Did Daniel’s Prophecy Reveal the Date of The Messiah? Rabbi Yitzchak Breitowitz

I apologize for for the uh confusion yesterday. Again, I just want to clarify to be sure everyone understands uh the hisbonas here. Uh again, we have remember the hisbon of Geulah at the end of perek Yud Beis, which is the most explicit. And that is a composite of two dates, a 1290 and a 1335. Uh and even though it says days, that's understood to be years. And that runs from Hasaras Hatamid. That runs from the >> [snorts] >> discontinuation of the korban tamid, which Rashi understands is 6 years before the korban of the Bayis Sheini. Now, remember, Daniel is getting this before there's even a Bayis Sheini, right? So, this is for more than 420 years in the future. Uh and 6 years before that is Hasaras Hatamid. And the 1290 from Hasaras Hatamid is the initial appearance of Mashiach. >> [clears throat] >> And the 1335 is another 45 years uh in which he brings an amazing medrish that Mashiach will be concealed after he reveals himself for 45 years until his uh final revelation. Again, the Chabad uses this Rashi uh for uh >> [clears throat] >> the purposes that it wants to use it for. Uh but there is a makor in the medrish. Ramban says a little differently. Ramban says the 45 years is the difference between Mashiach ben Yosef and Mashiach ben David. Okay. Right? So, that is the most definitive date. And even though that date has And that's based on Rav Saadia Gaon. And even though that date has passed, but as I indicated, these are open-ended prophecies, which any one of these interpretations could in fact be a reality. And if it passes, we're up to the next interpretation, depending on our zechus. But be it as it may, that is the most explicit date that according to Rashi's understanding will be the key to unlocking the codes of the earlier dates. Yeah. So, that's what I was saying. Rashi himself comments on another another calculation of Rav Saadia Gaon that had an earlier date. And Rashi says it already passed, and we just have to have hope that there's another interpretation. Rashi's language implies that Rav Saadia Gaon got it wrong. But I was trying to say that's not that's not necessarily the case. And that is if these nevuos are susceptible to multiple interpretations, so it's not that one is right and one is wrong, and if you don't get the right interpretation, you have it wrong. Rather, Hashem is saying any one of the possible interpretations could have been a messianic event had the generation been worthy. And if it's not worthy, it then gets recalibrated to a different date. So, instead of saying Rashi is wrong, we would just say that Rashi pointed out what could have been a messianic date. Uh if it passes, that's not a proof that Rashi is incorrect. Of course, it's not a proof that he's correct, either. But it's not a proof that he's incorrect. It just means that we were not zocheh to that iteration of the nevua, and we have to have another interpretation, which may may elude us, etc. But you know, as I mentioned, the Malbim makes a very very elaborate calculation that I really didn't go into, that the 1920s would have been Geulah. But it's the same type of mahalach. As I indicated, the Malbim was the last of the Jewish meforshim who tries to use these nevuos to portray a particular messianic date. Uh after him, uh they stopped doing it. Uh Christians still like to do it. Uh and if you uh I think you should, but if you look at uh Christian estic eschatological websites, uh which talk about the end of days, so they use, of course, the Book of Revelations, which is a book in the Christian Bible. But they also use the Book of Daniel. They actually use the Book of Daniel to try to figure out all sorts of calculations. So, they're still into it. Uh we are generally not so into it because we understand, as the Ramban wrote, that these are very very mysterious uh ideas, and we really cannot pinpoint it. Meaning, we have to believe in Mashiach, we have to believe in Geulah, uh but we're not in a position to take any of the biblical prophecies and try to tie them down. And indeed, uh in Daniel perek Yud Beis itself, after Hashem gave Daniel these enigmatic formulas, enigmatic formulas, Hashem said, "These are matters that are concealed, and generations shall ponder them. And many shall be mis- um uh misinformed and led astray." Hashem basically said, "So, so again, you know, one of the questions you could ask is like what's the purpose of writing things down that are not clear? So, if they're not clear, just don't write them down. Meaning, why why is Hashem giving But the answer is that remember that Daniel is not a prophet. Hashem didn't tell Daniel, "Go tell the Jewish people about these obscure dates." This is a private revelation to Daniel as an individual. So, as an individual, he merited certain visions, which were not complete. But