To: heb_roots_chr@hebroots.org
From: Root and Branch Association
Subject: ROSH CHODESH ELUL TOV [A GOOD NEW MONTH
OF
ELUL]
Festivals/Commentary:
ROSH CHODESH ELUL TOV [A GOOD NEW MONTH OF ELUL]
*******ABOUT
THE MONTH OF ELUL*******
(excerpted from "The Book of Our Heritage" by Rabbi Eliyahu Kitov, Feldheim
Publishers, 1978)
Elul is the sixth month counting from the month of Nisan, which is
designated by the Torah as the first month of the Jewish national year. In
the general calendar year of Jewish tradition, however, Tishrei is the
first of the months, and Elul is hence the last of the months.
The name Elul was adopted, like those of the other months, by the returnees
from the first Babylonian Exile, as our Sages have stated: "The names of
the months came up from Babylon".
Rosh Chodesh Elul always consists of two days, with the first day of Rosh
Chodesh serving simultaneously as the 30th day of the month of Av; whereas
the month of Elul always consists of 29 days.
DAYS OF RECONCILIATION
Since Elul is the last month of the year and directly precedes Rosh
Hashanah -- THE DAY OF JUDGEMENT FOR ALL THE WORLD'S INHABITANTS --
it is therefore observed in repentance and with the recitation of the
traditional penitential prayers.
From ancient times these have been days of reconciliation between G-d and
Israel. When the Israelites committed the sin of the Golden Calf and the
Tablets were broken, Moshe ascended the mountain and pleaded for Divine
mercy and forgiveness. G-d was reconciled to him and said: "Hew out two
tablets of stone like the first ones". Moshe ascended the mountain on Rosh
Chodesh Elul and stayed there forty days till the 10th of Tishrei. On the
10th of Tishrey he brought down the Second Tablets which G-d had given to
Israel as a mark of renewed Divine favor.
These forty days were hence fixed for all generations as days of repentance
and forgiveness. And, though repentance is always accepted, these days are
especially apt for repentance, since they mark a perennial recurrence of
Divine compassion.
The period is marked by the recitation of numerous "selichot" (penitential
prayers). In some places it is customary to rise during the final hours of
the night for the recitation of selichot during the entire month of Elul
with the exception of Rosh Chodesh and Shabbat. Some rise for selichot
beginning with the 15th of Elul.
The Ashkenazi custom, however, is to recite selichot beginning with the
first day of the week in which Rosh Hashanah falls, provided that four days
are left before Rosh Hashanah. Therefore, if Rosh Hashanah falls either on
the second or third day of the week, the recitation of selichot is begun
the first day of the preceeding week.
The reason for the four day minimum period is as follows: It is the custom
of the pious to fast ten days prior to Yom Kippur, and since the "Aseret
Yemey Teshuvah" (Ten Days of Repentance) include four days during which
there is no fasting (both days of Rosh Hashanah, Shabbat and Erev Yom
Kippur), the minimal four days of selichot preceding Rosh Hashanah replace
the four days during the Aseret Yemey Teshuvah when there is no fasting.
A further reason: the fast takes the place of an offering before G-d. In
commenting on the required sacrificial offering for Rosh Hashanah, the
Sages enjoin upon Man that he offer himself before G-d, and an offering
requires prior investigation for blemishes, four days. We always, however,
begin the recitation of selichot on the first of the week, to avoid public
error.
*******
THE BIBLE SAYS:
"And it shall come to pass, that every new moon [new month], and every
sabbath, shall all flesh come [to Jerusalem] to bow down to the ground
before Me, says the Lord." [Isaiah 66:23]
THE RABBIS COMMENT:
"from new moon to new moon"
This translation follows Targun Jonathan. Redak renders: "from month to
month". The neighbors near Jerusalem will make their pilgrimage every
week, and the more distant ones, every month. Hence, the very distant
peoples will make their pilgrimage every year so, according to their
distance from the Holy CIty.
