Introduction: Two Dates at the End of Daniel's Vision
At the conclusion of the Book of Daniel, after all the visions and hints, two explicit dates are conveyed to Daniel - a calculation that is far clearer than anything that preceded it. First, "a thousand two hundred and ninety days," and afterwards, "a thousand three hundred and thirty-five days." The Malbim explains: these are two distinct points in time. The first is the moment from which onward the possibility of redemption begins - if they are worthy, in the aspect of "I will hasten it" (achishena); and the second is the final point in time, the redemption in the aspect of "in its time" (be'itah). Before the first date, there is no reason to wait and no ground for anticipation at all, but from that first date onward, there is already room for anticipation.
"From the Time the Daily Offering Is Removed" - From Which Destruction Do We Count?
וּמֵעֵת הוּסַר הַתָּמִיד וְלָתֵת שִׁקּוּץ שֹׁמֵם יָמִים אֶלֶף מָאתַיִם וְתִשְׁעִים׃ (יב, יא) - "And from the time that the continuous offering is removed and the detestable abomination placed, there will be a thousand two hundred and ninety days." (12:11)
First, we must clarify from which point the counting begins. If we interpret these matters as referring to the destruction of the Second Temple, the Malbim notes, it presents a major difficulty: if we add 1,290 to the date of the destruction, and then another 1,335, we would extend well into the seventh millennium. That is impossible, for Chazal teach that "the world exists for six thousand years, and for one it is desolate" - the seventh millennium is already the era of the world's culmination, and all these events must take place before the end of the sixth millennium, within which we currently reside (the year 5769, well into the sixth millennium). Therefore, it cannot refer to the destruction of the Second Temple.
Rather, we must explain it as referring to the First Temple. Yet here too a difficulty arises: during the Second Temple era an idol was placed in the Sanctuary, but during the First Temple they did not place an abomination that makes desolate - Nebuchadnezzar came and immediately destroyed the Temple. From this, the Malbim proves that the verse does not refer to the actual moment of destruction, but to an earlier time when the daily offering (tamid) was removed and an abomination was placed in the Sanctuary during the First Temple era, prior to the destruction. For the verse explicitly defines the starting point of the count: "From the time the continuous offering is removed and the detestable abomination placed" - from the moment the daily offering ceased and an idol was erected.
Three Times the Daily Offering Was Removed
Upon careful historical examination, the Malbim notes, we find three occasions when the daily offering was removed and a desolate abomination was set up. Once was in the days of Menasheh, who abolished the service in the Beit HaMikdash and placed an idol in the Sanctuary. Prior to that was in the days of Achaz, who locked the doors of the House of Hashem - which is why he was called Achaz, because he seized (achaz) the doors of the study halls - and offered incense to other gods. And prior to all of these was in the time of the wicked Athaliah, regarding whom Scripture states that her sons breached the House of God and dedicated all the sacred items of the House of Hashem to the Ba'alim, at which time the daily offering ceased. The proof is that Yehoyada later appointed officers over the House of Hashem to offer burnt offerings, and Divrei HaYamim states, "And they offered burnt offerings in the House of Hashem continually all the days of Yehoyada" - proving that prior to the days of Yehoyada, during Athaliah's reign, no burnt offerings were brought. Even if an actual idol was not placed inside the Beit HaMikdash itself, the sanctified vessels of the Temple were taken for the Ba'al and a temple of the Ba'al was established - so that a desolate abomination stood in place of the Beit HaMikdash.
Since the verse simply says "the continuous offering is removed," logic dictates that we count from the very first time the tamid was abolished, which was the era of Athaliah. Athaliah reigned for six years, and toward the end of her days the daily offering was halted. She died in the year 3061 from Creation, meaning that the daily offering was removed a year before her death - in the year 3060 from the Creation of the world. The calculation begins from this year.
1,290: The Year 4350 - 590 of the Common Era
If we add 1,290 to 3060, we arrive at the year 4350 from Creation, which corresponds to the year 590 of the Common Era. (The secular year is mentioned here, unfortunate as it is, because many are unfamiliar with the calendar from Creation.) From that year onward, the possibility of redemption opened. This is the first date: from this point forward we enter the era in which redemption can arrive, whereas prior to it there was nothing to anticipate. Regarding this it is said, "Fortunate is he who waits" - for from that time onward, the waiting truly begins.
