דרך קשת

The phrase דרך קשת.

Hebrew Wikipedia explains on the pshat level that in olden times archers needed to hold down their bows with their feet while they fastened the bow's upper string. See there.

Struck me today though that both words are used in contexts of sexuality and יסוד.

דרך גבר בעלמה -- משלי

ותשב באיתן קשתו ויפזו זרועי ידיו -- בראשית מט

Interesting Quote - Blaise Pascal

Got an email containing quotes from a number of world renowned gentiles and their flattering words regarding jews.... too long for me to post it all but I like Math and Pascal is just someone I gravitate towards so here's his quote for those interested:

"It is certain that in certain parts of the world we can see a peculiar people, separated from the other peoples of the world and this is called the Jewish people....

This people is not only of remarkable antiquity but has also lasted for a singular long time... For whereas the people of Greece and Italy, of Sparta, Athens and Rome and others who came so much later have perished so long ago, these still exist, despite the efforts of so many powerful kings who have tried a hundred times to wipe them out, as their historians testify, and as can easily be judged by the natural order of things over such a long spell of years. They have always been preserved,however, and their preservation was foretold... My encounter with this people amazes me..."

בזעת אפיך תאכל לחם

The Zohar on the Pasuk of וזרעו מבקש לחם understanding לחם as reference to כי אם הלחם אשר הוא אוכל

With that in mind then I was wondering how would it be understood the pasuk of בזעת אפיך תאכל לחם... could it be a reference to the fact that post-Gan Eden sexual reproduction is by definition mortality...

I.e, in contrast to an Edenic existence ignoring process (שנים עלו במטה וד' ירדו) , we now have the introduction of Life as process and hence:

תני, כל מי שיש לו תולדות, מת ובלה ונברא ואינו בורא,

וכל מי שאין לו תולדות אינו לא מת ולא בלה ובורא ואינו נברא (Br"R 12:7)

... it's then a little problematic though how this would jive with Chazal's point of כל זיעה סם המוות, חוץ מזיעת הפנים, וסימן לדבר בזיעת אפיך תאכל לחם

... seemingly indicating that if anything, זיעת אפים is a function of life, not death . Also note Berachot 57:  ששה דברים סימן יפה לחולה וכו' זיעה שנאמר בזעת אפיך תאכל לחם


וצע"ע.

Dreams - והנה

Was struck by it over Shabbat. The consistent usage time and again in the Torah of the word והנה in any context of dreams. Check and see. Amazing! But what's the pshat?! What's the connection??

I'm thinking along the lines of the gematria being 66 or if separating the 'Vav' it being 6 + 60 ... and the concept of חלום אחד מששים בנבואה . Also see Zohar where dreams are referred to as emanating from דרגא שתיתאה.....

וצע"ע....

Spinoza's Back

Along the same spirit of שמא גרים shown earlier...

Baruch Spinoza...

Spinoy спиной in russian meaning "back" or as it would be in hebrew אחור with it's relation to אחר

Furthermore, Spino- za , "za spinoy" in russian meaning "behind". Practically a bullseye!

לכו חזו מפעלות ה ....

127,137,147

Just thought it an interesting tidbit:

127 - שרה

137 - ישמעאל

147 - יעקב

Got To Have Faith

זוהר ק"צ ב -- תא חזי כד האי סטרא בישא נחת ושאט בעלמא וחמי עובדין דבני נשא דאינון כולהו סטאין ארחייהו בעלמא סליק לעילא ואסטין לון, ואלמלא דקב"ה חייס על עובדי ידוי לא ישתארון בעלמא. מה כתיב ויהי כדברה אל יוסף יום יום, כדברה דסלקא וסאטי בכל יומא ויומא, ואמר קמי קב"ה כמה בישין כמה דלטורין בגין לשיצאה בני עלמא, מה כתיב ולא שמע אליה לשכב אצלה להיות עמה. ולא שמע אליה בגין דאיהו חייס על עלמא, לשכב אצלה, מהו לשכב אצלה בגין לנסבא שלטנו לשלטאה על עלמא ושלטנו לא שלטא עד דאתיהיב ליה רשו

At first glance it seems very puzzling the Zohar's reference of אשת פוטיפר as שטן...-- What does a lustful woman seeking sexual pleasure have anything to do with the desire for קטרוג and meting out of justice? Further puzzling is the interpretation of ולא שמע אליה -- בגין דאיהו חייס על עלמא... where is that paralleled in the משל of יוסף?

לפע"ד, given the concept of ושפחה כי תירש גבירתה I'd suggest that by default the only possible way the שפחה can justify her promotion over גבירתה is by way of bringing to the Husband's attention the faults of his wife, thereby justifying his estrangement from her (and ergo the consequent bringing in of the שפחה as the new lady of the house).

But the Husband stays true to the one He knows is his fitting mate and refuses the "convenience" of a שפחה in his bed. The refusal to compromise the integrity of one's sense of Truth for the convenience of "buying cheap". And so the refusal of a Yosef because "I don't sleep with my friend's wife", regardless of how lonely the alternatives are. The choosing to stay home all alone while the only party in town is living it up because one knows "it's not what I belong to".... it comes from a deep love for that which one knows is his truly fitting partner/people/world .... בגין דאיהו חייס על עלמא

צדיק then is a function of staying true to the love of what one knows to be Truth and not allowing that love to be pragmatically "expendable"...

Truly Meant To Be

The Sefira of Tiferet being that of אמת and also being related to the שם הויה itself.

Never appreciated fully the connection until paying attention to the phrase "Truly meant to Be"

Beautiful, Beautiful Song - When You're Smiling

When You're Smiling Lyrics
Artist(Band):Frank Sinatra

When you're smiling
When you're smiling
The whole world smiles with you

When you're laughing
When you're laughing
The sun comes shining through

But when you're crying
You bring on the rain
So stop your sighing
Be happy again

Keep on smiling
Cause when you're smiling
The whole world smiles with you

Keep on smiling
Cause when you're smiling
The whole world smiles with you

4 Minim Thoughts - ו ה

Jot Down:

• The circular (עגול) shape of Etrog versus the linear (קו) shape of the others.
• The פרי of Etrog vs. עץ of the others. עץ being greater than פרי insofar as it has קיום year after year, עצי שטים עומדים לעולם ולעולמי וכו
• The existential angst of division between עץ ופרי -- between the ideal of עץ פרי עושה פרי and what actually is of עץ עושה פרי
• The importance of Etrog's subservience to Lulav. לולב ביד ימין
• פרי emerging from עץ as circle emerges from (and is composed) of קו

Hard to understand then why the Torah lists Etrog before Lulav

ולקחתם לכם ביום הראשון פרי עץ הדר כפות תמרים....??

[ See Zohar 238a which seems to say exactly the opposite of the above: עושה פרי דכר עץ פרי נוקבא .... .... problem.
Also, see Zohar Vayikra 24a עצם מעצמי ובשר מבשרי, ודא הוא פרי עץ הדר]

יה As Source

The question was asked to me from a young boy oleh from South America (~12 yrs old) , why in Hebrew (as well as Spanish he says) alot of store-type names end in יה (-ia), as in פיצריה, מאפיה,קצביה, ?

It came to me that all things that are the source of the item's creation are given the "-יה" ending.

כי ביה יהוה צור עולמים

I love Israel. בני ציון היקרים המסולאים בפז

Burning Down The House

With all the many references in the Torah uniquely defining a man's wife as his בית (house) it then struck me as a real difficulty how the Torah is able to write

ושלחה מביתו ויצאה והיתה לאיש אחר

... how can it still be called ביתו if she's now gone??!

[Note as an aside, the connection between the latin femina/familia, and it's derivations in english feminine/family and french famme/famille]

[possible answer: see Yevamot 103b  שאני התם דאמר קרא (ויקרא יג) ושרף את הבגד אפילו בשעת שריפה קרוי בגד]

To Be Existentially Hated

Sometimes you've really done nothing wrong to the girl.

She starts out building up emotion for you (or more correctly the projection she makes of you), as you simultaneously start growing emotion for her, and as time goes by emotions grow stronger and deeper until at some point along the path of getting to know you you express to her a part of your inner thoughts that doesn't "jive with her".

