Chodesh Shevat
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We are in the time frame called Shevat. The Sefer Hayitzirah, ascribed to Avraham Avinu, teaches that each month has a particular energy and a particular Avoda that can be fixed and elevated. The Koach Hanefesh this month is Tikun Achila-fixing the activity called eating.
One way we get direction into the corrected activity of Achila is by observing the Derech Achila of a Tzaddik. The passuk teaches Tzaddik Ochel Lesova Nafsho. A Tzaddik eats to satisfy the soul, as opposed to only satisfying the body. The Baal Shem Tov teaches that just as a person is made of body and soul, every object in the universe has a body and soul. And just as the human body needs nourishment, nutrients, fiber, and water, so does the soul. What will feed the soul? What is true soul food? That which the Tzaddik eats. And since the passuk also says Ve’Amech Kulam Tzaddikim, we each have the ability to eat on a level that sustains and highlights our soul, as well as our body.
What is the soul aspect of food? What is the soul aspect of anything? It is that part that is more closely identifiable and attachable to the Divine. On a certain level, every aspect of us can ultimately attach to Hashem. Yet, the soul, with all its levels, is particularly close to Hashem, and actually is made of Divine matter. Every created item, animate as well as inanimate must by necessity contain a spark of Elokut-godliness. Otherwise, it simply would not exist. Only Hashem has inherent existence, only Hashem exists independently. The rest of the universe, including the angels, sefirot and the energy of our thoughts and emotions, are only a physical construct representing the Ratzon Hashem. On a certain level, we are all just figments of Hashem’s imagination. The spark of energy that gives anything its existence is its soul, the filament of Ratzon Hashem.
There are certain elements of the created world that are closer to the essential point of Hashem. The soul of a Jew is that created entity closest to and most identifiable with Hashem. Those objects in the created world that we are permitted to consume have an energetic and spiritual frequency that resonates with our own. By taking them into ourselves correctly, we release their frequency, their energy and transform them into us. As Chazal say, the food chain is about raising the inanimate into the animate, and then transforming it into man. The minerals leech into the vegetation, which we eat directly, or we eat animals products which were themselves nourished through vegetation. Ultimately, what we do with the energy given to us through the foods we eat can elevate them into the highest level, the Mitzva level, which connect them to Hashem.
So, eating can be seen as the process whereby the world is transformed into Godliness. The vehicle is the body of a Jew. The Tzaddik, who is keenly aware of the soul of every particle of matter, takes into his or her body the elements needed to be raised to Elokut. The Tzaddik is raising the soul of the food through the filter of his/her body. He satisfies his own soul as well as the soul of the food. She truly eats to satisfy the element called soul.
The Baal Shem Tov reveals that the spark of Kedusha in the food is released when we utter the name of Hashem in the Bracha Rishona. Vocalizing the Name, slowly and meditatively, helps focus our being on the awesomeness of what we are about to participate in. Although in the laws of physical physics, opposites attract, one of the laws of spiritual physics is that similar things attract. The Name of Hashem is the point of Elokut in the Bracha and it arouses the point of Elokut in the food, releasing it and enabling it to enter into the body of a Jew and be transformed into the energy of Mitzva.
We are made of different layers of body. We have the body which we observe and feel. Then we have an emotional and light body, remains of the original body of Adam Harishon. Chazal say that the number of physical limbs we have, 248, corresponds directly to the number of limbs in our spiritual or soul body. These must be nourished and are done so by reading carefully the 248 words of the Shema, and by carefully performing the 248 positive Mitzvot.
