B"H
It is with
great trepidation and excitement, that we set forth the second book in the
series “Kabbalah of Time.” The first book introduced the reader to a way of
“living with the times” that allowed for
integrating within oneself the Torah’s teachings regarding proper outlook and
behavior. The goal of book one was that each one of us could be in touch with our
song, the universal song of the soul.
There is a
well known rabinnic aphorism that “proper behavior preceded the Torah” (Derech Eretz Kadma LaTorah).[1]
Rabbi Elchanan Adler, Rosh Yeshivah at
RIETS, further explains the idea of Derech
Eretz by citing the same Talmudic passage used in book one of this series:
R. Yochanan said:
Had the Torah not been given, we would have learned to be modest from cats, to avoid
theft from ants, to avoid promiscuity from doves, and derech eretz from roosters. (Eruvin 100b)
Rabbi Adler
also cites the Alter of Slobodka, who further explains the meaning of the
statement “Derech Eretz Kadma LaTorah:”
[U]pon
reflection we will see that character traits and attributes are an introduction
to the Torah and the primary foundation of the essence of a person, without
which a person is not worthy at all of Torah … This is the intent of the
Rabbis: Derech eretz preceded Torah by twenty six generations, for all of the
good character traits and attributes are included in derech eretz; they were ingrained in human nature and for them
there is no need for the giving of the Torah. The giving of the Torah came to
build on these [traits and attributes] and to command him to continue to rise heavenward
to ever higher levels transcending those which are in the realm of derech eretz. (Or HaTzafun Vol. 1 pg.
173, 175)[2]
The above, therefore, is the intent of this second book: to
properly receive the Torah and rise heavenwards, building on the concepts of derech eretz we learned in the book one.
While book one focused on proper outlook and behavior, book two’s focus is on
the acquisition of the Torah. When we acquire the Torah, not only do we become
better and more refined people, but we also free ourselves from all the things
that usually enslave us, including our own evil inclinations, “For you will
not find a freer person than one who is involved in the study of Torah. And all
those who study Torah are uplifted…”
(Pirkei Avot, Chapter 6:2)
The 48
Qualities to Acquire the Torah
While there
are fourty-nine days in the counting of the omer,
Pirkei Avot lists 48 ways in which
the Torah is acquired. Many commentaries link these two numbers, and many Jew
have even made it their custom to study one of the forty-eight qualities during
each day of the omer count.
In fact, the
qualities to acquire Torah set forth in Pirkei
Avot are a “summary” of the Torah itself. Pirkei Avot (Chapter 6:6) states that "Torah is greater than
priesthood and kingship, for kingship is acquired with thirty qualities,
priesthood is acquired with twenty-four, whereas the Torah is acquired with forty-eight
ways.”[3]
Just as with kingship and priesthood, these forty-eight qualities are not just
means to an end, but rather represent essential aspects of the Torah itself.
In the Gaon
of Vilna’s commentary on the Book of Proverbs, he states that “Eshet Chayil” (the woman of valor) is a
reference to the Torah. He explains that Chayil
(valor) has the numerical value of forty-eight, paralleling the forty-eight
attributes necessary to acquire the Torah.
As in Book 1, we find that these
qualities also parallel the weeks of the year. Pirkei Avot states that there are forty-eight qualities, but in
fact there are fifty-two listed. The very first quality is implied in the
introduction to this section, the desire and and the decision to acquire the
Torah, as we see from the Book of Proverbs: “The beginning of wisdom [is to]
acquire wisdom, and with all your possession acquire understanding.” When
counting the 48 remaining qualities, one finds that there are actually 51.
Therefore, together with the first quality found in the opening statement,
there are 52 qualities in total.
The 48
Prophets
Just as
there are forty-eight qualities to acquire the Torah, there are also
forty-eight prophets found in the written Torah, the Tanach. These prophets are listed by Rashi in his commentary to the
Talmudic tractate of Megillah (14a).
It was through these prophets that the Torah was received and transmitted.
Furthermore, all of these prophets refined themselves to such an extent that
they are a “summary” of the values that the Torah represents.
The prophets
also parallel the qualities needed to acquire the Torah, as well as the weeks
of the year.[4] There
are forty-eight male prophets, yet there are also an additional seven female
prophets. This would bring the total number of prophet to fifty-five. However,
of the seven female prophets, three of them were married to the male prophets
above. If one counts the married male and female prophets together as single
units, that leaves us with a total of fity-two prophets.
The 48
Levitical Cities
In
Deuteronomy, the description of the six cities of refuge come immediately
following the words, “And this is the Torah that Moses placed before the Jewish
people.” (Deuteronomy 4:44) The Torah therefore seems to imply that the concept
of the city of refuge somehow encompasses the entire Torah. The Talmud explains
that all forty-eight cities designated to the Levites were cities of refuge,
although the six cities listed had certain additional qualities.[5]
There are
forty-eight Levitical Cities, in addition to Jerusalem, because the Temple
itself was also considered a refuge. In addition, there are three more cities
of refuge to be established in the future, once Israel’s borders are expanded.
Thus, we see that these cities total fifty-two, one for each week of the year.[6]
It is well
known that each of the twelve Jewish months is related to one of the Tribes of
Israel. It is quite fascinating to note that each tribe was given four levitical
cities within its borders, paralleling the four weeks of each Jewish month.[7]
The Levites themselves are not given any property of their own other than those
related to these cities.
