31 May 2025
Gog uMagog* ..... Map of Destruction
This was included in her article at TomerDevorah - https://palmtreeofdeborah.blogspot.com/2025/05/lets-make-deal-lets-not.html and couldnt believe that djt would do this!! A NEW PHARAOH AROSE WHO DID NOT KNOW YOSEF.......
Map of Destruction
Where are those 22 new settlements going to be established?? https://www.timesofisrael.com/defense-ministry-confirms-government-approval-of-22-new-west-bank-settlements/
30 May 2025
Satmar Rebbe: Declining Spiritual Atmosphere
this is huge! its historical!
[Audio]: Satmar Rabbi Calls for Exodus from Williamsburg, Citing Rising Rents and Declining Spiritual Atmosphere
Brooklyn, NY — In a rare and pointed address, Satmar Rebbe Rabbi Aaron Teitelbaum didn’t mince words: the days of Williamsburg as the heart of the chassidic community may be coming to a close
Citing skyrocketing rent and what he described as a deteriorating spiritual atmosphere, the Rebbe urged families to begin thinking seriously about relocating to communities more suited to raising children in accordance with Torah values.
The prices are out of control, the influences from the street are creeping in, and it’s becoming harder and harder to live a Yiddishe life the way we want for our kinder.”
The comments were not offhand. Sources close to the Rebbe say he has been expressing concern for past year, but this was the first time he addressed the issue publicly and unequivocally.
The gashmius (materialism) is choking the ruchnius (spiritual life),” he said. “When a young couple can’t even dream of affording a one-bedroom in the neighborhood they grew up in, and when the streets no longer reflect the kedushah (holiness) we expect — it’s time to consider alternatives.”
While he did not name specific communities, many in attendance took it as a tacit endorsement of established and growing chassidic enclaves like Kiryas Joel, Bloomingburg, and parts of Rockland and Orange counties, where housing remains more affordable and community infrastructure is built around Torah life.
FOR SURE Don’t even contemplate (sic!) a move to Eretz haKodesh! It’s abit more exp3nsive and also has Gashmias! But it has Har HaBayit!
HISTORIC OPPORTUNITY - Expedite The Redemption!….plus
Length of Our Galus
Eliezer Meir Saidel: Doing the Split – Bamidbar
שְׂאוּ אֶת רֹאשׁ כָּל עֲדַת בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל לְמִשְׁפְּחֹתָם לְבֵית אֲבֹתָם בְּמִסְפַּר שֵׁמוֹת כָּל זָכָר לְגֻלְגְּלֹתָם. (במדבר א, ב).
Sefer Bamidbar is also known as Chumash HaPekudim by Chazal (e.g. Yoma 68b) because it features numerous censuses of Am Yisrael. Each male between ages twenty and sixty being counted, gave a half a shekel coin and the census was a counting of the coins, not a physical "head count", according to Rashi (ibid.) לְגֻלְגְּלֹתָם: עַל יְדֵי שְׁקָלִים, בֶּקַע לַגֻּלְגֹּלֶת, referring to the passuk in parshat Pekudei בֶּקַע לַגֻּלְגֹּלֶת מַחֲצִית הַשֶּׁקֶל בְּשֶׁקֶל הַקֹּדֶשׁ לְכֹל הָעֹבֵר עַל הַפְּקֻדִים מִבֶּן עֶשְׂרִים שָׁנָה וָמַעְלָה וכו' (שמות לח, כו).
In this shiur I would like to discuss the term בֶּקַע לַגֻּלְגֹּלֶת.
A half shekel, בֶּקַע, is a measure of weight, around 6g (ספר מדות ומשקלות של תורה עמ' קפב). About seven years ago archeologists discovered a "beka" stone weight from the period of Bayit Rishon, just north of the City of David, in Emek Tzurim (see picture below).
On the level of the pshat, בֶּקַע לַגֻּלְגֹּלֶת means a coin weighing a "beka", per "skull". That is a strange way to refer to a person, a "skull"(?). In our decrepit modern day and age, such terminology might be considered "politically correct". Instead of having to differentiate between gender and age, you say "per head".
