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The correct year is now actually 6,002 in 2021–22. We are now at the Seventh Day since the birth of Adam. The Seventh Millenium. This millenium is supposed to be Shabbat, according to both the Gemara Sanhedrin 97A and the Zohar, the final redemption, and Hashem is judging the world to determine His course of action as we speak. Before I continue, I will just write an addendum that I originally wrote this answer on December 12, 2019, before corona virus was known to us.
I then edited this answer on January 4, 2020, when I went through the Torah’s counting of years and calculated that it was actually the biblical year 6000, the Yoma Shevia’ah, the seventh millenium, the kabbalistic end of days. On January 4, 2020. I wrote: “The correct year is actually 6,000.” Fortunately, Quora has a record of all the revisions I’ve made to this answer. See the answer log: https://www.quora.com/log/revision/953075698 It confirms the date of January 4th 2020 at the bottom of the revision, January 4, 2020, 7:06:37 PM.
And on January 4th I added that we were on the cusp of great judgment, a Yom Hadin, “judgment day” as I wrote (see the timestamp at the bottom of the revision: https://www.quora.com/log/revision/953076010): “Basically, Hashem will judge the world in the year 6,000. Either for good or for bad. Destruction or rebuilding. Utopia or dystopia. The clock is ticking right now. We’re on the cusp of it all.all. Basically, judgement day.”
I still didn’t know about the change, the global pandemic, that would come to our world in the form of corona virus on that date. None of us did at that early date of January 4th.
On that day the WHO tweeted: “China has reported to WHO a cluster of pneumonia cases —with no deaths— in Wuhan, Hubei Province. Investigations are underway to identify the cause of this illness.”
On the next day January 5th, 2020, the WHO reported a cluster of 44 pneumonia cases in Wuhan City, China: Pneumonia of unknown cause – China
At that date of the WHO’s reporting, January 5th, this pneumonia cluster, later to be known as Covid 19, wasn’t even considered infectious:
Based on the preliminary information from the Chinese investigation team, no evidence of significant human-to-human transmission and no health care worker infections have been reported.
Now I’m not writing the timeline to brag that I wrote God will be judging the world this year, right before a severe epidemic occurred, nor to claim that I have all the answers to what lies in store for our future as humanity because Hashem parses out prophecy according to His timeline and His will, not ours. So I’m writing this simply to let folks reading this know that I wrote this answer about errors in the Hebrew calendar because I had a dream from Hashem (as we know Hashem speaks in dreams from the Torah Bamidbar 12:7, בחלום אדבר בו, “in a dream I speak to him”), I had a dream that the Jewish calendar year was wrong, and that it did not accord with the Torah calculation, and that it was the 7th millenium, and that Hashem would judge the world this year. I’m writing this so that people will know the very upsetting and tragic occurrences of this year are Hashem’s judgment, a Torah based plague, not a fluke epidemic, but a plague by Hashem’s design to remonstrate us to follow Hashem’s Torah.
The dream encouraged me to look into the calendar and to adjust it to the correct calculation as per the Torah’s many verses that give a span between each generation. If one counts the Torah’s calculation, one reaches 6,000, the beginning of the Acharit Hayamim, the End of Days, where Hashem will reign alone according to the Torah’s laws. What follows here in my original answer is an in-depth analysis of the flaws in the current Jewish calendar that removed 220 years from the Egyptian exile, reducing them to 210 years, although the Torah stated there were 430 years of Egyptian exile in Shemot 12:40.
וּמוֹשַׁב֙ בְּנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל אֲשֶׁ֥ר יָשְׁב֖וּ בְּמִצְרָ֑יִם שְׁלֹשִׁ֣ים שָׁנָ֔ה וְאַרְבַּ֥ע מֵא֖וֹת שָׁנָֽה׃
The length of time that the Children of Israel lived in Egypt was four hundred and thirty years.—Shemot/Exodus 12:40
The Torah says the Children of Israel lived in Egypt, this means that the exile begins with Yaakov’s twelve children and their offspring entering and dwelling in the land of Egypt during Yosef’s viceroyship to the Pharaoh. Not before. Not during Avraham or Yitzchak’s time, for neither were Children of Yisrael. Yisrael was grandson to Avraham, son of Yitzchak. Yaakov (Yisrael) was not father of Avraham and Yitzchak.
