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The Holiday of Passover, when the Jewish People were emancipated from slavery in Egypt, is described in our liturgy as Zman Cheiruteinu, “the Time of our Freedom.” However, as we shall see in the coming lines, the word cheirut is not the only Hebrew word for “freedom”. When the Bible refers to freeing slaves it uses two other words for “freedom”: chofesh and dror. An additional, conceptually-related word is hefker (“ownerless”), which is also related to freedom. We will seek to understand the differences between these four words and what lies at the roots of these words. We begin with the words dror and chofesh. The word dror first appears in the Bible when discussing the freeing of slaves in the Juiblee Year (Lev. 25:10). Rashi, based on Rosh Hashana 9b, explains that the word dror is related to the word dar (“dwells”), and refers to one who dwells within his own domain, and does not fall under others’ control. Dror is also a type of bird whose very essence expresses this notion. Ibn Ezra explains that the Dror Bird happily sings when free to its own devices, but if captured and stuck in man’s domain, it refuses to eat until it dies. Sefer HaAruch also tells that the Dror Bird is suicidal when it loses its freedom. Radak in Sefer HaShorashim explains that a Dror Bird is called so because it builds nests inside people’s homes without fear of being captured, as if it was completely free from the possibility of capture (see also Beitzah 24a). In this way, dror denotes being “free as a bird.” When the Torah calls for “pure myrrh” to be used in the anointing oil (Exodus 30:23), the word dror is used for “pure”. Rabbi Yonah Ibn Janach and Nachmanides explain that this is because the Torah requires they use myrrh that is free from outside impurities and forgeries. Interestingly, the word dror can sometimes be abbreviated as dar,like in Esther 1:6 when it refers to Achashverosh granting merchants a special tax exemption (see Megillah 12a). The word chofesh also appears in the Bible in the context of freeing slaves (most notably in Ex. 21, Deut. 15, and Jer. 34), although it means “vacation” in Modern Hebrew. In terms of their mutual association with the concept of “freedom”, Rabbi Shlomo Aharon Wertheimer (1866-1935) explains that dror and chofesh do not refer to the exact same phenomenon. Chofshi refers to freedom from an obligation to work, while dror refers to the freedom from subjugation to a specific person who lords over him. The word cheirut does not appear in the Bible in the context of freedom. Nonetheless, it is the standard word for freeing a slave in Rabbinical parlance. In the Birkat HaChodesh prayer, which we say on the Sabbath before Rosh Chodesh, we beseech G-d to redeem us from avdut (“servitude”) to cheirut (“freedom”). Moreover, the Mishnaic term shichrur is a cognate of cheirut that refers to the formal act of freeing a slave, and the Mishnaic phrase eved she’nishtachrar refers to a freed slave. On Passover Night we strive to act like Bnei Chorin — “free men.” Although the Bible itself never uses the word cheirut in the context of freedom, Rabbinical tradition (Avot 6:2) finds a Scriptural allusion to such a meaning. The Bible describes the Tablets that Moshe brought from Mount Sinai as “the work of G-d, and the writing was the writing of G-d, engraved (charut) on the tablets” (Ex. 32:16). The root for the Hebrew word which means “engraved” is generally spelled CHET-REISH-TET. However, in this context a variant spelling is used, replacing the ultimate TET with a TAV. Because of this slight deviance from the norm, the Rabbis found something deeper alluded to in this verse: “Do not read it as not charut (‘engraved’), but as cheirut (‘freedom’), for the only person who is truly free is one who occupies himself with Torah study.” It seems fairly clear that if the ultimate purpose of the Exodus was to give the Jewish People the Torah at Mount Sinai, then the word for freedom resulting from the Exodus should appropriately be cheirut — and the holiday which celebrates that freedom should be termed Zman Cheiruteinu. Nevertheless, our understanding of cheirut does not address its meaning vis-à-vis the other words for “freedom.” Why did the Rabbis decide to use the word cheirut for “freedom” instead of the words found in the Bible? The British philosopher Isaiah Berlin (1909-1997) famously differentiated between two distinct types of freedom: “negative liberty” and “positive liberty.” Based on this philosophical distinction, Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks (Chief Rabbi Emeritus of the United Kingdom), offers a deeper understanding as to the difference between chofesh and cheirut. He explains that the adjective chofshi denotes what a slave becomes when he goes free. It means that he can do whatever his heart desires. The word chofesh is related to chafetz (desire) and chapess (search out). Rabbi Sacks, philosopher, identifies this type of freedom with “negative liberty” because it simply denotes the lack of coercion. Negative liberty may be worthwhile on an individual level, but on a society level there must be some form of rules — one cannot simply do whatever one pleases. On the other hand, law and order must not be imposed in a coercive manner, because then the masses will resent and resist said law. Instead, the law must be presented and taught in a way in which everyone willingly accepts it of their own volition. When this happens, the law becomes a part of them — engrained in their very essence — for the greater good. To that effect, the Rabbis coined a new term cheirut,which denotes a sort of freedom that comes to society where people not only know the law, but study it constantly until it is engraved on their hearts (so charut and cheirut become one). On the surface, this “positive liberty” seems restrictive, but actually it proves quite liberating. Truth be told, the cheirut-cognate chorim does actually appear in the Bible, just not in the context of freedom, per se. Chorim appears thirteen times in the