One Final Tekiah Gedolah For those Who Deny that the First Two Have Already Occurred.

 This will be a post where I need to write in shorthand because frankly, Time is short.  If we look at Musaph Rosh HaShanah davening, we notice several things about the Order of prayers called Malkhuyot (Verses of Kingship), Zikhronot (Verses of Remembrance), and Shofarot (Verses of Blasts from the Ram's Horn).  Each set has three verses from the Torah, three verses from the Holy Writings (usually from the Book of Psalms), and then three verses from the Prophets (Nevua) followed by another final verse from the Torah.  One can say that the entire essence of the Day of Judgement (1st of Tishrei, the 7th month) is wrapped up in those three themes.  We have a once a year Coronation ceremony for HaShem Elokim as King of the Universe, actually twice per year since we repeat the Coronation on the 2nd of Tishrei because of doubt if the New Moon for Tishrei was actually seen.  So that part is Malkhuyot.  We also ask HaShem Elokim to remember the righteousness of the spiritual Giants who were our forbearers, Zikhronot, taking "advantage" of G-d's stated Holy attribute that while He recalls the sins of the ancestors for three or four generations in Judgement for the non-penitent, He remembers with Kindness the righteousness of one's ancestors for 1000 or thousands of generations.  Since Sinai if we count each generation as about 30 years between one Dor and the next, we have only passed the torch of Torah 112 times.  So we are well within our 1000 generation limit.  If we go back to Abraham, there are only an additional 6 generations between Abraham and Moses for a total of 118 generations, again well within our 1000 generation limit.  By recalling the merit of our ancestors on Rosh HaShanah, we definitely add "weight" to our balance of merit vs debts owed on our personal Scale of Justice, for which Tishrei is known amongst the Mazalot (signs of the Tzedeq of G-d aka the Zodiac).  By the way, I am using the Name HaShem Elokim here because this refers to the Name of G-d on the Throne of Judgement in the 5th Heaven as opposed to the Name of HaShem alone on His Throne of Mercy in the 7th Heaven.  Also when Adam and Chava were thrown out of Gan Eden on Rosh HaShanah 5783 years ago, it is precisely by that Name that He is known in the Torah on that First Day of Judgement in the Year 1.  (Only on a deeper level was there are Year 0.)

This brings us to Shofarot, the blasts of the Ram's Horn, for which this Day is known in the Written Torah as Yom Teruah (Numbers 29:1) or Yom Zikhron Teruah (Lev 23:24).  On Rosh HaShanah, according to the Torah, we are obligated to hear three sets of three (Tekiah, Teruah, Tekiah) for a sum total of 9 Shofar blasts!  Yet, because there is a Saffek D'Oraita (doubt about the nature of a Torah commandment) on what is a Teruah, we need to hear three possible combinations of what a Teruah might be as the middle blast in each set of three.  9 short blasts is called a Teruah by our Machzorim, and 3 mid-range blasts is called Shevarim.  And then the possibility that a Teruah is 3 mid-range blasts followed by 9 short blasts also must be taken into account.  Since we call Shevarim- Teruah two separate blasts even though the one who calls for the blasts mentions them both at the same time, taking into account the potential doubt of what a Teruah might actually be, we need to hear 30 blasts of the Shofar on Rosh HaShanah.  

3 x (Tekiah, Shevarim- Teruah, Tekiah) = total of 9 or 12 blasts.  Each Tekiah is simply one long blast of the Shofar.  The Teruah is the broken blast.

3 x (Tekiah, Shevarim, Tekiah) = total of 9 blasts

3 x (Tekiah, Teruah, Tekiah) = total of 9 blasts for a final total of 27 or 30 blasts.  Probably we should count Shevarim- Teruah as one blast because that combination might be the ancient Teruah after all.  So in reality there are 27 total blasts.  What is important to remember though is that IF we knew precisely what a Teruah was supposed to sound like, we would only be obligated in hearing 9 blasts of the Shofar on both days of Rosh HaShanah!  So why nine blasts?

