COLLATERAL CONFIRMED: BEHAR/BECHUKOTAI
Shira Smiles shiur 2017/5777
Summary by Channie Koplowitz Stein
Hashem has blessed and cursed Bnei Yisroel. He declares He would lay waste to
the land and exile the people. But in spite of the sins of Bnei Yisroel that
brought about this desolation, Hashem promises, "I will remember My
covenant with Jacob and also My covenant with Isaac and also My covenant with
Abraham, and I will remember the land... The Land will be bereft of them...
because they were revolted by My ordinances... But despite all this, while they
are in the land of their enemies, I will not... have rejected them to
obliterate them... I am Hashem."
In the original Hebrew of this first verse, one will note an unusual spelling
of the name Yaakov. Here, as in only four additional places in Tanach,
Yaakov is written maleh, full, with an added vov for the
vocalization of the "oh" vowel. These five times seem to be
related to another name also spelled in an unusual manner five times. The
prophet Eliyahu appears five times missing the final vov, being written
as Eliyah. How can we explain these contrasting discrepancies?
Rabbi Munk notes that while our first exile began with Yaakov's descent to
Egypt, our final redemption will be heralded with Eliyahu's announcement of the
imminent arrival of Moshiach. Rashi teaches us, thatYaakov
"borrowed" these letters to ensure that Eliyahu would fulfill that
mission and redeem his descendents. The Maharal notes that the straight shape
of the letter vov is similar to the shape of a finger. By taking five vovs
from Eliyahu, Yaakov was symbolically finalizing the deal with Eliyahu and shaking
Eliyahu's hand.
Our verse contains another anomaly. Usually when citing the Patriarchs, we
begin with Avraham and end with Yaakov. Here the order is reversed. Rabbi
Epstein in Tosfos Bracha considers this order to be the logical order in
this context. Since Yaakov was the father of the twelve tribes, he is closest
to Bnei Yisroel, as our name connotes, and mentioned first, followed by the
grandfather and great grandfather.
The Ner Uziel, Rabbi Uziel Milevsky z”l, takes this idea one step
further. Citing the Zohar, Rabbi Milevsky points out that Eliyahu and
Pinchas were one and the same. Each was zealous in their service to God.
Pinchas risked his life by killing Zimri, the head of the tribe of Shimon, and
the Midianite princess for their public display of immorality, and Eliyahu for
challenging the priests of Baal during the reign of Ahab and Jezebel. Each
zealously guarded the continuity of the Jewish people and their moral and
spiritual mission to the world. That is why it will be Eliyahu/Pinchas who will
herald the "great day"when the hearts of fathers and sons will be
united in knowledge of and service to Hashem. Vov is the letter of
connection, translated as "and". When Eliyahu will come, he will link
all the generations of the Diaspora together under the banner of God's Torah,
just as he is witness to the continuity of the generations as he attends each
Jewish baby's bris. In this capacity, Yaakov Avinu is the logical choice
to be the first link in repaired chain of the generations. He is the father of
the twelve tribes, for the redemption will begin with the children and move
upward, generation to generation, as children bring their parents back to
Hashem and fathers are reconciled with their children.
This process is happening today. How many young people are returning to the
Torah lifestyle and bringing their parents with them on their journey? The
generations are coming together under the banner of Torah, and Moshiach is
waiting in the wings.
So the process has begun. When will it be complete? Hashem has vowed with His
hand on His throne - Keis KaH[Yud Heh] - that His throne will not
be whole until Amalek is eradicated from the world. Rabbi Kofman z”l notes the
spelling of Hashem's Name. We would expect the four letters of God's Holy Name,
but two letters are missing from this vow, the Vov and an additional Heh.
Therefore, Yaakov took the vov five (numerically heh) times to
guarantee that Eliyahu would complete his mission and God's throne would be
completely restored. This final redemption will be permanent.
