It is written: תמים תהיה עם ה’ אלהיך Tamim tihye im Hashem Elokecha, “You shall be pure/perfect with the L-rd your G-d” (Devarim 18:13, Shofetim). The gematria absolute (mispar hechrachi) of this pasuk/verse is 1112. I saw that this is the same gematria of the pasuk ‘ונח מצא חן בעיני ה Ve-Noah matsa chen be’einei Hashem, “And Noah found grace in the eyes of the L-rd” (Bereshit 6:8). Moreover, the next verse says: נח איש צדיק תמים Noah ish tzaddik tamim, “Noah was a just man and perfect etc.” Now, the gematria avgad of the cited verse (from Shofetim) is 421, the same as the expression לישועה L’yeshuah (“For salvation”). And this is my understanding: as Noah was a righteous tam, he found the Divine grace that saved him from the mabul/deluge, while all other human beings perished. To have pure and simple faith – to be a tam – is something that can save a person from his “personal deluge”. Moreover, the tzaddik helps “sweeten” the deluge of others. When the person comes to the tzaddikb’tzedaka (meaning, “giving a tzedaka”), of gematria 201, this mitigates (“sweetens”) the five states of gevurah (corporified in the sofit/final letters mem-nun-tzaddi-pei-chaf), being 201 x 5 = 1005, the gematria of ish tzaddik tamim. Perhaps this can better understood as 1005 / 201 = 5. The righteous takes the tzedaka and “distributes” (divides) it in order to sweeten the gevurot/severities. There is a difference between the ish tzaddik and the ish tsadik tamim, because the gematria of the first is 515, the same as yesharah (“straight”, see the Ari”zal, Sefer HaLikkutim, VaEtchanan), but the attribute of tamim/pure gives a degree yet superior to the tzaddik. In this manner, the wholeness of being comes through righteousness (being “straight”) with the purity and simplicity that honors e makes the tzelemElokim/Divine image shine. We see that מי כה’ אלקינו המגביהי לשבת Mi ka’Hashem Elokeinu hamagbihi la’shavet, “Who is like the L-rd our G-d, who dwells on high” (Tehillim 113:5) has gematria 1005.
As it is written: “Devekut [bonding] with Hashem is one of the 613 commandments. One is obligated, in accordance to ones ability; to make all efforts to properly observe this mitzva, at all times. One must be bonded with Hashem continually, with great yearning, and with sparks of burning love. There is no greater attribute than this, for all things are included in it. The difficulty in achieving it [devekut] is in direct proportion to its level of importance. The one who sanctifies himself below, is sanctified by above by Hashem, until such a time when that one receives a spirit from above which purifies, and sanctifies him. It is an obligation accordingly with you hability to make all efforts in order to fulfill this mitzva in the appropriate way in all moments” (Rabbi Eliezer Papo, Peleh Yoets, Dalet, Devekut). Now, it is written: והאש על המזבח תוקד בו Ve-haesh al-hamizbeach tukad-bo, “And the fire shall be burning always upon the altar; it shall never go out” (Vayikra 6:5). If we consider this pasuk without the initial vav and hei, I realized that its gematria is 981, the same as for ואתם הדבקים ביהוה אלהיכם חיים כלכם היום Ve’atem ha’devekim baHashem Elokeichem chayim kulchem hayom, “But you who held fast to YKVK are alive every one of you this day” (Devarim 4:4, Vaet’chanan) – possibly the most emblematic verse regarding the mitzva of devekut in the Torah (as well as Devarim 10:20 and 13:5). As such, the fire at the altar is the passion for Hashem that needs to burn constantly in the heart of man. Nothing is more transformational than devekut.
