Will Rabbi Yosef Berger be validated when two stars collide to create a supernova, heralding the return/arrival of the messiah? Cites astronomy study.
Rabbi Yosef Berger of Israel has caused disconcert with his prediction that the second Messiah is on its way to Earth.
The claim comes off astronomer’s belief that two distant stars are set to collide and create a massive ‘Boom star’ visible from Earth by 2022.
While astronomers haven’t affixed any special meaning to the presupposed supernova explosion, Berger of King David’s Tomb in Mount Zion, Jerusalem believes the astrological happening is evidence of an ancient prophecy coming true.
A report via Breaking Israel News tells of Berger citing 12th century Rabbi Moses ben Maimon, also known as Ramban when making his claim.
Told the Rabbi: ‘The Ramban brings this verse about a star appearing as proof that the Messiah will come one day,’
‘The Zohar [the foundational work in the literature of Jewish mystical thought] states explicitly that the Messianic process will be accompanied by several stars appearing.
‘The Zohar goes into great depth, describing how many stars, and which colours they will be.’
Berger points to a Biblical verse coinciding with Jewish literature found in Numbers 24:17.
The extract says: ‘I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not nigh; there shall step forth a star out of Yakov, and a scepter shall rise out of Yisrael, and shall smite through the corners of Moab, and break down all the sons of Seth.’
The claims (see trailer below) come after a Grand Rapids, Michigan professor, Larry Molnar from Calvin College, who has been studying a binary star system recently told of two stars orbiting each other setting up to collide. The collision is believed to create a new star, since dubbed ‘Boom star’.
The explosion, also known as a supernova is set to make the exploding stars brighter than they already are – producing one of the brightest stars visible in our sky.
Supernovas are intense explosions caused at the end of the lifetime of huge stars, or when two stars merge together.
They can be seen from Earth from millions of light years away, but they are unpredictable.
Historically they have can only been studied if telescopes happened to be pointing in their direction, and by astronomers looking back at archives of the stars’ observations, after the event.
Professor Larry Molnar claims to have predicted one in advance, for the first time. He says the event will take place around 2022, give or take a year notes the dailymail.
The star will be visible as part of the constellation Cygnus, and will add a star to the recognizable Northern Cross star pattern.
Told the astronomer: ‘It’s a one-in-a-million chance that you can predict an explosion,’
‘It’s never been done before.’
Professor Molnar’s exploration into the star known as KIC 9832227 began back in 2013.
Whilst attending an astronomy conference he come across fellow astronomer Karen Kinemuchi who presented her study of the brightness changes of the star, which asked whether the star was one star pulsing, or flashing, or whether it was two stars orbiting each other.
Professor Molnar and colleagues will be observing KIC 9832227 in the next year over the full range of wavelengths: using the Very Large Array, the Infrared Telescope Facility, and the XMM-Newton spacecraft to study the star’s radio, infrared and X-ray emission, respectively.
‘If Larry’s prediction is correct, his project will demonstrate for the first time that astronomers can catch certain binary stars in the act of dying, and that they can track the last few years of a stellar death spiral up to the point of final, dramatic explosion,’ said Matt Walhout, dean for research and scholarship at Calvin College.
‘The project is significant not only because of the scientific results, but also because it is likely to capture the imagination of people on the street,’ said Walhout. ‘If the prediction is correct, then for the first time in history, parents will be able to point to a dark spot in the sky and say,
‘Watch, kids, there’s a star hiding in there, but soon it’s going to light up.’
In the interim, non religious believers have questioned whether the predicted astrological sighting should carry any weight beyond the obvious as prophesiers marry folklore with science.