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SeudatHodayahSchreiberPart2JerusalemPurimKatan5774
HaravYitzchakGinsburgh
(Notestakenduringclass,notreviewednoreditedbyHaravGinsburgh)
3.TheholyOilofAnointmentThesagesidentifytheallusiontoMordechaiinthisweeksparashah,KiTissa,thisis
thusthelinkbetweenthetwo.TheTorahsays,Andyou,takeforyourselfspicesofthe
finestsort:ofpuremyrrhfivehundred[shekelweights];offragrantcinnamonhalfofit
twohundredandfifty[shekelweights];offragrantcanetwohundredandfifty[shekel
weights].Thewordspuremyrrh(
)aretranslatedbyOnkelosintoAramaicas,meira dachya ( ).The allusions
forEsther andHaman are from theHebrewofother
verses,
but
Mordechai
is
special
because
his
allusion
appears
in
the
Torahs
Aramaictranslation.Mordechai isa tzadikwho translatestheTorah
forhisgeneration,
whoknowshisgenerationsnovel teachings.He is
theheadofhisgeneration,andas
suchheistheirmindsetandtheirwayofthinking.
Thewordtranslatedaspureabove,
,literallymeansfree.Thecommentariesexplain that tobe free is
tobepure, free from imprisonment, like a freebird. So the
wordspuremyrrhcanbeunderstoodasafreeman.
TheRokeach:AnointingofthreekingsalludedtointheversesThere are a
number of differentmitzvahs in our parashah. One of them is the
mitzvahto
make
the
Oil
of
Anointment,
amitzvah
that
pertains
to
both
the
Priests
and
to theKings, the leaders of the generation.ThewordMashiachmeans
the anointed
one,andheissonamedbecauseheisanointedbythisoil.IntheArizalsterminology,
theOilofAnointment isanexampleof the inneraspectofAbba is the
inneraspectof
Atik.
TheBaalHarokeachteachesthatthethephrase,Oilofholyanointment(
)appears three times asanallusion to the threekings
thatwereanointedwith
it:Saul,David,andSolomon.TheseweretheJewishpeoplesfirstthreekings,andtheyall
reigned over the entire people. The use of the oil of anointment
to anoint a king is
actuallynotevenmentionedinthisweeksparashah,onlytheanointingoftheTabernacle
and
its
vessels
(altogether
13
things
are
anointed).
Nonetheless,
with
this
teaching,
the
Rokeach is tellingus thatthemainpurposeof theoilofanointment
istoanointkings.
FollowingwhatwelearntfromtheAvneiNezer,wecansaythattheanointmentofakingisnotpartofthemitzvahsrequirements,butitisahidur,thelifeofthemitzvah.These
weretheonlythreekingsthatwereanointedwiththisoil.
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SaulsanointmentwiththeoilofanointmentandtheconnectiontoMordechaiTheChidahsaysthatthereareanumberofcommentaries(theRadak,theAbarbanel,
andtheKliYakar)whomissedthatSaulwasalsoanointedwiththeOilofAnointmenttheyunderstood
thatSaulwasonlyanointedwith theApharsemonoil.But,hewrites
thattheBaalHarokeach
iscorrect,thatSaulwasanointedwiththeoilofanointment.
Now Mordechai is hinted to and alluded to in the words
describing the Oil of
Anointment,aswesaidandheisadirectdescendantofSaulthesonofKish.
FreemyrrhandpassingmyrrhThe Arizal explains thatMordechai is the
light of the foundation of Abba that
reachesall thewaydown tothe
foundationofZeerAnin,andappearsrevealedat
thetopoftheworldofCreation,therebypassingbeyondtherevelationofthefoundationof
Nukva.Thisisalludedtointheidiomthatthewordmyrrh()appearsin,intheSongofSongs.Theidiomthereismyrrhthatpasses(
).Letsseeagematria.SinceMordechaiisboththepuremyrrh(
)inthisweeks
parashahandhe is themyrrh thatpasses ) ( in theSongofSongs,what
is thenumericalrelationshipbetweenthetwo?
