Parshat Tetzaveh/ vum,

(20^th Parsha of 54 Parshiyos of  Torah)
By Rabbi Avraham Yehuda Tzvi Shmaryahu David, numerical interpretation of Torah with aid of Gematria. Great Grandson of the Strettyner Rebbe, Rabbi Solomon Langner. Questions/Comments 908-907-0953. © 2008. 5768 Study Gematria & Sharpen Your Mind. Online at www.codeoftheheart.com

From Fig Leaf to Royal Garb

Ever since God clothed Adam and Eve with a fig leaf, human beings are the only creatures on earth that cloth themselves. The rest of the animal world remain naked. As such, clothing is one of the elements that distinguishes us from the rest of God’s creatures. As noted in a previous discourse, in this week’s Parsha, G-d gives detailed instructions regarding the lighting of the Menorah and making the clothing of the High Priest, the Kohen Gadol. We see how important the clothing of Aharon the High Priest was as he was only permitted to serve God in these vestments. According to Talmud Zevachim 88b, his clothing atoned for certain sins including distortion of justice, idol worship, derogatory speech, bloodshed, haughtiness, improper thoughts, sexual immorality, chutzpah.[1] According to the Rabbi Chanina of the  Talmud, the khgn m’eil, or robe, atoned for grv iuak, evil talk since the sound of the robe atoned for the sound of evil talk. However, according to Rabbi Yehoshua Ben Levi, it was the ,rye Ketores , burning of the incense that that atoned for evil talk, as it stated in the Torah, “Aharon placed incense and provided atonement for the people”(Numbers 17:12). With the aid of Gematria, both views are reconciled as the term, khgn , Robe (Exodus 28:31) and ohnx , spices (Exodus 30:7) share the same Gematria of 150.  As the holiday of Purim is right around the corner, we find another interesting finding. The Gematria of the term, grv iuak, evil talk is 661 (386+275=661). Another word with the same Gematria is r,xt, Esther, who was the Queen of Achashverosh who stopped the evil plot hatched by Haman, who slandered the Jewish People and attempted to destroy us. Perhaps it was her nature to combat evil talk based on the Gematria of her name.  It also interesting to note that just like clothing takes central stage in this Torah reading (Parsha), clothing takes central stage in the Purim story as we learn that Haman garbed Mordechai in royal garb and today people put on all types of costumes as part of the holiday celebration. As noted in the news recently, we have the makings of another Purim story right in front of our very eyes. The current leader of Iran, a Haman by the name of  Mr. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has threatened to annihilate Israel. He better read the story of Purim and do Teshuva (repentance)  or face the same fate as Haman.  Remember , history repeats itself. If he does not repent, we surely will so that God will come to our aid in time of our need.   Moreover, we will also do the commandments of God so that we will merit the blessings of the Torah. In this Parsha, the Torah tells us that the vestments of the High Priest were for ,rtp,ku sucfk, for glory and splendor. The Gematria of that phrase is 1179. Another term with the same number can be found in Genesis, where the Torah says , vkgk oa uvkgvu vhrnv .rt kt, “to the land of Moriah , there bring (Isaac) as an offering”(Genesis 22:2).  If we take the acronym of the encircled letters (rearranged), it spells the term vumn, Mitzvah, commandment. In this weeks Parsha, as noted above, we were commanded to light the Menorah and to make the priestly garments. These commandments were all part of the execution of the Divine plan so that we can raise our spirits and get closer to God. May we merit the rebuilding of the Holy Temple so that we can merit the performance of all God’s 613 commandments in our royal garb.

This past month we witnessed a lot of snow and it relates to teshuva since it is noted that if our sins are like scarlet, G-d will cleanse them like snow.It says in Isaiah 1:18, “If your sins prove to be like crimson, they will become white as snow.” Now , the Hebrew term for snow is dka Sheleg , with six dots (three on the shin and three on the lamed). This alludes to the most common type of snowflake which is hexagonal (six sided).  Also , we witnessed huge mounds and piles of snow all of over the side streets of Toronto. The word Sheleg alludes to that since it can be read as kd ka Shel Gal, which means ‘of heaps’. Also, it could be read as Shel Gimmel, of support, since each snowflake that lands on the earth lands on it’s brother or sister and they grow and support each other. The word Gimmel means to support. Another interesting point is the makeup of the letters, the shin, value of 300, the lamed, value of 30, and the gimmel, value of 3. Each letter has a value of ten times the next one. In the world of measurements, every inch of rain equals ten inches of snow which is alluded to in the term Sheleg (3-30-300 or 1 to 10 ratio). Also, the gematria of snow, which is 333 , alludes to great number of  snowflakes that fall and the great number of molecules that comprise a  snowflake. We have learned that there are approximately  180 billion molecules of water in every snowflake. Malbim mentions that the plagues came in three which alluded to the great volume of plagues, like the locusts, frogs, hail etc. So the next time you see a snowflake, you can really discern the wisdom of the one above, who makes our world such an interesting place to live in the universe.

A refuah shlaima to my father, Yaakov Zev Ben Malka Blima, who is recovering from stroke at Vanderbilt Nursing Home, SI, NY

Shabbat Shalom ouka ,ca