Satinover, J. Cracking the Bible Code, Harper Collins Pub. NY, NY 1998
Chap. 1 The Ancient Legend p.1 Ancient Jewish traditions are that the Torah was dictated by God to Moses in a precise letter by letter fashion. A noted 18th century Jewish scholar Elijah Solomon (Vilna Gaon) asserted that the details of every person are noted in the Torah in a hidden code. P2 Several Rabbi challenged him about this and he found their names in the ELS (equidistance letter sequence) code. It is also known that the Torah had been copied precisely by trained scribes to avoid errors.p4 Mat. 5:18 “I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the lest stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear form the law of Moses (the Torah) until everything is accomplished.” In the 20th century Rabbi Michael Weissmandl perused the code and did 10×10 grids. He found some codes related to Anwar Sadat. P5 Prominent scientists formed a group to disprove the code. P6
Chap. 2. Journey To the Center p.11 Prominent scholars joined the code effort including: Doron Witzum, Jewish scholar; Eliyahu Rips, a mathematician; Gerald Schroeder, a physicist; Prof. Daniel Michaelson, a mathematician; Eric Coppersmith, a rabbi; Moshe Zeldman, a rabbi and math. Scholar; Rabbi Daniel Mechanic, and Yoav Rosenberg, a computer scientist who worte and article in Statistical Scinece.p14 Most Jews do not hold to a literal interpretation of the Torah, but this work supported it. The rabbinical college in Jersulaem, Aish HaTorah also had some study of the codes. In a trip to Jersulaem, Satinover noted many orthodox Jews and the Haredim to which the Torah is very important.
Chap. 3 Piercing the Veil p. 26 Abraham Oren a Jewish scholar and computer expert also began the study. He noted that in Leviticus 1:1-13 Aaron is not mentioned but he was present, so he encouraged a code search for Aaron. Weissmandl had found the nane of Abraham and of God as Elohim in Gen. 1:22-26, where Elohim appears 4 times. (This is were the creatures and man are made and to spread out.) p29 Oren found the name of Aaron 10 times in ELS code in Lev. 1:1-13. p33 Rips followed this with detailed computer and statistical studies and found Aaron 25 times in the passage. He noted the odds of this were over a million to one. P.35 Scholars say this refutes the documentary hypothesis and implies a letter for letter transcription from God.p30 Additional sampling studies of other bible passages did not have the Aaron code occurrence and confirmed its validity. P 39
Chap. 4 Blueprint form Heaven p.42 This chapter points out the great pains the scribes of the Torah held to its copying exactly letter for letter. The book has held the Jews together for eons. The Torah is viewed by the Jews as more precise than other books of the old testament and a direct transcription form God to Moses. The Samaritan Torah is not as letter precise. The Dead Sea scrolls on animal parchments date from about 100BC. They are very close to the Isaiah copy of 600 AD.p52 The new testament does not have near the letter to letter exactness of the Torah.
Chap. 5 The Black Fire of Holocaust: Rabbi Weissmandl escapes the Holocaust and survives.1944-5 He had been the planer a negotiator for the escape of many Jews.
