The Light of Redemption throughout the ages.

b.chadash ↓

Wed, Feb 08 2023, 2:11 am

This is really written as a spinoff from the Nagging questions thread, but I didn’t want to derail that thread, since it's not directly part of the current discussion. But I wanted to share the following ideas that I heard several years ago from Rabbi Mendel Kessin, as it touches on some of the themes that were brought up in that thread.

But first, a little background.

There is a well-known concept that the six days of creation parallels 6,000 years. So Sunday parallels the first Millennium, Monday the second, and so on. The world as we know it will cease to exist at the end of the 6th Millennium because then we will enter into Shabbos in the 7th Millennium.

Many commentators talk about this (for ex the Vilna Gaon in Kol Hator) . They explain that this is the key to understanding the redemption process. If you divide 1000 years by 24 hours (sha'os zmanios), each hour of creation corresponds to about 41.5 years of history. And we can figure out events in history based on this calculation.

This can be referred to as the Creation Calendar.

It is known that there was a special light that was created on the first day, called the Ohr Rishon. With this light, man could see from one end of creation to the other (Chagiga). You could see the connection between cause and effect, and reveal the existence of the unseen world of spirituality. This light was put away for the future, when Moshiach will come. It's also referred to as the Ohr Haganuz, or the Ohr Moshiach.

According to the Zohar, the Ohr Rishon will not suddenly come down at the end of time. The light will be too strong for people to take. Instead, when it gets closer to the end, the Ohr haganuz will begin to emerge from the kelipa (encasement) slowly, allowing people to get used to it.

When will this begin to happen? On Friday, erev Shabbos. Since we begin to prepare for Shabbos on Friday, so too we need to start preparing for Moshiach on Friday of the Creation Calendar. The year 5000, would be equivalent to Thursday night, which is when Friday begins. In the secular calendar, this would be the year 1240. (6 pm Thursday evening)

So, accordingly, this means that starting from the year 1240, the world has been slowly exposed to the Ohr Moshiach.

What does that mean in practical terms?
The Ohr Rishon is like a telescope. It allows one to see the inner essence of the thing. It allows you to see reality down to it's deepest level, to what causes this reality.

Here's the interesting part: The Ohr Rishon, once released, does not only benefit the Jews . It benefits all of mankind. It allows the revelation of any chochma. There is chochma bagoyim- which can be referred to as science. And then there is Torah.

What is science? Science is the study of the handiwork of Hashem. Science is mankind's understanding of the underpinnings of reality, be it on a macro level, micro, atomic, subatomic, nano, etc. It's the totality of knowledge.

This is nice in theory, but what is the proof in the historical record?

Rabbi Kessin explained how we can see how the world has evolved both from a scientific and a Torah perspective, in accordance with the Ohr Rishon. He then goes through historical events showing how these ideas are applied.

In the scientific world, Aristotle dominated the understanding of science for about 2000 years. However, around the year 1240, there emerged a new way of thinking called the Scientific Method. Aristotle was like an "armchair" scientist, but the scientific method (attributed to Roger Bacon) espoused the idea of experimentation. This allowed people to perceive the world on a deeper level.

Before, people had limited vision of the internal structure of the creation. But now, the Ohr Rishon emerged, and it enabled people to begin to see beyond. This is when science really took off.

This is true in the Torah world as well. Around this time in history, the Zohar, was discovered. The Zohar is the primary kabbalistic text which describes the study of the reality that is the cause of the physical reality, the spiritual forces that are behind the physical forces. It brought the study of the Torah to a whole new level.

Another revelation that took place around this time is that the Rambam wrote the Mishne Torah.

The Ohr Rishon does not only allow man to discover new knowledge, rather it is the force that unifies and synthesize the knowledge we already have. Instead of ideas being fragmented and disordered, we now had the Mishne Torah which was an organized and structured text based on the rulings of the gemara. This was an incredible development which changed how people learned. It organized the entire oral law. The Rambam was operating under the Ohr Rishon.

The next milestone would be close to dawn on Friday. Around the year 1560.
In the world of science, it moved forward with the revolutionary thinking of Sir Francis Bacon, who lived at this time. He took the idea of the Scientific Method much further with promoting the concept of induction. It's not enough to just prove a theory, you now can generalize based on your findings that there are other things that follow similar patterns. This was a huge step forward for science.

In the Torah world, the Arizal introduced one of the greatest increases of esoteric knowledge. He took the Zohar which is cryptic and analogous and explained the metaphor. (This is obviously a very simplistic way of explaining what each of these people did.)

Another advancement at this time was the writing of the Shulchan Aruch which organized and codified the entire body of halachic rulings in its application.

The next milestone would be dawn on Friday morning (Alos hashachar) This correspond to the year 5,500, equivalent to the secular year 1740 ( this also corresponds to the time when Adam Harishon was created during the 6 days of creation.)

Once again there were two stars that emerged.
In the world of science, there was Sir Isaac Newton with his Principia Mathematica, Laws of motion, etc. He was a key fugure in the scientific revolution.