For example, if you are having a wedding, the caterer wants to know how many people will be attending and they give you a price - "per head". "Per head" I can understand, so why doesn't the Torah rather say בֶּקַע לְרֹאשׁ? A head is a living, breathing "head". A skull is something you find on a (dead) skeleton! Why does the Torah use the word "skull"? The censuses in the Torah were of people who were alive at the time, not those who were long deceased.
The half shekel is not the first time the word גֻּלְגֹּלֶת is used in the Torah. Prior to that, when HKB"H gave Am Yisrael Mann in the desert, the passuk says לִקְטוּ מִמֶּנּוּ אִישׁ לְפִי אָכְלוֹ עֹמֶר לַגֻּלְגֹּלֶת (שמות טז, טז), one "omer" measure per "skull"!
According to the Midrash (במדבר רבה, פרשה א, ד), the reason HKB"H counted Am Yisrael numerous times, is out of His love for us. When someone has something precious, like a pocket full of diamonds, he constantly counts them. On the other hand, when was the last time you counted how many matches there were in a matchbox? (the Midrash uses the example of wheat bushels and straw).
If the census was a labor of love, the term בֶּקַע לַגֻּלְגֹּלֶת seems incongruous. A "beka" also means a crack, a rift. How does HKB"H count Am Yisrael? By counting how many "cracks in the skull" they had?! It just doesn't seem fitting.
So, obviously HKB"H didn't count how many cracks in the skull Am Yisrael had, there is something much deeper at work here.
R' Tzadok HaKohen of Lublin says that whenever you want to understand something, you look for the first time it appears in the Torah. The first time the word בקע appears in the Torah is the Flood בַּיּוֹם הַזֶּה נִבְקְעוּ כָּל מַעְיְנֹת תְּהוֹם רַבָּה וַאֲרֻבֹּת הַשָּׁמַיִם נִפְתָּחוּ (בראשית ז, יא). On this day (17th of Iyar/Cheshvan – Rashi ibid.) all the subterranean water sources were split and the water stores in Heaven opened up.
The word בקע has its origins in sin, וַתִּשָּׁחֵת הָאָרֶץ לִפְנֵי הָאֱ-לֹקִים וַתִּמָּלֵא הָאָרֶץ חָמָס (בראשית ו, יא). This sin resulted in a "rift" in the subterranean waters.
The first Midrash (Raba) on Bamidbar discusses this very subject.
