New Video! Earthquakes, Elenin and the Land of Israel

My first YouTube video:



Please like this video and comment on Youtube if you feel so inclined (so far there are far too many anti-Israel comments)!

6.9 India earthquake, Elenin and the Palestinian UN state bid

A shallow 6.9 earthquake hit Sikkim, India at 6:10p.m. local time on Sunday evening, killing at least 16 people, toppling buildings, and sending tremors as far as New Delhi, Bangladesh and Nepal. The quake precipitated massive landslides throughout the Himalayan state, cutting off thousands living in remote areas.

For those following the relationship between Elenin and recent increased earthquake activity throughout the globe: Elenin is now between the orbs of Mercury and Venus, on its way to align with the Earth, Sun and Mercury on Venus' orb around the Jewish New Year on September 27th. Elenin is currently 0.542 astronomical units from the Earth (the sun is 1 AU from the Earth; during the Japan earthquake, Elenin was 6 AUs from Earth).

Now, guess who announced their support of Palestinian state bid at the UN on Friday?

India will support a Palestinian bid for membership of the United Nations at a meeting of the General Assembly scheduled for later this month, Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai said on Friday...Mr. Mathai told journalists that India “will support the resolution on Palestine seeking membership of the United Nations” and that India was among the first countries to accord the state of Palestine diplomatic recognition when it was proclaimed in November 1988 (The Hindu, Sept. 17, 2011).

Earthquakes, Elenin and Eretz Yisrael are all in God's hands. 

Elenin, Rosh Hashana and Sukkot

The video below presents a chart made by Luis Vega showing that the dates of Elenin's upcoming alignments with Earth match up perfectly with Rosh Hashana 5772 and the last day of Sukkot 5772. This is particularly interesting in light of the recent announcement that the decree of war has been delayed until after Hoshana Rabbah. 

Elenin-watchers have drawn parallels between Earth's previous alignments with Elenin and major earthquake activity around the globe. Only the last alignments took place when Elenin's distance from earth was 6 times further than the distance between the sun and Earth; Elenin's next alignment--on Rosh Hashana--will take place when Elenin is midway between the Earth and the sun.

On the Shmini Atzeret/Hoshana Raba, Elenin will enter Earth's orbit, which could exert gravitational pull.

What will we be doing B"H between these two major alignments? Teshuva, Tefila and Tzedaka. Let's make it count.

Note: At the 10-minute mark, the speaker switches from presenting the material to discussing its relevance to Christian doctrine.

Kokhav Yaakov: A Deeper Look

This post is a follow-up to Comet Elenin and Rebbe Nachman.

In this week's Torah portion, Balaam wraps up his words with a prophecy concerning the end of days:

וְעַתָּה הִנְנִי הוֹלֵךְ לְעַמִּי לְכָה אִיעָצְךָ אֲשֶׁר יַעֲשֶׂה הָעָם הַזֶּה לְעַמְּךָ בְּאַחֲרִית הַיָּמִים

And now, I am going to my people. Come, I will advise you...what this people will do to your people at the end of days.

In verse 17, he mentions the shooting star of Jacob (this is really the accurate translation, if we go by Rashi, whose commentary appears below):

אֶרְאֶנּוּ וְלֹא עַתָּה אֲשׁוּרֶנּוּ וְלֹא קָרוֹב דָּרַךְ כּוֹכָב מִיַּעֲקֹב וְקָם שֵׁבֶט מִיִּשְׂרָאֵל וּמָחַץ פַּאֲתֵי מוֹאָב וְקַרְקַר כָּל בְּנֵי שֵׁת

I see it, but not now; I behold it, but not soon. A star has gone forth from Jacob, and a staff will arise from Israel which will crush the princes of Moab and uproot all the sons of Seth

The words "a star has gone forth" is translation of the Hebrew noun kokhav and the verb darakh, which is related to the root of derekh, way. According to Rashi, this indicaes sudden, swift and direct movement, and is actually a metaphor for the rise of Mashiach:

דרך כוכב: כתרגומו, לשון דרך קשתו (איכה ב ד), שהכוכב עובר כחץ, ובלע"ז דישטנ"ט (מזנק) כלומר יקום משל

A star goes gorth: As it is translated, he drew his bow (Eichah 2:4), that the star passes like an arrow...that is, a ruler will rise

Rebbe Nachman, whose yartzheit falls on the day on which the newly discovered relatively bright Comet Elenin will come closest to earth, on Tishrei 18 5772, gives the following explanation of the statement "a star has gone forth from Jacob":

And know, that there are twelve tribes, corresponding to the twelve mazalot (signs of the zodiac). And each and every tribe has its own special formula (nuscha) and special gate through which (derekh) his prayer enters, and every tribe, through its pryaer, awakens the power of its mazal of the twelve mazalot, and the mazal illuminates below and causes the plant to grow, as well as other things it needs, and this is the meaning of 'A star goes forth from Jacob, and a staff will arise from Israel,' 'will rise' this is amidah, or prayer, when a tribe from Israel stands to pray, its prayer awakens a star, and the star shoots forth (dorekh) and nudges (makeh) various things, that they will grow, as our sages said, 'there is not a single blade of grass below, here on earth, which does not have an angel above telling it, Grow! (Likkutei Moharan 9)

In other words, according to Rebbe Nachman, the shooting of the star of Jacob is related to the power of prayer. Prayers of the various tribes awaken the stars to shoot forth and awaken the flora and fauna of earth to prosper. Life is traced to the stars, and the stars to prayer.

