R. Simeon discoursed on the verse: And I will remember my covenant with Jacob, etc. (Lev. 26, 42). ‘The name Jacob’, he said, ‘is here written in full, with the letter vau. For what reason? In the first place as an allusion to the grade of Wisdom, the realm where Jacob dwells. But the chief reason is because the passage speaks of the exile of Israel, intimating that the redemption of Israel will come about through the mystic force of the letter vau, namely, in the sixth millennium,
and, more precisely, after six seconds and a half a time. When the sixtieth year shall have passed over the threshold of the sixth millennium, the God of heaven will visit the daughter of Jacob with a preliminary remembrance (p’qidah). Another six and a half years will then elapse, and there will be a full remembrance of her; then another six years, making together seventy-two years and a half.
In the year sixty-six the Messiah will appear in the land of Galilee. A star in the east will swallow seven stars in the north, and a flame of black fire will hang in the heaven for sixty days, and there shall be wars towards the north in which two kings shall perish.
Then all the nations shall combine together against the daughter of Jacob in order to drive her from the world. It is of that time that it is written: “And it is a time of trouble unto Jacob, but out of it he shall be saved” (Jer. 30, 7). At that time all the souls in Guph will have been used up, and will need to be re-created. As a mnemonic of this we may use the verse: “All the souls of the house of Jacob that came into Egypt… all the souls were threescore and six” (Gen. 46, 26).
In the year seventy-three all the kings of the world will assemble in the great city of Rome, and the Holy One will shower on them fire and hail and meteoric stones until they are all destroyed, with the exception of those who will not yet have arrived there. These will commence anew to make other wars. From that time the Messiah will begin to declare himself, and round him there will be gathered many nations and many hosts from the uttermost ends of the earth. And all the children of Israel will assemble in their various places
until the completion of the century. The Vau will then join the He, and then “they shall bring all your brethren out of all the nations for an offering unto the Lord” (Is. 66, 20). The children of Ishmael will at the same time rouse all the peoples of the world to come up to war against Jerusalem, as it is written, “For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle, etc.” (Zech. 14, 2), also, “The kings of the earth stand up, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord, and against his anointed” (Ps. 2, 2); and further, “He that sitteth in heaven laugheth, the Lord hath them in derision” (Ibid. 2, 4).
Then the lesser Vau will rouse itself to unite (with the He) and renew the souls that had become old, so as to rejuvenate the world, as it is written, “May the glory of the Lord endure for ever, let the Lord rejoice in his works” (Ps. 104, 31). The first part of this verse signifies that God’s glory will attach itself to the world, and the latter half that He will cause souls to descend into the world and make them into new beings, so as to join the world into one.
Happy are those who will be left alive at the end of the sixth millennium to enter on the Sabbath. For that is the day set apart by the Holy One on which to effect the union of souls and to cull new souls to join those that are still on earth, as it is written, “And it shall come to pass, that he that is left in Zion, and he that remaineth in Jerusalem, shall be called holy, even every one that is written unto life in Jerusalem” (Is. 4, 3).’
רַבִּי שִׁמְעוֹן פָּתַח וְאָמַר, (ויקרא כ״ו:מ״ב) וְזָכַרְתִּי אֶת בְּרִיתִי יַעֲקוֹב מָלֵא בְּוא"ו אַמַּאי. אֶלָּא בִּתְרֵין סִטְרִין אִיהוּ (אנון). רָזָא דְחָכְמְתָא חָדָא. דְּאִיהוּ רָזָא דַרְגָּא דְחָכְמְתָא. אֲתַר דְּשָׁרֵי בֵּיהּ יַעֲקֹב. אֲבָל הַאי קְרָא עַל גָּלוּתָא דְיִשְׂרָאֵל אִתְּמָר, דְּכַד אִנּוּן גּוֹ גָּלוּתָא, הַהוּא זִמְנָא דְּיִתְפַּקְדוּן (ביה יעקב) יִתְפַּקְדוּן בְּרָזָא דְּוא"ו. וְאִיהוּ בְּאֶלֶף שְׁתִיתָאָה.