Just like we have weaknesses in certain areas of physical health, we have corresponding areas of weakness in the soul. One person might be prone to headaches, one to colds and a third to anxiety. While no one today knows which Mitzva and which word of Shema corresponds to which particular ailment and body part, the idea of the correspondence is present. The Mitzvos we are most weak in are probably the ones we came here in this life to fix and strengthen. The foods we are most drawn to can either be the ones we are in need of, or ones that we are actually allergic to. The body is funny that way. We also develop allergies to foods that we have made it a habit of always eating in great quantities. The body simply is telling us that it is not in need of them anymore. There is a theory that each item that we might consume be it vegetable or animal has a basic defense system against predators. This can be in the form of a subtle chemical interference. The person who eats large quantities of one food will ingest these natural chemicals and eventually have so much in the body that they naturally repel the original food.
Food that is not kosher has its spiritual soul in a configuration that cannot be elevated through the body of a Jew. It will have its tikun differently. Not every item on the planet has the same amount of soul. We are required to work with what is given to us, and what we are drawn to. Kabbalah, the science of parallels and correspondences, teaches that each Jewish soul has sparks that are specific and familiar to its self. When we are drawn towards something or someone, it probably means there is a natural spiritual connection. Sometimes the test is about verifying the total kashrus of the item or person. We are often attracted to situations for the purpose of evaluating and rejecting them. All this comes under the category of Achila. And the month of Shevat is the most opportune time for this fixing.
Each month has a group of Jews who identify strongest with the month. Each Tribe was ascribed to a different month. And although the Tribe of Shevat is Asher, the Bnai Yissasschar teaches that really the energy of Shevat resonates universally within every Jew. The nature and Mazal of Shevat is the Mazal of the Nation of Yisrael. The first sin was done by eating and plunged the world into the form it presently finds itself. B’nai Yisrael has been given the task of fixing this world. We all therefore resonate with Chodesh Shevat, the Chodesh of Tikun Achila.
The astrological configuration of Shevat is called D’li- the bucket which is lowered into a well to draw water. The Shem Mishmuel teaches that this refers to the ability of each Jew to delve deeply into every aspect of life and creation, and search for its point of Elokut. It is also about our ability and need to search deeply with ourselves for points that need to be perfected, and to search deeply within Torah for the correct method of correction.
The pail is totally subservient in relation to the water it carries. It passively allows itself to be lowered into the well, to draw water up and out. Such is the nature of a Jew, to be a vessel for channeling the healing waters of Torah the Be’er Mayim Chayim. Our nature allows for humility as a vehicle for personal elevation and cosmic elevation.
The Torah readings in Shevat are from the beginning of Sefer Shemos. The acrostic formed by the first letters of the names of the first six Parshiyos in Sefer Shemos is ShOVaVIM. Traditionally these are the weeks we focus on correcting relationships, purifying and elevating ourselves. In Modern Hebrew, Shovav means wild and uncontrollable. Shuvu Banin Shovavim, the Navi begs. Return, O wayward children. Correct eating and its corresponding proper and healthy digestion and subsequent nourishing of the body begins with correct, healthy choices. So do correct, holy, and appropriate relationships. The process of digestion is about separating the useful from the non useful. The body then extracts the nutrients, the soul extracts its nutrients, and the waste is eliminated. In the body, what is not needed doesn’t just remain neutral, it actually becomes toxic. This parallels the idea that anything that we cannot use for Avodas Hashem and cannot be elevated, needs to be eliminated.
Rebbe Nachman teaches that correct eating needs to be done slowly, in a controlled and non wild manner. Eating, not shoveling. Chewing, not gulping. Eating with awareness, being mindfull and with joy and gratitude. He promises that eating in this way will clear the mind from confusion. Rebbe Nachman blames much of the fog of mind on eating hurriedly and without calm. Not being Shovav when we eat will allow for clarity of thought.
The Yom Tov of Tu B’Shevat is called Rosh Hashanah LaIlan and it reminds us about the fruit trees. The Gemara reveals a secret of nature. Although we are still in the midst of the winter months and the trees appear to be hibernating and barren, the inner activity of the trees has begun. In Israel, the majority of the rains have fallen, the sap within the roots of the tree begins to rise, and the inner life of the tree starts to resonate. As much as the world appears to be in the dark unproductive and on the brink of extermination, there is vitality within the Jewish People that begins to pulsate. We are being called upon by our teachers, Masters and hidden ones to open our hearts now more than ever and cry out for life. Ki Haadam Eitz Hasadeh; a Jew is compared to the trees of the field. They, and we, are being judged now. Will we be allowed to cling to the Eitz HaChayim, the Tree of Life this year? Will we choose correctly from the Tree of Good and Evil?