וַיְדַבֵּר ה' אֶל משֶׁה בְּמִדְבַּר סִינַי (במדבר א, א), זֶהוּ שֶׁאָמַר הַכָּתוּב (תהלים לו, ז): מִשְׁפָּטֶיךָ תְּהוֹם רַבָּה, אָמַר רַבִּי מֵאִיר מָשַׁל אֶת הַצַּדִּיקִים בְּדִירָתָן וְאֶת הָרְשָׁעִים בְּדִירָתָן, מָשַׁל אֶת הַצַּדִּיקִים בְּדִירָתָן (יחזקאל לד, יד): בְּמִרְעֶה טּוֹב אֶרְעֶה אֹתָם וּבְהָרֵי מְרוֹם יִשְׂרָאֵל יִהְיֶה נְוֵהֶם, וּמָשַׁל אֶת הָרְשָׁעִים בְּדִירָתָן (יחזקאל לא, טו): כֹּה אָמַר ה' אֱלֹהִים בְּיוֹם רִדְתּוֹ שְׁאוֹלָה הֶאֱבַלְתִּי כִּסֵּתִי עָלָיו אֶת תְּהוֹם, בַּמֶּה רְשָׁעִים מִתְכַּסִּים כְּשֶׁהֵן יוֹרְדִין לַשְּׁאוֹל, בַּתְּהוֹם. חִזְקִיָּה בַּר רַבִּי חִיָּא אָמַר הַגִּיגִית הַזּוֹ בַּמֶּה מְכַסִּין אוֹתָהּ, בִּכְלִי חֶרֶס, מִמַּהִי בָהּ כְּשֵׁם שֶׁהִיא שֶׁל חֶרֶס כָּךְ מְכַסִּין אוֹתָהּ בִּכְלִי חֶרֶס, כָּךְ הֵן הָרְשָׁעִים, מַה כְּתִיב בָּהֶם (ישעיה כט, טו): וְהָיָה בְמַחְשָׁךְ מַעֲשֵׂיהֶם וַיֹּאמְרוּ מִי רֹאֵנוּ וּמִי יֹדְעֵנוּ, וּלְפִי שֶׁהֵן חֲשׁוּכִין הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא מוֹרִידָן לִשְׁאוֹל שֶׁהִיא חֲשׁוּכָה וּמְכַסֶּה עֲלֵיהֶם אֶת הַתְּהוֹם שֶׁהוּא חשֶׁךְ, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (בראשית א, ב): וְחשֶׁךְ עַל פְּנֵי תְהוֹם, הֱוֵי (תהלים לו, ז): צִדְקָתְךָ כְּהַרְרֵי אֵל, צְדָקָה שֶׁאַתָּה מֵבִיא עַל הָעוֹלָם מְפֻרְסֶמֶת כַּהָרִים הַלָּלוּ. (תהלים לו, ז): מִשְׁפָּטֶיךָ תְּהוֹם רַבָּה, מִשְׁפָּט שֶׁאַתָּה עוֹשֶׂה בָּעוֹלָם הַזֶּה, תְּהוֹם רַבָּה, מָה הַתְּהוֹם בְּסֵתֶר אַף מִשְׁפָּט שֶׁאַתָּה מֵבִיא בְּסֵתֶר. כֵּיצַד, כֵּיוָן שֶׁחָרְבָה יְרוּשָׁלַיִם, בְּתִשְׁעָה בְּאָב חָרְבָה, וּכְשֶׁמַּרְאֶה לִיחֶזְקֵאל הוּא מַרְאֶה לוֹ בְּאֶחָד בַּחֹדֶשׁ, לָמָּה, שֶׁלֹא לְפַרְסֵם בְּאֵי זֶה יוֹם חָרְבָה, אֲבָל מִי שֶׁהוּא בָּא לְגַדֵּל יִשְׂרָאֵל, מְפַרְסֵם אֵי זֶה יוֹם, אֵי זֶה מָקוֹם, אֵי זֶה חֹדֶשׁ, אֵי זוֹ שָׁנָה, אֵי זוֹ אִפָּטֶיָאה, (במדבר א, א): לְצֵאתָם מֵאֶרֶץ מִצְרַיִם לֵאמֹר, מָה אָמַר לָהֶם (במדבר א, ב): שְׂאוּ אֶת רֹאשׁ כָּל עֲדַת בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל.
The passuk in Tehilim (36, 7) says מִשְׁפָּטֶיךָ תְּהוֹם רַבָּה. R' Meir says that this passuk is referring to the tzaddikim in their place and the reshaim in their place. The place of the tzaddikim is in good pastures בְּמִרְעֶה טּוֹב, on lofty peaks בְהָרֵי מְרוֹם (Yechezkel 34, 114).
The place of the reshaim is in the depths שְּׁאוֹל, which is covered by the abyss תְּהוֹם (Yechezkel 31, 15). Hizkiya the son of R' Chiya says " Just as you cover an earthenware jar with an earthenware cover, similarly HKB"H places the reshaim in the dark depths and covers them with darkness, as it says וְחשֶׁךְ עַל פְּנֵי תְהוֹם.
If תְהוֹם means darkness, then what does the passuk in Tehilim (36, 7) מִשְׁפָּטֶיךָ תְּהוֹם רַבָּה mean? Is justice in this world in darkness? This is referring to HKB"H's justice for Am Yisrael. Just as darkness is hidden, so too is HKB"H's justice of punishment for Am Yisrael in this world hidden.