More than any other condition, however, we must yearn for the redemption and
follow Hashem. We need to have the same desire that Hashem's name should be
complete as did Yaakov Avinu. If we merely sing Leshana Habaah
b'Yerushalayim, with our lips but not our hearts, we haven't connected as
Hashem wants us to. How can we show our desire? Rabbi Gamliel Rabinowitz notes
that the reason it is customary to sing about Eliyahu Hanavi at the close of
Shabbos is that we want Mashiach to come and tell us of the redemption at this
first available moment of the new week. Since we are told Eliyahu will not come
on Shabbat, on a Yom Tov, or on an Erev Shabbat or Erev Yom Tov, now that
Shabbat is over, Hashem, please send Moshiach immediately to announce the
coming of Moshiach, especially since we have just had a "taste" of olam
haba by experiencing Shabbat.
Although it may be difficult to find kedushah today, holiness exists
permanently on three planes. Shabbat represents the permanence of holiness in
time. The Kotel from where the Beit Hamikdosh will be built represents the
permanence of holiness in space. The luz bone from which, according to
tradition, man's body will be resurrected at the time of Moshiach, represents
that permanence in every person. Finally, Eliyahu and Yaakov represents the
spiritual component of man that never dies. We bring these to the fore on
Motzoai Shabbat when we remember three people associated with that time. First
is David, the ancestor of Moshiach. Then is Yaakov, for it says, "A star
will emerge from Yaakov." Finally, we sing of Eliyahu, the herald of the
redemption. Our job is to yearn for that time so that Eliyahu can retrieve
those five vovs.
It was the Beit Hamikdosh that purified the world and infused kedushah
in everyone's life, because from Zion went forth Torah and the word of God from
Yerushalayim. This was manifest in the miracles that occurred in the Beit
Hamikdosh, one of which was that the column of smoke that arose from the
sacrifices rose in a straight pillar heavenward no matter what wind blew. Rabbi
Kofman z”l writes that the kohanim would point to this column and urge the
people that their hearts should also go straight heavenward and not be
distracted by the winds of time and the distractions of life.
Rabbi Friedman, the Shvilei Pinchas, wrote a wonderful and profound
essay discussing these borrowed vovs. The letter vov is
associated with the attribute of emes, truth, the attribute for which
both Yaakov Avinu and Eliyahu Hanavi are famous. However, Yaakov's emes
is manifest as tiferes, glory, and is a synthesis of emes and chesed,
truth and loving kindness. Rabbi Friedman continues by recounting the medrash
about Hashem's discussion with the angels concerning the advisability of
creating Man. Some angels for whom truth was of primary importance voted
against Man's creation, (not that it was a truly democratic process) citing
Man's proclivity for lying and sin. Sympathetic angels cited Man's
compassionate nature and his acts of kindness. In the end, God threw emes/truth
to the ground and created Adam.
The Shvilei Pinchas here makes a profound observation. When looking down
from above, as the angels were doing, one has a very clearly delineated
perspective of truth. However, when on ground level, those lines are often not
exact. The perspective of each person in different, and where he is may provide
a different "truth". Therefore, it is only God Himself Who can judge
any individual, for only He knows all the factors involved. Our Sages tell us
not to judge another until we have reached wherever he is at. But no man can
truly reach the exact circumstances of another, and therefore no man can judge
another.
God's seal is E-m-es/Truth, for only He sees
all, knows all, and understands all. Rabbi Friedman then presents an
interesting observation. If we include all the letters of the aleph bet,
including all the final letters, we will note that aleph is the first
letter, tof is the last letter, and mem is exactly in the middle.
The allusion here is that Hashem knows that some people are close to the
beginning, on a very lofty spiritual level. They must be judged more strictly,
with relatively unbending din. Others may be at the other end of the
spectrum and alphabet, far removed from any spirituality, symbolically a tof.
