A Good Ending – Behaalotcha
וְזֶה מַעֲשֵׂה הַמְּנֹרָה מִקְשָׁה זָהָב עַד יְרֵכָהּ עַד פִּרְחָהּ מִקְשָׁה הִוא כַּמַּרְאֶה אֲשֶׁר הֶרְאָה ה' אֶת מֹשֶׁה כֵּן עָשָׂה אֶת הַמְּנֹרָה. (במדבר ח, ד).
In a previous shiur (Mikeitz 2024) we discussed the umbilical connection between the Menorah and the Torah, how every element in the Menorah parallels a Torah construct.
In this shiur we will be focusing on one specific element of the Menorah, the גְבִעִים, cups and hopefully obtain a deep insight into the power of Lashon HaKodesh and how our entire existence is dependent on it.
The first time we find the word גָּבִיעַ in the Torah, is in connection with Yosef, when he instructed his son Menashe to hide his cup in Binyamin's sack of wheat. Until now, the concept of a "cup" in the Torah was referred to by the term כּוֹס, like in the story with שַׂר הַמַּשְׁקִים. Pharaoh uses a כּוֹס and Yosef uses a גָּבִיעַ. Why the difference? You could say that Yosef changed his cup to be different from Pharaoh's because he did not want to appear to be equating himself with the king of Egypt.
However, R' Tzadok HaKohen of Lublin says that the name גָּבִיעַ embodies something deeper – the foundations of Am Yisrael. The ג represents the three Avot, the בי (or יב) represents the twelve sons of Yaakov and the ע represent the seventy souls that descended to Egypt. This was the foundation from which Am Yisrael emerged.
Using this principle, that the word גָּבִיעַ is synonymous with the "foundation" of something, let us examine how the גְבִעִים are the entire foundation of the Menorah.
There are twenty-two גְבִעִים in total in the Menorah corresponding to the twenty-two letters in the alef bet.
According to the Megaleh Amukot, the twenty-two letters in Lashon HaKodesh correspond to twenty-two "pipes" צִנּוֹרוֹת, through which HKB"H created and sustains the world. Using the twenty-two letters of Lashon HaKodesh, HKB"H created everything (including all the כֵּלִים in the Mikdash). The Menorah is unique among the כֵּלִים, as it directly embodies this secret of twenty-two, via the גְבִעִים. Let's read the Megaleh Amukot from the source -
קִשּׁוּי הַמְּנוֹרָה הָיָה עַל סוֹד כ"ב אוֹתִיּוֹת הַתּוֹרָה שֶׁהָיוּ מִתְּחִלָּה מְקֻשָּׁרִים וּמְקֻשִּׁים דָּא לְדָא. קֹדֶם שֶׁחָטָא אד"הר לֹא הָיוּ רַק כ"ב אוֹתִיּוֹת הַתּוֹרָה חט"ה מְלֵאָה אח"כ כְּשֶׁחָטָא וְנִרְגָּן מַפְרִיד גָּרַם חֵט וְנִפְרְדָה ה' מִן חִטָּה וְהָלַךְ אַחַר ה' חוּשָׁיו גָּרַם לָה' אוֹתִיּוֹת שֶׁנִּתְוַסְּפוּ בא"ב וְהֵם מנצפ"ך שֶׁהִפְרִידוּ וְחָלְקוּ הָאוֹתִיּוֹת לִהְיוֹת מְגֻלִּין כָּל תֵּבָה בִּפְנֵי עַצְמָהּ. (מגלה עמוקות על התורה, בהעלותך)
When HKB"H created Adam HaRishon, there were only twenty-two letters if the alef bet, gematria חִטָּה (according to the opinion that the fruit of the עֵץ הַדַּעַת was wheat). After Adam HaRishon sinned, the letter ה was separated from חִטָּה, leaving the word חֵט, sin (without the alef). Instead of listening to what HKB"H commanded him, Adam followed his five (ה) senses and as a result, five extra letters were added to the alef bet, the letters known as "mantzepach" – מנצפ"כ. Before the sin, these letters were all complete (unbroken) and stood up straight – םןץףך, however, as a result of the sin, five new letters were added which were now incomplete/broken and bent over in shame - מנצפ"כ.