Let's just say for example it's the idea of wanting your wife to cover her hair and not work closely alongside other men. You've done nothing wrong. You didn't even say it in the form of a command but just an expression of what your needs are "I can't feel comfortable being married with such and such" -- totally non-assertive, just expressing your own existential feelings.

So the relationship ends. It becomes evident to both that the divides just can't be bridged. It's not practical.

Here's the jewel of an insight - She'll hate you.

(atleast for some amount of time before she can move on)

She must hate you. Your very being is a constant source of her pain. Something which draws her inner emotions into an utter fruitless frustration. Every aspect and quality of you that all along aroused in her a sense of love are now the very same knives paining her. And so she hates you. She existentially hates you. She doesn't hate you for anything you've done or said. She hates that you exist. Ouch.

And I found that my response to those silent words of "I Hate You Danny" were strangely enough - "I hate me too" -- that my being what I am existentially should distance me so from those I'd like to be close to... but what can I do, that's just honestly who I am.....

and so then I thought, maybe I'm getting somewhere in understanding the concept

חטאת לה' --הביאו עלי כפרה על שמעטתי את הלבנה

[Afterwards, I saw the same concept is to be found in the early part of Khaleed Hosseini's book "The Kite Runner" as the pain of Amir in Hassan's complete loyalty to their friendship.]

וקנא את אשתו

Told a girl I was dating that were I to be married I wouldn't want my wife in a workplace requiring her to work closely with other men.

(my logic being, although not necessarily necessary for this post, that I've always found that the closest connections I've made with girls was when working with them over long periods of time)

response received in hebrew: "מה אתה איש קנאי או משהו?"

my response to that essentially being "yes. when it comes to things that are dear to me and personal, yes. I want them to be intimately unique to me and not "out there" floating around with others". Essentially a concept of הרי את מקודשת לי ,מיוחדת לי

but only then realized the connection of קנין to קנאות. A קנאות that stems from a sense of קנין. Something that you feel is yours. Also then a sense of קן , nest, home.

Behooves us then to understood how this all connects to קין. Particularly as we've already demonstrated that קין and קנין are related in other aspects.


[P.S.: Zohar Breishit רמה עמוד ב

"קשה כשאול קנאה" -- כל מאן דרחים ולא קשיר עמיה קנאה, לאו רחימותיה רחימותא. כיון דקני -- הא רחימותא אשתלים. מכאן אוליפנא, דבעי בר נש לקנאה לאנתתיה, בגין דיתקשר עמה רחימותא שלים, דהא מגו כך לא יהיב עינוי באינתו אחרא. 

]

נער / נערה

Looked it up in a Concordance after learning מסורת המסורה.

If I haven't made a mistake it comes out that there are 22 mentions of נערה in the Torah (14 of which are adjacent to each other in Pr' Ki Tetzei).

All are written חסר as נער except for one of the four written by מוציא שם רע :

וְעָנְשׁוּ אֹתוֹ מֵאָה כֶסֶף, וְנָתְנוּ לַאֲבִי הַנַּעֲרָה

Fascinating. Particularly interesting to contrast this pasuk with that of אונס :

וְנָתַן הָאִישׁ הַשֹּׁכֵב עִמָּהּ, לַאֲבִי הַנַּעֲרָ--חֲמִשִּׁים כָּסֶף

Quote Of The Day

A dozen girls have loved you but none want to marry you.

If life's not cruel, it's at least funny.

[Later I saw a nice related quote from Adlai Stevenson quoting Abraham Lincoln:

"It hurts too much to laugh, but I'm too old to cry" ]

Sensitivity

I've come to discover over time that some relationships of love can be so rich in nature that the lovers can be talking openly in the midst of a group and the meaning of the words heard by the average joe participating in the discussion is a world apart from that which the lovers hear in their own ears;

so that what is on the surface an innocuous mention of something trivial can be laden with heartbreaking or heartwarming comfort to those sensitive enough to understand.

For me it sheds a new light on many of the bizarre accounts found in תורה שבכתב

(e.g. in Shmuel I, הקבה 's displeasure at Bnei Yisrael's request for a king, when after all, it's an explicit passage in Devarim)

which to the average joe (i.e. myself) it's hard to pick up what the heck is going on in the continuity of the conversation.

But for the lovers involved, they know.

[עיין זוהר משפטים צט א -- אורייתא מלה נפקא מנרתקה ואתחזיאת זעיר ומיד אתטמרת ע"ש

מתל למה הדבר דומה לרחימתא דאיהי שפירתא בחיזו... ואיהי טמירתא בטמירו...ואית לה רחימא יחידאה דלא ידעין ביה בני נשא ... ע"ש באורך]

Shin, Tav, and Beit Addendum

After writing my last post regarding the Shin-Tav exchange in Russian I realized two flaws in the logic.

Firstly, the formal form in Russian is primarily defined by a "B" [ב] in it's address of 2nd person-- вы хотите, vui chatite, you want-

the "-te" [ת] is only used as a suffix.

Secondly, in the informal, of all letters, the primary letter used for 2nd person informal is ת!! -- Tei Choichish.

Worst of all is the established Tei-Vui distinction across many of the world's languages. See Wikipedia T-V Distinction. So what i said definitely needs tweaking...

However, you will note that in Hebrew-Aramaic as well, the ת not only switches with ש as mentioned earlier, but with ב as well... as in תא שמע . coming from בא שמע.

So at this point what we have is a seemingly complex interchange between ש,ב,ת. Interesting.

Shin and Tav Exchange, ש"ת

Anyone familiar with gemara knows that often the hebrew ש is replaced in aramaic with a ת (e.g. תורא, תנינן, תלגא )

In russian as well the two switch, depending on whether talking formal or informal.

Formal speech (vui) ends with ת (e.g. You want, вы хотите , vui chatite) whereas the informal (tei) is ש

[Don't know the spelling but transliterated it's something like "tei choichish"]

Could they actually be opposites of one another? The ת denoting distance (ארמי) whereas the ש used for closeness (עברי)?

See הקדמת הזהר as well where the ת is used ultimately to judge and kill צדיקים whereas the ש is seemingly perfect if not for the fact that it is accompanied by קר to allow for שקר...

[Note also the peculiarity of the ש on our תפילין של ראש vs the ת on their foreheads in יחזקאל ט

והתוית תיו על מצחות האנשים הנאנחים והנאנקים על כל התועבות הנעשות בתוכה ]

No idea what I'm talking about really but just food for thought for now.

'ב' as כלי

It is known the concept of the letter Beit ב being seen as an empty vessel or container.

Both in terms of the letter visually (3 sides with one opening) as well as etymologically:

בית being a house. בת being a container of liquids (as well as a daughter which is consistent with the כלי theme ואין כאן מקום להאריך )

With that in mind I would like to point out the "B" sound is used in atleast 2 other languages as a form of "without" or "not" : Russian and Persian.

In Russian you have the word for "without" byez or без (note the similarity of byez to Beit also)

In Persian you have the "bi-" used for "without" as in "birangam"- I am without color

All based on the same concept of ב as vessel, container, receptacle, lacking.

The implications in regards to the ב of בראשית being very far reaching indeed. Further things to consider:

• the opening of the Beit corresponding to the צד צפונית של עולם
• the real difference between a ב and a ס (and ם as well). One being a receptacle with an opening for input versus a seemingly completed receptacle with no further need for input...

Steel, Iron, and Copper

Was reading about Steel and how it's produced from Iron/ברזל on Wikipedia.

Apparently standard Iron (Fe) either comes with Oxygen as Iron Oxide (FeO3) or with Sulfur as Iron Sulfide (FeS2) (Fool's Gold). They then use Carbon (in the form of coke) to exchange the Oxygen/Sulfur with Carbon to make Steel. But I digress.

In any event thought to look up ברזל in the Torah and came across the following peculiarity:

It's a curse to have your earth like iron and your heaven's like copper yet a good thing if the earth has stones of iron and mountains from which to take copper. Strange.

והיו שמיך אשר על-ראשך, נחשת; והארץ אשר-תחתיך, ברזל

vs.

ארץ אשר אבניה ברזל, ומהרריה תחצוב נחושת

I also thought it uncanny how in the majority of places in Tanach, ברזל and נחשת seem to go hand in hand with each other. דוק ותשכח

Russian God

Looked up the etymology of the word God.

Admittedly a loose connection but worth noting.