The minhag on Tu B’Shevat is to eat different fruits and to eat of the seven species of Eretz Yisrael. They are: wheat, barley, grapes, figs pomegranates, olives, and dates. Perek Shira is an ancient text, ascribed to Dovid Hamelech and Shlomo Hamelech. As such, it is the only text we have authored by the first Mashiach Dovid, and a Mashiach Ben Dovid. It fulfills the Mashiach prediction of bringing the hearts of the fathers together with the hearts of the sons. Perek Shira gives us the Passuk that is associated with many elements of creation. The lesson of wheat, the energy of wheat and its life force is derived from its Passuk, Shir Hamaalos, Mimamakim Keraseecha Hashem. A song of ascents, from the depths, I call out to you, Hashem. The passuk of barley has a similar tone. Tefilla Le’ani Ki Yaatof Velifnei Hashem Yishpoch Sicho, The prayer of a poor person who is fainting from weakness yet he pours out his heart to Hashem. We know that a kernel of wheat can be used in two ways. It can be eaten, or it can be planted. When a seed is planted, it will eventually produce proportionately much more than itself. One seed can produce endless generations of fruit. But in order for the seed to grow, it must first lose its identity, decompose, and outwardly die. It loses all recognizable life force. Only then, the real, inner procreative life force is activated and released. This is the message of the primary grains, as taught in Perek Shira. When a Jew is in the depths of death and suffering, we need to direct our energy to Hashem, calling out to Him, connecting to Him. Begging to see the blessing hiding in the pain. Begging for resurrection from this death, Techiyas Hameisim. The Gemara in Sanhedrin teaches that we actually learn the concept of Techiyas Hameisim from wheat. And according to some opinions, the Tree of Knowledge of good and evil was really the grain wheat.
This year, Tu B’Shevat, the Rosh Hashanah LaIlan, falls on Shabbos. Rosh Hashanah also fell out on Shabbos. The Rosh Hashanah for people and for trees both fall out on Shabbos this year. We keep renewing our commitment to Kedushas Shabbos in this year of Tav Shin Samech Gimel, whose gematria is Yom HaShabbos.
Rebbe Nachman teaches that all food eaten on Shabbos is holy and the process of eating on Shabbos is also holy. Eating during the week with the thought of Shabbos is also holy. A Tzaddik lives each day of the week with Shabbos consciousness. Reb Shlomo used to tell of the simple Jew who would say Lekovod Shabbos every day, with every action and to every person. He was a porter, and as he carried the loads of shopping for the local women, he would remark, “Surely some of this food will be for Shabbos”. Although he became somewhat of a joke among the locals, when a visiting Tzaddik saw him, he transported him away and trained him to be a Tzaddik Nistar.
Darach Kochav MiYaakov, Sheyvet MiYisrael. The blessing and prophecy of Bilaam talks about a star making its way out of Yaakov, and a scepter coming from Yisrael. We are taught that this refers to the first Mashiach, Dovid, and to his final descendant, the Mashiach Ben Dovid whom we now await. The Sheyvet/scepter is longed for in the month of Shevat. The Kochav star is also connected to comets, and comets are most visible in Shevat. The tail of the comet refers to the trail left through the millennium by Mashiach in his path towards us. These traces of Mashiach are awakened in our hearts and minds in the month of Shevat. It increases the longing of the individual point of Tzaddik within our own self to connect to the true Tzaddik, Mashiach Tzidkeinu.