Puremyrrh(
)equals650,amultipleofHavayah(26)andathereforealsoamultipleof13.
Ifwe subtractMordechai ),274 ) from650 ( ), thedifference is376,
thevalueofPeace(
).InMegillatEstheritsaysthat,Mordechaisoughtpeaceforallhisoffspring
( ).
InourowngenerationMordechaiandShalomcametogetherinthefigureofafatherandhissonwhosenameswereMordechaiandShalom
[Lapid].ThetwoweremurderedtogetherbyArabs.ThenonPurim,someoneroseand
avengedtheirmurder.Thegematriaofhisnamewasexactlythesameasthatoftheirtwo
names,MordechaiandShalom,650!
Now, thephrasemyrrhthatpasses ) )equals518,and it
isamultipleof7.Since pure myrrh is a multiple of 13, two phrases
are like male and female
counterparts(therelativelymasculinephrasebeingtheonewhosevaluedividesby13,
therelativelyfemininephrasebeingtheonewhosevaluedividesby7).
ThethreeinstancesofHolyoilofanointmentReturning to
theBaalHarokeach,who says thephrase,holyoil of anointment
( )appears three times incorrespondencewith the
threekingswhowereanointedwiththeanointingoil.Weseethat
ifweaddthethreephrases
,eachtimethereareadditionalwordsinthephrasesurroundingthese3words.Thefirst
twoinstancesofthephraseappearinthesameverse.Thefirsttimeitsimplysays,[You
shallmakethisinto]aholyoilofanointment(
),butthesecondinstanceitreads, a holy oil of anointment it shallbe
( ). The third time,
thephraseisfurtherexpandedandreads,ThisshallbeaholyoilofanointmenttoMefor
yourgenerations( ).Now,eachphrasealludestooneofthe
threemonarchs,Saul,David,andSolomon.The first instancecorresponds
toSaul.
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The second toDavid. There is abeautiful allusion toDavid in the
second instance,
becausethewordthatisadded,itshallbe( ))isequaltoYehudah
);DavidisofcoursethefirstkingfromthetribeofYehudah.Ofcourse,wheneverwehearthisword,
itshallbe(
),weareimmediatelyremindedoftheverse,Onthatday,GodwillbeoneandHisNamewillbeone
( ' ).Theworditshallbe) ( is similar to Gods essential Name,
Havayah ( ), except that the
unificationbetweenthevavandhei(ZeerAnpinandNukva)whichatthepresentdoesnothappen
constantly,willbeconstant,just like theunificationbetween
theyudand thehei(Abba
andIma).Additionally,thevalueofitshallbe( ))andYehudah
),whichis30,isthenumberoftraitsbywhichkingdomisacquired.Itshallbealsoseemstoindicate
eternity,alludingtotheeternityoftheHouseofDavid(whereas,inthephrasealluding
toSaul,thereisnoallusiontoeternity,suggestingthattheHouseofSaulreignedforjust
asinglegeneration).
SolomonsanointmentThe
eternal
reign
of
the
House
of
David
began
with
Solomon,
who
built
the
First
Temple in Jerusalem. David prepared the material with which the
Temple was
constructed,butSolomonconstructed it, inpractice.Whatdo thesages
learn from the
final instance of holy oil of anointment?They learn that the
entire quantity of the
anointingoilisperfectandconstant,inthepresent(whenitwasmade)andforalltime.
Eachoftheadditionalwords,toMeforyourgenerations(
)isfullofnuance.Itwillbe ) ( isaswe saidbefore,aconnotation for
theoilseternityandunchangingnatureandquantity,whilethewordthis(
)isthewordassociatedwiththe special prophecy level ofMoshe
Rabbeinu. Theword, this also alludes to the
amountofoilusedtocreatetheholyoilofanointment.Ontopofthefragrances(pure
myrrh,fragrant
cinnamon,
aromatic
cane,
and
cassia),
the
Torah
states
to
add
ahin
of
oil.Rashi says, thatahin () is12 log ) ), thegematriaof
thewordthis )
).Thewordhin()isquiterare,itonlyappearshere,and4moretimesintheprophecyofthefutureTempleattheendofEzekiel.
