Rabbi Mansour 09

Shabbat morning class

פרשת ויחי

"ויקרא יעקב אל בניו ויאמר האספו ואגידה לכם את אשר יקרא אתכם באחרית הימים"

"Then Yaakov called for his sons and said gather yourselves and I will tell you what will befall you in the end of days"

When people gather to hear the words of Torah, it infuses spiritual warmth into their hearts. In today’s times, our hearts are "cold" as hinted to by Yaakov Avinu when he said "אשר יקרא אתכם באחרית הימים"- "at the end of days we will be קר-cold" like the word יקרא, and the way to warm up the heart is by gathering together to study Torah, as the Pasuk continues "הקבצו ושמעו"- "gather and listen". This gathering gives warmth to our hearts. When we gather on Shabbat, it is even more powerful, as is hinted to in Tehilim chapter קלג that says; "הנה מה טוב ומה נעים שבת אחים גם יחד"-"how beautiful it is when brothers gather together". The word שבת (literally; dwelling) is also the word שבת-Shabbat, showing the best time to gather to listen to the holy words of Torah and to warm up the chill in our hearts is on Shabbat.

Rashi on this Pasuk says "בקש יעקב לגלות את הקץ ונסתלקה ממנו שכינה" "Yaakov wished to reveal the end to them but Hashem departed from him".

Yaakov tried to tell his sons when Mashiach would come, but the spirit of Hashem "left" him, so he was unable to. Since he was unable to, he suspected that perhaps one of his sons had sinned. The brothers exclaimed in unison שמע ישראל ה' אלקנו ה' אחד to show their devotion to Hashem and that none of them had sinned. Yaakov responded ברוך שם כבוד מלכותו לעולם ועד.

רבינו בחיי says, that in all the letters of the names of the Shevatim, we will not find a ח' or a ט'- these 2 letters spell the word חט which is like חטא- sin. The fact that these letters were not present in the names of the Shevatim shows that they were free from sin. Since they had no חט-sins, Yaakov tried to tell them about the end of time. However the letters ק' and צ' are also not found in the names of the tribes. These letters form the wordקץ –the end. This shows that the קץ-the end was also not "found in" the Shevatim. Therefore, even though they were free from sin they were not supposed to know the קץ-the end of time. On a deeper level, Yaakov in reality was trying to reveal the קץ-the end- of the גלות מצרים-the Egyptian exile.

Every time a Jew performs a Mitzvah he "brings together" the letters of the name of Hashem, as we say before performing a Mitzvah; לשם יחוד - יחוד is to connect. This is hinted to in the word מצוה. The first 2 letters מצ correspond to the letters י-ה in the א'ת ב'ש system. (The א'ת ב'ש system is when we take the first letter of the Aleph Beit, the א', and pair it with the last letter, the ת'. The second letter, the ב', with the second to last letter, the ש. The third letter ג', with the third to last letter the ר'- and so on, throughout the Aleph Beit with this system). The מ' corresponds to the י', and the צ' corresponds to the ה'. מצוהis מצ (י-ה) and וה, showing when we perform a Mitzvah we "bring together" and form the name of Hashem. An עבירה however has the opposite effect and ח'ו causes a separation in the name of Hashem.

When the brothers sold Yosef they were פוגם (affected negatively) one of the names of Hashem by causing this "separation" in Hashem’s name. Yaakov Avinu with his Ruach Hakodesh understood that the name of Hashem affected was the name of א-ה-י-ה.There were 9 brothers who sold Yosef (Reuven wasn’t there at the time and Binyamin was a child) each brother represented a פגם in the name of Hashem of אהי-ה which is numerically 21. Yaakov figured that since 9x21=189 (9 brothers multiplied by 21- the numerical value of the name of Hashem that each one affected) therefore the Jews should suffer for 189 years in Egypt to atone for this, and in the 190th year they should go free. What was hidden from Yaakov was the fact that Hashem "completed" the מנין of 10 for the brothers and was also "involved" in the sale of Yosef, so Yaakov didn’t know he had to add another 21(representing Hashem’s part in the sale) and make it 210 years, (21x10=210) which is in fact how long the Egyptian exile lasted. This is hinted to in Rashi "בקש יעקב לגלות את הקץ"- he wanted to tell them it was going to be a 190 year exile. קץ is numerically 190. However "נסתלקה ממנו שכינה"- the fact that the Shechinah was also included in the sale was hidden from him, so he couldn’t figure out why the exile of Egypt would have to be longer than 190 years?! The brothers then exclaimed: "שמע ישראל ה' אלקנו ה' אחד"- that Hashem is counted as one, he was with us! You have to add another 21 years! When Yaakov heard this he exclaimed "ברוך שם כבוד..."- "blessed is the name of Hashem".

