender separation and modesty on religious grounds.

''I think women are very poorly treated in Western society,'' said Cindy Feder, 57, from Ramat Beit Shemesh A. She came to Israel from New York in 1970. Ms Feder said the objectification of women on billboards made her sick

To look objectively at both sides of this war, of the Erev Rav and Erev Katan, it is no more than the Torah playing itself out.

I have ridden the Mehadrin Bus Line from Tzfat to Bnei Brak hundreds of times, and have seen this war going on for years, to the point that I have seen and videotaped on a phone, a man spitting in a woman's face for not moving to the back of the bus. I asked people what the precedent was at that time, and the bottom line is, they subsidize the buslines, and they flat out just "don't want to sit next to women." The word is "want" not musn't. It is a pointless war over politics and money and control, that both sides have turned into propaganda about morality (on both sides funny enough) and piety (again on both sides.)

I have seen one woman in 10 years defeat these people: she threatened to flash the men if they would not stop. (she was injured and needed the footroom in the front to stretch, of which they were against.) She told them if you don't stop, I'm flashing. In the end, she didn't flash, as they gave up, and we all got home safe, sound, and at peace. 

If these people want to act like animals, then retaliate with animalism - suddenly, they find ways to behave. This woman was a tad radical, yes, but it worked. Had it not worked, it would have gotten ugly, and/or arrived home 3 hours later than ususal, which is what the threatened penality is if a woman refuses to sit in the back (if spitting doesn't work.)

Thank God, this is a very minute part of Israel, a small problem, that allows us to see a much broader picture, one that the Talmud taught us about years ago, about 2 heretics named Simcha and Sasson. Ironically, the Erev Rav and Katan are the opposite of Simcha and Sasson: Joy and Happiness.

Moshiach 5772. Please.

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Let There Be Water! (And Then Light)

Finally! Now we can begin to restore the Kinneret, Jordan River (after forever of being practically nothing), and other diminished areas. Such Good News! (And a great export!)

Desalination plant could make Israel water exporter

National water company says new facility will not only meet Israel's own water needs, it could also make it a top regional water exporter by 2014

Israel's national water company signed a financing agreement to build a desalination plant, which officials said could allow drought-ridden Israel to export water to its neighbors upon completion in 2013.

Israel's ADL, a subsidiary of state-owned Mekorot, will build and operate the plant in the coastal city of Ashdod for 25 years, supplying 100 million cubic meters of desalinated water annually, the Finance Ministry said in a statement on Tuesday.

Israel is two-thirds arid and to avoid further depleting its fresh water sources it has become a world leader in desalination and wastewater recycling. The new Ashdod plant will join four other desalination facilities that to provide, by the end of 2013, 85% of the country's household water consumption.

"In the coming years we will be able to return water to nature and even sell water to our neighbors," said Energy and Water Minister Uzi Landau.

ADL secured funding for the project from Israel's Bank Hapoalim and the European Investment Bank (EIB), the statement said.

The Finance Ministry had previously put a $400 million price tag on the plant, which will use reverse-osmosis to desalinate seawater from the Mediterranean.

Prophecy says the Beis Hamikdash will turn the Waters of the World from Bitter to Sweet.

Is this a Hakdama?

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Holy To Hashem : Seal Of The Kohen! Happy Zos Chanukah

The Miracle of Chanukah is said to be that the last jug of Oil was found with the seal of the Kohen. Here is some found proof of such a concept:

A rare clay seal found under Jerusalem's Old City appears to be linked to religious rituals practiced at the Jewish Temple 2,000 years ago, Israeli archaeologists said Sunday.

The coin-sized seal found near the Jewish holy site at the Western Wall bears two Aramaic words meaning "pure for God."

Archaeologist Ronny Reich of Haifa University said it dates from between the First Century BC to AD 70 -- the year Roman forces put down a Jewish revolt and destroyed the second of the two biblical temples in Jerusalem.

The find marks the first discovery of a written seal from that period of Jerusalem's history and appeared to be a unique physical artifact from ritual practice in the temple, said Reich, co-director of the excavation.

Very few artifacts linked to the temples have been discovered. The site of the temple itself -- the enclosure known to Jews as the Temple Mount and to Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary -- remains off-limits to archaeologists because of its religious and political sensitivity.

Archaeologists said the seal was likely used by temple officials approving an object for ritual use -- oil, perhaps, or an animal intended for sacrifice. Materials used by temple priests had to meet stringent purity guidelines stipulated in detail in the Jewish legal text known as the Mishna, which also mentions the use of seals as tokens by pilgrims.

The find, Reich said, is "the first time an indication was brought by archaeology about activities in the Temple Mount -- the religious activities of buying and offering and giving to the temple itself."

The site where the seal was found is on the route of a main street that ran through ancient Jerusalem just outside the temple compound.

Aren Maeir of Bar-Ilan University, a biblical archaeologist not connected to the dig, said the seal was special because it "was found right next to the temple and is similar to what we see described in the Mishna."

"It's nice when we can connect an activity recorded in ancient sources with archaeological finds," he said.

The seal was found in an excavation run by archaeologists from the government's Israel Antiquities Authority. The dig is under the auspices of a broader dig nearby known as the City of David, where archaeologists are investigating the oldest part of Jerusalem.

The City of David dig, located inside the nearby Palestinian neighborhood of Silwan and funded by a Jewish group affiliated with the settlement movement, is the Holy Land's highest-profile and most politically controversial excavation.

Happy Zos Chanukah Sameach

May this Chanuka begin the Geulah Shleimah Bechinah to Chanuka as it is destined to be, and may we all be inscribed for Life - as Chanukah "seals" our Din for the year.

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Shir HaShiurim...From Tzfat!

Click Here For Parashas Vayishlach With Ramban!

• The Spiritual Level of Yaakov
• Amana of Yaakov ; Save Me!
• What is Real Suffering?
• Yaakov and Uriel?
• Keil Elyon and Tachton?!
• Judging Shechem Like Bnei Noach
• Where Do We Come From?
• Kings of Esav? Prophecy of the Future?

Click Here For Shir Hashirim Vilna Gaon 7:1

• Yerushalayim - Why is it Called This?
• How Does Hashem Look Onto The World?
• Exile - What About It?
• 2=1...???
• Israel and Judaism, Are They The Same?
• Kohen, Angels, and Torah

May Torah From Tzfat Lead To Torah From Zion!

