Exodus 30,12. “when you take a census of the Children of Israel according to their numbers, each shall pay the Lord a ransom for his person when being counted.”Seeing that G’d so loves the Jewish people that He feels personally oppressed by their troubles, He gives them an advice on how to save their lives/souls from the attacks of the evil urge.It is a fact that the “life”, i.e. continued existence of all phenomena in the universe, however exalted they may appear, is due only to the brightness that emanated from the Creator Who had to restrain Himself by garbing Himself in various veils of appropriate thickness in order to prevent His brightness from fatally harming the creatures He exposed to it, and He has to provide them with nourishment to enable them to remain alive.We have an explicit Biblical verse in Nechemyah 9,6 spelling this out; we read there: ואתה מחיה את כולם, “and You keep them all alive,” [by providing appropriate sustenance. Ed.]
If this applies to the universe’s creatures generally, how much more so does it apply to G’d’s favorite nation, the Jewish people. (Compare psalms 135,4-“for the Lord has chosen Yaakov for Himself.” The Jewish people are a means through which G’d illuminates the universe, as we know from Isaiah 2,5: בית יעקב לכו ונלכה באור ה', “House of Yaakov, let us walk by the light of the Lord.”) From internalizing the meaning of these verses we come to the conclusion that when we pass through a period of distress and troubles, one that has been brought about by G’d’s having to discipline us, He Himself is also experiencing part of this pain.
We have already mentioned elsewhere that the root of evil befalling the Jewish people is actually one manner in which G’d reveals that He is –“G’d.”Our verse commencing with: כי תשא את ראש בני ישראל וגו' לפקודיהם, reminds us of the meaning of the root, as we find it in Numbers 31,49 לא נפקד ממנו איש, ”not a single one of our number is missing.” [After the 12000 men who took part in the punitive campaign against Midian had returned.
Ed.] G’d tells Moses that if he is interested in raising the status of the Jewish people from their depressed state, (after the sin of the golden calf), he is to see to it that each of the men between 20 and 60 pray to the Lord to redeem them from the attacks of the perennial antagonist, Satan who is always at work trying to seduce them into transgressing His commandments. [Contribution of a half shekel to the Temple treasury is merely a symbolic gesture of atoning for the guilt stemming from their involvement in that sin.
Ed.] Another approach to the legislation introduced in our portion with the words: “when you take the sum of the Children of Israel according to their number then they shall, give each man a ransom for his soul unto the Lord when you number them, that there be no plague among them. This they shall give: ‘every one that passes among them that are numbered, half a shekel of the shekel destined for the Sanctuary, etc.’”We must try to understand the mystical significance of the שקל הקודש, “the shekel representing something holy,” and how it can help atone and protect against a plague; the second matter we need to understand is why only a half shekel was the instrument used for this purpose.
Before explaining all this I must explain the mystical significance of the four special readings that are read at the end of the regular portions of the Torah reading each Sabbath prior to Passover, commencing with the section known as פרשת שקלים, which is taken from this week’s portion and generally read on the Sabbath preceding the commencement of the month of Adar. This is followed by a similar reading called פרשת זכור on the Sabbath before Purim, the end of what we read on Parshat כי תצא in the regular reading; on the following Sabbath or second Sabbath thereafter, a section beginning with the beginning of פרשת חוקת, known as פרשת פרה, dealing with the rites of purification when one has been ritually contaminated by contact with a dead body is read.
Lastly, either the week before the month of Nissan commences, or on Rosh Chodesh Nissan, if it occurs on a Sabbath, most of chapter 12 in Exodus is read at the end of the regular reading. This section is known as פרשת החודש, and deals with the regulations governing the Passover sacrifice, etc. We view these four mini-readings as representing the four letters in the holy name of G’d, the tetragram.
The combination of the letters in the tetragram for this purpose is perceived as occurring in the order of ה-ו-ה-י. They symbolize the respective “countenances, פרצופים, of female, male, mother, father, נוקבא, דכר, אימא,אבא. The reading about the “shekalim” parallels the final letter א in the word אבא, as the silver sockets, אדנים, were constructed from the silver coins contributed by the 600000 Israelites participating in the census.
The word אדנים, when read in the construct mode, yields א-ד-נ-י, which alludes to the mystical aspect of the last letter ה in the tetragram. The reading known as זכור corresponds to the letter ו in the tetragram, a reference to the masculine element in the holy name of G’d. The reading about the פרה symbolizes the emanation בינה, itself reminiscent of the concept of אימא mother, mother of all mothers, hence it represents the first letter ה in the tetragram.
Finally, the reading on פרשת החודש, represents the letter י in the tetragram corresponding to the emanation חכמה, the highest emanation accessible to the person striving for the highest rung of that ladder, the one called כתר, crown. The reason that חכמה is also called אבא in kabbalistic parlance, is because from this emanation “downwards,” towards the “lower world,” in which tangible matters appear as the “real matters,” this process develops.
In other words, the emanation חכמה is the “father” of the part of the universe we live in. It was the instrument G’d used to build this whole world in which we mortals spend our lives accumulating merits so that we can share G’d’s eternity after the death of our bodies. This is also the reason why there is no intervening Sabbath during the weeks when the extra readings occur to separate the Sabbath on which פרשת פרה is read and the Sabbath on which פרשת החודש is read. [In other words “father “is not separated from “mother.”
The two belong together, inseparably. Ed.]The 4 cups we drink during the Seder night also symbolize the same concepts as the 4 extra readings on the Sabbaths leading up to Pessach, commencing with our getting ready for the month of Adar. This is the reason why, according to halachah, it is forbidden to drink another cup of wine in between, as these last two cups of wine are to symbolize the companionship that exists between father and mother.
Traditionally, these cups of wine are referred to as יין המשומר, “wine that has been carefully protected, guarded,” against being touched by any potentially harmful contact with חיצוניות, secular influences.Corresponding to these four פרצופים, facets, there is a fifth one known as אריך אנפין, literally: “long face,” as it contains a total of ten “facets,” and is viewed as the “bottom” of the highest of the emanations כתר, forming a bridge between it and the lower ranking emanations in the 10 “sefirot,” the world known as the עולם האצילות, regions containing progressively more or fewer tangible components, depending on whether they are looked at from the bottom or the top.
This is known as the קוצו של יוד, “the tip of the letter י,” i.e. the minutest part of the smallest letter in the alphabet, signifying the ultimate root of anything tangible, or where the concept of אחד, the totally disembodied Creator begins emanating phenomena which will in stages produce the material, tangible parts of the universe.According to the Zohar II 162, where the subject of ה' אחד ושמו אחד, is discussed, [the problem being how there can be more than one unique G’d, Ed.] the point is made that the letter א in the word אחד is to be understood as the point where absolute אפס, absence of anything tangible, crosses over to a world that progressively contains more tangible components. This is understood as the reason why the Talmud absolutely forbids us to draw out the letter א when we recite the word אחד when reciting the k’riyat sh’ma.
Seeing that this letter represents a concept that is beyond our understanding, dwelling on it by drawing it out would be close to blasphemous. [My choice of word. Ed.] The position of that letter א in the kabbalistic scheme of things is described as מטי ולא מטי, perhaps best translated as “in a state of inanimate suspension, never at rest and never actually moving.”The author compares this state of מטי ולא מטי to what is known in Talmudic parlance as שקלא וטריא, the discussion of, i.e. weighing of pros and cons of different facets of a halachic problem, before arriving at a conclusion.