Bible in reference to noblemen and other dignitaries (see Rashi to Jer. 27:20). Rashi (to Sotah 49a) explains that chorin are people of lineage. The illustrious Wurzberger Rav, Rabbi Yitzchok Dov Bamberger (1807-1878), explains that chorim is related to the Aramaic words whose root is CHET-VAV-REISH, which means “white.” He explains that dignitaries are called “white” because their reputation must be untarnished, and because only important people were allowed to wear white clothes in the ancient world. (Rabbi Yaakov Tzvi Mecklenburg (1785-1865) associates cheirut with the Hebrew root chor, which means“hole” and uses those exact letters, but we will not delve into his approach here.) That said, it seems to me that the Rabbis chose to use the word cheirut and various conjugations thereof in order to convey the idea of freedom on Passover for a very important reason. They wished to stress that newly-freed slaves begin their new lives with a clean slate, and they have the potential to become important people in their own right. On Passover we recognize and celebrate this potential for greatness. This optimistic, yet challenging, look at a freedman’s bright future warranted the Rabbis’ adoption of a new word for “freedom,” even though the Bible already has two words for that concept. Share this: WhatsApp More Telegram Email Print Share on Tumblr

We mentioned in Part 1 that the Hebrew name for the holiday of Passover is Pesach and the sacrifice associated with that holiday is likewise known as the Korban Pesach (Pesach Sacrifice). We cited Rashi’s explanation (to Exodus 12:11; 12:13; and Isaiah 31:5) that the word pesach is an expression of dilugand kefitzah, both of which are words for jumping. Indeed, the Paschal Sacrifice is called the Korban Pesach because it commemorates G-d “passing over” or “jumping over” the houses of the Jews when He struck the Egyptians with the Plague of the Firstborn. The holiday is accordingly named after the sacrifice associated with it. In the following paragraphs we will demonstrate exactly how the word pesach means “jumping”, but is not fully synonymous with the words dilug and kefitzah. In Part 1 we explained the major difference between the two words for “jumping” by noting that the word dilug focuses on one who “jumps” as a means of skipping over something, and the word kefitzah focuses on one who “jumps” as a means of travelling faster. Rashi’s comment that the word Pesach is an expression of both dilug and kefitzah means that the word Pesach has both of these elements, especially in regard to G-d passing over the houses of the Jews in anticipation of the Exodus from Egypt. Rabbi Avigdor Neventzhal (Chief Rabbi Emeritus of the Old City of Jerusalem) points out the obvious: when we speak of G-d “jumping” over the Jews in order to afflict the Egyptians with the Plague of the Firstborn, this cannot mean that He literally “jumped” over them, because He does not possess any physical body with which to perform such an action. Rather, the Torah speaks from the post facto perspective in which the Egyptian firstborns died, and the Jewish ones did not. In hindsight, it seemed as if G-d “jumped” over the Jews and smote only the Egyptians. In what way can this be called a dilug? Rabbi Neventzhal explains that just as the idea of dilug is to “skip over” something which has been deemed unnecessary, so too did G-d “skip over” His general requirement that one perform some act of commitment to seal his connection to G-d before G-d will allow that person to come close to Him. However, at that the Exodus, though the Jews had not yet exhibited that desire to connect to G-d, He nonetheless performed miracles on their behalf and took them out of Egypt. In a similar vein, Rabbi Nachshon Schiller focuses on the haste with which the Exodus from Egypt occurred. Kabbalistic sources assert that during their stay in Egypt, the Jews had alarmingly fallen to the forty-ninth level of impurity and seriously required the Divine intervention of the Exodus. The urgency of the matter is highlighted by the Jews’ descent to the depths of impurity. Had the Jews remained in that land for an extra moment they would have plunged to the fiftieth level of impurity, from whence it would be impossible to recover. Therefore, G-dhastily redeemed the Jews before it was too late. Rabbi Schiller explains that for this reason G-d commanded that the Paschal Offering be eaten “in haste” (Exodus 12:11); eating from that sacrifice should be done quickly in imitation of G-d’s fast-acting miracles that brought the Exodus. In this way, the word Pesach is related to the word kefitzah, which denotes the speed of the jumper. To summarize, the Exodus from Egypt has both an element of “skipping” and an element of “speed”, concepts which shed light on Rashi’s comment that Pesach is related to dilug and kefitzah. In redeeming the Jews, G-d waived the usual requirement that the recipient of Divine assistance actively show his commitment to Above. In essence, the Exodus basically “skipped over” (dilug) that general prerequisite for a miracle, a favor celebrated in the name Pesach. At the same time, the urgency and gravity of the dire situation demanded that G-d redeem the Jews immediately, and the speed (kefitzah) with which He did so is also immortalized in the very name of the Holiday of the Exodus — Pesach. Before concluding I would like to point out another insight related to the Hebrew word pesach — and its verb form poseach. Those wordsshare their etymological root with the Hebrew word piseach (lame or immobile). The root of both words is the letter combination peh–samech–chet. This occurrence is a poignant example of a common phenomenon in the Hebrew language whereby words whose meanings are conceptually diametric opposite are sometimes phonetically/orthographically similar (i.e. they are spelled or pronounced the same). This phenomenon illustrates the notion that words in the Hebrew language are not mere happenstance based on human whims, but possess inherent meanings and follow a Divine intuition not found in other languages. Therefore, a paralyzed person or an amputee who has been rendered immobile is known as a piseach, a word which resembles the very mobile act of “jumping” (poseach). Share this: WhatsApp More Telegram Email Print Share on Tumblr