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You Look Like A Terrorist!

Ever hear of FEMA Camps? American Concentration Camps. On Dec. 26th, Obama will either veto or sign a bill to literally legalizing martial law.

President has until December 26 to act on NDAA FY2012

White House phones are said to be jammed today by American rights defenders, including Ron Paul, express outrage of pending martial law by the National Defence Authorization Act 2012 sitting on President Barack Obama's desk as The Bill of Rights Defense Committee Executive Director Shahid Buttar advises that the president only has until December 26 to sign or veto the bill and urges the public to contact the president and demand he veto the NDAA FY2012.

"Call the White House at (202) 456-1414 and demand that President Obama veto the NDAA," Director of Bill of Rights Defense Committee Executive Director Shaid Buttar stated today in a written statement.

Presidential Candidate, Congressman Dr. Ron Paul stated today about the bill that strips Americans' rights, "This is a giant step -- this should be the biggest news going on right now -- literally legalizing martial law."

LA Times reports Dr. Paul added that, despite the topic's importance, the subject has never been discussed at any of the Republican presidential debates.

Explaining the extremism of the bill that Dr. Paul said:

"In other words, the military could arrest any American citizen suspected of being a domestic terrorist and throw them into a military prison indefinitely. Beyond being incredibly inhumane, this section of the bill violates a citizen's Sixth Amendment right to counsel, and also ignores the Miranda process that informs criminal suspects of their rights while in police custody."

Buttar at BORDC clarified as Dr. Paul and other human rights defenders have been doing over past months and more so since Congress sailed the bill through to the president to sign, "By giving Obama and any future president the power to imprison anyone indefinitely and without trial on the basis of accusation—even without proof—of a 'belligerent act,' the NDAA is a direct assault on the Bill of Rights." 

"President Obama has until December 26 to either sign or veto the bill, but he hasn’t taken any action yet.

"Time is running out, but you can still make a difference."

Authors of NDAA FY 2012, Congressmen John McCain and Carl Levin have supported "an afront on the U.S. Constitution," ACLU said last month in a written statement 

Since then, the NDAA Bill 2012 to enact martial law in the United States has been fast-tracked through both the Senate and House of Representatives last week, both approving it with little opposition.

Congressmen including Dennis Kucinich, Al Franken and Ron Paul have strongly opposed the bill.

The White House made an official annoucement last week that President Obama would sign the bill into law but he was then said to be in discussions over it.

The bill, that also permits the Pentagon to wage cyberwars on "domestic enemies of the state is a serious violation of First Amendment human and civil rights, including freedom of speech and freedom of the press," says LA Times Tuesday.

Should the bill become a law, it is a direct threat to whistleblowers of government and corporate corruption, journalists attemtping to report high-level corruption, and could potentially hinder both Occupy Wall Street and the Tea Party campaigns.

President Obama has already signed an Executive Order claiming his right to have assassinations, "targeted killings," of Americans. (Also see: www.aclu.org/targetedkillings and ccrjustice.org/targetedkillings)

Last week, the world's largest human rights group updated its explanation of the bill's inclusion of targeted killings.

(Read "NDAA's CIA, military targeted killings of innocent Americans")

The ten-step blueprint for creating fascism have each been taken in the United States. NDAA codifies those steps.

Will the 2012 - 5772 Show finally begin?

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Doom and Disaster: The Neutrino of 5772

Neutrino = "A piece of obscure knowledge in Physics that baffles Scientists, leading to Knowledge that they would kill for. Is this a modern day element of Etz HaDaas Tov v' Rah? Doom seems to accompany all neutrino research.


Neutrino on Wikipedia CLICK here!

Neutrinos are making all the headlines these days, and could be the source of monumental problems.

Earthquakes and Tsunamis : Christchurch and Japan both are MAJOR neutrino hot spots. Does neutrino research create a cascade effect onto the spot of the research - to gain knowledge?

Physics: Are neutrinos faster than the speed of light, thereby disproving Einsteinian Physics?

And now moving into the Med. Sea - whats next? As this is very close to Israeli Soil - is the Erev Rav involved there too? Israel is getting heavy into the LHC in Geneva as well, taking part in the search of the God Particle, which is directly related to these neutrinos. It was there in Geneva that the neutrinos were found going faster than the speed of light.

Do neutrinos spell out Doom?

Underwater neutrino detector will be the second largest structure ever built

Plans are afoot to build a gigantic, state-of-the-art neutrino detector beneath the Mediterranean Sea. This particle-hunting behemoth would be taller than the Burj Khalifa and the second biggest structure ever built, second only to the Great Wall of China.

The structure is the work of a consortium of forty institutes and universities scattered across ten European countries. Given the catchy name of KM3NeT, the detector would measure several cubic kilometers in volume, all so that we have the best chance yet to spot these weakly interacting "ghost" particles. Because neutrinos don't interact with other particles, we can use them to figure out the conditions of extremely distant part of the universe.

Studying astrophysical neutrinos should give us crucial new insight into exotic phenomena like gamma ray bursts, quasars, and supermassive black holes. In case you're wondering, the extraterrestrial neutrinos we're searching for here aren't directly related to the possibly faster-than-light neutrinos, which were created as part of the OPERA experiment.

But it's also because neutrinos are so fiendishly hard to spot that we have to build a gigantic, underwater detector - and that doesn't even cover how ridiculously difficult it is to observe them in the first place. Far away across the universe, extremely powerful cosmic forces can rip apart subatomic particles, in the process creating super-energetic neutrinos. These fly off in all directions, and at least some of them end up headed towards Earth. When it reaches Earth eons later, it can hit a charged particle that, in turn, spits out a muon, which is a much more massive cousin of the electron.

The formation of the muon releases a flash of blue light known as Cherenkov radiation, and that is what the KM3NeT detector would be built to observe. It's an insanely circuitous process that relies on plenty of luck, and in all our searching we've still only confirmed two extraterrestrial neutrino sources in the entire universe: our own Sun and supernova SN1987A.

When built, KM3Net will feature towers at least 2,600 feet tall, and the current designs call for them to exceed the height of Dubai's 2,723-foot Burj Khalifa, currently the tallest building in the world. Of course, this wouldn't simply be an underwater skyscraper - its vast network of towers would add up to three cubic kilometers, three times bigger than the current biggest detector, IceCube, and second only to the Great Wall of China in terms of largest human structures. All the towers would be fitted with arrays of spherical photomultiplier tubes, which are optical sensors that can spot the Cherenkov radiation in any direction.

