[Index of all Weekly Divrei Torah pages]
In this week's parsha (Ki Tissa), we find verses that command us regarding the Shabbat. For example, there are verses Ex 31:13 and Ex 31:17 – "…Speak to the children of Israel and tell them, 'but My Shabbat you must keep,' for it is a sign between Myself and yourselves throughout the generations to inform you that I am the Lord who makes you holy…Between Myself and the children of Israel, it is an eternal sign that for six days the Lord created the heavens and the earth and on the seventh day it was Shabbat and He rested." Our sage from the early sixteen hundreds, R' Nosson Nata Shapira (author of Megaleh Amukot – "Revealer of Depths" on the Torah) reveals some of the secrets of Shabbat…
R' Shapira mentions a story from the Talmud (tractate Shabbat, page 119A), in which a Roman ruler (Turnus Rufus) asks Rabbi Akiva (in our edition of the Talmud, it is Caesar asking R' Yehoshua ben Chanina), "Why is it that a good aroma exudes from the food of Shabbat?" He answered, "We have a certain spice, and it's called "Shabbat," which we put in our food and it exudes a good smell." So, the Roman ruler said, 'Give us a little of the spice," to which R' Akiva replied, "it helps for those who keep the Shabbat, but for those who do not keep the Shabbat, the spice will not help."
R' Shapira then asks an interesting question: In this story from the Talmud, R' Akiva uses an unusual word for "spice." Throughout the Torah, the word for "spice" is besamim, and yet R' Akiva uses the word, tavlin, which also means "spice" but is not as commonly used as the words besamim. Our sages are very precise with their language, so why did R' Akiva choose the word tavlin instead of besamim? The Megaleh Amukot answers that tavlin has the same gematria as dalet machanei shechina – the "four camps of the shechina." That is, according to R' Shapira, R' Akiva wished to drop a hint – the word tavlin alludes to the presence of the shechina (God's presence on earth), which dwells with the Jews on Shabbat. And that is why it "works" for the Jews, but not for the non-Jews, who are not part of the "four camps of the Shechina."
But, for R' Shapira, that was not enough. He found another word with the same gematria – 492 – that is also associated with Shabbat. In Ethics of the Fathers (5:6), we are told that among the ten items that were created bein hashmashot (after sunset but before dark) on erev Shabbat, was the "tongs" (tzevat in Hebrew). Regarding tongs, we are faced with a conundrum; how is it possible to manufacture a pair of tongs, unless one already has a pair of tongs? Tongs are a long metal tool that is necessary to heat up in a fire in order to manufacture, and in order to hold something that hot, a pair of tongs is necessary. So, who made the original tongs, from which all other tongs could then be manufactured? The Mishnah in Pirkei Avot tells us that it was created erev Shabbat, during the dusk just before darkness fell. What is the meaning of this?
As is his holy way, R' Shapira offers a numerical solution that is pregnant with deep secret meaning. He points out that the entire creation was the product of God's name Havaya (the four letter essential name). His holy name permeates the ten sephirot, or holy emanations with which the universe was created. Each name Havaya carries the numerical value of twenty-six, so His name in all ten sephirot adds up to 260. However, there are four different ways of spelling His holy name, depending upon how one "fills out" the four letters of His name. The four different spellings yield names of 72, 63, 52 and 45, which together add up to 232, which is the gematria, or numerical value of mimkomo ("from His place"). The sum of His name among the ten sephirot (260) plus the four different spellings of His name (232) add up to – 492 – the same as the gematria of tavlin ("spice"), of dalet machanei shechina (four camps of the shechina), and of tzevat ("tongs"). This just happens to also be the gematria of a very important phrase that we say during prayers: Baruch kevod [Havaya] mimkomo – "Blessed be the Honor of His name from His place." The first two words – Baruch kevod ("Blessed be the honor") carry the gematria of 260 (ten times His name Havaya), while the word mimkomo ("from His place") carries the gematria of 232 (the sum of all four spellings of His name). This phrase is what the lower angels (the chayot and ofanim of yetzira and asiya) say when they realize that they do not have recognition of God's essence. They only possess recognition of His presence in the world, but not beyond the world. Thus, they say, "Blessed be His honor" as it is expressed in this world, not IN His place (which is beyond the creation), but "from His place."
What we understand from R' Shapira's words in this Torah, is that God's holy name is the source of creation. When we cease working as we enter the Shabbat, our spiritual level ascends so that we become more in touch with His holy name, which illuminates the Shabbat. As that occurs, we unite with the rest of the Jews, in the four camps of the Shechina. That in turn provides us with an overall transcendent light that permeates the Shabbat, just as tavlin – "spices" – permeate the air of Shabbat. At the same time, we are in touch with the original infinite light that shines down to the world, creating and maintaining the universe. Just as the original tongs were created erev Shabbat, so His holy Name preceded creation but is also embedded in the creation. And just as the tongs are a tool with which we can manufacture and invent many more items, so His names illuminate from His essence to create more evidence of His presence and harmony in the universe.