Fromthewordforyourgenerations(
),welearnthatonlyMosheRabbeinumade thisoil andnoone evermade
anything like it.This is consummatewholeness,
which alludes to Solomon, the third king anointedwith the oil.
Solomons name in
Hebrewactuallymeanswholeorconsummatewholeness(
).ThedevelopmentandstructureofthethreephrasesWeve
seen
that
the
phrase,
holy
oil
of
anointment
develops,
or
evolves
very
clearly here, each time getting longer.Howmany letters in each
stage? In the first
variant( )thereare10letters.Inthesecondvariant( ) thereare14
letters.Wedidntnotethisbefore,but14 is thevalueofDavid) )
thesecondking tobeanointedwith theoil.Finally, the
thirdvariantcontains25letters.Soaltogether, all three
instanceshave49 letters (and7words).Since49 is the
square of 7, and square numbers represent consummate
interinclusion,we see that
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thesephrasesdo indeedcomplementoneanother.Wecandrawthem
intheformofa
squareof7,likeso:
In this figure, the first line iswhole, in the sense that it
endswithawholeword,.Thefinallineisalsothesingleword,.
ThethreephrasesandthethreekingsJust
thebasicphrase,holyoilofanointment ( )equals1542.When
wemultiply itby 3 and add the additionalwords, , , and the
total(which
is
the
value
of
the
entire
square
figure)
comes
to
5442.
But,
now
lets
add
to
this
thevalueofthe3kingswhowereanointedwiththeholyoilofanointment,Saul(
),David ) ),andSolomon ,).Theirvaluesare375,14,and337)
respectively,andtogethertheirvalueis726.Addedto5442,thegrandtotalofthecompletethreephrases
describingtheoilandthe3kingsis6168.But,whatisamazingaboutthisnumber,6168
isthatitisequaltoexactly4times1542,thevalueoftheoriginalbasicphrase,
holyoil
of anointment ( ).Notonly that,but since thebasicphrase contains
3words,then4timesitsvalueisequaltowhatisknownasthefrontandback()ofthephrase,or
.Thisisabeautifulmathematical illustration of the Baal Harokeachs
ruach hakodesh that thesethree
instances
of
holy
oil
of
anointment
allude
to
the
three
kings
anointed
with
the
oil.
TheingredientsoftheoilofanointmentNow
letsdoanothergematriapertaining to theoilofanointment.The
ingredients
thatwent into the oil also demonstrate a ratio of 1 to 4, since
therewere 4 fragrant
materials added to olive oil: pure myrrh ( ), fragrant cinnamon
( ),aromaticcane( ),andcassia( ))alladdedtooliveoil
).Thevalueofalltheingredientsis2645,whichistheproductof5times529.Sotheaveragevalueofeach
ingredientis529,or23squared,thevalueofpleasure( ).Oil represents
the inner aspect of thepartzuf ofAbba (wisdom),but certainly,we
know that the inneressenceAbba is thesameas the
inneraspectofAtik (
).Theoilofanointmentiscertainlyasourceofgreatpleasure,anditisusedtoanointboththevesselsoftheTabernacleandthepriests,butthemainthingaboutit,its
finalpurposeistobeusedtoanointtheMashiach,thekings.
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4.TransformingthebitterintothesweetNow lets return to theRebbes
sichahabout thedisputebetweenRabbiMeirand
RabbiYehudahregardinghowtheoilofanointmentismade.
Transformingdarkness
into
light
and
the
bitter
taste
into
sweetness
It is well known that the true tzadik that is described in the
Tanya is able to
transformthedarknessintolightandthebitterintosweetness.Themainholidaywhen
weareall tzadikimandable to transformdarkness into light
isChanukah,during the
mitzvah of lighting the Chanukah candles, until there are no
longer people in the
marketplace.Thecandlethatwelighttransformsthedarknessoutsideintolight.
OnPurim,we are able to transform thebitterness, thebitterdrop as
its called in
Hebrew(alcohol)intosweetness.
