Jewish news los angeles,The Jewish Observer,Jewish Los Angeles ,Los Angeles Jewish advertising,California Jewish news,High Holidays los angeles

 

 

 

 

  Local News        

About Us

Advertisements

Business/Legal

Calendar

Community News

Contact Us

Home Page

Investor Relations

Op-Eds

Search

Services

Site Map

Special Report

Terms of Use

World News

22-28 Adar, 5770                                                March 8-14, 2010 -- THE JEWISH OBSERVER, LOS ANGELES -- 377th Web Ed.

STATE

THE END OF DAYS

michelson-joseph hdr211.png

Cont'd from Home Page

Throw into the mix the fact that my wife obsesses over the Mayan calendar ending December 21, 2014, supposedly a harbinger of the world ending. She even said to me as we stood aghast, frightened by the devastation of Chile on the news, "Do you think the world is going to end?" Then, to top it all off, the cheery news broadcaster states, "Seismologists tell us, about California’s ‘Big One.’ It is not a matter of whether it will ‘hit,’ but merely a matter of ‘when’ it will hit." Science says "we are overdue."

I hope not. But our Jewish history does dwell on this point, as a theologic preamble to the Divine Design of the End of Days (Hebrew : aharit ha-yamim). The intellectual study of eschatology deals with the final destiny of the Jewish people and the world. (Other religions have their own schemes.) All of our great scholars have dealt with the perceived complexities of the End of Time: Maimonides, Nachmonides, the Vilna Gaon, …the list goes on.

When the End of Time arrives, a perfected world (all of the problems resolved) shall eventuate, and all of our souls, previously damaged in our former lives by all of the temptations and seductions we face in fragile, normal life, shall also be repaired. (Tikkun Olam) The ultimate triumph of G-d’s will shall take place with the omnipotent victory of G-d’s truth and justice for all.

According to Amos (5:18-20), the Day of the Lord will be one of great doom, with destruction for all non-believers (Zephaniah 3:8-13), followed by establishment of the glory of Israel’s remnant. A most important feature of the Day of the Lord is that of "Judgment." This has two key components. The first is that G-d has demonstrated his wrath against all of those who have angered Him, and Israel shall have revenge over all of its historical enemies. Secondly, more importantly, this will be the unending era of the vindication of the righteous. While we, as Jews, may sometimes be in awe of the rewards for good behavior and punishments for the bad, that Christians hold close to their hearts in the final death of each person; our ultimate plan for such rewards—or at least the vindication of G-d’s goodness, won’t come until the end of the world. Just like the Moshiach: we poor Jews are left waiting, and waiting; except now, we are waiting for the Day of Doom, and suffer through it, only then to be rewarded by the triumph of Goodness.

This discourse, of course, being inherently Jewish, must require differences of opinion. In Maimonides’ The Principles of Faith, he includes his belief in the world to come with the inherent coming of the Moshiach. Way back in the 2nd century, at the time of Jesus Christ, the Pharisees incorporated these elements of the Day of the Lord, and victory of the righteous, and the coming of the Moshiach to usher it all in… and this gave fodder to those Jews who "founded Christianity," while the Sadducees would have none of it. The Essenes, who would have none of the formalized religion, nor any "sniff" of the oppressive Romans occupying our land, escaped to the caves of the Dead Sea, indulged in their mystic beliefs that they were living in the "wickedness era," but which would be ultimately redeemed by a "Divine era, with G-d’s favor" in the restored days. One of the most famous Dead Sea Scrolls, discovered in the sands and debris of the caves of the Essenes, describes in detail the catastrophic battle between the "Sons of Light"divinely triumphing over the "Sons of Darkness."