And what occurred during that period? Anyone who examines the work Seder HaDorot, in the fourth millennium, will find a fascinating historical account that is unfamiliar to many. The Roman emperor Julian granted permission to rebuild the Beit HaMikdash in Jerusalem, and the Jewish people indeed went and built there according to the emperor's decree with immense investment. Then, in the year 4349 (589 CE), a tremendous earthquake shook the entire world, and the structure they had built collapsed - a violent earthquake brought down the massive building. The following day, a great fire descended from the heavens, melting all the iron from the structure, and many Jews were burned; Seder HaDorot records that millions of the Jewish people perished in that upheaval. In the following year, 4350, there was "a great putrefaction throughout the world" - in the words of Seder HaDorot, putrid air, which in contemporary terms refers to a plague and pathogens, like the severe fevers known today; people would sneeze, and anyone who sneezed would immediately fall dead.
What do we learn from this? That this era was indeed an opportune time for the Redemption, and this is precisely the calculation we mentioned: from the year 3060, when Ataliah set up the abominable idol, plus 1,290 years - we arrive at the year 4350, which was truly an auspicious time for the beginning of the Redemption. And indeed, there was an awakening, but apparently it was not sufficient; and when the spiritual awakening is not sufficient, troubles and disasters come in its place.
1335: The Year 5685
אַשְׁרֵי הַמְחַכֶּה וְיַגִּיעַ לְיָמִים אֶלֶף שְׁלֹשׁ מֵאוֹת שְׁלֹשִׁים וַחֲמִשָּׁה׃ (יב, יב) - "Fortunate is he who waits and reaches one thousand three hundred and thirty-five days" (12:12).
From that time, the year 4350 (590 CE), one has reason to begin waiting and longing for the Redemption - "Fortunate is he who waits." How long must one wait? Until he reaches 1,335 days [years]. If we add 1,335 to 4350, we reach the year 5685 (תרפ"ה), which corresponds to the year 1925 of the common era. Then, says the Malbim, will be the designated wondrous end. What happened around 1940 we all remember; and even earlier, in 1930, there was the great global economic crash. And it does not necessarily have to come in that exact year - until the measure of their sins was full, and in the 1940s came the terrible Holocaust, may Hashem have mercy.
The Three Time Periods Converge
Two other time periods have already been explained to us. "For a time, times, and a half" - "a time, times, and half a time" - which, if we calculate it as explained above in chapter 7, verse 25, brings us to the year 5673 (תרע"ג), which is 1913. And the second time period, "Until evening and morning, two thousand and three hundred, then the sanctuary shall be vindicated," which was shown to him in the second vision, concludes in the year 5688 (תרפ"ח), which is 1928. Thus, we have before us 5685 and 5688 - 1925 and 1928.
And now see, says the Malbim, how all three time periods converge: the year 5673 (1913) marks the beginning, and the era will span two Shemittah cycles, fourteen years - these are "two septets," two seven-year periods. This corresponds to what Chazal taught regarding the septet in which the son of David comes and the septet of the war of Gog and Magog. Thus, it extends from the year 5673 to the year 5688. And in the year 5685, three years before the end, the rebuilding of the Beis HaMikdash would begin; the construction would last three years, and in the year 5688 everything would be completed.
Why It Did Not Materialize
All this, as we all know, unfortunately did not happen. And what does this mean? It means that we had a highly auspicious time, yet that opportunity was not realized. The Malbim explicitly notes that he wrote his words in the year 5628 (1868) - meaning, he was speaking about what would take place sixty years ahead. Tragically, this too did not materialize, just as what Rashi wrote and what Rav Saadia Gaon wrote did not - all the designated times they calculated passed and have not yet been realized.
The Malbim further adds: "And since it is not a light thing to see the sprouting of the horn of Israel before our eyes in our days, we wait for it each day." For the question arises: why defer it for another sixty years? We want to see the Redemption right now! Indeed, it is written in sacred works that every commentator placed the Redemption relatively close to his own era - each interpreting according to his own perspective. You will not find Rashi writing that the Redemption will occur in seven hundred years; rather, he places it in the era close to his own, as did each of the others. This is because there is also an intention to encourage and strengthen the people, showing that the Redemption is near and Mashiach is about to arrive at any moment.
There is an additional reason: it is written in the Zohar that during the final sixty years before the coming of Mashiach, there will be an awakening toward Redemption. The Malbim said: if so, it is fitting that the words I am writing now - precisely sixty years before - will awaken the people to that very spiritual arousal of Redemption, and then these matters will be fulfilled and the Redemption will arrive after sixty years.
