The 11th Hour

The eleventh hour is a colloquial expression meaning "a time which is nearly too late". So says
Wikipedia.... but there are some other origins of this expression, notably: This expression comes from the Bible. The 11th hour is the last hour before the end of the world.

Interesting...that number Eleven again ....even more so when you listen to Rabbi Winston's
shiur about Moshiach and the 10th Hour. (I know a lot of you don't have the time, so I've typed up the relevant bits)

Disclaimer: Any mistakes are mine, not his.[the following is taken from Rabbi Winston's shiur with a few added clarifications from me in blue]

5750 was a major turning point in Jewish history, as the Vilna Gaon explains:

Each 1000 years represents one day of Creation. The first thousand years represent Day One of Creation, the second millenium is Day Two.... and so on. Therefore this current millenium represents Day Six, the eve of Shabbat. And we know that Moshiach needs to come before Shabbat, before the end of 6000 years.

History Repeats

Everything that occurred at the time of Creation is going to have a corresponding reality in each millenium....each event will present itself again, in some way, every thousand years. History
literally repeats itself - on a different level - during each "day" (a "day" being a thousand years).

Knowing this, we can actually calculate the time Moshiach will arrive, so to speak, even though we are not permitted to calculate the date of His arrival, we can come close. {The Zohar says that as we come closer to the Geulah, even children will know how it will be.}

Moshiach's arrival is about tikkun - rectification. Therefore, Moshiach's arrival will correspond with the ideal time for tikkun as set out at the time of Creation.

The only reason we are all here is to rectify the original sin of Adam HaRishon in the Garden of Eden - the eating of the forbidden fruit. Adam ate from the tree of knowledge at the time of the
10th hour of day six of creation.

The gemara explains that during the 9th hour he was warned, and during the 10th hour (just before Shabbat) he ate the fruit.

The ideal time for tikkun/Moshiach will be in the period in history that corresponds to when he ate the forbidden fruit. 5750 was when the world entered that period of time - the time that
corresponds to the 10th hour of the sixth day of creation. (see Rabbi Winston's books at his website for all the details) 5750/1990 was the turning point, and the 10th hour lasts for 83.6 years (from 1990).

What happened in 1990: as a starting point, Russia imploded, Jews were allowed to leave: some went to Israel, some to America. Soon after in 1991 we had the Persian Gulf War. 10 years later, Y2K and then 911 when the world really did change for all to see.

The book that can change history

The one book that tells us what we're supposed to do at the end of history is Kol HaTor (The Voice of the Turtledove) based on the manuscripts of the Vilna Gaon and passed down through his talmidim until today. People don't talk about it, it gets pushed to the side, but that's the
book that can change history.

The Zohar tells us that Techias Hamaisim - the revival of the dead - takes place 210-214 years in advance of the year 6000, and the Zohar further says that Techias Hamaisim takes place AFTER the 40 years of the ingathering of the exiles. So according to the Zohar, history has to wrap itself up within 15 years from now. Techias Hamaisim is within 15 years. Hashem is bringing the end very fast.

I'm sure Moshiach ben Yosef has already come and gone, and there's reasons for that opinion - the Gra says that the job of Moshiach ben David is to conquer Yishmael - and this is the age of Yishmael - when Moshiach comes, Yishmael will go down. Before then, there are gevurahs (strict
judgments) which have to be rectified (sweetened). For example...last week's murder of the Fogel family in Itamar represented a bucket-load of gevurah.

The Gra says ultimately it depends on what we do. We should be talking about Moshiach, informing people... and reading Kol HaTor.

copied from Shiratdevorah.blogspot.com - do visit

share on: facebook

How is Chassidus different from Kabbalah?

At first glance, both Kabbalah and Chassidus explain Hashem’s greatness. How are they different, and if Kabbalah had already been revealed, what did Chassidus come to add?

This is a large topic, and of course, an article of this length cannot begin to do it justice, but I will touch on one aspect of it below.

Although Kabbalah offers explanations of G–dliness, when these ideas are examined, the explanations it gives are incomplete. This wisdom is so lofty that it does not truly descend into human intellect; thus, a regular person cannot grasp it, even if he is highly intelligent. Who then is able to understand it? One who is somehow connected to a level that transcends intellect. This exalted spiritual state “fills in the gaps,” enabling one to properly grasp these rarefied concepts.

There are two ways of possessing this level of sensitivity.

From above: A Jew who is born with a particularly lofty neshamah may be endowed with the power to grasp these lofty concepts.

From below: A Jew who has invested tremendous effort to rectify all his sins and failings and has succeeded, and then gone still further and reached an advanced level of self-refinement, may manage to elevate himself to this level.

Until Chassidus was revealed, in order to truly grasp the explanations of the sublime levels of G–d’s greatness found in Kabbalah, one had to be a fit “vessel” by fulfilling at least one of the above requirements. The revelation of Chassidus, however, made it possible for any Jew to grasp Hashem’s greatness, even without having satisfied either of these requirements.