"all flesh"
All peoples, not only the children of Israel. We read in the Book of
Zechariah (14:16) that all the survivors of the nations that marched upon
Jerusalem will go up to Jerusalem to celebrate the festival of Succoth
[Tabernacles]. This festival is chosen in particular since the war of Gog
and Magog will take place during that season. [Redak].
ABOUT THE "REDAK":
Rabbi David Kimche (1160-1235 C.E.) Franco-Spanish Jewish exegete and
grammarian. Rabbi Kimche's commentary profoundly influenced the Authorized
King James Version [Christian English Translation] of 1611.
***********************************************************************
To: heb_roots_chr@hebroots.org
From: Root and Branch Association
Eclipse/Commentary:
DARKNESS AT NOON -- THE COMING ECLIPSE OF
THE SUN
ON THE EVE OF ROSH CHODESH (THE NEW MONTH
OF) ELUL
AND
YOM KIPPUR KATAN
***CONTENTS***
The International Herald Tribune reports:
The Jerusalem Post reports:
The Bible Says:
The Rabbis Comment:
********
THE INTERNATIONAL HERALD TRIBUNE
(excerpted from "Total Eclipse Fuels Millennium Madness",
International Herald Tribune, July 12, 1999)
A total eclipse of the sun will plunge much of Europe into blackness
on August 11 and possibly induce a touch of collective madness as
well.
The so-called millennium eclipse may be seen by more people than any
other such phenomenon in history as it crosses densely populated areas
in Europe, the Middle East and the Indian subcontinent.
The police are concerned about a huge hippie influx following a mob
invasion of summer solstice ceremonies at the prehistoric Stonehedge
site in southern England.
In Paris, some astrologists and doomsayers were predicting the end of
the world, and a poll in the magazine "L'Evenement" indicated that 10
percent of the population is concerned about the prospect to some
extent.
The total eclipse, where the moon covers the entire face of the sun,
will be seen for a couple of minutes over a swathe of territory about
100 kilometers wide and 10,000 kilometers long, as the moon's shadow
sweeps across the face of the Earth.
The line of total darkness, beginning in Cornwall shortly after 10
A.M. GMT and ending over the Indian subcontinent some two and a half
hours later, will cross northern France, Germany, Austria, Hungary,
Romania, Bulgaria, Turkey, Iraq, Iran, Pakistan and India.
According to France's National Center for Scientific Research, or
CNRS, the eclipse will be more than 95 percent total in a number of
major cities, including London, Brussels, Frankfurt, Vienna, Zagreb,
Belgrade, Budapest and Ankara. Up to 60 percent of the sun's light
will be dimmed over a huge area ranging from Lisbon to Moscow.
Cornwall expects 1.5 million visitors for the eclipse and authorities
are predicting traffic chaos along with food and water shortages. The
police and other authorities in the country are concerned about the
arrival of caravans of so-called New Age travelers from all over
Britain and beyond for illegal rave parties being advertised on the
Internet. According to local newspapers farmers have set up an early
warning system to spread news of approaching convoys, while the police
have sealed off ancient stone monuments to prevent their being used as
encampments.
********
THE JERUSALEM POST
(excerpted from "Look at the eclipse carefully, or it could be your
last", Jerusalem Post, August 6, 1999)
The total eclipse will be visible over a swathe of land from the
southwest of England to northern India, and the best place to observe
will be Bucharest, Romania. It may be observed in whole or in part by
about two billion of the earth's residents, making it the most visible
to large populations in nearly 40 years.
In Israel 80% of the sun will be blacked out for about two-and-a-half
minutes. The process will begin at 1:15 p.m., the high point will be
between 2:42 and 2:45 p.m. and the celestial event will end at 4 p.m.
The Web site of the Exploratorium Museum in San Francisco [at
www.exploratorium.edu/eclipse/live99.html]
is one that will offer a
live broadcast showing the eclipse. Snunit, the Israeli educational
Web site, offers a full explanation of eclipses and activities for
children at [www6.snunit.k12/blacksun/index.html].