The word of god in russian- год -meaning "year" / שנה , being then equivalent to ספיר"ה

In contrast to the Torah view:

אנת הוא דאפקת עשר תקונין, וקרינן לון עשר ספירן, לאנהגא בהון עלמין סתימין דלא אתגליין, ועלמין דאתגליין,ובהון אתכסיאת מבני נשא

Nietzsche's Nothing For Nihilism

As Chazal say שמא גרים

Interesting then how in russian, the word for Nietzsche or ничего means literally "nothing". Who else to be the proponent of nihilism?

Would love to connect the "nichi" root to that of forgetting כי נשני אלקים" but couldn't say for sure.

אליהו בחור לויטה- מסורת המסורת - Notes

A גברא רבא .
(Although I do humbly disagree with some of his arguments in his writings, particularly that משפטים בל ידעום does not apply to גויי זמננו ).

See his bio in hebrew wikipedia. Downloaded his book מסורת המסורת .
Below are just some highlights I want to jot down:

A total of 848 קריין וכתיבין in Tanach. קריי"ן וכתב"ן סימן

65 in Torah. [21 of which interestingly are those of נער/ה]
454 in Navi.
329 in Ketuvim.

32 in Yehoshua. 133 in Sefer Shmuel.

וצריך הרבה עוד עיון

Eechsa!!

Struck me. All the things we generally associate with repulsive and disgusting (or the more colloquial "eechsa") like excrement, vomit, bodily fluids, etc etc ..... it's the moisture or water element which engenders the human aversion.

Take away the moisture of any of them and we amazingly no longer relate to them the same psychologically even though you're left with basically the same exact elements as before.

"Never kick a fresh turd on a hot day" -- President Harry S Truman

Benevolence or Sexual Harassment?

זוהר לך לך פו ב

רבי אלעזר הוה אזיל לבי חמוי ... אמר ר' אלעזר הא חמינא דאתערותא דלעילא לא איהו אלא כד אתער לתתא דהא אתערותא דלעילא בתיאובתא דלתתא תלייא וכו

Seems to go very well with the point made earlier of Initiating the Initiator.

Without a showing of some form of receptivity on the part of the female any advance on the part of the male is then, ultimately, harassment.

There must be an אתערותא דלתתא just to allow for the אתערותא דלעילא to be an act of benevolence and not one of harassment.

Or maybe put another way: the difference between your classic Big Bad Wolf and that of Sam the Sham...

[p.s. Just look at how history views European Colonialism in its entirety]

ספר הכוונות מנהגי האר"י

See, on or around page 7 of ספר הכוונות (a book written by a talmid noting all that he noticed of the הנהגות of the Arizal):

1) The Gemara in Horayot of הקורא כתב שעל הקבר קשה לשכחה is only said by אותיות בולטות and not שוקעות

2) The Gemara in Horayot of מאכלים המשכחים is only said by עמי הארץ who can't be מכוין to the ענינים properly.

יפליא - Falo - Portuguese

In my never-ending quest to learn all the languages spoken here in the Merkaz Klita I've discovered that in portuguese "Falo" is the word for speech

as in: איש כי יפליא לנדור נדר נזיר וגו

[Also note: phallos, phallus - מילה]

Morning / Morrow - בקר - Bukra

There's an arabic woman here in the Merkaz Klita- Affaf, and she told me interestingly enough that Bukra in arabic means "tomorrow" rather than morning. Peculiar.

And then I was thinking about the word בקר in the Torah and so far everything with בקר is used for tomorrow!!

• ויהי ערב ויהי בקר
• וַיְדַבֵּר אֶל-קֹרַח וְאֶל-כָּל-עֲדָתוֹ, לֵאמֹר, בֹּקֶר וְיֹדַע יְהוָה אֶת-אֲשֶׁר-לוֹ
• בראשית מד') הַבֹּקֶר, אוֹר; וְהָאֲנָשִׁים שֻׁלְּחוּ, הֵמָּה וַחֲמֹרֵיהֶם

[Found an exception by the Parsha of Judges in פר' יתרו - standing on Moshe מן בקר עד ערב

וצע"ע]

Trig Thoughts II

In the last post I limited myself only to unique ratios (or maybe "prime-number ratios" is a better way to put it??... don't know...) coming from the first 5 numbers (which yielded 10 ratios / יחוסים) .

Fascinatingly enough, when expanding the list to encompass the numbers 1 thru 10 you yield 32 ל"ב ratios... Chart Below.

Trig Thoughts

Was learning a bit of the Vilna Gaon's writings on Trigonometry איל משולש (graciously provided by HebrewBooks.org).

A little bit overwhelmed but wanted to put one thing down.

Trigonometry essentially being a science of ratio's and relationships [יחוסים וערכים] . That being the case you will notice that among the first five (5) numbers you have a total of exactly ten (10) unique relationships or ratios:

1:1, 1:2, 1:3, 1:4, 1:5, 2:3, 2:5, 3:4, 3:5, 4:5

The Gr"a specifically mentions the 3:4 ratio (along with 6:8 as they are identical) in his example and points out there are 4 additional derivative ratios (as there are in all of them). Namely:

3:4

1. The ratio of the Difference of the Two integers to the Lower Integer. 4-3 =1. The 1 relative to the 3 (the lower) being the new derivative ratio of one-third (1/3).

2. The ratio of the Difference of the Two integers to the Higher Integer. 4-3 =1. The 1 relative to the 4 (the higher) being the new derivative ratio of one-fourth (1/4).

3.The ratio of the Sum of the Two integers to the Lower Integer. 4+3=7. The 7 relative to the 3 (the lower) being the new derivative ratio of 7/3rds or 2&1/3.

4.The ratio of the Sum of the Two integers to the Higher Integer. 4+3=7. The 7 relative to the 4 (the higher) being the new derivative ratio of 7/4ths or 1&3/4.

What I did was make a spreadsheet of the 4 derivative ratios for all of the numbers from 1 - 5.

Possibly related to יעקב and עולם ושליש עולם but couldn't say for sure...

ר' ברכיה אמר: עולם, ושליש עולם הראה לו. Br"R 68:12
עולים, אין פחות משנים.
ויורדים, שנים.
ומנין שהמלאך שלישו של עולם?
שנאמר (דניאל י): וגויתו כתרשיש, ופניו כמראה ברק, ועיניו כלפידי אש, וזרועותיו ומרגלותיו כעין נחושת קלל

Note the Derasha stemming from תרשיש --> תרי ושש which yields 1/3.

Also, consider the phrase שלשלת יוחסין .

Nice Song - Little Red Riding Hood - Sam the Sham

Initially thought was just another שיר עגבים but then looked at the lyrics and it's actually pretty profound! Similar themes can be found in Billy Joel and George Michael as well.

Essentially the struggle of every צדיק with a יצרא דעריות and an עץ הדעת.

אין אפוטרופוס לעריות ותרתי מעה דסוף קידושין

Owoooooooo!
Who's that I see walkin' in these woods?Why, it's Little Red Riding
Hood.
Hey there Little Red Riding Hood,You sure are looking good.
You're everything a big bad wolf could want.

Listen to me.Little Red Riding Hood
I don't think little big girls should
Go walking in these spooky old woods alone.
Owoooooooo!

What big eyes you have,The kind of eyes that drive wolves mad.
So just to see that you don't get chased
I think I ought to walk with you for a ways.

What full lips you have.They're sure to lure someone bad.
So until you get to grandma's place
I think you ought to walk with me and be safe.

I'm gonna keep my sheep suit on
Until I'm sure that you've been shown
That I can be trusted walking with you alone.
Owoooooooo!

Little Red Riding Hood
I'd like to hold you if I could
But you might think I'm a big bad wolf so I won't.
Owoooooooo!

What a big heart I have-the better to love you with.
Little Red Riding Hood
Even bad wolves can be good.
I'll try to be satisfied
just to walk close by your side. [סוכה נב. אורחין רחיקא וצוותין בסימא]
Maybe you'll see things my way before we get to grandma's place.

Little Red Riding Hood
You sure are looking good
You're everything that a big bad wolf could want.
Owoooooooo!
I mean baaaaaa! Baaa?