The detector needs to be built underwater for a couple of reasons. First, Cherenkov radiation is most visible in a clear, deep medium, which the bottom of the Mediterranean Sea is perfect for. Second, scientists want to spot extraterrestrial neutrinos, as opposed to the much, much more common atmospheric neutrinos, and so they need a gigantic particle shield that can keep these lower energy particles out while letting the high energy neutrinos through. Over three thousand feet of seawater is the perfect natural shield. There are also some fringe benefits to be had from building such a massive structure beneath the Mediterranean. The detector is designed to double as an underwater observatory, with equipment in place for biologists to listen to whale songs and observe bioluminescent organisms found on the ocean floor.

These measures may all seem pretty extreme, but it's just what we have to do if we want to see astrophysical neutrinos. The relatively smaller detector IceCube, which is housed in the South Pole, has yet to find a single non-atmospheric neutrino, and it's possible it simply doesn't have a large enough volume to spot these particles. KM3NeT will be at least two to three times more powerful, and it's scraping against the limits of what we can presently build. If size really is the issue here - and that's not actually a certainty, as there could be some other reason why we're having so much trouble finding extraterrestrial neutrinos - then KM3NeT is probably about as big as we can go. But the detector has an excellent chance - not only is it almost incomprehensibly vast, it will be pointed right at Sagittarius-A*, the supermassive black hole at the center of the galaxy.

Will tampering with the Briah usher in 2012 - 5772 with a little haste from above?
"In it's Time I will hasten it"
- A year ending in "'72" Melech Moshiach wil be revealed - Zohar

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Galus China : Welcome

Galus China: The Erev Rav securing the Far East.

China is a product of Avraham Avinu sending his children with Ketura East. Having sent them with powers of impurity, they would be permanently exiled. The irony is: as China would prepare the world for the "Exile of China", they would be so consumed with the preparation work of this exile, that it would in effect, cause an exile on themselves. The longer they prepare to take over, the further they are ineffective. This would be the opposite of Torah, in Klippah. The more Torah that one learns, the more he realizes he does not know, thereby he must study even more, to the point of infinity. Thus China has the power of an infinite exile, and ironically they have exiled themselves infinitely waiting to impose their veil.

The Erev Rav seeks to use the power of Klippah, to rule the world in their attempt at a final exile - something that we are witnessing now. While there is the economic turmoil in the world, the Erev Rav are doing quite well, finding resources, and looking to enslave the enslaved nation of infinite possibilities : China.

China has said that they could weather a nuke, as they disregard their people; The Erev Rav see this as an opportunity, and a chance to secure their grip on the world, moving the war from propaganda, to an outright dictatorship - police state - NWO. Are we seeing the final phase of Galus? (and how will Korea work into this)

Bnei Haggar are coming very close to the Bnei Ketura (same person - wife of Abraham, yet 2 distinct klippot), both under the political jostling of Erev Rav. As Erev Rav work ever closer to Ketura, Yishmael will only strengthen in his war against the Erev Rav. Yishmael sees all Jews as Erev Rav, and as they become monotheistic from their Avodah Zarah of the past, they can not tolerate the East, and the Jewish presence there. This is one perspective of the hostility and Gog Magog features of Pakistan. It will be interesting to monitor China and Israel into 2012.

China should buy small start-up companies in Israel to help it move from a "made in China" to "made by China" manufacturing model, said an American-Israeli journalist and author Tuesday in Beijing.

Saul Singer, who co-wrote with Dan Senor "Start-up Nation: The Story of Israel's Economic Miracle," a bestseller that investigates Israel's innovative prowess, made the statement at a press conference in the Chinese capital.

Referring to Israel as a start-up nation that abounds in small innovative ventures, Singer said some big companies, many of which were American, had bought start-ups or built research and development centers in Israel. He encouraged Asian countries, including China, to follow suit.

Singer went on to suggest that Chinese leaders, who talk, plan and think very seriously about how to move from a "made in China" to "made by China" manufacturing model that generates more innovation inside the country, turn to Israel and work with Israelis to achieve their goal.

"Start-ups are very good at innovation, but they are very bad at promoting their innovations to big companies," Singer said. "They don't know how to do that. Big companies have the opposite problem. They are very good at taking something and making it big, but they are not very good at innovation. It's hard for them to think of a really new innovation."

Singer said if China and Israel worked together, they would be able to solve each other's respective problems. Citing Intel Corporation's success in Israel as an example, he noted that as soon as China began similar cooperation projects with Israel, it would benefit both sides.

Singer said the fact that Intel chips were designed in Israel had helped the country get a lot of businesses from the American microchip manufacturer, while Intel had benefited greatly from Israeli assistance in helping it become the most important chipmaker in the world.

He added that the challenges China faces in innovating and cultivating more entrepreneurs who want to launch their own businesses could be solved if the country teamed up with Israel. In return, big countries like China would also benefit, he said.

Will Galus "just end" in 2012? 

Baal Haturim : When Yishmael falls, Ben David Rises

2012 = Yishmael Falling

B"H 5772 We Witness Moshiach's Revelation

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The Abyss Of 2012 - One Year From Today

Is Time running out? Speeding up? Or just Shifting? One thing we can see, is that Change is supersonic!

Here is a review - look at what is on tap into the near 2012 future. As always, we can expect curve balls from Hashem.

As the year 2011 is drawing to an end, the world is facing a host of uncertainties in the coming new year ranging from higher risks of a faltering global recovery and Iran's nuclear issue to U.S. President Barack Obama's re-election bid.

HOW TOUGH IS THE ROAD OF WORLD ECONOMIC RECOVERY AHEAD?

Rising uncertainty about an uneven global recovery has given rise to worries that the world economic situation in the new year will become more complex and volatile.

The United Nations on Dec. 1 slashed its world growth forecast to 2.6 percent in 2012, much lower than a previous forecast of 3.6 percent made by UN economists half a year ago.

The main factors that will have an impact on the world economy in 2012 include an accelerated slowdown in some major economies, the sovereign debt crisis hitting some countries, the turbulent international financial market, higher inflationary pressures in emerging market economies, and rising protectionism of various forms.

Global challenges including political turmoil, food and energy security, climate change, and major natural disasters are also becoming increasingly serious.

WILL THE EUROZONE DEBT CRISIS BE EFFECTIVELY CONTAINED?

