Shir HaShirim for the "Table" – Shabbat Chol Hamo'ed Pesach
On the level of the pshat, Shir HaShirim is a love song, sung by a man to his sweetheart in the season of spring, but in fact it is much deeper than that. At its heart Shir HaShirim is a love song, between Am Yisrael and HKB"H.
A huge chunk of Shir HaShirim contains references to the Beit HaMikdash and its various components.
In this shiur, I would like to bring a few excerpts from Shir HaShirim that speak about the Shulchan and the Lechem HaPanim. These excerpts are explained in the 2nd edition of sefer Meir Panim, which is scheduled for release bli neder in three weeks, during the week of parshat Emor (the parsha of the Lechem HaPanim). Here, for the first time, is a sneak preview
Excerpt 1
... תַּחַת הַתַּפּוּחַ עוֹרַרְתִּיךָ, שָׁמָּה חִבְּלַתְךָ אִמֶּךָ, שָׁמָּה חִבְּלָה יְלָדַתְךָ (ח, ה)
Everyone is familiar with the perush in the Gemara (Sotah 11b) that says this passuk is referring to the נָשִׁים צִדְקָנִיּוֹת in Egypt, that after a day of back breaking slave labor would beautify themselves and entice their husbands under the apple tree and in this way Am Yisrael prodigiously multiplied in Egypt.
There is only one small problem with this perush – "There are no apple trees in Egypt!" The climate there is too hot and unsuitable for growing apples. Apple trees need a minimum number of days of very cold temperatures to bear fruit. This is the question Meir Panim asks.
The final chapter (15) of Meir Panim is devoted to the shita of R' Yehuda in the Gemara (Brachot 40a), which says that the עֵץ הַדַּעַת was a wheat tree. It fills in many blanks and describes exactly how the whole thing went down - that Chava took wheat from the tree, ground it into flour, mixed it into a dough, left it to rise and then baked it – into a chametz bread.
Meir Panim says that this is what the above passuk is referring to. תַּחַת הַתַּפּוּחַ means – in place of the sin of the risen bread, the לֶחֶם הַתַּפוּחַ, HKB"H says עוֹרַרְתִּיךָ, I "awoke" you, meaning "I redeemed you". The gematria of עוֹרַרְתִּיךָ is חִשֵּׁב אֶת הַקֵּץ, referring to our redemption in Egypt and also אוֹרוֹ שֶׁל הַמָּשִׁיחַ, referring to our future redemption.
שָׁמָּה חִבְּלַתְךָ אִמֶּךָ refers to Chava's sin of preparing a chametz bread. שָׁמָּה in gematria is בַּלֶּחֶם הַקְּלֹקֵל.
שָׁמָּה חִבְּלָה יְלָדַתְךָ, by eating from the forbidden tree and mistakenly thinking (deceived by the נָחָשׁ) that she could create life on her own, without the assistance of HKB"H and Adam HaRishon, Chava was punished with בְּעֶצֶב תֵּלְדִי בָנִים.
The word שָׁמָּה on the one hand refers to the sin, בַּלֶּחֶם הַקְּלֹקֵל, however it also embodies the tikkun. If you rearrange the letters of the word שָׁמָּה you get the word מֹשֶׁה.
Meir Panim says that the following passuk –
בָּאתִי לְגַנִּי אֲחֹתִי כַלָּה אָרִיתִי מוֹרִי עִם בְּשָׂמִי אָכַלְתִּי יַעְרִי עִם דִּבְשִׁי שָׁתִיתִי יֵינִי עִם חֲלָבִי אִכְלוּ רֵעִים שְׁתוּ וְשִׁכְרוּ דּוֹדִים (ה, א).
also refers to the same incident. Prior to the conversation Chava had with the נָחָשׁ, she squeezed grapes and gave Adam wine to drink, which made him fall asleep, and while he was non compos mentis, the נָחָשׁ managed to deceive Chava. אִכְלוּ רֵעִים שְׁתוּ וְשִׁכְרוּ דּוֹדִים refers to the drinking of the wine followed by the eating of the fruit of the עֵץ הַדַּעַת.
אָכַלְתִּי יַעְרִי from the root of the word יַעַר, meaning a forest of trees (referring to the עֵץ הַדַּעַת). The word יַעְרִי in gematria is לֶחֶם חָמֵץ מִיָּדֵךְ, the chametz bread that Chava also gave to Adam to eat.