Much of the writings and thoughts of this decisive conflict between good and evil, must occur when the forces of the world are caught in the "worst of times." Each era which previously boasted the arrival of a Messiah, had at its core, a very terrible prevailing human condition. The time of Jesus Christ had at its nexus the destruction of the Temple and the occupation of the Holy Land by the Roman Empire, which persecuted, killed, and maimed our forebears, even "ridding" Jerusalem of all of its Jewish inhabitants and thoroughly disregarding our tenacious grasp of religion: the Romans even desecrated the Temple before they destroyed it. The time of Zabbatai Zevi, (mid 1600’s) he led a pilgrimage across Russia, as a "deliverer" of the Jews. Many rabinnical authorities of the time held that he may, in fact, be the Moshiach, some even wrote to Baruch Spinoza. European Jewry in the mid-1600s was in the midst of turmoil. . The bloody pogroms of Bogdan Chmelnitzky had wiped out one third of the Jewish population of Russia and destroyed many centers of Jewish learning and communal life. This was also a propitious, low moment in Jewish history for the messiah to appear and deliver salvation. On and on… The Holocaust, of course, might have been an appropriate time for a "deliverer" to come to the aid Europe’s trapped Jews.

One tractate in the Talmud (Avodah Zarah) states that the world as we know it will exist for only six thousand years. By Jewish calculations, the year 2007 equals 5767 years since the creation of Adam, therefore the End of Days may occur on or before our calendar year of 2240 (6000 in the Hebrew Calendar). Not the same as the Mayans.

A great battle shall occur (Armageddon), and G-d will intervene and save the Jews. Having vanquished evil for good, the 7th millennium (after the year 6000 on the Jewish Calendar) will be an era of holiness, tranquility, spiritual life and peace : Olan haba (future world). All people will know G-d, and Micah’s words shall ring true: " they shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks…" (Isaiah 2:4).

Even the Kabbalah gets caught up. It teaches of a belief in "gilgul" or a transmigration of the soul, which may be interpreted as a form of reincarnation. Many well known rabbinic authorities have rejected the idea of reincarnation; but some have promoted it. According to tradition, when the Moshiach arrives, the souls of the dear arise to greet and welcome him. This belief specifies that each Jewish soul, by Kabbalistic standards, is resurrected, and advocates of this idea include the Baal Shem Tov and Gaon of Vilna. This belief is universal in Chasidic Judaism, which regards the Kabbalah as sacred. Each Jewish soul returns, but must fulfill the process of Tikkun (rectification) by which it must fulfill each of the 613 Mitzvot and thus become "pure" to its essence as envisioned by G-d. In these teachings of the Kabbalah, as passed down from Isaac Luria, a "shattering of the vessels" of the Sephirot falls down to earth from the Spirit worlds, and these shards are embedded in our physical world as "sparks of holiness" (nitzutzot).  Once these sparks are redeemed to their original and spiritual source, only then can the Messianic era begin. The souls of the righteous among the Nations will be assisted by these gilgulim, or sparks of divinity, to fulfill the laws of the Bible. This concept gives a cosmic importance to each individual person, since each one’s list of tasks is individual, and only that person knows them to fulfill them. Thus, the "gilgulim" assist each individual soul in its tasks. This also explains the Kabbalistic view of why any future utopia must devolve from our "lower" imperfect world, and only in this pedestrian realm is the purpose of a glorious Creation realized and fulfilled.

Let us return to our here and now: our tear filled, stunned realization of the destruction of poor Haiti and Chile, with a nervous anticipation of a future, similar calamity to shake our beloved California. The obvious meaning of the End of Days is for all of us to assess our shortcomings in preparation to the cleansing of our smudged souls, and not just on an annual rite on Yom Kippur…but as an on-going assessment, even if we live beyond the time-frame of the rock and roll of California.

________________________

Dr. Joseph Michelson, The Jewish Observer Contributing Columnist

STATE

FREE JEWISH SINGLES ONLY WEBSITE FROM MY JEWISH MATCHES.COM!

With almost 50% of world wide Jewry over the age of 18 not being married and more than half of all Single Jews throughout the world are marrying out of the Faith, the International Jewish Community is in a crisis of surviving the future while its population is dwindling. Many solutions on an international scale have been developed to help bring Single Jewish men and women together socially. One solution has been through internet dating websites.

There are many so called Jewish Dating Websites available today. Most of these Websites charge membership fees for their services, and most of those, while claiming they are Jewish Single Websites, will accept membership applications from anyone who pays. These websites are not exclusively for Jews nor do they attempt to qualify their members as being Jewish. In addition, most of these sites have members who have not been active in years.

