Tag Archives: Shabbatai Tzvi

Do Torah Verses Prophetically Allude to Historical Years?

This week we begin reading the fifth and final book of the Torah, Sefer Devarim. This book has a total of 955 verses, an important number in Judaism. It is said that there are 955 levels to the Heavens (see Ma’aseh Rokeach on Mishnah, Kinnim). This is based on a verse in Devarim where Moses says: “Behold, to Hashem, your God, belong the Heavens [hashamayim], and the Heaven of Heavens [shmei hashamayim], and the Earth and all that is on it!” (Deuteronomy 10:14) The numerical value of “Heavens” (השמים), when counting the full mem sofit, is 955. Meanwhile, the word “behold”, hen (הן), has a value of 55, to teach that the top 55 levels of Heaven are reserved solely for God. (Ma’aseh Rokeach says that the angel Metatron has access to 900 levels, but it is only Hashem beyond that.)

It is most fitting that Devarim has 955 verses, like the levels of Heaven. Indeed, the “Heavens” are a constant motif throughout the final book of the Torah, more so than in any other book. By my count, I found 39 instances of the word shamayim (and its variations) in Sefer Beresheet, 12 in Shemot, none in the next two, and 40 in Devarim. Included in the latter are some of the most critical and famed verses of the Torah, including lo b’shamayim hi, that the Torah “is not in Heaven” (Deuteronomy 30:12) and the Shema passage that we recite multiple times a day saying that God will “stop up the Heavens” if we do not fulfil his commandments (Deuteronomy 11:17), and that He will bless us greatly “like the Heavens” if we do (Deuteronomy 11:21). There’s also Hashem’s promise that He will ingather us back to the Holy Land from the “ends of the Heavens” (Deuteronomy 30:4), and Moses’ final divine song that starts Ha’azinu hashamayim (Deuteronomy 32:1).

Another interesting phenomenon that has been pointed out about Devarim is that its verses seem to allude to the historical years that they would correspond to. We are currently in the Jewish year 5786 AM (Anno Mundi, “year of the world”), and the Torah has a total of 5845 verses. (The Talmud says the Torah should have 5888 verses, and for a solution to that problem, see ‘The Torah’s Missing Verses’ in Garments of Light, Volume Two.) It’s not clear exactly where this concept comes from. Some bring it down in the name of the Vilna Gaon; I believe I first heard it years ago from Rabbi Benjamin Blech.

Before we get into it, it is important to mention that doing this kind of analysis requires lots and lots of counting and a good calculator, along with precision and persistence. I spent hours counting and recounting verses to make sure it’s all lined up correctly. Continue reading →

Understanding Chabad

How did Chabad become the world’s most successful Jewish organization? Where did it come from, and what is its philosophy? What are the true origins of Hasidic Judaism and why was it opposed by the rabbinic establishment in the 18th century? Who was the Lubavitcher Rebbe, and why did a messianic movement develop around him? And what’s the deal with Chabad conspiracy theories on the internet? Find out in this eye-opening class that takes a deep dive into the world of Chabad-Lubavitch.

The Science & Kabbalah of Salt

Salt emerging from the Dead Sea

This week we begin reading the third book of the Torah, Vayikra, or “Leviticus”, which is primarily concerned with priestly laws and sacrificial rituals. We are commanded that “You shall season your offerings of grain with salt; you shall not omit from your grain offering the salt of your covenant with God; with all your offerings you must offer salt.” (Leviticus 2:13) As is well-known, the sprinkling of salt was an absolute necessity for the offerings brought in the Tabernacle and Temple. Incredibly, the Talmud (Menachot 20a-b) says that even if a person brought a wood offering, the wood had to be sprinkled with salt! The minimum wood offering was two blocks of wood, and some say a handful was chopped off and diced up to be burned upon the altar. Others taught that wood offerings do not require salting, just like wine libations didn’t require it, nor did incense offerings. That said, we know that melach sdomit, “Sodomite salt”, was added to the Ketoret incense as one of the additional ingredients. The big question is: why is salt so important?

In ancient times, salt was an incredibly valuable commodity. It had a wide range of uses, not only for flavouring food, but more importantly for preserving food (in an era without refrigeration), as a cleaning agent and an antimicrobial agent, as a weapon of war (to “salt” the earth of the enemy), and even as a form of payment. In fact, the root of the word salary is the Latin sal, meaning “salt”! Same is true for the root of soldier, from sal dare in Latin meaning to “give salt”, since soldiers were paid in salt. (Wrote a lot more about the fascinating history of salt, including Sodomite salt, in Secrets of the Last Waters.) Agreements and covenants were sealed with salt, which we find throughout the Tanakh. In commenting on the above verse in Leviticus, the Ramban (Rabbi Moshe ben Nachman, 1194-1270) points out that Hashem even forged a “salt covenant”, brit melach, with King David* to establish his eternal dynasty (as it says in II Chronicles 13:5). Similarly, the Temple offerings all had to be brought with salt to affirm that we have a binding and eternal “salt covenant” with God. Continue reading →