Meir Panim repeatedly brings proofs that the Lechem HaPanim is the tikkun for this sin of Adam and Chava. Specifically, in this passuk – יַעְרִי (in milui format יוד עין ריש יוד) in gematria is וְנָתַתָּ עַל הַשֻּׁלְחָן לֶחֶם פָּנִים לְפָנַי תָּמִיד (in אתב"ש).
The gematria of יַעְרִי is בֵּית גָּרְמוּ, the family of Leviim in charge of baking the Lechem HaPanim.
Excerpt 2
שְׂמֹאלוֹ תַּחַת לְרֹאשִׁי וִימִינוֹ תְּחַבְּקֵנִי (ב, ו).
A large portion of Meir Panim is devoted to the subject of prosperity and material blessing. The Shulchan and the Lechem HaPanim were a conduit for the שֶׁפַע הָעֶלְיוֹן in Heaven and the means by which this blessing was distributed throughout the world.
The mechanism by which the Shulchan and the Lechem HaPanim facilitated this prosperity was by combining the two midot חֶסֶד וּגְבוּרָה. These are two of the Ten Sfirot, חֶסֶד refers to the attribute of mercy, the right hand, the feminine, while גְבוּרָה refers to the attribute of justice, the left hand, the masculine. In order for prosperity to exist, these two attributes need to mix together as one, the מִדַּת הָרַחֲמִים together with the מִדַּת הַדִּין. This is the way children are conceived and also the way rain is created.
We get a tactile and visual reminder of this process every time we do נְטִילַת יָדַיִם. The procedure for doing נְטִילַת יָדַיִם is to first have the right hand (חֶסֶד, the feminine) fill the cup. The cup is then passed to the left hand (גְבוּרָה, the masculine) where it acquires the joy of the חָכְמָה of the Torah, which belongs to גְבוּרָה. This results in an intermingling of חֶסֶד וּגְבוּרָה and it is this water that is then first poured by the left hand onto the right hand, where it influences the attribute of חֶסֶד with this joy. This water is then poured back onto the left hand and the process repeated (three times upon waking in the morning, twice before eating bread, prior to tefilla, or exiting the bathroom).
In the Beit HaMikdash, on Shabbat Chol HaMoed Pesach (like any other Shabbat), the Lechem HaPanim were switched on the Shulchan. The reason that Lechem HaPanim could be eaten during Pesach is because it was a matza, it was not a chametz bread. However, it was a special kind of matza, unlike any you have ever seen – it was 8cm thick! What was the main component of the bread? Air. Over 60% of the volume of the bread was made up of air, in other words, the bread rose, using yeast, שְׁמָרִים. How do you get bread to rise without becoming chametz?
This was the secret of Beit Garmu. The secret lies in the principle of combining חֶסֶד וּגְבוּרָה.
The gematria of שְׁמָרִים is גְּבוּרָה שֶׁבְּחֶסֶד.
The word שֻׁלְחָן (in nistar format – each letter of the word spelled out שין למד חית נון, minus the first letter of each - ין מד ית ון) in gematria is ְּחַבְּקֵנִי.
Excerpt 3
עַד שֶׁיָּפוּחַ הַיּוֹם וְנָסוּ הַצְּלָלִים סֹב דְּמֵה לְךָ דוֹדִי לִצְבִי אוֹ לְעֹפֶר הָאַיָּלִים עַל הָרֵי בָתֶר (ב, יז).
קוֹל דּוֹדִי הִנֵּה זֶה בָּא מְדַלֵּג עַל הֶהָרִים מְקַפֵּץ עַל הַגְּבָעוֹת (ב, ח).
Meir Panim describes the various miracles that were associated with the Lechem HaPanim.
One of these miracles was that after a week resting on the Shulchan, the bread remained fresh as when it was baked the previous week. The passuk used to describe this, חֹם בְּיוֹם הִלָּקְחוֹ (fresh as the day it was baked), is taken from the story of David HaMelech when he fled from the wrath of Shaul to the city of Nov and Achimelech gave him Lechem HaPanim to eat –
וַיִּתֶּן לוֹ הַכֹּהֵן קֹדֶשׁ כִּי לֹא הָיָה שָׁם לֶחֶם כִּי אִם לֶחֶם הַפָּנִים הַמּוּסָרִים מִלִּפְנֵי ה' לָשׂוּם לֶחֶם חֹם בְּיוֹם הִלָּקְחוֹ (שמואל א, כא, ז).