בכל נפשך- אפילו הוא נוטל את נפשך

בכל לבבך בשני יצריך ביצר טוב וביצר הרע. ובכל נפשך אפילו הוא נוטל את נפשך. ובכל מאדך בכל ממונך ד"א בכל מאדך בכל מדה ומדה שהוא מודד לך הוי מודה לו

Notice how it didn't remain consistent and say simply בחייך. The language of אפילו הוא נוטל את נפש is a little strange.

נלע"ד Even if He's the one that is killing you. אפילו הוא נוטל את נפשך

It's one thing to give up your life for your love, it's another to let your beloved kill you.

(ועי' בהקדמת הזוהר יב א ...פקודא תניינא)

The Zohar ibid actually references the התהלך לפני והיה תמים of בירת מילה as related to this issue. תמים באהבה. Which goes well with what I've said to myself for awhile now: The amazing demand of שמירת ברית ישראל being essentially the equivalence of evolutionary suicide. אפילו הוא נוטל את נפשך

צבאות - צב

The word צבאות  can be divided into צ"ב או"ת

As for the word צב so far I've found it in 4 contexts (besides for the common צבאות usage)

1. והצב למינהו שבפר' שמיני
2. וצבתה בטנה בפר' נשא
3. שש עגלות צב ושנים עשר בקר בפר' נשא
4. צבי, צביה, צבאות שבשיר השירים

What's the connection???

Americas Notrikon - בלשנות דרום אמריקה

Some that came to mind which I thought interesting. Granted it's totally ad hoc and with no real reasoning, but maybe there's a diamond in the rough somewhere...   :

• Brazil - ברזל
  
• Peru - פרו
• Chile - צל /צלה
• Panama - פן עמא (face of the nation?)
• Uruguay - אור גוואי
• Ecuador - איקוני דור
• Paraguay - פר"ה ורב"ה בגווא"י
• Bolivia - בו לביאה  // בלויה
• Mexico -  מחיקה
• El Salvador - אל שלות דור
• America - עם ריקה

The Difference a Yud (י) Makes - לוה, לויה

Had a nagging problem regarding the difference between הלואה and לויה. See here.

After having come to understand that לויה was a sense of connection with a person without future guarantees; ergo in risking the loss of everything one has the right to reap infinite profits, it was particularly then difficult to understand how הלואה is seemingly related and yet non-parallel i.e. demanding of a guarantee vis-a-vis the principle advance but that with understanding that no profits can be reaped.

It's the opposite side of the coin and yet they share the same letters??...

And then I realized that הלואה lacks a י representative of Brit (Commitment in Relationship) [י' דאיהו ברית] ... and now it all works out.

Those with Brit: לויה, לוי, לויתן

vs

those without: הלואה, לוה.

Later I noticed possibly the same occurence between בית and בתה meaning "destruction" as in Yesh' 5:6 -- וַאֲשִׁיתֵהוּ בָתָה, לֹא יִזָּמֵר וְלֹא יֵעָדֵר

Stock Markets and Torah Learning

There's an old debate in investment analysis of "Fundamental vs. Technical Analysis". (Google it).

On the one hand how can anyone be silly enough to predicate himself on chart diagrams and shapes without being aware of the underlying fundamental information from which those movements emerge... but on the other hand, you have to be a fool to close one's eyes to the overall universal patterns that do  emerge in technical analysis across the broad canvas of stock companies throughout the market.... obviously then what is really needed is an integration of both together.

And so I feel really the same way about the approach to Torah learning and Kabbala.  

Cute equational sequences (e.g. Chesed= Avraham= Right Hand etc) is just silly if you don't really understand the fundamental connections of "why" and "how"

...and yet to bury one's head only in the localized  פשט כפשוטו and refuse to search for broad patterns in Torah is just as foolish.

[just one example of a billion: the mentioning of the word בור in the Torah uniquely by parshiot of Yosef and the Parsha of Nezikin where ונפל שמה שור או חמור , Shor being also Yosef as we know. To close one's eyes from looking for these kinds of patterns is downright foolish]

One needs to understand how the kabbalistic concepts emerge from the rest of Torah

...otherwise you end up explaining to someone how you lost your life's savings because of a cup-and-handle diagram. :-) Not very admirable to say the least.

Nymph Bride

ותאמר רחל נפתולי אלהים נפתלתי וגו'

אמר רבי יוחנן: נינפה היה לי לעשות לפני אחותי, אילו שלחתי ואמרתי לו: תן דעתך, שהן מרמים בך, לא היה פורש 

אלא אמרתי, אם אין אני, כדאי שיבנה העולם ממני, יבנה מאחותי.

See the commentaries that Ninpha/Nympha means "bride" in Greek. See Wiki

עיקר vs גדול

Somewhat famous question raised between גדול תלמוד שמביא לידי מעשה  and ולא המדרש הוא העיקר אלא המעשה

Realized now though the exact same issue exists here:

 ושם הגדולה לאה    vs  ורחל היתה עקרה

ורחל עקרה  אמר רבי יצחק: רחל היתה עיקרו של בית, כמה שנאמר: ורחל עקרה, עיקרה רחל

Not By Personal Choice

Bereishit Rabba 70:19

ויאסוף לבן את כל אנשי המקום ויעש משתה

כינס כל אנשי מקומו.

אמר להם: יודעים אתם, שהיינו דחוקים למים, וכיון שבא הצדיק הזה לכאן, נתברכו המים. אמרין ליה: ומה אהני לך?

אמר להון: אין בעיין אתון, אנא מרמי ביה, ויהב ליה לאה, דהוא רחים להדא רחל סגי, והוא עבד הכא גבכון שבעה שנין אוחרין.

אמרין ליה: עביד מה דהני לך!

אמר להון: הבו לי משכון, דלית חד מנכון מפרסם, ויהבון ליה משכונין, ואזל ואייתי עליהון, חמר, משח, וקופר. הוי, למה נקרא שמו לבן הארמי? שרימה באנשי מקומו, וכולי יומא הוו מכללין ביה, וכיון דעל ברמשא, אמר להון:

מה הוא כדין?

אמרין ליה: את גמלת חסד, בזכותך והיו מקלסין קודמוי, ואמרין: הא ליא, הא ליא, היא לאה, היא לאה, ברמשא אתון מעלתא וחפון בוציניא.

אמר להן: מהו כדין?

אמרי ליה: מה את סבור, דאנן דכרין דכוותכון, וכל ההוא ליליא הוה צווח לה רחל, והיא עניא ליה. בצפרא, והנה היא לאה.

אמר לה: מה רמייתא, בת רמאה! לאו בליליא הוה קרינא רחל, ואת ענית לי!

אמרה ליה: אית ספר דלית ליה תלמידים?! לא כך היה צווח לך אבוך, עשו! ואת עני ליה?!

You've got to take things into perspective, Leah didn't exactly have the most enjoyable experience in this whole episode.

See 71:2 that as a consequence she essentially became known to the world as the paradigmatic two-faced, manipulative... (ahem) woman.... which only begs the question further-- "Why in the world did she go along with this?!!"

And I think this Midrash here answers it beautifully. She told Yaakov "sometimes Life forces us into situations we don't want to go along with but we have little choice..."

After all that's what Yaakov himself experienced:

וילך ויקח ויבא לאמו, אנוס וכפוף ובוכה Br"R 65:15

אמרה ליה: אית ספר דלית ליה תלמידים?! לא כך היה צווח לך אבוך, עשו! ואת עני ליה

Impossible Relationships

ברש"ר  ע' יב'   למה בכה? שראה שאינה נכנסת עמו לקבורה, הדא היא, דהיא אמרה לה: לכן ישכב עמך הלילה.  אמרה לה: עמך הוא דמיך, עמי לית הוא דמיך. 

The midrash makes it sound like it's almost a given Law of Nature: Yaakov can never ultimately rest with Rachel... interesting to explore that further...

להבדיל בין הקדש ובין החול  

"Impossible relationships. My special gift is impossible relationships." (Pretty Woman)

Note also the Midrash (70:1) pointing out that Neder is integral to Yaakov נדר לאביר יעקב and yet it's exactly Yaakov's neder which is traced as leading to Rachel's death (70:3)...

A Balanced Life Equation - Yaakov

Note:    63-21-63

63 at receiving the berachot and leaving Charan.

21 years until marrying Leah and Rachel. 

63 years afterwards.

