11-23-2004, 11:14 PM
Members of the Forum,
I warn you. Do not try to assign the allegorical with a definite meaning.
About Nineteen:
"The people (Jews) in France made it a custom to add (in the morning prayer) the words: " ???Ashrei temimei derekh (blessed are those who walk the righteous way)," and our Rabbi, the Pious, of blessed memory, wrote that they were completely and utterly wrong. It is all gross falsehood, because there are only nineteen times that the Holy Name is mentioned (in that portion of the morning prayer), . . . and similarly you find the word Elohim nineteen times in the pericope of Ve-???elleh shemot . . . . Similarly, you find that Israel were called "sons" nineteen times, and there are many other examples. All these sets of nineteen are intricately intertwined, and they contain many secrets and esoteric meanings, which are contained in more than eight volumes. Therefore, anyone who has the fear of God in him will not listen to the words of the Frenchmen who add the verse " ???Ashrei temimei derekh (blessed are those who walk in the paths of God???s Torah, for according to their additions the Holy Name is mentioned twenty times . . . and this is a great mistake. Furthermore, in this section there are 152 words, but if you add " ???Ashrei temimei derekh" there are 158 words. This is nonsense, for it is a great and hidden secret why there should be 152 words . . ." (Studies In Jewish Mysticism, Joseph Dan, Association for Jewish Studies. Cambridge, Massachusetts: 1978, p 88.)
He, Judah, centered his entire interpretation of certain Biblical passages around 19.
Bad.
I warn you. Do not try to assign the allegorical with a definite meaning.
About Nineteen:
"The people (Jews) in France made it a custom to add (in the morning prayer) the words: " ???Ashrei temimei derekh (blessed are those who walk the righteous way)," and our Rabbi, the Pious, of blessed memory, wrote that they were completely and utterly wrong. It is all gross falsehood, because there are only nineteen times that the Holy Name is mentioned (in that portion of the morning prayer), . . . and similarly you find the word Elohim nineteen times in the pericope of Ve-???elleh shemot . . . . Similarly, you find that Israel were called "sons" nineteen times, and there are many other examples. All these sets of nineteen are intricately intertwined, and they contain many secrets and esoteric meanings, which are contained in more than eight volumes. Therefore, anyone who has the fear of God in him will not listen to the words of the Frenchmen who add the verse " ???Ashrei temimei derekh (blessed are those who walk in the paths of God???s Torah, for according to their additions the Holy Name is mentioned twenty times . . . and this is a great mistake. Furthermore, in this section there are 152 words, but if you add " ???Ashrei temimei derekh" there are 158 words. This is nonsense, for it is a great and hidden secret why there should be 152 words . . ." (Studies In Jewish Mysticism, Joseph Dan, Association for Jewish Studies. Cambridge, Massachusetts: 1978, p 88.)
He, Judah, centered his entire interpretation of certain Biblical passages around 19.
Bad.
???Do not give up, for that is ignorance and not according to the rules of this art... Like the lover, you cannot hope to achieve success without infinite perseverance.???