The word שקלא when referring to מחשבה, thought, idea, when dealing with lofty concepts, is also similar to the אריך אנפין, which we earlier described as a “long face,” seeing it contains within it almost all the ten emanations, is also used as a description of a medicine meaning the same as the Hebrew מעלה ארוכה, familiar to all the readers who pray according to the Sefardic tradition.
The word טריא is supposed to be a term for healing, therapy, in Aramaic. We could appropriately translate the expression שקל הקודש, as the fountain of all wisdom, as all life as understood on earth; the latter has its origin at that point, developing in stages in the direction of a different more physically oriented type of מחשבה, thoughts focusing not so much on the Divine origin of the universe as on the day to day maintenance of the individual entertaining these thoughts.Concerning these kinds of thoughts, Eliyahu, in Tikkuney Hazohar 1, describes the bursting forth of what became the physical part of the universe to the irrigating of a tree and its result which is similar to the soul infusing the body with “life.” What we derive from all this is that the kind of thoughts that revolve around spiritual matters are called by the Torah here as מחצית השקל, the “holy” part of the two entities each of which are called מחשבה, thought processes, as they are, after all, both intangible, and neither is an integral part of our bodies.
The source of these lofty thoughts is the region we described earlier as מטי ולא מטי, as being in “inanimate suspension.” The function of these “thoughts” is to protect the people harbouring less lofty thoughts, down on earth, so that the process of creating life on earth will not be aborted by other influences.This then is the meaning of the verse telling us זה יתנו כל העובר על הפקודים מחצית השקל בשקל בקודש ולא יהיה בהם נגף, “this is what every one who will be counted shall give; a half shekel, i.e. half of the holy shekel so that no plague may come upon them due to their being numbered.”The mystical aspect of the “shekel” consisting of twenty geyrah, is connected to the emanation כתר, the highest of the ten emanations, the letter כ in the word כתר being an allusion to the word עשרים, “twenty,” in our verse.[At this point the author claims that the word גרה also means זיבה, flow, speculating that in our context it is an allusion to G’d’s largesse “flowing” to the people who have appreciated the lesson of the מחצית השקל הקודש.
Since the author did not cite a text in which the word גרה appears in such a context, and I have not been able to find it either, I have decided to ignore this comment. Ed.] Another approach to the verse: כי תשא את ראש בני ישראל לפקודיהם ונתנו איש כופר נפשו וגו', we have a rule that we learned from the Zohar on Exodus 19,3 ומשה עלה אל האלוקים ויקרא אליו ה' מן ההר, “and Moses had ascended towards G’d, and Hashem called out to him from the Mountain, etc,” that ”all spiritual ascents of man must be oriented toward his declaring the Creator as his King.”
This idea has also been alluded to in our verse when the Torah speaks about elevating the Children of Israel, i.e.כי תשא את בני ישראל. The root פקד occurs already in Esther 2,3 where we are told that the king appointed officials by writing: ויפקד המלך פקידים, “the king appointed officials etc.” The half shekel that the Israelites were to pay as ransom for their souls, were intended to insure that they would progress towards their task of appointing G’d as their King.
This is the reason why the Torah added the word לה', i.e. “for Hashem.” after the word נפשו. Another approach to understanding the opening verse of our portion is based on the fact that the root פקד frequently is used to describe something that is missing or lacking. Sometimes a person feels he is on the way to becoming a tzaddik, or has already become one.Such exaggerated self-esteem is not proof of a spiritual accomplishment, but, on the contrary, indicates at least immaturity if not arrogance.
Anyone thinking of himself in such terms has not even begun his career as a servant of the Lord. This is hinted at in the words: כי תשא את ראש בני ישראל, the Torah teaches that “when you want to elevate the spiritual level of the Children of Israel to a higher spiritual plateau”, then לפקודיהם, “you have to point out to them the areas in which their personalities are still below par, still miss a basic ingredient, humility.”
One of the well known verses in which the root פקד describes the absence of someone, something important being missing, is in Samuel I 20,25 when David’s absence at the festive meal given by the King on New Moon, is described with the words ויפקד מקום דוד, “David’s seat had remained empty.” When considering the dual nature of the meaning of this root, we may translate this word in our verse as “their contribution consisted primarily in their awareness that they still lacked many good qualities and had to work on acquiring them.”The word כופר in our verse, translated as “ransom,” also appears in different meanings, one that is familiar being in Genesis 6,14 where Noach receives G’d’s instructions in how to ensure that the ark he is building will be waterproof.
The Torah writes: וכפרת אותו מבית ומחוץ בכופר; “smear it from the inside and the outside with כופר, i.e. the awareness that you need atonement.” An appropriate translation, based on our understanding of the word פקד as something lacking, would be that “when is man truly attached, ‘glued to’ G’d, when he is truly aware of his shortcomings.” Yet another interpretation of the opening verse in our portion.
We have a rule that when someone prays on behalf of a Jew or Israel, which is in trouble, it is important that he prefaces his prayer by pointing out Israel’s virtues first, i.e. that such a virtuous nation surely does not deserve the troubles that have come upon it. He must also point out that when any troubles befall a member of the Jewish people, the real target is G’d Himself seeing that He is our father.
This is what the Talmud Chagigah 15 means when it quotes Rabbi Meir saying: “when a person is in difficulties, the Shechinah reacts to this by saying: “My head hurts, My arm hurts.” In other words, G’d feels personally hurt by whatever hurts a member of His favourite people. It is therefore reasonable to remind G’d of this before pleading for the individual Israelite on whose behalf one offers a prayer to Hashem.
This is the allusion in the words כי תשא את ראש בני ישראל, “when you point out what ails the head of the Jewish people, etc.” The word פקודיהם, is used to describe shortcomings of the Jewish people, their needs, in the sense it is used in the verse we quoted from Samuel I 20,25. The words ונתנו איש כופר נפשו לה', refer to man reminding G’d how his soul is inextricably linked to G’d. Exodus 30,13. “this is what all those to be numbered are to give: half a shekel of the coin known as the “holy shekel.”By means of this verse the meaning of the line in the kedushah of mussaph on the Sabbaths and festivals (only in the “sefardi” editions of the siddur) which reads: הן גאלתי אתכם אחרית וראשית, “behold I have redeemed you in the latter period just as I have redeemed you in the earlier period,” may become intelligible. [In versions of the siddur with translations, even reputable ones such as that by Philip Birnbaum, the translator ignores the fact that the word גאלתי means “I have redeemed,” not “I will redeem,” so that the reader does not notice the problem with this line.
Ed.]According to Avot at the end of the sixth chapter, “everything that G’d has created, He created in His honour.” At the same time, we know from various sources that already before G’d set about to create the universe, He did so only with the Jewish people in mind. This means that G’d expected that this people would serve Him in the manner that is appropriate for the Creator of the universe to be served.
We have pointed out that “serving” the Lord, means to please Him, to afford Him a reason for feeling satisfied with the results of His endeavours. There seems to be a contradiction between these two statements. Why would G’d have given life to creatures that He knew would not serve Him in the manner in which we defined that service?Perhaps we can resolve this contradiction by means of a parable.
A King built a number of great palaces for his children, although the king himself did not have any need for any of these palaces. It happened that when he had completed building all these palaces for his children, and wanted to take up residence in one of them, he had a falling out with all of them and as a result he hated them. When the king reflected on what had been his original plan, and he realized that he had undertaken projects for which he, personally, had not had any need at all, he must have also realized that he would never have allowed anyone who hated his children to reside in any of the palaces he had built for these children.