Over the centuries, solar eclipses have been claimed as a sign of
impending doom (Nostradamus claimed it would presage the "end of the
world"). The word "eclipse" comes from a Greek word meaning
"abandonment". Quite literally, an eclipse was seen as the sun
abandoning the earth, and in ancient times, people thought that a
dragon or a demon devoured the sun. The ancient Chinese would produce
great noise and commotion during an eclipse, banging on pots and drums
to frighten away the dragon. In India, people would immerse
themselves up to the neck in water, an act of worship they believed
helped the sun fight off the dragon.
But Dr. Noah Brosch, a Tel Aviv University astronomer, states there is
no significance to next week's eclipse, nor any relevance to the fact
that the upcoming celestial phenomenon will be the last in the second
millennium C.E. "The year 2000 is an arbitrary, random figure", he
maintains. We've passed the Stone Age and we live in an era of
rationalism. We know what causes a solar eclipse, and we can predict
their occurence exactly, at least through the year 2200".
********
THE BIBLE SAYS:
DEUTERONOMY 28:29
"And you shall grope at noonday, as the blind gropes in darkness, and
you shall not make your ways prosperous, and you shall be only
oppressed and robbed always, and there shall be none to save you."
THE RABBIS COMMENT:
RABBI SAMSON RAPHAEL HIRSCH: You will lose the clear perception of
things and conditions and so you will bring about that what you
undertake does not achieve the desired end, and others take advantage
of your perplexity, ESPECIALLY THE NEIGHBOURING NATIONS TO ROB YOU OF
YOUR RIGHTS AND OF YOUR POSSESSIONS.
********
THE BIBLE SAYS:
I KINGS 18:25-29
"And Elijah said to the prophets of Baal: 'Choose you one bullock for
yourselves, and dress it first; for you are many, and call on the name
of your god, but put no fire under.' And they took the bullock which
was given them, and they dressed it, and called on the name of Baal
from morning, EVEN UNTIL NOON, saying: 'O Baal, answer us'. But
there was no voice, nor any that answered. And they danced in halting
wise around the altar which was made. AND IT CAME TO PASS AT NOON,
that Elijah mocked them, and said: 'Cry aloud; for he is a god,
either he is musing, or he is gone aside, or he is on a journey, or
peradventure, he sleeps, and must be awaked'. And they cried aloud,
and cut themselves after their manner with swords and lances, till the
blood gushed out upon them. And it was so, WHEN MIDDAY WAS PAST, that
they prophesied until the time of the evening offering; but there was
neither voice, nor any to answer, nor any that regarded."
THE RABBIS COMMENT:
I Kings 18:26 -- "even until noon"
ABARBANEL: at the sun's highest point. If the sun-god could send
fire, this was the time he could do it. Therefore, at noon, Elijah
scoffed at them
********
THE BIBLE SAYS:
JOEL 3
"And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out My spirit
upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your
old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions; And also
upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out
My spirit. And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth,
blood and fire, and pillars of smoke. THE SUN SHALL BE TURNED INTO
DARKNESS, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day
of the Lord come. And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall
call on the name of the Lord shall be delivered; for in mount Zion and
in Jerusalem there shall be those that escape, as the Lord has said,
and among the remnant those whom the Lord shall call."
THE RABBIS COMMENT:
(JUDAICA BOOKS OF THE BIBLE COMMENTARY DIGEST BY RABBI A.J. ROSENBERG)
Joel 3:1 -- "And it shall come to pass afterward"
in the future -- Rashi. Mezudath David, too, interprets it in this
manner, explaining the text to mean: And it shall come to pass many
years afterwards, viz. in Messianic times. Ibn Ezra quotes Yeshuah,
who also interprets the passage as a reference to the times of the
Messiah. He quotes also Rabbi Moshe Kakohen, who objects to this
interpretation. Should this be true, he reasons, the text should read:
And it shall come to pass at the end of days. We find this wording
in Isaiah 2 and in Micah 4. He, therefore, concludes that the prophet
lived in the time of Jehoshaphat, as is evidenced by his mention of
the Valley of Jehoshapat. At that time, there were many prophets and
disciples of prophets, as we find that many of those disciples came
out to speak to Elisha (II Kings 2) and that Obadiah alone hid one
hundred prophets (I Kings 18:4).