The Megaleh Amukot teaches us that before Adam's sin, no distinction was made with these five letters, whether they were at the end of the word or not. They always appeared the same wherever they were in the word, for example the word "king" originally appeared as םלך (not מלך), the word "miracle" appeared as ןס (not נס), and so on. However, because of Adam's sin, these original letters retained their former glory only when they were at the end of a word. If, however, they appear in the beginning or middle of a word, they now assume an incomplete and bent shape.
We all commonly know these five as the "sofit" (end) letters and many incorrectly assume that it was these "end" letters that were added after the sin, although the opposite is the case – the end letters were the originals.
There are very few languages where the same letters assume different shapes depending where they appear in a word. In English for example, there is no difference – e.g. a letter "t" looks the same in the words - "tree", "cat", "catch". In Arabic on the other hand, most letters differ if they are at the beginning, middle or end of the word (more complicated/convoluted than Hebrew). Greek also has letters that have different form based on position in the word. Hebrew is the only language that has different letters for the end only.
The Megaleh Amukot says that HKB"H first created the world using the twenty-two letters of Lashon HaKodesh בְּרֵאשִׁית בָּרָא אֱ-לֹקִים אֵת הַשָּׁמַיִם וְאֵת הָאָרֶץ (בראשית א, א), i.e אֵת – all the letters from א-ת. However, after Adam sinned, the passuk says אֵלֶּה תוֹלְדוֹת הַשָּׁמַיִם וְהָאָרֶץ בְּהִבָּרְאָם (בראשית ב, ד), HKB"H added an extra five letters בְּ-"ה"-בָּרְאָם, i.e the letters מנצפ"כ, which gave rise to impurity in the world, רוּחַ הַטּוּמְאָה (which is 280 in gematria – פר). This is why Adam brought a sacrifice of a one horned פַּר, to do teshuva for his sin.
The passuk says זֶה סֵפֶר תּוֹלְדֹת אָדָם (בראשית ה, א). Before the sin, the Torah was round and complete like the letter ס. After Adam sinned, he added רוּחַ הַטּוּמְאָה to the world (פר). Therefore, you now have סֵפֶר - the ס together with the פר. In addition, the letter ס split into two bent letters "nun", one in the normal direction נ and the other reversed ׆. This reversed letter ׆ appears later in our parsha –
׆ וַיְהִי בִּנְסֹעַ הָאָרֹן וַיֹּאמֶר מֹשֶׁה קוּמָה ה' וְיָפֻצוּ אֹיְבֶיךָ וְיָנֻסוּ מְשַׂנְאֶיךָ מִפָּנֶיךָ. וּבְנֻחֹה יֹאמַר שׁוּבָה ה' רִבְבוֹת אַלְפֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל. ׆
According to some opinions, these two psukkim are considered a complete sefer on their own and divide sefer Bamidbar into two parts. According to this opinion there are not five books in the Torah, but seven! The Ari z"l says that anyone who recites these above two psukkim, וַיְהִי בִּנְסֹעַ and וּבְנֻחֹה יֹאמַר with kavannah, will not be harmed by evil influences. This concludes the perush of the Megaleh Amukot relevant to our shiur.
In Meir Panim (פרק יד, ע' קמה) I show how the number five is connected to שִׂמְחָה, (e.g. the letters חָמֵשׁ and שָׂמֵחַ are the same and mirror images of each other) and that Adam HaRishon's sin involved a lack of שִׂמְחָה in his service of HKB"H, which correlates with the Megaleh Amukot's description of how the ה was separated from חִטָּה. The Lechem HaPanim, which is atonement for this sin, involves multiples of the number five (e.g. the dimension of the bread before it is folded is 10X5 tefachim).
The shape of the Lechem HaPanim looks like the letter "caf" (שם, פרק יג, ע' קמ). Which "caf"? The original one ך or the added, "mantzepach" כ? Meir Panim says that this is essence of the machloket between R' Chanina and R' Yochanan (מנחות צד, ע"ב) over the shape of the Lechem HaPanim, whether it was a straight ך or a rounded כ. The opinions reflect two different realities, a perfect reality before Adam's sin, a straight ך and the bent כ after his sin. The Lechem HaPanim in the מִקְדָּשׁ שֶׁל מַעְלָה is the straight ך and that in the מִקְדָּשׁ שֶׁל מַטָּה is the bent כ.
