2020-04-30 – LH3 – OC3 – Taanis 4 – Para. 16b-18 – Prayer at Chatzos HaLayla – Half-Shekel Pidyon – the Danger of Counting Jews – Covid-19 – Sohd HaIbur (Inter-calculation of Solar and Lunar Calendars)

Taanis 4 – Prayer at Chatzos HaLayla – Half-Shekel Pidyon – the Danger of Counting Jews – Covid-19 – Sohd HaIbur (Inter-calculation of Solar and Lunar Calendars)Speaker: Rabbi Nasan Maimon. Hilkhos Taanis 4 is based on Likutey Moharan 61.
00:00 – Dedicated l’ilui nishmas (for the elevation of the soul of) Reb Hillel b’Reb Meir by his family in Johannesburg.
00:16 – PARAGRAPH 16. The importance of waking up at chatzos halayla (6 hours after nightfall). The light of day represents geulah (redemption).
12:21 – Dovid HaMelech (King David) represents moshiach.
*13:19 – QUESTION and RESPONSE about how to begin waking up for prayer at chatzos. Rabbi Maimon supports the Breslov Chatzos Kollel, where members begin their day at chatzos halayla and continue learning Torah until the earliest possible morning tefilah (prayer) at netz hachama (daybreak).
19:04 – PARAGRAPH 17. Rosh Chodesh Adar and the Machtzis HaShekel (half-shekel) donation. The three things Moshe Rabbeinu had to be shown through illustration by Hashem, form the letters of his name: Menorah, Shekel, and HaChodesh.
25:40 – Why it’s forbidden to count Jews. The half-shekel donation protected Am Yisrael from plagues that could result by counting Jews.
27:42 – Chesed (kindness) originates from Chokhmah (wisdom).
*30:28 – When a couple marries, the chasan says to the kallah “I betroth you according to the Law of Moshe and Israel.” Moshe Rabbeinu is equivalent to the Jewish Nation. Gematria heard from Rabbi Zvi Aryeh Rosenfeld zal: the Mem of Moshe’s name, 40, times the Shin of his name, is 12,000. This number multiplied by the Hey of his name is 60,000. This number multiplied by Moshe Rabbeinu’s height, 10 amos (cubits), equals 600,000 – the number of root Jewish souls.
36:09 – The last words of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai z”l just before his passing were: שם צוה ד את-הברכה חיים “…for there HaShem has commanded the blessing, may there be life…” (Tehillim/Psalms 133:3)
36:58 – QUESTION and RESPONSE about a possible connection between counting the Omer and the fact that at the time this shiur was given, every day on the news there were announcements of the number of people who died, or who were ill, or who recovered from the Covid-19 virus.
43:16 – PARAGRAPH 18. The unification of the twelve tribes of Israel and the inter-calculation of the solar and lunar calendars – Sohd HaIbur. The tziruf (form of HaShem’s Name) that one has in mind during the sanctification of the new month on the Shabbos preceding each Rosh Chodesh. The tziruf for the additional Adar during a leap year includes all the forms of HaShem’s Name.

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