A sharp Knife on Rosh Hashana

Photo: Miriam Woelke

B"H

There are some great books available explaining everything about the high holidays. Customs, backgrounds, halachot, history and chassidic sayings. Some time ago, I bought a whole collection of those books; either in Mea Shearim or in Bnei Brak.

However, the writings on Rosh Hashana mention an interesting custom. A custom which rather seems to apply more to Chassidim than to national religious Jews. But also a custom which seems to be superstitious in a way or, at least, giving hope to some people.

 Photo: Miriam Woelke

Various Chassidim go out in the morning on Erev Rosh Hashana in order to buy a new sharp knife. They would then carry the knife throughout the Chag in their pocket or give it as a present to friends or relatives. The sources I found say that one of the Zidichover Rebbes as well as the Chozeh of Lublin used to keep this custom. Rabbi Nachman of Breslov, on the other hand, said that giving a knife as a present would be too dangerous.

It seems as if the custom is still going on today but what is the reason for the new knife on Rosh Hashana ?

In Sefer Tehillim (Psalms) 145:16 we find the sentence:

"POTEACH ET YADECHA U’MASBIA LE’KOL CHAI RATZON – YOU OPEN YOUR HAND, AND SATISFY THE DESIRE OF EVERY LIVING THING".

When we take the last letter of the first three words

פּותח את ידך

We are getting the word CHATACH. Put together with the CHET TAW CHET SOFIT. CHATACH means CUT.

There are sources saying that there is an angel with the name CHATACH who is in charge of prosperity. 

We all pray for a good, healthy and successful new year where we don't need to starve or lack any financial means. Symbolically speaking, the angel Chatach should grant us a great prosperous new year and this is where the knife comes in. By buying a new knife on Erev Rosh Hashana, we basically ask and hope for a successful new year without lacking anything. 

Further sources, however, state that the sentence in Tehillim 145:16 has a specific meaning in Gematria. 

The word "u'masbe'a" - "and satisfy [the desire of every living being]" - which follows afterwards in the pasuk (Psalms 145:16) has the numerical value of four hundred and twenty-eight which is also the numerical value of "chatach." Thus, the acquiring of a new sharp knife is considered a "segulah" - something spiritually propitious - for parnasah, which we request on Rosh Hashanah for the entire coming year.

Gematria on the “Baba Elazar” Murder Case

B”H

“Kikar Shabbat” has its own theory on the murder of Rabbi Elazar Abuchatzeira and publishes a Gematria. It says that some Rabbis were looking for a hint of the murder in the Torah.

Rabbi Yehudah Silman from Bnei Brak taught the following Drasha: 

The Gematria of the murderer’s name “Asher Dahan” is 561. 

In Bereshit 4:9, G – d is asking Cain where his brother Hevel (Abel) is and Hevel answers that he is not his brother’s keeper. 

"ויאמר השם אל קין אי הבל אחיך, ויאמר לא ידעתי השומר אחי אנוכי"

If you take the first few words where it says that G – d is asking Cain and use the name of G – d written in the Torah, 

"ויאמר השם אל קין אי הבל אחיך"

you get the same Gematria of 561 !

Internet = Cancer ?

B"H

I just returned to Tel Aviv today. Very early in the morning, while walking to Jerusalem's Central Bus Station, I saw many black and white posters hanging on the walls almost right across the bus station.

The posters made a strange claim:

INTERNET would be the Gematria of 319. And the disease CANCER has the same Gematria.

Internet = Sartan (Cancer), this is the message of those posters. Warning Jews not to use the Internet; otherwise cancer is going to spread more and more.

For those who are not familiar with the term GEMATRIA: Every single Hebrew letter stands for a number. The Aleph for 1, Beit for 2, Gimmel for 3, Dalet for 4, etc. If you take all the letters of a word and count their numerical value together you are able to compare it with other words and there may be a connection. The most famous example: ECHAD (ONE) and AHAVA (LOVE) have the same numerical value: 13. Meaning that there is a connection between these two words: G - d is ONE and LOVE is connected to Him.

I hate when certain people pick out such Gematriot and make a claim. The person responsible for the content of the posters is probably someone who has no idea about computers and Internet.
There are always at least two ways how to use an invention: for the good or for the bad. The Internet is not only crime, pornography and abuse but it does include many positive sides.

I am the best example: When I still lived in Germany, there was only the Internet in order to learn more about Judaism. Getting to know other Jews, Halachot, Chassidut, Torah, you name it.
The place where I lived only had a small community full of Russians hardly knowing German let alone what Judaism stands for. The Rabbi was a crook and preferred people who paid him off.

Other Jews in the world may be so distanced from a Jewish community that the Internet actually helps them connecting to their religion. They can order or read religious books, listen to lectures and see the Kotel (Western Wall) in Jerusalem (Live Cam).

Why do people only have to concentrate on the negative sides of modernity ? I am a hundred per cent sure that the RAMBAM (Maimonides, 1135 - 1214) would have been very exited about the Internet. Surfing through all kinds of scientific sites and being a NASA member.:-)

OBAMA in the TORAH CODES

B"H

I am not too much into the Gematria and Torah Code subject at all, but here is an interesting article concerning the US - President Barak Hussein Obama.
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Two Jewish researchers Joel Gallis and Dr. Robert Wolf asserted with utter certainty in May 2007, long before Barack Hussein Obama had won his first primary and when it appeared that Hillary Clinton was a sure thing that he would be the next president of the United States.

