The Koreas in the Twilight Zone
Again I apologize for the length of time between posts, but work and school have taken up most of my spare time. Until July I will add letters that I have written to others from time to time. Hopefully by then I will be able to dedicate more time to this blogsite. This is a reprint of another letter to a reader of this blog. I am reprinting it for your thoughts.
During Chanukah I hope, bli neder, to write an article about the Koreas in the Twilight Zone. It will cover, G-d willing, the halakhic concept that the international dateline is determined by what day it is when it is High Noon in Yerushalayim (from the Talmud in Rosh Hashana 20b dealing with the declaration of and musaph [additional offering] for Rosh Chodesh [the New Moon]). When it is High Noon in Yerushalayim (35 degrees east of Greenwich mean time), it is sunset exactly 90 degrees to the east of Yerushalayim, but it is Tseis Kochavim (the stars come out) 12 degrees further to the east. This 12 degree "Twilight Zone of doubt" corresponds with forty-five minutes on the clock. Therefore it is G-d's secret where to draw the intenational date line, somewhere between 125 degrees longitude and 137 degrees longitude. Many countries straddle this "Twilight Zone" area creating halakhic problems such as what day it is in those areas of the country which are in between these longitudes. Kobe, Japan is one such city which created the famous shayla (question) to the Hazon Ish from the Mir Yeshivah during WW2 on whether they should keep two days of Shabbat and fast for two days on Yom Kippur since the day of the week and the date of the year were in question. And Kobe is less than 2 degrees to the west of the 137 degree line! In Tokyo already there is no shayla since, at 139 degrees east of Greenwich, it is 104 degrees east of Yerushayaim, setting its time at almost 18 full hours before Yerushalayim. Therefore, when Yerushalayim goes into Shabbat, it is 100% the case that it is 12 am Friday morning (midnight) in Tokyo and not midnight on Shabbat Kodesh. The Koreas stand out for so many reasons since South Korea is the only country which is completely within the Twilight Zone ( a.k.a bein hashmashot or between the suns), and North Korea is almost completely within "The Zone". Just to elucidate, the expression "between the suns" is very illuminating to the fact that the Sages of the Ages a.k.a Chazal knew that the stars in the heavens were suns just like our sun.
This has tremendous "End of Days" implications. For the Vilna Gaon was clear that three quarters of the way through the sixth millenium (the year 5750) was to be considered 3/4 of the way through Yom Shishi (High Noon on Friday) when Tok'im (Shofar blowers) would ascend the Mountains of Eretz Yisrael to blow shofar calling all the Jews in from their fields to prepare for Shabbat. Therefore in the year 5750 a Great Shofar was blown in heaven calling for the kickoff of the period of history called "the ingathering of the exiles." And in came the Ovdim b'eretz Asher (those lost in the Land of Ahur- Russian Jewry) and the Nidachim B'eretz Mitzraim or Egypt (those castaway in the Land of the two Tributaries of the Nile- Ethiopian Jewry).
(How Russian Jewry is a big part of the Lost from the Land of Ashur is a blog unto itself. It has to do with many from this segment of Northern Kingdom remnant were absorbed by the Khazars. Khazar was one of the ten sons of Togarmah, the Turks. In the 8th century the entire Khazar kingdom converted to Judaism because of the convincing arguments of Rav Yehudah Almangari as described by R. Yehudah HaLevi about 400 years later in the "Kuzari". For the Jews in that kingdom it was a massive rediscovery of their ancient faith 13 centuries after Senchariv destroyed the Northern Kingdom. In the 13th century the Khazar kingdom was destroyed by the expanding Russian Empire, causing the Jewish Khazars to travel north and meet up with a large population of Jews migrating east from Ashkenaz. Together they formed the bulk of what is now called Eastern European Ashkenazic Jewry. This would mean that a significant segment of Ashkenazic Jewry are descendents of the 9 1/2 Tribes Lost in the land of Ashur who recodiscovered who they actually were when they reconverted back to Judaism in the 8th century!)