ThesetwoidiomsarebothfromtheZohar.Whatisthedifferencebetweenthem?To
transformdarknessintolightistorectifythekelipahofnogah,theintermediatehusk,but
to
transform
the
bitter
into
sweetness
is
infinitely
harder
because
it
means
transforming
the3impurehusksintoholiness.But,aJewhasthepowertodoboth.
Abouttransformingtheimpureintothepure,itiswrittenthatitissimilarto,Who
canbringthepureoutoftheimpure,notone(),aversethatthesagessaydescribesAbrahamcomingoutofTerachandMordechaicomingoutofShimi.
We mentioned the verse, A Jewish man was in Susa the city and
his name was
MordechaithesonofYair[Yairstemsfromlightandsouptothispointthereisonly
thetransformationofdarknessintolight]thesonofShimi.Shimi[thesonofGera]was
themanwhocursedDavid,theanointedking,whenhefledfromhissonAbsalom.For
this hewas tobe killed,butDavid did not punish him, instead he
left it to his son
Solomon.ThefactthatMordechaicouldcomeoutofShimiindicatesthePurimisindeed
aholiday
of
the
pure
coming
out
of
the
impure.
IdentifyingthemyrrhWhatistheidentityofthisfragrancetranslatedasmyrrh(
)?AlltheGeonim
[theBabyloniansagesthat ledthepeoplefromthesigningof theTalmud
toabout the
year1000CE)agree that it ismusk.Thewordmusk
isalsothemeaningofthename
[Chayah]Mushka.Ittooisaformofthepurecomingoutoftheimpure,sinceit
isthe
bloodofanimpureanimalwhichhasverygoodsmell,sogoodthatitisconsideredthe
firstandfinestamongallfragrances.
Thisanimal is found in India. Ithas tobe free running.Andwhen
itroams freely,
dropsof
its
blood
come
out
of
its
neck.
TransformingtheimpureanimalHowdoyou identify thisanimal? It
looks likeadeer ,).But) this isan impure
animalunlikethedeer.Whoelseresemblesadeer?TheJewspowertotransformthethe
bitter into sweetnesswhich is fargreater than theability to
transformdarkness into
lightalsopertainstothepowerofimagination,theabilitytoseeresemblancebetween
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two thing.Theversesays thatGod is likeadeer ( ).So, two resemble
thedeer:theAlmightyHimselfandthisimpureanimal.
Theworddeer()isanacronymforAtzadiklivesbyhisfaith( ).A tzadik,
aswe said, is someonewho can rectify thepower of imagination.Like
the
deer,heholdsontotwoextremes(theimpureanimalandtheAlmighty).But,hehasthe
abilityto
transform
the
bitter
(the
bitter
dropalcohol)
into
the
most
wonderful
fragrance.ThesagesdescribethemitzvahtodrinkwineonPurimwiththeword,whichliterallymeanstodrinktothepointthatonegivesoffagoodfragrance,meaning
thatonehas transformed thebitterdrop, thealcohol, into the
sweetest,most fragrant
perfume in theworld.Thenonehasattained the levelofMybeloved is
likeadeer
( ).TheRambansidentificationTheRamban in analyzes thiswhole
topicof the .Tobeginwithhedoesnt
agreewith theGaonim that this isblood froman impureanimal.He
says that in the
languages,be
they
Semitic
or
otherwise,
this
is
the
name
of
afragrance
that
is
made
from a type of grass calledmyrrh.Hisdiscussion is an example of
elevating secular
knowledgetothelevelofpureholiness.
UsingbloodfromanimpureanimalintheoilofanointmentOneofthereasonstorejecttheGeonimsopinionthatthisisbloodfromanimpure
animalisthatitseemsunreasonabletotakesomethingthatwearenotpermittedtoeat,
something impure,anduse it for theanointingoil.There isa
lotofdiscussionon this
point,andthebottomlineisthatthebloodfromtheimpureanimalisnolongerimpure,
itsimpurityisgone.
But,how
can
this
be?
It
still
comes
from
something
impure.