Chap. 6 The White Fire of Destiny: Rabbi Weissmandl had researched the Bible codes early in life. He obtained a Torah commentary book of 1291 by Bachya ben Asher of Spain.p67 Bachya had teachings and works on the kabbalah and mathematical interpretations of the Torah. “Bahye ben Asher ibn Halawa also known as Rabbeinu Behaye (mid-thirteenth century – 1340) was a rabbi and scholar of Judaism. He was a commentator on the Hebrew Bible and is noted for introducing Kabbalah (Jewish mysticism) into study of the Torah” Bachya is quoted as writing there is Code in Gen. 1:2 starting with the letter b (beyt), the 42nd letter in Gen., which contains the name of God and a code for the creation and the seasons of the moon.p68 This came from an earlier Rabbi Tam and Eleazar who got it from Rabi Nechunya ben HaKanah. Based on Bachya’s work Weissmandl published: Hilchot HaChodesh (the laws for fixing the new moon) in 1931. P69 There are some written records of this in the Bodleian library at Oxford. Satinover claims p70 that the Jewish sages viewed the early Genesis creation story to have several layers of meaning. The first layer, taught to children, is the literal 6 -24 hr days of creation. Rabbi Gikatilla published his book in 1274 about the letter codes and the 42 letter divine name for God.p76 Bachya code was composed or 4 letters B,H,R,D each at 42 letter intervals . These letters represented a number from which one could calculate the length of the lunar month.p81 This calculation was very exacting and corresponds to modern observations and formulas to within 2 parts/million p82. An ancient complex code also revealed that the earth was 15.3 billion yrs. old long before scientists asserted this. P83 Weissmandl made it to the US and founded a Torah school in Mount Kisco, NY. He taught some the students his secret codes before he died in 1957. p84-6
Chap. 7 Form Enigma to Atbash- The development of computers, statistics and Cryptology: By WW2 cryptology became important; a lesson was learned form Pearl Harbor as the code messages were ignored. The German code Enigma was decoded by the allies and this led to winning the war.p88 The Jews say there are several layers of codes in the Old testament. Jeremiah 25:26 is cited and 51:42 where the code word Sheshach is substituted for Babylon. This is known to be a letter substitution code (Atbash)and is proof some codes are used in the bible.p90 The Cipher disc or wheel within a wheel code was developed by Alberti and the start of the poly-alphabetic cipher. P93 Trithermius was a monk and abbot who also developed a kabbalistic method of numerical values for names to the angels. This is related to the 42 letter words for God’s name and Atbash.p96 When reviewing codes in general; f a text seams oddly worded it is a sign that there e a hidden code.97 Ezekiel 1:5-16 may be referring to code, where there is a wheel within a wheel. B. Pascal also developed probability and math for fluid dynamics. He is quote as saying the Old Testament is cipher.p103 Von Neumann and Alan Turing developed approximation techniques and a computer. This is also related to quantum mechanics and the development of the atomic bomb.p112-3
Chap. 8 The Bible Code emerges. P119 Code areas tend to be in small clusters, not every where.p121 Rips did all of Genesis. Found word Eden 20 times at 1/100 proabliity; the River 13 time a t 1/1000 (Genesis 2); The Appointed times in Lev. 23 one time at 1/70 million. Code pursued by kabbalists and Zohar. Wikipedia is cited.
The Zohar (Hebrew: זֹהַר, lit Splendor or Radiance) is the foundational work in the literature of Jewish mystical thought known as Kabbalah.[1] It is a group of books including commentary on the mystical aspects of the Torah (the five books of Moses) and scriptural interpretations as well as material on theosophic theology, mythical cosmogony, and mystical psychology. The Zohar contains a discussion of the nature of God, the origin and structure of the universe, the nature of souls, redemption, the relationship of Ego to Darkness and “true self” to “The Light of God,” and the relationship between the “universal energy” and man. Its scriptural exegesis can be considered an esoteric form of the Rabbinic literature known as Midrash, which elaborates on the Torah. The Zohar is mostly written in what has been described as an exalted, eccentric style of Aramaic, a language spoken in the Land of Israel during the Roman Period in the first centuries of the Common Era.
The Zohar first appeared in Spain in the 13th century, and was published by a Jewish writer named Moses de Leon. De Leon ascribed the work to Shimon bar Yochai, a rabbi of the 2nd century during the Roman persecution[2] who, according to Jewish legend,[3][4] hid in a cave for thirteen years studying the Torah and was inspired by the Prophet Elijah to write the Zohar. This accords with the traditional claim by adherents that Kabbalah is the concealed part of the Oral Torah.