that doesn't mean In other words, in a way, it wasn't meant for us. Now, I I again, that sounds very strange because lema'aseh, it is part of Nach. It is part of Kesuvim. But given the fact that Daniel is not a navi, Hashem didn't tell Daniel to communicate these things. This could have remained a private diary. The only reason why it got included in the Bible, in the Tanach, is since it was written under divine inspiration, so it's considered to be a sacred document. But it's not necessarily a nevua that was meant to be communicated. Yeah. Yeah, so so the point once again is uh I think I think it's especially meaningful if you go with the way I was trying to say that this is not a question of a right interpretation versus wrong interpretation, but rather these are potential messianic dates. And I think that's a useful point. Maybe it would have been more useful for the people who lived before that date, that through teshuvah and and and and repentance, uh they would be capable of bringing the bringing the Geulah. Uh but uh it also gives a person hope, meaning to say by by trying to see how these things can be translated into actual dates, so a person has a sense of reality in the coming of Mashiach. But Yeah. Yeah. So, this is why Chazal did say Chazal did say uh tipach rucham shel mechashvei haketz. That means those who try to calculate the end of days, Mashiach, tipach rucham, they should explode. Meaning, they should die, basically. Uh it's not something that's kedai. And uh the Rambam uh talks about the fact that it does raise false hopes. So, if I were to tell you, you know, "Mashiach is coming next year. I know that. I have a divine prophecy." So, assuming you believed me, for the next year, you would be very very excited. Yeah, so it does raise your hope for the year. But what happens after the year Mashiach doesn't come? The truth is, you might be in much more despair than had you not been given that message in the first place. So, that's kind of the whole background of why the Rishonim the Rishonim tried to calculate dates in spite of the Gemara's warning. You know, Rashi, Rav Saadia Gaon, Ramban, uh the Rishonim tried to calculate dates. And and the argument always was to give hope to a despondent nation, that they have something to look forward to. The problem, of course, always is when those dates pass, the hopes get dashed. So, in a way, it's it's it's a very you know, it's a very strange strategy. Meaning, I'm going to give you hope by telling you a certain date. But what's what's going to happen when that date comes? You know, yeah, I I I understand. It is it is an issue. Uh but I just but so the truth is, to some degree, I I I'm spending a little time on this. And you know, um either this will be the last day or tomorrow will be the last day. So, we're not going to be marach on this indefinitely. Uh just to really almost show you a little bit of a partial history of biblical interpretation. Meaning to say, it's not so much the specific dates, which are obviously not relevant anymore, but just to kind of show you the ingenuity and the brilliance of how meforshim were unable were able to crack codes. It's almost like cracking a code. Uh but but there is another point I want to make as well. Uh okay. So, we work backwards. It's that last date that is the most significant date in the book. So, then we move backwards to perek Zayin. Again, some of this is a repeat, but this time I'll be more coherent than than I was uh yesterday. Again, I I really do apologize cuz I I had a wrong number because Ramban uses the number I used and I somehow I had it I had the Rashi was using it. Rashi is not using that number. So, now we're going to be accurate. And that is in perek zayin we have the vision of the four animals. And the fourth animal is described as a monster that crushes and destroys everything that's before it. It moves forward. And that is the malchus of Rome. And in the malchus of Rome uh it Daniel is privy to a conversation with "How long shall this monster be in the world? How long shall this monster trample and destroy holiness and the holy nation and the holy land?" And the answer was given "a time times and half a time." Okay? So, that's that's enigmatic. So, here again uh I did correct at the very end, but just just to be just to be definitive Rashi says the two times are the 480 years from the time we left Mitzrayim till the building of the Beis Hamikdash. 