This
is
avery
good
exampleofWhocantakethepureoutoftheimpure,notone,whichmeansthatonly
Hewhoisnotone,inthesensethatHeisnothinglikeanyone,theAlmighty,cando
this.InChassidutthisisconnectedwiththelevelofGodsunitythatisabovethelevelof
onenessthe singular (the three levels are: singular, one,
primordial ).Andso,onlyout thepowerofGodssingularitycan the
impurebemadepure.Sowe
havehere three examplesof transforming the impure into
thepure:Abraham,Shimi,
andmusk.
5.LubavitcherRebbesSichahontheDisputebetweenRabbiMeirandRabbiYehudahRabbiMeirandRabbiYehudahthedisputebetweenthesagesofIsraelNowwe
come to the disputebetween RabbiMeir and Rabbi Yehudah that the
LubavitcherRebbeaddresses ina sichah.1Weve seen that following
the4 fragrances,
1.LikuteiSichotv.16.
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theTorahmentionsahinofoliveoil.WesawthatRashiexplainsthatthehinis12logof
oil.ThenRashiadds that the sagesof Israeldisputed
thispoint,because itpresentsa
difficulty:Howcouldjust12 logofoilbeenough tomake theoilgiven
thevery large
amountsofthe4typesoffragranceprescribedbytheTorah.RabbiYehudahsays,that
12 log of oil (each log is 6 beitzim, so 12 log is equivalent to
72 beitzim of olive oil)
prescribedby
the
Torah
is
not
enough
to
even
oil
all
the
raw
material
from
which
the
fragrancesaremade ( ).Therefore,RabbiYehudahholds that
therawmaterialwasfirstdeeplycookedinwater,untilthewatertookthefragrance.Then
theoilwasplacedonthewateruntilthefragrancehadbeentransferredtoit.Finally,the
oilwasseparatedoutofthewater.
RabbiMeirthoughsaysthatthisamountofoilwasusedtodeeplycook()therawmaterialsandforthat,12logisenough.
HowcanRabbiMeirsunderstandingberealistic?NowtheRebbesaysthatsinceRashisaysthatthesagesofIsraeldisputedhowtheoil
wasmade,
and
mentions
both
Rabbi
Meir
and
Rabbi
Yehudah,
it
means
that
both
are
acceptableaccording tothe
literalmeaningoftheverses.Bothareaviableexplanation
fortherealityofhowtheoilofanointmentwasmade.But,howcanwesaythatRabbi
Meirs opinion is realistic afterRabbiYehudahs explanation that
12 log of oil is not
enoughtoevenoiltherawmaterial.
Also,whydoesntRashi at least explainhow according to eachopinion
theoilof
anointmentwasprepared?Theseareobviouslyverystrongquestions.
MentioningthenamesofdisputantsisrareBefore we give the Rebbes
answer, lets say something about Rashis choice of
phrase,the
sages
of
Israel
( ). In all,Rashiuses thisphrase 9 times inhis
commentaryon thePentateuch.However, in7
instanceswhereheusesthisphrase,he
doesntmentionthenamesofthedisputants.But,twotimeshedoes,andinbothcases,
thesagesarethesame:RabbiYehudahandRabbiMeir.Whatthisindicatesiscertainly
thatthecasesarelinkedandthatthereisasimilarreasoning()thateachfollowsinbothcases.This
isaverystraightforwardconclusion,but Ihaventseen thatanyof
Rashiscommentariesmentionit.Italsomeansthatasharpyoungchildcouldpickup
on the connection between the two instances in which their names
are mentioned
(especiallysincethefirstinstancewasonlyafewparashotback).
Beforewecontinueletsbringagematria,thesagesofIsrael,Yehudah,Meir( )
equals 900,which is 30 squared,orYehudah ) ) squared.The
disputesbetweenthemareusuallyruledlikeRabbiYehudah.