Kabbalah (Hebrew: קַבָּלָה, Qabbalah lit. “receiving”; Qabala) is a discipline and school of thought concerned with the mystical aspect of Rabbinic Judaism. It is a set of esoteric teachings meant to explain the relationship between an eternal and mysterious Creator and the mortal and finite universe (His creation). While it is heavily used by some denominations, it is not a denomination in and of itself; it is a set of scriptures that exist outside the traditional Jewish Scriptures. Kabbalah seeks to define the nature of the universe and the human being, the nature and purpose of existence, and various other ontological questions. It also presents methods to aid understanding of these concepts and to thereby attain spiritual realization. Kabbalah originally developed entirely within the realm of Jewish thought and constantly uses classical Jewish sources to explain and demonstrate its esoteric teachings. These teachings are thus held by kabbalists to define the inner meaning of both the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible) and traditional rabbinic literature, as well as to explain the significance of Jewish religious observances.[1]
According to the Zohar, a foundational text for kabbalistic thought, Torah study can proceed along four levels of interpretation (exegesis).[2][3] These four levels are called Pardes because their initial letters spell “PaRDeS” (“Orchard”):
• Peshat (lit. “simple”): the direct interpretations of meaning.
• Remez (lit. “hint[s]”): the allegoric meanings (through allusion).
• Derash (from Heb. darash: “inquire” or “seek”): midrashic (Rabbinic) meanings, often with imaginative comparisons with similar words or verses.
• Sod (lit. “secret” or “mystery”): the inner, esoteric (metaphysical) meanings, expressed in kabbalah.
Kabbalah is considered, by its followers, as a necessary part of the study of Torah – the study of Torah (the “Teachings” of God, in the Tanach and Rabbinic literature) being an inherent duty of observant Jews.[4] Kabbalah teaches doctrines that are accepted by some Jews as the true meaning of Judaism while other Jews have rejected these doctrines as heretical and antithetical to Judaism
The Sefirot (סְפִירוֹת — singular Sefirah סְפִירָה) are the ten emanations and attributes of God with which He continually sustains the universe in existence. The word “sefirah” literally means “counting”, but early Kabbalists presented a number of other etymological possibilities including: sefer (book), sippur (story), sappir (sapphire, brilliance, luminary), separ (boundary), and safra (scribe). The term sefirah thus has complex connotations within Kabbalah.[15] The central metaphor of Man’s soul is used to describe the Sephirot. This incorporates masculine and feminine aspects, after Genesis 1:27 (“God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him, male and female He created them”). Corresponding to the last Sephirah in Creation is the indwelling Shechina (Feminine Divine Presence). In the Sephirot, performance of Mitzvot (traditional Jewish observances) unites the masculine and feminine aspects of supernal Divinity, and brings harmony to Creation. The description of Divine manifestation through the 10 Sephirot is a defining feature of Medieval Kabbalah, alongside their male and female aspects, and the concept of downward flow of Divine Light through the chain of Creation. The Sephirot correspond to the Four Worlds of this spiritual descent, Atziluth, Beri’ah, Yetzirah and Assiah.
Ten Sephirot as process of Creation
According to Lurianic cosmology, the Sephirot correspond to various levels of creation (ten sephirot in each of the Four Worlds, and four worlds within each of the larger four worlds, each containing ten sephirot, which themselves contain ten sephirot, to an infinite number of possibilities,[16]) and are emanated from the Creator for the purpose of creating the universe. The Sephirot are considered revelations of the Creator’s will (ratzon),[17] and they should not be understood as ten different “gods” but as ten different ways the one God reveals his will through the Emanations. It is not God who changes but the ability to perceive God that changes.
Altogether 11 sephirot are named. However Keter and Daat are unconscious and conscious dimensions of one principle, conserving 10 forces. The names of the Sephirot in descending order are:
• Keter (supernal crown, representing above-conscious will)
• Chochmah (The highest potential of thought)
• Binah (the understanding of the potential)
• Daat (intellect of knowledge)
• Chesed (sometimes referred to as Gedolah-greatness) (loving-kindness)
• Gevurah (sometimes referred to as Din-justice or Pachad-fear) (severity/strength)
• Rachamim also known as Tiphereth (Mercy)
• Netzach (victory/eternity)
• Hod (glory/splendour)
• Yesod (foundation)
• Malkuth (kingdom)
Tzimtzum is the primordial cosmic act whereby God “contracted” his infinite light, leaving a “void” into which the light of existence was poured. This new doctrine of Isaac Luria in the 16th century gave a new organisation of the previous Second-Temple and Medieval Kabbalistic concepts of Angelic hierarchies and descending Worlds. The primal emanation after the Tzimtzum in Lurianic Kabbalah led to an initial catastrophe called “Tohu” (Chaos). This was reformed into “Tikkun” (Rectification) of our spiritual realms, described in previous Kabbalah, becoming Atzilut (the World of Emanation), from which the three lower Worlds, Beriah, Yetzirah and Asiyah, descended. This corresponds to the reorganisation of the Sephirot into the Partsufim described in previous Kabbalah. The Tzimtzum reconciles the infinite simplicity of the Ein Sof with the finite plurality of Creation. From the subsequent catastrophe stems the possibility of self-aware Creation, and also the Kelipot (impure “shells” in Medieval Kabbalah).