When it is a punishment for a sin, such as in the destruction of Bayit Rishon, HKB"H did not publicize the exact date to Yechezkel. However, when it is justice of reward, to uplift Am Yisrael, it is completely visible. This is why the Torah explicitly specifies the time and the place וַיְדַבֵּר ה' אֶל מֹשֶׁה בְּמִדְבַּר סִינַי בְּאֹהֶל מוֹעֵד בְּאֶחָד לַחֹדֶשׁ הַשֵּׁנִי בַּשָּׁנָה הַשֵּׁנִית לְצֵאתָם מֵאֶרֶץ מִצְרַיִם לֵאמֹר (במדבר א, א).
The Midrash is highlighting how much HKB"H loves Am Yisrael. When Am Yisrael sin, HKB"H does not hang out our "dirty laundry" for everyone to see. However, when we are worthy (of being counted, like when we left Egypt), HKB"H publicizes it for all to see.
Regarding the other nations, on the other hand, HKB"H does not hide their "dirty laundry", as it says in the Flood בִּשְׁנַת שֵׁשׁ מֵאוֹת שָׁנָה לְחַיֵּי נֹחַ בַּחֹדֶשׁ הַשֵּׁנִי בְּשִׁבְעָה עָשָׂר יוֹם לַחֹדֶשׁ בַּיּוֹם הַזֶּה נִבְקְעוּ כָּל מַעְיְנֹת תְּהוֹם רַבָּה וכו' (שם). HKB"H visibly exposes the iniquities of the goyim.
The next time the word בקע appears is in reference to Dor HaPalaga וַיְהִי בְּנָסְעָם מִקֶּדֶם וַיִּמְצְאוּ בִקְעָה בְּאֶרֶץ שִׁנְעָר וַיֵּשְׁבוּ שָׁם (בראשית יא, ב). This generation sinned and caused a rift with HKB"H.
After HKB"H commands Avraham to perform the Akeida, the passuk says וַיַּשְׁכֵּם אַבְרָהָם בַּבֹּקֶר וַיַּחֲבֹשׁ אֶת חֲמֹרוֹ וַיִּקַּח אֶת שְׁנֵי נְעָרָיו אִתּוֹ וְאֵת יִצְחָק בְּנוֹ וַיְבַקַּע עֲצֵי עֹלָה וכו' (בראשית כב, ג). The Gemara (Sanhedrin 89b) says the reason the Akeida took place was because there was a קִטְרוּג in Heaven, that Avraham held a big feast when Yitzchak was born, but did not offer any sacrifices to HKB"H – causing a rift (לִכְאוֹרָה).
Eliezer meets Rivka at the well and gives her presents וַיִּקַּח הָאִישׁ נֶזֶם זָהָב בֶּקַע מִשְׁקָלוֹ וכו' (בראשית כד, כב), an omen that Rivka is going to have one son a tzaddik and another a rasha – a rift.
Am Yisrael leave Egypt and arrive at the Red Sea. וְאַתָּה הָרֵם אֶת מַטְּךָ וּנְטֵה אֶת יָדְךָ עַל הַיָּם וּבְקָעֵהוּ וכו' (שמות יד, טז), HKB"H splits the sea and Am Yisrael cross through the rift, their previous existence of avodah zara in Egypt symbolically on the one side, and their new existence as a nation, symbolically on the other.
After Am Yisrael sin with the egel, HKB"H commands Moshe to build a Mishkan and counts Am Yisrael בֶּקַע לַגֻּלְגֹּלֶת מַחֲצִית הַשֶּׁקֶל בְּשֶׁקֶל הַקֹּדֶשׁ לְכֹל הָעֹבֵר עַל הַפְּקֻדִים מִבֶּן עֶשְׂרִים שָׁנָה וָמַעְלָה וכו' (שמות לח, כו).
There are also links to the sin of Adam HaRishon. The gematria of בֶּקַע is – הוּא עֵץ, עֲנָבִים, וָדָם עֵנָב. The word בֶּקַע in reverse is עָקֵב, as in הוּא יְשׁוּפְךָ רֹאשׁ וְאַתָּה תְּשׁוּפֶנּוּ עָקֵב (בראשית ג, טו). This is in fact the first time בֶּקַע appears in the Torah, in the נִסְתָּר form.