This is why when Hashem instructed Moshe Rabeinu to redeem the Jews, Moshe asked: what name of Hashem should I tell the people? Now, what kind of question was that to ask Hashem? In reality Moshe was confused, since he thought that the name of Hashem that the brothers affected with their sin was the name of הוי'הwhich equals 26. 26x10=260 (Moshe knew Hashem was part of the count). So he figured the exile would be 260 years. Moshe thought that Hashem was taking them out too early! That is why it says by the story of the burning bush, "וירא ה' כי סר לראות" -"Hashem saw that he turned to see". The word סר is numerically 260. Hashem saw that Moshe was under the impression that it should be a 260 year exile. Now we understand what Moshe was really asking Hashem by asking what his name was, meaning; which name was affected by the sale of Yosef? Hashem replied א-ה-י-ה שלחני אליכם- the name is א-ה-י-ה and it’s 21x10. The 210 years are complete, and it’s time to go.

The Asarah Harugei Malchut (ten Sadikim that were murdered by the Romans) took the place of the ten that that were involved in the sale of Yosef; each Rabbi was a כפרה for a different brother. The question is, if Hashem was involved, who was a כפרה (כביכול) for Hashem?! It was Rabbi Akivah. Why specifically him? Since שמעון אמסני was דורש all the את’s in the Torah (he found a teaching that each את in the Torah was including) when he reached the Pasuk of "תירא את ה אלקיך"- "you have to fear G-d", he stopped. Who can this verse include, that has to be feared like G-d?! Until Rabbi Akivah came along and said "לרבות תלמידי חכמים"- "the rabbis must be feared and respected like one fears Hashem". Rabbi Akivah equated (to a degree) the rabbis and Hashem, so he was the perfect candidate to be the rabbi who takes the place of Hashem for a כפרה. This is why the גמרא says that as his flesh was being combed with iron he cried out "שמע ישראל ה' אלקנו ה' אחד"! Rabbi Akivah was showing us that Hashem was counted as one of the ten that was involved in the sale of Yosef, and that his death was the "כפרה" for Hashem! The Gemarah continues and says "יצאה נשמתו באחד"- "his Neshama left him as he said the word אחד", now we can understand deeper, יצאה נשמתו באחד means- that his soul left him באחד, because of אחד. He died for Hashem to complete the כפרה of the עשרה הרוגי מלכות.

In every generation there are 10 Tzadikim that die, to be מכפר for the 10 that sold Yosef. This is hinted to in the Pasuk, when the brothers were accused by Yosef of being spies "ויאמרו איש אל אחיו אבל אשמים אנחנו"-"they told one another, indeed we are guilty concerning our brother". This is the only Pasuk in the Torah that has six consecutive words that begin with the letter אלף. Each אלף corresponds to another millennium, (א is spelled אלף-a thousand) and there will only be six millennium. Showing that in each generation of the six millennium there will need to be a תיקון-a rectification for the selling of Yosef.

When Yaakov heard the brothers say "שמע ישראל" he responded with"ברוך שם כבוד מלכותו לעולם ועד". What is the significance of ברוך שם, and why say it now? In the Hebrew alphabet there are only 6 letters that are "connected" to the name of Hashem (they appear in front of Hashem’s name) and they are ב',ש',כ',מ',ל',ו', for example; בה' לה' ,שה' . No other letters are connected like these six; this makes these letters very holy. The first letters of "ברוך שם כבוד מלכותו לעולם ועד", are these six letters showing the holiness of this statement.

We say the "ברוך שם" right after "שמע ישראל", the Shema has six words and the Baruch Shem has six words. This is alluded to in the shoulder strap of the אפוד (apron) of the Kohen Gadol, that had six names of tribes on one shoulder and six on the other.