ThefirstdisputebetweenRabbiYehudahandRabbiMeirUsuallytherulingfollowsRabbiYehudah.ThefirsttimeRashimentionsRabbiMeir
andRabbiYehudahasdisputants is in regard to the lawsof rental )
).Thoughweknow thereare four categoriesof temporarypossession: the
safekeeper ( ), the
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renter( )),overseerforpay ),andtheborrower(
).Ofthefour,thelawsofrentalarenotmentionedexplicitlywhen
itcomestospecialcasessuchaswhenthe
objectrentedhasbeenstolen.RabbiMeirsaysthattherenterislikenedtoasafekeeper
( )whileRabbiYehudahsaysthatheistreatedlikeaoverseerforpay(
).Again, theRebbespoint isthatweshouldbeablethen
toconnectthesetwodisputes,
sincein
both
cases,
Rashi
mentions
Rabbi
Meir
and
Rabbi
Yehudah
by
name.
ThesagesofIsraelessencevs.realityIfRashidescribesthesetwosagesexplicitlyasthesagesofIsrael,towhatsefirah
shouldwecorrespond them?Since theyare twosages ),andsage)
inHebrew iswise, they allude to thehigher and
lowerwisdom.Higherwisdom is the sefirahof
wisdomandlowerwisdomisthewisdominthesefirahofkingdom.KingSolomontoo
hadtwowisdoms,Godswisdomtodo( )andSolomonswisdom(
).Higherandlowerwisdomarealsoknownashigherandlowerhonor(
).Sincethisword,honor,equals32,itrepresentsthe32pathwaysofwisdommentionedin
SeferYetzirah.
Between
them,
Rabbi
Meir
is
higher
wisdom,
supernal
wisdom.
Rabbi
Yehudahisthelowerwisdom.
In thebooks discussing the general rules regarding the Talmud
and its disputes,
disputesbetweenRabbiMeirandRabbiYehudahare likened to
thosebetweenRabbi
Shimon (bar Yochai) and Rabbi Yehudah. Thus, Rabbi Shimon and
RabbiMeir are
similar,visavistheirdisputeswithRabbiYehudah.ItiswellknownthatRabbiShimon
(andnow,RabbiMeir)approacha topic from its inner
essence,whileRabbiYehudah
approachesitfromitsexternal,realisticaspect.Thisfits,verynicelywithRabbiYehudah
being the wisdom of kingdom, since wisdom represents essence and
kingdom
representsreality.
ThesagesofIsraeltheleaderandthespokesmanIfwedliketogoanotherstepinthismeditation,maybewecancorrespondeachof
the twowords in the phrase, the sages of Israel ( )withRabbiMeir
andRabbiYehudah.WhichofthemisthesagesandwhichistheIsrael?RabbiYehudah
knows how to speak, he is called the First Speaker ( ). Why is
he
thespokesperson?Becausehehasaneyeforreality,heknowshowtocommunicatehimself
andhisopinionsproperly.
OntheotherhandareRabbiShimonandRabbiMeir.RabbiShimoncommunicates
poorly,andgetsintotrouble.WhenhesaskedaquestionabouttheRomanshisanswer
getshim
in
alot
of
trouble,
and
so
he
has
to
hide
himself
in
acave
for
13
years
just
to
stayalive.RabbiMeir isa littlebetter.His answersarevery
complexand they really
confuseeverybody.Withhisanswershecanpurifytheimpureandmakeimpureseem
pure.Thatiswhyintheend,thesagescouldntunderstandRabbiMeirsopinions.
In any case, the Israel isRabbiYehudah and the sages
isRabbiMeir. Sinceboth
wordshave4letters,wecanmultiplythemonebytheother,letterbyletter.Wecallthis
a dot product (because of its similarity to a dot product
inmathematics). The dot
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productbetween and is 2740, or 10 times the value ofMordechai .(
)Addingthedotproductbetween
and(eachhas5letters)givesus5694,or26times219,where219equalsthe13thofAdar(
),ourdatetoday.5694isalsoequalto26times3timeswisdom(),73.NullifyingtherawmaterialintheoliveoilNowletsgetbacktothemainthing.TheRebbesaysthatitisapshatinRashithatfor
RabbiMeir,whatisproducedintheenddoesnothavetobepureoil.Itcanbeoilmixed
withrawmaterials.But,forRabbiYehudahithastobepureoilintheend,becauseafter
all,attheend,theTorahdescribestheproductas,anoilofanointmentitshallbe.So
eventhoughtherawmaterialfromwhichthefragrancescomeneedstobecooked,the
cookingcantcausetheoliveoiltobelost,tochange.Ithastostayoliveoil.