In the Torah world, the Ramchal authored several sefarim, but mainly he organized the kabbala by presenting the nimshal of the Ari's meshalim. He uncovered the kabbalistic code, so to speak, and made kabbala accessible.

Again, the function of the Ohr Rishon is not just randomly releasing the ability to understand more knowledge. Rather it allows one to synthesize and structure the disordered material that was already out there, and it allows one to see the unity behind all the information. The entire creation is connected and interdependent. This is what scientists began to see. And this is what Torah scholars began to reveal to the world. All of Torah is connected like a magnificent tapestry.

Now comes Netz. Friday sunrise. This is equivalent to the year 1840/5600.
The Zohar said that the year 5600 there will be an incredible deluge of chochma (parallel to the deluge in Noach's time).
This is when the Industrial revolution happened. In every area of science and technology, things exploded. Many great scientist lived in this time, such as Farady, Maxwell, Einstein. They discovered electrical induction, the entire electromagnetic spectrum, quantum physics, radioactivity, etc.

On the Torah side, the yeshiva world emerged with a new way of analytical thinking used in learning, promoted by Rav Chaim and the Brisker derech. Today all yeshivos use this method of analysis. Its a method of making distinctions, which can break any given idea into many categories.

Moving along to Chatzos on Friday - it's almost Shabbos. Everyone is actively getting ready for Shabbos. This comes out to the year 1990.

At this point, the Ohr Rishon is coming down in greater intensity.
The acceleration of human knowledge is exponentially increased. Since 1990, around 7,500 scientific articles revealing cutting edge science are published every day.

Put it this way:
If a man from the year 50 BC would be transported into the future to the year 1000 CE, the world would not look so different. But if a man from 1900 would be transported to 2000 , he would not recognize a thing. Things have sped up so much, that many of us can remember living without cellphones, home computers...basic things that we take for granted today. As we get closer to the end, the intensity of the progression of this chochma increases. At first it was an arithmetic progression of chochma. Then it became a geometric progression and now its an exponential progression. And we can see this very clearly today.

We are now at around 12:40 on erev Shabbos. Halachically, one can daven mincha at 6.5 halachic hours (12:30). And we are past that already.

In every area of science, medicine and technology, the world has exploded.
In the Torah world, we see that every area of Torah is now available for anyone to learn at any level. The Artscroll and Mesivta gemaras have made learning gemara accessible to all, and is the secret behind the success of Daf Yomi. The internet also plays a huge role in spreading Torah, and was in fact created for this purpose.

All this is the result of the Ohr Rishon emerging, getting us ready for the final days when Moshiach will come.

(This is just a shortened summary of the shiur. If anyone is interested in hearing the totality of it, you can find it on Torah Anytime under the title of the same name as this thread.)

Last edited by b.chadash on Mon, Aug 05 2024, 9:54 am; edited 4 times in total

GLUE

Wed, Feb 08 2023, 2:30 am

Is it because you are not suppose to work after Chatzos that the rate of progress has slowed down?

Take someone from 1950 and put them into a 1990 world, they would be able to navigate pretty well. Take someone from 1900 and put them into a 1950 world and the world would be much different and they will not necessarily have an easy time adapting.

Someone once told me that men and women were created equal, then the sin happened and they were not equal.
Shabbos is compared to a women and as the world get's closer to Shabbos men and women get more equal. That was what trigered the whole equal rights movment.

↑ b.chadash ↓

Wed, Feb 08 2023, 2:47 am

That's an interesting way to look at it.
But I actually think that the rate of progress has increased exponentially since 1950, not slowed down.

In the world of technology, things change so fast today that it's impossible to keep up. My kids live in a completely different world than I grew up in, insofar as technology is concerned.

I once heard that a student entering college will learn computer programming, and by the time he graduates four years later, what he learned as a freshman will have become obsolete.

In any case, I think the idea of the progress in technology is not necessarily related to the work we do on Erev Shabbos to prepare for Shabbos. Rather, the light of Shabbos itself begins to descend on Friday. So too, the light of redemption begins to be released on Friday, and this is what allows mankind to be able to discover wisdom, be it in the secular world or in Torah.

But yes, we are supposed to stop working by chatzos in ORDER to start focusing on Shabbos. By chatzos we should stop doing weekday work. It actually fits in with what we are saying, because we are beginning to get into Shabbos mode.

Regarding the second point you made, I think that's very interesting. I heard a similar idea, that as the world gets closer to its ultimate redemption, other forms of movements will arise, movements that are trying to perfect the world.

Each of these movements are important in advancing the world toward the ultimate perfection, but they are deficient since it's not yet the right time. The movement toward equality and women's right definitely brings us closer to a fairer, more just society.

Last edited by b.chadash on Wed, Feb 08 2023, 8:17 am; edited 1 time in total

ectomorph ↓

Wed, Feb 08 2023, 6:54 am

Thank you for sharing. I enjoyed reading that.

amother

NeonGreen

Wed, Feb 08 2023, 7:12 am

ectomorph wrote:

Thank you for sharing. I enjoyed reading that.