Getting back to our saga, if the year 5750 is High Noon on Friday and the year 6000 is sunset, then parts of the globe start to enter Yom she'kulo Shabbat (the era that is always Shabbat) starting in the year 5750. Yet, we can only be sure that someplace has entered Shabbat if before 5750 it was west of the Tzeis Kochavim line (102 degrees to the east of Yerushalayim). For the purpose of making the math easy. let us round off the 102 degree figure to 100 degrees for the following division. Over the course of 250 years between 5750 and the year 6000, 100 degrees on the globe east of Yerushalayim will enter Yom She'kulo Shabbat (the day that is completely Shabbat). By then Mashiach will already need to be here in order to provide proper leadership to a huge percentage of the world's population! This means that at a rate of 250 years divided by 100 degrees the world is entering Shabbat at a rate of 2.5 years per degree since 5750. The first test was Kobe, Japan. Since it is just under 2 degrees to the west of the Tseis Kochavim line, a great Shabbat like judgement needed to occur there 2 degrees times 2.5 years per degree which equals 5 years after the year 5750. Sure enough, Kobe experienced a great earthquake in 1995 (5755) in which over 5000 people were killed. The next place to cross over into Yom SheKulo Shabbat is South Korea starting at 129 degrees east longitude. This is a full 8 degrees east of the Tseis Kochavim line. 8 degrees times 2 1/2 years per degree is 20 years after 5750 or 5770. I figure that some readers might be interested in that year, for the Lubavitcher Rebbe had tremendous insight into the process of the coming Messianic Era, probably more insight than most Gadolim of the previous generation whose expertise lay in other areas. The entire "Twilight Zone" of 12 degrees between 125 degrees east and 137 degrees east (90- 102 degrees east of Yerushalayim) takes place over a period of 12 times 2.5 = 30 years (from 5750-5780). It is within that thirty year period that the "Twilight Zone" period of world history needs to begin to reach complete conclusion, for the suffek (doubt) about what day it is, Friday or Shabbat, ends for certain parts of the globe at that time when parts of the globe less than 90 degrees to the east of Yerushalayim enter into Yom SheKulo Shabbat.
One of the intriguing halakhic issue about what day of the week it is when a country or continent straddle the "Twilight Zone" is solved by where most of the country or continent are located. Are they located to the east or the west of the "Bain HaShmashot" grey area. If most of the land mass of a particular country or continent is located to the west or east of this grey area, areas within the "bain HaShmashot" grey area will according to many opinions take on the day of the week of the rest of the land area of a particular island country or continent as in the case of Japan or the Philippines. Most of Japan is to the east of the "Twilight Zone" and most of the Philippines are to the west of the "Zone". Therefore, by this logic Japan enters Shabbat 18 hours after Israel enters Shabbat, and the Philippines enters Shabbat six hours before Israel does. The continent of Australia has its own problem. The "Twilight Zone" cuts the continent in two. How the Jews of Sydney and Melbourne work through this problem would be appreciated as a response to this blog. Yet, one thing is for sure. Both Sydney and Melbourne are safely not inside the "Twilight Zone". The fact that they celebrate Shabbat when according to the mishna in Rosh HaShanah it is really Friday is an answer to another shayla only partially related to the fact that the Koreas are the only two countries on the planet which are completely or almost completely within the "Twilight Zone". Their status is therefore very unique. On one hand they are attached to Asia via a peninsula, putting them in the camp of halakhic opinion that they preceed Yerushalayim into Shabbat. Yet, since they are over 90 degrees to the east of Yerushalayim but less than 102 degrees, their status is truly a suffek d'oraitah (Torah doubt over a particular fact or principle.) Therefore we must be strict in assuming that when the Koreas cross into Yom She'kulo Shabbat, all of Heaven and Hell will break loose at the same time. Perhaps this is why with regards to the Korban Olah (fully burnt offering) which will be sacrificed in Batzrah, according to Leviticus, the "Koraim" will be placed on the altar. The word Koraim is itself peculiar in that while a sheep or goat may have four legs, the word literally means "two limbs" or for our purpose, "two Koreas." What the Koreas have to do with Batzrah, the capital of Shiite Southern Iraq, time will tell. Given that Gog W. has identified North Korea and Shiite Iran as part of his "Axis of Evil" perhaps provides us with a key into understanding what the nuclear program in both countries means to the economic survival of Edom's empire.