Shavuos שָׁבֻעוֹת Preparing for Kabbalas HaTorah כִּלָה: finish, complete כְּלִי: receiving vessel תַּכְלִית: purpose תְּכֵלֶת: aquamarine, green-blue כַּלָה: bride כִּלָה: Finish, Complete On Shabbos we sing לְכָה דוֹדִי לִקְרַאת כַּלָּה/Come welcome my beloved the bride. Shabbos is compared to a bride. At Friday night Kiddush we say וַיָכֻלוּ, which means “completion.” On Shabbos, Hashem completed the creation. Shabbos the Bride completes the creation. So too with the חָתָן וְכַּלָה, the כַּלָּה completes the man. Before he is married, man is incomplete. He is only half a man. He needs a woman to complete him, and, as they say, once a man gets married, he is truly finished! So too we, the Jewish People, are Hashem’s bride. Not that we complete Hashem, for He is perfect, but rather that we complete His creation. We are Hashem’s partners in creation. Just like שַׁבָּת is known as the Shabbos Queen, so too we when fulfill our role as Hashem’s כַּלָּה, we too become Hashem’s queen. כְּלִי: Vessel In lashon hakodesh, a כְּלִי for the most part needs to be a kli kibul, a vessel that receives. A כְּלִי is created to receive. So too a כַּלָּה/bride is created to receive. תַּכְלִית: Purpose What is the purpose of Creation? To be a fitting כְּלִי to receive Hashem’s light. תְּכֵלֶת: Aquamarine, Green-blue In the parshah of tzitzis, the Kli Yakar brings the Gemara that says that the תְּכֵלֶת, the aquamarine color of the tzitzis, is to remind us of the sea, which in turn is to remind us of the Shamayim, which in turn reminds us of the sapphire color of the כִּסֵא הַכָּבוֹד/Hashem’s throne. Each of our neshamos is carved out from the כִּסֵא הַכָּבוֹד/Hashem’s throne. This is the origin of who we are and this is the place to which we return. The color תְּכֵלֶת is therefore also to remind us of our ultimate תַּכְלִית/purpose, which is to return to Hashem, and this is worn particularly on our tzitzis to remind us that the way to return to Hashem is through observing the 613 mitzvos. The gematria of צִיצִית is 600, plus the eight threads and five knots add up to 613, which is also alluded to in the words: וּזְכַרְתֶּם אֶת כָל מִצְוֹת ה’/and you shall remember all the mitzvos of Hashem. The haftarah portion that we read on Shavuos describes how the throne of Hashem is made of sapphire, which is why the blue of the techeiles of the tzitzis connects the blue of the sea and the heavens to the sapphire blue of the כִּסֵא הַכָּבוֹד/Hashem’s throne. Sapphire is from the family of precious gemstones that have this mesmerizing aspect of reflecting light through their crystal surface. The blue of תְּכֵלֶת/techeiles, which comes from the word תַּכְלִית/purpose, signifies to us that our purpose is to connect to that heavenly aspect of sapphire, and to reflect Hashem’s light into the world, infusing it with an aspect of crystal clarity. There is an expression “it came out of the blue,” meaning that it came unexpectedly, out of nowhere. I think we can say that the deeper meaning behind this is that there is no other explanation but to say this was mamash Heaven-sent. The Sea – Refining Ourselves If you were to ask yourself what color the sea is, you may be surprised by the answer. Naturally, the answer is blue! But on close inspection, the sea is made up of water, which is clearly colorless — in Hebrew שָׁקוּף. The sea is really just a reflection of the heavens, which is why on an overcast day the sea is grey, a reflection of the clouds that block out the blue sky. The shallow waters are more of an aquamarine color because the water also reflects the color of the yellow sand, which, when mixed with sky blue, gives off this beautiful blue-green color of תְּכֵלֶת. On day one of creation, everything to a great extent was still one. On day two, however, Hashem split the waters into the upper waters and lower waters. The upper waters He called שָׁמַיִם/Shamayim, a reference to שָׁם מַיִם/literally, “there the waters.” The lower waters can be further subdivided into freshwater rivers and saltwater seas. The rivers represent Hashem’s flow of life, carrying the life-giving waters that nourish the Earth. Unlike the river, which flows with purpose, the sea is the final destination, as Solomon says: “All the waters flow into the sea.” The sea represents completion of a mission and can no longer be utilized unless it goes through a process of separation — refinement (desalinization). If we refine ourselves by separating the good from the bad, then we too, like the waters, can vaporize and return to Shamayim. The Midrash says that due to their separation from the upper waters, the lower waters of the seas cried, making them salty. Unlike the river, the sea does not have defined borders; it therefore represents תַּאַוָה/desire, which knows no bounds. The sea is therefore a dangerous place, where life is compared to a boat crossing the sea, being tossed and turned around by the challenges of life. If we take the colors red and blue, red represents desire and blue the cool opposite. We are also compared to the sun, which is red hot. In our youth we are full of misplaced energy, hot-blooded and full of desire, as it says: כּי יֵצֶר לֵב הָאָדָם רַע מִן נְעוּרָיו. As we get older and closer to our time in Shamayim, we cool off and are compared to the sun setting over the sea. The purpose of the Torah, which is compared to mayim, is not only to give us borders like a river, but also to cool us off. It neutralizes us to the point where we lose our color and become שָׁקוּף/translucent like the water. Then we can arrive at a clear הַשְׁקָפָה/outlook on how to see and navigate our way through life. One of the preparations for Kabbalas HaTorah is to immerse in the mikveh. מִקְוֶה/mikveh comes from the word תִּקְוֶה/hope. By immersing in the mikveh, we are purifying ourselves by putting our hope in Hashem — קַוֵה אֶל ה’. Mechitzos Another preparation for Kabbalas HaTorah is to set boundaries. וְעָלִיתָ אַתָּה וְאַהֲרֹן עִמָּךְ וְהַכֹּהֲנִים Hashem instructs Moshe to warn the people not to cross the border surrounding the mountain while Aharon and the kohanim should go up with Moshe — Moshe within his own mechitzah, Aharon within his mechitzah, and the kohanim within their mechitzah, where Moshe drew closer than Aharon, and Aharon closer than the kohanim. If we cross the mark we die, because if we get too close to Hashem, like the Ishim angels, the so-called fiery angels, we will cease to exist, because as they draw closer and closer to Hashem, they burn up and lose their self-identity, blending into the oneness of everything. In order to be able to draw closer to Hashem and still maintain our identity, we have to develop and expand our boundaries so that we can attain a greater capacity to be able to receive more of Hashem’s light without being burnt up and blown away by the awesomeness of Hashem’s power. Hashem says to Moshe, “No one can see my face and live; Nadav and Avihu drew too close and were burned up.” So we need to keep within our own mechitzos. Even though we need to keep within our own mechitzos we can still expand their boundaries. So how do we expand the boundaries? The har/mountain is known as the yetzer hara. When the tzaddikim look back on their lives and see the yetzer hara, they are overwhelmed by how big it was and compare it to a mountain. The more we do battle with the yetzer hara, the higher we go, closer and closer to the top, and on top, above the mountain, is Hashem. מִי יַעַלֶה בְהַר ה’, וּמִי יָקוּם בִמְקוֹם קָדְשוֹ, נְקִי כּפַּיִם וּבַר לֵבָב/who can climb the mountain of Hashem and who can stand in His holy place? One who has clean hands and a pure heart. In other words, he who has cleansed his actions and purified his mind from the influence of the yetzer hara. The Wall One year we spent Shavuos with my brother-in-law Yosef. On the way to shul, Yosef asked me, “What does Hashem want from me?!” Just as he was about to leave to go to shul, his son had woken up in a fit. Not only did Yosef miss minchah, he had also been unable to sleep in the afternoon, so how was he going to learn late into the night in preparation for Kabbalas HaTorah? I said to him, “It looks like Hashem is challenging you. He has put a wall in front of you, but not that you should stop. Rather, it’s for you to climb over. Hashem loves you, since by climbing over the wall you will feel a greater sense of achievement.” These words were echoed by his rabbi’s pre-maariv derashah in shul. The rabbi asked that if someone slept five hours in the afternoon, then learned five hours in the evening, followed by another five hours of sleep, did he really push himself? Only someone who pushes himself beyond the boundaries shows Hashem how dear his Torah learning is. In my younger days, I ran the London Marathon. More experienced runners told me about “The Wall,” that there would be a time late into the marathon when you hit the point that you feel like you cannot continue, where all of your body aches, you have no more strength — that’s it! A lot of people give up at this point, but those who climb over the wall and push through experience the tremendous amount of achievement in crossing the finishing line. Just as the ones who finish are crowned with a medal, so too Hashem crowns the ones who push through with theכֶּתֶר תּוֹרָה/the crown of the Torah. Similarly, if you were to sprint the 100–meter hurdles without jumping them, then the crowd would just laugh at you; you’ve done nothing by not jumping the hurdles. So too in life, Hashem puts lots of hurdles in the way so that we have what to jump over. These very walls and obstacles are what make us great. Benefactor and Beneficiary What is קַבָּלַת הַתּוֹרָה/receiving of the Torah? To understand this, we have to define who was the benefactor, who was the beneficiary, what was given, and where was it given. מַתַּן תּוֹרָה /the receiving of the Torah was a present from Hashem. Hashem is the ultimate giver. In order for Hashem to be able to give, there needs to be a receiver. We are that receiver. The world was created in such a way that we the receivers make ourselves into worthy receivers. The greater we become in our worthiness as receivers, the greater the giving by Hashem, and since Hashem is the ultimate giver, the desired end result is for there to be the ultimate giving, so in order to achieve this, we have to be the ultimate receiver. In order for us to be ultimate receivers, we first have to become givers. The more we give, the more we can receive from Hashem, which in turn causes Hashem to give more. To help us give, Hashem gives us a helpmate, our wives, to whom we give to. Hashem created us in His image, male and female He created us. By giving through the male/female relationship, we become like Hashem, the Ultimate Giver. This is what it means to be a צֶלֶם אֶ-לֹהִים, that when we give, we become the image of G-d. Rabbi Eliyahu Dessler says in Michtav M’Eliyahu that more than you give to the one you love, you love the one you give. As we see with Yitzchak when he married Rivkah, he first took her into his tent and then he loved her. The purpose of all this giving is to come to love Hashem. Where Was It Given The Gemara in Eruvin and Nedarim says that in order to receive the gift of the Torah, one has to make oneself into a midbar/desert, a place that is hefker/ownerless. Just like the desert is a place where everyone is free to tread, so too one should be humble, to the extent that one will not be bothered if anyone treads on his shoes. The Torah is compared to מַיִם. Just like water flows from the heights of the mountains and doesn’t stop until it reaches the lowest point, the sea, so too Torah can only be retained by someone who is lowly. “All who are thirsty go to the water,” because just like we cannot survive without water for more than three days, so too spiritually we cannot survive without the Torah. For this reason, the Torah is