The letter ו' (which is numerically 6) itself hints to the six words of Shema that are said loud, and the six words of Baruch Shem that are said in a whisper. If we spell out the letter ו' it is ו-ו, one of the Vav’s is seen and one is "behind the scenes" that we don’t see (when we see a ו' in a word we only see the letter ו' not its complete spelling of ו-ו). The ו' that is seen corresponds to the six words of Shema said out loud, and the ו' that is not seen corresponds to the six words of Baruch Shem said in an inaudible whisper.

There are a total of 25 letters in the Shema, and there are 24 letters in Baruch Shem. However the Rabbis say to count the statement of Baruch Shem itself as one to make it 25. This is what Moshe Rabeinu was looking for when he was about to kill the Egyptian as the Pasuk says ויפן כה וכה וירא כי אין…. The word כה is numerically 25; Moshe was searching if any of this Egyptians descendants would say Shema and Baruch Shem, which have 25 and 25 letters. When Moshe saw that none of them would, he killed him.

The six words of Baruch Shem are like six wings, and they correspond to the six wings of the angels (like it says in the Pasuk; angels have two wings covering their face, two wings covering their legs, and two wings to fly). This is why when someone accidentally says a ברכה לבטלה (an unnecessary ברכה) he must say Baruch Shem. The simple reason is that since we said Hashem’s name in vain, we want to show that Hashem’s name is still blessed and holy to us, so we say Baruch Shem (blessed is the name of Hashem). We now understand a deeper reason. Normally when someone makes a ברכה the necessity of the ברכה gives it the wings to go up to the שמים, but in the case of a ברכה לבטלה it has no wings to elevate it to שמים, since it wasn’t really necessary. Therefore we say Baruch Shem, to give the ברכה the wings to go up to the שמים.

After the destruction of the temple, יחזקאל had a prophecy of an angel with only four wings instead of six. Which two wings were missing? The middle two-the ones that cover the legs. This is like the Baruch Shem (which as mentioned corresponds to the six wings of the angels) without its two middle words כבוד מלכותו (lit; glory of his kingdom), showing us that now, in the exile, Hashem’s glory is not evident to the world. Therefore we say Baruch Shem in a whisper because today, Hashem’s glory is still hidden. In the future when Hashem’s glory will be shown to all, we will say it in a loud voice. This is why we pray גלה כבוד מלכותך עלינו-that Hashem should reveal his glory to the world and "bring back" the two missing wings of the angels with the words כבוד מלכותו . We now understand a connection between the six words of Baruch Shem and the future Geulah, which is what Yaakov was focusing on.

There is a Beit Hamikdash in Shamayim and we await the time that it will come down onto this world. In Shamayim the Beit Hamikdash and Hashem’s glory is complete, and the כבוד מלכותו is present, therefore the angels in Shamayim have all six wings. (The angels that יחזקאל saw that were missing wings were on this world). That is why on Yom Kippur when we act like angels by not eating, drinking, etc. we say Baruch Shem out loud since we are like the heavenly angels that have all six wings since they have the Beit Hamikdash, and the glory of Hashem is clear.

There are those who say that the 2 wings that were missing from the angels in the prophecy of יחזקאל are the ones that they fly with, that correspond to the last 2 words; לעולם ועד. This was hinted to by Yaakov Avinu when he instructed Yosef to go find his brothers as the Pasuk says:

ויאמר ישראל אל יוסף הלוא אחיך רעים בשכם לכה ואשלחך אליהם ""

"Yaakov said to Yosef, are your brothers not pasturing in Shechem? Go and I will send you to them".

Yaakov knew that the Beit Hamikdash will be destroyed because of שנאת חינם-baseless hatred and this is the reason why it is still not rebuilt in our days. Sensing the discord that existed between the brothers, Yaakov was hinting to Yosef that this trait of שנאה-hatred will cause the of delay of the future redemption. Yaakov said הלא אחיך רעים בשכם the word בשכם stands for ברוך שם כבוד מלכותו without the לעולם ועד, this is what’s going to be lacking in the future before the final גאולה. The next words are לכה ואשלחך which is the first letters of לעולם ועד, to show that this is what needs to be added to Baruch Shem. לכה ואשלחך- go to your brothers and unite with them in שלום as this trait of שלום brings the גאולה שלמה and completes the Baruch Shem.

The first letters of לעולם ועד are ל'ו which is numerically 36. There are 36 books in the Talmud showing that the study of the Talmud adds לעולם ועד to the ברוך שם and brings closer the גאולה.