Perhaps we can now better understand the use of the term בֶּקַע in its various appearances in the Torah. בֶּקַע is a rift, a gap, a space – between two realities.
It is like a divide between two hemispheres, like those in the brain. Scientists have identified different functionalities between the two hemispheres in the brain. The left hemisphere is involved in logic, sequencing, mathematics, facts, linear thinking, etc. The right hemisphere is involved in imagination, intuition, feelings, creativity, etc.
There is a clear dividing line between the hemispheres called the cerebral fissure. Although there is a physical/functional division between the left/right sides of the brain, there is communication between them and symbiosis.
These are paralleled in Kabbalistic literature by the sfira of Gvura on the left (representing the Torah, the analytic, logical, thinking side) and the sfira of Chessed on the right (representing the emotional, creative, empathetic side).
This physical characteristic is echoed in the surrounding skull by cracks separating right from left, the sagittal/mesopic sutures. It is not incidental that the Torah uses the term בֶּקַע לַגֻּלְגֹּלֶת, because this is exactly what each and every one of us has in our heads, a left side and a right side, divided by a בֶּקַע. As it says in the passuk זֶה לְעֻמַּת זֶה עָשָׂה הָאֱ-לֹקִים (קהלת ז, יד) (the gematria of גֻּלְגֹּלֶת is עָשָׂה הָאֱ-לֹקִים).
This is the same structure as the Menorah in the Mikdash, with 3 stems on either side of a central stem, mirror images of each other (the gematria of גֻּלְגֹּלֶת is קְנֵי הַמְּנוֹרָה) and the Lechem HaPanim, two stacks of smiling faces opposite each other, like two hemispheres in the brain (the gematria of גֻּלְגֹּלֶת is מֵאִיר לִפְּנֵיהֶם).
When the Torah says עֹמֶר לַגֻּלְגֹּלֶת in reference to the Mann, the word עֹמֶר is equivalent to בֶּקַע, because the "omer" of Mann was the "dividing line" between the tzaddikim and the sinners – it visibly exposed who was worthy and who was not.
What does all this come to teach us?
There is a passuk in Yishayahu - יוֹצֵר אוֹר וּבוֹרֵא חֹשֶׁךְ עֹשֶׂה שָׁלוֹם וּבוֹרֵא רָע אֲנִי ה' עֹשֶׂה כָל אֵלֶּה (ישעיהו מה, ז). Every morning in Shacharit we refer to this passuk after Yishtabach - יוֹצֵר אוֹר וּבוֹרֵא חֹשֶׁךְ עֹשֶׂה שָׁלוֹם וּבוֹרֵא אֶת הַכֹּל.
When HKB"H created our world, on the sixth day it says וַיַּרְא אֱ-לֹקִים אֶת כָּל אֲשֶׁר עָשָׂה וְהִנֵּה טוֹב מְאֹד וַיְהִי עֶרֶב וַיְהִי בֹקֶר יוֹם הַשִּׁשִּׁי (בראשית א, לא). HKB"H looked back on His entire creation and it was very good.
I can understand light, Heaven and earth, the sea and the land, the flora, the fauna, the planets, the animals, man … they were all good. But what about some of the stuff that doesn't "appear" to be so good, like darkness, like one of the angels created on the second day – the satan, like גֵּיהִנּוֹם? How can these things be good?
The Torah is teaching us that HKB"H's Creation consists of opposing realities, light and dark, good and bad … and that situation is very good! If our world did not have opposite poles, it would not be very good. We need the opposites, because in their absence the world would have no purpose (see last week's shiur on the subject of כֹּל).
If there were no opposing poles, we would not be human, we would be like angels. What is the difference between humans and angels? Angels are static. They are extremely elevated beings, but they have no upward (or downward) mobility. They remain their entire lifetime exactly as HKB"H created them.