But,accordingtoRabbiMeiritisfinethattheoriginaloilischangedbythecooking.
This explainswhyRashi doesnt have to explainRabbiMeirs opinion
in relation to
RabbiYehudahs question about the quantity of oil not sufficing
to even oil the raw
material.Rabbi
Meir
says,
you
just
add
the
oil
into
the
mixture
and
the
fact
that
it
changesbythetimeyourdoneisnotaproblem,themainthingisthemixturecreatedby
thedeepcooking.
So,we can say that their dispute centers on the question
ofwhether the oil can
containtherawmaterialsleftinitafterthecooking(RabbiMeir)orwhether,theoilmust
remain pure and only the fragrance (but not the matter) of the
raw materials be
introduced into it.RabbiMeirhasnoproblemwiththeoilbeing
infusedwiththeraw
materialitself.
RabbiMeirandRabbiYehudahthepresentvs.thefutureIn
effect,
we
can
see
both
their
opinions
in
the
Torahs
wording.
First,
the
Torah
states,You shallmake it into sacredanointingoil,ablended
compoundasmadeby
mixing,suggestingRabbiMeirsopinion,thattheoiltooshouldbemixedandblended
with the rawmaterial.But, then it continues, an oil of anointing
it shallbe,which
stressesRabbiYehudahsopinion,thatthemainthingisthatitbeoilintheend.
Now, toconnect theirdisputeherewith theirdisputeregardingrental
) ), theRebbe first states the essence of each ones reasoning (his
).RabbiMeir sees thepresentmoment and state asmost important,while
forRabbiYehudah, the future is
mostimportant.
Thesameistrue,saystheRebbe,regardingtherenter.Thedisputethereiswhether
heis
like
asafekeeper
( ) who is not culpable if the object placed in his
possession is lostorstolen,orwhetherhe is likeanpaidoverseer (
)who
isculpableinthesecases.Whatistherootofthetwoopinions?Again,itcanbesaidtobe
thedifferencebetweenfocusingonthepresentvs.focusingonthefuture.
Whentheownerrentshisox,forinstance,tothepersonrentingit,RabbiMeirsays
hefocusesonthepresent,i.e.,onthefactthatheisnowbeingpaidtorenthisox.The
paymentishismainfocusthepaymentinthepresentmoment.Therefore,ifsomething
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happens in the futurethe ox is stolen or lostthe person renting
is treated like a
safekeeperwhoisnotculpableinthesecases.Theownerrentswiththepresentinmind.
But,according toRabbiYehudah, theowner rentinghisox
isveryconcernedwith
theoxsfuturethatitbereturnedtohimingoodhealthandontime.Itstruethatheis
beingpaidtorenttheoxout,butthepaymentisnothismainfocus,notasmuchasthe
oxsfuture
state.
Therefore,
according
to
Rabbi
Yehudah,
the
person
renting
is
culpable
fortheoxincasesinwhichinthefutureitwillbestolenorlost,justlikeapaidoverseer.
Theownerrentswiththefutureinmind.
Presentisessential,thefutureisrealisticLetsreturntotheearlierdefinition,thatRabbiMeirseestheessenceandthatRabbi
Yehudah focuseson reality.Wedidntask thisbefore,butwehave
tonow:howdoes
essencegotogetherwiththepresent,whilethefuturecorrespondtoreality.Iprobably
wouldnormallythinktheexactopposite.
