Tag Archives: Ben Ish Chai

Heroes of Issachar & Zevulun

Who were some of the greatest leaders and figures from the ancient Israelite tribes of Issachar and Zevulun? What were the ten special things created by God on the eve of the first Sabbath? And what is the mysterious shamir “worm” that was used to cut stones for Jerusalem’s Temple? Plus, who did Issachar reincarnate in? Where did Jonah come from? And who exactly are the Druze?

For Part 1 of this class, see here.
For Rabbi Akiva’s last five teachings to Rashbi, see here.
For more on the origins of Kaddish, see here.

The Spiritual Significance of 2025

What is the significance of the alignment of the last night of Chanukah with the first day of 2025? What does it have to do with the upcoming Chinese Year of the Snake? And how is it all connected to the new month of Tevet and the current Daf Yomi tractate Sanhedrin? Also: Why was the Zohar revealed to the world in the year 1290? Which verses in Tanakh prophetically allude to the year 2025? What is the significance of the letters on the dreidel? And what happened when Alexander the Great presided over a lawsuit against the Jews?

See also ‘The Dragon, the Snake & the Messiah’ and ‘Chinese Zodiac in Judaism’.

Understanding Mashiach ben Yosef, Part 3

In the final installment of the series, we put all the ancient sources together to present one clear and coherent view of Mashiach ben Yosef, solving the puzzle of one or two messiahs, and laying down the true sequence of events to expect at the End of Days. Along the way, we explore Ezekiel’s Vision of the Dry Bones, the meaning of resurrection in Judaism, and the fascinating symbolism of the Phoenix in mythical and mystical sources.

For Part 1 of this series, see here.
For Part 2 of this series, see here.

For more on Russia, Iran, and the ‘Third Rome’, see here.

This class is based on a set of essays in the recently-published third volume of Garments of Light, available on Amazon and directly from the publisher here.