Shavuos 5646 First Ma'amar

How We Transformed from the Deepest Impurity to Receiving the Torah in Fifty Days

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Why We Eat Dairy Foods on Shavuos

When the nation of Israel left Egypt, we were in a state of deep impurity[1].  In a period of a mere fifty days, we made a transformation from this low level to a state in which we were ready to participate in the greatest event in the history of mankind, the receiving of the Torah and direct communication from the Creator.

This transformation is one of the most optimistic and inspiring processes. It teaches us that regardless of the level of our impurity, we should not despair. This process of transformation is enshrined in the counting of the Omer.

How does the transformation work? How can the impure become pure? The answer to this question is based on the concept that everything both pure and impure was created by God and needs God’s constant and continuous attention to exist. Even though the Creation is a mixture of good and bad, of purity and impurity, at the spiritual source there is Unity. In the words of Chazal[2], there are forty-nine aspects or levels of impurity and purity. Levels implies that there is a mix. At the fiftieth level there is Unity. Of course, the unity, the Godliness is inherent even at the most impure level. It is simply revealed at the fiftieth level. Impurity is a barrier that hides Godliness. For impure to become pure, the barrier needs to be removed.

We find this concept in a Midrash[3] explaining a pasuk in Iyov (14:4), “מִי יִתֵּן טָהוֹר מִטָמֵא לֹא אֶחָד/Who produces purity from impurity? No one!” The Midrash translates this pasuk, “Who produces purity from impurity? Is it not the One?” Producing purity from impurity seems impossible. However, it is only impossible if we believe that impurity has an autonomous existence. Once we recognize that impurity is simply God’s concealment, producing purity from impurity is a matter of removing that which conceals God.

We also find this concept in a Zohar[4] explaining the pasuk, “... וְנִטְמֵתֶם בָּם/… and you will become defiled by them” (VaYikra 11:43) referring to one who eats forbidden foods. The usual spelling of “וְנִטְמֵתֶם/and you will become defiled” includes the letter א/alef - וְנִטְמֵאתֶם. Why is it spelled here without the alef? The Sfas Emes explains that the alef, meaning, “one”, alludes to the source – God. According to the Zohar the Torah spelled this word without the alef to teach us that one who has eaten forbidden foods and dies before having repented is so defiled that there is nothing that can heal his soul. He has lost his connection with the source, with God.[5]

This, the Sfas Emes teaches us, is the significance of the forty-nine days of counting the Omer culminating in the holiday of Shavuos on the fiftieth day. Counting is a process of sorting and clarification. During the forty-nine days of the Omer the nation of Israel worked to separate the impure from the pure, the evil from the good. This process ended on Shavuos with the receiving of the Torah and the negation of the evil inclination. For this reason, the Zohar[6] teaches, in addition to the regular holiday sacrifices, two loaves of leavened bread were brought as an offering.  Almost all meal offerings are made from unleavened dough.  Why is leavened bread brought on Shavuos.  The Zohar explains that leavening represents the evil inclination.  We offer specifically leavened bread to show that the evil inclination was nullified on the first Shavuos. 

On Shavuos we reached the fiftieth level of purity and experienced God as the source of everything. To symbolize harking back to the source, the two loaves were made from the first wheat of the year. This wheat is the called the first fruit and Chazal[7] teach us it is called, “רֵאשִׁית/first”, alluding to the Creation – בְּרֵאשִׁית – and ultimately to the source of the Creation – God. Shavuos, in fact, is called, “יוֹם הַבִּיכּוּרִים/Day of the First Fruit.” (Bamidbar 28:26)

The Kohanim offer the first wheat on behalf of the entire nation of Israel. In addition to this mitzvah, it is incumbent on each member of the nation to bring the first fruit produced by his field to the Beis Hamikdash, “רֵאשִׁית בִּכּוּרֵי אַדְמָתְךָ תָּבִיא בֵּית ה' אֱ-לָהֶיךָ ... /… You shall bring the first of the first fruits of your land to the house of God.” (Shmos 23:19) The Sfas Emes explains that, when we clarify for ourselves that God is the source of everything, evil no longer represents a barrier that hides Him. If this is true on an individual level, it is certainly true on the national level of the first wheat that is brought on Shavuos. The meal offering from the first wheat represents God’s revelation on Shavuos and provides the nation with protection for the entire year.