Chap. 9 the Architecture of the Garden p.131-54 Hebrews 11:3 says that “through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.”
Satinover hints that the main reason for the hidden code texts is to validate the main text not to offer prophecy. Many of the codes do not provide a lot of new information, but illustrate and expand on the text. This would also explain the text clustering about some significant area and the repeating of one word in the code(like the repeating of the name Aaron 10 times). It is also possible that as in his secret agent example, Moses and the Jewish priests were the ones (secret agents) who received oral information (the oral Torah) giving clues on how to interpret the code. P143 This would also explain why some the Jewish rabbis names are found in code.(p156) Gen. 1:29-2:16 is cited. Here 7 species of seed bearing fruits appear in code. P144 Rips also found the names of 25 trees in Genesis 2:7-3:3 in code and the odds of this were 1/100000(p.145). The last tree cited was gopherwood. Satinwood notes that many irrelevant words can be found in code statistically, but the significant words or phrases are often statistically significant.p150 the word Hanukkah and some of its character are found I Genesis as is the 13th of Adar and Purin and some of its characters.p.153 The codes are also often of historical significance in the Bible history.p.154
Chap. 10 The Helix of Time p.155 history repeats. 9th of Ab destruction of the temples. Abrahams’ name appears. Abraham the angel of Fostov in code; Franz Joseph of Austria; some diseases like diabetes, aids, anthrax, Anwar Sadat of Egypt in Exodus that talks of Egypt. Bible code is also tied to wars involving the Jews.p168
Chap. 11 The Flames of Amalek p 169 Descendants of Esau- Haman and Herod The code is better used for 2 or more related facts with an event and a date. It is more difficult to use in a prophecy way(p 170). It was used in the Gulf war however to predict the Scud missile attack by Iraq on Jan. 18, 1991p173 Miracles also surrounded the attack in that 10,992 apartments were damaged and 1,325 private homes completely destroyed, but no one was killed.p180 The date became known by code in advance. Many code words including Sadam, Baghdad, and the 9th of Ab appear.p176-8 The holocaust is found in code and may words surrounding it like, Auschwitz and Eichmann in Genesis.
Chap. 12 The Great Sages p.190 quotes; p.204 list of sages encoded in Genesis.
Hoshana Rabbah is known as the last of the Days of Judgment which began on Rosh Hashana.[1] The Zohar says that while the judgment for the new year is sealed on Yom Kippur, it is not “delivered” until the end of Sukkot (i.e., Hoshana Rabbah, the last day of Sukkot), during which time one can still alter their verdict and decree for the new year.