(Here my original answer follows.)
The current calendar is based on a calculation by the holy Torah commentator Rashi that the Jewish exile in Egypt spanned only 210 years, because the Torah lists Levi's son Kehat with the descendants that came to Egypt with Yaakov. Rashi explains in Shemot 12:40 that since Kehat was already born when Levi was 43, and there are only three generations from Levi until Moshe’s birth (Levi – Kehat – Amram – Moshe), there aren’t enough years to get to 430 years of exile—which is the number the Torah specified in Shemot 12:40.
Rashi concludes this, by assessing the span from the beginning of exile till Moshe leads the Jews from Egypt, which consists of: Levi, Kehat, Amram, Moshe.
Levi lived to 137 years of age. Kehat lived to 133 years of age. Amram lived to 137 years of age. Moshe was 81 years old when they left Egypt. (The Seder Olam says the plagues took 12 months)
All together, this is 488 years. If Kehat is born when Levi is 43 according to the Midrash Lekach Tov, then Kehat and Levi have an overlapping span of years. Even were Kehat in his infacy when they crossed the border into Egypt, the maximal time for exile would have been reduced to Kehat’s age at the crossing. So even were we to say he was a couple months old, and had 133 years to live: 133 years of Kehat + 137 years of Amram + 81 years of Moshe till the Exodus = 351 years. So the number given in the Torah of 430 years seems incorrect, and thus traditionally we have concurred that Hashem Chishev Et Haketz: God adjusted the years of exile, hastening them to 210 years as Rashi determines.
We have all accepted Rashi’s astute calculations, and our calendars reflect his adjustment to the years of exile. However, let’s take another look at the matter. Based on Hashem’s words, twice repeated: so that we do all that is possible to accord with God’s words to Avraham that the Galut (exile) would be 400 years, and then afterwards, where the Torah says it was completed with the Children of Israel’s 430 years sojourn in Egypt (12:40). Even though our greatest ancestors tried before us, we must also try as faithfully as possible, to produce this number of 430 from charting the genealogies the Torah does offer.
Most importantly, if we can prove that Kehat was born at the end of Levi’s life in Egypt, and that Kehat did not cross the border from K’naan, we can establish the Torah’s timeline of 430 years of exile. Rashi’s calculation of 210 will then prove incorrect, because all of Rashi’s timeline hinges on Kehat being one of the people who arrived in Egypt with Yaakov, and born before they crossed the border.
At the heart of this matter is the count of people of Yaakov’s household in Bereishit Chapter 46 as exilees to Egypt. In verse 46:15, which discusses the descendants of our matriarch Leah, the verse says: “These were the sons whom Leah bore to Yaakov in Paddan-aram, in addition to his daughter Dinah, in total, male and female: 33.”
But if you count the names, including Dinah, you’ll find 34 names, not 33. Rashi resolves this by removing Er and Onan, who’ve long died, thus reducing it to 32 and then adding Yocheved. By this method he achieves a count of 33.
But Yocheved is not mentioned here at all—and the verse in 46:15 is discussing all Yaakov’s children and grandchildren born in Padan Aram. Er and Onan were born in Paddan Aram. Yocheved was not born in Padan Aram!
And though the Gemara Sotah 12A says Yocheved was conceived in Padan Aram, that word is Horasa—she was conceived. The verse in the Torah Bereishis 46:15 is Yaldah—Leah bore, gave birth to.
אֵ֣לֶּה ׀ בְּנֵ֣י לֵאָ֗ה אֲשֶׁ֨ר יָֽלְדָ֤ה לְיַעֲקֹב֙ בְּפַדַּ֣ן אֲרָ֔ם וְאֵ֖ת דִּינָ֣ה בִתּ֑וֹ כָּל־נֶ֧פֶשׁ בָּנָ֛יו וּבְנוֹתָ֖יו שְׁלֹשִׁ֥ים וְשָׁלֹֽשׁ׃
These are the sons whom Leah bore to Jacob in Paddan-aram, including his daughter Dinah. Persons in all, male and female: 33.