Rabeinu Hakadosh – רבי יהודה הנשיא was a Gilgul of Yaakov Avinu. The word הנשיא is ר''ת of הוא ניצוץ של יעקב. He arranged the ששה סדרי משנה – the six orders of Mishnayot. These six Sidrei Mishna correspond to the six words of Baruch Shem said by Yaakov Avinu. This is hinted to in several places in the Mishnayot. The Mishnayot begin with the proper time to recite the Shema (with Baruch Shem) in the evening. The last two books of the Mishna are Kodshim and Taharot which correspond to the last two words לעולם ועד – the words that refer to the Geulah. Kodshim and Taharot are the books explaining the laws pertaining to the Beit Hamikdash that will come down from Shamayim in the time of the Geulah.

Yosef Hasadik was so holy, that there were six names of Hashem of.. י-ה contained in his name. Yosef is numerically 156 and 6x הוי'ה (26) =156. When the brothers sold Yosef they actually were "damaging" six times the name of Hashem-הוי'ה. This is hinted to when the brothers said (in the Pasuk mentioned previously) איש אל אחיו אבל אשמים אנחנו, six consecutive words that begin with the letter אלף. The letter אלף -as mentioned by the Rabbi last week- corresponds to the name of Hashem of הוי'ה since אלף is comprised of the letter ו' and two יוד’s which total 26 (6+10+10=26). Six consecutive אלף’s represent the 6 הוי'ה’s that the brothers realized they were פוגם by selling Yosef.

The day of Shabbat and specifically the לחם משנה (the 2 loaves of bread that we eat at each meal on Shabbat) are a תקון-a rectification for the sale of Yosef. The Pasuk in דברים ה' טו speaks of the commandment of Shabbat :

וזכרת כי עבד היית בארץ מצרים ויוצאך.. על כן צוך אלקיך לעשות את יום השבת""

"Remember that you were a slave in Egypt and Hashem has taken you out, therefore Hashem has commanded you to make the Shabbat".

The slave here is really referring to Yosef that was sold as a slave and went down to Egypt and therefore, to rectify this, Hashem has given us the Shabbat.

Specifically the לחם משנה that we eat rectifies the sale of Yosef since the word לחם is numerically 78 (78 is 3 times 26 - הוי'ה). Two לחם’s is 78x2 which is 156, six times Hashem’s name of הוי'ה, showing that this Mitzvah rectifies the six הויות that were נפגם by the sale of Yosef who contained in his name six הויות.

In addition, the לחם משנה is eaten to commemorate the מן (the heavenly bread that fell from Shamayim for the Jews during the stay in the desert). The Pasuk says about the מן :"והיה ביום הששי והכינו את אשר יביאו" "on the sixth day they shall prepare what they brought". Two portions of מן fell on Friday and we have two loaves of bread on Shabbat to commemorate this. Why do we commemorate on Shabbat, a miracle that occurred on Friday? Friday is יום הששי-the sixth day, the number six refers to Yosef. What does Yosef have to do with the number six? Since the sixth Sefirah is יסוד and the צדיק corresponds to this Sefirah as it says צדיק יסוד עולם- a צדיק is one who masters the test of the ברית and is totally pure in that regard, he is called יסוד עולם (literally; the foundation of the earth). Since the ברית is where life starts from and is the foundation of everything, therefore one who masters that area is called צדיק יסוד עולם. Yosef who conquered his יצר הרע of the ברית (as is seen in the episode with the wife of פוטיפר) earned the title צדיק and is therefore connected with יסוד which as mentioned is the sixth Sefirah. (This being a reason why Yosef had specifically six הויותin his name)This is why the sixth Aliyah to the Torah- the Aliyah of ששי – is usually given to the biggest Sadik in the shul. (This is also why by the אושפיזין of Succot-the guests that visit the Succah- the guests do not come in chronological order. It is in the order of the Sefirot, therefore the sixth night is the אושפיזין of Yosef even though Yosef lived before Moshe and Aharon). When the Pasuk says that on the sixth day they received the double portion of מן- which is why on Shabbat we have a double portion of לחם- this hints to the reason for the two לחם’s- the six times הוי'ה – namely, in order to rectify the sale of Yosef who contained six הויות , and was יסוד, represented by the number six-the six day. We also allude to this when we start Kiddush with the words: יום השישי.