Eurozone debt woes have overshadowed prospects for the world economic recovery. Eurozone countries will have to pay 1.1 trillion euros (1.47 trillion U.S. dollars) of long-term or short-term debt due in 2012, among which 519 billion euros (693 billion dollars) will by paid by Italy, France and Germany in the first half of next year.

At a summit in early December, European Union leaders reached an agreement to help countries which have high debt burdens.

All EU countries except Britain agreed to pursue stricter budget rules and a stronger fiscal union, and to give up to 200 billion euros (264 billion dollars) in bilateral loans to the International Monetary Fund to help tackle the crisis.

But the financial markets remain unconvinced about the outcome of the EU summit, as investor feel that the deal did not go far enough.

Disappointments about the new EU deal include -- It doesn't reduce existing government debt levels; doesn't do much to promote the long-term growth that would shrink those burdens; And doesn't provide enough money to reassure financial markets that Italy and Spain can keep paying their bills.

Tumbling stock markets and pressures on the euro reveal weak investor confidence.

HOW WILL THE SITUATION DEVELOP IN SYRIA?

Unrest in some Arab nations have brought down leaders from three North African countries, while Yemen's Ali Abdullah Saleh has signed a deal agreeing to step down as president in exchange for immunity from prosecution.

Since late 2011, Syria has become the new focus of regional turmoil. Will there be outside armed intervention against Syria in 2012? And will the Syrian crisis be resolved eventually through peaceful means or by resorting to force?

Protests against Bashar al-Assad's government first erupted in mid-March. Peaceful demonstrations have turned violent as the unrest continues.

In 2012, Assad will have to deal with challenges from the opposition while facing political isolation and economic sanctions imposed by the Arab League and some Western countries. It remains to be seen whether outside intervention will escalate.

WILL SECURITY WORSEN IN IRAQ, AFGHANISTAN AS U.S. PULLS OUT TROOPS?

In mid-December, U.S. forces formally ended almost nine years of war in Iraq with a flag-lowering ceremony in Baghdad. The U.S. administration is also planning to withdraw most troops from Afghanistan, by 2014 hopefully.

Devastated by years of war, social and economic development in the two countries is slow, and sectarian strife and terror attacks are on the rise.

After the U.S. pullout, the security situation in Iraq and Afghanistan will threaten to spin out of control. And it will be a daunting task for the United States to prop up pro-Western regimes in the two countries.

WILL WAR OR PEACE PREVAIL IN THE STANDOFF OVER IRAN'S NUCLEAR PROGRAM?

Iran's controversial nuclear issue drew worldwide concerns in the latter half of 2011.

An IAEA report released in November suggested for the first time that Iran was using the cover of a peaceful nuclear program to produce atomic weaponry. But the UN nuclear watchdog did not conclude that Tehran is currently attempting to develop a nuclear weapon.

Israeli President Shimon Peres has said: "The possibility of a military strike on Iran is more likely to be realized than the diplomatic option."

In the wake of the IAEA report, the United States, Britain and the European Union slapped tougher sanctions on Iran as a way of punishment.

On the other hand, Iran dismissed the findings in the IAEA report as fabricated by Western countries, and insisted that the country's nuclear activities were purely for peaceful purposes.

Recently, the Iranian armed forces have seized an unmanned U.S. surveillance drone. U.S. President Barack Obama has asked for the return of the top-secret aircraft, but Iran has rejected the U.S. demand.

Whether the lingering stand-off between Iran and the West over Tehran's nuclear program would eventually lead to war will keep the world in suspense.

WILL U.S.-RUSSIA TIES BECOME STRAINED IN 2012?

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's party gained an absolute majority in the State Duma (lower house) elections on Dec. 4.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton suggested that the vote was rigged, saying it was neither free nor fair.

Putin defended fairness of the election, stressing that the results reflected the views of Russian voters.

NATO will hold its next summit in Chicago in May 2012 to map out the framework of a missile defense shield in Europe when the system is expected to acquire an "interim operational capability."

But Russia has threatened to deploy missiles to the westernmost Kaliningrad region and other areas of Russia to be aimed at the U.S. and NATO missile defense sites unless a deal is reached assuaging Russia's security concerns.

As both Russia and the United States hold presidential elections next year, the results of the polls will have an important bearing on future Russia-U.S. ties.

COULD OBAMA WIN RE-ELECTION?

The United States will hold its presidential election in late 2012. President Obama has announced he will seek re-election.

Will any Republican candidate be popular enough to beat Obama in the battle for the White House next year?

Over the last 34 months since Obama took office, the U.S. jobless rate has hovered around 9 percent. A majority of the American people disapprove of Obama's handling of the economy.

Whether the Republicans will have a strong challenger and the U.S. economy and employment could turn for the better prior to the vote would be crucial for Obama's re-election bid.

5772 will either bring monumental consciousness or a monumental dud.

I'm starting to think the Geulah is happening now, began on Mincha Gedolah, and now we need to just ride this thing out...as the Zohar says it can take many years until an actual Gilui/Revelation.

Beis Hamikdash Bekarov! - the makeh b' patish to the Geulah.

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Add Iran To 2012 Insomnia

2012; heating up hot in another familiar part of the world. This is not new news, but it does coincide nicely with our 2012 clock: economics, politics, war, science, religion...who isn't batting in this lineup? I am actually looking forward to 2012 even without the Mayan premonition. The Mayan's are just the cherry on top of the international Zohar explained fervor: "A year ending in 72 will see the Redemption" (to paraphrase)




Despite efforts to disrupt the nuclear program in Iran, Tehran has reached a point where it can assemble a bomb in a year or potentially less, US Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta said during an interview with CBS News late Monday night.

When asked by CBS News anchor Scott Pelley if Iran can have a nuclear weapon by 2012, Panetta answered: "It would probably be about a year before they can do it. Perhaps a little less. But one proviso, Scott, is if they have a hidden facility somewhere in Iran that may be enriching fuel."



The US secretary of defense went on to say that the US and Israel share a common concern. "The United States does not want Iran to develop a nuclear weapon. That's a red line for us and that's a red line, obviously, for the Israelis. If we have to do it we will deal with it," he added.

When asked what steps the US would be willing to take in order to prevent a nuclear attack, Panetta said that if intelligence is received that Iran is proceeding with developing a nuclear weapon then "we will take whatever steps necessary to stop it."