480 years. And how do I know that? In Sefer Malachim it says b'feirush that Hamelech began to build the Beis Hamikdash 480 years after yetzias Mitzrayim. And then we have 410 years that the first Beis Hamikdash stood until it was destroyed by the Babylonians. So, times are the two significant times of 480 and 410 which is 890. A half a time is 890 divided by two which is [clears throat] and 45. So, 890 and 445 is the 1335. Okay? So, now it's very good. The only thing is according to Rav Saadia Gaon, Rashi when it says a time times and half a time the first time is not counted in your calculus. It just means the time of redemption equals times which is 890 plus half a time 445. And that corresponds in other words to the 1335 uh years that run from when? From Sura Satamech till the final revelation of Mashiach after the 45-year absence. Okay? So, again according to Rashi times are the sum of 480 plus 445. I'm going to come back to this because why because why would the 1335 be expressed in that way? I'll I'll I'll I'll come back to that because that might be a certain lesson here. Now, the second mention of a geulah comes in perek ches. Okay, perek zayin was the vision of four fierce animals coming out of the ocean. A stor- a storm-tossed ocean. Perek ches is another vision about a very powerful ram with two big horns that starts goring all the animals and people around it. But then comes a goat that is stronger than the ram. And the goat comes from the west. And here it's very very clear that this is describing Persia. And the two horns of Persia, you might remember, is because the Persian society was comprised of two ethnic groups Paras u'Madai. Right? Achashverosh is called the king of Paras u'Madai. And those are the two horns. And initially this ram that's goring everybody represents the Persian conquest of the world. But then the goat that comes from the west is the Greek empire. Alexander the Great that eventually overpowers the Persian empire. Now, in describing that goat it says the goat instead of having two horns had one big big thick powerful horn. And that represented Alexander of Macedonia who was the great world conqueror. But then what happens is the horn breaks and becomes four smaller horns. What do those four four smaller horns represent? After Alexander died at the age of 31 his empire was divided among four generals. So, the big horn becomes four horns. Although for purposes of Jewish history it's only two of them that are important, Seleucus and Ptolemy. But in fact there were four generals. And then it says just reminding you of the picture out of one of those horns came a smaller horn. A horn coming out of a horn. And that horn had eyes. And that horn was talking. Very very odd vision. Saying blasphemous statements against God. And it was up going up and up and up and up till it reached the heavens. This is the horn coming out of the horn. So, the simple explanation of that is this is a reference to Antiochus. Who was a descendant of one of those four horns, Seleucus. And he blasphemed blasphemed against God. He desecrated the Beis Hamikdash. He didn't destroy it. So, so here's the thing. All of that thing about the the one horn becoming four horns and another horn growing out of one of those horns and the blasphemy, that's talking about Antiochus. We're not talking about Titus. We're not talking about Rome at all. Okay? Perek ches is talking about the Persian empire being eventually conquered by Greece, Alexander. And then it's eventually culminating in Antiochus's blasphemy. And yet it then says that the geulah will come the geulah will come >> [snorts] >> erev boker evening morning days. erev boker 2300 days. Now, here it's a dover pashut me'od that the pashut shat of the pesukim is actually not like Rashi is going to say and not like the Ibn Ezra. Rashi and I'm sorry, not like Rav Saadia Gaon. Rashi and Rav Saadia Gaon want to connect both perek zayin which is clearly a Messianic termination of the fourth kingdom. And they want to read that into perek ches and make the calculations congruent in a very complicated way which I'll show you. But the simplest explanation is like the Ibn Ezra simply because perek ches is not talking about Rome. Is not talking about the churban Beis Hamikdash. Is not talking about the period of galus after the churban Beis Hamikdash. It is talking about Antiochus and his desecration of the not his destruction, but his desecration of the Beis Hamikdash. So, as a result the 2300 has nothing to do with the 1335 or the 1290. Because the 1335 and the 1290 are dealing with what happens after the churban bayis sheini. But perek ches is dealing with Antiochus. So, because of this the Ibn Ezra has a very pashut shat. It's a very straightforward shat. That the 2300 days means 2300 days, not years. And it simply expresses the duration of Antiochus's rule over Eretz Yisrael. So, according to the Ibn Ezra the calculation in perek ches is totally unrelated to any other calculation cuz it's not talking about Rome. It's not talking about the Beis Hamikdash being destroyed. It's not talking about the galus. It is simply talking about the persecutions of Antiochus. He is that horn that grows out of the horn that is blaspheming God by desecrating his temple. Now, 2300 days, how many years is that? It's not that many years, right? 