Redak connects this chapter with the final verse of the preceding
chapter, as follows: Now you will not yet attain full recognition of
Me, for you will again sin. But, after this recognition, a time will
come when you will attain full recognition, and you shall no longer
sin, as Isaiah prophesies: (11:9) "For the land shall be full of
knowledge of the Lord as water covers the sea bed".
------------
Joel 3:1 -- "upon all flesh"
i.e. upon anyone whose heart becomes soft as flesh. Comp. (Ezekiel
36:26) "And I will give you a heart of flesh" -- [Rashi]
------------
Joel 3:2 -- "and also upon the servants"
i.e. the servants who embraced the Torah. So is it in the case of the
maidservants -- [Ibn Ezra]. REDAK BELIEVES THAT THE REFERENCE IS TO
THOSE WHO WILL VOLUNTARILY COME TO HELP ISRAEL, AS IN ISAIAH 61:5.
------------
Joel 3:3 -- "and I will show wonders"
At that time, I will perform signs portending the future, and these
signs will be in the heavens and on the earth -- [Redak]
------------
Joel 3:3 -- "blood"
I.e. on the earth there will be much bloodshed, viz. the war of Gog
and Magog -- [Redak, Mezudath David]
------------
Joel 3:3 -- "fire, and pillars of smoke"
Perpendicular pillars of smoke, as tall as a palm tree -- [Rashi,
Redak, Mezudath David]
------------
Joel 3:4 -- "shall be turned into darkness"
To embarrass those who prostrate themselves to the sun [Rashi]. Ibn
Ezra understands these signs as portents of evil to the nations of Gog
and Magog. Rambam understands them figuratively, as dire prophecies
for the nations of the world. It may also mean that, prior to the
coming of the Messiah, Israel will suffer from the war of Gog and
Magog, as in the prophecy of Zechariah (14) -- [Redak]
------------
Joel 3:5 -- "And it shall come to pass that whoever shall call, etc.
as...said"
And where did He say it? (Deuteronomy 28:10) "And all the peoples of
the earth shall see that the Name of the Lord is called on you" --
[Rashi from Mechilta, Exodus 12:25]
------------
Joel 3:5 -- "and among the remnant"
And in the remnant that will remain -- [Rashi]
------------
Joel 3:5 -- "whom the Lord shall call"
An expression of those invited to a banquet or to the service of the
king, and expression of invitation -- [Rashi], whom the Lord decrees
-- [Ibn Ezra], whom the Lord calls to honor -- [Redak], who calls out
to the Lord -- [Abarbanel, Mezudath David].
During the war of Gog and Magog, there will be dire distress for
Israel for a short time, as the prophet Isaiah exhorts the people:
(Isaiah 26:20) "Hide but for a moment, until the wrath passes." Then
many Jews shall fall, but the holy ones and those who truly fear the
Lord will be saved, as Isaiah prophesied, (4:13) "And it shall come to
pass that every survivor shall be in Zion, and everyone who is left,
in Jerusalem; 'holy' shall be said of him, everyone inscribed for life
in Jerusalem". -- [Redak]
********
THE BIBLE SAYS:
AMOS 8:1
"Thus the Lord G-d showed me; and behold a basket of late figs."
and
AMOS 8:9
"And it shall come to pass in that day, says the Lord G-d, THAT I WILL
CAUSE THE SUN TO GO DOWN AT NOON, AND I WILL DARKEN THE EARTH IN THE
CLEAR DAY."