R. Simeon discoursed on the verse: And I will remember my covenant with Jacob, etc. (Lev. 26, 42). ‘The name Jacob’, he said, ‘is here written in full, with the letter vau. For what reason? In the first place as an allusion to the grade of Wisdom, the realm where Jacob dwells. But the chief reason is because the passage speaks of the exile of Israel, intimating that the redemption of Israel will come about through the mystic force of the letter vau, namely, in the sixth millennium,
(ואתחנן ער א) וּפְקִידָה בְּרָזָא דְוא"ו שִׁית רִגְעֵי וּפְלַג עִידָן. וּבְזִמְנָא דְּשִׁתִּין שְׁנִין לְעִבּוּרָא דְדַשָּׁא בְּאֶלֶף שְׁתִיתָאָה יָקִים אֱלָהּ שְׁמַיָא פְּקִידוּ לִבְרַתֵּיהּ דְּיַעֲקֹב. וּמֵהַהוּא זִמְנָא עַד דִּיְהֵא לָהּ זְכִירָה שִׁית שְׁנִין וּפַלְגָא. וּמֵהַהוּא זִמְנָא שִׁית שְׁנִין אָחֳרָנִין וְאִנּוּן שִׁבְעִין (ותלת) וּתְרֵין וּפַּלְגָא.
and, more precisely, after six seconds and a half a time. When the sixtieth year shall have passed over the threshold of the sixth millennium, the God of heaven will visit the daughter of Jacob with a preliminary remembrance (p’qidah). Another six and a half years will then elapse, and there will be a full remembrance of her; then another six years, making together seventy-two years and a half.
בְּשִׁיתִּין וְשִׁית יִתְגְּלֵי מַלְכָּא מְשִׁיחָא בְּאַרְעָא (שמות ז ב, ט ב) דְגָלִיל, וְכַד כֹּכָבָא דְּבִסְטַר מִזְרָח יִבְלַע שֶׁבַע כֹּכְבַיָא מִסְטַר צָפוֹן, וְשַׁלְהוֹבָא דְּאֶשָׁא אוּכְמָא תְּהֵא תַּלְיָא בִּרְקִיעָא שִׁיתִּין יוֹמִין, וּקְרָבִין יִתְעָרוּן בְּעַלְמָא לִסְטַר צָפוֹן, וּתְרִין מַלְכִין יִפְּלוּן בְּאִנּוּן קְרָבִין.
In the year sixty-six the Messiah will appear in the land of Galilee. A star in the east will swallow seven stars in the north, and a flame of black fire will hang in the heaven for sixty days, and there shall be wars towards the north in which two kings shall perish.
וְיִזְדַּוְּוגוּן כֻּלְּהוֹן עַמְּמַיָא עַל בְּרַתֵּיהּ דְּיַעֲקֹב לְאִדַחְיָיא לָהּ (לון) מֵעָלְמָא. וְעַל הַהוּא זִמְנָא כְּתִיב (והיתה) (ירמיהו ל׳:ז׳) וְעֵת צָרָה הִיא לְיַעֲקֹב וּמִמֶּנָּהּ יִוָּשֵׁעַ וּכְדֵין יִסְתַּיְּימוּן נַפְשִׁין מִגּוּפָא וּבָעְיָין לְאִתְחַדְּשָׁא, וְסִימָנִיךְ (כל הנפש לבית יעקב הבאה מצרימה שבעים וכתיב) (בראשית מ״ו:כ״ז) כָּל הַנֶּפֶשׁ הַבָּאָה לְיַעֲקֹב מִצְרַיְמָה וְגו' כָּל נֶפֶשׁ שִׁשִּׁים וָשֵׁשׁ.
Then all the nations shall combine together against the daughter of Jacob in order to drive her from the world. It is of that time that it is written: “And it is a time of trouble unto Jacob, but out of it he shall be saved” (Jer. 30, 7). At that time all the souls in Guph will have been used up, and will need to be re-created. As a mnemonic of this we may use the verse: “All the souls of the house of Jacob that came into Egypt… all the souls were threescore and six” (Gen. 46, 26).
בְּשִׁבְעִין וּתְלַת כָּל מַלְכֵי עַלְמָא יִתְכַּנְּשׁוּן לְגוֹ קַרְתָּא רַבְּתָא דְּרוֹמִי, וְקוּדְשָׁא בְּרִיךְ הוּא יִתְעַר עֲלַיְיהוּ אֶשָׁא וּבַרְדָא וְאַבְנֵי אַלְגָבִישׁ וְיִתְאַבְּדוּן מֵעַלְמָא, בַּר אִנּוּן מְלָכִין דְּלָא יִמְטוּן לְתַמָּן וִיהַדְּרוּן לְאַגָּחָא קְרָבִין אָחֳרָנִין. וּמֵהַהוּא זִמְנָא מַלְכָּא מְשִׁיחָא יִתְעַר בְּכָל עַלְמָא, וְיִתְכַּנְּשׁוּן עִמֵּיהּ כַּמָּה עַמִּין וְכַמָּה חַיָּילִין מִכָּל סְיָיפֵי עַלְמָא, וְכָל בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל יִתְכַּנְּשׁוּן בְּכָל אִנּוּן אַתְרֵי.