However, unfortunately, during that era the Haskalah (the so-called Enlightenment movement) struck with full force. Not only did people fail to draw closer to the Redemption, they drifted further away, sinking lower and lower with each passing era. And as is well known, the Malbim's entire commentary on Tanach was composed as an answer to the Maskilim. The secularists of our day are consumed with "eat and drink, for tomorrow we die," entertainment, pleasure, and pastimes. But the Maskilim of that generation were learned scholars, exceptionally astute in Torah and Tanach. Anyone who reads their writings will be astonished: their works are filled with quotations of verses, and even the emptiness they espoused was framed in biblical phraseology - one had to be a talmid chacham just to understand the foolishness they wrote! When they raised questions and objections against Tanach, someone had to arise and answer them. Therefore, the Malbim authored his commentary to prove how every statement and every single word in Tanach is precise, that there are no contradictions, and how thoroughly accurate and true everything is.
And that period was not an easy one: the Haskalah (Enlightenment movement) devoured everything in its path, people abandoned the Torah and went off to universities. Far from bringing about an awakening to draw the Redemption closer, the situation deteriorated, producing a spiritual slumber that brought on the Holocaust, Heaven forbid. And therefore, we remain in an unredeemed state.
A Second Calculation: A Time, Times, and Half a Time
Yet the Malbim provides an alternative avenue, explaining that there is room to calculate the duration of "a time, times, and half a time" in another manner - a different path that may well be the calculation that will come to pass. How much is an "idan" (a time)? Four hundred years, corresponding to the exile in Egypt - "and they shall serve them, and they shall afflict them four hundred years." "Idanin" (times, in the plural form of two) equals eight hundred, which together with the single "idan" comes to 1,200. "And half a time" - divide that 1,200 in half and you get 600, yielding a total of 1,800. These years correspond, says the Malbim, to the year in which we currently find ourselves in our exile: exactly 1,800 years from the destruction of the Temple. (Today we are already close to two thousand years from the Churban.)
The Malbim explains that even though time will continue to elapse until the ultimate End arrives, nevertheless, from this point onward is already the era of actual redemption, very close to the time of redemption. This is the meaning of "that it shall be for a time, times, and a half": those supreme ministers Daniel saw above the river, who grant power to the kingdoms of the nations - they will come to an end, "and when they shall have accomplished scattering the power of the holy people," so that the Jewish people will no longer be oppressed as before. That is, when the "time, times, and a half" arrives, which is the year 5628 (1868), the suffering of the Jewish people will subside. Regrettably, this too was not realized, for afterward the terrible and dreadful Holocaust occurred - not only did the suffering not lessen, but it grew even more intense and frequent.
The Three Appointed Times in the Second Calculation
The first appointed time, then, is 1,800 years after the Churban - the year 5628 (1868). The second appointed time is what he saw: "Unto evening and morning, two thousand and three hundred," and the count begins from the destruction of the First Temple in the year 3338 and ends in the year 5638 (1878). Thus it begins in 5628, and ten years later, in 5638, "then shall the sanctuary be justified" - meaning that from then on, the nations would recognize the righteousness of Israel and afflict them no more.
The third appointed time is "from the time that the continual burnt-offering was taken away," from the time it was abolished with the destruction of the First Temple. Even though we raised the objection that during the First Temple's destruction no desolating abomination was set up, the Malbim explains here that "and the setting up of the detestable thing that causes appalment" means that through the Churban, strength and glory were attributed to idolatry. The gentiles declared that their idols had triumphed - not that an actual idol was erected in the Sanctuary, but that strength and ostensible honor were given to their idolatry through the humiliation of the Temple, since they destroyed our House and their false gods thereby gained prestige. The destruction of the First Temple took place in the year 3338, and if we count 1,290 years from there, we reach the year 4628 - the very same date arrived at in the calculation of "a time, times, and a half." Thus, these timelines align precisely with one another.
And what is the meaning of "Fortunate is he who waits and reaches the 1,335 days" according to this calculation? The number is divided into two parts: one thousand, plus three hundred and thirty-five. After the one thousand years elapse from the first point in time - from 4628 plus one thousand years - we arrive at the year 5628, which corresponds to 1868 of the secular calendar. At that point, the pride of Israel will begin to flourish, marking the time of "a time, times, and a half." From there, take another 335 years until the Resurrection of the Dead, which falls in the year 5963, corresponding to the year 2203 in their calendar - now this begins to sound plausible! In other words: the Redemption is meant to begin in 5628 (1868), and the Resurrection of the Dead will occur in the year 2203, which is thirty-seven years before the end of the sixth millennium and the dawn of the seventh millennium.