The weather here in Yerushalayim has been sunshiny, warm, and mild. It seems that this has been a yearly weather pattern for the month of Shevat. The warmth has enabled the almond trees here to blossom, so appropriate for the Yom Tov of Tu B’Shevat. The nature of the almond tree is that it blossoms quickly and brings forth its fruit quicker than other trees. The Navi Yermiyahu was once shown an almond tree in a vision and Hashem said that He will fulfill His word quickly, as an almond tree bears its fruit. In Hebrew and in Aramaic, which is a sister language to Lashon Hakodesh, the word for almond is Luz. This is the same word that refers to the bone or cells in the body of a Jew that doesn’t decompose after death. Chazal teach that the Luz will be the source of Techiyas Hameisim for the body. Rav Aryeh Kaplan suggests a connection between the Luz from which a Jewish body will be reconstructed in the time frame of Techiyas Hameisim and the process of cloning a human. Although cloning was generally purely theoretical when R’ Kaplan lived, we are presently seeing some form of this science emerging.
The Tefilla of every Jew and probably most of humanity is that we all pass through this frightening time without the need to resort to war. We see that there seems to be no solution Derech Hateva, through natural agency. We see the clear need for the world leader, Mashiach Tzidkeinu to step into his position. He must begin to teach and guide, clarify and remind the world of the basic truth of Hashem. We would like to begin to come back to life, on all levels. The Land is capable of absorbing all of Her children. Halevai that we be blessed to enter into the revealed time of Mashiach rulership when the knowledge of Hashem will fill the world as the water fill the oceans.
GOOD SHABBOS, SHABBAT SHALOM
Parshat Shmot-What’s In A Name…Everything!
As we begin reading the Book of Shmos, our souls re-experience the entering the exile of Mitzrayim. This exile, which represents, among other things constriction of understanding and of life force is for the sole purpose of our redemption and elevation. This redemption is both a personal Geula and a global Geula. Rebbe Nachman teaches that every Yerida is only for the sake of the resulting Aliyah and that really any improvement in life has its prerequisite challenges. As soon as we remember that the challenge does not exist in a vacuum, that it is only the first step to Geula, the pain and difficulty disappear. Our personal exiles are often self created. Our attitude of joy and Emuna is the only weapon available on the planet to disintegrate Yissurim.
Par’oh is told by his scientific astrologers that a boy will be born among the family of Yisrael who will be a threat to his dictatorship. Par’oh calls the two chief midwives and commands them to kill every boy baby born. The Passuk quotes him as saying, “Im Ben Hu, Vahamiten Oto, Ve’Im Bat Hi, Vachaya”. If the baby is a boy, kill him and if it is a girl, let her live. The midwives are not to be intimidated; they make sure that every Jewish child lives and thrives. After being called back to Par’oh and excusing themselves with the answer that Jewish women don’t really need their services, Par’oh decides to issue a public decree. On the exact day the astrologers predicted the birth of this special child, Par’oh tells all Egyptians, “Kol Haben Hayilod, HaYeora Tashlichuhu, Vechol Habat Techayun”. Every boy born is to be thrown into the Nile River, and every girl baby is to be made to live.
Why issue the second part of each command and ensure that the girl babies live? What is the meaning of Techayun- enliven the female babies? The Lubavicher Rebbe points out that both parts of the command had equal importance. Just as it was vital to kill the boys, it was imperative, from Paroh’s perspective, to allow the girls to thrive. And why throw the babies into the Ye’or? If it was their deity, wouldn’t this be a sacrilegious thing to do?
