Updates on Kol HaTor
I had a few interesting emails about ‘Kol HaTor’.
First, a thank you to H., from Holland, who took the time and effort to type out a whole section about the ‘MBY’ kabbalistic concept from the book by the Breslov Research Institute called:
“Who What Why How Where When Mashiach” (published 1994.)
Here is what he sent me, below.
Before you read it, I want to underline that the main trouble with the ‘Sabbateans’ – and all the Jewish twisters who came before them, and after them, however the external branding changed – is that they personified concepts in kabbalah that are totally spiritual.
This is exactly how the Sabbateans started doing all sorts of sexual perversions, because their middot were not on the level to really ‘hold’ the tremendous spiritual light of the kabbalah.
The more this saga about ‘MBY’ and Kol HaTor, in particular, is continuing, the more it seems to me it’s just another facet of that same error, that same mistake, where ‘MBY’ was made ‘flesh’ and gashmi, instead of being understood in the spiritual realm.
Tov.
Here’s the excerpt from the BRI book on Moshiach:
====
Here is the piece that is kabbalistic, I begin page 42:
“But what does all this mean?
How can there be a Mashiach ben Yosef, a Mashiach ben David and Moshe who is considered the Mashiach himself? The Zohar`s teaching (I,25b) based on the verse about Shiloh, actually provides the answer.
The staff shall not depart from Judah – this is Mashiach ben David.
Nor the scepter from between his feet – this is Mashiach ben Yosef,
Until the coming of Shiloh – this is Moshe.
==
Actually, the two Mashiachs will each represent a separate idea with a specific mission, as will Moshe.
Kabbalistically, the World is based on a “three-column” system, left and center. (This will be discussed at length below in Part V; see also Appendix B).
For the moment, we shall portray these three columns as Chesed on the right, Gevurah on the left, and Tifereth in the middle.
==
(I’ll skip a few lines because that’s well known, and then continue with the main point:)
The “three columns” are also represented by the three Patriarchs: Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
Abraham was known for his acts of kindness. Isaac represents judgment, for he was ready to make the ultimate sacrifice to God – his own life. Jacob blended the qualities of both his forebears, and thereby was able to father the Jewish Nation and initiate the inception of Mashiach.
This is because he harnessed his forebears’ dissimilar qualities.
It is therefore taught (Likutey Moharan II,83), “Mashiach is inclusive [of all the characteristics] of the Patriarchs.”
==
Mashiach ben Yosef represents the “the left column” of Judgment.
His reign is therefore marked by battle, in order to vanquish the Jews enemies. Mashiach ben David`s reign will be a peaceful one. As such, he represents the “right column,” where Chesed is revealed.
But it is Moshe – only Moshe – who is able to combine the two concepts together in a perfect blend.
Moshe is the innermost personification of Tifereth (cf. Etz Chaim 32:1; Zohar II,120a). Moshe thus personifies both the qualities of the Patriarchs (the beginning of the Jewish Nation) and those of the Redeemers of Israel (the Mashiachs).
Moshe is the Mashiach whose contribution will be the spread of the knowledge of Godliness, through the Torah that he already revealed – and through that broader knowledge of Torah which he will reveal in the Future.
He will be accompanied by the two Mashiachs who will inspire humanity with the divine attributes of Chesed and Gevurah to bring the World to perfection.
==
As the personification of Malkhut, King David will be the one to lead the Jews as a nation in the Future.
Page 44: Based on the Vision of Ezekiel: Kabbalistically, these four legs correspond to the four Sefirot of Chesed, Gevurah, Tifereth and Malkhut, which play a major role in revealing Godliness in the World.
We have seen that the First three correspond to Moshe and the two Mashiachs. King David correspond to the fourth “leg,” to Malkhut (Zohar II,107a). It is through these four attributes that Godliness can be “carried and conveyed” to this World.
For God`s Holy Name, the Tetragrammaton, consists of four letters. The four concepts of Mashiach correspond to the revelation of the four attributes of Godliness that emanate from these four letters.
====
Ad kan, from reader H. and the Breslov Research Institute.
Meanwhile, another reader sent me a link to this site:
====
It turns out to be a site run by xtians – the Stand for Israel xtians, specifically – which is ‘dedicated’, if you can call it that, to spreading their take on the ‘Kol HaTor’ doctrine.
Here’s just one example, it’s enough to give you the idea (and also, turn your stomach….), from HERE:
Revelations on Messiah ben Yosef – Gaon #5
Daniel ch. 7 for reconciliation between Judaism and NT Messianics…
[T]his is what our post in this topic and our recent delvings into the writings of the Great Gaon of Vilna also claim! – i.e. that the Mashiach will not be an individual Persona but a Group Body of People, divinely elected and mandated to Rule “as God” over the Nations!…
As promotors of the insights and revelations that the Gaon of Vilna proclaimed about the Divine Mandate of the Mashiach ben Yosef as an awakening and restorative Movement to bring the exiles of both Houses of Israel Home; and in our efforts to promote reconciliation and re-uniting of the two estranged Houses of Israel, we now dare to raise the following Question – and as a suggestion:
Why should Jews and New Testament believers (that section of Christianity which has been waking up to the need for Torah Restoration and submission to Judah’s Divine Mandate of Judicial ruling), not bury the hatchet between them about their misunderstanding of the Issue that so divides them today: i.e. The Messiah, the Stumbling Block and Rock of Offence?