read on Mondays and Thursdays — so that we don’t go without Torah for more than three days. What Was Given The Torah is the word of G-d. The Torah is referred to as תּוֹרַת הַחַיִים/the instructions for living. It is the communication of the benefactor to the beneficiary on how to understand our place in Hashem’s master plan of creation. In the end of days, Hashem will return us to our land where He will no longer relate to us as our Master, but rather as a husband to a wife. The giving of the Torah on Har Sinai was compared to the ceremony between bride and groom, where the Torah in a way was the kesubah. But Har Sinai was only the engagement. The whole of our lives is a big dress rehearsal for the big day when we complete our mission of becoming Hashem’s bride. Then, when we have fulfilled our part, Hashem will return us to our land, and He will be our Husband. Hashem is further prophesized as saying, “I will betroth you to me forever, I will betroth you to me with righteousness, judgment, kindness and mercy, and I will betroth you to me with emunah, and you will know Hashem.” We say this each morning as we put on our tefillin, thinking that we are doing the betrothing, but in essence it is Hashem who has betrothed us. He betrothed us at Har Sinai, and at the end of days, He will betroth us forever. The ultimate reason for this betrothal is to come to know Hashem — this is the number one mitzvah. How we achieve this mitzvah is through the Torah. The more we learn the Torah the more we come to understand our Creator. Knowledge is what connects us to Hashem. The most intimate connection between man and wife is described as knowledge: “And Adam knew Chava.” In order to be worthy to be Hashem’s wife, we have to become intimate, and intimacy is only through knowledge, and knowledge is only through the Torah: “And you will know Hashem…” כָּל: kol/perfection וַיּוֹצֵא מֹשֶׁה אֶת הָעָם לִקְרַאת הָאֱלֹהִים מִן הַמַּחֲנֶה/and Moshe and the people went out toward Hashem from the camp. Rashi says that this tells us that Hashem went out toward them לִקְרָאתָם כְּחָתָן הַיוֹצֵא לִקְרַאַת כַּלָה/like a groom to his bridegroom. This is the ideal relationship. Hashem wants us to be His bride. Without us being Hashem’s כַּלָה, the world would be incomplete. Hashem created us in order to give to His כַּלָה. Our role in the tikkun olam is to perfect ourselves so that we can become worthy of receiving His goodness. I was once at a family wedding of distant relatives and I observed the concentric circles around the chasan. The outer circles were big and moving very slowly, while the inside circles were smaller and moving with greater energy. Of course, the innermost circle was on fire. I was one of those moving slowly around the outside, and I felt very much like an outsider looking in, wishing I could be in the center, though I didn’t belong there. Even though I was a relative, I was still only a distant cousin. The centerpiece is the chasan, the most fired up of all. By far the happiest day in a person’s life is the day he gets married. There is no comparison to the immense pleasure one experiences at his own wedding versus being at someone else’s wedding, because he is the centerpiece, and everyone is dancing around him and being involved in the mitzvah of simchas chasan v’kallah/making the groom and bride happy. Just like it is a mitzvah to be mesamei’ach the chasan, so too it is our job to be mesamei’ach Hashem the Chasan. In turn, then, Hashem will be mesamei’ach us, His kallah. כָּל: kol/all, perfection כָּל יִשְׂרָאֵל יֵש לָהֶם חֵלֶק לְעוֹלָם הַבָּא/all the Jewish People have a portion in the World to Come, but what exactly does that mean? Just because we have a portion doesn’t mean we have the same portion. If we were to compare Olam HaBa to the marriage of Hashem to the Jewish People, then to the extent that we utilize our lives in this world to do battle with our yetzer hara, to climb the mountain and draw closer to Hashem, the closer we will be to Hashem in the next world. The ones who are not so close to Hashem will be on the outer circles, while those who have devoted their lives to service of Hashem will be on the inside. There is no comparison. It’s literally worlds apart. Now that we have counted the forty-nine sefiros, we have reached the level of Malchus She’beMalchus. This is the point where we have drawn Hashem’s light down to the earthly domain of מַלְכוּת/kingship, but in order to reach the fiftieth level, we, the כַּלָה/bride, have to accept Hashem fully as King, to be mekabel עוֹל מַלְכוּת שָׁמַיִם/the yoke of Heaven. This is achieved when we let go completely of our individual שְׁלִיטָה/control and become a complete כְּלִי קִיבּוּל/ receiving vessel to shine Hashem’s sapphire crystal-clear light into the world. May we truly merit to be Hashem’s shining star, and merit to wear the keter haTorah and be crowned Hashem’s queen! 1 See Rashi to Shemos 19:17. 2 Bamidbar 15:38. 3 Menachos 43b. 4 Yechezkel 1:26. 5 Koheles 1:7. 6 Baal HaTurim to Bereishis 23:1. 7 Ibid., 8:21. 8 Shemos 19:24. 9 See Rashi there. 10 Succos 52a. 11 Tehillim 24:3–4. 12 See the beginning of Derech Hashem. 13 Michtav M’Eliyahu 1:126. 14 Eruvin 54a; Nedarim 55b. 15 Yeshayah 55:1. 16 Hoshea 2:18. 17 Shemos 19:17. 18 Where לִקְרַאַת has the connotation of both parties drawing close to each other. See Sifsei Chachamim and Kli Yakar there. 19 Where כָּל/all, which has the gematria of fifty, signifying completeness, is also connected to this root. Share this: WhatsApp More Telegram Email Print Share on Tumblr

