WHEN THE MOON BLOCKS THE SUN
We are now in Chodesh Nissan, the month of our liberation. What is unique about this month? Why should Nissan be the “Head of the months?”
Nissan is different from every other month because it is uniquely tied to the season of Spring, “Chodesh ha Aviv,” the Equinox, on which day and night are of equal duration. Every Rosh Chodesh signifies renewal, when the moon – which represents Am Yisroel – comes out of darkness and begins to grow and glow. But Nissan is unique in that this is where the cycle of the moon is tied to the cycle of the sun.
As I discuss in my book, Worldstorm, there are several types of calendar.
The Gregorian calendar, used in the Western World, is tied to the sun; one year is one revolution of the sun. Western culture is sun-based. At night the Western World sleeps, but, when the sun arises, they go to work, building their roads, their bridges, their ships and planes, the great structures with which they try to subdue the earth. Their months divide the solar year into twelve segments.
The Moslem calendar is based on the moon. These are desert dwellers, who travel, often stealthily, by night, nomads whose lifestyle is not based on the Western ethic of work and building. The symbol of Islam is a star and the crescent moon. They are night people; their moon-based months resemble them, wandering around the calendar.
The Jewish calendar is unique. Our calendar is based on both the sun and moon! The Month of Nissan is where the sun and moon are “tied together.”
Doesn’t this tell you something? Doesn’t this tell you that our lifestyle encompasses the entire universe, all of Hashem’s creation? The Torah is a Torah of Life! Chodesh Nissan represents our attachment to the very essence of Creation, all of Hashem’s world.
One of our beloved readers sent me a fascinating insight. This very week, on Rosh Chodesh Nissan, there was a full solar eclipse visible across America. (Remarkably, solar eclipses can occur only on Rosh Chodesh.) During a solar eclipse the moon passes in front of the sun and blocks it out completely, in the case of a full eclipse.
If the moon is associated with Moslem culture and the sun is associated with Western culture, what does this tell you? It told our insightful reader that the heavens are sending us a powerful signal: Moslem culture is right now eclipsing Western culture! The moon is blocking the light of the bright sun.
This darkness is the state of our world at this very moment!
“At the End of Days, Israel is destined to experience the Ishmaelite exile. This fifth and last exile will be the most difficult of all … the exile of Yishmoel, who is called ‘pe’re adam,’ a wild man.” (Rabbi Chaim Vital zt”l on Tehillim 124 as seen in The Ishmaelite Exile)
The Ishmaelite exile is directed not only at Israel. Islam wants to rule over the entire world: witness, for example, the attack against the World Trade Center. Yishmoel’s “hand [is] against everyone and everyone’s hand is against him.” (Beraishis 16:12). No one can deal with him. Today, as our neviim and gadolim have foretold, this nomadic desert-dweller appears to be in the process of taking over the entire world.
What are we, the smallest and weakest nation, to do? How are we to save ourselves?
“Rabbi Elazar was asked by his students: What can a person do to be spared from the travail of Moshiach? [And he responded,] ‘One should occupy oneself in Torah and acts of kindness.’” (Sanhedrin 98b) The King of the Universe desires to bring about the Final Redemption and save His Children. “Ain od milvado … there is nothing else but Hashem!”
Recently, the High Court of Israel attacked our most precious treasure, the yeshiva world, through which Am Yisroel attaches ourselves to the Source of Life. This court decision is part of the worldwide attack of our enemies before the Great Day of Redemption. In the words of King David, “G-d stands in the … midst of [the] judges. ‘Until when will you judge lawlessly and favor the … wicked!’” (Tehillim 82)
Our salvation lies in Torah and chessed. This is our Path to Life!
“Rabbi Yitzchak taught: in the year in which Moshiach will be revealed, all the nations of the world will be in conflict. The King of Persia will quarrel with the King of Arabia … And the King of Persia will destroy the entire world. The nations will be confused and agitated and will be seized with fear and pain like the pangs of birth. Israel too will be agitated and confused, saying, ‘What should we do? Where shall we go?’
“Hashem will then say to them, ‘My children! Do not fear! All that I have done, I have done for your sake…. The time of your Redemption has come! And this Final Redemption will not be like the … Redemption [from Egypt], for the first Redemption was accompanied by pain and grief and was followed by subjugation to other nations. But the Final Redemption will … not be followed by subjugation to others.’” (Yalkut Shimoni, as seen in Book of Our Heritage, page 1012)
The Day of The Great Shabbos is dawning. May Hashem bless us to witness the Complete Redemption soon in our days!
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| The Sun |
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| The Moon |
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| The Arabian Desert |
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