Seeing that he hated his own children now, this meant that he could not take up residence in any of these palaces. If this same king were to ignore the original purpose of why he had built these palaces, there would be no reason for his feeling that people other than his children could not reside in them.When we use this parable to illustrate the purpose of G’d’s creating the universe, and how the universe developed after having been created and having been left to its own devices, i.e. that it had only been created for the sake of the Jewish souls, if we assume that the Creator had not allowed Himself to disregard His original intention of the universe being only for the sake of the Jewish people, He certainly would not provide from His largesse for the other nations of the world.
However, if due to His displeasure with the Jewish people He had allowed Himself to disregard His original intention, He would not have any reason not to dispense of His largesse also to the other nations of the world.When G’d performed miracles for the Jewish people from time to time in order to safeguard their continued existence, these miracles had become necessary only because due to the Jewish people’s inadequacies, He had taken recourse to ignoring His original plan so as not to have to watch them perish as a result of their inadequacies.
The miracles then reflect moments when G’d had allowed Himself to remember His original plan before He had created the universe. We hope and pray that when the redemption will come, hopefully soon in our days, it will reflect the fact that G’d is remembering His original reason for creating the universe.This thought is reflected in the author of the prayer saying quoting G’d, גאלתי אתכם אחרית כראשית, “when I redeemed you it was as a result of My having remembered, אחרית, in the end, My original purpose in creating you in the first place, i.e. ראשית.
At that time this clarification that the whole purpose of the creation of the universe had been for the sake of the Jewish people will become clear to all.When, on Purim, we recite a benediction before reading the scroll of Esther which concludes with the words על מקרא מגילה, “concerning the reading of the scroll,” the letter י in the word מגילה, which normally means “revealed,” from the root גלה, alludes to this original thought of G’d at the time He considered the creation of the universe. [It is important to remember that the word מגלה, meaning scroll, occurs no fewer than 20 times in the Bible, but is never spelled with the letter י as here.
Ed.] The redemption of the Jewish people from certain death, at the time of Haman, is an example of the approach we have just outlined, as expressed in the words: הן גאלתי אתכם אחרית כראשית. What we have just explained will help us to understand the verse commencing with: זה יתנו כל העובר וגו'.There are a number of anomalies in this portion which deserve our attention.1) Why was the amount of “half” a shekel (either a coin or its equivalent weight in silver) chosen by the Torah, instead of either a whole shekel or a coin that was a generally accepted coin of full value.
In other words, what is the significance of the word מחצית which the Torah clearly stresses? 2) Why were only males above the age of 20 obligated to take part in this census? If all the males that were legally of age and bound to perform the Torah’s commandments were meant, then every male above the age of 13 should have been counted?3) What were the criteria which determined who had to give this half shekel?
Did only the males who actually went out to war have to pay this ransom, i.e. כל היוצא למלחמה לצבא, [there is no such verse.]?We will explain the verse by means of a parable. Assume that we are dealing with someone who conducts his business in a cavalier manner, not paying attention to the details without which success is most unlikely. This “business man,” does not follow a well thought out plan, and sometimes acts completely contrary to the accepted norms, such as rewarding even people who had consistently acted against his instructions.
On the other hand, a person who acts after carefully weighing the likely result of his actions, will most certainly reward those who have been instrumental in helping him to succeed, whereas he will definitely not reward those who had displayed their hatred of him by constantly ignoring the owner’s instructions.The Jewish people sometimes act like the undisciplined and disoriented business man, whereas on other occasions they display enormous good sense.
When they act in the former fashion, they do not attract G’d’s largesse either for themselves or the various other parts of the universe. If at times like that the Creator nonetheless continues to dispense His largesse, this is only because He loves His creatures and has mercy on them. The by-product of this mercy by the Creator is the wellbeing of the totally undeserving people. His largesse is distributed indiscriminately, apparently without any discernible pattern. When sane and fair-minded people on earth who try to understand the workings of G’d’s השגחה, providence, observe this, they gain the impression that G’d is, G’d forbid, not clear in His mind, otherwise how could He allow such things to happen?On the other hand, at times when the Jewish people accumulate merits and are deserving of G’d’s largesse, G’d directs His largesse exclusively to the Jewish people whereas withholding it from those who do not deserve it on account of their actions.When the Jewish people wish to avenge themselves on their enemies, then in order to be successful in their endeavours they have to “awaken” the appropriate Divine “attribute” so that it will come to their assistance.
When receiving this “call” from the Israelites, G’d will have to weigh in His mind if to respond positively by channeling His largesse only to the Jewish people and withholding it from the other nations. If He decides on the latter strategy, the enemies of the Jewish people will collapse as they no longer enjoy their divine life support.This is hinted at when the Torah speaks of the מחצית השקל, i.e. only the over twenty year olds being charged with the task of “awakening” these considerations in G’d’s mind, i.e. “they have to go out to war” arousing G’d to decide in favour of His favourite nation, the Jewish people.
If successful, the Israelites will be victorious in their battles. G’d’s having to weigh to which side to give the advantage is expressed by the two letters י in the letter צ (at the top) in the word מחצית. Exodus 31,12. “Hashem said to Moses, to say: but you are to observe My Sabbath days for the Sabbath is a sign between Me and you, etc;” our sages in the Talmud Beytzah 16 learned from this verse that when one gives a gift to one’s fellow man one needs to inform him of this fact; they quote the fact that G’d gave the Jewish people the gift of the Sabbath, but made a point of informing them beforehand.
In the parlance of our sages, G’d told the people that He had kept a valuable gift hidden in His treasure chamber, a gift called Sabbath. What did G’d mean by referring to the Sabbath as a valuable gift? He referred to the light and the holiness that emanates from the celestial regions and supplies people with something we loosely refer to as רוח הקודש, holy spirit, also known as ערבות, a name for pleasurable sensations as experienced in the celestial regions.Actually, we are meant to be looking forward to the special gifts experienced on the Sabbath throughout the six working days, and therefore we should concern ourselves with the preparations for the Sabbath not only on the Sabbath but every day.
The degree in which we experience the gift of holy spirit just described on the Sabbath reflects the efforts we have made during the week to welcome the Sabbath when it comes.When we read in Exodus 16,5 –concerning the first Sabbath the Israelites experienced in the desert when the manna did not fall but they received an extra portion of the preceding day- והכינו את אשר יביאו, ”they are to prepare what they are going to bring home on that day,” this is an instruction to prepare oneself for the Sabbath on the weekday.
Our sages have coined a famous phrase when they said מי שאינו טרח בערב שבת מהיכן יאכל בשבת?, “if someone did not make the necessary effort on the Sabbath eve, how he is going to have something to eat on the Sabbath?”In spite of the fact that we human beings made an effort to provide for our needs, the Sabbath is still considered a valuable gift. The reason is that all man’s efforts notwithstanding, he is not entitled to an automatic gift of holiness nor is he entitled to be the recipient of outpourings of G’d’s largesse.
If G’d’s gift of the Sabbath is entirely gratuitous, why do we need to put in so much effort into preparing for the Sabbath? The reason is that G’d’s gift of the Sabbath is in danger of being wasted unless the recipient has provided a receptacle that ensures that it can be put to good use. [If someone receives a bouquet of flowers but does not have a vase to put these flowers in to fill it with water to preserve them, the gift is wasted.
Ed.]Observance of the Sabbath consists of two separate aspects, called by the Torah: זכור ושמור “to remember,” and “to keep,” in the two versions of the Ten Commandments. (Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5 respectively) In kabbalistic parlance the זכור aspect refers to the masculine side of the table of emanations, whereas the שמור aspect belongs to the feminine side. [The “masculine” aspect refers to the spiritual aspect, whereas the “feminine” aspect refers to the materialistic aspect.