[Further note the ratio being that of 3:1:3, and compare that with the world's female golden ratio of 90:60:90, or taken in our context 63:42:63]

Senator Notrikon

בראשית רבה סז ח
וישטום עשו  אמר ר' אלעזר בר יוסי: סנטירו, ונעשה לו שונא, ונוקם, ונוטר, עד כדין קריין סנטריה דרומי

Slavic-Hebrew Connections

Going through a little russian these days. They say it comes in part from Greek and Hebrew.... haven't seen enough yet to have an opinion personally.

Meantime though wanted to jot down connections I see so far:

1. Egg -- Yeitza in Rus. vs. Beitza in Heb
2. End -- Kanyetz in Rus. vs. Keitz in Heb
3. there is -- Yaist vs Yesh in Hebrew
4. Eta in Rus. vs Zot זאת in Heb
5. 'ukusa' (укуса)- bite - as in עקיצת עקרב
6. саду 'sadu' - garden - as in שדה
7. "Upala" упала - fell - from נפל
8. "kupit" - to buy from קופה

Cheeky Love Apples - עגבנייה

Struck me as strange the hebrew word for Tomato - עגבנייה since עגב in Tanach essentially refers to the buttocks and spills over into connotations of lust and people who lust-- עוגבים.

So I looked it up on WikiMilon and wad'ya know, Rav Kook was against it. He pushed for Adomiya אדומייה but it didn't stick.

The logic of the name עגבנייה was an attempt of direct translation from the German term Liebesapfel/ Love Apple. A little surprising to me though that the people at the helm of creating the modern hebrew language would think עגב a suitable translation for love/אהבה though.

See the WikiMilon article further.

[Subsequently I saw this post explaining that from the beginning, the naming of "liebesapfel" was meant in the lustful sense, being as it was rumored to be an aphrodesiac. Thus the עגב root being an accurate translation of the word's original intent. All's Good.]

Eyes and Ears

Struck me as strange that we have eyelids to voluntarily close off our vision and yet not as regards our ears and hearing; as if we're constantly taking in a stream of sounds without interruption נהרא דלא פסיק.

The nose seems to be the same as the ears as well although possibly a little different since to really smell well one makes a conscious action of breathing in strongly... needs further looking into.

Further need to understand the distinction of עצמ vs אטמ as in  אוטם אוזנו משמוע דמים ועוצם עיניו מראות ברע particularly the usage of עצם by the eyes I find fascinating...

Is there any medical relationship between the eyes and ears?

טוב אחרית דבר מראשיתו -- קהלת ז

There's an excellent language learning company called Pimsleur for learning all languages. Really excellent material. 

One of the tricks they realized in teaching a new word in a foreign language is that it's easier for a student to start from the end of the word and build upwards towards the beginning. 

For example, the world "compartment" would be taught by having the student first pronounce and practice "ment", then "part-ment", and then finally "com-part-ment". Try it and see for yourself how it works better than working from the beginning.

Thought atleast a remez in the pasuk טוב אחרית דבר מראשיתו , particularly with the דבר - דיבור connection.

מערה -- מער -- ער -- רע -- עריות -- זרע

Wanted to show the connection of the above to דוד and משיח. The Midrash pointing out the מערה connection of both דוד and לוט. The ער בכור יהודה רע בעיני ה and the זרע which relates to משיח (see Bereishit Rabba 23:5 and 51:8).

The only connection that is weak is the מער as in מער איש ולויות , although certainly there also you can see the relevance to יצרא דעריות

Can we understand מערת המכפלה as "double embrace"? and what would be the meaning?...

בראשית רבה נא ז  --  ויעל לוט מצוער וישב בהר הה"ד (תהלים נז) למנצח אל תשחת לדוד מכתם בברחו מפני שאול במערה אמר לפניו: רבון העולמים! עד שלא נכנסתי למערה, עשית חסד עם אחרים בשבילי, עכשיו שאני נתון במערה, יהי רצון מלפניך אל תשחת  

Pregnancy and Wine

Wanted to point out the hebrew connection of the words for הריון and הוראה and the consequent extrapolation of the issur of Hora'ah while intoxicated to the concept of intoxication while pregnant.

Love Triangles

Br"R 46:3 - בראשית רבה מו ג
אמר לו הקדוש ב"ה לאברהם: דייך אני ואתה בעולם, ואם אין את מקבל עליך לימול דיי לעולמי עד כאן ודייה לערלה עד כאן ודייה למילה שתהא עגומה עד כאן. אמר: עד שלא מלתי, היו באים ומזדווגים לי, תאמר: משמלתי, הן באין ומזדווגים לי! אמר לו הקב"ה: אברהם! דייך, שאני אלוהך! דייך, שאני פטרונך! ולא לך לעצמך, אלא דיי לעולמי, שאני אלוהו! דיו לעולמי, שאני פטרונו!

Something of an obscure Midrash to understand but this is how I do by way of a mashal/parable. To a woman so enthralled by a man that she wishes all the women of the world could have a relationship with him. In such a dynamic, a peculiar quandary is created upon the man's request for her to enter into a relationship (a ברית) with him. Namely, by what right can she accept the offer and exclude the rest of the world's women from sharing the same experience? By what right can she justify singling herself out and leaving behind her friends?

Yet the man can answer that readily. He can't have the same feelings for the rest of the world's women as he has for her. She is the only one with whom he can have a deeply fulfilling relationship with. If she's to demand an all-or-nothing approach- the whole world or no one- it leads to a de facto stalemate with everyone going back and sitting in their corners, alone and frustrated with their inability to further their interrelationships any further. It all stops עד כאן.

Rather it's in her accepting and entering into a relationship with her lover that ultimately is the greater good for the collective whole. In giving this man some concrete base (יסוד) with which to build around, some small particular relationship with which to build from, she then enables him to ultimately love and connect (in varying degrees) with the rest of the entire world with which she is connected and which she deeply cared for at the outset. The accessing of כלה כל . See here

And so it's the small, individual foundation of a relationship that she affords him that ultimately suffices (שדי) for his integration with the rest of the entire universe.

Etymology: Notary, Notrikon

See Ma"Harzu in his introduction to Bereishit Rabba, Klal 30 where he explains that all are related and essentially having the meaning of scribing and writing

Notary, נוטריקון, נטורי קרתא, סופרים

"Sometimes you wanna go where everybody knows your name..."

Of course the main answer as to why I chose to live in Israel is that I feel it's where and what I belong to... but just an added point: It's 4 days before the Pesach Seder night and I've been in Israel now a total of 5 days, these are the "strangers" so far that have invited me to their house for the Seder:

• The Merkaz Klita "mother of the house" offered to set me up with countless families in the area here in Kfar Saba
  
• The Gabbai of the nearby shul (whom I'm ultimately going with) told me he'll take care of it and set me up with someone in the shul
• The people who sat next to me on the El Al plane coming over
• The woman at Bank Leumi who opened my account
• The storekeeper where I bought a cart and those electric adapter thingys from 110 to 220
• The girl at the Cellcom store who set up my cellphone account
• and i think there's a few others as well but i forgot already
• not to mention all my extended family and family friends that I am completely welcome at just that i'm not feeling settled enough yet to "travel" out of Kfar Saba
• and not to forget the big sign in the absorption office when you get off the plane that reads "Welcome Home"

So in summation: How could you not want to live in Israel?!!

Sometimes you want to go 

Where everybody knows your name, 

and they're always glad you came. 

You wanna be where you can see, 

our troubles are all the same 

You wanna be where everybody knows 

Your name. 

You wanna go where people know, 

people are all the same, 

You wanna go where everybody knows 

your name. 

LA Departure

To the many members of my family, extended family, and close friends that I've grown close to here in Los Angeles; my apologies for this single general letter to you all instead of writing each person specific letters of thanks (which unfortunately was not feasible but no less rightly deserved):

They say that in the World to Come (Olam HaBa) every person will live alone within his own 310 worlds, but I find it hard to believe that could be rewarding if it should mean a life without relationships to you. While I'm sure there is an explanation for that difficulty of mine, in the meantime, as I write this letter before I move on to Israel, I wanted to express my heartfelt thanks and appreciation to all, adults and children alike (each at his/her own level), for caring for me and accepting me so warmly into your lives and hearts from the time that I was first introduced to you until now. Thank you truly very much. Moteshakkeram. It meant a lot to me.