The second half of the pasuk instructing us to bring the first fruit to the Beis HaMikdash is, “... לֹא-תְבַשֵׁל גְדִי בַּחֲלֵב אִמּוֹ/… Do not cook a kid in its mother’s milk.” What is the connection between these two seemingly unrelated mitzvos? The Zohar[8] explains that once the source is revealed, there is no longer any possibility of a mix of good and bad. The Sfas Emes explains elsewhere that milk represents a clarification of the good from the bad. Chazal teach us that God turns the mother’s blood, which is impure, into milk which is pure. Chazal learn this from the pasuk in Iyov brought earlier, “מִי יִתֵּן טָהוֹר מִטָמֵא לֹא אֶחָד/Who produces purity from impurity? Is it not the One?” Meat, on the other hand, represents a mix of good and bad. The Sfas Emes notes an allusion to this from the quail that God sent to the nation in the desert. The quail was sent specifically in the evening. The word for evening – עֶרֶב – has the same root as the word for mix – עָרֹב. 

Since meat represents the mix whereas milk represents the clarification, milk should not be eaten with meat. For this reason, as well, it is appropriate to eat dairy foods on Shavuos since both dairy and Shavuos represent clarification and a revelation of the source – God.

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[1] Zohar Chadash 39a states that the nation reached the 49^th out of 50 levels of impurity

[2] Yerushalmi Sanhedrin 4:2; Shir HaShirim R. 2, 4:1

[3] Bamidbar R. 19:1

[4] Zohar 3:41b

[5] The gematria of the word טמא – is fifty (9+40+1=50). The gematria of טמ is forty-nine (9+40=49) representing the forty-nine levels of impurity. א/alef represents the fiftieth level on which there is Unity – God is revealed. Purity is only possible because God underlies the impurity. Therefore, if the alef is removed, reaching purity is impossible. This is the deeper meaning of the pasuk in Iyov, “מי יתן טהור מטמא הלא אחד/Who produces purity from impurity? Is it not the One (alluded to by the alef)?” (Nefesh David – commentary on the Zohar)

[6] Zohar 2:183b

[7] Breishis R. 1:4

[8] Tikunei Zohar 14:30:a

Bamidbar 5631 First & Second Ma'amarim

The Significance of the Census - Drawing Down the Light by Harking Back to Our Roots

In this week’s parsha a census is conducted that counts the entire nation of Israel.  God tells Moshe Rabbeinu to count the Levites separately for, “... וְהָיוּ לִי הַלְוִיִּם/… the Levites shall be Mine.” (Bamidbar 3:12)  Why did God single out the Levites?  Why did He make them His?  The Midrash, addressing this question, says that whoever brings God close, God, in turn, brings that person close to Him.[1]  After the sin of the golden calf, the Levites brought God close to them.  In response to Moshe Rabbeinu’s call, “Whoever is for God, come to me! All the children of Levi gathered around him.” (Shmos 32:26)  God, in turn, brought the Levites close to Him.

The Chiddushei HaRim points out, though, that the Levites were not the only ones who resisted the temptation to sin.  In fact, most of the nation did not participate in the idol worship.  Why, then, did God bring particularly the Levites close to Him?  The Chiddushei HaRim notes, that there is a big difference between passively not sinning and actively taking a stand.  According to the Chiddushei HaRim, Chazal are teaching us this difference.  The Levites, by gathering around Moshe made a clear declaration that they rejected the idol worship and were for God alone.  They actively drew Him near to them.  While it is certainly true that most of the rest of the nation did not participate in the idol worship, neither did they do the much more difficult thing and actively take a stand against it.  Therefore, in response to the Levites coming close to God, God drew them near to Him as well.