But what is so different and special about Chassidus? What quality does it have that Kabbalah lacks, making it accessible to every Jew? The answer:Chassidus in general, and Chassidus Chabad in particular, brings Hashem’s greatness down into sechel enoshi, human understanding.

How does it do this? It is written, “From my flesh I see Hashem.”[1] This encapsulates the entire goal of Chassidus—to explains in great depth and detail the faculties of the soul, and how they interact with one another. Since the Jew’s soul descends from the higher spiritual worlds,[2] everything in our inner selves parallels the world at large, and can thus be used to understand it. Thus Chassidus uses as its mashal, analogy (pl.meshalim), the soul’s faculties—“my flesh”—in all its intricacies, through which we are able to “see Hashem”—to understand the nimshal (concept being explained by the analogy) of sublime levels of Hashem’s greatness.

Although Kabbalah also employs analogies from the soul to explain G–dliness, it does not explain these analogies, nor does it necessarily explain exactly which aspect of them corresponds to the nimshal in what way; it merely states the analogies simply. If there is any explanation, it is minimal.

This is one reason that it is considered dangerous to study Kabbalah without being a vessel for it. The lack of down-to-earth explanation makes one liable to fall into the trap of construing the analogies in Kabbalah literally. This is called hagshamah—lit., “making material,” or “corporealization.” Its opposite is hafshatah, lit., “divestiture,” or “abstraction.” Hafshatah is the ability to “see through” the details of themashal to the nimshal of G–dliness that it is coming to inform us of. Since this is a requirement for studying Kabbalah, we find that the Baal Shem Tov instructed those whom he saw as susceptible to hagshamah—apparently, the vast majority of people—not to study Kabbalah.

Now, let’s explain hagshamah more. On the lowest level of hagshamah, one believes that Hashem literally has a hand or foot, or the like, G–d forbid. A less coarse, but still forbidden level of hagshamah is to believe that Hashem is some kind of limited entity, albeit a very sublime one, such as one of the Sephiros (divine attributes), and to pray to a Sephirah, G–d forbid, instead of to Hashem Himself.[3]

An even more abstract kind of hagshamah, but hagshamah nonetheless, is even an incomplete understanding of an analogy, applying aspects of it to Hashem that were not meant to be applied, and neglecting to apply aspects of it to Hashem that were meant to be applied, may result inhagshamah, G–d forbid.

And when one “coarsens” Hashem, G–d forbid, while studying Kabbalah, this in turn greatly “coarsens” the student of Kabbalah; in other words, it has a very detrimental spiritual effect upon him (along the lines of the words of our Sages that if one learns Torah inappropriately, it becomes a “potion of death”[4] for him). This is highly unfortunate, for his intention in his studies was surely to become more refined.

This explains further what was quoted earlier that to learn Kabbalah one must either have a lofty neshamah or be very refined, for only then can we be confident that the person will not fall into hagshamah.

In contrast, the analogies offered in Chassidus are always accompanied with explanations[5] that make clear that not only does Hashem in His Essence (“Atzmus”) have no physical form, but He has no spiritual form either. Likewise, the explanation offered makes clear which aspects of the analogies are relevant, and which ones are not.

Once one has acquired a broad knowledge in Chassidus, one may be equipped to study Kabbalah as well, and understand it properly.[6] Conversely, Chassidus protects one from erring in one’s understanding of the works of Kabbalah. Thus, for someone to learn Kabbalah without the explanations of Chassidus and “make his own way” in Kabbalah would be presumptuous—he would be presuming that he is not in the category of those whom the Baal Shem Tov warned against learning works of Kabbalah lest they commit hagshamah and thereby become greatly coarsened.[7] Thus, learning Chassidus before Kabbalah is vital.[5]

Based on Kuntres Inyanah Shel Toras HaChassidus, p. 1. Toras Sholom, pp. 113, 185.

___________________________
[1] Iyov 19:26.
[2] Tanya, ch. 3, beg.
[3] Derech Mitzvosecha, Shoresh Mitzvas HaTefillah, 115b. Cf. Shivchei HaBesht, p. 250.
[4] Yoma 72b.
[5] Igros Kodesh, Vol. 22, pp. 58-59.
[6] Likkutei Sichos, Vol. 35, p. 295.
[7] Igros Kodesh, Vol. 8, p. 223. Also, see ibid. Vol. 13, p. 403.

This post was written by the author in honor of the third birthday of his daughter, Shaina bas Atara Arielle, on 22 Tammuz. It was also dedicated by Rivkah Katz and family, so that it be a merit for the refuah sheleimah of HaRav Meir HaKohen ben Rochel Dilkah. Lastly, this post was dedicated by Ephraim Tunaick in honor of his mother, Miriam Shaina bas Asher ע"ה.

SOURCE

share on: facebook