2300 divided by 365. Well, whatever that comes up with, you know. Unfortunately, you know, it's uh this is one of the casualties of calculators that you forget how to do arithmetic. But okay, okay, it's uh people don't know how to write cursive anymore or do whatever it is. Okay. Um but if you have a calculator you see it's only a few years because according to the What is it? 6.3 6.3 years. Yeah, cuz right, that's what it is. Now there's currently the Aben Ezra, the 2300 days is a is the number of years that Antiochus was actively I mean he reigned longer than that, but the active persecution against Claudius Israel was for that number of years. So I have to say that the Aben Ezra fits the context of perek ches absolutely perfectly uh simply because we're talking about Antiochus at that point. However, once again, Rashi and Rav Saadia Gaon make it a much more complicated because they want to connect it also to messianic redemption. And the question is how do you reconcile the 2300 with 1335 and or 1290? So this is what they say. And again, um this is very ingenious and uh really this really is cracking a code, although perhaps the conclusions were not were not correct. And that is you have to use gematria here. gematria Now, gematria is simply the idea that every letter has uh a numerical value. Some actually say that gematria uh became a Hebrew form of geometry, although it it's hard to see. Gematria is a numerical device, but it it has nothing to do with geometry, so it's it's hard to know why the words would be connected uh in that way. Uh but gematria is uh one of the midos that are legitimately employed in Torah. Uh I'll give you one example. There's actually one halacha at least one halacha that I know that is supposedly derived from gematria and that is nezirus. Uh if a person says I'm a nazir and he didn't specify the duration, so how long is he a nazir? 30 days. This is a famous rule. stam nezirus shloshim yam And the derivation the gemara gives for stam nezirus shloshim yam is because it says nazir yihiyeh he shall be a nazir and the gematria of yihiyeh yud hey yud hey is 30. Now, it's not clear to me that that you have to learn the gemara that that's the derivation. That could be an after the fact thing, meaning we have a halachic motion to be seen I that it's 30 and then we read it into the pasuk. But the loshon of the gemara is it's mamash a derivation, gematria. Um There was a re- there's a recent book in English. I think Mosaica Press publishes it. Written by uh Rabbi Elie Feder who's both a mathematician and a talmid chacham and rav uh on gematria and he actually writes that for many many years uh he never enjoyed gematria as they were artificial, they were fake. People use them I mean the truth is people do abuse gematria. People make gematria uh all sorts of games they play with. Uh but he says that as he delved into true gematria so to speak and in in halachic sources and in mekoros he saw a tremendous chochma uh in gematria, so if you are into the uh this area, you might want to look at his book on gematria where he really uh in a way he has credibility because he started off as a gematria skeptic. So uh he converted so to speak, so it might be a valuable a valuable book. Cuz it's true the truth is I hear a lot of gematria that people make up today and you know okay, you you know, usually it's uh kind of just a bunch of fun and games, but there are emesdike gematria. Now going back to this pasuk, let's look at the gematria of evening and uh morning. So erev erev is 272. Boker is 302. So 272 and 302 is 574. Add 574 to 2300 and you get a number 2874. I'm sorry, uh the Is that right? One second. Yeah, 2874. And Rav Saadia Gaon learns these are years. Now, years from what? So here is what the way Rashi explains it. If you count the number of years from the Egyptian exile to the coming of Mashiach based on the 1335 calculation, you will come up with 2874 years. Now let's go over the the chronology because this is a good thing to know anyway. We were in Mitzrayim from the time Yaakov went until we were redeemed, years. Right? So 210 years in Mitzrayim. Then there are 480 years. We know this from the first calculation from the time of Yetzias Mitzrayim till the building of the Temple. So add 210 to 480. Then the first Mikdash was there for 410 years. There was a 70-year Babylonian exile. There was a second Beis Hamikdash of 420 years, which was then destroyed. So let's calculate at that point. From the time we were enslaved in Mitzrayim until the destruction of the second Beis Hamikdash. Right? So you have to add these numbers. 