Lechem HaPanim Festival – Emor
וְלָקַחְתָּ סֹלֶת וְאָפִיתָ אֹתָהּ שְׁתֵּים עֶשְׂרֵה חַלּוֹת שְׁנֵי עֶשְׂרֹנִים יִהְיֶה הַחַלָּה הָאֶחָת. וְשַׂמְתָּ אוֹתָם שְׁתַּיִם מַעֲרָכוֹת שֵׁשׁ הַמַּעֲרָכֶת עַל הַשֻּׁלְחָן הַטָּהֹר לִפְנֵי ה'. וְנָתַתָּ עַל הַמַּעֲרֶכֶת לְבֹנָה זַכָּה וְהָיְתָה לַלֶּחֶם לְאַזְכָּרָה אִשֶּׁה לַה'. בְּיוֹם הַשַּׁבָּת בְּיוֹם הַשַּׁבָּת יַעַרְכֶנּוּ לִפְנֵי ה' תָּמִיד מֵאֵת בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל בְּרִית עוֹלָם. וְהָיְתָה לְאַהֲרֹן וּלְבָנָיו וַאֲכָלֻהוּ בְּמָקוֹם קָדֹשׁ כִּי קֹדֶשׁ קָדָשִׁים הוּא לוֹ מֵאִשֵּׁי ה' חָק עוֹלָם (ויקרא כד, ה-ט).
This week is the parsha of the Lechem HaPanim, where the Torah describes for the first time (?) what the Lechem HaPanim actually is. Parshat Emor this year is a watershed moment for us, a festival mamash, as it coincides בִּסְעָיְתָא דִּשְׁמַיָּא with the publication of the second edition of sefer Meir Panim. To celebrate the occasion, we have decided to launch the sefer with the pomp and ceremony it deserves, via an extensive exposé in the media (newspapers, parsha sheets, podcasts etc.). Be'ezrat Hashem, after this Shabbat, most of Am Yisrael in Israel and abroad, will know of the existence of Machon Lechem HaPanim, our research and sefer Meir Panim.
This shiur too is a celebration of the Lechem HaPanim, focusing specifically on excerpts from Meir Panim that relate to the psukkim in this week's parsha. I would like to dedicate the shiur to the loving memory of my parents חנוך הענוך בן בנימין ז"ל and פעשא דבורה בת אליעזר מאיר ע"ה, in whose memory the sefer is also dedicated.
This is not the first time the Lechem HaPanim is mentioned in the Torah. In parshat Truma (שמות כה, ל), describing the Shulchan, the Torah first explicitly mentions the Lechem HaPanim, but does not describe what it is.
After the Torah describes the Menorah in parshat Truma (שמות כה, לא), it follows shortly after in parshat Tezaveh (שמות כז, כ) with a description of what oil to light it with. After the Torah describes the מִזְבַּח הַקְּטֹרֶת in parshat Tetzaveh (שמות ל, א), it follows shortly after (23 psukkim later) with a description of what the Ketoret is. Why does the Torah wait another twelve parshiyot, all the way until parshat Emor, to describe the Lechem HaPanim? Why does the Torah not simply follow the description of the Shulchan with the description of the Lechem HaPanim, in parshat Truma, or shortly after?
The Zohar HaKadosh (חלק ב, קנד ע"א) resolves a machloket in the Gemara, which tries to determine what is the ikar. Is the Shulchan the ikar (זבחים פז, ע"א)? or is the Lechem HaPanim (resting on the Shulchan) the ikar (מנחות ק, ע"א)? The Zohar says that the Shulchan is the ikar, he compares it to a tree and the Lechem HaPanim to its fruit. Without the "tree" there can be no "fruit".
Following this train of thought, one might say that the parshiyot of the Mishkan in sefer Shmot focus on the "trees". They describe the Shulchan, the Menorah and the Mizbeach HaKetoret in intricate detail, but focus less on the "fruits" of these "trees" – i.e the Lechem HaPanim, the oil for the Menorah and the Ketoret for the Mizbeach HaKetoret. They focus on the "permanent" structures and less on the transient, ever replenished "ingredients/raw materials" which are associated with these keilim.
