~
Thoughts on the Parsha ~
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
“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
וַיִּבְרָא
אֱלֹקים אֶת הָאָדָם בְּצַלְמוֹ בְּצֶלֶם אֱלֹקים
בָּרָא אֹתוֹ זָכָר וּנְקֵבָה בָּרָא אֹתָם
“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 Faith[1],
and it is paralleled by the seventh verse of Yigdal[2].
However, beneath the surface, there is yet another fundamental belief contained
in this passuk.
The
Kli Yakar[3]
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 Him[4].
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 Hachayim[5]
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 says[6],
'[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 Hachayim[7]
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.
[1] This is the seventh Ani Ma'amin
[2] Yigdal could be found in the Siddur
at the beginning of Shacharis.
[3] Devarim 34:12
[4] The Kli Yakar explains that the
reason for both the masculine and feminine terminology is because of Kabbalistic
reasons.
[5] Sha'ar 1: Perek 2
[6] Tehillim 136:7
[7] Sha'ar 1: Perek 3
[8] This 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.
[9] See 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.
[10] P'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.
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