When Yosef wanted to test the brothers, to see if they had done teshuva or not, he told his son Menashe to "plant" the גָּבִיעַ in Binyamin's sack of חִטָּה. Yosef wanted to see if the brothers were still afflicted by the sin of Adam HaRishon, whether the ה was separated from חִטָּה, or if they were reunited once more. This was a critical test, because it would show if the structure of גָּבִיעַ was still intact or not. The twelve brothers were the link between the three Avot and the seventy souls that form Am Yisrael. If the twelve "link" was incomplete, then Am Yisrael could not emerge and the sin of Adam HaRishon could not be atoned for. The whole story of Yosef's appeasement with his brothers contains hints to the sin of Adam with חִטָּה and multiples of the number five (e.g. he gave one set of clothes as a gift to each of the ten brothers and to Binyamin he gave five sets of clothes (בראשית מה, כב) = 10 X 5 = the dimensions of the Lechem HaPanim. The Lechem HaPanim is "bent" on the 10 tefachim axis, indicating the sin of the ten brothers, of selling Yosef to Egypt.
The reconciliation of the twelve brothers laid the foundation for the emergence of Am Yisrael and set into motion the passage of atonement for the sin of Adam HaRishon.
When HKB"H wreaks a punishment or nisayon in the world, at the same time, He embeds the cure and the solution. When HKB"H added the five "mantzepach" letters to Lashon HaKodesh, within them He embedded the solution.
Actually, the correct order of the letters (in the alef bet) is not מנצפ"כ, but rather כמנפ"צ. So why do we refer to them as מנצפ"כ? The Gemara (Shabbat 104a) says - מנצפ"ך, צוֹפִים אֲמָרוּם, that the prophets (also called צוֹפִים) revealed to us the secrets of מנצפ"כ, which sort of rhymes with צוֹפִים, however the actual order is כמנפ"צ.
The Midrash (במדבר רבה, קרח, פר' יח, כא) tells us that the five letters of כמנפ"צ embody five stages of Geulah.
The first is when Avraham was redeemed from the furnace of Ur Casdim, לֵךְ לְךָ (בראשית יב, א) – double ך.
The second was when Yitzchak was saved from Avimelech, וַיֹּאמֶר אֲבִימֶלֶךְ אֶל יִצְחָק לֵךְ מֵעִמָּנוּ כִּי עָצַמְתָּ מִמֶּנּוּ (בראשית כו, טז) – double מ.
The third was when Yaakov was saved from Eisav, הַצִּילֵנִי נָא מִיַּד אָחִי מִיַּד עֵשָׂו (בראשית לב, יב) – double נ.
The fourth was when Moshe returned to Egypt with HKB"H's "code word" for the Geulah פָּקֹד פָּקַדְתִּי אֶתְכֶם (שמות ג, טז) – double פ.
The fifth and final Geulah is when HKB"H sends Mashiach, הִנֵּה אִישׁ צֶמַח שְׁמוֹ וּמִתַּחְתָּיו יִצְמָח וּבָנָה אֶת הֵיכַל ה' (זכריה ו, יב) – double צ.
The letters מנצפ"כ are called the end, "sofit" letters, not because they appear at the end of a word, but because they appear at the end … of time.
Getting back to our starting point in the shiur – the Menorah. Although all the כֵּלִים in the Mishkan were created with the twenty-two letters of Lashon HaKodesh and they all, in their own way, complete part of the atonement for the sin of Adam HaRishon, the Menorah is a kind of a "conglomeration" of them all in one. All the symbolisms and purposes of all the other כֵּלִים in the Mishkan are embedded within the Menorah. This is not surprising, since the Menorah symbolizes the Torah, which embodies everything. This is what the passuk means when it says - וְזֶה מַעֲשֵׂה הַמְּנֹרָה מִקְשָׁה – it is an integral unit of all the other parts.
A few examples -
מִקְשָׁה זָהָב refers to the Aron and the Kruvim (מִקְשָׁה תַּעֲשֶׂה אֹתָם).