Ed.] Some people observe the Sabbath primarily on account of the physical pleasures it affords, i.e. a rest from back-breaking labour in the field during the weekdays, consuming more and tastier food, spending “quality” time with one’s family, etc. Others view the Sabbath as a day that affords them an opportunity to provide their Creator with pleasure and satisfaction for having created him.The most revealing comment about the value of honouring the Sabbath by sanctifying it through reciting Kiddush and not violating any of its negative commandments, is found in the Talmud (Shabbat 118) where the sages say that anyone doing this will have all his previous sins forgiven even if he had been the type of idolater that was current in the generation of Enosh (Adam’s grandson).
The reason why observance of the Sabbath is such a powerful means of man rehabilitating himself in the eyes of the Lord through observing its laws, is that each transgression he commits, is an act of distancing himself from his holy origins, his roots, leaving a stain on his soul. Observing the laws of the Sabbath is an act of returning to one’s roots thereby removing stains on his soul. The additional spiritual light that G’d bestows on us on the Sabbath also acts as therapy for a soul that has been injured.
This then is the מתנה טובה, “the valuable gift” G’d bestows upon us every Sabbath. If someone observes the Sabbath exclusively in order to take advantage of the “window” for immediate forgiveness for his sins this is “good,” but it is a far cry from observing the Sabbath optimally. Hence his observance is called “observing the feminine aspect of the Sabbath.”Clearly, when someone observes the Sabbath for such considerations it is a good thing, but even if he observes the Sabbath for the sake of receiving spiritual rewards this is not yet the “optimal” manner in which to observe the Sabbath, it is still part of the aspect of the Sabbath we have called the “feminine” aspect.
We have mentioned a number of times that serving G’d, i.e. including through Sabbath observance, that the highest level of such service must always revolve around his “giving” something to His Creator not around his “receiving” something from Him. This “giving” must not be confused with presenting sacrifices on the altar. It need not be a tangible gift; in fact it cannot be a tangible gift seeing that G’d has no use for tangible gifts, seeing everything in the universe is His by definition? Sabbath observance, just as any other form of service, including prayer, must be designed to please the Lord and give Him satisfaction in order to qualify as keeping the “masculine, זכור aspect of the Sabbath.”
When David said in psalms 68,35 תנו עוז לאלוקים, “give might to G’d!,” he emphasized the need for man to give something to G’d that will confirm and reinforce His power as being actual not only potential through His creatures responding to Him and seeking His nearness. This may be done through performance of commandments physically. When the Torah wrote above: אך את שבתותי תשמורו, you only have to observe My Sabbath days,” it addressed the Israelites on the lower spiritual levels, as the use of the word אך and רק in the Torah always refer to something at the lower end of the scale. Observance of the Torah in its aspect of שמירה will already lead to spiritual uplifts, as the Sabbath is a symbol, אות that I the Lord grant you holiness, i.e. כי אני ה' מקדשכם.
The sanctity of the Sabbath separates you from potential harm and illuminates and sanctifies your souls as a result of which your sins will be forgiven. If one succeeds in observing the Sabbath on the level of זכור, the masculine side of the emanations, so much the better.A different way of looking at our verse about the dual nature of observing the Sabbath. In the first instance the Torah addresses the entire nation of Israel. [I presume that the reason why the author has offered this interpretation is that it is addressed to the Jewish people in the plural mode, not like the kriyat sh’ma, and other laws in the singular mode. Ed.]If for a variety of reasons the meticulous observance of the Sabbath by the whole nation proves to be impossible, the Torah assures us that the observance of the Sabbath by the righteous in each generation by means of which they cause G’d to experience pleasure and a feeling of satisfaction, this too is of great value. The Tzaddik, by the way, is also called שבת.��If the Torah writes: אך, “but, however,” when commanding us to keep the Sabbath, the word אך indicates that even if the people observe the Sabbath only as a commandment for which they expect to receive a reward, seeing that every natural born Jew is called Sabbath, they will be protected by this, and the tzaddikim among them who observe the Sabbath on a higher spiritual level, will become the cause that all the Jews will be protected seeing that the Sabbath is in a special category compared to most other commandments, having been called אות, a reference to the tzaddik who is called אות.
He is called by that name as it is the actions of the tzaddikim among His people that bring to G’d’s attention the superiority of a nation who have produced such outstanding G’d-loving and G’d-fearing personalities. It is not surprising therefore that our sages view the tzaddik as the means through which G’d’s reputation and His holiness have become known throughout the world. If G’d protects the entire Jewish nation it is because the tzaddik symbolizes his whole people through his devotion to his Creator.
In other words, he is the cause of the whole nation being protected by G’d. Another way of explaining the wording of our verse is based on the realization that G’d in His love for the Jewish people gave them commandments by means of which they would establish their claim to eternal life after their bodies had died. (Makkot, 3 Mishnah 16) The Sabbath features especially largely in that context, as by observing it we experience a foretaste of the afterlife.
On that day, as part of its observance, every Jew can experience the meaning of a truly spiritual experience and the satisfaction it brings to the person enjoying it.However, seeing that we have a rule that reward for performance of the commandments of the Torah is not given in this world, i.e. during a person’s lifetime on earth, (compare Kidushin 39), and therefore his enjoyment of the spiritual pleasure on the Sabbath, G’d has arranged for this “foretaste” of what to expect in the afterlife, the principal reward being preserved for when the person’s soul returns to its celestial origins.[The concept discussed here is part of one of the Sabbath songs sung at the Jew’s table on Friday nights, the last part of which commences with the words: מעין עולם הבא יום שבת מנוחה, “the Sabbath rest is a foretaste of the world to come.” Ed.]
When a Jew experiences that as a result of observing the Sabbath he enjoys an additional dimension of spiritual and physical well being, he does not need to be an intellectual in order to fantasize about how much more of this he will experience in the world to come where he has been assured that the principal reward for Sabbath observance as well as mitzvah observance generally will be shared out.
It is clear therefore why our sages understood the manner in which the Torah refers to the observance of the Sabbath in our paragraph as an announcement of a valuable gift that G’d was given to the Jewish people. The point the Torah made was that observance of the commandment of keeping the Sabbath results in additional advantages for the Jews doing so, over and above the reward that G’d had promised the people for observing the legislation spelled out in the Torah generally.Not only that, were it not for the foretaste the Jew experiences of the world to come whenever he observes the Sabbath, he would have no such foretaste by observing any of the other commandments, so that observing the law to observe the Sabbath is an encouragement to observe all the other commandments with equal zeal.
This may be at the core of the sages in Avot 4,2 having made a somewhat puzzling statement when they said: שכר מצוה מצוה, usually translated as: “the reward for fulfilling a commandment is the commandment itself.” A more appropriate translation, interpreting this saying as referring specifically to the commandment of observing the Sabbath, would be: “the reward for observing the commandment of observing the Sabbath is that one will also observe the other commandments.”
The revelation of this aspect of the reward for Sabbath observance is something that was not revealed to the gentile nations. By not revealing it to them, G’d made certain that the gentiles would not want to socialize with Jews observing the Sabbath and benefit by such socializing.At this point the author comments on part of the Sabbath morning prayers, between ברכו and קריאת שמע, which goes as follows: [the Ashkenazi versions is slightly, but insignificantly different, Ed.] אין ערוך לך ואין זולתך אפס בלתך ומי דומה לך אין ערוך לך ה' אלוקינו בעולם הזה ואין זולתך מלכנו בעולם הבא אפס בלתך גואלנו לימות המשיח ואין דומה לך מושיענו לתחיית המתים “There is none to be compared to You, and none beside You; there is nothing without You and who is like You?
