The Numbers Add Up

אֵלֶּה פְקוּדֵי הַמִּשְׁכָּן מִשְׁכַּן הָעֵדֻת

"These are the numbers of the Mishkan, the Mishkan of the Testimony...." [Pekudei 38:21]

Rabbeinu Bechaya points out that the numerical value of the words "HaMishkan"  הַמִּשְׁכָּן and "Ha'eidus"  הָעֵדֻת correspond to the total number of years that the first Beis HaMikdash, second Beis HaMikdash and Mishkan stood.

The numerical value of Mishkan is 410, alluding to the 410 years that the first Beis HaMikdash stood.

The numerical value of the word HaMishkan  (415) plus the five letters that are used to spell it, equals 420.  This alludes to the second Beis HaMikdash which stood for 420 years.

The numerical value of Ha'eidus is 479. This alludes to the Mishkan Ha'eidus which stood for 479 years.

In Maseches Yoma [21b] Chazal enumerate five items that were present in the first Beis HaMikdash but were lacking in the second:

1) The Aron Ha'eidus (the Ark)

2) The Ner Tamid (the Lamp that burned continuously)

3) The Divine Presence

4) Divine Inspiration

5) The ability to inquire of the Urim v'Tumim

This statement of Chazal, said the Chasam Sofer, is alluded to in the verse אֵלֶּה פְקוּדֵי הַמִּשְׁכָּן מִשְׁכַּן הָעֵדֻת  The word "haMishkan", containing a hei (numerical value 5) at the beginning, alludes to the first Beis HaMikdash which possessed these five attributes. The word "Mishkan" however, alludes to the second Beis HaMikdash which lacked these five items.

Source: Rabbi Yisrael Bronstein

''Netanyahu Made One Mistake''

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech before a joint session of Congress on Tuesday March 3, was powerful and enthusiastically received. It exemplified leadership in a way that Americans have not seen for years. The elected leadership of the US conspicuously displayed their awesome delight from the speech; somehow it restored their own dignity and faith in the role of America today. As a result of the Jewish Prime Minister of a tiny country speaking his mind with unwavering resolve, moral clarity and historical dignity, all those present in the gallery felt better about themselves and their own duties in a confused and bloody world.

Continue at :    Netanyahu Made One Mistake

Purim Sameach

For Haman the son of Hamdata the Agagite, the enemy of all the Jews, had schemed against the Jews to destroy them, and had cast a pur-- that is, the lot -- to consume them, and to destroy them... Therefore they called these days "Purim" after the pur...   Esther 9:24-26  Read more

Purim is the holiest day on the Jewish calender, even holier than Yom Kippur

For everything you need to know about Purim customs click here



Chassidishe Penguin


''Happy'' Purim


28 minutes of non-stop Purim music


The Maccabeats Purim Song

Netanyahu's Speech to Congress [Full Video]

Purim, Obama, Iran and Anti-Semitism

Some interesting lectures from Rabbi Y. Y. Jacobson

Should Netanyahu Address Congress? Purim, Obama, Iran, and Anti-Semitism
[the sound is not great, but it is listenable]

Achashverosh and Haman in Therapy: The Psychological Brilliance of Esther 
Reading the Megilah from a Psychological Perspective

The Purim Codes

[adapted from Keeping Posted with NCSY, Fall 1999 edition and also from Torah.org article by Rabbi Dovid Rosenfeld]

There is a famous "code" in Megillat Esther :- towards the end of the story, King Ahashveirosh allows the Jews to avenge themselves of their enemies on the 13th day of Adar. In Shushan, the capital, the Jews kill 500 men and hang Haman's ten sons on a gallows. Queen Esther then approaches the King with an additional request: "...allow the Jews who are in Shushan to do tomorrow as they did today, and let the ten sons of Haman be hanged on the gallows" [Esther 9:13]. It's curious that she would request the hanging of Haman's already slain sons. Nevertheless, the King complies.

