[Avodah] Birchas HaChama

[Micha Berger]

On Tue, May 06, 2008 at 08:08:40AM -0400, R' Yaakov Feldman
yfel912928 at aim.com wrote to Areivim:
: Someone told me that he heard that next year's Birchas HaChama will
: occur on Erev Pesach, which is such a rarity that it only happened twice
: before in all of history: at yetzias mitsraim and on Purim. He was also
: told that that?would bode well for a geulah sh'leima.

Birkhas haChamah is also always the year after shemittah (at least,
since the loss of Yovel, depending upon whether yovel is counted) which
makes birkhas hachamah fit the Gra's words (Safra diTznusa) about the
the extra chessed Hashem bestows after shemittah is good for ge'ulah.

The claim is written in Qadosh Elyon (jumping from the Gra to the
Ostrovster Rebbe), but unfortunately it doesnt work.

1- The QE writes that there was a Birkhas haChamah on erev Pesach 2447,
the year before yetzi'as Mitzrayim according to the Seder Olam. Ands that
the second time was the Pesach in which we all fasted on Esther's order,
prior to the ge'ulah. Using the seider olam, that was in 3403.

Birkhas haChamah will be in 5769, which tells me that it's in years that
leave of a remainder of 1 when divided by 28. (Modulo 28 arithmetic.)
2447 was in year 11 of the cycle, and 3403 in year 15. Even +/- a bit
because the question of whether Adam was created in year 0 or year 1
(or year 2, with the preceeding week being all that existed of year 1),
and you're still nowhere near birkhas hachamah. So, never mind happening
on erev Pesach, there was no birkhas hachamah those years at all!

2- The QE then says that 5769 would be the third time it would ever
happen, and shortly after, the ge'ulah must arrive.

But BhC fell out on EP far more than three times. Playing with hebcal a
bit, I find that it happened a couple of cycles ago in 5685 AM (1925 CE).

Maybe he means without dechuyos. This would require computing not only
the BhC's 28 yr cycle but a 532 yr cycle -- 28 * 19 for the 19 yr cycle
the months are on. Then we would compute the returns to erev Pesach that
are only caused by the lunar and solar cycles.

This might get the number down to 2, but we're still left with the
first problem.

Maybe rather than getting involved in lachashov es haqeitz, we should go
back to just lachashov velaavod lehavi es haqeitz. And then it certainly
could be in 5769 -- or before.

Tir'u baTov!
-Micha

-- 
Micha Berger             Today is the 16th day, which is
micha at aishdas.org        2 weeks and 2 days in/toward the omer.
http://www.aishdas.org   Gevurah sheb'Tifferes: What type of discipline
Fax: (270) 514-1507                             does harmony promote?