Except, as we see above, this is not entirely true. The Torah does describe the oil for the Menorah and the Ketoret for the Mizbeach, in close proximity to the keilim themselves in sefer Shmot. All three are in the category of Temidin, regular offerings in the Mishkan. So why is the Lechem HaPanim the exception?
One might say that the Menorah and the Ketoret were daily Temidin, performed every day, while the Lechem HaPanim was only switched once a week, on Shabbat. However, the Lechem HaPanim was on the Shulchan every day, as it says לֶחֶם פָּנִים לְפָנַי תָּמִיד. Each day the Lechem HaPanim rested on the Shulchan, was a korban in itself, a repeating miracle that occurred each day anew.
So, the question remains – why wait until parshat Emor, and specifically after the section of the מוֹעֲדוֹת to describe the Lechem HaPanim?
The Rokeach (רבי אלעזר מגרמייזא, הלכות פורים, סימן רמ) asks this question. Why are the מוֹעֲדוֹת followed by paragraphs discussing the oil for the Menorah and then the Lechem HaPanim? The Rokeach says, that the מוֹעֲדוֹת listed in Emor are all the chagim that are מִדְּאוֹרָיְתָא. However, by immediately following them with the parsha of the oil for the Menorah and the Lechem HaPanim, the Torah is also hinting to the chagim מִדַּרְבָּנָן, the oil – Channukah and the Lechem HaPanim – Purim. Sefer Meir Panim brings proofs of the close connection between Lechem HaPanim and Purim from תּוֹרַת הָרֶמֶז, that the gematria of סְפִינָה רוֹקֶדֶת (the shape of the Lechem HaPanim) is "אֲחַשְׁוֵרוֹשׁ הָמָן" and the gematria of סְפִינָה is "אֲדָר".
That is an incredible perush of the Rokeach and explains why the Lechem HaPanim is mentioned in parshat Emor, but it does not explain why the Lechem HaPanim was not detailed in Shmot, like the oil and the Ketoret.
To understand why the Lechem HaPanim is not detailed in sefer Shmot and why the Torah waits 12 parshiyot (from the time it is first mentioned), until Emor to describe it, we have to examine the exact positioning of the paragraph of the Lechem HaPanim in our parsha. The positioning here in Emor can best be described as a Lechem HaPanim "sandwich". Unlike a regular sandwich where you have something sandwiched between two pieces of bread, our Lechem HaPanim "sandwich" is slightly different – the Lechem HaPanim, the bread, is sandwiched between two paragraphs. The paragraph preceding the Lechem HaPanim describes the oil for lighting the Menorah and the paragraph following the Lechem HaPanim is the parsha of the mekalel, and its continuation - the parsha of Shmita.
There is a fundamental difference between the Menorah/oil, the Mizbeach/Ketoret and the Shulchan/Lechem HaPanim. The Menorah/oil and the Ketoret were introduced into the world long after Creation, to right a wrong, to atone for a sin. The Shulchan and the Lechem HaPanim were there at the very beginning – in fact in the first passuk of the Torah.
We get a hint to this in the psukkim from our parsha above. When the Torah describes the oil for lighting the Menorah (ויקרא כד, א-ד) it refers to this as a חָק, a statute, that is not possible to fully understand - חֻקַּת עוֹלָם לְדֹרֹתֵיכֶם.
A few psukkim later, the Torah also refers to the Lechem HaPanim as a חָק עוֹלָם. However, the Torah adds an additional description to the Lechem HaPanim that it does not mention for the Menorah/oil. It also calls the Lechem HaPanim בְּרִית עוֹלָם.
The term בְּרִית עוֹלָם refers to things in the Torah that were there right from the very beginning of Creation. Other examples of things called בְּרִית עוֹלָם in the Torah are the –
* קֶשֶׁת (בראשית ט, טז) - created on the sixth day בְּעֶרֶב שַׁבָּת בֵּין הַשְּׁמָשׁוֹת.
* בְּרִית מִילָה (בראשית יז, ז) - the way Adam was created, circumcised.
* שַׁבָּת (שמות לה, טז) - created after the six days of Creation.
* בְּרִית מֶלַח (במדבר יח, יט) – the pact HKB"H made with the lower waters, separated from the upper waters on the 2nd day of Creation.
* בְּרִית כְּהֻנָּה (במדבר כה, יג) – the blueprint for Avodat Hashem.