Haazinu and the 48 Sabbath Torah Readings that
Precede It
The Torah portion
of Haazinu is often read on Shabat Shuvah, the Sabbath between Rosh
Hashanah and Yom Kippur. It is said that this Sabbath encompasses all the
Sabbaths of the entire previous year, and can serve to correct any mistakes
made during them. is said to contain the entire Torah. There are usually
forty-eight Torah readings performed on the Sabbath: a regular Jewish year has
50½ weeks, and at least two Sabbaths have Torah readings related to the
festivals that occur during those days (Sukkot
and Passover). During these
roughly forty-eight Sabbaths, a total of fifity-two Torah portions read before
we arrive to Haazinu.[8]
The Torah portion following Haazinu, Vezot HaBracha, is not read on the
Sabbath, but rather during the holiday of Simchat
Torah.
Our sages have
taught that the portion of Haazinu encompasses
the entire Torah. Nachmanides goes further and states that Haazinu contains everything that happens and everything that will
ever happen in the history of the world.[9]
Furthermore, Haazinu has 52 verses, one
for each of the Torah portions that preceded it, starting from the very first
one, Bereshit. The connection between
these verses and the Torah portions is quite strong. (See Appendix 1) These fifty-two verses also parallel the weeks of
the year.
Furthermore,
each verse of the Haftarah for Haazinu, the song sung by King David
before his passing, in II Samuel, Chapter 22, also parallel the weeks of the
year.[10]
David’s song contains 51 verses, and it appears that the verse following the 51st
verse, the first in Chapter 23, is connected to David’s song as well. The Haftarah also offers important insight
into Haazinu. King David appears to
have made his song in such a way that it would parallel Haazinu, both in form but also in substance.
The end of
book one attempted to show how certain apparently negative teachings in Pirkei Avot could be interpreted in a
positive light. This concept of interpreting statements positively is even more
important when it comes to understanding Haazinu.
There are various parts of the text that appear to be very harsh, but that can
be read as incredibly positive. After all, Haazinu
is a summary of the entire Torah, and the Torah is the greatest expression of G-d’s
love for his people and vice-versa. The
greatest blessings are often disguised in what appear to be curses. The
following passage from Hayom Yom,
illustrates this idea:
The Alter
Rebbe himself was the regular Torah-reader. Once he was away from Lyozna on the
Shabbat of parsha Tavo, and the Mitteler Rebbe, then not yet Bar Mitzva, heard
the Torah-reading from another. His anguish at the curses in the tochacha
(section of admonition) caused him so much heartache, that on Yom Kippur1 the
Alter Rebbe doubted whether his son would be able to fast. When they asked the
Mitteler Rebbe - "Don't you hear this parsha every year?" - he
replied, "When Father reads, one hears no curses."[11]
It is our prayer, that when you, dear reader, engage in this
second adventure, that you also “hear no curses.” Instead may the prophets and
prophecies below open your mind and heart to what is certainly the greatest and
longest love affair ever to exist: the love between G-d and His people. The Zohar states: "Israel, the Torah and the Holy One Blessed Be He are One.[12]
May you too fall in love with this Eshet
Chayil, and may it free you and uplift you to new heights.
[2] Ibid.
[4] The Talmud (Megillah 14a)
says that there had been twice as many prophets as the number of people who
left Egypt (2,600,000), but only those whose messages were for future
generations were recorded. http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Judaism/The_List_of_Prophets.html
[5] http://vbm-torah.org/archive/salt-bemidbar/43-12masei.htm The article also cites Rambam, Hilkhot
Rotzei’ach 8:10.)
[6] It is interesting to note that just as the Levitical cities were
52 in total, consisting of 48 cities, in addition to Jerusalem, the capital,
and three future cities, so too the United States has historically consisted of
52 entities, 48 states, the capital, and mainly 3 territories – Alaska, Hawai,
and Puerto Rico.
[7] Each Jewish month is related to a constellation/zodiac sign, and
the position of the levitical cities within each tribe appear to roughly
parallel the shape of that constellation.
[8] In the Torah there are 54 parshiot, but Vezot HaBrachah is never
read on Shabat, and Haazinu is a summary of all of the previous parshiot. From
a different angle, we can see that of the 54 portions, there are a total of 6
times in which two portions are read together, leaving a total of 48 sections. The six double
portions are: Vayakhel – Pekudei; Tazria – Metzora; Acharei Mot – Kedoshim;
Behar – Bechukotai; Mattot – Masei; Nitzavim – Vayeilech.
Outside of Israel, sometimes Chukat -
Balak are also read together, which is due to the additional day of holidays
instituted by the rabbis. http://individual.utoronto.ca/kalendis/hebrew/parshah.htm
[9] http://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/137092/jewish/Reish-Evil.htm
[10][10] The first verse of the following Chapter is still very much
related to the song, and can be counted as the 52nd verse. Weeks 1
and 52 both represent Rosh Hashanah. In fact, the first seven verses of Chapter
23 in II Samuel comprise of King David’s last song, and seem to parallel the 7
verses of the Rooster on Rosh Hashanah. There also appears to be a parallel
with the opening and closing verses of Vezot HaBrachah, the words said by Moshe
right before his passing.
[12] http://www.inner.org/monothei/mono3.htm