Our sages give many reasons for these 3 sets of 3 blasts of the Shofar on Rosh HaShanah.  One of these reasons is that we need to chop up The Satan's accusations with the instrument that sounds most like a wailing man crying bitter tears.  So the custom is to blow the Shofar on the right side of one's mouth because The Heavenly Accuser/Prosecutor stands to the right of the Accused which is to the Left of G-d's Heavenly Throne during which the 3 mid-range or 9 short blasts of Teruah cut The Satan's accusations into pieces on the very day of our yearly trial before the King of the Universe.  Why do we need three Teruot?  Because The Satan has three roles in the world:

1. To enhance our existing Yetzer HaRa when we are being tested to see if we can overcome our Evil Inclination.  The Satan enhances this Yetzer HaRa when we are being tested to, according to G-d's standards, have a 50/50 chance of passing a test.  In many cases doing the right thing might be very easy, but if the Satan is involved in making the test more difficult, other extenuating factors will be added to make the test on honest exam.  Only in this way can we have true moral free will to pass or fail the test.  What is interesting is that the only day of the year where The Satan does not enhance our Yetzer HaRa is on Purim (14th and 15th of Adar).  In a year with 2 Adars, I do not know if this applies to Purim Qatan in Adar Rishon.  So if a person has subdued his/her Yetzer HaRa by Purim, they will not sin on that day...... even if he/she is drunk, for The Satan will not push a righteous drunk person into the situation of being tested on that day.

2. As the Heavenly Prosecutor from which he gets the name HaSatan:  The Satan is active the entire year, but just like he takes one day off from his role as the Enhancer of our Yetzer HaRa, he takes another day off from his role as the Heavenly Prosecutor.  That day is Yom Kippur.  We see this in his name itself, השטן, The Gematriah of which is 364.  So for 364 days in a solar year he is active in Heaven, but on Yom Kippur, he is absent from that role (if we heard the Shofar 8 and 9 days earlier on Rosh HaShanah and if we are fasting like angels to merit being before the Throne of Mercy in the 7th Heaven on the 10th of Tishrei.)  So there are stipulations to not being prosecuted by the Satan on Yom Kippur.

3. As the Angel of Death or the Malakh HaMavet.  Once again he is active in this role all year long, but there is one day a year where part of his role as the Angel of Death is taken away from him.  That day is Hoshana Rabbah (the 7th Day of Sukkot, 21st of Tishrei) when only G-d Himself slays the very wicked and sits in Judgement of the final status of where the various nations of the world will be one year later in terms of their physical existence and their well being.  Spiritual judgements are written and sealed before the Full Moon of Tishrei, but one's physical judgement descends through the 7 Heavens over the 7 days of Sukkot starting with the Full Moon for that month.  This applies especially to nations because unlike Israel, most nations as nations do not have a world to come.  Human beings as individuals have a World to Come, but Nations (except for Israel) do not.  So Hoshana Rabbah is a unique day where the Angel of Death, in part, takes a rest.

For those who keep the custom, it is customary on all three of these days to eat a three cornered pastry in honor of The Satan's reduced prowess on these three days.  Every one knows about HamanTaschen (Haman's three cornered ears on Purim), but the custom also extends to Erev Yom Kippur and Hoshana Rabbah (in the Sukkah) where many eat kreplach in the Ashkenazic world which is a three cornered meat or potato pastry.  

So getting back to the main plot, we have specifically three sets of three blasts of the Shofar because, for one, the three Teruot need to chop up the three various roles of the Satan on that day.  And that must be done with the horn of preferably a Ram, because a Ram more than any other Qorban "accentuates our positive commandments and our positive midot" to contrast with the Satan's accusations, something that can be discussed at another time, and it sounds most like the wailing tears of a human being (9 short blasts or 3 mid-sized blasts or the combination of the two described above).  Notice, the Satan is fully active on Rosh HaShanah in all three capacities mentioned above.  So all three roles must be chopped into pieces by an instrument that most represents our tears.