During Chanukah I hope, bli neder, to write an article about the Koreas in the Twilight Zone. It will cover, G-d willing, the halakhic concept that the international dateline is determined by what day it is when it is High Noon in Yerushalayim (from the Talmud in Rosh Hashana 20b dealing with the declaration of and musaph [additional offering] for Rosh Chodesh [the New Moon]). When it is High Noon in Yerushalayim (35 degrees east of Greenwich mean time), it is sunset exactly 90 degrees to the east of Yerushalayim, but it is Tseis Kochavim (the stars come out) 12 degrees further to the east. This 12 degree "Twilight Zone of doubt" corresponds with forty-five minutes on the clock. Therefore it is G-d's secret where to draw the intenational date line, somewhere between 125 degrees longitude and 137 degrees longitude. Many countries straddle this "Twilight Zone" area creating halakhic problems such as what day it is in those areas of the country which are in between these longitudes. Kobe, Japan is one such city which created the famous shayla (question) to the Hazon Ish from the Mir Yeshivah during WW2 on whether they should keep two days of Shabbat and fast for two days on Yom Kippur since the day of the week and the date of the year were in question. And Kobe is less than 2 degrees to the west of the 137 degree line! In Tokyo already there is no shayla since, at 139 degrees east of Greenwich, it is 104 degrees east of Yerushayaim, setting its time at almost 18 full hours before Yerushalayim. Therefore, when Yerushalayim goes into Shabbat, it is 100% the case that it is 12 am Friday morning (midnight) in Tokyo and not midnight on Shabbat Kodesh. The Koreas stand out for so many reasons since South Korea is the only country which is completely within the Twilight Zone ( a.k.a bein hashmashot or between the suns), and North Korea is almost completely within "The Zone". Just to elucidate, the expression "between the suns" is very illuminating to the fact that the Sages of the Ages a.k.a Chazal knew that the stars in the heavens were suns just like our sun.
This has tremendous "End of Days" implications. For the Vilna Gaon was clear that three quarters of the way through the sixth millenium (the year 5750) was to be considered 3/4 of the way through Yom Shishi (High Noon on Friday) when Tok'im (Shofar blowers) would ascend the Mountains of Eretz Yisrael to blow shofar calling all the Jews in from their fields to prepare for Shabbat. Therefore in the year 5750 a Great Shofar was blown in heaven calling for the kickoff of the period of history called "the ingathering of the exiles." And in came the Ovdim b'eretz Asher (those lost in the Land of Ahur- Russian Jewry) and the Nidachim B'eretz Mitzraim or Egypt (those castaway in the Land of the two Tributaries of the Nile- Ethiopian Jewry).
(How Russian Jewry is a big part of the Lost from the Land of Ashur is a blog unto itself. It has to do with many from this segment of Northern Kingdom remnant were absorbed by the Khazars. Khazar was one of the ten sons of Togarmah, the Turks. In the 8th century the entire Khazar kingdom converted to Judaism because of the convincing arguments of Rav Yehudah Almangari as described by R. Yehudah HaLevi about 400 years later in the "Kuzari". For the Jews in that kingdom it was a massive rediscovery of their ancient faith 13 centuries after Senchariv destroyed the Northern Kingdom. In the 13th century the Khazar kingdom was destroyed by the expanding Russian Empire, causing the Jewish Khazars to travel north and meet up with a large population of Jews migrating east from Ashkenaz. Together they formed the bulk of what is now called Eastern European Ashkenazic Jewry. This would mean that a significant segment of Ashkenazic Jewry are descendents of the 9 1/2 Tribes Lost in the land of Ashur who recodiscovered who they actually were when they reconverted back to Judaism in the 8th century!)