RELATED:
Panetta: Strike on Iran must be the last resort
Israel seeks new friends to counter Islamism
Panetta: Strike on Iran could hurt world economy

"There are no options off the table," he added.

Earlier in December, Panetta warned against possible unintended outcomes of a strike on Iran.

Although Panetta criticized what he described as Israel’s “isolation,” he recognized that Israel has been the victim of an “international campaign” to discredit the country.

“Unfortunately, over the past year, we’ve seen Israel’s isolation from its traditional security partners in the region grow, and the pursuit of a comprehensive Middle East peace has effectively been put on hold,” he said.


Happy Chanukah!
Now bring on 5772 in full 2012 Force

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Amalek Of The East - Fallen

Kim Jong II - dead (more Angelic leaders falling in Heaven - spreading East?) - Bnei Ketura (wrapping up Bnei Haggar)

Does this weigh into Erev Rav Propoganda and Galus of the East? ( The East must fall before Erev Rav can cause eternal exile to the Orient - "Galus China")

"America's presence in Korea amounted to no more than a "police action." - about the Korean War, much like what is happening with warfare today, ie. the fall of Libya, a policed overthrow orchestrated by America w/o traditional warfare.

Will North Korea finally have the chutzpah to make their long anticipated move of a military strike (nuclear) somewhere in the world? 

Korea sees itself as a sort of Jew of the East.

Now things could really be kicked off!

Kim Jong Il, North Korea's mercurial and enigmatic leader whose iron rule and nuclear ambitions dominated world security fears for more than a decade, has died. He was 69.

Kim's death 17 years after he inherited power from his father was announced Monday by the state television from the North Korean capital, Pyongyang. The country's "Dear Leader" — reputed to have had a taste for cigars, cognac and gourmet cuisine — was believed to have had diabetes and heart disease.

North Korea has been grooming Kim's third son to take over power from his father in the impoverished nation that celebrates the ruling family with an intense cult of personality.

South Korea put its military on "high alert" and President Lee Myung-bak convened a national security council meeting after the news of Kim's death.

In a "special broadcast" Monday, state media said Kim died of a heart ailment on a train due to a "great mental and physical strain" on Saturday during a "high intensity field inspection."

Kim is believed to have suffered a stroke in 2008 but he had appeared relatively vigorous in photos and video from recent trips to China and Russia and in numerous trips around the country carefully documented by state media.

Kim Jong Il inherited power after his father, revered North Korean founder Kim Il Sung, died in 1994. He had been groomed for 20 years to lead the communist nation founded by his guerrilla fighter-turned-politician father and built according to the principle of "juche," or self-reliance.

In September 2010, Kim Jong Il unveiled his third son, the twenty-something Kim Jong Un, as his successor, putting him in high-ranking posts.

Even with a successor, there had been some fear among North Korean observers of a behind-the-scenes power struggle or nuclear instability upon the elder Kim's death.

Few firm facts are available when it comes to North Korea, one of the most isolated countries in the world, and not much is clear about the man known as the "Dear Leader."

North Korean legend has it that Kim was born on Mount Paekdu, one of Korea's most cherished sites, in 1942, a birth heralded in the heavens by a pair of rainbows and a brilliant new star.

Soviet records, however, indicate he was born in Siberia, in 1941.

Kim Il Sung, who for years fought for independence from Korea's colonial ruler, Japan, from a base in Russia, emerged as a communist leader after returning to Korea in 1945 after Japan was defeated in World War II.

With the peninsula divided between the Soviet-administered north and the U.S.-administered south, Kim rose to power as North Korea's first leader in 1948 while Syngman Rhee became South Korea's first president.

The North invaded the South in 1950, sparking a war that would last three years, kill millions of civilians and leave the peninsula divided by a Demilitarized Zone that today remains one of the world's most heavily fortified.

In the North, Kim Il Sung meshed Stalinist ideology with a cult of personality that encompassed him and his son. Their portraits hang in every building in North Korea and on the lapels of every dutiful North Korean.

Kim Jong Il, a graduate of Pyongyang's Kim Il Sung University, was 33 when his father anointed him his eventual successor.

Even before he took over as leader, there were signs the younger Kim would maintain — and perhaps exceed — his father's hard-line stance.

South Korea has accused Kim of masterminding a 1983 bombing that killed 17 South Korean officials visiting Burma, now known as Myanmar. In 1987, the bombing of a Korean Air Flight killed all 115 people on board; a North Korean agent who confessed to planting the device said Kim ordered the downing of the plane himself.

Kim Jong Il took over after his father died in 1994, eventually taking the posts of chairman of the National Defense Commission, commander of the Korean People's Army and head of the ruling Worker's Party while his father remained as North Korea's "eternal president."

He faithfully carried out his father's policy of "military first," devoting much of the country's scarce resources to its troops — even as his people suffered from a prolonged famine — and built the world's fifth-largest military.

Kim also sought to build up the country's nuclear arms arsenal, which culminated in North Korea's first nuclear test explosion, an underground blast conducted in October 2006. Another test came in 2009.

Alarmed, regional leaders negotiated a disarmament-for-aid pact that the North signed in 2007 and began implementing later that year.

However, the process continues to be stalled, even as diplomats work to restart negotiations.

North Korea, long hampered by sanctions and unable to feed its own people, is desperate for aid. Flooding in the 1990s that destroyed the largely mountainous country's arable land left millions hungry.

Following the famine, the number of North Koreans fleeing the country through China rose dramatically, with many telling tales of hunger, political persecution and rights abuses that officials in Pyongyang emphatically denied.

Kim often blamed the U.S. for his country's troubles and his regime routinely derides Washington-allied South Korea as a "puppet" of the Western superpower.

U.S. President George W. Bush, taking office in 2002, denounced North Korea as a member of an "axis of evil" that also included Iran and Iraq. He later described Kim as a "tyrant" who starved his people so he could build nuclear weapons.

"Look, Kim Jong Il is a dangerous person. He's a man who starves his people. He's got huge concentration camps. And ... there is concern about his capacity to deliver a nuclear weapon," Bush said in 2005.

Kim was an enigmatic leader. But defectors from North Korea describe him as an eloquent and tireless orator, primarily to the military units that form the base of his support.

The world's best glimpse of the man was in 2000, when the liberal South Korean government's conciliatory "sunshine" policy toward the North culminated in the first-ever summit between the two Koreas and followed with unprecedented inter-Korean cooperation.