Alas, we get to the part where one must ask, "Ok, I get the need for the three Teru'ot on Rosh HaShanah, but why must we add a Tekiah before and after each Teruah like bookends?"  What is the purpose of a Tekiah before and after each Teruah to give us a Tekiah Teruah Tekiah sandwich?   Well according to the Sages of our Ages (Chaza"l), the Torah in Parshat Yithro mentions that at Matan Torah we heard three blasts of the Shofar.  There are only three references to Kol Shofar or Kol HaShofar in chapter 19 and 20 of Shemot (Exodus) when the first two of the Ten Statements were given directly by G-d and where the remaining eight were given by G-d through Moshe as an intermediary.  (The people were frightened that they might die if they heard all Ten Statements directly from HaQodesh Barukh Hu.)  What is fascinating is that one can even see this in the text of the first two Commandments compared to the last eight commandments.  The first two refer to G-d in the 1st Person(אנוכי הי אלקיך in the first Commandment and לֹא-יִהְיֶה לְךָ אֱלֹהִים אֲחֵרִים, עַל-פָּנָי or וְעֹשֶׂה חֶסֶד, לַאֲלָפִים--לְאֹהֲבַי, וּלְשֹׁמְרֵי מִצְוֺתָי in the 2nd Commandment.)  I am HaShem you G-d, You will not have other (false) gods in MY presence, and I the L-rd your G-d.......who does lovingkindness to the 1000th generation for those who love Me and for those who observe MY Commandments.  While in the Third Commandment we already see G-d being referred to in the Third person:  כִּי לֹא יְנַקֶּה יְהוָה, אֵת אֲשֶׁר-יִשָּׂא אֶת-שְׁמוֹ לַשָּׁוְא.  For HaShem will not clean up the damage of those who carry HIS Name in vain.  From here we can clearly see that starting with the Third Commandment, Moshe gave over the Statements as an intermediary because Klal Yisrael had complained of the overwhelming power of hearing G-d's voice, directly, in the first two Commandments that they might die.  But with regards to these Shofar blasts we know that they were Tekiot and not Teruot from the second blast where it says in Chapter 19: verse 19:  

יט  וַיְהִי קוֹל הַשֹּׁפָר, הוֹלֵךְ וְחָזֵק מְאֹד; מֹשֶׁה יְדַבֵּר, וְהָאֱלֹהִים יַעֲנֶנּוּ בְקוֹל. 19 And when the voice of the ram's horn waxed louder and louder (or waxed continuously louder), Moses spoke, and God answered him by a voice.

The "waxing louder and louder" or "waxing continuously louder" reference can only refer to a longer single blast of the Shofar and NOT a broken blast.  So if all three Kol Shofar references are to be equivalent in their essence, then all three of them were a Teki'ah.  We learn the same from verse 13 where we see that the blast of the Shofar, which is blown when the Divine Presence is on the Mountain, will be elongated, that is a Single blast called here a Yovel.  This instruction in verse 13 was actually given on the 3rd of Siwan, three days before the events of the 6th (or 7th) of Siwan.  So this statement about the elongated blast was a preparation for the fateful day of Matan Torah itself:

יג  לֹא-תִגַּע בּוֹ יָד, כִּי-סָקוֹל יִסָּקֵל אוֹ-יָרֹה יִיָּרֶה--אִם-בְּהֵמָה אִם-אִישׁ, לֹא יִחְיֶה; בִּמְשֹׁךְ, הַיֹּבֵל, הֵמָּה, יַעֲלוּ בָהָר. 13 no hand shall touch him, but he shall surely be stoned, or shot through; whether it be beast or man, it shall not live; when the ram's horn soundeth long (sound is elongated), they shall come up to the mount (when the blast concludes). 

There seems to be a debate about whether we were supposed to ascend the Mountain to see G-d Face to face during the Tekiah blast, or whether we were correct to wait until the end of the blast when the Shekhinah had departed before ascending the Mountain.  This matter is discussed here in detail.   Had we been ready to meet G-d Face to face while the Shofar blast was occurring, we likely would have never sinned at the Cheit HaEigel according to this drashah from the Har Etzion Yeshivah.