Purim טֶבַע: nature מַטְבֵּעַ: coin לִטְבּוֹעַ: to drown, sink טַבַּעַת: ring טֶבַע: Nature If you have ever witnessed a total solar eclipse, you will no doubt be amazed at this spectacular act of nature, but have you ever stopped to ask yourself how the mechanics of it all comes about? The remarkable answer is that while the moon is exactly 1/400ththe size of the sun, its distance from the earth is exactly 1/400ththe distance of the sun from the earth. Indeed a most unlikely coincidence, although real, this perfect fit of lunar and solar discs is more aptly engineered to be an optical illusion designed especially from the perspective of a human being, because it only works from the viewpoint of man standing on the earth’s surface. We, though, call it nature.1 הַטֶבַעandאֶ-לֹהִיםhave the same gematriaof eighty-six. The name of י-ה-ו-הrepresents the aspect of Hashem, Who transcends this world, whereas the nameאֶ-לֹהִיםrepresents the aspect of Hashem Whose powers control the order of the natural world. These two aspects of Hashem’s names are said in the Shema. When we read the Shema, we could understand it in the following way: שְׁמַע יִשְׂרָאֵל ה’אֶ-לֹהֵינוּ ה’אֶחָד — Listen all of you, people of Israel, ה’ — Hashem who transcends this world אֶ-לֹהֵינוּ — [is] the power that controls nature; ה’אֶחָד — Hashemי-ה-ו-ה, who transcends the world, and אֶ-לֹהִים, the powers that control nature, are one. Everything we see is Hashem, only that Hashem masks Himself within nature. Rav Shimshon Pincus, in his seferon Purim, gives a wonderful analogy on how to perceive the world. When you go to the local store to buy some milk, along with the bag of milk that you end up buying are another 500 bags of milk. You can therefore look at the situation in one of two ways: Either Hashem has organized that there will be enough milk to fulfill the needs of many, including you, or Hashem has arranged one particular bag of milk especially for you but wishes to hide Himself, so He arranges that there will be another 500 bags. Purim is the day to overturn the way one looks at the world, נַהַפֹךְ הוּא, and see the true reality that Hashem loves you and has placed you in this world to play with Him within nature. The nature of the game is “hide-and-seek,” and your mission is to seek Him out. When we dress up on Purim and put on masks, we somehow get in touch with the fact that Hashem too is wearing the mask of nature, and weמְגַלֶה/reveal (from the word megillah) to ourselves the truth that we are the stars in Hashem’s “all-star” show. Everything revolves around the Jewish People; all the eyes of the world are focused on us because we are Hashem’s stars, the leading role. Gil Locks, in his book One, also gives a wonderful analogy. Hashem wants to share His goodness, so He invites everyone to a big feast. Everyone is sitting around the table wearing a mask, having a great time. At the end of the meal, Hashem, the baal habayis,tells us to take off our masks. When we all take off our masks, we realize we are all one. מַטְבֵּעַ: Coin The connection of טֶבַע/natureto מַטְבֵּעַis that just like a coin is imprinted with the king’s signature on the face of the coin, so too Hashem has imprinted his signature within nature. Either you see it or you don’t. לִטְבּוֹעַ: To Drown, Sink The imprint on a coin is נִטְבַּע/sunken into its surface. As we have said above, Hashem has sunken His impression within nature. There are places in the world, some more than others, where Hashem has sunken Himself into nature to the point where it is very hard to see Him. One of those places in the times of the Tanach was Egypt. Egypt is represented by the עֵגֶל/calf, which comes from the word מַעַגַל/circle.2The circle has no beginning and no end, and like the שָׁנָה/year, it just goes around and around without שִׁנוּי/change. The sun was one of the main gods in Egypt, representing the idea of an unchanging world, as it says in Koheles:אֵין כָּל חָדָשׁ תַּחַת הַשֶׁמֶשׁ/there is nothing new under the sun.3The letter ס/samech, which is in itself a circle, first appears in the Torah in connection with the Nile River: הוּא הַסֹּבֵב אֵת כָּל אֶרֶץ הַחֲוִילָה/which circles the land of Chavilah, known as Egypt.4The Nile, another Egyptian god, was worshipped for being the main source of water. Egypt, with all its gods, was a G-d-forsaken place,נִטְבַּע/sunken within the unchanging cycle we call טֶבַע/nature. It comes as no surprise that Pharaoh and his army wereנִטְבַּע/drowned in the Yam Suf, a fitting end to a people who worshippedטֶבַע/nature. טַבַּעַת: Ring Just like a ring is circular, so too nature is circular. The sun and the planets are round, whereas all that is square in the world is manmade. Have you ever seen a square pebble washed up on the beach? Just like Hashem signs his name within nature, so too a ring can be used as a signet ring. Whoever the king chooses to give his ring to has the power to rule over everything, becoming מִשְׁנֶה לְמֶלֶךְ/second only to the king. There are three occasions in Tanach where the king gives over his ring: the first time is to Yosef, the second time is to Haman, and the last to Mordechai. When it is given to Yosef, the verse says the following: וַיָּסַר פַּרְעֹה אֶת טַבַּעְתּוֹ מֵעַל יָדוֹ וַיִּתֵּן אֹתָהּ עַל יַד יוֹסֵף And Pharaoh removed his ring from upon his hand and placed it on the hand of Yosef.5 When it is given to Haman, however, there is a change in the language: וַיָּסַר הַמֶּלֶךְ אֶת טַבַּעְתּוֹ מֵעַל יָדוֹ וַיִּתְּנָהּ לְהָמָן And the king removed his ring from upon his hand and gave it to Haman.6 The difference between the two verses is that the king placed the ring on the hand of Yosef, whereas with Haman, the ring was given to him and he placed it on himself. The difference, although subtle, is quite significant. Rashi, in his commentary to the verse regarding the giving of the ring to Yosef, says it was an אוֹת/sign of greatness. With regards to Haman, Rashi makes no comment to the ring being a sign of greatness. Since Haman had no inherent greatness, he had to put the ring on his own hand, whereas with Yosef, who exemplified greatness, the ring was placed on his hand by the king himself. A subtle difference, but really worlds apart. When it comes to Mordechai, the verse says the following: וַיָּסַר הַמֶּלֶךְ אֶת טַבַּעְתּוֹ אֲשֶׁר הֶעֱבִיר מֵהָמָן וַיִּתְּנָהּ לְמָרְדֳּכָי And the king removed his ring that he passed over to Haman and gave it to Mordechai.7 One may ask why, since Mordechai too exemplified greatness, the ring was not directly placed on his hand by the king as it was with Yosef. The