THE RABBIS COMMENT:
(JUDAICA BOOKS OF THE BIBLE COMMENTARY DIGEST BY RABBI A.J. ROSENBERG)
Amos 8:1 -- "A basket of late figs"
A basket full of late figs, which are not good -- [Rashi]. Redak
renders: A basket full of summer fruit. I.e. fruit which is dried in
the sun -- [Mezudath David]. Kara explains that this was a basket
full of ripened figs. SOME OF THE FIGS RIPEN IN THE MONTH OF TAMMUZ,
MOST IN THE MONTH OF AV, AND THE REMAINING ONES IN THE MONTH OF ELUL.
THESE ARE THE LATE FIGS.
-----------------
Amos 8:9 -- "the sun"
The kingdom of the house of David is compared to the sun, as it is
said (Psalms 89:37) "And his throne is like the sun opposite Me" --
[Rashi]. Redak explains that the day referred to is the day of the
destruction of the land, and the setting of the sun at midday is a
symbol of the troubles that will befall them on that day.
************************************************************************
To: arutz-7@a7.org
From: Arutz-7 Editor <neteditor@a7.org>
Subject: Arutz-7 Op-Ed: THE GOLAN HEIGHTS AND ISRAELS
SURVIVAL
THE GOLAN HEIGHTS AND ISRAEL'S SURVIVAL
by Yedidya Atlas
Arutz Sheva Israel National Radio
In This Article:
1. Why the Turnabout?
2. The Golan in Numbers
3. The Critical Passes
4. Just Imagine
5. Clinton Didn't Lower the Golan
WHY THE TURNABOUT?
When Yitzhak Rabin ran for election in 1992, he publicly declared at a
giant election rally just two weeks before the election: "Whosoever
gives up the Golan Heights, abandons the security of the State of
Israel." It is now a matter of record that the late Prime Minister
misled the public on this key issue. Ehud Barak has been more honest
with his voters in this regard. But he has yet to explain how he came
to perform his turnabout: When he was Chief of Staff, he strongly
maintained the vital necessity of retaining the "Golan Heights west of
Quneitra" (i.e., everything Israel presently controls) for Israel's
strategic survival. Yet today, just a few years later, on a political
whim, he suddenly feels that the Golan is negotiable.
The fate of the Golan Heights, officially designated by law as part of
the State of Israel, is not merely an issue of 17,000 Golan
residents/settlers, but a question of national life and death. The
fact that weak-willed politicians are prepared to sacrifice the very
land under our feet, is cause for serious concern. To better
comprehend this issue of serious national anxiety, one must first
understand what the Golan is, and what it means to Israel's survival.
THE GOLAN IN NUMBERS
Topographically, the Golan is a 60-km. long by 20-km. wide mountainous
plateau running from the upper Jordan Rift Valley and Lake Kinneret in
the west, the Yarmuk Valley in the south, and Mount Hermon in the
north. On Israel's side of the Golan, there is a steep incline from
the Golan plateau down to the densely-populated Hula Valley and
eastern shore of the Kinneret.
The Golan is one of three sources that supplies Israel's fresh-water
needs. It comprises the headwaters of the Jordan River (60%), and the
mountain streams (40%) that flow down into the Kinneret. However,
with the widespread contamination of the coastal plain's aquifers, and
the Oslo Accords giving over control of the aquifers and rainflow
runoff from the hills of Judea and Samaria over to Yasser Arafat's
Palestinian Authority, the Kinneret becomes Israel's main, even sole,
fresh-water source. Today, water flows freely into the Kinneret and
then, via massive pumps using 5% of Israel's electric power, the
National Water Carrier supplies this water to the rest of Israel. It
was not always so.
In 1964, Syria, then occupying the Golan Heights, tried to divert
these critical headwaters away from Israel in a blatant attempt to
cripple Israel's fresh-water supply. Ironically, the IDF operation
that destroyed the Syrian damming project was carried out under
then-Israeli Chief of Staff Maj.-Gen. Yitzchak Rabin - the same Rabin,
who, as Prime Minister, we now know, was prepared to return control of
Israel's fragile water lifeline to the Syrians, trusting them not to
repeat past sins.