Why not concentrate on serving the Creator God of Israel, and preparing themselves for that Great Calling of being God’s Ruler over the nations?
====
Now, when I read this the first time around, I have to admit to feeling a bit confused about who was writing this stuff.
Xtians? Messianic (so-called) Jews? Neither? Both?
So then, I went to look up who is funding ‘Stand for Israel’, whose video appears on the ‘Tours of the Shomron’ tab on the right of the homepage of KolHator.com, and this is what came back:
Stand for Israel is an educational program of the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews.
====
THIS is the Wiki page for the IFCJ.
And this is a snippet:
In 2009, six months before his death, the Lithuanian-Haredi Jewish leader Rabbi Yosef Shalom Eliashiv issued a ruling banning Haredi Jews from taking funds from the Fellowship, citing worries of Christian missionary activity and idol worship. In response to the ruling, Eckstein said he would “expose his organization’s list of Haredi-religious beneficiaries in order “to make sure everything is transparent.”
The Fellowship’s interfaith work has generated criticism from some in the Jewish community. In 2001, Rabbi Avraham Shapira, an Orthodox Jew and Religious Zionist, issued a ruling against accepting funds from the Fellowship.
In 2002 the Edah HaChareidis Haredi Jewish rabbinical court issued a ruling against accepting funds from the Fellowship, and, in 2007, the new Chief Rabbi of the said Edah HaChareidis, Yitzchok Tuvia Weiss added his signature.[42]
In 2023, The Washington Post reported that Eliminalia, a reputation management company had been hired to remove salary and other information from online sources critical of the charity.0
Eliminalia sent what the Washington Post called “fraudulent copyright-infringement complaints” to WordPress in an attempt to remove posts critical of the $4 million combined compensation paid by IFCJ to Yechiel and Yael Eckstein in 2019, which an IFCJ spokesperson said was due to a death benefit paid out to Rabbi Eckstein’s widow.
====
Why does ‘Stand for Israel’ have a whole snazzy website in English and Hebrew devoted to the ‘Kol HaTor’?
I’m leaving you to answer that question for yourselves.
But let’s end this post with yet another strange ‘Moshiach’ idea, that seems to be doing the rounds, once again beginning with R Kessin.
Screenshot is from the Shirat Devorah blog, HERE:
====
That comment from blogger ‘Yaak’ led to THIS post on his site, from 2009, called:
Snippet:
You’ve heard of Mashiah ben David.
You’ve heard of Mashiah ben Yosef.
But who’s Seraya?I was first introduced to the concept of Seraya a number of years ago by a Rav in town who mentioned him.
The Zohar (see p. 4641) mentions him as a warrior helper of MBY in his battles against our enemies.
He comes from the tribe of Dan. (Also mentioned in Kol Hator.)
====
Ah, the Kol HaTor…. it never ceases to throw up new, multiple ‘moshiachs’, designed to confuse and bamboozle the poor Jews who are just waiting for our one ‘Righteous Redeemer’ to be revealed.
But it’s one of the comments on that post that particularly took my eye. Here it is:
“Seraya, chagor charbakh
Wahashchet jedud oivakh”Off-the-cuff translation from my off-the-cuff transliteration:
“Seraya, gird your sword
And slaughter the troops of your enemy”From the poem “Ayumah beHar HaMor” by R’ Shalom Shabazi, pre-eminent poet of Yemenite Jewry (lived in Teiman over 300 years ago).
====
HERE is the Wiki page for R SHALOM SHABAZI.
And this is a pertinent snippet:
Shabazi, like many Jews of his generation, was influenced by Shabbetai Zevi and thought that he may be the messiah.
‘Moshiach ben Dan’ / Seraya – whatever – seems to be yet another Sabbatean ‘innovation’.
Yet another ‘personification’ of a deeply spiritual concept in kabbalah.
Yet another trojan horse for the people pushing ‘false messiahs’ and pseudo-kabbalah to use to try and confuse and bamboozle us all again.
BH hopefully more people are starting to understand just how compromised so much of that stuff we all just mindlessly repeat to each other about ‘MBY’ and ‘Moshiach ben Dan’ and all the rest of it actually is.
Every time I turn over a stone with this stuff, another Sabbatean or xtian is revealed.
That’s not a CO-IN-CID-ENCE.