Toanswer,letsintroduceawordthattheRebbedoesntuseinhissichah:experience
).Thishasbeenacentralword)
inourteachingsovertheyears.Whatwewillnowsayisofcourseapplicabletoallaspectsofourlives.Whentheoilispreparedanditis
justonceoralleternitythenduringthepreparation,thefocusofonesconsciousnessis
deeplyimmersedintheexperienceofcookingallthematerialstogether.Theideaisthen
thattotalimmersionintheexperienceconnectsonewiththeessence.Thisisalsowhat
wisdom isabout.Wisdom(whichcorrespondswith theWorldofEmanation)
iswhere
all timesareasone, thepast, thepresent,and the future,areone (
are1,togetherequals73,thevalueofwisdom).
Ontheotherhand,RabbiYehudahsaysthatevenwhentheoilisbeingprepared,the
focusisnotonthepresentmoment,onpreparingititself,butthatitbeexactlysuitedto
bean
eternal,
constant
oil.
Therefore,
the
focus
is
actually
on
the
future
product,
what
willcomeoutofthepreparation,whatwillrealisticallybeproduced.Weruleaccording
toRabbiYehudahbecausehalachah
looksatthingsexternally,andnowwhatwehave
gained is thatahalachic frameofmind isalso focusedon the
future.RabbiYehudah
says the focus is on the utility of the actionbeing taken, not
on the action itself (on
experiencingtheaction).Utilityingeneralisrelatedtothefourlowersefirot,especially
tokingdom.
MosheRabbeinuandAharon,presentandposterity,sacredandeternalIn
parashat Shemini there is a similar disputebetweenMoshe Rabbeinu
and his
brother
Aharon.
Moshe
Rabbeinu
judges
the
situation
based
on
the
present
moment
alone,whileAharon says that themoment isnotnecessarily the same
thingaswhen
yourejudgingthingsforposterity,whenyoutakethefuturegenerationsintoaccount.
MosheRabbeinuon theotherhandthinks that theverdictshouldbe
thesame inboth
cases.
Anotherway to state this is thedifferencebetweenanadhoc,a
temporary ruling
)andonethatisforposterity.RabbiMeirisamessianicfigure.Theinitialsof)thedescriptionoftheMashiach,Thespiritofournostrils,theMashiachofGod(
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learnthisfromthewordimage(),3whosevalueis125.Now,125isanotherhalf,ahalfof250.But,125isoddsoitcantbedividedagain.
Each500alludes toa shoulder ,() theobjectof
theArizalsyichudofmemory.Sincetherearetwo500mentionedinregardtopreparingtheoilofanointment,thenwe
haveherebothshoulders.
Themiddle
letters
of
the
perfumes
are
,whichequals1000or10tothethird.Sofrom1000wegoto500,to250,to125,thisislikehalflife,yousplitagainand
againuntilyoureachzero.
TheoilofanointmentandtheHolyArkWementionedearlierthattheeternalnatureoftheanointingoilislikethemiracleof
theArkoftheCovenantwhichdidnottakeupanyspace.ThesearebothliketheBaal
Shem Tovs teaching regarding learning Torah, that however much
you learn, you
shouldfeelthattheTorahremainswholeitisasifyouneverstartedlearningit.
Theoilofanointment, in this sense, cantbe touched.You cant
subtractanything
fromit
because
you
cant
really
touch
it,
just
as
the
Holy
Ark
cant
be
touched.
The
Ark
isinfactthefirstvesseltobeanointed.
GoodhopeWhatisthevalueofahalf()?548.Halfof548is274,thevalueofMordechai
)andthemostmysterious)).HalfofMordechaiis137,thevalueofKabbalah
)numberinModernPhysics.
Whatwevelearntthenisthateachofusshouldtakehishalf.Forinstance,someone
whosenameisOded(
),halfhisnameequals42,andhalfofthatis21,thevalueoftheNameEkyeh.Youshouldatleastreachyourfinalhalf.
TheChatam
Sofer
brings
the
observation
that
cursed
is
Haman
( )isequal
toblessedisMordechai(
).Healsosaysthatoneshouldhaveinmindwhenobservingthispointthattheyalsobothequalhope().Hesaysafewmorethings,butthatishispoint.Whatisthehope?Thehopeisthatevenafteryoubreaksomething
youshouldbelievethatyoucanfixit.
3.Exodus32:4.