אֶל מוּל פְּנֵי הַמְּנוֹרָה refers to the Shulchan (לֶחֶם פָּנִים לְפָנַי תָּמִיד).
וַיַּעַשׂ כֵּן אַהֲרֹן refers to the Kiyor (אֵת הַכִּיּוֹר ... וְאֵת כַּנּוֹ).
יְרֵכָהּ (which Rashi calls אֵבֶר גָּדוֹל) refers to the large קְרָשִׁים (וְהַבְּרִיחַ הַתִּיכֹן בְּתוֹךְ הַקְּרָשִׁים).
פִּרְחָהּ (which Rashi calls מַעֲשֶׂה דַּק) refers to the קְטֹרֶת which is finely pounded (וְשָׁחַקְתָּ מִמֶּנָּה הָדֵק) and whose ingredients are largely derived from … flowers.
בְּהַעֲלֹתְךָ אֶת הַנֵּרֹת refers to the Mizbach HaOlah (אֵשׁ תָּמִיד תּוּקַד עַל הַמִּזְבֵּחַ).
The eleven כַּפְתּוֹרִים refer to the eleven coverings of the Ohel (עַשְׁתֵּי עֶשְׂרֵה יְרִיעֹת תַּעֲשֶׂה אֹתָם)
etc.
After that brief introduction we can now begin the shiur.
Since the (most recent) war with our enemies began on October 7, I have managed to maintain a strong faith that all of this is leading in a good, positive direction, כָּל דְּעָבִד רַחֲמָנָא לְטָב עָבִד and that we are in advanced stages of the Geulah. There is no other logical way to explain what is going on in the world right now, we are unquestionably experiencing events of a biblical/apocalyptic scale.
For the first time since the war began, this week I experienced an unprecedented feeling of despair as we were deluged by waves and waves of inexplicable hatred, animosity and lunacy (there is no other word to describe it) … not from our enemies without, but from our own people – within!
The Charedi parties working to topple the government because they have not yet passed a law regarding conscription of the Charedi sector. A deranged (there is no other word to describe it) leader of the radical left-wing party who said that the IDF kills "Palestinian" babies as a hobby, thereby inciting (even more of) the world against us. The fanatics who have run out of derogatory words to label prime minister Netanyahu, from gangster Pablo Escobar, to dictator Kim Jong Un, to Hitler, to Satan, to evil incarnate, to … (is there anything worse than evil incarnate?), inciting to physically kill him! From left wing activists with no red lines who plan to disrupt the upcoming wedding of the prime minister's son Avner, to right wing infighting over the appointment of Daniel Hershkowitz as the Civil Service Commissioner, the hypocritical media, the deep state with progressive agendas, etc. etc. …
For the first time I actually understand what it must have felt like just prior to the destruction of Bayit Sheini, to experience Am Yisrael implode in upon ourselves, from so many directions all at once. The parallels to Zecharia ben Avkulas, Bar Kamtza and other characters in the descriptions in Masechet Gitin (56a) are horrifying and paralyzing … including the wedding.
I keep trying to remind myself that these are minorities (albeit loud ones), but minorities nonetheless and that the majority of Am Yisrael (as represented by our brave soldiers on the front) is sane and has their heads screwed on right. However, even the sane majority cannot seem to stop this irrational self-destruct mechanism within our own nation that threatens once again to plunge us into an inescapable spiral of oblivion. It is impossible to describe the feeling of helplessness in the face of such a tsunami of "national psychosis", that no matter how hard one tries, to daven, to do chessed, to get closer to HKB"H, to be mekarev others, to add light in the darkness … it seems that the momentum of the event is just too large and unstoppable.
And then it suddenly dawned on me. It is too large and impossible for us to fix on our own. There is no way we can fix this on our own … and that is the point, we have to stop trying to fix it all on our own! That is not the way the Geulah is going to take place. It is not going to come about as a result of new laser weapons, or new methods of distributing food in Gaza, or convincing European or Asian countries to allow Gazan refugees in, or launching an air strike against Iran's nuclear facilities. That is not how it is going to happen.
I will tell you how it is going to happen, or more accurately, I will tell you how the Midrash tells us it is going to happen.
