The Final Tikkun

per email from R. Yaakov Nathan Here is the original text as I have it:

The generation of the desert, the Dor Hamidbar, was on a very high level. They were a "dor de'ah", a generation of knowledge, on the level of Bina. Yet they committed the sin of the Golden Calf (parshas Ki Sisa). This sin was a direct result of their own intellectualization, their miscalculation of when Moshe should have come back from his spiritual elevation on Mount Sinai. (The verse says "boshesh Moshe" and Rashi from the Gemara explains that it means "ba shesh" - that they calculated that Moshe should have been back by the 6th hour of the day.) 

It was their own intellect which brought them into trouble--they wavered in their trust of Moshe and over-intellectualized the situation. The midrash states that the Soton showed them Moshe lying on his deathbed, which opened them up to consider the reasoning that Moshe should have already come down. The Ohr Hachayim explains that what they saw was "with the eye of the intellect"--they didn't hallucinate, but rather they misinterpreted the reality.

Amidst this confusion comes the Erev Rav, the Egyptian magicians who left Egypt with the children of Israel, demanding a new leader to replace Moshe -- since they saw that the Jews were wavering, open to the suggestion that Moshe was delayed andcould not descend from the spiritual heights he had ascended to. This is the cause of the Golden Calf (see the Ramban--it was a replacement for Moshe, not Hashem).

When Moshe ascended the mountain, the Arizal states that he received 1,000 lights. This is the level of Moshiach. Moshe had been elevated to Moshiach on the mountain, but the people did not withstand the test; their faith in Moshe wavered, allowing the Erev Rav to bring about the sin of the Golden Calf. This caused Hashem to say to Moshe "Go, descend" (32:7), says Rashi: "Descend from your greatness", descend from the level of Moshiach.

The Arizal writes that the final generation is a reincarnation of the Dor Hamidbar. The Lubavitcher Rebbe said explicitly that this applies to us - we are literally the souls of the generation of the desert.

In Rambam's "13 Ikkarim" he writes that it we believe in the coming of Moshiach "even if he delays". Why does the Rambam feel the need to mention a delay here? What's the connection between Moshiach and a delay? The first redeemer (Moshe) is the last redeemer (Moshiach) and perhaps our situation now - waiting in the confusion - is the tikkun for the situation the first time around? The Rambam explains in Hilchos Tshuva that "Tshuva is completed when an opportunity to commit one's original transgression again arises but one doesn't and repents instead." We are the generation of the midbar--we are rectifying our sin by waiting for Moshiach. 

Despite what the eye of the intellect might think, our obligation is to trust in Moshe Rabbeinu, not to seek a replacement leader. Not to let the Erev Rav within us entice us to find a "new leader" of the Jewish nation, to make a new Golden Calf (G-d forbid). Moshe Rabbeinu doesn't need to be replaced, the leader of the generation - and we all know who is the leader of the generation - is playing his role and we are playing our role in the final tikkun. Hold on strong with emunah that goes beyond the intellect and "even though he delays, we wait for him every day".
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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

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