A second summit was held in 2007 with South Korea's Roh Moo-hyun.

But the thaw in relations drew to a halt in early 2008 when conservative President Lee Myung-bak took office in Seoul pledging to come down hard on communist North Korea.

Disputing accounts that Kim was "peculiar," former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright characterized Kim as intelligent and well-informed, saying the two had wide-ranging discussions during her visits to Pyongyang when Bill Clinton was U.S. president.

"I found him very much on top of his brief," she said.

Kim cut a distinctive, if oft ridiculed, figure. Short and pudgy at 5-foot-3, he wore platform shoes and sported a permed bouffant. His trademark attire of jumpsuits and sunglasses was mocked in such films as "Team America: World Police," a movie populated by puppets that was released in 2004.

Kim was said to have cultivated wide interests, including professional basketball, cars and foreign films. He reportedly produced several North Korean films as well, mostly historical epics with an ideological tinge.

A South Korean film director claimed Kim even kidnapped him and his movie star wife in the late 1970s, spiriting them back to North Korea to make movies for him for a decade before they managed to escape from their North Korean agents during a trip to Austria.

Kim rarely traveled abroad and then only by train because of an alleged fear of flying, once heading all the way by luxury rail car to Moscow, indulging in his taste for fine food along the way.

One account of Kim's lavish lifestyle came from Konstantin Pulikovsky, a former Russian presidential envoy who wrote the book "The Orient Express" about Kim's train trip through Russia in July and August 2001.

Pulikovsky, who accompanied the North Korean leader, said Kim's 16-car private train was stocked with crates of French wine. Live lobsters were delivered in advance to stations.

A Japanese cook later claimed he was Kim's personal sushi chef for a decade, writing that Kim had a wine cellar stocked with 10,000 bottles, and that, in addition to sushi, Kim ate shark's fin soup — a rare delicacy — weekly.

"His banquets often started at midnight and lasted until morning. The longest lasted for four days," the chef, who goes by the pseudonym Kenji Fujimoto, was quoted as saying.

Kim is believed to have curbed his indulgent ways in recent years and looked slimmer in more recent video footage aired by North Korea's state-run broadcaster.

Kim's marital status wasn't clear but he is believed to have married once and had at least three other companions. He had at least three sons with two women, as well as a daughter by a third.

His eldest son, Kim Jong Nam, 38, is believed to have fallen out of favor with his father after he was caught trying to enter Japan on a fake passport in 2001 saying he wanted to visit Disney's Tokyo resort.

His two other sons by another woman, Kim Jong Chul and Kim Jong Un, are in their 20s. Their mother reportedly died several years ago.

Zechariah 14:12

And this shall be the plague wherewith the LORD will smite all the people that have fought against Jerusalem; Their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet, and their eyes shall consume away in their holes, and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth.

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Hebrew Shmeebrew...Where Does It Come From?

Guest Post by Chaim Clorfene of Tzfas

Paleo-Hebrew

By Chaim Clorfene

Rediscovering a lost Jewish script

There is one Hebrew language, but it has two different scripts. One of these scripts fell into complete disuse and was forgotten 2000 years ago. Within the past century, it has been rediscovered. The impact of this discovery has not yet been fully felt, for the lost script may well be the original, the one in which the Ten Commandments were written by the finger of G-d¹ and the one in which Moses wrote the original Torah.

The lost script is called Ivri or Paleo-Hebrew. Our familiar Hebrew script is known as Ashuri² or Assyrian script.

Paleo-Hebrew was completely abandoned around the time of the destruction of the Second Temple in the year 70 C.E. Except for the inscriptions on a few ancient Jewish coins, no remnant of Paleo-Hebrew remained. The Babylonian Talmud (Sanhedrin 21b) has a pertinent discussion about these two forms of Hebrew writing:

Mar Zutra³ or, some say, Mar Ukba said: Originally the Torah was given to Israel in Ivri (Paleo-Hebrew) letters and in the sacred Hebrew language. Later, in the times of Ezra,⁴ the Torah was given in Ashuri script and Aramaic language. Finally, they selected for Israel the Ashuri script and Hebrew language, leaving the original Hebrew⁵ characters and Aramaic language for the ignorant people. Rebbe Yose said: Why is it called Ashuri (Assyrian) script? Because they brought it with them from Assyria.⁶

This opinion coincides with the findings of modern archeologists, who maintain that around the year 1800 B.C.E., Egyptian hieroglyphics had inspired Phoenicians living and working in Egypt to develop Proto-Canaanite, a phonetic alphabet. Proto-Canaanite then evolved as Paleo-Hebrew and was the script used by all the peoples of the Middle East, including the Phoenicians, the Canaanites, the Moabites, and also the Hebrews. Archeologists have unearthed Paleo-Hebrew inscriptions on stone and pottery dating as far back as the twelfth century B.C.E.

Around the year 800 B.C.E., Paleo-Hebrew letters became reworked in Babylon and the surrounding region⁸ and evolved as the native Aramaic script. Around 275 years later (circa 525 B.C.E.) the Jews in Babylon, notably Ezra the Scribe, refined the native Aramaic letters and developed Ashuri, the script recognized today as Hebrew.

Throughout the Second Temple period, Ashuri was the dominant script used for all holy and secular purposes. However, Paleo-Hebrew was not entirely forgotten and appears on some coins of the period.⁹ The last known remnant of Paleo-Hebrew writing appears on Bar Kochba coins, circa 125 C.E. The use of Paleo-Hebrew letters on these coins is of great significance.

Bar Kochba¹⁰ led the last revolt against Rome 50 years after the Second Temple had been destroyed. Rabbi Akiva considered him to be the Messiah. Bar Kochba minted his own coins by over-striking them on existing Roman coins. This was symbolic of his rebellion against Rome. He inscribed three Paleo-Hebrew letters, yud-hay-dalet, Yehud, "Judea," on the face of his coins. His choice of Paleo-Hebrew letters was a daring statement of return to the original Jewish script that was used before the Jews had been subjugated by foreign powers.¹¹

After the Bar Kochba rebellion was put down, Paleo-Hebrew fell into complete disuse. It became the original dead letter. Were it not for the above mentioned discussion in the Talmud, Paleo-Hebrew would have been completely forgotten. It is virtually certain that no one could read it, since no documents or samples of its letters survived, except for those three letters on the Bar Kocha coins.¹²

In the 20^th century, everything changed. Archeologists began discovering buried artifacts inscribed with Paleo-Hebrew letters dating back to the times of King David and earlier.¹³ And then the Dead Sea Scrolls were found with several examples of Paleo-Hebrew text. The ancient Hebrew alphabet had been resurrected from the dead.