The Sfas Emes takes this concept a step further.  We should not infer from the Midrash and the Chiddushei HaRim’s interpretation that a relationship with God is binary – either one has a relationship with God or one does not.  Rather, our relationship with God is a continuum.  God relates to each of us according to the level of our faith in Him.  The stronger our faith, the closer He draws us to Him.  We find this concept in the first Midrash[2] of this week’s parsha.  The Midrash quotes a pasuk in Tehillim (36:7), “צִדְקָתְךָ כְּהַרְרֵי־אֵל מִשְׁפָּטֶיךָ תִּהוֹם רַבָּה .../Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains; Your judgments are like the vast deep …”  The Midrash says that the first part of the pasuk is an allusion to the righteous, whereas the second part of the pasuk alludes to the wicked.  The righteous who believe that God rules over every aspect of Creation, large and small alike, merit seeing the hidden light in everything.  The prophet Yeshaya (29:15) says that the wicked do their deeds in darkness and say, “... מִי רֹאֵנוּ וּמִי יֹדְעֵנוּ/Who sees us and who knows of us?”  They do not believe that God sees their actions.  Correspondingly, the truth is kept from them as we find in Iyov (38:15), “וְיִמָנַע מֵרְשָׁעִים אוֹרָם .../Light is withheld from the wicked.”  And as the second part of the pasuk above states, “… Your judgments are like the vast deep …”  We see, then, that whether God allows us to come close to Him, to feel His presence, depends upon our belief that His presence is with us.  When we believe His presence is here in our lives, in everything, He allows us to experience it.  If, on the other hand, we do not believe it, then God withholds His truth from us.

We find the same idea in a Midrash[3] from parshas Naso.  The Midrash says that whoever increases the glory of Heaven, increases respect for himself as well.  On the other hand, whoever decreases respect for Heaven by increasing is own honor, actually decreases his own honor while the honor of Heaven remains the same.  What is the meaning of this Midrash?  How does the honor of Heaven remain the same if, by our actions, we decrease it?  

This Midrash is based on the same concept that we’ve explained.  Whether God’s presence is revealed or hidden is dependent on the intent we imbue in our actions.  If we know and believe that we are a tool, an agent of God in this world, that we are not our own masters but rather, are doing the will of God, then God’s kingdom becomes more manifest; it becomes clearer that everything is from God.  By striving to fulfill God’s will through our actions, by believing that God is with us, we increase the honor of Heaven and as a result our own esteem increases as well.  This is the meaning of the Midrash mentioned earlier on the pasuk, “צִדְקָתְךָ כְּהַרְרֵי־אֵל .../Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains …”  The righteous see God in everything.  They draw the honor of Heaven into this world, into nature.

On the other hand, a person who believes that he is the master of all his actions, who acts to increase his own honor, is akin to an idol worshipper since he removes God from the equation.  In this case, the glory of Heaven remains as it was – hidden.  The Zohar[4] mentions the exact same idea on the pasuk, “שִׁחֵת לוֹ לֹא בָּנָיו מוּמָם .../Corruption is not His; it is His children’s flaw …” (Devarim 32:5)  The Zohar explains that our corruption prevents blessing from reaching us.  Since blessing does not reach us, we are flawed.  God remains hidden.

The notion that we have the power to draw God’s glory into the finite, that God becomes revealed in this world as a result of our actions and thoughts is mentioned by the Chiddushei HaRim.  In the first pasuk of this week’s Haftara, God told the prophet Hoshea (2:1), “וְהָיָה מִסְפַּר בְּנֵי־יִשְׂרָאֵל כְחוֹל הַיָּם אֲשֶׁר לֹא־יִמַּד וְלֹא יִסָּפֵר .../The number of the children of Israel will be like the sand of the sea which cannot be measured nor counted.”  The Midrash[5] points out the contradiction in this pasuk.  The pasuk starts by relating to “the number of the children of Israel” and ends by asserting that “it cannot be measured nor counted.”  The Midrash answers that first God showed Hoshea the Jewish nation through their significant numbers until finally He showed the prophet that we will reach astronomical proportions.  First there was only one Jew – Avraham Aveinu. Then there were two, Avraham and Yitzhak.  Then there were the three Avos followed by twelve tribes, seventy souls who went down to Egypt, 600,000 males who left Egypt and finally, he compared them to the sand and the stars which effectively have no number.  