Once upon a time there was a rasha that came to a tzaddik saying he wanted to learn Torah. Truly, he did not want to learn, because all he wanted was to disturb the tzaddik. Anyway, the tzaddik said to the rasha: “Let us begin by learning the Alef-Bet. This is the letter Alef“. And the rasha answered him: “How do you know that this is the letter Alef?”. The tzaddik then took the rasha‘s ear and pulled on it. The rasha said: “Ouch, you are stretching my ear!”. And the tzaddik replied: “Who told you this is your ear?” From this mashal/story we learn the nature of the yetser hara/evil inclination. See, she knows well the yetser hatov/good inclination. She says to it: “Go do a mitzva, go study Torah or pray”. However, deep down it does not want any mitzva done. Therefore, when the person goes to fulfill a mitzva, like in the tefillah, the yetser hara comes and disturbs her. Now, the yetser hatov also knows very well the yetser hara, after all they are always at war with one another. So, it says to the yetser hara that this time she is indeed allowed to lead a person into doing an averah (chaz v’shalom). Then, the yetser hara gets happy and comes very close to make a person transgress, yet before that, the yetser hatov pulls away the yetser hara as if it was “pulling on its ears”, moving her far from the averah, leaving it dejected and subjugated. And regarding the words in the parsha Beha’alotecha, הצר הצרר אתכם Chatzer hatzorer etchem, “The enemy who oppresses you” (Bamidbar 10:9), the Shlach HaKodesh says: “These [words] are a very clear allusion to the yetser hara, since no enemy disturbs us more than the Samech-Mem [Satan]… There is a constant struggle between man and his yetser hara. At times, man wins over the yetsar hara, and in other moments, the powers of the Samech-Mem win over man. In any manner, both are constantly involved in a state of war”. Truly, the yetser hara is the “enemy” that brings that which is מרת morat, (“bitter”) to man. And this term has gematriaatbash of 640, the same as the pasukChatzer hatzorer etchem. However, if man learns to subjugate the yetser hara, he then walks in the דרך הקדש derech ha-kodesh, (“holy path”), with gematria 633, the same as the gematria albam of Chatzer hatzorer etchem.
Ka’asher tsiva Hashem et-Moshe vayifkedem bemidbar Sinai, ” As Hashem commanded Moshe, so he counted them in the wilderness of Sinai” (Bamidar 1:19). Behold, the term ויפקדם vayifkedem, (“counted them”) has absolute gematria 240, and surprisingly its gematria atbash is also 240. In the atbash method of gematria, the first letter of the alef-bet – alef – is substituted by the last letter – tav, the second – bet – by the one before last – shin – and so forth and so on, inverting the position of the alef-bet. This method seeks in the term or phrase a “secret message” hidden in the result. Conceptually, the hidden secret in this case is the actual original word itself, meaning that, “to count” is its own Sod – the hidden/intimate level of Torah understanding” – of counting. This is in reality something very profound and at the smae time something that belongs to the nature of numbers. In general, when we think on a number we know that it represents some objetive quantity. To count is the action to find the number of elements in a finite set of objects, to establish a correspondence between the set being counted and a (greater) set of numbers. In another level, to count is “to establish”, in the sense of affirming the existence e identity. As such, the counting of the Bnei Israel identify it in the world in a revealed manner, thus allowing its affirmation as a chosen set/group – its recognition. And regarding the counting, Bamidbar 1:2 uses the expression S’eu et rosh kol adat Bnei Israel, that literally means, “Raise the heads of all children of Israel“. The Shem M’Shmuel in this pasuk comments that, “The census gave strength to the people’s Ego”. That is, the fact that all Jews were counted individually was a manner to emphasize the self-esteem of each Jew that in this way could experience the actual “Raising of his head”.