אָמַר רַבִּי יִצְחָק שָׁנָה שֶׁמֶּלֶךְ הַמָּשִׁיחַ נִגְלָה בּוֹ כָּל מַלְכֵי אֻמּוֹת הָעוֹלָם מִתְגָּרִים זֶה בָּזֶה מֶלֶךְ פָּרַס מִתְגָּרֶה בְּמֶלֶךְ עַרְבִיָּא וְהוֹלֵךְ מֶלֶךְ עַרְבִיָּא לְאֶדֹם לִטֹּל עֵצָה מֵהֶם וְחוֹזֵר מֶלֶךְ פָּרַס וּמַחֲרִיב אֶת כָּל הָעוֹלָם כֻּלּוֹ וְכָל אֻמּוֹת הָעוֹלָם מִתְרַעֲשִׁים וּמִתְבַּהֲלִים וְנוֹפְלִים עַל פְּנֵיהֶם וְיֶאֱחֹז אוֹתָם צִירִים כְּצִירֵי יוֹלֵדָה וְיִשְׂרָאֵל מִתְרַעֲשִׁים וּמִתְבַּהֲלִים וְאוֹמְרִים לְהֵיכָן נֵלֵךְ וּלְהֵיכָן נָבוֹא. וְאוֹמָר לָהֶם בָּנַי אַל תִּתְיָרְאוּ כָּל מָה שֶׁעָשִׂיתִי לֹא עָשִׂיתִי אֶלָּא בִּשְׁבִילְכֶם מִפְּנֵי מָה אַתֶּם מִתְיָרְאִים אַל תִּירָאוּ, הִגִּיעַ זְמַן גְּאֻלַּתְכֶם. (פְּסִיקְתָּא רַבָּתִי, לו)
The Geulah is not going to happen in a calm way, or where everything looks like it is going our way. It is going emerge from a state of panic, both around the world and within Am Yisrael. It is going to happen … when we run out of solutions to solve it on our own. It is going to happen, not because we are worthy, but because HKB"H loves us regardless and for His own glory.
I, Eliezer Meir Saidel, cannot solve the Charedi conscription puzzle. I cannot solve the deep state progressive delusion. I cannot solve the irrational hatred of Judaism amongst the radical left. I cannot solve America trying to make a deal with Iran at all costs. I cannot solve the UK, France, Canada and Norway trying to establish a Palestinian state.
There is only one thing I can do. I can daven to HKB"H and beseech Him to solve all these problems – He surely can solve all of them in the wink of an eye and then some … I can do what is in my power, my maximum hishtadlut (without excuses). To try to get closer to HKB"H in any way that is appropriate/possible for me, at my level. To do chessed for those closest to me, my family, my neighbors, my work colleagues – random acts of kindness, without expecting anything in return. To stop myself lashing out and retaliating against those who anger or insult me. These things I can do … and they are powerful things.
Because if everyone does only what they are capable of doing, to the best of their ability and leave the rest up to HKB"H, then there will be some people in Am Yisrael for whom the "best of their ability" is helping to solve the Charedi conscription issue, others for whom the "best of their ability" is preventing Iran from getting nuclear weapons, and so on, until, all together, all doing what we do best and not trying to solve problems we have no power over, doing what we all can and leaving the rest up to HKB"H – that is how the Geulah is going to arrive.
The Menorah is based on the principle of גָּבִיעַ, an unbreakable chain that forms Am Yisrael. That is not to discount that at times, the links in the chain will be weak, like with Yosef and his brothers, but we know from past experience that these malfunctions can be fixed and the integrity of the chain restored.
The Menorah is based on the twenty-two "pipes" of Lashon HaKodesh from which all of Creation exists, which we can barely understand, but reflects the infinity that is HKB"H, Who wields absolute power over everything. Moshe could not build the Menorah on his own, HKB"H had to help him build it.
The Menorah is lit by Aharon HaKohen, not necessarily lit (it can be lit by someone who is not a Kohen), but the lights have to be fixed by a Kohen (הֲטָבַת הַנֵּרוֹת), because only a Kohen, or someone who has the mentality of a Kohen, can "fix" the lights in Am Yisrael, through their love and pursuit of שָׁלוֹם.
When we begin to think with that mindset, then there is no despair, there is only work to be done … lots of work, repairing our relationship with our fellow Jews and HKB"H.
