Halakhah su Salmi 135:78

“This is the table which is before the Lord,¹Ez 41:22. who spreads the heavens like a canopy for a tent ²Is 40:22. sets earth over water ³Ps 135:6 and feeds the creatures of His home in three divisions: “the bottom, middle, and topmost decks.”⁴An allusion to Noah’s ark in Gen 6:16. In the highest realm are the ministering angels nearest to Him: the cherubim, the seraphim, the ofanim, and the arielim. They are attendants in His palace; in legions they feast on the light of His presence, from the flowing light of His own radiance. The middle realm is the “vest of the heavens,”⁵Chavel (457): the realm of the planets. an assembly of fire and water –rains constraining and constrained – by day and night God restrains them. The eyes of their minds see [tzofim] their Master’s delight as their food, far sweeter to them than choice honey [tzufim]. They hunger for the Cause of their existence;⁶Wonderful but untranslatable wordplay: sibat sivuvam sibatam nekhsafim. the pillars supporting their realm are suspended by the arm of His wisdom, and quake at His rebuke.⁷Allusion to Job 26:11. But the lowest dwelling, a circle radiating from its midpoint, has measurable dimensions. Our food is not their food. Their food is conceived in their mind, when they see the face of their Maker. Our food is meager bread, water, and tears,⁸Cf. Is 30:20, Ps. 80:6. gotten by hard work and toil.

I will now discuss the beginning of the year. I say, firstly, that a circle has no starting point. Rather it is at each person’s discretion. Thus the beginning of each individual’s year is from the moment he was born, and when the sun returns to the same point at which it was earlier, the person completes one full year.⁶⁹ It appears that Ibn Ezra is of the opinion that a person’s birthdate and age are determined by the solar calendar. This is in agreement with Rabbi Saadia Gaon’s statement: “A person’s life is numbered according to solar years, as is the life of any growing thing, for example, trees and the like” (Rabbi Saadia Gaon, Commentary on Genesis, p. 342). The starting point for correcting the sun’s orbit is from its apogee.⁷⁰ In calculating the true position of the sun relative to the zodiacal sphere, the starting point is the sun’s apogee. The angular distance of the sun’s mean position from the apogee is called the “mean anomaly”. (See Almagest iii, 8, p. 169.) The correction for a planet begins with the moment it is in conjunction with the sun, for then the planet is at the farthest point of its epicycle.⁷¹ The apogee of a planet relative to earth is always near the point of the planet’s conjunction with the sun, for then the centers of the earth, the sun, and the planet are collinear. Also the moon is at its farthest point of its deferent.⁷² Extreme values for apogee and perigee distances of the moon relative to earth occur when the moon passes those points close to full moon or new moon. (See Inconstant Moon by John Walker, p. 2.) However, these beginnings are not needed by all people.

The story is told of Rabbi Akiva who was walking in a cemetery and came across a naked man who was dark as coal and carrying a huge load of sticks on his head. Thinking that he was alive, Rabbi Akiva asked how he had gotten into the situation of needing to do such difficult work, and offering to go to any means necessary to redeem him. The man asked Rabbi Akiva to get out of his way. "What's the story here", asked Rabbi Akiva. "I'm actually dead", the man replied, "and every day they send me to cut down trees." "What was your job when you were alive", Rabbi Akiva asked. "I was a tax collector", the man replied, "and I would favor the wealthy and kill the poor." Rabbi Akiva asked him, "“Haven’t you heard anything from those appointed to punish you about how you might be relieved?” “I did hear from [those appointed over me] one impossible thing", he replied. "They told me the only way to get out of this situation is if I had a son who stood up in the minyan and declared "Barchu et Hashem Hamevorach", and they answer after him, "Yehei Shmei Rabah Mevorach". If that were to happen, I would immediately be released from this punishment. I didn't have a son, but I left behind a pregnant wife. I don't know if she gave birth to a son. If she did give birth to a son, who would possibly teach this son Torah, since nobody in the world liked me?" Immediately, Rabbi Akiva decided that he would go search and see if the man did in fact have a son who he could teach Torah and teach to lead prayers." Rabbi Akiva asked the man who was being punished, "What's your name?", and the man answered, "Akiva". He asked him, "What's your wife's name?", and he answered "Shoshbina". He asked "Where are you from?", and the man responded, "Ludkia." Immediately Rabbi Akiva put himself through great difficulty to find the man's family. When he made it to the town, he asked about the man. "May that man's bones erode", the people responded. He asked about the man's wife. "May her memory be wiped out for all time", they said. He asked about the child. They responded, "He isn't even circumcised". Rabbi Akiva immediately circumcised the boy. Rabbi Akiva put a book in front of the boy, but the boy couldn't learn anything until Rabbi Akiva fasted for 40 days. A heavenly voice emerged, asked, "You're fasting on behalf of this kid?" Rabbi Akiva responded, "Master of the Universe, have I not prepared him before you?" Immediately, God opened up the boy's heart, and he was able to learn Torah, the Shema and Birkat Hamazon (the grace after meals). Rabbi Akiva stood him up in front of the community to recite Barchu, and they recited, "Baruch Hashem Hamevorach". Immediately, they released the boy's father from his punishment. Immediately, the boy's father came to Rabbi Akiva in a dream, saying to him, "May it be God's well that you rest for all time in the Garden of Eden, for you saved me from the punishment of Gehennom. Rabbi Akiva responded with a verse from Psalms, "God's name is forever, God's memory passes from generation to generation." Therefore, the custom developed for someone who doesn't have a father or mother to say Barchu or Kaddish on Motzei Shabbat (when the souls of those in Gehennom, who have been in temporary reprieve for Shabbat, are returning to Gehennom).