Humans on the other hand are fluid, they fluctuate, they have mobility. It can be downward mobility until we reach the lowest depths, the תְּהוֹם, or it can be upward mobility until we reach the highest heights הָרֵי מְרוֹם, that can exceed even that of the angels. Adam HaRishon immediately after he was created, was more elevated than the angels, he was the pinnacle of Creation.
In order to have mobility, you need two opposing poles and you need free choice, to choose between them. Without those two mechanisms there is no mobility.
HKB"H created Adam HaRishon as the prototype – "This is what you need to aspire to!" by our own choices. HKB"H sends an angel to teach us the entire Torah in the womb and then He makes us forget it all when we are born. We need to aspire to attain that same level, on our own, through free choice.
Why does it have to be that way? Because without free choice there is no merit. If you do something because you are programmed to, like an angel, you get no merit for it. However, if you do something out of choice, you get merit and that's how we earn olam habah, which is the aim of the game.
The Gemara (Shabbat 88b) tells us that the Torah was written 974 generations before Breishit. If HKB"H intended for us to be like the angels, then why does the Torah include myriad halachot of how to eat, how to dress, how to procreate, how to deal with monetary matters, how to behave morally in a society, etc. etc.?
This is exactly the scenario at Har Sinai when HKB"H was about to give us the Torah. The angels complained תְּנָה הוֹדְךָ עַל הַשָּׁמָיִם (תהילים ח, ב), the Torah is too holy to give to humans, leave it up here with us angels. The Gemara (above) tells us that HKB"H said to Moshe "Give them an answer!" What was Moshe's answer? The same as above "Were you in Egypt? Do you worship idols? Do you work? Do you have parents to honor? etc." The Torah was designed specifically for this world of opposites.
It was in this world of choices and challenges that Am Yisrael said נַעֲשֶׂה וְנִשְׁמַע and by doing so elevated themselves to the state of Adam HaRishon before the sin and merited receiving the Torah. It was then we became a nation הַיּוֹם הַזֶּה נִהְיֵיתָ לְעָם (דברים כז, ט). This is the greatness of the day, Chag Shavuot, that by free choice, without yet knowing what was in the Torah, we agreed to accept it unconditionally. We face that same choice every day, do we follow the Torah or do we not?
The world is a perfect world specifically because it contains diametrically opposed poles. The tension between them creates motion and mobility, which in their absence would not exist, the world, and we, would stagnate and die.
When we are confronted with pure evil, we are aghast and question HKB"H "How could You have created such evil in the world?" Even evil has a purpose, it shakes us out of our complacent reverie and makes us move, physically, cognitively, emotionally and spiritually. We have just recently experienced such a wakeup call.
The question we need to ask ourselves is "What do we do about it?" Do we remain where we are conceptually, spiritually and simply reverse the clock to October 6 and keep going in the never-ending cycle of stagnation and decline? Or do we move, make the choices to move away from who we previously were and onto a higher level?
This is the question that faces Am Yisrael right now, erev Shavuot. Do we want to join those on the lofty peaks or those in the dark abyss. Do we want to be counted?
If we want to be counted, we have to become a בֶּקַע לַגֻּלְגֹּלֶת. We have to acknowledge the two hemispheres, that in order to function need to communicate symbiotically with each other. We have to understand that we are a בֶּקַע – a half shekel, that to be whole, needs the other half.
That we are simply a גֻּלְגֹּלֶת, a cog (albeit an important and indispensable cog), but just a cog nonetheless, in the complex whole that is Am Yisrael (incidentally, Rashi describing what the Sfina Rokedet shape of the twelve loaves of Lechem HaPanim is, calls it a קווי"ט, which in English is a Cog). Each of us with our own unique role to play, that is no more important or less important than any of the other "cogs".
When we each begin to function in that way, we lay the foundation for a path of וַיִּחַן שָׁם יִשְׂרָאֵל נֶגֶד הָהָר (שמות יט, ב) and a journey to the lofty peaks.
Shabbat Shalom and Chag Sameach
Eliezer Meir Saidel
Machon Lechem Hapanim
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