There is none to compare to You O G’d our G’d in this world, there is none beside You; O our King for life in the world to come, there is nothing without You O our Redeemer in the days of the messiah and none is like You our Saviour in the revival of the dead.” The Talmud in Shabbat 63 interprets the words of Solomon, speaking of the Torah in Proverbs 3,16 by describing it as follows: ארך ימים בימינה בשמאלה עשר וכבוד, “lengthy days is her right hand; in her left hand riches and honour,“ anyone reading this forms the impression that Solomon assures people keeping the Torah of worldly rewards, and at least when the reward hoped for is material, i.e. worldly riches etc., it is considered as belonging to the left side of the emanations, i.e. is a negative.
This would contradict our statement that even though one keeps the Sabbath for such reasons, it is a positive accomplishment, though of a lower order, i.e. is not the kind of service that the Creator would prefer from His creatures, and that optimally, G’d prefers for His creatures not to serve Him for physical material rewards. Some righteous people completely eschew any recognition of their service to G’d as long as they have attained a more profound understanding of the essence of G’d while on this earth.
Some go so far as to renounce the claim to a “name” in the world to come so as not to appear as looking for personal recognition of their accomplishments. This is what the Talmud in B’rachot 64 and in Moed Katan 29 had in mind when it stated that the Torah scholars have no “rest”, מנוחה, either in this world or in the world to come, but they keep progressing spiritually from one level to another. [“Rest” in this context is clearly considered as a negative, instead of as a positive quality as in connection with the Sabbath rest.
Ed.] According to the way our author understands the prayer quoted, the repeated insistence that in all sections of the universe there is no One that has a name bar the Creator, reflects his view that the perfect tzaddik feels that being singled out (by a name) would detract from his selfless service of the Lord. When the author refers to the world to come in that prayer, he means that he does not desire “to rest on his laurels,” even after he (his soul) has been admitted to the celestial regions.
The author of that prayer continues by stating that even if one serves G’d with the objective of experiencing the arrival of the messiah and the additional insights we will all be granted concerning the nature of G’d at that time, this too is not the ultimate optimal kind of service of the Lord. [I must confess that I have difficulty in understanding the above prayer as anything but having G’d as its subject, not the author himself or his yearnings for a דבקות ה' at the expense of any individuality of his personality.
Surely, G’d does not wish to be worshipped anonymously, but wishes to point out to us lesser mortals how great men such as Avraham, Yitzchok, Yaakov, etc, whose names matter, can serve as models for us. Ed.] Exodus 31,16. “the Children of Israel are to observe the Sabbath, etc.;” this verse helps us understand a statement by the Talmud in Shabbat< 118 according to which “if the Jewish people were only to observe two Sabbaths the Messiah would already have come.”
When an Israelite observes the Sabbath properly, the spiritual uplift derived from that experience will leave its mark during the six weekdays following, so that in effect he has observed two Sabbaths, i.e. on the day that G’d had sanctified at the end of His creative activity, and the one to which His creatures, have given sanctity during the days following. Not only that; if one has served G’d during the six working days, “observing” the negative commandments of the Sabbath on the following Sabbath becomes very much easier.
As a result, he will almost automatically observe every Sabbath in the future also and be looking forward to it.When we keep these considerations in mind we will also have less difficulty in answering a question posed in the Jerusalem Talmud Taanit 1,1 that even the observance by the Jewish people of a single Sabbath is sufficient to usher in the messianic age. [The question raised by the reader of this statement is if the Jerusalem Talmud disagrees with the Babylonian Talmud in Shabbat 118 that we quoted previously.
Ed.] What the Jerusalem Talmud means is simply that once the first Sabbath has been observed optimally, observing the next Sabbath is so easy that it represents no additional achievement in terms of overcoming Satan’s attempts to deflect us from our purpose. At any rate, essentially it is the collective observance by the Jewish people of a single Sabbath which will result in the messiah coming shortly thereafter.
This is the meaning of the words: ושמרו בני ישראל את השבת לעשות את השבת, “the Children of Israel are to observe the Sabbath to ‘“make it into a Sabbath.’” Exodus 33,23. “You will see My back, but My face is not visible (to any creature).” In addition to the fact that of course, G’d’s “back” is also invisible, as He is not corporeal, the author quotes two verses from Job and Proverbs respectively, which require further clarification.
We read in Proverbs 15,20: בן חכם ישמח אב, ”a wise son causes joy to the father.” We also read in Job 28,14: והחכמה מאין תמצא “but where does wisdom come from?“ We know that the most important ingredient of wisdom is acquired by man when he looks (with his mental eye) at the concept of אין, i.e. the “nothingness” from which the (perceptible) phenomena of the universe came into existence, emanated.
When man trains himself to cleave ever more to the roots of his life, i.e. to the Creator, this aspect is known as אצל הבורא, being next to the Creator, Who Himself is garbed in a “garment,” i.e. a protective shield that prevents the powerful rays of light emanating from Him from harming those exposed to this. The prophet Isaiah 23,18 alludes to this when he said: ולמכסה עתיק (יומין) “dressed in primeval (of prehistoric origin) garments” (compare Talmud Pessachim 119) This is also the meaning of the allusion in the Talmud Chagigah 7 that Israel provides G’d with His “parnassah,” livelihood, basing itself on the word לבוש being used in that context, so that חכמה, “wisdom” in many instances refers to the אור חוזר, the “reflected light,” emanating from Israel in response to G’d’s largesse, as it requires חכמה, “wisdom or ingenuity,” for the original light beamed at His creatures by G’d to be aimed back accurately at its source.
This is also referred to by way of allusion in Job 33,32, ואאלפך חכמה “I shall teach you wisdom.” The letters א-ל-פ when reversed spell פלא, miracle, something supernatural, as in the word נפלאות, and hint at the fact that the ability to reattach oneself to the original source that has given one life is something beyond man’s innate ability, and cannot be achieved without direct Divine intervention.
The process by which this is achieved is known as תנועה, normally translated as “motion,” meaning in this context that G’d sets in motion some part of the word תנועה.[I confess that from this point on I have not understood the author’s allusions on this subject based on the meaning of the vowels underneath the consonants. Ed.] Exodus 34,6. “Hashem passed before him and proclaimed:” A look at Rashi’s commentary on these words shows us that G’d wrapped Himself in a tallit, prayer shawl, just like the reader in the synagogue. [This is not taken from Rashi’s commentary on the Torah, but from the Talmud’s allegorical interpretation of this verse in Rosh Hashanah 17.
Ed.]Concerning the above, my late and revered teacher Rabbi Dov Baer said that the 13 attributes the Torah mentions here are the spiritual equivalent of the 13 principles of Rabbi Yishmael that are considered as legitimate tools of exegesis of the written Torah. For instance, the principle known as קל וחומר, using logical conclusions, is the counterpart of the attribute א-ל, whereas the principle known as גזרה שוה, replicas of the same word used for apparently divergent subjects, is the equivalent of the Divine attribute רחום.When a wealthy person takes pity on a poor, destitute person, he automatically begins to understand the pain and near despair experienced by the poor so that he lowers himself mentally to that level.