The second opinion in the Talmud differs radically from that of Mar Zutra:

Rabbi Yehuda the Prince¹⁴ said: The Torah was originally given to Israel in Ashuri script,¹⁵but when they sinned,¹⁶ it was changed to Ivri.¹⁷ And when they repented,¹⁸ Ashuri was returned to them, as it is written:¹⁹ "Return to Zion, you prisoners of hope, and even today I declare that I will return the secondary teachings to you.²⁰" And why was it called Ashuri? Because its form is straight (me'ushar).

This opinion remains completely outside the scope archeological evidence. According to rabbinic tradition, Adam and Eve spoke Hebrew and read and wrote Ashuri script. For nearly 2000 years, this was the world's only language, as it says (Gen. 11:1). "The whole earth was of one language with one form of words." Then came the Tower of Babel. Unified in speech and purpose, the people proposed to build a tower "with its top in heaven." This is interpreted to mean that they wanted to build a great edifice with a temple of idol worship at its top to "wage spiritual war against G-d." As a pre-emptive act, G-d confused their language and scattered the people all over the world.²¹ According to Biblical scholars, the date was 1930 B.C.E.

Before the episode of the Tower of Babel, there was a righteous man named Ashur who foresaw the danger and fled from the area to build the cities of Nineveh, Rehovot and Calah.²² Having abandoned the region before the building of the Tower of Babel, Ashur was excluded from punishment and retained the original holy language and its script. Thus, it became known as Ashuri. Over the next millennium, the holy script of Ashuri deteriorated and became mixed with the script of the indigenous peoples who wrote in Paleo-Hebrew. The downgraded writing finally emerged as Aramaic script somewhere around 800 B.C.E.

But, according to tradition, there was one family chosen by G-d to retain the original holy tongue and its script, the family of Shem, one of the three sons of Noah. Through this family and its descendants, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the holy tongue and the original Ashuri script were carefully preserved. This Talmudic view asserts that during their bondage in Egypt, the Children of Israel remained faithful to Ashuri, their ancestral language and script. Thus, the Torah was given in the Ashuri script. The year was 1480 B.C.E.

After the Jews entered the land of Canaan, they were exposed to the Ivri writing of the peoples around them, and they began to read and write it alongside their holy Ashuri letters. This is similar to Jews today in the United States and England who read and write English as well as Hebrew. Accordingly, all Torah scrolls were written in Ashuri script from the time of Mount Sinai until around 150 years before the destruction of Solomon's Temple, a period of approximately 750 years.

At this juncture in history, King Menasseh²³ embraced idolatry and plotted to destroy the Torah and its leadership. He murdered the prophet Isaiah, his maternal grandfather, and caused the blood of religious Jews to flow like a river through Jerusalem. It is logical to presume that he also confiscated all the Torah scrolls he could find, which according to Rebbe Yehuda were written inAshuri, and burned or buried them. At that point, the Jewish scribes would have had the opportunity to begin writing the Torah in Ivri, the common script of the region.

Finally, during the days of Mordecai and Esther,²⁴ with the Jews in exile in Babylon and Persia, Ezra wrote a Torah in the original Ashuri script. Torah scrolls were copied from Ezra's Torah, and all successive Torah scrolls were copied from those, right down to our very day.

The Talmud now offers a third opinion:

Rabbi Simeon ben Elazar²⁵ said in the name of Rabbi Eliezer ben Parta, who said in the name of Rabbi Elazar of Modin: This writing of the Torah [Ashuri] was never changed, for it is written: "The vavei ha-amudim (the hooks of the pillars).²⁶" Just as the word 'pillar' (amud in Hebrew) has not changed, neither has the form of the 'vav.' Also it is written,²⁷ "And unto the Jews, according to their script and language." Just as their language did not change, neither did their writing.

This opinion argues that the Torah has always been written in Ashuri script and never in Ivri. Rabbi Elazar offers two proofs based on logic:

The first proof is that the word for hook in the Torah written by Moses was 'vav.' Vav is also the name of the sixth letter of the Hebrew alef-bet, which is shaped like a hook in Ashuri. Since thevav in Rabbi Elazar's day²⁸ was still shaped like a hook, and his Torah was written in Ashuri, he concludes that the script of the Torah was always Ashuri. However, his logic is shown to be flawed, since the letter vav in Ivri (Paleo-Hebrew) also resembles a hook.²⁹ In fact, the vav ofIvri may resemble a hook more than the vav of Ashuri.

Rabbi Elazar's second proof is a verse in the Book of Esther, where Mordecai sends letters to the Jews throughout the kingdom, written in their "script and language." The contention is that the words "script and language" are written together and are equivalent. Rabbi Elazar reasons that the Jews did not change their language in the days of Mordecai, therefore, they also did not change their script, which was Ashuri.

Again, his argument does not hold up, for the fact is that the Jews did change their language in the days of Mordecai. The Book of Daniel, written during that same period was written in Aramaic, not Hebrew. Why did Daniel choose Aramaic? Because Aramaic had replaced Hebrew as the language of the Jews, and it remained the primary spoken language of the Jewish people for the next millennium.

Since both proofs offered by Rabbi Elazar are rejected, we are left with two views:

1.) The Torah was originally written by Moses in Paleo-Hebrew (Ivri). It was changed to Ashuriscript by Ezra during the Babylonian Exile and has remained so ever since.

2.) The Torah was written by Moses in Ashuri script. It was changed to Ivri towards the end of the First Temple period and then changed back again to Ashuri by Ezra.

This discussion is of monumental significance since it includes the writing of the Ten Commandments, "the two Tablets of Testimony, stone tablets inscribed by the finger of G-d."³⁰The Jerusalem Talmud³¹ maintains that the Ten Commandments were written in Ivri. The Babylonian Talmud³² says that they were written in Ashuri.

In the end, we find that the Talmudic discussion leaves us with a doubt concerning which script was the original. But we can possibly resolve this by considering a ceremony performed with the Kohen Gadol (High Priest) and the kings of the House of David.

