אנשי אמנה

The light of Moshiach ben Yosef shone again. In the Chassidic camp, in the Polish village of Kotzk. His name was rabbi Menachem Mendel Morgensztern, the Kotzker Rebbe. The Kotzker Rebbe was an utterly non-Chassidic Chassid, very much into learning, and he wanted Talmidim that were very much into learning. And he wanted the Truth. Citing Rabbi Gavin Michal , who also has a blog here : "His obsession with Truth was just too much for mere mortals. A movement based on an unconditional commitment to Truth is doomed to fail before it even starts." According to the Zohar, year 5600 was the year the gates are opened for the sources of the wisdom from below and the wisdom from above. This was also the time that the Kotzker Rebbe had penetrated so far into the world of Truth, the place where the soul of Moshiach is rooted, that it had dawned upon him that there is no Halachah in the world of Truth, though there is Halachah in the world below. The Halachah was therefore extraneous to h...

The calendar of Eretz Yisrael , proposed by Aharon Ben Meir, is very close to the usual Hebrew calendar. Until the year 6000, there is only one short period in which the calendar of Eretz Yisrael differs from the usual one, the old Hebrew calendar. Focusing on Rosh Hashanah, it will be around 1 Tishrei 5786 that there is one day of difference, 1 Tishrei 5786 is one day earlier according to the calendar of Eretz Yisrael. Likewise, there are two days of difference around 1 Tishrei 5789 and 1 Tishrei 5790. For students of the GR"A and Ramchal, this should ring a bell . On Kislev 1, in the year 5600, the calendar of Eretz Yisrael also departed from the usual Hebrew calendar. Concentrating on Rosh Hashanah, we have that the calendar of Eretz Yisrael had 1 Tishei 5601 and 1 Tishrei 5605 two days early, compared to the usual calendar. These five years, years 5601, 5605, 5786, 5789, 5790 are the only years of difference in the range from 5500 till 6000. I find that very interesting, a...

The new Hebrew calendar can be seen as the endpoint of four calendars, against the four worlds . In order to present them we change the scale of the parameter z, from days to Chalakim. That is, we change, in the Gauss algorithm , the line m0 = T - (10. + n) * K + L + 14. - z/2.; into m0 = T - (10. + n) * K + L + 14. - (z/1080.)/24.; and we simultaneously change in the algorithm of the new Hebrew calendar the function gauss into: public static Gauss gauss(int year, int n) { return new Gauss (year, n, ((int) ((10 + n - (10 + n) % 19)/19) - ((10 + n >=0)?0:1))*1080*12); } We call this the fourth Hebrew calendar. The third Hebrew calendar is the calendar obtained from this by replacing the long expression that is the third argument, for the value 642: public static Gauss gauss(int year, int n) { return new Gauss (year, n, 642); } The second Hebrew calendar is obtained from the previous one by ignoring parameter n. This actually was the calendar proposed by Aharon Ben Meir...

The two Hebrew calendars start on the same day: 1 Tishrei of year 1. In the old system, it was on a Monday, at day ב, at ה hours and 204 (ר"ד) Chalakim, בהר"ד, Baharad, the first Molad. The new system had the first Molad half a day later, at day ב, at י"ז hours, and 204 (ר"ד) Chalakim. The new system is therefore called ביזר"ד, Bizared. The first Molad was just short of 18 hours, which would have postponed Rosh HaShanah to Tuesday. The first year, in the Bizared system, is an abundant leap year, LA2. In the Baharad system, however, it is an abundant common year, CA2. The result is that 1 Tisrei of year 2 according to Bizared, is 1 Cheshvan of year 2 according to Baharad. So, here one sees the difference, and it is, by the way, one that fatally undermines any creation narrative that one might have to substantiate one calendar or another. The date 1 Tishrei of year 1 is the same in both Hebrew calendars. That is, the Bizared and Baharad systems agree. One can...

Many know it by heart. The leap years are the seven years 3, 6, 8, 11, 14, 17, 19 of the cycle of 19 years. There is a formula for these years. The seven leap years, out of 19 years, satisfy (year*7 + 1)%19 where x%19 is the remainder after division by 19. The value of x%19 can thus be 0,1,...,18. There is an alternative formula for the leap years. The seven leap years, out of 19 years, also satisfy (year*12 + 17)%19 >= 12, preferring positive numbers. The formulae can be naturally adapted to include the generational parameter n: (year*7 + 1 - n)%19 or (year*12 + 17 + n)%19 >=12. For n=4 we have, preferring positive numbers, (year*7 + 16)%19 =12. Anyway, they are the seven years 1, 4, 6, 9, 12, 14, 17 of the cycle of 19 years that should be leap years at this time.

I made another app , that allows one to convert a date according to the new Hebrew calendar, to a date according to the old Hebrew calendar. Or vica versa. The app computes the date simultaneously in the Gregorian calendar, and in a whole bunch of other calendars. It is also possible to choose any other date, the Gregorian date, the Islamic date, and so forth, and to compute the two Hebrew dates. The app is a toy, a joy for Chanukkah. The Oeviyah (LD7, CD7, CR5, CA2, LA2, et cetera) that appears next to the old and new Hebrew dates, is in fact a complete characterization of the year. For details, see the book The Jewish Calendar and the Torah: Introduction - 2nd Edition , of James A. Shneer . The app is in the public domain. Download the code here . Chag Chanukkah Sameach!

The lighting of the Chanukkah candles is seemingly superficial. Nevertheless the matter points to something deep. But what is it? The lighting of the candles is said to be for Pirsuma Nissa, the publication of the miracle. What would the miracle be? According to straightforward thinking, the miracle would be the events which occurred in the time of the Chashmona'im, the wonderful victory against the Greeks, or the (non-historical) miracle of the oil which lasted eight days. But, the miracle of our days is so much bigger. What miracle? The state of Israel is the miracle. It is more than a Agada, it is history. Now, we don't have the right perspective yet, because the Exile is still with us, in us. But the Light of the Big Aleph , the Truth, will shine the Exile out of existence, and that is the ultimate reason for the celebration of Chanukkah. The Light comes step by step, like the light of the Channukah candle. Think about the Light of the Truth being revealed when you light t...