Yocheved does not qualify as a child born in Padan Aram. So how can Rashi add her to the tally of 33? As we said, Rashi subtracts Er and Onan, but this list is referring to those born in Padan Aram, not those who crossed the border to Egypt. That’s the great riddle here from Hashem who sometimes “speaks in riddles” (Bamidbar 12:8). The Torah lists 34 names, yet only says 33 were born in Padan Aram.
Er and Onan do belong in the tally, having been born in Padan Aram. But one of these names does not belong in the tally. There is an extra one, 34. We cannot add a name. We must subtract a name to get the tally of 33.
The answer is that if we subtract Kehat from this list, we will get a total of 33. With Kehat and Yocheved freed up to be born much later in Egypt, at the end of Levi’s life, we can stretch out the lifespans of Levi, Kehat, Amram, and Moshe to yield the crucial number of 430 years of the exile in Egypt.
Kehat was mentioned here, only because the Torah is establishing every grandchild’s patrilineal descent from the Shevatim (tribes) to Yaakov, and the account could not leave Kehat out as the pivotal ancestor who established Moshe’s lineage to Levi and Yaakov. So the verse included him as Levi’s son. But when it tallied the number of Leah’s descendants born in Padan Aram, even though 34 names are listed, it omits Kehat from the count and says: “in all, male and female, were 33.” Because he was not from Padan, but born later in Egypt.
Kehat is therefore the missing piece of this puzzle. Remove him and you have an even 33, just as the verse specifies.
This count of 33 is indeed just a count of Leah’s children and grandchildren until then, for it even includes Er and Onan. It is not a tally of those who crossed the border. And so Rashi, should not have inserted Yocheved, because she was not born in Padan Aram.
That number of Yaakov’s descendants is 66, cited in verse 46:26.
From this total, including Er and Onan, how do we arrive at 66 emigrants from K’naan to Egypt?
Well, let’s count up all the names mentioned here in these verses. 33 + Kehat equals 34 total from Leah, plus 16 descendants of Zilpah, 14 descendants of Rachel, and 7 descendants of Bilhah. 71 names.
We get a total of 71 names listed here.
Now let’s reduce it to only those who actually emigrated to Egypt. When we subtract Er, Onan who’ve already died, plus Kehat, Menashe, and Ephraim, all born in Egypt, leaving only those names listed here who emigrated from K’naan to Egypt, we indeed have an exact total of 66!
Just as the verse says:
All the persons belonging to Jacob who came to Egypt—his own issue, aside from the wives of Jacob’s sons—all these persons numbered 66.—Bereishis 46:26
You may object and say, perhaps Yosef was one of the people who didn’t cross the border. But certainly, he did. He migrated from Egypt earlier, so he’s included in the 66 that were haba’im mitzrayma—that came to Egypt from Canaan.
And that’s also why the verse 46.47 specifies Menashe and Ephraim, two souls, נֶ֣פֶשׁ שְׁנָ֑יִם and does not add Yosef, even though they are all in Egypt. Because of the three of them, Yosef was born in Padan Aram. Thus only Menashe and Ephraim were born in Egypt and need to be taken out from the count of emigrants to Egypt, not Yosef. The Torah, though it appears to be adding the sons of Yosef to the tally of 70 in 46.27, is actually instructing us that they were born to Yosef in Egypt, and thus they are not of those who emigated to Egypt.
So Yosef is counted among those who “belonging to Yaakov who came to Egypt” (46:26), but not his sons.
Now that we’ve established the 66 descendants of Yaakov who came to Egypt, the other four are: Yaakov, Leah, Bilhah, ZIlpah.
A total of 70.
Now, once you place Kehat’s birth in Egypt, 89 years later at the end of Levi’s life, the 430 year exile is certainly viable, as it is stated in the Torah.
Let’s compute the life spans from Levi to Moshe and do the math, from exile to exodus. When we read of the total life spans of each of these forefathers of the Levitic tribe, in Shemot 6:16–20, we learn:
Levi lived to 137 years of age.
Kehat lived to 133 years of age.
Amram lived to 137 years of age.
Moshe was 81 years old when they left Egypt. (The Seder Olam says the plagues took 12 months)
All together, this is 488 years.