And to the children in the family (which would include all the adolescents who may believe they shouldn't be called children anymore :-) ), I wanted to offer one tiny thought from my 29-year-cup-full-of-knowledge:

The world is a big place :-), full of an infinity of things to work towards. You all are unique in your own ways, with your own unique skills or “advantages”, so there's nothing I can say in that regard in a letter like this. You'll all find your particular goals to work towards (or possibly sadly “run after”). That's part of what having a Life is I gather. But I've found that those “Pursuits Of Life” while being without a doubt necessary, valuable, and beautiful can dangerously lead to the damaging of an asset more fundamental and valuable than the rest, that asset being a Good Heart/ Lev Tov.

Lev Tov is in my opinion a heart wanting to be a giver to the rest of the world and not a taker; A heart that chooses to be a victim over a victimizer; A heart so filled with the love and joy of Life around that there's little room left for anger or animosity; And, unfortunately, a heart that remains soft enough to allow it being cut through and hurt sometimes, maybe even often... All these things you all already have (as do the adults in your family) and it's my hopes for you that you keep and strengthen those good hearts of yours everyday and all days.

But since the last time I checked 5-year olds don't have half of the words in these paragraphs in their vocabulary :-), it makes it very difficult for anything I've written so far to be communicated to them. As such, I'm thankful we have a pasuk from

Shlomo HaMelech making things a lot easier for all and so what i'm really saying is just this one thing:

מכל משמר נצור לבך, כי ממנו תוצאות חיים

“Of all things to protect, protect and guard your heart, because from it come all of Life's pathways.”
[Mishlei/Proverbs 4:23]

אמן כן יהי רצון


In closing to everyone, with deep thanks to all for being a part of my life and my equally deep thanks for letting me be a part of yours. Here's to being reunited hopefully someday soon in Israel.

Love,

Danny Mokhtar

דבר יהוה

שמואל ב כב
וּדְבַר-יְהוָה, הָיָה אֶל-גָּד הַנָּבִיא, חֹזֵה דָוִד, לֵאמֹר.הָלוֹךְ וְדִבַּרְתָּ אֶל-דָּוִד, כֹּה אָמַר יְהוָה--שָׁלֹשׁ, אָנֹכִי נוֹטֵל עָלֶיךָ: בְּחַר-לְךָ אַחַת-מֵהֶם, וְאֶעֱשֶׂה-לָּךְ. וַיָּבֹא-גָד אֶל-דָּוִד, וַיַּגֶּד-לוֹ; וַיֹּאמֶר לוֹ הֲתָבוֹא לְךָ שֶׁבַע שָׁנִים רָעָב בְּאַרְצֶךָ אִם-שְׁלֹשָׁה חֳדָשִׁים נֻסְךָ לִפְנֵי-צָרֶיךָ וְהוּא רֹדְפֶךָ, וְאִם-הֱיוֹת שְׁלֹשֶׁת יָמִים דֶּבֶר בְּאַרְצֶךָ--עַתָּה דַּע וּרְאֵה, מָה-אָשִׁיב שֹׁלְחִי דָּבָר.
וַיֹּאמֶר דָּוִד אֶל-גָּד, צַר-לִי מְאֹד; נִפְּלָה-נָּא בְיַד-יְהוָה כִּי-רַבִּים רַחֲמָו, וּבְיַד-אָדָם אַל-אֶפֹּלָה. וַיִּתֵּן יְהוָה דֶּבֶר בְּיִשְׂרָאֵל, מֵהַבֹּקֶר וְעַד-עֵת מוֹעֵד; וַיָּמָת מִן-הָעָם, מִדָּן וְעַד-בְּאֵר שֶׁבַע, שִׁבְעִים אֶלֶף, אִישׁ. וַיִּשְׁלַח יָדוֹ הַמַּלְאָךְ יְרוּשָׁלִַם, לְשַׁחֲתָהּ, וַיִּנָּחֶם יְהוָה אֶל-הָרָעָה, וַיֹּאמֶר לַמַּלְאָךְ הַמַּשְׁחִית בָּעָם רַב עַתָּה הֶרֶף יָדֶךָ וּמַלְאַךְ יְהוָה הָיָה, עִם-גֹּרֶן האורנה (הָאֲרַוְנָה) הַיְבֻסִי
Question: Why is the choice of דבר more in the "hand of ה" over hunger?
See שמות פר' וארא that הויה is only said in reference to מכת דבר i.e. הנה יד ה' הויה במקנך
Also consider all the occurences of the root דבר in Sefer Shmuel-- absolutely fascinating.... just a few to offer:

• וּשְׁמוּאֵל, טֶרֶם יָדַע אֶת-יְהוָה; וְטֶרֶם יִגָּלֶה אֵלָיו, דְּבַר-יְהוָה
• א ט,כז הֵמָּה, יוֹרְדִים בִּקְצֵה הָעִיר, וּשְׁמוּאֵל אָמַר אֶל-שָׁאוּל אֱמֹר לַנַּעַר וְיַעֲבֹר לְפָנֵינוּ, וַיַּעֲבֹר; וְאַתָּה עֲמֹד כַּיּוֹם, וְאַשְׁמִיעֲךָ אֶת-דְּבַר אֱלֹהִים
• יַעַן, מָאַסְתָּ אֶת-דְּבַר יְהוָה, וַיִּמְאָסְךָ, מִמֶּלֶךְ

וכל ישראל חברים

A beautiful vision and a beautiful song.

ונעשה לנו ש"ם

Interesting that one of the primary mistakes of the Dor Haflaga was in terms of ונעשה לנו ש"ם  and the event coincidentally took place exactly 340 [ש"ם] years after the Mabul...

Epis Something Going On

Those who are familiar with Yiddish have a sense of the word "epis" [or eppes, eppus, etc] . 

Realized today though that it comes from the hebrew אפס

But haven't yet found anything online in reference to any Greek etymology so I still am not completely clear on the following Bereishit Rabba 40:4

ר' פנחס בשם רבי אבון אמר: ב' בני אדם היו עיקר ועשו עצמן טפילה ונעשו טפילה. אברהם וברק. 
ברק (שופטים ד) ותשלח ותקרא לברק בן אבינועם מקדש נפתלי, ותאמר אליו הלא צוה ה' אלהי ישראל, לך ומשכת בהר תבור ולקחת עמך עשרת אלפים וגו'. ויאמר אליה ברק: אם תלכי עמי והלכתי ואם לא תלכי עמי לא אלך. 
רבי יהודה ורבי נחמיה ר' יהודה אמר: אם תלכי עמי לקדש, אלך עמך לחצור. ואם לא תלכי עמי לקדש, לא אלך עמך לחצור. רבי נחמיה אמר: אם תלכי עמי לשירה, אלך עמך למלחמה. ואם לא תלכי עמי לשירה, לא אלך עמך למלחמה. 

ותאמר: הלוך אלך עמך, אפס! כי לא תהיה תפארתך. 
אמר רבי ראובן: לשון יוני היא אפס. 
אמרה לו: מה את סבור שתפארתה של שירה נמסרה לך לבדך אתמהא?! 
ונעשה טפילה. ותשר דבורה וברק בן אבינועם. 

Deconstructing Base-10

Not my own idea, came in large part from what I read in גנת אגוז of R' Gikatilia, but sunk in today with the right words so I'm writing it down. A little bit different way of looking at it than common perception.

We're use to the concept of Base-10 and it's unit markers: Ones Place, Tens Place, Hundreds Place, etc.... In truth though, in terms of actual real existing units, all you have is 9 digits, so that really what we're computing is Units of 9. When we pass the last final real digit of 9 we have no real digit further so we instead put '10' as if to say we've gone past one full set of 9's and yielded one (1) additional unit of the emergent כולל coming from that full set of '9'. In other words, '10' is 9 units of 9-based singular units (פרט) and '1' unit of כלל.

Another example: 47. On the one hand it's 4 sets of Tens and 7 units of Ones. On the other though, going by pure real digits i.e. 9 (because 10 is only a fantasy), it is 4 sets of 9's , 4 emergent units of כלל thereof, and 7 units of singular-unit Ones. 36+4+7= 47

My chavrusa and friend Shimshon Tabrikian formulated the equation for me:

Take any integer of abc.