So if this summary of Matan Torah is correct, though, there were three Tekiot at Har Sinai, but looking closer at the Verses, only one of them was the Kol HaShofar.  One was the Voice of G-d.  A second was the Thunder from the Intensely Dark Cloud that gathered to conceal the Shekhinah's descent upon Mt. Sinai, and the Third was the long continuous Blast (Tekiah) of the Shofar itself.  I do not mean to skip over the depth of this, but the final subject of this Essay is the End of Days, not the Day of the Revelation at Sinai.  So we will leave this matter by mentioning that the Torah itself refers to this long Tekiah Shofar blast three times as Kol HaShofar.  This becomes more evidential when at the end of the 3 psukim from Torah, then for some reason 4 psukim from Psalms, and 3 more from the Prophets, the last pasuk from the Torah is not a Tekiah on the Shofar at all!  It is on the pair of Silver Trumpets that Moshe was commanded to fashion in Parshat BeHa'alotkha!  In the entire Torah there are only three Teki'ot of the Ram's horn (or one long tekiah or voice from the Noise of the thick, dark cloud on the mountain, one long tekiah from the ram's horn, and the Voice of G-d Himself) , the three Voices mentioned at the Revelation at Sinai.  All the other Tekiot mentioned are on the Silver Trumpets made by Moshe Rabbeinu for gathering the nation at the Tent of Meeting or for gathering the Princes of the tribes or for blowing the trumpets over elevation offerings and Peace offerings for Shabbatot, Festivals, and New Moons.  The Talmud DOES derive that when Trumpets were sounded on Shabbatot and Moadim, so were Shofarot, but this derivation is not in the Written Torah.

Now let us look at the pasukim (verses) for the Nevi'im, The Prophets.  During the Order of Malkhuyot (Kingship), all the p'sukim of course deal with the Crowning of G-d as King of the Universe.  Two of them are prophetic for the End of Days, but only one of them gives us specific information about a specific event, when Saviors will ascend Mt. Tzion to judge Mt. Esav (Vesuvius), and the Kingdom will belong to HaShem.  The intent of these three p'sukim though is not to provide the Roadmap for Redemption at the End of Days.  The intent to instill Reverence for G-d.  Then we come to the Three verses from the Prophets in Zikhronot (Remembrances).  This time the prophets are focusing on the Greatness of our Ancestors or the Spiritual bond that HaShem had with one particular ancestor, Ephraim the son of Yosef and Osnat.  So the Prophetic verses here reflect on our past, not on our future.  Remember the purpose of these verses is to add credit or weight the Scale of Justice in Heaven in Our favor by recounting the Righteousness of our ancestors or the Joy that they gave to HaShem.  The third verse here though is significant because of the final role of Mashiach ben Ephraim (Yehonatan Pollard?) in the month of Adar Sheini (The 2nd month of the Fish) of the Final Redemption, mentioning it here (Yirm 31:19)  

יט  הֲבֵן יַקִּיר לִי אֶפְרַיִם, אִם יֶלֶד שַׁעֲשֻׁעִים--כִּי-מִדֵּי דַבְּרִי בּוֹ, זָכֹר אֶזְכְּרֶנּוּ עוֹד; עַל-כֵּן, הָמוּ מֵעַי לוֹ--רַחֵם אֲרַחֲמֶנּוּ, נְאֻם-יְהוָה.

19 Is Ephraim a darling son unto Me? Is he a child that is dandled? For as often as I speak of him, I do earnestly remember him still; therefore My heart yearneth for him, I will surely have compassion upon him, saith the LORD.