Back to the parsha: According to verse 17, the star of Jacob and staff of Israel will crush the nations of Moab and Seth. The Maharal elaborates that the keshet (bow) and chetz (arrow) symbolize the gevurah to needed for these struggles. Unkolus explains 'crush' as inheritance of the nations' kingdoms.

Verse 18 expands the prophecy to Edom, represented by Europe, the United States, and Western civilization at large:

וְהָיָה אֱדוֹם יְרֵשָׁה וְהָיָה יְרֵשָׁה שֵׂעִיר אֹיְבָיו וְיִשְׂרָאֵל עֹשֶׂה חָיִל

Edom shall be possessed, and Seir shall become the possession of his enemies, and Israel shall triumph.

Amalek:

וַיַּרְא אֶת עֲמָלֵק וַיִּשָּׂא מְשָׁלוֹ וַיֹּאמַר רֵאשִׁית גּוֹיִם עֲמָלֵק וְאַחֲרִיתוֹ עֲדֵי אֹבֵד

When he saw Amalek, he took up his parable and said, "Amalek was the first of the nations, and his fate shall be everlasting destruction."

Assyria:

וְצִים מִיַּד כִּתִּים וְעִנּוּ אַשּׁוּר וְעִנּוּ עֵבֶר וְגַם הוּא עֲדֵי אֹבֵד

Ships will come from the Kittites and afflict Assyria and afflict those on the other side, but he too will perish forever. 

And then Balaam wraps it up:

וַיֹּאמַר אוֹי מִי יִחְיֶה מִשֻּׂמוֹ אֵל

Alas! Who can survive these things from God?

 מה טובו אהלך יעקב משכנותיך ישראל

How lucky we are to have the Torah to guide us through these times.

Comet Elenin and Rebbe Nachman

According to 2012 doomsdayers, the end of the world which will also mark the beginning a new era may be highlighted by a collision between a large planetary object and the planet Earth, dubbed the Nibiru collision. As I have said before, the arrival of the Messianic era may be a phenomenon that other cultures have alluded to as well, insofar as awareness of the universe which Hashem put into place inevitably holds clues to its ultimate purpose. In this way, staying abreast of global shifts taking place in natural, economic and political orders, as well as cosmological orders, can both keep our eyes open for Mashiach, and help to bring the concept of Mashiach into the world in a revealed way.

In December 2010, the amateur Russian astronomer Leonid Elenin discovered a comet now called Comet Elenin, which some have identified as Nibiru. Shirat Devorah raises the question whether there may be a connection between this week's Torah portion's mention of Kokhav Yaakov and Elenin. The last words of Balaam in this week's reading hold a prophecy interpreted as an allusion to Mashiach (Numbers 24:17):

I see it, but not now;
I behold it, but not in the near future.
A star shall go forth from Jacob,
And a staff [shevet] shall arise from Israel

See Kokhav Yaakov: A deeper look for further interpretations on this verse. In the Laws of Kings, the Rambam's discussion of the Messianic era, the star of Jacob refers to King David:

The King Mashiach will rise forth and return the Kingdom of David to its former state. The Torah testifies [in several places] concerning him [the King Mashiach] [amongst them,] in the portion of Bila'am whose prophecies concern two messianic figures: the first Mashiach is King David who saved Israel from its oppressors; the final Mashiach will rise forth from his [King David's] descendants and save Israel in the end of days. Bila'am prophesizes: 'I see it, but not now'-- this refers to King David; 'I behold it, but not in the near future'-- this refers to the King Mashiach; 'A star shall go forth from Jacob'-- this refers to King David; 'and a staff shall arise in Israel'-- this refers to the King Mashiach.

Kokhav Yaakov is further elaborated in Terumah 172b (hat tip again to Shirat Devorah):

Then the 7th window will open in the entire world, and its star is Kochav Yaakov, and this is the one about which Bilaam said “a star shoots forth from Yaakov,” and this star will be luminous for 40 days and 40 nights. When Melech Hamoshiach will be revealed, and all the people’s of the world will be gathered to him, then the verse will be fulfilled which states [Yeshaya 11:10]: “the root of Yishai, which stands as a banner for peoples, to him shall the nations inquire, and his peace shall be [with] honor.”

We have yet to see whether Elenin will exhibit a 40-day luminosity, or astrologically speaking, whether it will be visible during that time span from Earth. According to calculations, Elenin will come closest to earth in mid-October, when it will be slightly closer to Earth than the planet Venus. According to the Minor Planet Center, Elenin is a relative bright comet, and it is uncertain just how bright it will become. 

What does the relative relationship between a comet, the sun and Earth mean for us? The best lessons may be learned in hindsight. On March 14, 2011, the comet came into opposition with the sun, and will do so again on November 22 of this year. March 14th, mind you, was several days after the massive tsunami hit Japan, wreaking massive environmental and human disaster, and setting off an international nuclear crisis that is unsolved to this day. That's an opposition; a near-alignment between the sun, Elenin and Earth will occur on September 26th.

Yet perhaps the most interesting date is that on which the comet will be closest to earth, October 16, 2011. And if there had to be one tzaddik who could ensure the effect of such a movement would be beneficial rather than destructive, who better than Rebbe Nachman, the everlasting stream of wisdom, whose 201st Yartzheit is Tishrei 18 5772, which falls on October 16th in 2011, as it did on the day he left this world in 1810.

Na Nach Nachma Nachman Meuman / Elenin ?