DATES

15 Menachem Av 5772

No! Not that kind of "date." The kind with months and days and years.

When I read the piece about Achmadi's speech and I quote:

...Speaking to ambassadors from Islamic countries ahead of 'Qods Day' ('Jerusalem Day'), an annual Iranian anti-Zionist event established in 1979 by Ayatollah Khomeini and which falls this year on August 17, Ahmadinejad said that a "horrible Zionist current" had been managing world affairs for "about 400 years."

...“Qods Day is not merely a strategic solution for the Palestinian problem, as it is to be viewed as a key for solving the world problems," he said.

I thought to myself: Hmmm. August 17th is a very interesting date - for several reasons. It's the 29th of Av and would be Yom Kippur Katan except that it's also Erev Shabbat for which Shabbat is also Rosh Chodesh Aleph for Elul. It's also the end of the month of Ramadan. The parshah for the week in which it falls is Parshat Re'eh ("See, I put before you today a blessing and a curse...."). The sixth aliyah which corresponds to the sixth day begins with the word Miketz meaning "at the end."

The haftarah says, in part: "...have no fear from ruin, and it shall not come near you. Surely no harm can be done without My consent: Whoever would harm you Shall fall because of you. ... No weapon formed against you shall succeed,...."

Also, the people following Planet X (Nibiru) claim it will make its closest approach to Earth on August 17th and cause cataclysms. (You can google it.)

However, the night of August 13th might be a more interesting date. According to what I read, this will be the "holiest night of the year" for Muslims. It's called Lailat al Kadr which is translated both as "Night of Destiny" and "Night of Power."

If you were a religious Muslim who thought it was his destiny to bring the Mahdi (the Islamic Messiah) and subjugate the entire world to Islam, this might be a good night for it. However, this date is for Sunni Muslims. Shi'a Muslims (like Achmadinejad) celebrate it this year on August 7th, which like the Jewish calendar actually starts on the night of August 6th which also happens to be the anniversary of the first use of nuclear weapons in the world by the United States (6 August 1945 / 27 Av 5705).

But, then again, the Islamic Jerusalem Day might make more sense, because everyone knows that the final war will be fought over Jerusalem and for the sake of destroying the Jews from the world. And, after all, Rosh Chodesh Elul begins the month of repentance for Jews. How much more appropriate could it be?