Finally, we get to the three verses from the Prophets on the End of Days Shofar blasts, and I can verily promise that the first two Shofar blasts are NOT prophesies for the distant future.  They are Tekiot that have already occurred.  In all three cases, these are blasts commemorating specific events which are duteously described in the verses themselves.  And even if the first two blasts are inverted according to Nusach Ashkenaz and Nusach Eidot HaMizrach (Sephardic and Babylonian and Persian Jews), their themes are in chronological order.  According to Nusach Ashkenaz:

Isaiah (Yishayahu) 18:3 כָּל-יֹשְׁבֵי תֵבֵל, וְשֹׁכְנֵי אָרֶץ, כִּנְשֹׂא-נֵס הָרִים תִּרְאוּ, וְכִתְקֹעַ שׁוֹפָר תִּשְׁמָעוּ.  {ס} 3 All ye inhabitants of the world, and ye dwellers on the earth, as an ensign (flag) is lifted up on the mountains, you will see it; and as the ram's horn is blown (like the blowing of a ram's horn), you will hear it.

This is a prophesy about the Founding of the State of Israel.  The flag raised in the Mountains was the establishment of (West) Yerushalayim as the capital of the new state.  Yet, because the State was established by International Socialists and some Communists, the State was founded by the Erev Rav as a husk to protect what was within it.  So what was heard throughout the world was "like" the blast of a Shofar.  It has accomplished four goals necessary as a foundation for the Messianic Era, with the process of Mashiach ben Yosef working within its midst.

1. The Ingathering of at least 6 million Jews since the State was founded by just over 600,000 Jews

2. The building of the physical infrastructure that will be used in the Messianic Era

3. The establishment of Torah institutions by those who wanted to establish them often with financial help from the State itself

4. The uncovering of Archeology of our distant past from the Altar of Yehoshua bin Nun on Mt. Eibal through the Bar Kokhba Revolt attaching our distant past to our brighter future

One can safely say that that particular Shofar blast that was Like the Tekiah of a Shofar was on the 5th of Iyar 5708.  The rest of the sound and light show associated with the founding of the State will soon be transformed into the earthly Footstool for the Heavenly Throne.

Years ago during August of 1989, Rav Motti Berger of Aish HaTorah came to speak at the Jewish Federation of S. Louis in what was a main Auditorium in the Jewish Federation Bldg.  What he had to say that August was shocking in every respect of that word.  He gave over a Dvar Torah of the Vilna Gaon that the Ingathering of the exiles expressed in the next verse would occur 3/4 through the 6th Millennium (either in 5750 or in 5751) because high noon on the 6th day is 3/4 of the way through Yom Shishi, and at that moment Shofar blowers would ascend hills and mountains in Eretz Yisrael to blow a Tekiah to call Israel in from her fields to prepare for Shabbat.  Until High noon on Friday, one could do mundane work and labor as one did the other days of the week (Sunday - Thursday), but at high noon, only work which was necessary to prepare for Shabbat could be done.  The reason for the possible discrepancy between 5750 and 5751 as to whether the ingathering would begin in which of those two years is because the Gaon was not 100% sure on whether the 6000 years of Olam HaZeh would end at the end of the year 5999 or at the end of the year 6000.  If Olam HaZeh ends at the end of the year 5999, then the 3/4 mark was in the year 5750.  If it ended at the end of the year 6000, then the 3/4 mark was in the year 5751.  I remember this was an issue when years ago we were discussing the beginning of Mincha Gedolah of the 6th Millennium or 12:30pm on Yom Shishi after which Mashiach could only come b'itah since all the Achishena dates had passed.  So doing the calculation, that date was either Rosh Chodesh Av 5770 or Rosh Chodesh Av 5771, once again depending on the same criterion whether the 6th Millennium ended at the end of 5999 or at the end of the year 6000.  So here is the 2nd verse of Nevua in Shofarot Musaph Rosh HaShanah according to Nusach Ashkenaz/ Sephard Chassidim:  Isaiah 27:13

 וְהָיָה בַּיּוֹם הַהוּא, יִתָּקַע בְּשׁוֹפָר גָּדוֹל, וּבָאוּ הָאֹבְדִים בְּאֶרֶץ אַשּׁוּר, וְהַנִּדָּחִים בְּאֶרֶץ מִצְרָיִם; וְהִשְׁתַּחֲווּ לַיהוָה בְּהַר הַקֹּדֶשׁ, בִּירוּשָׁלִָם.  {פ} 13 And it shall come to pass in that day, that a great ram's horn shall be blown; and they shall come that were lost in the land of Assyria, and they that were dispersed in the land of Egypt; and they shall worship the LORD in the holy mountain at Jerusalem.