Getting back to our saga, if the year 5750 is High Noon on Friday and the year 6000 is sunset, then parts of the globe start to enter Yom she'kulo Shabbat (the era that is always Shabbat) starting in the year 5750. Yet, we can only be sure that someplace has entered Shabbat if before 5750 it was west of the Tzeis Kochavim line (102 degrees to the east of Yerushalayim). For the purpose of making the math easy. let us round off the 102 degree figure to 100 degrees for the following division. Over the course of 250 years between 5750 and the year 6000, 100 degrees on the globe east of Yerushalayim will enter Yom She'kulo Shabbat (the day that is completely Shabbat). By then Mashiach will already need to be here in order to provide proper leadership to a huge percentage of the world's population! This means that at a rate of 250 years divided by 100 degrees the world is entering Shabbat at a rate of 2.5 years per degree since 5750. The first test was Kobe, Japan. Since it is just under 2 degrees to the west of the Tseis Kochavim line, a great Shabbat like judgement needed to occur there 2 degrees times 2.5 years per degree which equals 5 years after the year 5750. Sure enough, Kobe experienced a great earthquake in 1995 (5755) in which over 5000 people were killed. The next place to cross over into Yom SheKulo Shabbat is South Korea starting at 129 degrees east longitude. This is a full 8 degrees east of the Tseis Kochavim line. 8 degrees times 2 1/2 years per degree is 20 years after 5750 or 5770. I figure that some readers might be interested in that year, for the Lubavitcher Rebbe had tremendous insight into the process of the coming Messianic Era, probably more insight than most Gadolim of the previous generation whose expertise lay in other areas. The entire "Twilight Zone" of 12 degrees between 125 degrees east and 137 degrees east (90- 102 degrees east of Yerushalayim) takes place over a period of 12 times 2.5 = 30 years (from 5750-5780). It is within that thirty year period that the "Twilight Zone" period of world history needs to begin to reach complete conclusion, for the suffek (doubt) about what day it is, Friday or Shabbat, ends for certain parts of the globe at that time when parts of the globe less than 90 degrees to the east of Yerushalayim enter into Yom SheKulo Shabbat.
One of the intriguing halakhic issue about what day of the week it is when a country or continent straddle the "Twilight Zone" is solved by where most of the country or continent are located. Are they located to the east or the west of the "Bain HaShmashot" grey area. If most of the land mass of a particular country or continent is located to the west or east of this grey area, areas within the "bain HaShmashot" grey area will according to many opinions take on the day of the week of the rest of the land area of a particular island country or continent as in the case of Japan or the Philippines. Most of Japan is to the east of the "Twilight Zone" and most of the Philippines are to the west of the "Zone". Therefore, by this logic Japan enters Shabbat 18 hours after Israel enters Shabbat, and the Philippines enters Shabbat six hours before Israel does. The continent of Australia has its own problem. The "Twilight Zone" cuts the continent in two. How the Jews of Sydney and Melbourne work through this problem would be appreciated as a response to this blog. Yet, one thing is for sure. Both Sydney and Melbourne are safely not inside the "Twilight Zone". The fact that they celebrate Shabbat when according to the mishna in Rosh HaShanah it is really Friday is an answer to another shayla only partially related to the fact that the Koreas are the only two countries on the planet which are completely or almost completely within the "Twilight Zone". Their status is therefore very unique. On one hand they are attached to Asia via a peninsula, putting them in the camp of halakhic opinion that they preceed Yerushalayim into Shabbat. Yet, since they are over 90 degrees to the east of Yerushalayim but less than 102 degrees, their status is truly a suffek d'oraitah (Torah doubt over a particular fact or principle.) Therefore we must be strict in assuming that when the Koreas cross into Yom She'kulo Shabbat, all of Heaven and Hell will break loose at the same time. Perhaps this is why with regards to the Korban Olah (fully burnt offering) which will be sacrificed in Batzrah, according to Leviticus, the "Koraim" will be placed on the altar. The word Koraim is itself peculiar in that while a sheep or goat may have four legs, the word literally means "two limbs" or for our purpose, "two Koreas." What the Koreas have to do with Batzrah, the capital of Shiite Southern Iraq, time will tell. Given that Gog W. has identified North Korea and Shiite Iran as part of his "Axis of Evil" perhaps provides us with a key into understanding what the nuclear program in both countries means to the economic survival of Edom's empire.
posted by Dov Bar-Leib at 12/31/2005 10:25:00 PM
8 Comments:
Happy new years from Canada
Your blog is very interesting.