THE CRITICAL PASSES
Militarily, Israeli control extends just over the crestline, giving
the IDF direct eye and radar contact with the 65 km. plain that runs
from the Golan to Damascus. Just 20-30 km. from Israel's forward
positions, are the deployment areas of Syria's armored divisions - a
mere two-hour tank ride to Israeli territory. The Golan Heights acts
as a defensive wall protecting Israel's north. A Syrian attack is
topographically channeled via only two passes in which armored
vehicles can cross. In the 1973 Yom Kippur War, some 150 Israeli
tanks stopped invading Syrian columns - with more than 1,400 tanks -
in the "bottleneck" Valley of Tears pass in the north, and the pass
through the volcanic hills in the south. The surprised and vastly
outnumbered Israeli troops held off the invaders for the 48 hours
that were required to mobilize and deploy the necessary forces that
ultimately beat back and defeated the Syrian aggressors.
Having these critical passes in Israeli hands is no less important
now, with Syria's enormous buildup of highly advanced weaponry, than
it was in 1973. Since 1982, the Syrian army has doubled in size,
whereas according to foreign sources, Israel's army has only increased
by 15-20%. On paper at least, it should be understood that Syria has
already achieved military parity with Israel. Hence, one needn't be a
military genius to realize that it's better to concentrate a small
standing force on the high ground, defending the 10 km. area of the
passes, than the same force having to defend a 60-kilometer line.
Any proposed pullback of Israeli forces from these passes returns
Israel to the vulnerability she suffered prior to the 1967 Six Day
War, and more so. It is only the vast size of Israeli artillery and
tank forces in the Golan Heights targeting the Syrian army's
deployment area beyond, as well as the capability to shell and bomb
the outskirts of Damascus at a given moment, that is keeping Hafez
al-Assad from implementing his "Greater Syria" strategy where Israel
is concerned.
JUST IMAGINE
Imagine a Syrian repeat performance of the 1973 surprise attack, this
time with 4,000 tanks, and 80-100 Scud-C missiles fired upon Haifa and
Tel Aviv within a 2-hour span, sowing widespread civilian panic and
seriously disrupting Israel's emergency reserve mobilization.
Remember, the Syrian Scuds are twice as powerful as the Iraqi Scuds
that hit Israel during the Gulf War, and the Scud-C is four times as
accurate.
Can we really afford to even partially pullback our forward positions
from the Golan crestline and give control of the key passes to Syria
in exchange for Syria's signature on a piece of paper? Prime Minister
Barak, in his zeal to make a deal on the Syrian track, tells us that
he is prepared to withdraw from most or all of the Golan Heights.
Instead of this defeatist policy, let Prime Minister Barak hold the
Syrian regime directly responsible for Hizballah actions in Lebanon.
The terrorists there are Syrian-supplied and operate with active
Syrian cooperation in attacking Israel's north. The Sagger
over-the-shoulder missiles and Katyusha rockets fired by Hizballah at
Israeli troops and northern civilian population centers, for example,
are supplied by the Syrian army.
CLINTON DIDN'T LOWER THE GOLAN
Mr. Barak, of all people, should realize that Israel doesn't have to
prove its peaceful intentions by suicidal unilateral concessions. No
matter how convivial Barak's Washington visit with US President Bill
Clinton (alias the Washington Toy Master) was, it did not lower the
Golan Heights, nor did it cause the Syrians to dismantle even one
Scud-C missile launcher or reduce the number of tanks in any of the
Syrian deployment areas. The Golan Heights is no less vital to
Israel's future security as it was until now.
Let Prime Minister Barak suggest that Syria, the beaten aggressor,
offer gestures of its peaceful intentions, if indeed Damascus wants
peace, and not just an improved position from which to launch its next
attack on the Jewish State.
* *
*
*
*
*
*
Yedidya Atlas is a senior correspondent and commentator for Arutz-7
Israel National Radio.
***********************************************************************