Notice the uptick from the previous Shofar blast.  This blast is a REAL Shofar blast, but the blowing of the Tekiah is in the passive voice.  So we do not know which Angelic being in Shamayim blew the Shofar in 5750/51.

Now I realize that the Temple has not yet been rebuilt.  So the last part of this verse has yet to occur, but it is noteworthy what the Gaon said next.  According to Rav Berger, the Gaon juxtaposed this verse about a Shofar blast being blown in Isaiah 27 with the ingathering of the exiles described in Yirmiyahu 31, specifically this verse 31:7:

  הִנְנִי מֵבִיא אוֹתָם מֵאֶרֶץ צָפוֹן, וְקִבַּצְתִּים מִיַּרְכְּתֵי-אָרֶץ--בָּם עִוֵּר וּפִסֵּחַ, הָרָה וְיֹלֶדֶת יַחְדָּו:  קָהָל גָּדוֹל, יָשׁוּבוּ הֵנָּה. 7 Behold, I will bring them from the land of the north (of Eretz Yisrael), and gather them from the uttermost parts of the earth, and with them the blind and the lame, the woman with child and her that travaileth with child together; a great company shall they return hither.

From here we see that this Shofar blast would be heard and would be FIRST manifest in the world with a massive ingathering of all the Jews north of Israel.  The Vilna Gaon seems to be referring here to all the Jews of Russia or Eastern Europe which was due north of Eretz Yisrael.  Now perhaps this might also refer to Turkey, but since 1948 (5708) a Jew in Turkey could make Aliyah under his own auspices.  He did not need a Shofar blast to bring Turkish Jews on Aliyah.  Taking a Turkish Airline Aliyah flight to Israel in 1990 or 1991 was not a big deal, and it certainly did not require a Shofar blast.  But from Eastern Europe, behind the Iron Curtain?  A miracle would be needed.  Now this is where the Vilna Gaon seems to require one to use his/her head to see when that Shofar blast might occur.  Just 7 verses later, we see in whose merit this great ingathering would take place!  Yirm 31:14-16

 כֹּה אָמַר יְהוָה, קוֹל בְּרָמָה נִשְׁמָע נְהִי בְּכִי תַמְרוּרִים--רָחֵל, מְבַכָּה עַל-בָּנֶיהָ; מֵאֲנָה לְהִנָּחֵם עַל-בָּנֶיהָ, כִּי אֵינֶנּוּ.  {ס} 14 Thus saith the LORD: A voice is heard in Ramah, lamentation, and bitter weeping, Rachel weeping for her children; she refuseth to be comforted for her children, because they are not. {S}

טו  כֹּה אָמַר יְהוָה, מִנְעִי קוֹלֵךְ מִבֶּכִי, וְעֵינַיִךְ, מִדִּמְעָה:  כִּי יֵשׁ שָׂכָר לִפְעֻלָּתֵךְ נְאֻם-יְהוָה, וְשָׁבוּ מֵאֶרֶץ אוֹיֵב. 15 Thus saith the LORD: Refrain thy voice from weeping, and thine eyes from tears; for thy work shall be rewarded, saith the LORD; and they shall come back from the land of the enemy.

טז  וְיֵשׁ-תִּקְוָה לְאַחֲרִיתֵךְ, נְאֻם-יְהוָה; וְשָׁבוּ בָנִים, לִגְבוּלָם.  {ס} 16 And there is hope for thy future, saith the LORD; and thy children shall return to their own border.

Lo and behold, the puzzle is unlocked.  The Great Shofar blast of the 6th Millennium (Isaiah 27:13) which would FIRST bring in the Jews from the North of Eretz Yisrael would occur in the merit of Rachel our Matriarch, most likely on her Jahrzeit, the date of her death, when her merits appear yearly before the Heavenly Court (the 11th of Marcheshvan 5750 or 5751!!)