"But as for You, Go Your Way to the End, and Rest"
וְאַתָּה לֵךְ לַקֵּץ וְתָנוּחַ וְתַעֲמֹד לְגֹרָלְךָ לְקֵץ הַיָּמִין׃ (יב, יג) - "But as for you, go your way to the end, and rest, and you shall stand for your lot at the end of the days." (12:13)
"Go your way to the end, and rest" - the appointed End will begin in the year 5628 (1868), as we explained, and will continue, while you will still rest, since the Resurrection of the Dead will take place only at the very end, in the year 5963 (2203). Only then will you experience "and you shall stand for your lot at the end of the days" - only then will you arise and behold it. The Malbim adds that this also aligns in gematria: the numerical value of "l'ketz hayamin" (לְקֵץ הַיָּמִין) points to the start of the first End in the year 5628 (תרכ"ח), while the letters of the word "hayamin" (הַיָּמִין) equal 335 - corresponding to the number of years from 5628 to 5963, exactly matching the calculation we made from the start of the End until the Resurrection of the Dead in the year 2203.
This explains why the verse says "ketz hayamin" (with a final nun) rather than "ketz hayamim" (with a final mem). What is the distinction? "Yom" (day) is singular, "yamim" (days) is plural, and "yamin" is a plural of plurals: many days upon many days - hence "yamin," ending with a final nun. Thus the Malbim explains: it is called "ketz hayamin" because there are two distinct ends here, 5628 and 5963, and therefore it is phrased in a dual or compounded time frame.
The Malbim concludes: during this time - whether according to the first interpretation, from the year 5673 (1913) until the year 5688 (1928), or according to the second interpretation, from the year 5628 (1868) until 5963 (2203) - "the city shall be built on its mound, and the palace shall stand in its rightful place," and all the prophecies of the prophets will come to pass, and the sovereignty will be Hashem's, and Hashem will be King over all the earth. By the year 5963, which is 2203 in the secular count, all of this must happen; and that is a minimum of seventy years before the end of the world. May Hashem grant us, with His help, to witness the coming of Mashiach swiftly in our days, Amen.
"Blasted Be Those Who Calculate the End" - And Why Did They Still Calculate?
And even though some of the calculations have been pushed aside and some have passed, nevertheless, I await him every day that he may come. And although we have difficulties and misunderstandings regarding all kinds of calculations, it is written that nonetheless, "blasted be those who calculate the end" - one should not calculate the End of Days, but rather wait and believe with simple faith. And if you ask: if so, how could they themselves calculate the end?
The Dubno Maggid offered a parable. A father set out with his son from their city to another city, a three-month journey. After two hours of walking, the son asked: "Abba, when are we arriving?" The father immediately silenced him and scolded him: "Why are you asking questions now? Keep walking, we still have quite a way to go." Further along the way they rode in a wagon, and when it was a week before reaching their destination, the father asked the wagon driver: "Tell me, when do we arrive?" He replied: "In another six or seven days." The son felt hurt and said: "Abba, when I asked when we were arriving, you scolded me, and now you yourself are asking the driver?" The father said to him: "There is a difference. You asked three months ago, and had I told you that we would arrive in three months, I would only have caused you despair. But now, after we have already traveled for nearly three months and only one week remains, the question 'when are we arriving' on the contrary brings encouragement, showing that any moment now we are meant to arrive. Now it is permissible to ask."
So too here: when Chazal said "blasted be those who calculate the end," they were speaking two thousand years ago, thirteen hundred and fifteen hundred years ago, in the era of the Talmud; and had you told people then that it would take another two thousand years, you would have broken their spirit. But now, when the matter is bound to take place in our very times, and all the signs, portents, and wonders spoken of by Chazal are being fulfilled among us - now it is indeed permitted to make calculations.
In summary:
At the end of the book, Daniel was given two dates: 1,290, the time from which the possibility of redemption opens, and 1,335, the time of the redemption itself. According to the first calculation, one counts from the removal of the tamid offering in the days of Athaliah in the year 3060, arriving at the year 4350 (590 CE) - the year of the attempted rebuilding of the Temple in the days of Emperor Julian, the earthquake, the fire, and the plague, an auspicious time that we did not merit; and from there, 1,335 years leads to 5685 (1925), which joined the calculations of "a time, times, and a half" (5673 / 1913) and "two thousand and three hundred evening and morning" (5688 / 1928). And according to the second calculation, one counts "an era, eras, and half an era" - 1,800 years from the Destruction, the year 5628 (1868), and from there one thousand years plus another 335 until 5963 (2203), the time of the resurrection of the dead, which is the secret of the "end of days" (ketz hayamin) - two ends. These times were auspicious, yet the spiritual awakening did not come, the Haskalah took its toll, and the tribulations did not cease. Nevertheless, even though the calculations have passed without fulfillment, I await him every day that he may come - and may Hashem grant us to witness the coming of our righteous Mashiach swiftly in our days, Amen.