5 Iyar – the Date of Redemption and the Ari’s Only Manuscript

5 Iyar – the Date of Redemption and the Ari’s Only Manuscript

As is well known, the greatest Kabbalist, the Ari – Rabbi Isaac Luria Ashkenazi (may his merit protect us) – left no manuscripts behind. All of his legacy reached us through the books of his disciple, Rabbi Chaim Vital. However, there is one small manuscript written in the Ari’s own hand. It is a commentary on the Book of Ruth, entitled Yikra Tzadik Yesod Olam. The Ari examines the passage in which Boaz addresses Ruth, who had come to him: “Spend the night here, and in the morning, if he will redeem you, good; let him redeem you. But if he does not wish to redeem you, I will redeem you, as G-d lives!” (3:13) The Ari reveals what Boaz meant “If redemption comes through good deeds, then it will come. But if it does not come through good deeds, then I – the L-rd – will redeem you.” Moreover, according to the Ari, the oath “As G-d lives” hints at the time of the Redemption. How so? “Chai” corresponds to the Kabbalistic attribute of “Yesod” (foundation), while “G-d” corresponds to the attribute of “Tiferet” (harmony). If this expression is applied to the Counting of the Omer, whose days correspond to the square of the seven Divine attributes, the result is “Yesod she-be-Tiferet”. That is, it points to the 20th day of the Counting of the Omer, corresponding to 5 Iyar. The Vilna Gaon (may his merit protect us) attached great significance to this interpretation. In any event, among his disciples who ascended to Eretz Yisrael, this date came to be observed as the day of the future Redemption. But among the disciples of the Vilna Gaon, based once again on a tradition tracing back to the Ari, the year of the Redemption was also known. The Ari taught that the word Adam is an acronym for Adam, David, and Mashiach – the three peaks of history. In his view, the same amount of time should pass from the day of King David’s birth to the day of Mashiach’s birth as passed from the day of Adam’s birth (the day the world was created) to David’s birth. When was David born? The Exodus from Egypt took place in the year 2448 – this is the result of a calculation made by Rashi in his commentary on Avodah Zarah (9a). The other dates needed to calculate the year of David’s birth precisely appear in Tanakh. Thus, in the first book of Melachim (6:1), we read: “And it came to pass in the four hundred and eightieth year after the Children of Israel had gone out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon’s reign over Israel, in the month of Ziv, which is the second month, that he began to build the House of the L-rd.” That is, construction of the Temple began in the year 2928. From this year, we subtract the four years of Solomon’s reign (“in the fourth year of Solomon’s reign”) and the 70 years of King David’s life – “David was thirty years old when he became king, and he reigned for forty years” (II Samuel 5:4). Thus, the year of David’s birth was 2854. Mashiach, as the Gaon’s school understood it, was to be born 2,854 years after David’s birth – that is, in the year 5708 (1948), the date of the reestablishment of the State of Israel. This year marked the moment of Ayelet HaShachar before the onset of the Redemption. As the Sages teach, there are 72 minutes between Ayelet HaShachar (dawn) and Hanetz HaChamah (sunrise), corresponding to the 70 years of the birth pangs of Mashiach – “Chevlei Mashiach” – and the two years of “Chazkat Mashiach”, when Mashiach would be able to reveal himself. According to the teachings of Rav Kook (1865–1935), the State of Israel, which was being reborn during his lifetime, is Mashiach. A tradition preserved among the Gaon’s disciples states that the Redemption would begin only after the Jewish population of Eretz Yisrael reached 600,000 souls (this is also stated in Kol HaTor by Rav Hillel Rivlin of Shklov). At the beginning of 1948, the number of Jews in Israel stood at 650,000. Be’ezrat Hashem, may the calculations of our Sages be fulfilled, and may Mashiach have already revealed himself on 5 Iyar! (translated from http://www.abaratz.com/zmn-yom-atzmaut.htm)