More recently in August 2008 the scholars reported that Obama's name "intersects" with a passage in the apocalyptic book of Daniel Chapter 7 and specifically Daniel 7:25 which speaks of the last "king" who would oppress God's people under the rubric of bringing about "change" to the world.

The scholars show that the numerical equivalent of "Barack Hussein Obama" in gematria – the practice of finding the numerical value of letters and creating associations between words and phrases – is 501.

In an article from August 2008 the scholars elaborate that this number is associated with the "end of days" and two factors that they say the Torah indicate would trigger the apocalypse: the rise of Islam and the fact that Jews are bring about their own fall – by overwhelming helping to elect Obama:

The connection is that the descendants of Yishmael are the evil that will befall the Jewish People at that time. We will anger G - d through the work of our handsבמעשה ידיכם (a gematria of 501)and the evil of the ישמעאלים (also a gematria of 501) will befall us. So what could we have possibly done with our hands that would anger Hashem? With our very own hands we finance and work to put the wrong people in power over us. This action results in our downfall. By putting into power leaders in Israel who don’t believe in G-d we help bring about a spiritual collapse. And by electing dangerous leaders in America and other countries we assist in bringing our physical and moral downfall. We vote for these people we put them in power and we raise money for them. This inappropriate work of our hands will bring evil upon us in the form of Yishmael.
For not only is 501 the value of במעשה ידיכם (the work of our hands) and our punishment the ישמעאליםbut it is also connected to the next President of the United States that we are helping put in power through Jewish efforts. For 501 is also the gematria of ראש representing the new heador leader of America.

So who will be the new ראש of America? Our readers probably will be shocked to learn that 501 is also the gematria of ברק חוסיין אובאמהBarack Hussein Obama.

Hashem watches as countless Jews especially in Hollywood California rush to send their money to Obama’s campaign chest. And so with our own hands we are in the process of taking a descendant from Yishmael and placing him as our Rosh in the White House just 7 years after 9/11. He is indeed the evil that will befall us at the end of days the evil that Moses spoke to our ancestors about.

But there are those who argue that Obama is youthful and energized in his appearance and his ideas. Why shouldn’t we believe him when he says the magic words that he is a friend of Israel? How do we really know he’s dangerous to us? Not only is his name the same gematria as Yishmaelim evidencing that he is a Muslim although he denies it but it also has a further connection to a wave of impending evil against the Jews and the rest of the world.

At our Passover seders we spill a drop of wine when we mention each of the 10 plagues and also when we mention the abbreviation of those plagues by saying דצך עדש באחב . Well this abbreviation of the 10 plagues also has a gematria of 501 the same as Barack Hussein Obama and the Yishmaelim.

Obama and radical Muslims will bring as much havoc destruction and confusion to the world as all the 10 plagues together brought to Egypt. It’s interesting how Rabbi Yehudah who made the acrostic or abbreviation of the plagues took the first Hebrew letter of each plague. However with respect to the last plagueמכת בכרותthe killing of the first born he took the bais (the first letter of the 2nd word of the plague) rather than the mem (the first letter of the first word). Perhaps he knew that in the future during the end of days there would be an Obama. Perhaps his message is a warning to us that has been encoded in the Haggadah for nearly 2 thousand years until today.

The foreign minister of Hamas has recently endorsed Obama for president. The Los Angeles Times devoted a lengthy front-page story headlined“Allies of Palestinians see a friend in Barack Obama.”

Ali Abunimaha resident of Obama’s district claims that Obama said several years ago when running for the Senate that he was sorry he couldn’t talk more about the Palestinian cause since his primary campaign had constrained what he could say.

Daniel 7 (25) deals with the last king of the 4th beast of exile who will humble 3 other kings. Rav Saadia Gaon stated that the 3 kings or leaders who will be humble dare from Israel Greece (representing Europe) and Yishmael (representing the Arab nations). This haughty arrogant king will speak words against G - d and the Jewish People and he will try to change the times and the law. How interesting is it that this very wordchangeis the key word used by Obama in his campaign?

The codedend of days message that Yaakov gave over to his sons was not deciphered by them. But our generation the generation alive at the end of dayscan understand the clues and break the code.

In Yaakov’s statement there are 4 words אשר יקרא אתכם באחרית (that will befall you in the end). The word אשר that describes the identity of the evil has a gematria of 501 the same as Barack Hussein Obama. And if you look at the word באחריתin the endthe first 3 letters contain the initials of Obama. The bais is for ברק Barackthe aleph is for אובאמה Obamaand the ches is for חוסיין Hussein.

The scholars using the clues of the book of Daniel say that Obama will reign as "King" for three and a half years. In their May broadcast they ascribe special significance to the date of April 8, 2009, the day before the festival of Passover (Pesach) when the once-in-28-years "Blessing of the Sun" is to be recited. They believe that between now and that date there will be dramatic developments that involve Iran.


Link:

Israel Insider

Redemption 5768

Torah Code. NET