The Ye’or- The Nile River- represented two things to Mitzrayim. Chazal tell us that the economy of Mitzrayim depended on the Ye’or. Since rain doesn’t fall in Egypt, the various canals and irrigation systems dug around the Nile allowed water to be distributed throughout the land. The agricultural basis for the wealth of Mitzrayim was in the Ye’or. The Ye’or was the source of sustenance; it represented the economy and monetary strength of Mitzrayim. The boys were to be drowned in it physically. They were to die. The girls were to be brought up believing in the power of power. Par’oh wanted to assimilate the girls into the culture and belief system of Mitzrayim. Underestimating the power of the Jewish woman, he believed that they would be influenced to give up spiritual pursuit to focus on money. Money and power, such attractive things, would water down the reservoir of inner discipline that characterized our nation in Mitzrayim. Instead of Emuna in Hashem, he hoped that the girls would put their emotions into the stressful insecure world of belief in financial security and eventually marry into his people. This was the reason he chose to drown the future of the Jewish Nation in the impure waters of his belief system.
Rashi tells us that causing a person to sin is worse than physically killing them. The fate of the Jewish girls was to be harsher than that of their brothers.
The Ye’or also represented the materialistic outlook of Mitzrayim. Water is the source of all Tayva-lust, says the Tanya. And impurity cannot be defiled. Drowning the boys in the impurity of the Ye’or and having the girls live in the impurity of the Ye’or was the decree. Par’oh indeed had a plan that, had it succeeded, would have destroyed our people, from the inside out.
Par’oh did not reckon with the power of the Jewish women. The Gemara in Sotah teaches that the generation of Mitzrayim was redeemed because of and in the merit of the righteous women. The final generation, patterned after this first one, will likewise be redeemed as a result of the Avoda and Mesirus Nefesh of the Jewish women. In particular, the two women that Par’oh sought to intimidate had been prepared for success. Hashem always prepares the healing before He sends out the plague. The Torah gives the names of the two midwives as Shifra and Puah. These were not their personal given names, but descriptive of their work and names that they earned by loyal service to their people. Rearranging the letters of Shifra and Puah we have the words Osher Par’oh, the wealth of Par’oh. Of all people, these two had the inner strength to ignore the wealth and defy the power of this world dictator, and actually begin the process whereby the wealth of Mitzrayim would eventually be redeemed and elevated. Their names also rearrange to spell VePar’oh Rusha- and Par’oh is evil. Like Sara Emainu before them, Shifra and Puah were able to see through the façade of glamour and power and resist corruption.
Not only did Shifra and Puah not kill any newborn boys, not only did they not give over information that would lead to newborn girls being abducted and assimilated, they started a small personal war to ensure that Jews would stay even stronger in Emuna. Chazal tell us that they spoke carefully to the women, each in her time and individual way. They encouraged them to have more babies, they praised their children, they calmed them when the stresses of life seemed drowning. In this way, these two women built an army of strong women who in turn led their husbands and households to firm belief that Hashem would help.
The names Shifra and Puah both share the letters Pay and Hay, spelling Peh, mouth. These great women both used the power of speech, power of the mouth, to educate, inspire, and direct Jewish women. They were Poh-present; they were ‘there’ for the women in their time of challenge. According to the Ari, the letter Pay in Ketav Ashurit which is the print used in Mezuzot and Sifrei Torah, is written is such a way as to have the letter Beit inscribed within it. The house (Bayit) follows the mouth (Peh). This is another level of understanding the reward that Hashem gave the midwives- “VaYa’as Lahem Batim” –Hashem gave them houses. Rashi says these were the kingdoms of Leviim, Kohanim and Kings. Dovid Hamelech and his eternal dynasty descended from Miriam while Yocheved was the mother of Kohanim and Leviim. These two remarkable women who were born and died in exile, never entering Eretz Yisrael, nevertheless birthed an entire generation of women who entered The Land and established homes here.
Rebbe Nachman has a famous teaching on the first Passuk of this Parsha.
“VeAyleh Shmos Benai Yisrael Habaim Mitzrayma, Eis Yaakov Ish Uveiso (Bau)”.
The final letters of the first five words rearrange to spell Tehillim. The final letters of the next five words spell Teshuva. The total number of letters in the names of the Shevatim mentioned in the next pesukim is forty nine. The Rebbe explains that there are forty nine paths to Hashem. Each of us needs to find and follow the path that corresponds to the root of our soul. Nowadays, we have no idea what those paths are, and no clue how to get to them. How then are we to return to Hashem? Through the power of saying and studying and living the words of Tehillim. These words, brought to us by Dovid Melech Yisrael are the keys to the forty nine gates that restore us to our selves.