Me too.
Fascinating

salt

Wed, Feb 08 2023, 7:31 am

b.chadash wrote:

Many commentators talk about this (for ex the Vilna Gaon in Kol Hator) . They explain that this is the key to understanding the redemption process. If you divide 1000 years by 24 hours (sha'os zmanios), each hour of creation corresponds to about 41.5 years of history. And we can figure out events in history based on this calculation.

This is why the Vilna Gaon encouraged his disciples to move to Eretz Yisrael, which many of them did. In readiness for the final geula.

Simple1

Wed, Feb 08 2023, 7:25 pm

Thank you for posting. I really enjoyed reading.

Java

Wed, Feb 08 2023, 7:28 pm

This is fascinating ty for sharing!

↑ b.chadash ↓

Wed, Feb 08 2023, 7:39 pm

Thank you.
Rabbi Mendel Kessin's shiurim are not that well known I think, but I personally find them fascinating. This shiur was given back in 2016, and, at the time he was doing a series called 21st Century. I highly recommend his shiurim for anyone who likes to see a fresh look at global events, through the prism of Torah. (His shiruim are on Torah Anytime)

↑ ectomorph

Wed, Feb 08 2023, 7:41 pm

I would like to read, not listen to the topic. Any good sources?

↑ b.chadash ↓

Wed, Feb 08 2023, 7:48 pm

ectomorph wrote:

I would like to read, not listen to the topic. Any good sources?

Sorry, I don't know anyone who writes on this stuff. I personally have written up several of his shiurim. But he brings from all over, mostly the Ramchal I think, and his concepts are quite deep. He also applies what he has learned to current events, which is obviously his personal take on things.

There are several books out on the redemption process, and the days prior to Moshiach. I haven't checked any of them out, but maybe some of them would be interesting to you.
If anyone else knows, I would be interested in reading on this topic as well.

amother

Leaf

Wed, Feb 08 2023, 9:04 pm

b.chadash wrote:

I once heard that a student entering college will learn computer programming, and by the time he graduates four years later, what he learned as a freshman will have become obsolete.

Side note but as a college professor who teaches computer science, this is really not true. Smile

↑ b.chadash ↓

Wed, Feb 08 2023, 9:22 pm

amother Leaf wrote:

Side note but as a college professor who teaches computer science, this is really not true. Smile

Lol. Okay. Maybe I heard it regarding another form of technology? Or maybe it was an exaggeration. When I heard this, I was flabbergasted. I'm actually glad to hear it isn't true.
I will say that a friend of mine was a computer programmer many years ago (over 30 I think. ) Then she became a teacher. She told me that even if she wanted to go back, she would not be able to because everything changed. Does that sound accurate?

amother

Quince

Wed, Feb 08 2023, 10:07 pm

b. chadash: At the very least she'd have to take courses to update her skills. Technology changes rapidly, and you have to constantly learn new things even if you remain employed in a field. Even little things like changing from one version of Windows to another makes a difference. Multiply that ny several versions and you may as well go back to school as a freshman. Hey, would you want to use a doctor who last practiced 30 years ago? of course not, because medicine has progressed a lot since then. Why, in the 30 years since I had a baby, I can't count the number of different forms of contraception that have been developed, to say nothing of the technologies that have been created to push the envelope of viability for premature infants. I remember when 28 weeks was the absolute limit; now preemies are surviving at 20 weeks.

So while claiming that anything a student learned as a freshie will be obsolete by graduation may be an exaggeration--that doesn't matter anyway because what they learned in senior year is probably what counts-- it is true that you can't go back into the workforce after a hiatus of 30 years and expect to be hired unless you've recently updated your skills. That's going to be true in any line of work that has a technological component --and what line of work doesn't have one? Do teachers anywhere outside of the Third World still use blackboards and chalk? Outside of a few mom and pop stores in the heartland, do cashiers anywhere still use manual cash registers? Do banks still have passbooks?

NechaMom

Wed, Feb 08 2023, 10:13 pm

Nice! I can’t wait for the end of the story. May it be very soon!

↑ b.chadash ↓

Wed, Feb 08 2023, 10:16 pm

Quince: All true, and thanks for explaining that. All of this underscores and bolsters the ideas mentioned in the shiur, that all technology and science changes extremely rapidly these days. Much faster than at an point in history.

(I mentioned the idea of the computer programmer only in response to Glue who seemed to think that the rate of progress has slowed in recent years. I think that is the opposite of what we are experiencing. )

amother

Daffodil

Mon, Aug 05 2024, 12:23 pm

I really enjoyed reading this, thank you
You say that you have written up other speeches, would love to read them too if you are able to share

↑ b.chadash

Mon, Aug 05 2024, 1:45 pm

amother Daffodil wrote:

I really enjoyed reading this, thank you
You say that you have written up other speeches, would love to read them too if you are able to share

Yes, I have written up a few. One was posted here after Oct 7, I will look for the link.
Others I have just written for myself. I wrote up a summary of the basic ideas of his class, minus the current events. If you want I can pm you with the essay.

EtA. Here is the link for for the summary I wrote up on the shiur he gave after Oct 7. Entitled: The timing was miraculous.
https://www.imamother.com/foru.....36202