In response to these issues and the tough economic realities facing many Single Jews, a new full service Jewish Website has been created with no membership fees whatsoever. This dating and marriage website, named My Jewish Matches.Com, is exclusively for Jewish Singles only, whether never married, widowed or divorced, regardless of religious affiliation. This unique website was created by a group of professional Jewish Singles and is being funded by private grants.

My Jewish Matches.com is a full service website. Members can choose the type of person they want to meet, whether within a specific age range, distance, religious practice and several other well defined parameters. Members can restrict who can communicate with them and even decide who can see their photos or profiles so that neither party wastes their time. All members are current and profiles which are inactive for three months will be eliminated to maintain the viability of the Website. This allows everyone a more realistic chance of meeting their Bashert (Jewish Soul Mate). And it’s all 100% free!

The age range is from 18 and up, and all potential members will be asked to complete a brief 10 to 15 minute pre-qualifying questionnaire. Anyone who is not Jewish, married, separated, has a criminal record or a history of violence will not be allowed to join. This Website is exclusively for Jewish Singles living anywhere in the world who are interested in meeting other Jews for friendship and serious relationships leading to marriage. The websites’ full service benefits include e-mails, instant messaging, on line phone chatting, video web services, privacy settings and web seminars to name a few.

________________________

hotels_mr_160x600_us.gif

DA’S HISTORICAL EVIDENCE COLLECTION ON DISPLAY

LOS ANGELES – Evidence from some of Los Angeles County’s most notorious criminal cases – including the Robert F. Kennedy assassination and Manson murder trial – will be showcased this week as part of a crime history exhibit.

"Behind the Scenes," an exhibit featuring evidence, photographs, video footage and vintage vehicles from homicide investigations spanning 100 years, is free and open to the public March 3 and 4 from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. The exhibit will be housed at the Palms Casino Resort, Key West Ballroom, 4321 West Flamingo Road, in Las Vegas.

"The Los Angeles Police Department’s homicide investigators have again and again demonstrated their ability to put together evidence on all sorts of crimes and certainly the more notorious killings in the city," said District Attorney Steve Cooley. "We are happy to participate in this important historical exhibit by providing some of the evidence collected over the years by the hard-working detectives with whom we work so closely."

Items on display from the District Attorney’s historical evidence collection include the clothes worn by Senator Kennedy the night of his assassination, weapons seized from the Manson family, gloves and a knit cap from the O.J. Simpson murder trial and firearms from the Onion Field case.

Detectives of the Los Angeles Police Department curated the exhibit for the 2010 California Homicide Investigators Conference.

Photographs and memorabilia from high profile cases in the City of Los Angeles also will be on display courtesy of the Los Angeles Police Historical Society Museum. Among the cases to be highlighted are Marilyn Monroe’s death, the Black Dahlia murder, the 1997 North Hollywood shootout and the 1974 Symbionese Liberation Army shootout.

ISRAEL REAPPOINTED TO CAL HORSE RACING BOARD

LOS ANGELES -- David Israel, 58, of Los Angeles, has been reappointed to the California Horse Racing Board, where he has served as a member since 2008.

Israel has been a writer and television producer since 1973. Israel worked as a syndicated sports columnist from 1975 to 1981, during which he covered the Triple Crown triumphs of Seattle Slew and Affirmed. This position requires Senate confirmation and the compensation is $100 per diem. Israel is a Democrat.

 

 

 

Journal that provides coverage of Los Angeles Jewish news of all Los Angeles Jews regardless of religious faction or nationality.

JEWISH ADVERTISING? E-mail The Los Angeles Jewish Observer(SM) news today at advertising@jewishobserver-la.com or use our

 "Contact Us" Page!  The Jewish Observer Los Angeles news.  (Copyright 2009. All Rights Reserved.)

Call The Jewish Observer Los Angeles news at (818) 996-1220 today!

 About Us | Advertisements | Business/Legal | Calendar | Community News | Contact Us | Home Page | Investor Relations | Opinions/Editorials |  

| Search | Services | Site Map | Special Report | Terms of Use |  | World News |