חֹם בְּיוֹם הִלָּקְחוֹ in gematria is דְּמֵה לְךָ דוֹדִי לִצְבִי, alluding to HKB"H who skips freshly like a deer over the rocky mountains.
Another miracle with the Shulchan is when the Leviim from the family of Kehat carried it around in the מִדְבָּר, during their journeys. The psukkim tell us that they carried the Shulchan while the bread was on it, all twelve loaves. And if that was not enough, in addition to the bread, all the keilim were also on the Shulchan. The Shulchan itself was made of cedar wood laminated with solid gold. A rough estimation of the weight of this entire package is around 300kg. This was lifted by four Leviim, one on each corner, holding the poles בַּדִּים, that were connected to the Shulchan by rings טַבָּעוֹת. The passuk describing this part of the Shulchan is –
לְעֻמַּת הַמִּסְגֶּרֶת תִּהְיֶיןָ הַטַּבָּעֹת לְבָתִּים לְבַדִּים לָשֵׂאת אֶת הַשֻּׁלְחָן (שמות כה, כז)
For each Levi to lift 75kg and walk miles with it in the desert is not something for the fainthearted. Meir Panim says that this was a miracle, just like the Aron HaBrit "carried" its carriers, so too did the Shulchan.
The gematria of the above passuk לְעֻמַּת הַמִּסְגֶּרֶת וכו' in Shmot is - דּוֹדִי הִנֵּה זֶה בָּא מְדַלֵּג עַל הֶהָרִים.
Excerpt 4
כֻּלָּךְ יָפָה רַעְיָתִי וּמוּם אֵין בָּךְ (ד, ז).
צְאֶינָה וּרְאֶינָה בְּנוֹת צִיּוֹן בַּמֶּלֶךְ שְׁלֹמֹה בָּעֲטָרָה שֶׁעִטְּרָה לּוֹ אִמּוֹ בְּיוֹם חֲתֻנָּתוֹ וּבְיוֹם שִׂמְחַת לִבּוֹ (ג, יא).
Another central theme of Meir Panim focuses on the special shape of the Lechem HaPanim, which resembles the curved hull of a סְפִינָה רוֹקֶדֶת, a ship that dances in the water. This shape bears uncanny resemblance to a smiling mouth. Meir Panim examines the deep, underlying connection between the blessing of material prosperity and the concept of אֵיזֶהוּ עָשִׁיר הַשָּׂמֵחַ בְּחֶלְקוֹ, which is manifested by a philosophy of smiling, always interacting with people and life - בְּסֵבֶר פָּנִים יָפוֹת.
A smile is HKB"H's answer to the cosmetics industry. Nothing makes a person more beautiful than a smile.
The gematria of בְּסֵבֶר פָּנִים יָפוֹת is יָפָה רַעְיָתִי וּמוּם אֵין.
The connection between smiling/simcha and the Lechem HaPanim is clearly illustrated in the passuk in parshat Emor detailing the preparation of the Lechem HaPanim וְלָקַחְתָּ סֹלֶת וְאָפִיתָ אֹתָהּ שְׁתֵּים עֶשְׂרֵה חַלּוֹת שְׁנֵי עֶשְׂרֹנִים יִהְיֶה הַחַלָּה הָאֶחָת (ויקרא כד, ה).
The gematria of וְאָפִיתָ אֹתָהּ שְׁתֵּים עֶשְׂרֵה חַלּוֹת is וּבְיוֹם שִׂמְחַת לִבּוֹ.
The gematria of שְׁנֵי עֶשְׂרֹנִים is כֻּלָּךְ יָפָה רַעְיָתִי וּמוּם אֵין בָּךְ.
We fervently pray that HKB"H will redeem us, as He did before in Egypt and that we will merit, in our generation, to see the Lechem HaPanim once again being switched on the Shulchan in the Beit Hamikdash and the realization of the prophecies of Shlomo HaMelech in Shir HaShirim, בבי"א.
Shabbat Shalom
Eliezer Meir Saidel
Machon Lechem Hapanim