These people must be judged most flexibly. And those in the middle must be
judged with a mixture of strict judgment and compassion. Since only Hashem is
capable of seeing each individual clearly, only He can judge with absolute
truth. The truth for a tzadik is different from the truth for a rasha.
Yaakov understood the fine points of emes. When he blessed his sons
before his death, he blessed each according to that son's attributes. But
Yaakov wanted to incorporate chesed into absolute din; he wanted
to include Hashem's thirteen attributes of mercy. So putting six sons on one
side and six on the other with himself signifying truth in the center he could
fuse the emes/din/gevurah of his father with the chesed of his
grandfather and create tiferet. If we itemize the thirteen attributes
according to the Arizal's enumeration, we will find v'emes at the
exact center, with truth thus connecting the first six attributes of mercy with
the final six. As such, continues the Shvilei Pinchas, Yaakov understood
that the element of truth must be pervasive, or compassion and judgment will be
confused, each being extended to inappropriate individuals.
Yaakov cleverly borrowed the five vov's from Eliyahu to signify a
handshake of five fingers. One generally shakes hands with one's right hand,
the right side signifying mercy while the left side signifies judgment.
(Similarly, in wrapping a meis/meisa for his/her final journey toward
judgment, one completes the process by wrapping the right side over the left
side, asking Hashem to temper judgment with mercy. CKS)
The Sokochover Rebbe, the Shem MiShmuel, brings us back to the constant
battle Hashem has with Amalek. One may notice that Amalek does not battle any
other nation except Bnei Yisroel, and he strikes immediately before we receive
the Torah. Now we can understand that while Yaakov represents the truth of
Hashem, manifested through Bnei Yisroel who bring truth and light to the world
through Torah, Amalek represents falsehood and darkness. Yaakov is Yisroel,
Prince of God, and Yeshurun/yashar/straight, truthful, while
Amalek is twisted falsehood. Yaakov took the vov to remind us to be
straight and true. Before Moshiach comes, there will be a war over truth. As
individuals, we will constantly be tested as to the truth and validity of our
words and actions. Nations will be tested through truth. (The war is already
being waged in all the media. What is real news and what is "fake
news"? How far away can Moshiach be?)
Truth must extend beyond superficial appearances, writes the Sifsei Chaim,
Rabbi Friedlander z”l. What is the truth of our relationship with others, with
family, and especially with Hashem? How "truthful" and focused are we
when we daven? Is our public persona the same as our private persona? When we
remove the veneer, what lies at our core? (And are we truthful and honest about
ourselves, our capabilities and our faults?)
The Sifsei Chaim gives us some pointers. Take just ten minutes a week to
internalize and meditate. Am I living my life truthfully? Am I on the right
path spiritually and making progress? Certainly, begin with speaking truthfully,
not just without lying but also without exaggeration. Don't put on airs. Admit
when you don't know something. (The great Rashi saw no shame in admitting he
did not understand a particular point.)
The final blessing right before we begin the Shemona Esrei/Silent
Meditation implores Hashem to redeem us. We include the name Yisroel five times
to arouse Hashem's love for us writes Rav Eliezer Lopian in Letitcha Elyon.
There are also five books in the Torah. As we begin the Shemoneh Esrei prayers
of supplication, we should try to be aware of what we are asking for and why.
In the merit of the truth within the Torah and the way we try to live our
lives, we pray that Hashem will send us Eliyahu Hanavi speedily to announce the
coming of Moshiach, if not today, then hopefully right after Shabbos as we
escort the Queen Shabbos away for the coming week.
As we celebrate next week Yom Yerushalayim, the reunification of Yerushalayim,
may Hashem send Eliyahu and Moshiach so that the entire world will recognize
the truth that Zion and Yerushalayim is the eternal capital of the land Hashem
promised to Bnei Yisroel, "Ki m'Zion tetzeh Torah udvar Hashem
M'Yerushalayim/For from Zion, shall Torah come forth and the word of God
from Yerushalayim."