reason is that previously it was not on the hand of the king, but it was merely transferred from the hand of Haman to the hand of Mordechai. There is an expression “how the mighty have fallen.” This was Haman. Someone who is not inherently great cannot sustain his position. Haman fell because he could not stand the fact that Mordechai the Jew would not bow down to him. Even though Haman was extremely wealthy, had great honor, and was second to the king, it was not enough. Instead of focusing on all the good that he had, he focused his attention on what he lacked. The same is true with Adam and Chava; the whole world was open to them, and yet they focused on their limitations. The Gemara in Megillahasks: where is Haman found in the Torah? Hamin Ha’Eitz, referring to the Tree of Knowledge of good and bad. There is one more place where Haman is explicitly mentioned in the Torah —where the Bnei Yisrael complain about the manna: וְעַתָּה נַפְשֵׁנוּ יְבֵשָׁה אֵין כֹּל בִּלְתִּי אֶל הַמָּן עֵינֵינוּ/and now our souls are parched, there is nothing but the manna.8Again, instead of focusing on all the good that Hashem had given them, they chose to focus on their lack. This is the middahof Haman, the Amalek within us, who denies the workings of Hashem. The true reality is that all that we have right now is perfectly measured out for us by Hashem to facilitate all of our needs. However, the Amalek within us deceives us into thinking that we are nevertheless lacking something essential. בָּרוּךְמָרְדְּכַי,אָרוּר הָמָן/ blessed is Mordechai, cursed is Haman. Both are given authority by the king, which is really Hashem. Sometimes the ring is in the hands of מָרְדְּכַי,and sometimes it is in the hands of הָמָן, but it is all in the name of the King. The ring on one hand is to get the Jewish People to do teshuvah, i.e., when we have lost Hashem to doubt and He sends עַמָלֵק, e.g., Hitler, to wake us up. On the other hand, when we are doing Hashem’s will, we are in the blessed safe hands of מָרְדְּכַי. Not only did Hashem give the טַבַּעַת/the signet ring to Mordechai, Haman, and Yosef, He also gave it to each and every one of us. We are the children of אַבְרָהָם,יִצְחָק,וְיַעַקֹב;we all have the ability to achieve greatness and become second to the King. We are Hashem’s chosen nation, where we are obligated to choose to see beyond טֶבַע/nature, to see beyond the world of Egypt. Instead of leading an accursed life like Haman and focusing on our lackings, we can choose to focus on the good and lead a blessed life. We are no less than Hashem’s signatories in the world. Every time we go against our nature, we sign Hashem’s name in the world — “All in the name of the King.” 1See Sarah Shapiro, “The Moon over Mexico,” http://www.aish.com. 2See above, Parshas Pikudei. 3Koheles 1:9. 4See Ramban to Bereishis2:11. 5Bereishis 41:42. 6Esther 3:10. 7Ibid., 8:2. 8Bamidbar11:6. Share this: WhatsApp More Telegram Email Print Share on Tumblr

We are all probably familiar with the name of the site of the greatest mass revelation of G-d’s existence—Mount Sinai. However, throughout the Bible that place is variously mentioned under other names. These names include “Mountain of G-d”, “Mount Bashan”, “Mount Gavnunim” (Psalms 68:16), “Mount Hemed” (Psalms 68:17), and “Mount Horeb” )Exodus 33:6). Various Midrashic sources offer different interpretations of how all of these terms refer to one mountain and in the following paragraphs we will explore some of those ideas and how they relate to the holiday of Shavuot. The mountain is called Har ha-Elokim, “Mountain of God,” because that is where the Jewish people accepted upon themselves the Godhood of the Creator. Additionally, of all the potential mountains on which God may have revealed His glory, Mount Sinai was the most fitting because it had never been previously worshipped by idolaters, while other mountains were, in fact, deified by such people. Moreover, the term Elokim (“Almighty”) as opposed to the Tetragrammaton implies G-d’s trait of judgement, an allusion to the fact that on Mount Sinai, He assumed the role of a “judge” in revealing to the Jewish People all the civil laws of the Torah (i.e. from Exodus 21 and onwards). Mount Sinai is called Mount Bashan because the name Bashan is a portmanteau of the phrase ba sham (“He came there”), as the commentaries point out that the constants n and m are so similar that they are sometimes interchangeable. This phrase speaking about His “arrival” refers to G-d’s arrival at the mountain in anticipation of giving the Torah. Alternatively, the word Bashan is an abbreviation of the word bi-shinav (“with his teeth”) and alludes to the fact that everything which the Jewish people enjoy “with their teeth” (i.e. all material success, typified by agricultural fecundity) is in the merit of their adherence to the Torah. The name Mount Gavnunim is related to the Hebrew word giben (Leviticus 21:20) which is a blemish that disqualifies a Kohen from service in the Temple (in specific, it refers to abnormally long eyebrows). This is similar to Mount Sinai whose cleanness from idolatry “disqualified” all the other mountains by contrast, rendering them unfit for the giving of the Torah. Alternatively, the Midrash explains that the homiletic similarity between the name Gavnunim and the Hebrew word gevinah (cheese) recalls the fact that at the Sinaitic Revelation, all Jews who suffered any ailment or handicap were miraculously healed. Just as cheese is made by separating the most pristine curds of milk from any impurities (i.e. whey), so were the Jewish people at Mount Sinai in their purest state and nobody had any physical blemishes. Interestingly, some explain that the custom to eat dairy foods on Shavuot is related to Mount Sinai’s alternate name and its comparison to cheese. Mount Hemed (Har Chemed in Hebrew) is another name for Mount Sinai because G-d desired (chemdah) to dwell His presence upon that mountain in specific. It is also called Mount Horeb (Har Chorev in Hebrew) in allusion to the word cherev (“sword”) and refers to the fact that the