Now, keep in mind that Rav Berger came and gave this talk during August of 1989.  Rosh HaShanah 5750 was about one month to five weeks away.  We did not have to wait long for the Jahrzeit of Rachel Immeinu in the year 5750.  So the 11th of MarCheshvan 5750 was the 9th of November 1989.  On that very day the Great Shofar blast was blown, and in came the Bnei Ephraim from the Land of Ashur from the North country.  On that very day, the Berlin Wall came crashing to the Ground!  And into Eretz Yisrael poured about 1 1/2 million Eastern European Jews, just as the Vilna Gaon predicted about 200 years before it happened.  So if you want a definitive date for the Great Shofar Tekiah of the 6th Millennium, it was on the 11th of MarCheshvan 5750.  For every Jew in the world, if you are davening for that Shofar blast on Rosh HaShanah to occur for you, perhaps perhaps you missed the frequency of that blast.  It is history.  It has already occurred, over 34 years ago.

Oh, but we are not finished yet.  There were two ingatherings predicted for that two year period.  Only one of them was the Lost from the Land of Ashur (Assyria).  There would be another group of ancient Northern Kingdom Israelites who would be "Castaway in the Land of Mitzraim (Egypt)" who would also be ingathered during either 5750 and 5751.   For this we need to learn a bit of Oral History from Ethiopian Jews.  In the early 1980s before Operation Moses in 1984- Jan 1985, I spent about 6 months in Arad, Israel.  At that time Begin had been quietly ingathering Ethiopian Jews and bringing them home to Israel.  For whatever reason, the Absorption Centers in Arad were half-filled by Ethiopian immigrants.  The other half were immigrants from the rest of the world.  And I became friendly with a few families, and they told me their history in the Galut of Shwa along the tributary of the Blue Nile in Gondar Province.  Apparently, Shlomo HaMelekh and the Queen of Sheba had a son named Menelik.  He was sent to Shlomo's Kingdom by the Queen to be raised in Shlomo's Palace around the year 995 bce (taking into account Rav Shimon Schwab's tikkun of 165 years).  Upon King Shlomo's death around 965 bce, Menelik returned to Schwa with Shlichim from the Tribe of Dan to convert the entire Royal household to Judaism.  240- 245 years later around the year 722 bce, tragedy strikes the Northern Kingdom of Israel.  Shalmanezer the 5th followed by Sargon II who overthrew Shalmanezer V in a Palace coup sacked Samaria and exiled most of the Northern Kingdom to the eastern most realms of the Assyrian Empire.  Many of the northernmost tribes of Asher, Naftali, and the part of Dan that had conquered SE Lebanon had already been taken prisoner, and they were being used as slave porters for the Assyrian Army in later invasions of Judea, The Sea People's Palestine (Philistia) and later on Egypt around 670 bce by Esserhaddon son of Senncharrib who extended the Assyrian Empire down to Southern Egypt.  (I believe the southernmost city in Esserhaddon's reign was Memphis, Mitzraim (not Tennessee).  Upon doing this, he gave his Israelite porters whom he no longer needed a choice to be exiled to the far-eastern portion of the Assyrian Empire OR to leave his Empire for Sub-Saharan Africa.  Around 670 bce,  almost 300 years after the founding of the Jewish Kingdom of Schwa in Ethiopia, these "Castaway" Israelites departed the Assyrian Empire for Sub-Saharan Africa.  They became the Nidachim b'Eretz Mitzraim in the Isaiah 27 prophesy above and joined the existing Jewish kingdom in Ethiopia around 670 bce.  For over 2650 years they remained there, even when the kings of Ethiopia converted to Xtianity and took on non-Jewish wives.  Those kings were still descendants of King Shlomo, but they were no longer Jewish kings.  