Levi was 43 years old when he settled in Goshen, as he was born during the second 7 years of Yaakov’s servitude; he was the third child born, and Yosef was born at the very end of the seven years. There are 4 years between them. As the Midrash Lekach Tov explains. So Levi was 43 years old when he came to Egypt. If we start the clock from there, with Levi at 43 at the beginning of the exile:
We subtract Levi’s age at the beginning of the exile from the total of all years from Levi to Moshe at 81:
488 – 43 = 445 years
This leaves 445 years for the exile! Hey, you might say again, the Torah specified 430 years. What about the extra 15 years?
Well, that one is simple. Levi, Kehat and Amram each lived an average of 5 years after their infant was born: Levi fathered Kehat at 132. Kehat fathered Amram at 128. And Amram fathered Moshe at 132. Amram thus got to spend some precious time with his baby, Moshe, and then died. Certainly, the Torah narrative supports this as Yocheved is the one who makes the decision all alone to place Moshe in the reed basket and send him floating in the river to avoid infanticide at the Egyptian hands. And we do not see the reappearance of Amram anywhere afterwards. Nor the appearance of Kehat. Only their names.
132 + 128 +132 + 81 = 473 years between all fathers from Levi to Moshe
Now subtract the age of Levi at the beginning of the exile:
473 – 43 = 430!
Perfect.
This accords well with the Torah verse:
“The length of time that the Israelites lived in Egypt was four hundred and thirty years.” (Shemot 12:40)
Of course, this means Yocheved was very ancient when she gave birth to Moshe, because she was born to Levi, and was a contemporary of her brother Kehat, then outlived him and married his son, and gave birth to Moshe at the end of Amram’s life. We’re talking 255 years old at the time of giving birth to Moshe. To see a detailed explanation, please visit my other answer regarding the age of Yocheved. But I hope you’ll finish reading this answer first, so you can see how the calendar date of 6,000 years is computed.
Now, using this 430 year period of exile, let’s get the true Hebrew calendar date. As explained above, Rashi’s calculation of the length of the exodus was 210 years. If we add 220 years to the current Hebrew date, to bring the exile to a full 430 years, the correct Hebrew year would be: 5780 + 220 = 6,000.
Scary, because that’s the Yoma Shv’ia’ah, exactly. The seventh millenium. Shabbos. The Acharit Hayamim. The end of days. And the Third Temple period is supposed to have begun. As explained in the Zohar and, according to Abaye in the Gemara Sanhedrin 97A. So let’s do the math, charting the Torah’s timeline from start to finish, to get the most specific calendar date we can.
I’ve gone through the Torah’s account of the years, each one of the lineages in the Torah, from Adam through Shem’s descendants, and I have counted from the birth of Adam to the flood 1656 years. And from the flood till the beginning of the exile spanning Shem’s descendants to Yosef’s age of 39, another 582 years, and then the duration of the exile, 430 years. 1656 + 582 + 430 = 2,668. This puts us at Mount Sinai in the year 2,668.
If according to our current Jewish calendar, we compute that the Exodus happened in the Jewish year of 2448, then if we subtract that date from 5780, we can calculate that the Exodus occurred 3,332 years ago.
Now if we add the 3,332 years since the Exodus to the 2,668 years before it, we get: 2,668 + 3,332 = 6,000.
6,000 is therefore the most accurate date for the Jewish Calendar.
We’re here. The Seventh Millenium.
The Gemara in Sanhedrin 97A cites two perspectives on the last millenium in the seven thousand cycle since creation.
Rav Ketina says: The world will be in ruins. Complete destruction. God will establish his reign despite the world’s evil, and there will be great judgment brought on humanity. He cites: “And Hashem alone shall be exalted on that day.” (Yeshayahu 2:11)
Abaye says: The seventh millenium, beginning 2,000 years after the destruction of the second temple, will be a time of revival and joy. Abaye says that each day equals 1,000 years. He cites: “After two days He will revive us; in the third day He will revive us, and we shall live in His presence.” (Hoshea 6:2)
This argument manifests itself in other sections of the Talmud regarding the messianic era. Basically, Hashem will judge the world in the year 6,000. Either for good or for bad. Destruction or rebuilding. Utopia or dystopia. The clock is ticking right now. We’re on the cusp of it all. Basically, judgement day.
May we follow Hashem’s Torah and Mitzvot and be considered meritorious in His eyes. B’ezrat Hashem Yitbarach. With the help of our Blessed God.