Our holy Sages have taught us that the Torah is so sublime and mystical that it is the blueprint of the entire universe. More than this, the Torah acts as an “owner’s manual” for the human race.
Ben Hey Hey tells us in Pirkei Avot that everything can be found in the Torah. In the holy Zohar, Rabbi Shimon Bar Yohai tells us that the Torah contains within it all the sublime secrets of the universe. Indeed, whatever the likes of a Stephen Hawkins will discover about cosmology, whatever any scientist will discover in any field that will win him/her a Nobel Prize, all of these discoveries are already in the Torah, if only we knew how to extricate them from their concealment.
The holy Mekubalim have emphasized for centuries the mathematical aspects of the Torah known as gematriyot; how each letter is a number and every word a code. Finding equal numerical values between letters, words and phrases enables us to discover previously unknown relationships and revealing to us secrets of life.
The order of the tribes, the arrangement of their camps and the numbers of their populations all conceal within them the secrets of the cosmological/psychological order of time, space and human consciousness.
One of the great Kabbalists who lived at the time of the revelation of the holy Zohar (circa 1270) was Rabbi Yitzhak D’min Acco. A friend and student of the RaMBaN, Rabbi Yitzhak knew well the secrets of the Kabbalah. One of his fine texts is a Torah commentary entitled Me’irat Aynayim, which is a commentary explaining the Kabbalistic references found in RaMBaN’s Torah commentary. This text is a Kabbalah classic.
In Parashat Bamidbar, Rabbi Yitzhak introduces us to the four camps of the Shekhina, which correspond to the four camps of Israel and the four camps of the angels. What follows is a list of correlations that underlie the pattern of the camping arrangements in the wilderness. That order was arranged by G-d to represent certain archetypal realities that are universal in nature in application to the collective Jewish soul.
By learning the secret of this order, we learn about ourselves, the spiritual world around us, the forces of nature in the physical world and many other things. The order that I will now outline is taken from the Yafeh Aynayim commentary to Me’irat Aynayim (page 240) and is culled from many sources (Midrash, Zohar, Recanati, Tziyuni and others).
1. First Camp (Flag) – East, rahamim (grace), Yehudah (king), Yisaskar (torah), Zevulun (wealth), Nisan (Aries), Iyar (Taurus) Sivan (Gemini), Yod of Havaya, First season (spring), Face of Man (in merkava), Uriel (among the angels), Power of the Winds (forces of nature).
2. Second Camp (Flag) – South, hesed (mercy), Reuven (teshuva), Shimon (honor), Gad (strength), Tamuz (cancer), Av (Leo), Elul (Virgo), First Hey of Havaya, Second season (summer), Face of Lion (in merkava), Michael (among the angels), Water (forces of nature).
3. Third Camp (Flag) – West, Malkhut (kingdom), Efraim (hot & cold), Menashe (snow), Benyamin (Shekhina), Tishrei (Libra), Heshvan (Scorpio), Kislev (Sagittarius), Vav of Havaya, Third season (fall), Face of Eagle (in merkava), Rafael (among the angels), Earth (forces of nature).
4. Fourth Camp (Flag) – North, din (judgment), Dan (darkness), Asher (light), Naftali (blessing), Tevet (Capricorn), Shevat (Aquarius), Adar (Pisces), Final Hey of Havaya, Fourth season (winter), Face of Bull (in merkava), Gavriel (among the angels), Fire (forces of nature).
As Kohelet says, “Everything has its season and there is a time for everything under heaven” (Koh. 3:1). Parashat Bamidbar comes to teach us how HaShem has arranged and correlated the interactive forces of nature (physics and spiritual “meta”- physics). By learning the secrets of this parasha, one cultivates an understanding of the “influences” upon the seasons. Granted, this knowledge must never be viewed or used superstitiously, nonetheless, this knowledge is real and ordained by G-d.
For example, the month of Iyar corresponds to the tribe of Yissachar, whose attribute was excellence in Torah study. Thus, Iyar is a more auspicious time for learning than any other month. However, when the students of Torah do not live up to their studies, then the nature of this month, Rahamim, which mixes both mercy and judgment, is tilted towards judgment and punishment occurs. It was for this reason that most of Rabbi Akiba’s 24,000 students dies during the first 18 days of Iyar and at no other time of the year.
The archetypal correlates mentioned here are by no means a comprehensive list. In the Sefer Yetzirah, chapter 5, more extensive lists are given that correlate specific Hebrew letters to body organs and personality traits. Indeed, HaShem set up His world according to a precise seder; this is why we have precise Halakhot to follow. Our observance of the mitzvot enables the earthly pattern to correspond with its supernal counterpart.
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