210, 480, 410, 70, and 420. Right? What What am I measuring from? From the time we went to Mitzrayim until the time that the second Beis Hamikdash was destroyed. So how many years is that? That's 1590 years. Now then add the 1290 from the korban bayis sheini, which is the years until Mashiach makes his first appearance and you get 2880. But in truth you not you you don't add 1290. In truth you add 1284 because the 1290 is running from the hasara satamis, which is 6 years before. So instead of 2880 years, you have 2874 years. And that's exactly the figure of erev boker 2300. Meaning Meaning again again just to state the cheshbon simply, what perek ches is asserting again there'll [clears throat] be a meaning to this. I'll I'll I'll give you a meaning in in in a moment is from the time we were enslaved in Mitzrayim until the time of the first coming of Mashiach will be 2874 years and that corresponds to 1290 from the hasara satamis. Now, it is curious that the calculation of a time times and times and a half is based on the 1335 terminus point and the calculation of erev boker 2300 is based on the 1290 terminus point, but they are consistent since the 1290 just represents the first coming of Mashiach, which will then have a concealment of 45 years. Now, I left you yesterday at the end of the of the shiur yesterday with a question. Why do we need these intermediate calculations? I mean if if at the end of the day we have this 1290 and 1335, what's the point of expressing these codes that you then have to go backwards and interpret? I mean God gave you the most explicit dating, even though that itself didn't turn out to be accurate. So I I want to suggest that there are two different perspectives of how you view pre-messianic Jewish history. Do you view it as a period of geulah followed by galus? Or do you look at it as one long galus? Meaning how do you count the years that we had a Beis Hamikdash? Were those years of geulah or that's just everything is galus until Mashiach comes? Because look at the difference in counting. If you start with perek ches, perek ches basically says the following. From the time we went down to Mitzrayim until Mashiach comes will be 2,874 years. What is the significance of counting from the time we went down to Mitzrayim? Why are you measuring the coming of Mashiach from the time we went down to Mitzrayim and you come up with a two uh like 2,874 years which translates into the 1290 may as I saw it at the time. The answer is Parikh has is giving us a whole new understanding of Jewish history. That we mean we never we never we may never have had before. It's basically telling me that from the time we began our slavery in Mitzrayim which was our first galus we have never left it even though we came to Eretz Yisrael. Even if we had a Beit Hamikdash, the first one and the second one, we were still in a state of galus because the world did not return to its perfect Gan Eden state until the coming of Mashiach. So essentially what Parikh has is saying is the galus that God decreed on Am Yisrael is 2,000 874 years. I, how could that be? You're including in those years the 410 of the first Mikdash and the 420 of the second Mikdash and the 4 80 of on the way to Eretz Yisrael. All of that is galus? The answer is yes, all of it is galus because even when we had a Beit Hamikdash we were not living in the perfect world that Mashiach is going to usher in. And therefore Parikh has is basically saying from [snorts] the time of the beginning of our galus which was our yerida to Mitzrayim until the rectification of the world is going to be 2,874 years which corresponds to the 1290 from the time of as I saw it at the time. But the point I'm making is the very fact that you're counting the years from the time we went down to Mitzrayim is actually making the point that the totality of Jewish history from from Mitzrayim onwards, not yet Mitzrayim onwards, from galus Mitzrayim onwards we have been living in galus even when we had a Beit Hamikdash because we were not yet we are not yet in the world of tikkun and rectification. I think that is kind of the lesson that you get from the enigmatic calculation of uh of the 2874 and that's even more so in the erev baboker meaning yes in that period there'll be mornings and there'll be nights good times, bad times but you're still living in a world of galus, a world of fragmentation, a world of tikkun. By contrast if you look at the first calculation a time times and time and a half I think you have an almost an opposite perspective cuz what are you doing in the first calculation? >> [gasps] >> You're basically saying uh time one is the uh 480 from the time we left Mitzrayim till the temple was built and 410 is the duration of the first temple uh so and you're measuring the geulah I'm sorry, yeah you're measuring the geulah which gives you the 1335 from as I saw it at the time 1335 and that equals time uh I'm sorry that equals times and a half a time which is 1335. There I think you have the opposite perspective. What Hashem is basically saying is this the ones of galus that I decree on you shall be equal to your