Still the Beita Yisrael of Ethiopia remained there.  They had a legend that their portion of the tributary to the Blue Nile from Lake Tana in Northern Ethiopia roared all week long with rushing waters, but on Shabbat it was calm and placid.  Yet, they could not leave their villages for Eretz Yisrael on Shabbat by crossing the Blue Nile to return to Israel.  So they named that portion of the Blue Nile, the Sanbat River, Amhari or ancient Ge'ez for Shabbat.  (I am not kidding here.  This is their own Oral history.)  When Operation Moses occurred, people had to make a 1000 mile trek to the Sudanese Desert from Gondar Province where Pres Numeri of Sudan was secretly allowing Israeli cargo jets to land and take off with Israelites who had made the trek.  The operation went smoothly for about two months, rescuing about 7000 more Ethiopian Jews above the 7000 Israelites that Begin had been able to rescue earlier in the 1980s.  It was suddenly stopped when the Arab World found out and pressured Numeri to stop the Operation.  About 1000 Ethiopians were trapped in the Sudanese Desert until March when God HW Bush Sr. as Vice-President rescued whoever had not starved to death or died of thirst in the Desert in another operation called Yehoshua.  And there things remained for over 6 years, nuclear families split in two.  Half of some families were in Eretz Yisrael and half were in Ethiopia under the Communist Govt of Mengistu Miriam.  In 1991 during the Civil War in Ethiopia, the Eritrean People's front in encroaching on the capital Addis Ababa.  Suddenly in mid-May 1991 the Communist govt loses control of the Airport.  The Israeli govt realized that they had a 48 hour window to sweep into Addis Ababa and rescue the approximately 16000 to 18000 Ethiopian Jews who are in a compound run by the North American Council or Conference on Ethiopian Jewry that had been operating there as a refuge for over 6 years to reunite all the nuclear families that were split in two after Operation Moses.  It is May 24th and 25th, and guess what?  It is Friday afternoon and Shabbat, Parshat Nasso, and during that 36 hour period, precisely at the time that the Sanbat River became placid for 2650 years, 16,000 to 18,000 Ethiopian Jews were rescued in Operation Shlomo.    But wait a minute!  It was not Parshat Nasso in Eretz Yisrael.  That year Seder night had been on Shabbat, and there was an 8th day of Pesach on Shabbat outside of Israel.  So Eretz Yisrael was on the following week's parshah on the Shabbat of the 24th of May (11th of Siwan 5751).  In Eretz Yisrael when they landed it was Parshat be'Ha'alotcha not Parshat Nasso.  At the very end of Parshat Be'Ha'alotcha Miriam, the sister of Moshe gets tzara'at (leprosy) because she spoke lashon hara about her brother marrying a black woman!  No joke.  This was the Parshah in that miraculous two year period of 5750 and 5751 when HaShem rescued the Nidachim b'Eretz Mitzraim, the Beita Yisrael of Ethiopia.  So if anyone wants to challenge the Vilna Gaon on the veracity of his word that that Second Shofar blast for Geulah has already occurred over 30 years ago, you will need to challenge the established historical facts.  וְהָיָה בַּיּוֹם הַהוּא, יִתָּקַע בְּשׁוֹפָר גָּדוֹל, וּבָאוּ הָאֹבְדִים בְּאֶרֶץ אַשּׁוּר, וְהַנִּדָּחִים בְּאֶרֶץ מִצְרָיִם has already occurred. 

There is only one Shofar blast left, and it is occurring as I write this.  And contrary to what many say, the Shofar blast in Zekharia 9 that brings Mashiach relates to WW3 beginning in Yemen.  The last Shofar blast for Geulah in Shofarot Rosh HaShanah is:

Zekharia 9:14  יד  וַיהוָה עֲלֵיהֶם יֵרָאֶה, וְיָצָא כַבָּרָק חִצּוֹ; וַאדֹנָי יְהוִה בַּשּׁוֹפָר יִתְקָע, וְהָלַךְ בְּסַעֲרוֹת תֵּימָן. 14 And the LORD shall be seen over them, and His Arrow (Missile) shall go forth as the lightning (Laser-guided?); and the Lord GOD will blow HIS own personal ram's horn, and will go with Stormwinds of Yemen.

This prophesy above is the Final Shofar blast for Redemption.  Take it to the Judge.  Because of the late hour, I will continue at a later time, hopefully before we might lose Electricity near the beginning of Adar Sheini.