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Friday Night
THE SEFER IS called
Shemos
because it is the second word of the first parsha, “These are the names…” But
there seems to be more to this than might be the case with the other four
books of the Torah, since this week’s parsha
begins with an education about God’s names.
In last week’s parsha, Moshe Rabbeinu insisted on
having God tell him in whose name the Jewish people were being redeemed,
and though God obliged him, in this week’s parsha He criticized Moshe for asking
the question. Also, in this week’s parsha,
Pharaoh rejects Moshe’s request to let the people leave for three days
because he doesn’t recognize the Name of God, which is different than the
one that God had told Moshe.
One of the reasons
why Bible “critics” have often put forward the idea that the Torah had
multiple authors, is the different names used to refer to God. They have
assumed that God only needs one name, making it seem as if they never did
a thorough job of researching the reason for each one used. It seems that
just about every critic of the Torah, “professional” or amateur, has
turned a blind eye to the traditions handed down for generations that
explain the names, and put everything into the proper perspective.
A name in general
is an interesting topic. The English word does not hint to very much, but
the Hebrew word—shem—does.
It is the same letters as the word shumm—there,
a location word as in, “He’s standing over there.” A Hebrew name is more than just
a way to identify someone. It “locates” them as a person, which is why,
as the Arizal
explains, Jewish parents get divine assistance (Ruach HaKodesh) when
choosing the Hebrew name for their child.
By “locate” we do
not mean physically, because just pointing at someone can do that too. We
mean spiritually, as in identifying the nature of a person. This is why
so many names in Tanach
seem strange to us, as if they are a conjugation of different words and
ideas, making almost a sentence. They are, and a message about the person
they describe.
In the Chumash, the names
were actually prophecies about a person’s path in life, specifically with
respect to the Shevatim.
The names given by the Avos
predicted the future lives of their children, and in particular, critical
moments that would define their lives for good or for bad. During the
millennium of prophecy, it was not uncommon to ask a prophet for the name
of a child. It was never an issue of which names the parents liked and
wanted to call the child. It was about giving a name that would
eventually help the child to better understand themself.
We’re here, not to
make just any
name for ourselves, but to live up to our
own.
Shabbos Day
SEFER SHEMOS IS
about the freedom of the Jewish people from Egyptian slavery. The names
mentioned seem more incidental than actually a part of the story. Now, it
would seem that names are an essential part of the redemption process.
The truth is, there
is no greater freedom in life than knowing who you are. That sounds
trivial, especially given the extremely difficult forms of exile there
are in the world, physical and spiritual. But life is a journey to
authentic selfhood, and so many people just don’t take it, too busy just
trying to survive.
The meaning of
names has not only to do with people, but also is true of places. For example,
Mitzrayim
is comprised of two parts, meitzer—boundary,
and yumm (Yud-Mem), which has
a gematria
of fifty. Mitzrayim
therefore was a place whose ideology constricted fifty, or more
specially, the Fifty
Gates of Understanding, the basis of Torah life.
Yisroel, as we
learned from Ya’akov Avinu’s
battle with the angel, means that Ya’akov struggled with an angel and men
(Lavan and Eisav) and prevailed. On other occasions, I’ve explained that
this does not refer to Ya’akov’s physical
prowess, but his spiritual
prowess. He was able to see the hand of God in all that happened to him
despite how people like Eisav, Lavan, and Shechem made it seem as if they
worked alone.
Even though God
officially changed Ya’akov’s name to Yisroel,
the name still impacts history. The final 2,000 years of history are
called Ikvesa
d’Meshicha—Heels of Moshiach.
It is not a coincidence that the trials and tribulations preceding the
arrival of Moshiach
have the same three letters of Ya’akov,
especially since it was Eisav’s heel that Ya’akov held onto at birth, and
Eisav has been the source of most of those trials and tribulations.
This from the Arizal provides
another insight into Ya’akov’s name:
After that, when
Ya’akov and Eisav emerged they were b’sod
Hevel and Kayin. Ya’akov was born with his hand grasping the
heel of Eisav. He grabbed [the heel of Eisav because that is where] the
good portion of the firstborn [was], which Eisav had taken. [In the heel
was where] the good of Kayin had been mixed together with the evil as
mentioned above, b’sod,
“you will bite his heel.” As a result of the heel he took
from him, he was called “Ya’akov.” After that, when [Ya’akov] fathered
Yissachar he bequeathed to him the good portion that he took from Eisav,
which had been the good from Kayin. This is the sod of [the verse], “So he lay with her that night” (Bereishis 30:16),
because Ya’akov himself is called this, because of the heel mentioned
that he put into Leah b’sod
a pairing, and from that Yissachar was born. This is what is
written in the Midrash
Ne’elam of Rus,
that Rebi Akiva came from Yissachar, who is the heel that was
mentioned. (Sha’ar
HaGilgulim, Ch. 38)
It’s all quite kabbalistic, and
requires more background information to understand what it actually
means. But it does show how Ya’akov’s name even made an impact on Rebi
Akiva’s life millennia later, as the name “Akiva” (it has aikev—heel in it)
indicates.
