Parshas Vezos Haberachah, Succos, and Parshas Beraishis The Heart of it All

Parshas Vezos Haberachah,

Succos,

and

Parshas Beraishis

The Heart of it All

By: Daniel Listhaus

וְלֹא קָם נָבִיא עוֹד בְּיִשְׂרָאֵל כְּמֹשֶׁה אֲשֶׁר יְדָעוֹ ה' פָּנִים אֶל פָּנִים: לְכָל הָאֹתוֹת וְהַמּוֹפְתִים אֲשֶׁר שְׁלָחוֹ ה' לַעֲשׂוֹת בְּאֶרֶץ מִצְרָיִם לְפַרְעֹה וּלְכָל עֲבָדָיו וּלְכָל אַרְצוֹ: וּלְכֹל הַיָּד הַחֲזָקָה וּלְכֹל הַמּוֹרָא הַגָּדוֹל אֲשֶׁר עָשָׂה מֹשֶׁה לְעֵינֵי כָּל יִשְׂרָאֵל

וַיִּבְרָא אֱלֹקים אֶת הָאָדָם בְּצַלְמוֹ בְּצֶלֶם אֱלֹקים בָּרָא אֹתוֹ זָכָר וּנְקֵבָה בָּרָא אֹתָם

“Never again has there arisen in Israel a prophet like Moshe, whom Hashem had known face to face; for all the signs and wonders that Hashem sent him to perform in the land of Egypt, against Pharaoh and all his slaves and all his land, and for all the strong hand and for all the great awesomeness that Moshe performed before the eyes of all Israel.”

-Vezos Haberachah 34:10-12

“And G-d created man in his image, in the image of G-d He created him....”

-Beraishis 1:27

This last passuk (verse) of the Torah discusses one of the most fundamental beliefs of Judaism – the testimony by Hashem, that Moshe was the greatest navi (prophet) to ever live. The Rambam includes this in his Thirteen Principles of Faith¹, and it is paralleled by the seventh verse of Yigdal². However, beneath the surface, there is yet another fundamental belief contained in this passuk.

The Kli Yakar³ writes that the reason why the Torah begins with the letter “beis” and ends with the letter “lamed” is because these two letters are the only letters which could form words when combining them with any of the letters of Hashem's name. Hashem's Great Name is composed of the letters “yud”, “hey”, and “vuv”. One could add a “beis” or a “lamed” to any of these letters and get the following words: “bee” (in me), “bo” (in Him), “bah” (in Her); “lee” (to Me), “lo” (to Him), and “lah” (to Her). These are the only two letters in the Aleph Beis with this capability.

The Kli Yakar continues to explain that these permutations are very significant. Hashem says “bee” - the whole world is dependent on Me. We, as His creations, announce “bo and bah”, declaring that the world is indeed dependent on Him⁴. Also, Hashem says “lee” - the whole universe belongs to Me; while we state “lo” and “lah”, that the whole universe belongs to Him.

These two ideas are really one, and are intertwined on a deep level. The whole world is His not just because Hashem created it, but because the whole world is dependent on Hashem. This is the idea of yichud Hashem – the axiom that Hashem is One. There is nothing external to Hashem's existence. The entire universe is a part of Him because it is completely powerless without the will of Hashem keeping it being. This is the yesod (foundation) of the whole Torah. Perhaps this is further hinted to by these first and last letters of the Torah - “lamed” and “beis”, which themselves form the word leiv (heart). Realizing and appreciating the Oneness of Hashem is the heart of the Torah.

The Nefesh Hachayim⁵ explains that this is why Hashem is called “Elokim”. The word Elokim means – Powers. This Name of Hashem refers to the fact that Hashem is Master and Controller of all Powers. As the Nefesh Hachayim describes, when a man completes a building, he could walk away and the structure will remain by itself. Hashem's creations, however, exist only because Hashem continuously recreates them every moment. This is something that we say and prove each day in birkas kriyas shema: “In His goodness He renews daily, perpetually, the work of creation. As it says⁶, '[Give thanks] to Him Who makes the great luminaries, for His kindness endures forever.'” Chazal say that Hashem is consistently recreating the world, as the passuk alludes to by saying that Hashem makes the great luminaries (present tense), instead of writing that Hashem made the great luminaries (past tense).