He experiences the pain endured by the poor and his feelings of being hemmed in from all sides. When this happens, the wealthy person, -parallel to G’d-, extends pity and mercy to the poor so that the poor and the rich have reached the same level. A similar process occurs when G’d looks with mercy on the Jewish people in distress. This is what Moses referred to when he said in psalms 91,15: עמו אנכי בצרה, “I am with him in distress;” this is what is meant by “equating” the Divine attribute of mercy to the exegetical tool known as גזרה שוה, “establishing common ground based on identical words used in texts speaking of different subjects.” An alternative explanation of the line: ויעבור ה' על פניו ויקרא וגו', “Hashem passed before him and proclaimed, etc.;” also based on the statement in Rosh Hashanah 17 that G’d wrapped Himself in a prayer shawl similar to the one worn by the reader leading the congregation in prayer.G’d is advising Moses that if, when praying for forgiveness, the Jewish people will emulate the example set for them by Hashem, He will forgive their sins and they will have atonement.
We need to understand this statement of the Talmud on a less simplistic level, of course. The Talmud Avodah Zarah 3 provides the key to a more mature understanding of this statement in the Talmud. The Talmud there explains that G’d does not deal with the Jewish people in the manner that a despot deals with his subjects when they have been guilty of violating his decrees. The reason for this is that after all, the Jewish people were the principal reason why G’d created the universe in the first place as stated explicitly in Yalkut Shimoni 1,2 that the world was created on account of Israel which is called ראשית (Jeremiah 2,3).
If G’d were to apply the yardstick to Israel that befits its lofty standing in the celestial regions, it would not have a chance to survive for a single hour as the burden imposed upon them of having to serve as a model for other creatures would have been too overwhelming.[Compare when Moses said to Aaron that his sons died not because they were so undeserving to live, objectively, but on account of the principle of בקרובי אקדש , that G’d is especially strict with people who have become intimates of His, so that He would not be accused of favoritism. (Leviticus 10,3) Ed.]G’d is aware that not withstanding the fact that since man’s source of life is rooted in the holy and Divine root of the Creator Himself, and he could therefore be expected to emulate his Creator and be almost equally pure and holy, the fact remains, as our sages have stated: אין צדיק ולא יחטא, “there has not yet been a righteous human being who has not committed a sin on at least one occasion.”
While it is true that a king’s son is expected to lead a life that reflects his aristocratic background, nonetheless the king will not disown his son if now and again he stepped out of line. The Jewish people too, are called G’d’s Children, so G’d will not turn His back on them because they have sometimes sinned, inadvertently, in most cases. G’d promises Moses in our verse that He will adopt the less stringent yardsticks for judging man, a yardstick that is compatible with conditions on earth, an environment that is fraught with a multitude of temptations. When a rich man, comes face to face with a poor man, he is aware that only by the grace of G’d does he enjoy so much more material wealth than his less fortunate peer, and reflecting on this fact he will supply the poor man with what he needs to augment his livelihood.
The word ויעבור at the beginning of the list of 13 attributes of G’d that may be invoked when needed, hints at the fact that G’d, in that instance, will “pass,” i.e. cross over the line separating the attribute of Justice from the attribute of Mercy. Instead of G’d facing the repentant sinner without a לבוש, some garment, designed to tone down the enormity of having to face the Creator in His unadorned essence, פניו, “face,” He will display a more forgiving posture in recognition of the sinner having sought Him out to confess and to ask forgiveness, i.e. another chance to make a new beginning.
We must remember however, that if we expect G’d to display the attribute of Mercy toward us, we must first show Him that we on pour part have departed from our standards of demanding strict compliance with the demands of justice by having demonstrated that we too can forego something that we felt we were entitled to. The line אני לדודי ודודי לי in Song of Songs 6,3 may also be understood in a similar sense, as “when I relate appropriately to my beloved, my beloved in turn will reciprocate.” שלש עשרה מדות א-ל “13 Divine attributes;” let us come back to Rabbi Dov Baer’s comparison of G’d’s 13 attributes of Mercy in their various nuances and the 13 categories of valid Torah interpretations of Rabbi Yishmael, and the statement that the category of קל וחומר, logical deductions, such as inferences from a minor to a major, corresponds to the Divine attribute א-ל in our verse.
This may become clearer when we recall a statement by our sages in the Talmud Baba kamma 25. The Talmud there deals with Moses’ prayer in Numbers 12,13 after his sister Miriam had been struck with tzoraat, (a punitive skin eczema). He said: א-ל נא רפא נא לה, usually translated as: “please O G’d heal her!” G’d’s answer includes the reminder that if one has behaved so badly that one’s own father has spat in one’s face, does one not deserve at least a week during which one will be ostracized from society?
It follows that one deserves at least the same level of punishment when one is guilty of such behaviour against the Creator! G’d thereupon decrees seven days of exclusion of Miriam from the main body of the people. This is a classic example of the logic called קל וחומר, and it was used by G’d’s attribute א-ל to which Moses had appealed at that time.We may expand on this theme by citing the Talmud Sanhedrin 91 where we are told that when a cure occurs as overt intervention by heaven this is comparable to the application of the exegetical tool called קל וחומר, “logic.”
When someone doubted G’d’s ability to resurrect man, the doubter who admitted believing that G’d had created man, was told that if G’d had created man out of nothing, how much easier is it for Him to restore the dead to life seeing that they had already been alive once. This is another example of how the attribute of א-ל is linked to the exegetical tool called קל וחומר.Seeing that we have stated repeatedly that it is impossible for a creature, including the most spiritually oriented one such as Moses, to truly understand the essence of the Creator, the question of how the authors of the prayers could make statements about G’d’s attributes, etc.; is obvious.
The answer is equally obvious. The sages who composed the liturgy observed attributes possessed by man, i.e. G’d’s creature, and concluded that these attributes must reflect similar attributes possessed by the Creator, else where did they originate? In other words, the attributes of G’d are closely related to the use of the קל וחומר, the exegetical tool known as “logic.” It is “logical” therefore to speak of הא-ל הגדול, etc., “the great Divine power,” in our prayers, the introductory words of the עמידה, the central prayer on all three occasions that we pray communally each day.
When continuing to list specific attributes of G’d, this is in the nature of describing how the Creator has practiced צמצום, “self-restraint,” for the sake of His creatures. Expressed allegorically, this “self restraint” of G’d may be compared to the hair on one’s body, a לבוש, “garment,” designed to tone down the overwhelming light emanating from G’d’s essence, something that man cannot endure, and the reason why the Israelites at Mount Sinai asked G’d to make Moses their intermediary.
When acquainting Moses with 13 of His attributes in our portion, our sages have described the grand total of these attributes mentioned here as תקונא דיוקנא, “the beard and peyot, sideburns,” of the Creator.Seeing that the list of these attributes extends [i.e. beyond the word א-ל], all the way until the words רב חסד, “abundant in the dispensation of loving kindness,” (to His people Israel) David alludes to this when he said in psalms 118,5 מן המצר קראתי י-ה ענני במרחב י-ה, “When I called upon G’d out of my distress, He answered me in the most expansive manner.” Another approach to the thirteen nuances of the attributes of Love that G’d displays, listed here.
According to the Ari z’al, the reason why this list commences (is headed by) with the name of the Lord, א-ל, and that these 13 “nuances” correspond to the thirteen exegetical tools of Torah interpretation listed by Rabbi Yishmael, and that the first such tool in Rabbi Yishmael’s list is the קל וחומר, “logic,” is the very fact that the essence of the Creator is beyond any creature’s ability to comprehend.