Chap. 13 Are they real? p206-25 Yes but they are statistical in nature. Doron Witztum
Chap. 14 The 6th Millennium p226 “Ever since the scientific revolution, the world has looked more and more like a giant machine- a spiritual wasteland.” The Bible code and quantum physics offers a way out. William James interweaves the spiritual and scientific. Many forces are deterministic but there is the mysterious aspect of free will p235. In quantum physics there is an aspect of randomness and of the decision of an experimenter influencing the outcome. There are quanta where a particle jumps form one level to the next and back. This happens in a coordinated opposing ways with groups of particles an in a probabilistic way for individuals. In the quantum universe outcomes are emerging from innumerable quantum uncertainties possible influenced by God by finely tweaking certain parameters for certain outcomes. As James hinted randomness is closer to action by free will, rather than to predetermination. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_James
James’s description of the mind-world connection, which he described in terms of a “stream of consciousness (psychology)”,
In the quantum view broad probabilities are determined but and certain outcomes more likely, but man’s decisions and chance can influence this; as can prayer and righteous actions.p243 ref. How can we know what God is communicating? We need to be tuned to God’s will and bound to Him.p247 Revelations occur by the imagination and hints. They may be probabilistic. Future work in codes p 249-50 Satinover encourages open-mindedness as fixed dogma can impede.p254 Universities; Judaism: Must live a moral life; The Torah lacks formal theology but has much on correct living. P256-8 Final code: God is truth- Gen. 38:25
Appendix A Details of the new moon: Lunar variability has long vexed astronomers. p265; A 4 letter word code is given for the new moon(bhrd). The numerical values are 2,5,204 meaning the 2nd day, 5th hr and 204th part of an hour(P270) Also see pg 81; between each of the 4 letters lie the 42 letter name of God when the letters are rearranged by permutation and another calculation made the average length of the lunar month was 29.53059 days(P83) Also on p. 275 the age of the earth was clacualted: 42,000 divine yrs x 365,250= 15.3 billion by Rabbi Yitzhak deMin Acco of the 13th century who got it from Nehunya ben ha-Kanah (Hebrew: נחוניה בן הקנה) was a Tanna of the 1st and 2nd centuries. It appears from B. B. 10b that Neḥunya was a contemporary, but not a pupil, of Johanan b. Zakkai. He was the teacher of Ishmael b. Elisha. Neḥunya was rich and had a large retinue of servants; but he was distinguished for his meekness and forgiving nature, to which he attributed his attainment of great age (Meg. 28a); two short prayers composed by him exhibit the same qualities (Ber. iv. 2; Yer. Ber. iv. 2).
Joseph ben Abraham Gikatilla (1248 – after 1305) (Hebrew: יוסף בן אברהם ג’יקטיליה, Spanish: Chiquitilla, “the little”) was a Spanish kabbalist, student of Abraham Abulafia.
Gikatilla was a prolific writer; he wrote his first work (Ginnat Egoz, גנת אגוז) when only twenty-six. It is a kabbalistic treatise in three parts (Hanau, 1615).
• The title (from Cant. vi.11). It literally means “garden of nuts,”. Kabalisitically, “Ginnat” consisting of the initials of “Gemaṭria,” “Noṭarḳon,” “Temurah”, the three main elements of Kabbala, while “Egoz” (the nut) is the emblem of mysticism.
• The first part, in five chapters, treats of the various names of God occurring in the Bible. According to Gikatilla, “YHVH” is the only name which represents the substance of God; the other names are merely predicates of the divine attributes. “YHVH” stands for God as He is, while “Elohim” denotes God as the creative power. The name “ẓeba’ot” (hosts), he says, applies to all the beings of the three natures, earthly, heavenly (or spheres), and spirits (or forms). The interpretation of “ẓeba’ot” as (“host of letters”) leads him over to the second part.
• The second part treats of the letters of the alphabet. He declares that the number ten emanated from YHVH, the primitive cause, and is the source of all being; he attempts to prove his statement by different combinations based on religion, philosophy, physics, and mysticism. He shows that the Talmudic view that space is filled with spirits agrees with the belief of the philosophers that there is no vacuum. He also treats here of the revolutions of the sun and moon, giving the relative sizes of the planets.
Sha’are Orah (Mantua, 1561) deals with the names of God.
• It discusses about 300 names[4], organized into ten chapters, one for each sephirah. Each sephirah has one main name, but may have many others. Some names are associated with more than one sphirah.