If in fact the name Elokim refers to this facet of Hashem, we must try to understand the fundamental passuk in Beraishis which describes that Hashem created man “b'tzelem Elokim” (in the image of Hashem [Elokim]). What does it mean to be created “in the image of Hashem”, and why does the passuk specifically use the name “Elokim” to illustrate that man was created in the image of Hashem?

In order to understand why the Torah specifically chose to describe man as a “tzelem Elokim”, we must first realize the power which is contained within humans. The Nefesh Hachayim⁷ explains that the things which people say and think about have big ramifications in our physical world, as well as myriads of spiritual worlds, which we create and effect. When we say good things about people and think Holy thoughts, we are builders. However, when we, chas v'shalom, speak lashon harah and think bad thoughts, we do more damage than those who destroyed the Beis Hamikdash.

Words are the building blocks of creation.⁸ Throughout Parshas Beraishis, every time Hashem created something during the sheishes y'mei beraishis (the six days of creation), it is always prefaced with, “And Hashem said...”⁹. This is also something we declare every day in davening - “Baruch she'amar ve'haya ha'olam”¹⁰ (Blessed is He Who spoke, and the world came into being).

Humans were created by Hashem to contain a balance of a guf (body) and a neshama (soul). The responsibility that comes with this is tremendous. It is our task to ensure that the physical actions we do in this world are not ones which will cause negative ripples in the spiritual realms. We have a power within us which is similar to Elokim; the ability to create things which are dependent on us. We have the ability to create and change myriads of worlds with our devarim (words) and machshavos (thoughts).¹¹

The chag of Succos is very different from Yom Kippur. On Yom Kippur we strive for Holiness like a malach (angel). We do not eat, drink, or get benefit from other physical pleasures. Instead we spend day and night davening to Hashem, declaring His kingship, and asking for forgiveness. Succos, on the other hand, is z'man simchaseinu - a time of joy. Succos is all about taking physical items and infusing kedusha in them. We sit in the succah, shake the lulav and esrog, and sing of the greatness of Hashem, His Torah, and His chosen people on simchas Torah.

This is why Succos is so special, because it pinpoints and positively feeds this uniqueness of man. It gives us a head start for the upcoming year by allowing us to transport the intangible kedusha into the world, thereby uplifting the world in Holiness.

May Hashem help us keep the closeness with Him that we achieve over this Succos, Shemini Atzeres, and Simchas Torah for the entire year, in order that we should maximize our power of “tzelem Elokim” that is infused within us.

1This is the seventh Ani Ma'amin

2Yigdal could be found in the Siddur at the beginning of Shacharis.

3Devarim 34:12

4The Kli Yakar explains that the reason for both the masculine and feminine terminology is because of Kabbalistic reasons.

5Sha'ar 1: Perek 2

6Tehillim 136:7

7Sha'ar 1: Perek 3

8This concept is also alluded to in the Lashon HaKodesh (Biblical Hebrew Language). The Hebrew word for “word” and the word for a “thing” are the same – “davar”. The reason for this is because words and things are really one and the same, since words create things.

9See also Avos 5:1 which mentions this and asks why Hashem did not just create the whole world with one saying instead of ten separate times.

10P'sukei D'zimrah in Shacharis

11 Interestingly, Rashi (Beraishis 1:28) writes that although everything was created by Hashem through speech, man was actually created with Hashem's hands – so to speak. The Gra (Gur Aryeh Beraishis 1:27) comments that because Hashem created man with His hands, we are much closer to Him than other creations. With this idea, perhaps the reason Hashem created us with His hands is in order that we should ourselves have the ability to create with our speech. Things created with Hashem's words could not themselves create. Man however, is much closer to Hashem and has this ability. Furthermore, Rashi (Vezos Haberachah 34:12) reminds us that Moshe received the Eseres Hadibros in his hands. Perhaps this too is symbolic that Hashem gave over a power of speech (the dibros) into the hands of the chachomim and B'nei Yisroel to interpret with s'vara (logic) and the sh'losh esreh middos she'hatorah nidreshes ba'hen (Thirteen rules through which the Torah is explained) using our speech and thought.