I remember once taking several students to see Reb Yaakov Meir Schechter, a great Breslov mystic in Yerushalayim. I noticed that between the time that one girl left the room and the other came in, a span of just a few seconds, he would say a passuk or two of Tehillim. After seeing this a few times, I asked him about this, and he said he finished countless books of Tehillim just by grabbing a passuk whenever he had a free second.
The use of rearranging final letters of words is used to indicate that this lesson is a hidden one. And to hint to us that the hidden aspect of Galut is Geula. Galut-Geula share the same letters and have the same root- Gal. A gal is a cycle. Galut always gives birth to Geula. The cycle of life is such that a downswing must be followed by an upturn. Hidden in the exile of the constriction of Mitzrayim, the Meytzar Yam, is the voice of Mashiach who has scribed words that carry the key to our self imposed prisons.
There are five famous women mentioned this week in the parsha. They are Yocheved, Miriam, Elisheva (wife of Aharon), Batya, and Tzipporah. These were the women in the life of Moshe Rabbeinu. The first letters of their names rearrange to spell Ometz Bi- strength is within me. This is what these women were able to convey to our people. As the Medrash teaches, the women would go out to their husbands after a grueling exhausting day of labor, and the men were beyond tired. The women would encourage their men with words of love and power. They would give over their deep Emuna in the eventual victory of good over evil. The men would become enlivened through the warmth and depth of affection. They found the inner strength to go on and live, and continue the generations.
The first letters of the names of our Shemos heroines also rearrange to spell Eim Yatziv- a stable mother. They encouraged mothers to keep living. They lauded the efforts that the simple Jewish women made to raise families in the terror of Mitzrayim. By living above the level of their capacity, they mentored motherhood in exile. They represented and brought out the inner strength of each Jew. This was their outer work, their revealed work.
The final letters of their names, the hidden letters, spell the word Hadim’ah, the tear. Each of the women mentioned in Parshat Shmot privately carried that inner tear of crying, prayer, and compassion for those they encouraged. The concealed work of Tefilla for each person reflects the Dim’ah Hay, the tear of the Shechina Hakedosha.
Shemot-Names. The Parsha and the Sefer are both called Names. The names of the Tribes, the names of the leaders, the names of the women. The name is the essence of the soul, and contains hints to the person’s life task. We study our name, play with the gematria of our name; we hope to attain a good name and to remember and actualize our name. We look in Pesukim for hints to our name and to our spiritual work.
Yet, when the parents of Moshe Rabbeinu re-marry, their names are conspicuously omitted. “Vayelech Ish Mibait Levi Vayikach Et Bat Levi”. A man from the house of Levi went and married a daughter of Levi. The bringing down of that most humble of all men is done in anonymity. There is no place for individuality when it comes to the leader of the Jews, the first king. The king is Bitul to the nation, having no desire other than to serve his people.
Hashem means “The Name”. We are not allowed yet to say the Name of Hashem, so we call Him “The Name”. On a deeper level, the reason we cannot verbalize His name is that That Name is pure love and compassion, and we do not yet see how this world is only love and compassion. We therefore call Hashem other names, we pronounce Elokim, we can say the name of Adnus, we can pronounce Kel and Shakkai. These are all aspects that we can comprehend on some level.
May the day come soon when the final Geula reveals. May it come soon, with Rachamim Peshutim, simple mercy. And on that day, the prophecy will be fulfilled that the Name of Hashem in perfect love will be pronounced as it is spelled. We will then be able to see that Hashem Echad Ushemo Echad, His name and His essence are the same. We will see, hopefully soon, the uncovered secret that there was never any danger, never any separation, never anything but love. Bayom Hahu, Bekarov Mamesh.