In other words, it is beyond “logic.” (Compare Tikkuney Hazohar7 and 1) All that man can observe when trying to obtain a composite mental image of G’d, is that He possesses the attributes of “greatness,” “strength, heroism,” etc., etc.My great and revered teacher phrased it thus when he explained the meaning of the Talmud in Sukkah 5 which discusses Exodus 25,18, the figures on the lid of the Holy Ark.
The Torah commands: ועשית שנים כרובים זהב, “you are to fashion two cherubs made of gold.” The cryptic comment on this verse by the Talmud is that the word כרובים is the plural mode of the Aramaic כ-רביא, “like a young innocent child.” Rabbi Dov Baer, the author’s teacher, clearly did not understand the Talmud quite in that sense, but saw in the word רביא a reference to the relationship between teacher and pupil.
The teacher’s knowledge and understanding is obviously far above that of the student, and in order for the student to understand what the teacher is saying, the teacher must address him in words that are familiar to the student, i.e. he must be מצמם את עצמו, impose restraints upon himself in order for his message to become effective. As a result of the teacher’s restraining himself there will be two intellectually equal people studying.
This is the message of the שנים כרובים, the two cherubs mounted on top of the כפורת, the lid of the Holy Ark. The moral lesson of this is that instead of both the minds of teacher and pupil being portrayed as adults in the Torah, they are portrayed as “small children.” The comparison to the exegetical tool known as קל וחומר is even more striking when we consider that one of the limitations of this method of exegesis is that it must never be employed to establish a new halachic parameter.
It must content itself with stating that the result of the comparison of the קל to the חומר is that the “heavy” is definitely at least equal to the “light,” but not necessarily superior. To illustrate: if as a result of insulting one’s father the child is banished from his presence for seven days, it is logical that insulting “G’d,” cannot be atoned for by a lesser penalty, as “G’d” is the “heavy” in this comparison.
If we were to conclude that the penalty for insulting G’d must logically be greater, this would be beyond the boundaries of the קל וחומר as a legitimate exegetical tool. (Compare Talmud Baba kamma 24.)The Talmud discusses also if there is ever an exception to this rule, and if so what are the criteria for when it may be breached? Answer: if by applying the rule that a קל וחומר must not result in halachic conclusions beyond the parameters from which we have set out, the entire קל וחומר could no longer be applied, then that rule is ignored.
If G’d were to exercise so much self restraint that He would make Himself truly equal to us His creatures, how could He serve for us as a role model or authority? The author limits the parable to the Jewish people, i.e. the concept that G’d would similarly “restrains Himself,” in order to descend to the level of the gentile nations is quite erroneous. The reason why the Jewish people are afforded this advantage is that they have accepted His rule in spite of the many difficulties that have to be faced by living in our part of the universe in order to fulfill His commandments.
Since the gentile nations never accepted these challenges, they are hardly in a position to request G’d’s help in overcoming them.[The author refers to the Tikunney Hazohar interpreting the tone signs on the letters in the Torah suggesting that the one known as zarka, and the one known as pazer, both striving upwards as an allusion to the heavenly orientation of the Jewish people that entitle them to G’d’s help.
I have not found this section of the Tikkunim. Ed.] An alternative explanation to the 13 attributes of G’s listed by the Torah in our portion. It is an accepted rule that the written Torah may be studied and understood better by using the 13 principles of Rabbi Yishmael that we recite in our prayers every morning. The 13 attributes of G’d that Moses lists in our portion may be understood as corresponding to this.
The exegetical tool described as בנין אב in Rabbi Yishmael’s list (# 3 in that list) is none other than חן, “grace.” We, the Jewish people, enjoy grace in the eyes of the Lord. Let us clarify this by means of a parable. If a young child says something clever, the father is pleased to hear this and he enjoys this even if he is aware that the clever saying had not originated in the mind of the child itself, but reflects something that his mother had taught him.
The father, in spite of his intellectual superiority to his child, “lowers” himself to the child’s level in order to enjoy his child’s achievement. The reason he does so is because there exists a bond between a father and child called חן, “grace or charm.” When G’d “restrains Himself,” as we pointed out repeatedly, one of the reasons is also that He relates to His Children of Israel like a father, and this bond of חן exists between them.
The reason why the third of the 3 categories of valid exegetical tools in Rabbi Yishmael’s list is called בנין אב, “basic rule,” is that it parallels this “given” (rather than acquired) relationship between a Creator and His derivative, i.e. His child, in this case His brainchild.Let us now look at Rabbi Yishmael’s fourth category of legitimate exegetical tools, the one known as כלל ופרט, generalities and specifics (or the reverse.)
This principle corresponds to the Divine attributes of ארך and אפים, respectively. In order to understand this, we will again resort to a parable. A father, regardless of his son’s intelligence, loves him loyally as his flesh and blood. A similar relationship exists between G’d and His “children,” [seeing He is a partner in any human being, having supplied one third of its components by contributing the soul.
Ed.] There is another aspect to this love of father for son; because he loves him he constantly tries to teach him so that he will become more intelligent and more mature mentally. This aspect of parental love is known as כלל ופרט וכלל.Let us know explain the Divine attribute of ארך, i.e. that G’d loves us regardless of whether we are intelligent enough to realize that we ought to revere Him and to love Him, He does not withdraw His love from us.
It follows that the attribute of ארך corresponds to the exegetical tool of Torah exegesis known as כלל ופרט, relating collective terms to specific terms.The Divine attribute of אפים, is how G’d, out of His love for us, teaches us how to serve Him, so that the combined attributes ארך אפים, correspond to Rabbi Yishmael’s exegetical tool known as כלל ופרט וכלל, establishing harmony between collective terms and specifics, so that they do not contradict one another.
This is why the Talmud in Baba kamma 54 describes the latter כלל , as adding an additional element.[I have not understood the Talmud there in that way. Ed.] The Talmud in Shabbat 133 urges each one of us to “attach” ourselves to the virtues manifested by Hashem, by emulating them whenever possible, giving as an example: “just as He is merciful, you are to be merciful also.”The problem with this “moral imperative” posited by the Talmud is that one of the attributes G’d has revealed to Moses in our portion is called א-ל, usually understood as a reference to G’d being omnipotent, תקיף; (compare Shulchan Aruch Orach Chayim 5) how are we to emulate such an attribute?
We need to understand this slightly differently, i.e. that G’d has given the tzaddik the power to “compel” Him to carry out the tzaddik’s wishes. This is what the Talmud in Megillah 18 had in mind when it posed the rhetorical question of “how do we know that G’d called Yaakov by the attribute א-ל?” What possible “omnipotence” did Yaakov possess, seeing that all he could do was to abide by rules established in the Torah?
Our sages in the Talmud in Ketuvot 111 alluded to this problem when they taught us that G’d made the Jewish people swear three oaths at the time of the destruction of the Temple. One of them was: “do not pressure Me to postpone the date of the coming of the messiah.” [Our author prefers an alternate version of that oath with the word ירחקו being replaced by the word ידחקו, i.e. pressuring G’d to advance the date of the coming of the messiah. Ed.]
The root דחק is well known as referring to someone “hastening an event,” the best known example being the saying in B’rachot 64: כל הדוחק את השעה השעה דוחק אותו, “whosoever tries to advance the timetable for events destined to occur later, will find that it proves to have been counterproductive.”Concerning the appropriate time for the coming of the messiah, the prophet Isaiah had predicted in Isaiah 51,4 כי תורה מאתי תצא , “for a teaching will come forth from Me, etc.” The prophet refers to a teaching which prior to that era could not have been understood at all by man, [as his spiritual horizons had not been sufficiently expanded.