In the year seventy-three all the kings of the world will assemble in the great city of Rome, and the Holy One will shower on them fire and hail and meteoric stones until they are all destroyed, with the exception of those who will not yet have arrived there. These will commence anew to make other wars. From that time the Messiah will begin to declare himself, and round him there will be gathered many nations and many hosts from the uttermost ends of the earth. And all the children of Israel will assemble in their various places
עַד דְּאִשְׁתַּלִּימוּ אִנּוּן שְׁנִין לְמֵאָה, כְּדֵין וא"ו יִתְחַבַּר בְּה"א, וּכְדֵין (ישעיהו ס״ו:כ׳) וְהֵבִיאוּ אֶת כָּל אֲחֵיכֶם מִכָּל הַגּוֹיִם מִנְחָה לַיְיָ וְגו'. וּבְנֵי יִשְׁמָעֵאל (ישראל) זְמִינִין בְּהַהוּא זִמְנָא לְאַתְעָרָא (עליהון) עִם כָּל עַמִּין דְּעַלְמָא לְמֵיתֵי עַל יְרוּשָׁלֵם דִּכְתִיב, (זכריה י״ד:ב׳) וְאָסַפְתִּי אֶת כָּל הַגּוֹיִם אֶל יְרוּשָׁלַ ם לַמִלְחָמָה וְגו'. וּכְתִיב, (תהילים ב׳:ב׳) יִתְיַצְּבוּ מַלְכֵי אֶרֶץ וְרוֹזְנִים נוֹסְדוּ יָחַד עַל יְיָ וְעַל מְשִׁיחוֹ. וּכְתִיב יוֹשֵׁב בַּשָּׁמַיִם יִשְׂחָק יְיָ יִלְעַג לָמוֹ.
until the completion of the century. The Vau will then join the He, and then “they shall bring all your brethren out of all the nations for an offering unto the Lord” (Is. 66, 20). The children of Ishmael will at the same time rouse all the peoples of the world to come up to war against Jerusalem, as it is written, “For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle, etc.” (Zech. 14, 2), also, “The kings of the earth stand up, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord, and against his anointed” (Ps. 2, 2); and further, “He that sitteth in heaven laugheth, the Lord hath them in derision” (Ibid. 2, 4).
לְבָתַר וא"ו זְעִירָא יִתְעָר לְאִתְחַבָּרָא וּלְחַדְּשָׁא נִשְׁמָתִין דְּהֲווּ עַתִּיקִין בְּגִין לְחַדְתָּא עַלְמָא כְּמָה דִכְתִיב, (שם קד) יִשְׂמַח יְיָ בְּמַעֲשָׂיו וּכְתִיב יְהִי כְבוֹד יְיָ לְעוֹלָם לְאִתְחַבָּרָא כְּדְקָא יְאוּת. יִשְׂמַח יְיָ בְּמַעֲשָׂיו לְנַחֲתָא לוֹן לְעָלְמָא וּלְמֶהֱוֵי כֻּלְּהוֹן בְּרִיָין חַדְתִּין לְחַבְּרָא עַלְמִין כֻּלְּהוּ כְּחַד.
Then the lesser Vau will rouse itself to unite (with the He) and renew the souls that had become old, so as to rejuvenate the world, as it is written, “May the glory of the Lord endure for ever, let the Lord rejoice in his works” (Ps. 104, 31). The first part of this verse signifies that God’s glory will attach itself to the world, and the latter half that He will cause souls to descend into the world and make them into new beings, so as to join the world into one.
זַכָּאִין אִנּוּן כָּל אִנּוּן דְּיִשְׁתָּאֲרוּן בְּעַלְמָא בִּסְיָיפֵי אֶלֶף שְׁתִיתָאָה לְמֵיעַל בְּשַׁבַּתָּא, דְּהָא כְּדֵין אִיהוּ יוֹמָא חַד לְקוּדְשָׁא בְּרִיךְ הוּא בִּלְחוֹדוֹי לְאִזְדַּוְּוגָא כְּדְקָא יְאוּת וּלְמִלְקַט נִשְׁמָתִין חַדְתִּין לְמֶהֱוֵי בְּעַלְמָא עִם אִנּוּן דְּאִשְׁתָּאֲרוּ בְּקַדְמִיתָא דִּכְתִיב, (ישעיהו ד׳:ג׳) וְהָיָה הַנִּשְׁאָר בְּצִיּוֹן וְהַנּוֹתָר בִּיְרוּשָׁלַם קָדוֹשׁ יֵאָמֵר לוֹ כָּל הַכָּתוּב לְחַיִּים בִּיְרוּשָׁלַ ם:
Happy are those who will be left alive at the end of the sixth millennium to enter on the Sabbath. For that is the day set apart by the Holy One on which to effect the union of souls and to cull new souls to join those that are still on earth, as it is written, “And it shall come to pass, that he that is left in Zion, and he that remaineth in Jerusalem, shall be called holy, even every one that is written unto life in Jerusalem” (Is. 4, 3).’