Seudas Shlishis
AND OF COURSE,
there was the name of Moshe Rabbeinu.
The entire episode of Moshe’s early life is rather unique and
borders on the absurd. I used to think that the Jewish people were the
only ones crazy enough to let their enemy into the “palace.” Apparently
Pharaoh did the same thing by allowing Moshe to grow up in his place of
residence and to participate in his government.
Also amazing is the
source of Moshe’s name. It did not come from his own parents, but from
his foster mother, Basya (Bisia according to the proper pronunciation):
The child grew up, and she brought him to
Pharaoh’s daughter, and he became like her son. She named him Moshe,
saying, “For I drew him from the water.” (Shemos 2:10)
She must have had Ruach HaKodesh too,
because she was spot on. We can assume that Moshe had already been named
by his parents since he had been three months old already when she found
him in the Nile. Yet, we never hear about that name.
According to Chizkuni it was
actually Yocheved who called him Moshe, and later told Pharaoh’s daughter
the name. She agreed to its appropriateness since, as she says in the
verse, “I drew him from the water.” This would explain why the verse says
she only him named him Moshe after he had already grown up, and not when
she had found him.
Ibn Ezra says that Bisia called Moshe the Egyptian name
Munius, which the Torah translates into Hebrew as Moshe. The Yalkut Shimoni says
that Moshe had ten other names, each instructive about who he was and
what he did: Yered, Avigdor, Chever, Avi Socho, Yekusiel, Avi Zanoach,
Toviah, Shemayah, Ben Evyatar, Levi. The Gemora also mentions this as well (Megillah 13a).
So why then, of all
the names Moshe had, was he called Moshe? For one, Moshe is spelled Mem-Shin-Heh, which
stands for Moshe, Shais, and Hevel, all of his reincarnations in reverse.
Secondly, the gematria
of Moshe is 40+300+5, which equal 345. If you subtract the gematria of Hevel
from his name, which is 37, you get 308, the gematria of Korach who challenged Moshe
and who was the reincarnation of Kayin, Hevel’s brother who killed him (Shem M’Shmuel).
And if you subtract
the gematria
of Moshe (345) from the gematria
of Moshiach
(358), it equals 13. Aside from being the gematria of ahavah—love, and echad—one, 13 is the
number of traits of mercy that we invoke to be saved from anything, and
the number of tikunim—rectifications—on
the level of Arich
Anpin, the level of divine light from which all redemptions
come. It is the light that will be necessary to allow Moshe Rabbeinu to
reincarnate as the final redeemer of the Jewish people.
What’s in a name?
Sometimes, not much. Other times, untold insights and secrets about life
and history.
Ain Od Milvado,
Part 35
EVEN THOUGH GOD
told Moshe from the outset that Pharaoh would not heed his demand, He
didn’t tell Moshe that his demand would worsen the situation. Therefore,
a distraught Moshe Rabbeinu
complained bitterly to God at the end of last week’s parsha that it did
get worse, and he was censored by God for it.
It would seem that
Moshe Rabbeinu
didn’t yet understand the true nature of the redemption he was supposed
to be orchestrating on behalf of God. It hadn’t been only about freeing
the Jewish people from Egyptian slavery, but about freeing them from any
dependency on anything else other than God. Moshe had to fail, and badly,
so that when the redemption did come, it would be clear to all that it
was totally the work of God.
Why did it make a
difference, especially if God didn’t care about getting credit for
anything? If he doesn’t need our praise, then why did He want to be clear
that redemption comes only from Him?
Because the moment
we depend upon anything else other than God, we are compromised.
Everything else other than God has lackings, needs, dependencies, etc.
Consequently, this often means that success and fulfillment comes with a
price, and that leads to personal compromise.
Since God needs
nothing, and there is nothing we can give Him that He doesn’t already
have. Being perfect, everything He does for us is for our good and our
good only. Since He doesn’t have to look out for Himself, He can look out
for us only. Any demands He makes on us are, by definition, for our own
good and not His at all.
Ain od Milvado does not only mean that
there are no powers but God. It also means that He is the only one who
can be totally concerned about us, and in Whom we can trust to act on our
behalf at all times without any ulterior motives. This may be a little
abstract and require trust and faith, but it is a price we pay only to
ourselves since it only enhances our sense of calm.
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