This resolves the contradiction but what is the point of it?  What is the Midrash teaching us?  The Chiddushei HaRim[6] explains that “no number” represents the infinite.  It represents God’s presence.  Numbers represent the finite, nature.  God told Hoshea that the nation of Israel has the ability to reveal the level of “no number” of the infinite within the level of “number” within the finite; we can elevate the physical, the finite to a higher level, to a level on which God is revealed in nature.  

For this reason, the beginning of this week’s parsha records the date on which God commanded Moshe Rabbeinu to take a census of the nation.  Why is the date of God’s instruction mentioned specifically by the mitzvah of the census?  We live in the physical which is governed by time.  Numbers, as we have seen connotes the physical.  The Torah is teaching us that our main mission is to draw the light of the Torah and holiness into time, into the physical.

This Midrash teaches us how.  We do it by harking back to our roots, to our forefathers.  This is the reason for the census.  It highlights the fact that although we are many, we come from one.  The census reminds us of our roots.  This is why God tells Moshe Rabbeinu, “שְׂאוּ אֶת־רֹאשׁ כָּל־עֲדַת בְּנֵי־יִשְׂרָאֵל .../Take a census of the entire community of the children of Israel …” (Bamidbar 1:2)  The literal translation is, “Take the heads of the entire …”  רֹאשׁ/Head connotes רֵאשִׁית/first.  It indicates that although we are many, we must connect to those who came before us.  This is hinted at, also, by the way the census was conducted.  The pasuk[7] tells us that they declared their lineage according to their families and their paternal houses.  This was not a simple head count.  Each Jew is part of a family, a paternal house.  Each one of us has a father who has a father who has a father in an unbroken chain leading back to our first father Avraham Avinu.  This is the meaning of the pasuk in Tehillim (131:2), “אִם־לֹא שִׁוִּיתִי וְדוֹמַמְתִּי נַפְשִׁי כְגָמֻל עֲלֵי אִמּוֹ .../I swear I compared my soul to a just weaned baby next to his mother …”  We need to relate to our forebears like a just weaned baby relates to his mother.  A just weaned baby yearns for his mother and understands intuitively that she is his source.  So too, must we relate to our ancestors in this way.  We need to feel, just like the baby, that we stem from our forebears.

The holy Rav of Parshischa explains that we connect to our roots, to our forefathers, to our heritage, through our actions.  When our actions relate back to our roots, back to our forefathers, we merit infinite blessing.  We find this concept in Tana D’vei Eliyahu Raba (25).  The prophet Eliyahu teaches us that each Jew must say, “מָתַי יַגִיעוּ מַעֲשַׂי לְמַעֲשֵׂי אֲבוֹתַי אַבְרָהָם יִצְחָק וְיַעֲקֹב/When will my actions reach the level of the actions of my forefathers Avraham, Yitzchak and Yaakov.”  Does Eliyahu HaNaviactually expect us to reach the level of the Avos?  The Rav of Parshischa answers that the word יַגִיעוּ/reach has the same root as נְגִיעָה, the Hebrew word for “connection” or “touch.”  The prophet is not teaching us that we should aspire to reach the level of our forefathers.  Each generation is different and we cannot compare the actions of one generation to the actions of another.  Rather, he is teaching us that our actions must connect with and relate to the actions of our forefathers.  We’ve connected with the Avos when we strive to emulate them.  By connecting to our forefathers through our actions, we ultimately connect to the Source of life and draw God’s light into the physical world.

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[1]Bamidbar R. 1:12

[2]Bamidbar R. 1:1

[3]Bamidbar R. 4:20

[4]Zohar 3:297b

[5]Bamidbar R. 2:14

[6]Chidushei HaRim Shmos

[7]Bamidbar 1:18