In Base-10 it's essentially: a(100) +b(10) +c(1) = abc

What I said essentially subdivides the equation into the following:

[ a(99) +b(9) + c(1) ] + [a +b +c] = abc

The first portion being the calculation of the real units of פרט and the second portion being the emergent כלל.


With this perspective of looking at it it can become easily understood (after working through it somewhat) how an old mathematical "trick" of Digital Roots and '9' works. Essentially, take any integer in the world, calculate the Mispar Katan (Digital Root) of the integer, subtract that Mispar Katan from the original integer.... the remaining number will always have a Mispar Katan of '9' .
Example: '564' --> mispar katan is 15--> subtract 15 from 564 yields 549--> Mispar Katan of 549 is 18 which then becomes 9.

(Solution why it works: the initial calculating of Mispar Katan essentially parses out all of the "non-9" units i.e. the units of כלל and the units of Ones. Of course then when you subtract those units from the original number you're left with a number that is divisible by 9)

Now the Gemaras regarding תשיעי, עשירי, ואחת עשר by מעשר בהמה takes on a whole new depth of meaning. עיין שם Also, consider redemption of הקדש קרקע in פר' בחוקתי --  the 9 Yisraelim and one Kohen learnt out from the 10 mentions of Kohen.

Also see the mathematical concepts of Mispar Katan a.k.a. Digital Roots and also Modular Arithmetic for this.

[ועוד א ב ג ד ה ו ז ח ט , אדם. י-- ייחוד דיליה מלכות, עשיראה דאדם [זוהר פנחס רכד

Book Ends

ראיתי לעורר על ההבדל בין "ביאת קץ" של פרשת נח וספר יחזקאל לבין "לך לקץ" של סוף ספר דניאל וגדול הוא לענ"ד

Consider also :  "coming home" vs "going to the bathroom".... why not "coming to the bathroom"?

ויש להבתונן עוד בהדברים המשתייכים  -ביאת אשה ,עולם הבא, בא אל פרעה

ועי' פרי צדיק ריש פר' בא אל פרעה

Survival Mechanisms With Levels of Scaling

One of those floating thoughts that came to mind...:

Take for example the banging of a toe or the body's fighting of a cold. If scaled down to the localized level it's horrific, a complete holocaust of cell tissues and structures and what not... and yet we don't relate to it as a holocaust, as a complete destruction going underway as we go on throughout the day....why?...because our conscious mind is operating on a different (and higher) level of scale... at the end of the day the serrated finger or bruised toe is not Me/I .... rather, just a small component of the "I" that is Me.... the real Me/I is safely perched above the localized "holocaust" and instead relates to it as an inconvenience of sorts....

so maybe that's  the need for withdrawal (הסתלקות) sometimes into ourselves, into deeper layers of self-existential consciousness.... thereby reducing the forsaken external layers under attack as mere "shells", disconnected from the real I that we are so vulnerable to having damaged.....

Kever Yechezkel in Al Kifl

There is so much out there to see about this. Google "Tomb of Ezekiel Al Kifl" and enjoy.

I saw it written that the muslims have come to refer to Yechezkel as "dhu al-kifl" or, "the one who possesses double (כפל)" -- would be interesting to understand if there's any deeper connection of יחזקאל  to כפל....

Inscription by tomb from what i can make out, I bolded everything that is questionable:

ענו לאל במהלל ושירים: אשר זיכה נדיבי עם ישרים

בבנין רב אדוננו יחזקאל: נביא האל לישראל בחורים

רעומיז הבחור? יופי עשאו: וטח אותו בציור ?ורואודים

אשר הושר ומשוח בששר: והון פיזר בזהב רב ספורים

לטוב מכר שם ודרך בנו שר?: נשיא ששון ויחס הגבירים

לבית דוד יברך צור מעונים: בברכת אל זקנים עם נערים

הנחל ששון לבית ששון בשמחה: בני חיי ומזוני רב לדורים

ונשתכלל על דנבאיראובן?: והוא פקיד תובר? שר בשרים

ועת נשלם .....[חסר

Ashur vs. Mitzrayim & Cush

In going through Yeshayahu it would seem that there is a constant counterbalance of Ashur אשור vs. Mitzrayim מצרים (and of course with Yisrael in the middle).

Noteworthy to point out the earlier roots drawing from מגדל בבל where הבה נלבנה לבנים is מצרים אמר לכוש (Brsh"Rabba 38:8) vs. מן הארץ ההיא יצא אשור .

Possibly even hailing back more fundamentally .... וְנָהָר יצֵא מֵעֵדֶן לְהַשְקוֹת אֶת-הַגָן וּמִשָם יִפָרֵד וְהָיָה לְאַרְבָעָה רָאשִים.....

Freezing Water To Make A Mikva

I was really surprised by this. I knew about the Mishna in Mikvaot that says snow and ice can be used for mikva waters, but I always took it as a foregone conclusion that that's barring any original psul of מים שאובין i.e. it just fell from the sky that way and you then transport it to the mikva. But to take already invalid מים שאובין and make it valid by way of freezing-- that I thought was crazy.

Then I looked up an Aruch HaShulchan (סימן ר"א) who brings from an explicit Tosefta (טהרות פרק ב) that freezing even removes the פסול שאובין! Frankly I'm in a little shock primarily because it runs against my whole sense of "coming-into-existence" theme of mikva that I had developed על פי דרוש. Particularly two points:

1) הויה על ידי טהרה - surprising that something demanding a concept like הויה על ידי טהרה would allow for just a freezing and thawing of an already extant invalid body of water. That dissolving would be seen as a new הויה I don't hear.

2) the sense of לידת\הויית גשמים -- see Bereishit Rabba 12:7 מטר יש לו תולדות, שנאמר (איוב לח): היש למטר אב -- I had assumed it was this element which was part of the effect of Mikva. The rebirthing. A new existence...

So I guess the upshot is that I'm wrong. :-) So be it.

כסף ישיב לבעליו והמת יהיה לו

 בראשית רבה לח ג-- רבי יוחנן פתח (משלי יז:ג) משיב רעה תחת טובה לא תמוש רעה מביתו

אמר רבי שמעון בר אבא: לא סוף דבר משיב רעה תחת טובה, אלא אפי' משיב רעה תחת רעה, לא תמוש רעה מביתו

עי' בעץ יוסף ובפי' מהרז"ו שמבארים קושיית המדרש הוא בלשון "משיב" דמשמע אותו דבר שקבל הוא מחזיר שוב בחזרה ומשום הכי דרשו כוונת הפסוק דהוא משיב רעה תחת רעה ולא רק פשטות הפסוק של "רעה תחת טובה", דתרוויהון אמשיב קיימי
-- "repaying evil instead of (repaying) good"

והנה היא היא גופא ענין דרשת רבותינו בכסף ישיב לבעליו לרבות אפילו סובין (עי' רבינו המלבי"ם עה"פ שם) ואולי גם כונת חז"ל בהבנת מלת תחת גבי עין תחת עין דשתיהן אמזיק קיימי וכונת הכתוב עין ממון ישלם תחת תשלום עינו ממש

ועפי מה שהקשו ודרשו רז"ל עה"פ של כסף ישיב לבעליו לרבות אפי' סובין רציתי להקיש בדרוש גם לשיבת חוטא בתשובה דהיא היא אותו סתירה של השבה בדבר שאי אפשר וקבלה בדבר של תמורה וא"כ ישיב לרבות אפילו סובין הוי ענין של תשובה שאינה מעולה

Etymology- Evil - אויל

The connection seems so obvious it frankly amazes me that none of the popular etymology sites reference it.... it's like they don't even bother to look at considering hebrew! Silly people.

It is interesting to point out the Malbim's explanation of אויל in משלי where he sees it deriving from the word אולי and interprets it as someone who is filled with intellectual skepticism and indecision. See there further.

[Found one. Hebrew Wikipedia mentions the connection at the end http://he.wikisource.org/wiki/Tnk1/kma/qjrim1/ewil . Ironically enough.... he's skeptic about it! Ha!]

The Hanging Gardens of Bavel

A ton of information out there. More than is practical to bring here. But just thought it fascinating to learn about the Hanging Gardens of Bavel that Nevuchadnezzar constructed-- one of the seven wonders of the world.
I think it would really enrich the various נבואות , particularly those of ישעיה, the more you understand just how magnificent מלכות בבל was.
Also, many Gemarot and Midrashim regarding Bavel make more sense when learning about it. One for example, the lack of any stones in bavel-- literally. Everything is made from mud.

