50 AD to 1030 AD : Second Watch of the night

This site was first built in French (see www.147thgeneration.net). The English translation was mainly done using « google translation ». We have tried to correct the result of this translation to avoid interpretation errors. However, it is likely that there are unsatisfactory translations, do not hesitate to communicate them to us for correction.
(for that click on this paragraph)

As already explained in the « Shavuot » page, the Jewish people have sinned three times in the desert. Each of these mistakes would have led to the extermination of the Jewish people by God. These mistakes are not the sole responsibility of the Jewish people (this will not be explained on this website), so Moses was able to obtain for each of them that the extermination of the Jewish people is not effective.

 On the other hand, he could not prevent the Jewish people from 147 curses, 49 of them are enacted in the book of Leviticus (part of the Pentateuch), the other 98 are evoked by Moses himself in Deuteronomy ( fifth and last book of the Pentateuch). Each curse is associated with a generation of twenty years. The 147 curses thus correspond to a duration of about 3 millennia, ie about a millennium for each series of 49 curses. This period of 3 millennia is the night of the Jewish people which includes 3 watches: one watch per series of 49 curses. The night begins when Solomon dies.

The 49 curses of Leviticus correspond to the fault of the golden calf, it sanctions the attraction of the people of Israel for paganism.

The 98 curses of Deuteronomy correspond to two of the faults of the people of Israel in the desert: that of the Rephidim and that of the explorers. The curses associated with these two faults by their significance will affect the Jewish people as soon as they begin their exile in the nations. These curses begin to the destruction of the second Temple. This destruction is associated with the period 50-70 of our era, which corresponds to the generation 50, the first generation of the second watch of the night.

From 930 BC (Solomon’s death) to 50 AD, the first forty-nine generations corresponded to the forty-nine curses of Leviticus. These were ginned one by one for each generation during which the Jews were able to live in the presence of the Temple, the first or the second. Let us remember that it is in Leviticus that the laws and precepts associated with the service of the Temple are enacted.

The second guard begins at the fiftieth generation, that of the destruction of the second of the temple. This generation initiates the beginning of the true exile of Israel within the nations that will last ninety-eight generations are the last two watches of the night.

The forty-nine curses of Leviticus, those of the first watch of the night, liberated the Jewish people from the fault of the golden calf. For which Moses had symbolically sacrificed the two temples by breaking the two tables of the law.

The ninety-eight curses of Deuteronomy are to cleanse the people of Israel from their two other major faults in the wilderness. They lacked of trust in God two times: first time when asking for water and second time when fearing of to settle in the promised land after the explorers’ expedition.

The people of Israel witnessed divine miracles to extract them from slavery in Egypt. In spite of that, this one with the first annoyances makes a vow to return to Egypt and repels the promised land.

The first watch was intended to disgust the people of Israel idolatrous worship, comparable to worship of the golden calf. This so that he becomes a people faithful to the divine covenant.

The curses of Deuteronomy that take place during the last two night guards, during the long exile of the people of Israel within the nations, are intended to build a strong national identity to this people. In such a way that he no longer seeks his salvation except in the promised land by ceasing to be tempted to live among nations.

Leviticus describes in detail the sacrificial cult. In Deuteronomy, which is a repetition by Moses of the law already enunciated in the other books of the Pentateuch, this one is nonexistent. Moses focuses on the laws that will remain after the destruction of the second temple, establishing if necessary laws of substitution for those dependent on the Temple.

The second watch of the night is the almost millennium which starts in 50 AD with the generation of the destruction of the second Temple, and ends in 1030 AD. This millennium is marked by the predominance of the Mediterranean powers: Rome then Byzantium / Constantinople and the empires stemming from the Moslem conquest. Empires that encloses the Jew in a pariah profile.

At the end of the millennium associated with the second watch of the night, begins the awakening of the European nations which will dominate the third watch of the night.

According to Jewish tradition, one day is broken down into six « watches » of four hours. Three watches for the day, three watches for the night:

  • Rabbi [1] Eliezer says: The night consists of three watches, and over each and every watch, the Holy One, Blessed be He, sits and roars like a lion in pain over the destruction of the Temple. This imagery is derived from a reference in the Bible, as it is stated: “The Lord roars [yishag] from on high, from His holy dwelling He makes His voice heard. He roars mightily [shaog yishag] over His dwelling place, He cries out like those who tread grapes, against all the inhabitants of the earth” (Jeremiah 25:30). The three instances of the root shin-alef-gimmel in this verse correspond to the three watches of the night.

Three roars, one for each watch of the night.

The second lion to roar, the one associated with the second watch of the night, is that of Rome. Rome and the empires that were built on its remains, whether under the banner of Christianity or under that of Islam. Rome that destroyed the Second Temple and thus initiated the long period of exile of the Jewish people.

[1] TALMUD, BERAKHOT 1, 3a (included a quote of Jeremiah 25:30). Translation got form website: https://www.sefaria.org/