The Hebrew word for "tomorrow" ["machar"] occasionally refers to the distant future. Further, the Sages tell us that whenever the word "king" appears in the Megillah it alludes to the King of kings as well. Thus, the verse could be understood as a request by Esther to G-d to again hang the ten sons of Haman at some point in the distant future. Now, when the Megillah lists the ten sons of Haman during their hanging [Esther 9:7-9] there are a number of unusually-sized letters. [There is a tradition to write certain letters in the Torah larger or smaller than the standard size.]

According to the most accepted tradition, there is a large 'vav' [numerical value = 6] and a small 'tav' [400], 'shin' [300] and 'zayin' [7]. The following suggestion has been made: The large vav refers to the sixth millennium [of the Hebrew calendar]; the small letters refer to year 707 of that millennium. The meaning, then, is that G-d agreed to hang Haman's ten sons again in the year 5707 = 1946-7.

When listing the ten sons of Haman who were hanged [Esther 9:6-10], three letters, namely Taf, Shin, and Zayin, are written smaller than the rest [most printed texts reflect this; if yours doesn’t, look in another]. The commentaries offer no explanation for this other than that it is a prophecy. The letters "Taf-Shin-Zayin" represent the Hebrew year 5707, corresponding to the secular year 1946-47.

On October 16, 1946 (21 Tishrei, 5707) ten convicted Nazi war criminals were hanged in Nuremberg. (An eleventh, Hermann Goering, a transvestite, committed suicide in his cell. The Midrash tells us that Haman also had a daughter who committed suicide.) As if the parallel were not obvious enough without further corroboration, Nazi Julius Streicher’s last words were: "PURIM FEST 1946!". [In case you question the accuracy of Streicher’s last words, they are are well-documented; they appeared in Newsweek, October 28, 1946]


It is fairly safe to assume that (a) Streicher did not know about the three small letters in the Megilla, (b) he did not know that these letters corresponded to the year in which he was being hanged, and (c) even had he known, he would have had no motivation to reinforce the validity of Jewish texts, traditions, or prophecies. One could not ask for a more independent confirmation of the all encompassing knowledge to be found in the Sifrei Tanach.

Rabbi Weissmandl - a great Hungararian scholar and holocaust survivor - made a number of findings concerning Megillat Esther using skip distances of 12,111 letters - the exact number of letters in Megillat Esther. If one starts with the first regular mem [as opposed to the "final mem"] in Bereishis 4:14, where the name Esther [vocalized differently] appears for the only time in the Torah, and count at intervals of 12,111 letters, one finds spelled out the phrase "Megillat Esther." Coincidence? I think not.

Ta'anis Esther 5775

Something to think about 

Once there was a King in Shushan, the most powerful ruler in the world, who had a strong disdain, dislike or perhaps even hatred of Jews. 

Today there is a President in Washington, the most powerful ruler in the world, who has a strong disdain, dislike or perhaps even hatred of Jews. 

Once there was a Persian who wanted to kill all the Jews, but needed the King's authorization to proceed with his plan. 

Today there are Persians who want to kill all the Jews, but need the President's authorization to proceed with their plan. 

The King didn't really care, as long as there was something in it for him - lots of money. 

The President doesn't really care, as long as there is something in it for him - a deal with the Persians.  

The Jewish Queen wanted to tell the King what was really happening, but going in to talk to the King was dangerous. 

The Jewish Prime Minister wants to tell the President and his Congress what is really happening, but going to talk to them is dangerous. 

Some people thought she shouldn't go, it would just anger the King and make things worse. 

Some people think he shouldn't go, it will just anger the President and make things worse. 

She asked the Jews to fast and pray for the success of her mission. They did so, the King accepted her words and the plot to destroy them was thwarted. 

Will we fast and pray for the success of his mission? Will the President and Congress accept his words? Will the plot to destroy us be thwarted? 

We commemorate the fasting prior to the Queen's plea to the King on Taanis Ester. 

The Prime Minister of Israel has been invited to address the United States Congress on March 3. 

This year Taanis Ester begins on March 3.

Reincarnation and the Afterlife [video]

Rabbi DovBer Pinson

Can we remember past lives? What happens after we die? A glimpse into the journey of the soul on the other side of life's curtain, including insights into near-death experiences, Heaven and Hell, and the Afterlife journey.