Ed.] This “Torah” will be called superior to all.Besides, how is it possible to hasten the end of the exile, seeing that if all of Israel‘s virtues are the result of emulating G’d’s attributes, it follows that everything the Israelites do is pattered on the Torah, so how could they possibly be able to influence G’d’s timetable for the coming of the Messiah then? The answer is that by conferring on Yaakov the title א-ל, (Genesis 35,10, 33,20), He had conferred on him (and subsequent tzaddikim) some of His powers so that He had to warn them not to abuse these powers by making them take an oath.
This complimentary title that G’d bestowed on Yaakov and other zaddikim after him was conditioned on his regarding the Torah and its laws inviolate. G’d had decided on His timetable for the coming of the messiah either at the same time as when He bestowed the title א-ל on Yaakov, or even earlier, so that his “powers” did not extend to overriding this. How could man then interfere with G’d’s decree?
If man, i.e. the tzaddik could not interfere, why would the בנות ישראל, “chronologically later generations of Israelites,” have to swear an oath concerning something that was beyond their power to do anyways?The apparent contradiction is resolved by an interesting commentary on Song of Songs 2,10, (a few verses after the verse in which G’d beseeches the “daughters of Jerusalem” to swear the abovementioned oath); we read there, concerning G’d: הנה זה עומד אחר כתלנו משגיח מן החלונות מציץ מחרקים, “here He is standing behind our walls looking down through the windows, peering through the blinds.”
This verse describes G’d, Who, on the one hand is לעילא מן כל, “towering high above all,” as also on occasion retreating so far into the background that He only peers through the lattices. The verse alludes to the varying degrees of light that emanates from Him, tailored to what the situation requires. On occasion, if warranted, the tzaddik can override G’d’s plan; seeing that this is so, G’d had to protect His ultimate program for mankind by making the בנות ירושלים swear that they would not interfere with certain of His plans. The word כלל in the list of exegetical tools of Rabbi Yishmael, corresponds to the Divine attribute of רחום, “the Merciful One,” which the author had previously described as corresponding to the exegetical tool of גזרה שוה, whereas the Divine attribute of חנון, “tireless,” corresponds to the exegetical tool known as בנין אב, the original verse in the Torah formulating a law, may be understood as follows.The concept that G’d’s relates to man with Mercy may be compared to the exegetical tool of גזרה שוה which involves using textural parallels that are not supported by contextual similarities nonetheless being equated halachically, i.e. being used as a guideline.
G’d’s “lowering Himself,” to the level of human beings is something parallel, i.e. He equates Himself to us although basically, how can a Creator compare Himself to His creature?The Zohar 257 on Pinchas points out that attributes of G’d such as רחום חנון דיין, “The merciful One, the patient One, the Judge,” were totally meaningless before He created the universe, as who was there to judge, or to practice mercy on?
It follows that these attributes reflect His relations with His creatures after these had been created. In other words, all of the attributes are figures of speech taking into considerations that G’d had first “restrained Himself,” manifested Himself in far less than all His glory, as His creatures could not have survived “looking” at Him in all His glory. Hence, an attribute such as ארך אפים, “being able to put up with man’s sins patiently”, resulted in His being “accorded” the attribute of רחום וחנון, merciful and extremely patient, i.e. not withdrawing His grace, חן from people although they had sinned against Him.Actually, although the Zohar is correct in principle, the attributes רחום וחנון were appropriate attributes for G’d even before He created the universe, as unless He had been prepared to be מצמצם את עצמו, “tone down, understate” His essence, as we explained repeatedly, He would have risked destroying all the creatures He was about to create at the moment these creatures “set eyes” on their “father in heaven.”
The attribute of ארך אפים, however, most certainly became necessary only after creation, seeing that as long as there were no free-willed creatures, i.e. man, there was no sin that G’d had to apply this attribute to the attributes רחום וחנון may be understood as applying before the creation, whereas the attribute ארך אפים is the name used after the creation, when due to man’s sins g’d adjusted the manner in which he dealt with man. There is a difference in the way G’d makes allowances for sins committed by a community, and those committed by an individual.
What appears like G’d’s leniency will be seen far more often in His dealings with multitudes, whereas individuals will not find Him as accommodating.[This does not mean that looked at objectively the individual sinner is worse off; as lenience may result in the ones who are the beneficiaries of leniency misinterpreting this, thus continuing in their wicked ways, whereas the individual, because of G’d’s strictness will improve his ways thus benefiting in the long run.
Ed.]The Talmud in B’rachot, 19 cites examples of tzaddikim who had committed sins but were not immediately punished, explaining that a tzaddik, when he does sin, can be expected to repent immediately, so that this act of “leniency” worked in his favour, whereas a similar act of leniency if applied to a habitual sinner would only result in that sinner becoming more deeply enmeshed in his sinful ways.
This is hinted at by Rabbi Yishmael’s category of exegesis known as כלל ופרט וכלל, referring to the community, followed by referring to the individual and thereby ultimately bringing that individual around so that he is a member of the community in good standing again.According to our author, the word כלל is a simile for the Creator, as He combines within Himself aspects of the entire universe, i.e. the “entirety, the whole.”
The word פרט on the other hand, refers to the individual worlds, each of which is being treated as “individuals,” as G’d deals with each one of them on the basis of the conditions that prevailed when they were created. To summarize: the wicked as a group, once they have departed from the righteous community will not be likely to return to it, whereas the individual sinner who has sinned not by design but through carelessness, will use any delay in punishment as a reason to do penitence immediately.
The second word כלל in the exegetical tool known as כלל ופרט וכלל alludes to the “additional” time G’d allowed the “righteous” sinner to rehabilitate himself, it being understood that a righteous person even when he did sin will repent as soon as he has become is ware of his error. Concerning the exegetical tool in the list of Rabbi Yishmael known as פרט וכלל, a specific detail appearing in the Torah prior to a generalization, that the generalization must conform to points mentioned in that detailed example, this is a simile for the Divine attribute of ארך אפים, as the process of finding grace is combined of the grace Israel has found originally in the eyes of the Lord, and the virtues practiced by the Israelites in order to warrant maintaining their state of grace.
This is also the reason why the attribute רחום and חנון require two separate verses in the Torah, whereas even a “complicated” exegetical tool such as כלל ופרט וכלל is derived from a single verse. Exodus 34,21. “you shall observe the Sabbath rest regardless of whether it is the season of planting or harvesting.” It is a rule that G’d shares out His largesse to the various parts of His universes and it is also known that the origin of that largesse is in the spiritual region known as אין סוף, the Infinite.
It was the prophet Elisha who said (Kings II 4,2) מה יש לכי בבית, “what (containers) do you have in the house?” This shows us that in order to take advantage of G’d’s largesse man has to furnish the receptacle. He does so by providing the various letters in the alphabet. Both the act of sowing and harvesting are perceived as a manner of creating, When the largesse is provided from the celestial regions directly, i.e. from the eyn sof, there is no need for the human being to supply a כלי, receptacle Seeing that it is forbidden to write on the Sabbath, i.e. to put together letters, on that day, no receptacle is required to receive G’d’s largesse.
This is hinted at in Deuteronomy 15,15 when the Torah writes:וברכתיך בכל אשר תעשה , “I will bless you in all your undertakings. By writing that you are to rest (on the Sabbath) both in the season of planting and the during season of harvesting, the Torah explains that the Sabbath rest does not only not interfere with our receiving G’d’s largesse, but, on the contrary, it facilitates the process, i.e.בחריש ובקציר תשבות