So, that is interesting that Moshe is equated with Tiferet as it is usually Yaakov Avinu. I just heard a short shiur on the topic of parshat Eikev which has the three letters in Yaakov’s name. Eikev is the code word for Moshiach’s arrival, the footsteps (eikav=heel of foot) before the arrival of moshiach. The heel is an insensitive part of our body (you can walk all over barefoot and your feet can take it) and it represents the insensitive quality of our nation at this time of our galut. So Yaakov is the one usually equated with the bringing us out of galut as well.
Did I read that here, that the 12 tribes will be woken up to fight with moshiach against the ones that go up against him? Yaakov being the father of all of them represents them all so he sounds like the combo of MBY/MBD. So, does Yaakov and Moshe have the same soul? The same role? Moshe is the redeemer from mitzrayim and will also be part of moshiach’s soul in the future redemption. So, then what role will Yaakov have?
You didn’t read it here, about the 12 tribes being ‘woken up’, but that’s a key theme of the ‘Kol HaTor’ – and also, of all these so-called ‘messianic Jews’, including some ‘Jewish messianics’, plus a whole bunch of ‘noachides’ that include a lot of sincere people who seem to be taken for a ride in a million different ways by people who see easy money to be made.
it’s such a mess all this.
Still in the process of unpicking more…
These can’t be a process?
I honestly am way out of my depth , however Rav kessin has taught me tons of Torah and is a student of Rav Moshe. I don’t think he would spread sabbatean stuff at least knowingly.
I don’t know how all this is connected.
But this is interesting:
https://www.jewishgen.org/Rabbinic/journal/kassin.htm
Snippet:
“Surnames in the Kassin rabbinic dynasty: Alexander, Attia, Chreim, Cohen, Crodi, Guideon, Hedaya, Kassin/Cassin/Katzen, Labaton, Masri, Seruya, Sitt, Sutton, and Zakay.”
==
SERUYA seems to be another surname used by the KESSIN / KASSIN family.
==
Also, the person who ‘informed’ against the Alter Rebbe to the Tzar in Shklov was meant to be one ‘Simcha Kessin’.
Also, one of the GRA’s son’s named ‘Shlomo Zalman’ is meant to have married one ‘Rachel Kessin’.
I don’t know how all this is connected.
Maybe it isn’t at all…
i have discovered the unz review and it is an education!the anti semitism is off he charts although many they consider jews,you certainally dont but rather masons, frankists or whatever. also bought the books of tuvia tennenbom who is a good person at heart in my opinionif totally off the derech.incredibly funny though. how many of these people are halachic jews is beyond my pay grade to dettermine but the bottom line is it doesnt matter. to non jews all these characters are considered jewish! however when they call biden the son of an iraqi jewish they go too far!
the kol hator website that you posted has nothing to do with the sefer.
also, seraya is mentioned in the zohar. and the fact that r. shalom shabazi thought that SZ might have been mashiach means nothing, almost everyone at that time (including most gedolim) thought so and we cannot blame them. had we lived in their dor, we’d have fallen for it as well.
Every Sabbatean perversion and error you care to name is also ‘found in the Zohar’.
==
When you say that the website ‘has nothing to do with the sefer’, what do you actually mean?
So many of the explicit themes of Kol HaTor are being reflected in the content of that website. Sure, it’s being written by spiritually corrupt people, but that doesn’t change the fact that until we get to grips with the INFORMATION in Kol HaTor itself, and do the birur of HOW, and even IF, it’s being twisted by spiritually corrupt people, we are stuck in a paradigm where people want to claim that stuff discussing Kol HaTor is ‘nothing do to do’ with the sefer.
So, bevakasher, please spell out the bits of the Kol Hator site that are ‘nothing to do with the sefer’.
That would be very helpful for everyone.
i mean that the fact that some weird xtians co-opted the name of a sefer and twisted its ideas for their own agenda doesn’t delegitimize the sefer. there is nothing explicitly xtian or sabbatean in kol hator, and while the ideas may be radical, theyre not outside the window of jewish ideology.
there is a chiyuv to be dan lekaf zechus, and therefore unless you have conclusive proof that someone/something is sabbatean or xtian or evil in some other way, you have to assume that theyre not. especially because kabbalah is so deep and hard to understand, and as you said every bad idea could be twisted from the zohar, if someone says a kabbalstic idea, even if it may sound heretical or evil at first glance, it could be true at a deeper level.
i would argue that the fact that it took SZ converting to islam to convince the entire jewish world that he wasn’t mashiach, proves how hard it is to differentiate between kosher and treif when it comes to these ideas. to lambast a sefer or a person without very hard proof is a mistake.
Rav Sternbuch and the late Rav Shach explicitly stated the book is not genuine, and even IF it does contain some idea based on some of the Vilna Gaon’s works, it’s still not an authentic reflection of the GRA’s ideas, and has been ‘forged’ according to some hidden agenda.
Does that ‘delegitimise’ Kol HaTor in your eyes?