Ehyeh asher ehyeh (Hebrew: אהיה אשר אהיה) is the first of three responses given to Moses when he asks for God’s name (Exodus 3:14). It is one of the most famous verses in the Hebrew Bible. The Tetragrammaton itself derives from the same verbal root. The
King James version of the Bible translates the Hebrew as “I am that I am” better renderings might be “I will be what I will be”
Teachings about the Sefirot http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lurianic_Kabbalah
The characteristic feature of Luria’s system in the theoretical Kabbalah is his definition of the Sefiroth and his theory of the intermediary agents, which he calls partzufim. Before the creation of the world, he says, the Ein Sof (“Without Ending”) filled the infinite space. When the Creation was decided upon, in order that God’s attributes, which belong to other beings as well, should manifest themselves in their perfection, the Ein Sof retired into God’s own nature, or, to use the kabbalistic term, God “concentrated” Himself (Tzimtzum). From this “concentration” proceeded the “infinite light”. When in its turn the light “concentrated”, there appeared in the center an empty space encompassed by ten circles or dynamic vessels (kelim) called Sefirot, (“Circled Numbers”) by means of which the infinite realities, though forming an absolute unity, may appear in their diversity; for the finite has no real existence of itself.
However, the infinite light did not wholly desert the center; a thin conduit of light traversed the circles and penetrated into the center. But while the three outermost circles, being of a purer substance because of their nearness to the Ein Sof, were able to bear the light, the inner six were unable to do so, and burst. It was, therefore, necessary to remove them from the focus of the light. For this purpose the Sefirot were transformed into “figures” (parzufim, cf. Greek πρόσωπον = “face”).
The system of cosmology of the Kabbalah explains the significance of the names.
One of the most important names is that of the En Sof אין סוף (“Infinite” or “Endless”), who is above the Sefirot.
The forty-two-lettered name contains the combined names אהיה יהוה אדוני הויה, that when spelled in letters it contains 42 letters. The equivalent in value of YHWH (spelled הא יוד הא וו = 45) is the forty-five-lettered name.
The seventy-two-lettered name is based from three verses in Exodus (14:19–21) beginning with “Vayyissa”, “Vayyabo” and “Vayyet” respectively. Each of the verses contains 72 letters, and when combined they form 72 names, known collectively as the Shemhamphorasch.
The kabbalistic book Sefer Yetzirah explains that the creation of the world was achieved by the manipulation of the sacred letters that form the names of God.
42 (forty-two) is the natural number following 41 and preceding 43. The number has received considerable attention in popular culture because of its appearance in The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, as the “Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything”.
• 42 is the number with which God creates the Universe in Kabbalistic tradition. In Kabbalah, the most significant name is that of the En Sof (also known as “Ein Sof”, “Infinite” or “Endless”), who is above the Sefirot (sometimes spelled “Sephirot”).[9] The Forty-Two-Lettered Name contains four combined names which are spelled in Hebrew letters (spelled in letters = 42 letters), which is the name of Azilut (or “Atziluth” “Emanation”). While there are obvious links between the Forty-Two Lettered Name of the Babylonian Talmud (see further up this page) and the Kabbalah’s Forty-Two Lettered Name, they are probably not identical because of the Kabbalah’s emphasis on numbers. The Kabbalah also contains a Forty-Five Lettered Name and a Seventy-Two Lettered Name.
• The number 42 appears in various contexts in Christianity. There are 42 generations (names) in the Gospel of Matthew’s version of the Genealogy of Jesus; it is prophesied that for 42 months the Beast will hold dominion over the Earth (Revelation 13:5); 42 men of Beth-azmaveth were counted in the census of men of Israel upon return from exile (Ezra 2:24); God sent bears to maul 42 of the youths who mocked Elisha for his baldness (2 Kings 2:23), etc.
• In Judaism, the number (in the Babylonian Talmud, compiled 375 AD to 499 AD) of the “Forty-Two Lettered Name” ascribed to God. Rab (or Rabhs), a 3rd century source in the Talmud stated “The Forty-Two Lettered Name is entrusted only to him who is pious, meek, middle-aged, free from bad temper, sober, and not insistent on his rights”. [Source: Talmud Kidduschin 71a, Translated by Rabbi Dr. I. Epstein]. Maimonides felt that the original Talmudic Forty-Two Lettered Name was perhaps composed of several combined divine names [Maimonides “Moreh”]. The apparently unpronouncable Tetragrammaton provides the backdrop from the Twelve-Lettered Name and the Forty-Two Lettered Name of the Talmud.