It is necessary always to remember that Hashem gave to the Jewish People the Land of Israel, as it is written: ראה נתתי לפניכם את-הארץ Ree natati lifneichem et-haArets etc., “Behold, I have set the land before you; go in and possess the land which the L-rd swore to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give to them and to their seed after them” (Devarim 1:8). This land is a great blessing for our people: Ree natati lifneichem et-haArets and ויברך Vayevarech (“And Hashem blessed”, Bereshit 1:22) both have mispar katan mispari equal to 4. The Land/Shechina is the People and the People are the Land. Israel is the name of the People, Israel is the name of the Land. The People are the Land, the Land is the People. Never can the two be separated, ever. For the Jew, the mitzvot are the “spiritual/energetic tentacles” that directly connect him to the Holy Land – a real and true connection. If we had the technological apparatus to see these connections, in fact they would be seen clearly. And this will occur in the future, when “And the glory of the Hashem shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together; for the mouth of the L-rd has spoken it” (Isaiah 40:5). And this is the reason that Jews are instructed by the Torah that warns us not to eat foods that are not kosher, not to connect or reside near people who are not kosher, etc., not to do this or that etc., because the impurities “glue” to people, so to speak, affecting the body, the mind and the individual’s soul – the heart and the thoughts. When the Jew disconnects himself from the teaching of his holy people and soul, he then causes unbalance in all of his being. And since Kol Yisrael Aruvim Zeh BaZeh, “All Israel is interconnected one with another” (Talmud, Shevuot 39a), if a part of the body is ill and sick, then all of the body is thus affected. Moreover, as the “Body of Israel” is the Holy Land, the unbalance caused by those that neglect the Torah affects all of the Holy Land, which suffers with wars and all sorts of problems, just as a body that gets sick. Behold, ראה נתתי לפניכם את-הארץ Ree natati lifneichem et-haArets has absolute gematria of 1993, the same as the whole pasuk/verse: “They come from a far country, from the end of heaven, the L-rd, and the weapons of his indignation, to destroy the whole land” (Isaiah 13:5). However, know that the Messianic Age represents a time of total internal e external transformation that will cause the “realignment” of all these unbalances – in the Land of Israel and in the world as well – that gravely offended the Natural Laws of Hashem, by which He directs all universes. And when the time comes, then it will be the יום יהוה הגדול והנורא Yom Hashem HaGadol Ve’HaNorah, “The great and terrible day of the L-rd” (Malachi 3:23), when His true and only Mashiach will cure the world, imposing the return of the Natural Law – bringing us to how and where we should be. In addition, the absolute gematria of this prophet’s pasuk is 398, the same as for משחים meshuchim, “anointed”. Moreover, the land will again be raised to the natural stage of the Gan Eden‘s peace and order, amen.
It is written: “Just as all of the holy partzufim ‘groups of sefirot’ have intellect; the same is true with all of the impure partzufim, both masculine and feminine. However, the difference is this: the evil masculine and feminine partzufim only have two mochin/brains [chochmah and binah], while the masculine holy partzufim have three: chochmah, binah and da’at. The feminine holy partzufim also have only two mochin [chochmah and binah], because as we are taught, ‘The da’at from women is light’ [Talmud, Shabbat 33b]” (the Ari”zal, Etz Chayim 48:2). Chochmah is the flash of insight that penetrates through the veil of the subconscious in the conscious mind. It is an ephemeral experience, since by its own nature, the insight is foreign to the mental structure in which it is introduced. As a foreign entity, if it is not integrated in the mind in some manner, it simply vanishes and it is forgotten. Hence, it is the job of binah (the rational mind) to integrate this new insight in the mental structures and thinking patterns that the individual already has. This is a process of “translation and evaluation”: translating the insight in familiar terms and evaluating the existing mental structures and ideas in terms of the new insight. This new insight confirms or contradicts that which the person already knows and believes, and if there is a “confirmation”, what is its extension and so forth and so on. As such, binah “distinguishes” (from the Hebrew bein, the root of binah) between reality as it is now reflected in the insight and how it was conceived before the insight; thus rebuilding (from the Hebrew boneh) the person’s mentality in the “dawn of the insight”. Even so, all is mental abstract activity. It is the third intellectual component’s function, da’at, to bring relevance and significance to this new mental construct of reality in the person’s daily understanding: Now that I understand reality in a new and more elevated manner, what can this understanding say about the way in which I have lived my life? How should I live it thereafter? Now we can begin to see the essential difference between good and evil, or more precisely, holiness and the mundane. The drive of the holy intellect is a focus on seeking the insight’s relevance, comprehension and knowledge. The evil intellect does not possess this drive. It is completely content to focus solely in the insight’s experience – in the “wow” or “momentary dazzling”, without being “polluted” with its moral preoccupations or relevance. For this kind of intellect, life is just a progression of sterile experiences, exciting in it of itself, but that do not produce any durable fruit or changes in the person’s life or society. This is the reason, thousands study Torah, in particular Kabbalah, and yet nothing truly significant happens, to wit, there is no real transformation, implying on a needed growth in halachic observance. This is what matter if the individual wishes to calibrate himself to Hashem. What happens is that all is mostly treated as a new form of entertainment, and the mindless “wow” experience from listening to the lofty concepts. There are further conclusions, for another time and place.
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