Sanhedrin received its right to implement capital punishment from the Torah received at Sinai. Of course, the mountain’s most popular name is Mount Sinai. This alludes to the fact that from that place comes “hatred” (sinah). Opposition to the Jewish people (i.e. “anti-Semitism”) stems from a deep hatred and resistance to the Torah and its values. That antinomian attitude began as opposition to the Jews’ cosmic role assumed at Mount Sinai. Finally, some versions of the Midrash say that Mount Moriah is another name for Mount Sinai. The Zohar famously explains that Mount Moriah is called so because of the abundance of sweet-smelling Myrrh that is there. This is somewhat problematic because Mount Moriah is understood to be the place upon which the Holy Temple was built—in Jerusalem, not in the Sinai desert! Indeed, Rabbi Yehuda HaLevi (1075–1141), the famous poet and author of The Kuzari, writes in his song Yom Shabbaton, “He spoke through His holiness on the Mountain of Myrrh/You shall remember and guard the Seventh Day”. By writing that the commandments to observe the Sabbath were given on the Mountain of Myrrh, he also implies that Mount Moriah is the same as Mount Sinai. The simplest way of resolving this issue is that there are two different mountains which are both named Moriah. However, some of the most prominent Ashkenazi Kabbalists such as Rabbi Berachiah Baruch Shapiro (d. 1663) and Rabbi Naftali Katz (1649–1718) explain that Moriah and Sinai are actually the same mountain, and when G-d gave the Torah in the Sinai Wilderness, He uprooted the mountain from its regular place in Jerusalem and brought it to the wilderness, only to return it afterwards. Share this: WhatsApp More Telegram Email Print Share on Tumblr #Pentecost #Shavuos #Shavuot

Each of the three meals that we eat on Shabbat (Tractate Shabbat 117b) is called a seudah. On Purim we also have a festive meal, but that meal is called a mishteh. What is the difference between the word seudah and the word mishteh if both mean “meal”? Moreover, there is a third word which also means “meal” — mesibah. In what way does the word mesibah differ from the other two words? In order to illustrate the differences between these three words and their connotations we will focus on the lexical roots of each word and draw from them deeper insights into their meanings. What is the root of the word seudah? The truth is that the word seudah never appears in the Bible, but Radak in Sefer HaShorashim explains the etymology of seudah by noting that the Rabbis modified the Biblical word saad to become seudah. What does saad mean? The word saad means “support” or “sustenance”, both in a rhetorical way (proof that supports an argument) and in a physical way (food that sustains a person’s body). In a handful of places the Bible uses the verb saad in conjunction with bread (see Psalms 104:15, Judges 19:5, and Genesis 18:5). The name Saadia, most famously borne by Rabbeinu Saadia Gaon (882-942), means “support (from) G-d”. Thus, the word seudah refers to the benefits of a festive feast for sustaining one’s physical body. The word mishteh or derivatives thereof appear close to fifty times in the entire Bible. Its root is the verb shoteh, “drink”. The type of meal, or party, denoted by the word mishteh, focuses on drinking. In differentiating between the words seudah and mishteh, Rabbi Tzaddok HaKohen of Lublin (1823-1900) writes that while they both refer to festive meals, the former focusing on eating and the latter focusing on drinking. Thus, seudah is generally associated with bread — the focus of the Shabbat meal — because one eats bread (which fills one’s stomach and physically supports him). On the other hand, the word mishteh denotes a meal whose focus is on wine — like the festive Purim meal which commemorates/mimics the banquets of wine in the Book of Esther — because one drinks wine. (See, however, Rashi to Song of Songs 1:2, to Ecclesiastes 2:3, and to Esther 5:4, who writes that the defining element of an enjoyable, joyous meal (seudah) is the wine.) The word mesibah arguably appears once in the Bible (see Rashbam to Song of Songs 1:12). Rashi (to Amos 2:8) writes that the word mesibah refers to the fact that the participants in the meal would customarily recline (a practice known as haseibah). Case in point: At the Passover Seder we customarily ask four questions about why “this” night is different from all other nights. The last of those questions asks why “all other nights we eat either sitting or reclining (mesubin), but tonight we eat only while reclining”. Thus, the root of the word mesibah is related to the Hebrew word for reclining, and refers to the type of meal where people would sit slouched about, as opposed to sitting erect. It has since been borrowed to refer in general to any type of “party”. One contemporary linguist argues that the word mesibah is related to the word sovev/sevivah (“around”), and refers to the fact that everyone “gathers around” for a party. However, this claim remains unsubstantiated. In short, seudah, mishteh, and mesibah are all words for “meal”, but are not quite synonymous. Seudah focuses on the bread eaten at the meal, while mishteh refers to a meal which focuses on drinking wine. The word mesibah focuses neither on the food nor the drink, but on the posture of the participants, because mesibah refers to a meal or party in which the party-goers are seated in couches or lazy-chairs, allowing them to lounge about. Rabbi Levi Yitzchok of Berditchiv (1740-1810) in Kedushat Levi (Parshat Vayera) writes that the word mishteh denotes a “happy meal”. Based on that he explains that the party to which Esther invited Haman and Achashverosh is called a mishteh in the Bible because that party brought happiness to the Jews. Through that party Esther persuaded Achashverosh to execute Haman and rescind the horrible decree looming over the Jews. The resulting victory for the Jewish People brought happiness for generations to come and is celebrated yearly on Purim. Share this: WhatsApp More Telegram Email Print Share on Tumblr