good times plus a penalty of 50% so the way it works is we have good times from the time of the we left Mitzrayim for 480 even the years of the desert were considered to be a journey to redemption and the 410 is part of that redemption. So we had a total of 890 years of redemption. So God says k'neged the 890 plus 445 penalty your galus will be 1335. The point I'm making is calculating the same final date in different ways is not just a code it's giving you different perspectives of how to view the years that were good. Do you view them as one long galus going from Mitzrayim or do you view it as good years and God's punishment to us is for every good year you'll have a year of galus and I'm going to add a 50% penalty on top of that. Now these are kind of contradictory visions to be sure but maybe both are true at the same time. Uh but the point I'm making is these two different ways of counting are you times and a half a time versus the morning evening 2300 counting from the Exodus are based on two different visions of how we viewed our years in Eretz Yisrael when we had a Beit Hamikdash. Okay? So that might be a reason why these different codes are are expressed. On one hand God punishes us by giving us galus for every year of geulah plus a 50% penalty on the other hand we recognize that even the years of geulah were not a geulah shleima and therefore in the sense we have a long enslavement from the time we went down to Mitzrayim until the time that Mashiach will come uh 1290 after as I saw it at the time. Okay, as I say complicated and again some might question why am I spending so much time in this? I don't know I I I've always found it a very interesting liman but uh I shouldn't necessarily impose on you what what I happen to like. Uh but uh it is a very brilliant idea though that the meforshim try to unlock the earlier nevuos by reference to the later nevuos. But as I say uh this interpretation of the 2874 which Rashi brings from Rav Saadia Gaon uh the Ibn Ezra rejects because the Ibn Ezra says and again in terms of pshuto shel mikra he makes perfect perfect sense here and that is the reference to the 2300s is talking about Antiochus, it is not talking about after the churban how long the years will be till Mashiach, it is not a messianic prophecy and as a result the 2300, you know, first of all you don't use the gematria of erev and boker you don't use that at all, you just use the 2300 number and the Ibn Ezra says it is not years, it is days which gets you a little bit more than six years and it simply refers to Antiochus' persecution of the Jewish people. So according to the Ibn Ezra Parikh has is not a messianic prophecy uh and again that makes in pshuto shel mikra that makes absolute sense because until that verse we are talking about Antiochus, we we're not talking about the churban Beit Hamikdash the churban habayit One other thing Rashi brings as a supporter of Saadia Gaon that there will be 20 uh eight 2874 2,874 years from the time we went to Mitzrayim till the geulah shleima uh he brings it uh from the another gematria where Hashem says anochi astir astir panai I will conceal my face from you. So Rashi says let's look at the gematria of astir and the gematria of hastir, right? There's two languages. So astir 461 471 is 671 and hastir is 65 465 665. So you get the number 1330 well Rashi says the gematria is and that's the number of years God will conceal his face until the ultimate redemption. Now there is a little problem. >> [laughter] >> I tried to add up these numbers 100 times. Uh astir astir panai is 13 36 it's not 1335 so how how does it fit exactly? But there is actually a cloud in gematria that you can ignore uh differences up to one in one way one way or the other. It's one of the gematria rules. But uh some say that from astir astir panai is yet another remez in the Torah in the Torah to the 1335 period uh which is uh given at the end of the book of Daniel. Okay. Uh so baruch Hashem I think uh at least for the first round we finish safer the nail. Tomorrow, I'm going to measure sham start the book of Ezra and even though don't only going to have one session, but book of Ezra is close enough historically that we can literally continue with as a ham shack. But for those who don't like Messianic visions, Ezra is much more prose like there and there are no Messianic visions in the book of Ezra. It is a historical book and it refers to the Jews returning to Eric Israel after the 70 years of exile and the different problems that they they faced. Many five feel the book of Ezra is very relevant today because today too you have Jews returning to the land after being away from it for so many years. Okay, so measure sham tomorrow we'll look at Ezra. Thank you for [music] listening to this awesome mech production. To find out more and to partner in our mission, >> [music] >> please visit ohr.edu.