Keep on going !
Your posts give us all faith that we are coming closer to a great time! You see things in a way that very few people do. Keep it up!
Great and clear dissertation. Keep it up. Eliyahu, shchen shelcha.
First of all, Yishar Koach.
45 minutes would be 31.25 years, which would bring you to 5781.
It could be, though, that high noon was really 5751 (the Rebbe indicated this, among others), and not 5750. This would bring us to 5782.
This said, it could be that Din starts with times related to Korea, but would the Geula itself not likely be at a time relevant to Eretz Yisrael?
Perhaps consider the following. It seems that Chazal put back the clock 163 years around the time of Galut Bavel. This is very close to four "hours".
If so, .75 hours after high noon is really already 1.25 hours before sunset. And that is P'lag HaMincha, the time Shabbat can be ushered in...
If you want to go with this, understand that 163 years is actually 3.66 years short of four hours. Add this to 31.25, and you get 34.91 years. If you start at 5751, it will bring you to 5786.
Now, we still have to be careful. This would be the very first time the Geula could come be'ita. It could still be later. May we be zochim to usher in Shabbat as early as we can.
Wow, my head is spinning! I'm not sure I understand completely, but even still, it is very exciting!
It is very interesting that you point out the siginificance that Korea will have in the time before Moshiach comes. I have read that HaRav Nachmani ZT'L said over 10 years ago (in the early 1990's I think), and I also verified this with his son, that HaRav Nachmani indeed said that the Jews (I believe he said specifically in Eretz Yisrael) need to do big teshuva because a county called Korea has a nuclear weapon specially destined for them Chas v'Shalom.
HaRav Nachmani based this on the pasuk in Shiras Haazinu which says (I don't have a chumash in front of me at this moment so I will try my best at quoting the pasuk) that "Aish Kadcha B'Api . . . Ad Sheol Tachtis" and that the word Sheol should be read Seoul ("Sin" instead of a "Shin") the capital of South Korea and that this pasuk is a reference that a nuclear fire will originate from Korea.
Please note that Seoul is the capital of SOUTH Korea, while the current nuclear threat appears to be from NORTH Korea, and I don't know what this portends for the future. (Dov, perhaps this is connected in someway with the distinction you drew between the different positions in the Twilight Zone between North Korea and South Korea).
Any word from you R' Bar-Lev on the momentous collapse of Sharon?
This from Yair Davidy of Britam re the Khazars:
"The extract you quoted from looks impressive but it is not really saying anything that is substantiated. The idea that the Lost Ten Tribes are amongst the Ashkenazic Jews exists. The Natziv may have thought along such lines. Nevertheless it does not accord with most of the sources cf. Nachmanides: Sefer Ha-Geulah; Maharal: Netzach Yisrael; etc. It is also very difficult from a Biblical Studies perspective and from a simple reading of history. It may be that here and there offshoots from the Ten Tribes did join themselves to Judah and that in some areas they were of significance. We do not think however that they were anywhere really predominant. Most of the Lost Ten Tribes remained that way, i.e. lost. We have a work on the Khazars.
"The Khazars. Tribe 13"
http://www.britam.org/Khazarbook.html
This work contains much serious research but has of yet gone largely unappreciated.
The Khazars were indeed from both Judah and from the Ten Tribes. Many of them did become Jewish. Exactly what proportion of Jews actually descend from them however is problematic. A few isolated villages in Hungary and Romania had traditions that may, or may not, have been genuine. There are place-names in Poland that might indicate something or might not. Apart from that there seems to be no real unequivocal indications of Khazar ancestry.
At all events, it is quite clear that most of the Ten Tribes remained in Exile. They were either unconscious of their ancestry or only hazily aware of it. "
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