See this youtube clip. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3i5uRoWT6w0

Was wondering if the Garden had anything to do with the account in Daniel 4:26...

Strange also that supposedly Nevudchadnezzar built the Gardens for his wife from Media מדי -- the very same kingdom that ultimately was Bavel's downfall.... and you thought your in-laws were bad!

Once we're on the subject, for those who can view KMZ files (i.e. have Google Earth), here's one opinion of the remains of the Migdal Bavel http://bbs.keyhole.com/ubb/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=845863&site_id=1#import

Etymology - Pirates

It would seem the Midrash gives the source of the first pirates of the world:

אמר רבי אבא בר כהנא, אמר רבי יהושע בן קרחה: כל מוניטא של מצרים אינה אלא בים. לודים, לודי ים, ענמים, ענמי ים, כשמן להבים, להב ים, נפתוחים, נפתוחי ים, פתרוסים, פרוויטות, כסלוחים, פקוסים.
אמר רבי אבא בר כהנא: פתרוסים וכסלוחים היו מעמידין הוטליסון, היו אלו מגנבין נשותיהן של אלו ואלו מגנבין נשותיהן של אלו. מה יצא מהן? פלשתים גבורים כפתורים ננסים

Note the appropriateness both of the sense of stealing and that of being sea-related.
Not sure what the word of פקוסים is though ......

The Value of Fantasy?

4 separate observations which seem to share one common denominator: allowance of false projection and fantasy can lead to objectively true values and advances. Consider:

1) The mathematical invention of the number zero '0' which furthered many advanced branches of Math, even though (it would seem) the Torah does not recognize it. [The closest thing would seem to be the word אין , but that still does not encompass the full effect of the mathematical zero]

2) (Part of) the mathematical concept of limits, essentially a matter of saying "I know this can never be but let's pretend it is and build upon that".

3) Once, during a difficult period of life, there was a girl I had a few exchanges with and became smitten with. Because the exchanges were few and far between my mind mentally projected alot of idealisms about her and who she was, 'till the thought of her became more like a vision of some utopian beauty to strive for, carrying me through alot of difficult times and hardship. [Similar to Viktor Frankl's account of his wife's vision in the book Man's Search For Meaning]. Some time thereafter, I got something of a "closer look" of who the girl was and 'click', like someone had just flipped a light switch my vision of her totally disintegrated-- it was all a fantasy, and yet it carried me through and helped me.

4) I personally was able to throw myself wholeheartedly in my studies in yeshiva because of the paradigmatic vision I had of the yeshiva's hashkafa and it's staff. Had I seen them then with the-less-than-impressed perspective I have of them now-- I never would have grown as I did those years...

[Many years later I heard a speech by one of the faculty being given in a community shul. It was horrible. Riddled with inconsistencies, misquoting Gemaras and showing a general impression of narrow-minded ignorance. If not for the speakers being held in high esteem in many circles I probably would have felt little compunction in telling him he was a moron]

So with all that said, if in fact this concept is true, it behooves us to know where we see it in the Torah.... I have my doubts as to whether it's the perfect answer but what comes to mind is what i've heard is a Rambam in the Moreh who says that in a sense all of עבודת בית המקדש is a בדיעבד insofar as it's a physically oriented activity trying to engage with a non-physical Being. The Rambam continues to explain that although it's a "false fantasy" we have no other choice being that we're physical beings and we naturally think in physical terms... not a perfect fit but it's related I think....

[Heard related (and deeper) concepts from my Rebbe, Rav Matis Weinberg, in discussions of Pr' B'Shalach and Metaphor http://www.thelivingtree.org/indexArchiveShemot.htm ]

Laws Of Relativity

איתא בבראשית רבה לד:יד
שופך דם האדם באדם דמו ישפך וגו' אמר רבי חנינא: כולהם כהלכות בני נח: בעד אחד, בדיין אחד, בלא עדים ובלא התראה, על ידי שליח, ע"י עוברים. בעד אחד, בדיין אחד. שופך דם האדם באדם אחד דמו ישפך וכו'........ על ידי עוברים, שופך דם האדם באדם

והוקשו בתוס' סנהד' נט ד"ה ליכא דבישראל אין נהרגין על עובר עד שיצא ראשו ובבני נח נהרגין אף על עוברין ועי' שם מה שתירצו. עוד מצינו מקשים על הא דישראל מותר בביאה שלא כדרכה ובבני נח אסור

ולי נראה לעניות דעתי מובן ומיושב במה שכתבתי בענין לישנא דהויה שכתוב אצל לידה וקידושין --רק קדשיך אשר יהיו לך ויצאה והיתה--- דלישראל החי בעולם של הויה, רציחה לא מיקרי עד דקטיל מידי דהוא הווה. והגם שעובר הוא דבר של חיות על פי חוקי הטבע, עד דיצתה רוב ראשו הויה ליתא, משא"כ בבני נח דכל דיניהם שייכים לבחי' חיות ושריצה בארץ, וממילא הריגת חיות עובר בכלל. וכמו כן באשה דבבחי' שרצו ופרו ורבו בבני נח, ביאה שלא כדרכה לא שייכת, משא"כ בישראל שאפשר להתייחסות בבחי' הויה
ומסופקני לפי דברינו אם ישראל הבא על הכותית ביאה שלא כדרכה חייב מיתה כיון דליתא בהויה..... והאמת היא שלא למדתי סוגייות אלו מספיק ולכן צריך עוד עיון

Self-Committed Relationships

A few connections between the parsha of השבת אבידה and a man taking a woman:

1) מציאה - the מצא אשה מצא טוב and לכל אבידת אחיך אשר תאבד ממנו ומצאתה ; also אלו מציאות שלו וכו

2) Kiddushin 2b - seeing כי יקח איש אשה as a form of בעל אבידה מחזר על אבידתו

3) Granted a weak connection- the סימנים of אבידה and סימני יעקב ורחל

So with that in mind I thought to draw from the concept in Bava Metzia of ייאוש בעלים and the amazing dynamic that comes from it:

There could be an object out there with my name written all over it, clearly indicating that it is mine; and yet the moment I give up on it, the moment I'm מתייאש on it, at that very moment it ceases to be mine regardless of externally imposed definitions.

In other words my relationship to the object is extant completely insofar as my self-investment in it and commitment to the relationship. The moment that I cease to assert my own self-investment THAT is the moment that it ceases to be mine. Then and only then. Otherwise, that maintained commitment together with סימנים keep the relationship fully intact עד שיבא אליהו.

Hair Days

A personal observation.

I've found that at times when I'm "inwardly centered" as it were... harmony.... the chinese "chi"... at peace..... etc, etc my front hair will tend to be "heavier", curls and rests on my forehead. As opposed to days where i've lost that "chi" where the hair sort of spikes up and back. I wonder if anyone else has similar experience....

What Came First? Megilla or יום הכניסה?

ירושלמי מגילה פרק א סוף הל' א
בעא קומי ר' מנא ולא עזרא תיקן שיהו קורין בתורה בשני ובחמישי ובשבת במנחה ומרדכי ואסתר מתקינים על מה שעזרא עתיד להתקין א"ל מי שסידר את המשנה סמכה למקרא (אסתר ט) משפחה ומשפחה ומדינה ומדינה ועיר ועיר

A great question on the source of 11,12, and 13 from בזמניהם.... How could Mordechai v'Esther have made a provision in the Megilla for כפרים מקדימין ליום הכניסה before Ezra had even instituted a יום הכניסה for Mondays and Thursdays?!!

The answer of the Gemara seems to be that albeit the concept of יום הכניסה was not considered by Mordechai and Esther in the institution of Purim, nevertheless the holiday was created with a built-in flexibility for Chazal's discretion as to the specific needs of the situation and times  משפחה ומשפחה ומדינה ומדינה ועיר ועיר .... that's my understanding....

Shushan and Kever Daniel

Sad that I can't go back to Iran and visit all of the places of our ancestors... Pics of the kever of Daniel HaNavi in the town of Shushan (Susa). Note the first pic with the shrine and a fortress (called apadana in Persian as also used a few times in Shas). Courtesy of Google Earth and Panoramio.