The Mishna³³ tells us that the Kohen Gadol must be consecrated by anointing with shemenhamischa, the anointing oil made by Moses. This is one of the 613 commandments of the Torah. A small amount of the oil is poured on the High Priest's head and applied between his eyes by a finger drawing the form of an X, the letter Tav, the 22^nd letter of the Alef-Bet in Ivri script. And when the kings of the Davidic dynasty are anointed, the same oil is used, but applied in the shape of a crown, the vertical zigzag lines of a W, the form of the letter Shin, the 21^st letter of Ivri script.³⁴ Neither of these two shapes is found in our familiar Ashuri script.

Since Aaron, the High Priest, and King David appear to have been anointed with forms of letters ofIvri script, we can presume that Ivri was the script used during the early generations of the Children of Israel,³⁵ and that Ashuri script was developed later. According to the opinion of Mar Zutra, it was a thousand years later during the Babylonian Exile.

My personal reflection on this subject is to avoid the mistake of thinking that if Paleo-Hebrew was the original, then it must be the holier of the two scripts. The fact is that Ezra, the father of Ashuriscript, was the author of three books of the Hebrew Scriptures³⁶ and worked with ruach hakodesh,³⁷ a form of prophecy. The Hebrew letters that came from his hand contain some of the deepest and most mystical teachings of the Torah. These letters have sustained the Jewish people for 2500 years and will undoubtedly continue to do so in the future. But at the very least, the re-discovery of Ivri or Paleo-Hebrew suggests that we live in a new era, one that is struggling to synthesize the past with the present so as to become greater than both.

1 Exodus 31:18.

2 Technically, the correct terms are Ktav Ivri, Hebrew writing, and Ktav Ashuri, Assyrian writing.

3 He passed away circa 414 C.E. Mar Zutra was a pious leader (Reish Galuta or Exilarch) of the Jewish community in Babylon. His opinions are cited frequently in the Talmud.

4 Ezra the Scribe, generally acknowledged as the leader of the generation towards the end of the Babylonian Exile.

5 Paleo-Hebrew or Ivri.

6 When the Jews returned to Israel to build the Second Temple, they brought this script with them from Babylon, here referred to as Assyria, as it is similarly called in Jeremiah 2:18 and Ezra 6:22. Today, northern Iraq comprises the ancient land of Assyria and southern Iraq is Babylon.

7 Phonetic letters represent the sounds of speech. Logograms, such as Chinese writing and Egyptian hieroglyphics, represent entire words or concepts. The Proto-Canaanite alphabet was considered a great innovation, for previous scripts were logographic.

8 Ancient Babylon was approximately 350 kilometers northeast of Israel.

9 Examples of Paleo-Hebrew have also been discovered in the Dead Sea Scrolls where the Four Letter Name of G-d (YHWH) was found written in this script. Besides the Dead Sea Scrolls and coins of the era, no trace of Paleo-Hebrew has been found from the Second Temple period.

10 His proper name was Simon ben Koziba, and was called Bar Kochba, which means the son in whom there is power.

11 Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon, had conquered the Jews and destroyed the First Temple. And when the people returned to Israel during the Second Temple period, they were under the rule of Persia, then Greece, and finally Rome. Israel's independent sovereignty during the Second Commonwealth lasted for only seventeen years during the reign of the Hasmonean kings.

12 It is known that the Ramban, Rabbi Moses ben Nachman, a 13^th century scholar, had a Bar Kochba coin in his possession. No other examples of Paleo-Hebrew letters are known to have existed at any time or place in the diaspora.

13 Notably the Gezer calendar and the Mesha stele (Moabite stone).

14 Rabbi Yehuda the Prince (Rebbe) was the rabbinic leader in Israel after the defeat of Bar Kochba, circa 150-200 C.E.. He and his Bet Din (Ecclesiastic Court) put the oral tradition of theMishna into writing and unified the halacha (Jewish law), in effect establishing what we know today as Orthodox Judaism.

15 The words 'this Ashuri script' are used because it was the only script used in Rabbi Yehuda's generation.

16 Towards the end of the First Temple period in the days of Menashe (Menasseh), the king of Judah.

17 Paleo-Hebrew. Rebbe uses the word ro'etz, meaning broken letters, similar to a word found inIsaiah 42:3. He was contrasting the stick-like form of Paleo-Hebrew (Ivri) to the more beautiful, flowing form of Ashuri letters.

18 During the days of Mordecai and Esther towards the end of the Babylonian Exile.

19 Zechariah 9:12

20 According to Rebbe, this verse indicated that if the Jewish people repented, Ashuri script, which had become secondary, would be returned.

21 Genesis 11:9.

22 Genesis 10:11.

23 He was king of Judea for 55 years, circa 700-645 B.C.E. In II Chronicles 33:3, it relates that he built altars to the Baal and Ashteroth and worshipped all the host of heaven.

24 Circa 525 B.C.E.

25 Second century rabbi and contemporary of Judah the Prince.

26 Exodus 27:10. The verse refers to the courtyard of the Mishkan (Tabernacle). This courtyard had a surrounding curtain which was attached to pillars by means of hooks affixed to the pillars.

27 Esther 8:9. This refers to letters sent by Mordecai to various nationalities throughout the kingdom, including the Jews in 'their script and language.'

28 In the second century C.E., approximately 1750 years after Moses wrote the first Torah.

29 It is a virtual certainty that Rabbi Elazar never saw an Ivri vav, inasmuch as Ivri had become extinct at least one hundred years before he was born.

30 Exodus 31:18.

31 Jerusalem Talmud, Megilla 10b.

32 Babylonian Talmud, Shabbat 104a.

33 Menachot 6:3 and found later in Mishneh Torah, Sefer Avodah, Laws of Vessels of the Temple 1:9.

34 The Mishna does not mention these Ivri letters by name, for by the time of the writing of theMishna, approximately 180 C.E., Ivri script had been completely forgotten. The Mishna describes the symbol marked in oil on the High Priest's head as a Greek letter, Chi, the shape of an 'x,' (the same shape as the Ivri letter tav). During that period, Greek had become a dominant language of the region, even in Israel.

35 King David was born 450 years prior to the Babylonian exile, and Aaron the High Priest was born nearly 550 years before David.

36 The Book of Ezra and Chronicles I and II.

37 Often translated as the holy spirit, but more correctly meaning the spirit of holiness or divine inspiration.

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Chaim Clorfene is the director of Shaar Hamikdash, Third Temple museum, research and learning center in Tsfat (Safed), Israel, and is the author of The Messianic Temple. His book is available at www.thirdtempleworld.com

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