Meir Panim (פרק יג, קלב) explains how the first passuk in the Torah reveals the layout of the Lechem HaPanim on the Shulchan. In the first passuk there are six letters aleph. בראשית ברא א-לקים את השמים ואת הארץ. If you break the letter aleph א into components, it is actually made up of a central line and two letters yud י, one yud on each side of the central line. The letter י resembles the shape of a ship, סְפִינָה רוֹקֶדֶת, the shape of a loaf of Lechem HaPanim, which was a curved U shape. So if each aleph embodies two loaves of Lechem HaPanim, on opposite sides of the central line of the Shulchan, then the 6 letters aleph in the first passuk are in fact twelve loaves of Lechem HaPanim, arranged in two stacks on opposite ends of the Shulchan.
Why was it necessary for the Torah to give us the blueprint of the Lechem HaPanim, in the very first passuk of the Torah?
The answer is because at the very foundation of the Torah and the world we have the Lechem HaPanim. HKB"H designed the Torah and the world according to the blueprint of the Lechem HaPanim. This blueprint is recognition (הַכָּרָה) and gratitude (הַכָּרַת הַטּוֹב).
The Torah and the world are based on the founding principle of recognition – that there is only One G-d, the Source of everything.
The extension of recognition is gratitude – to express gratitude for everything, provided by HKB"H.
This is the essence of Creation. Creation is filled with testaments to HKB"H, the purpose of which are to trigger recognition. Our lives (Shulchan), lived according to the guidelines of the Torah (Menorah), are an expression of gratitude.
Recognition is a marital contract between HKB"H and Am Yisrael. HKB"H is the "groom" as it were, and we are the "bride". Gratitude is our life of marital bliss.
This is all part of the blueprint of the Shulchan and the Lechem HaPanim. The two stacks of six loaves on the Shulchan represent two angels (שְׂרָפִים), each with six wings, facing each other with a smile (the shape of the Lechem HaPanim U resembles a smile). It is the identical blueprint of the Aron HaBrit, with the two Kruvim (one male, one female), facing each other with a smile (this is why the second opinion of the shape of the Lechem HaPanim is called a תֵּיבָה).
Wherever you find the Shulchan and the Lechem HaPanim, you also find the Menorah adjacent to it - in the psukkim in the Torah, in their physical location in the Heichal. The reason is because they are a pair, like the left and right arm of the same body. The Lechem HaPanim is the action, the Menorah is the handbook. They are like the executive and legislative arms of government. The Lechem HaPanim (קֶמַח) and the Menorah (תּוֹרָה) are symbiotic and neither can exist without the other. This is why a king in Am Yisrael has to have a sefer Torah attached to him at all times.
It is not surprising therefore, that in our parsha we find the Menorah, followed by the Lechem HaPanim, because they are indivisible. This is the one end of the "sandwich", the other end is the parsha of Shmita.
Before the Torah describes the mitzva of Shmita, it first has to explain the reason for Shmita, the blueprint for the mitzva. This is why the Lechem HaPanim precedes Shmita in the Torah, because it is the blueprint, recognition and gratitude. Recognition that HKB"H controls everything and gratitude for everything HKB"H gives us. Once you understand that blueprint, you can understand Shmita. How we can rest from farming for an entire year and still have food to eat. How by davka resting for a year and expressing gratitude, we ensure that we will have food for the entire repeating seven-year cycle.
Before the Torah describes Shmita, it describes the blueprint, the Lechem HaPanim and it also describes what happens when there is a failure in the blueprint.
The mekalel is the failure of the blueprint, what happens when the blueprint is not followed. The mekalel has "recognition", he recognizes that HKB"H exists. If he didn't, he would not have cursed HKB"H. The mekalel recognizes HKB"H, but he doesn't allow that recognition to continue into its natural extension – gratitude. Gratitude is acceptance that everything HKB"H gives us is exactly what we need. No more and no less. This is the principle of אֵיזֶהוּ עָשִׁיר הַשָּׂמֵחַ בְּחֶלְקוֹ. It is complete and total בִּטּוּל עַצְמִי before HKB"H.
When you are not satisfied with what HKB"H gives you, it is a form of avodah zara, thinking you know better than HKB"H what is good for you. This was the mekalel.
The mekalel felt he deserved to be part of the Tribe of Dan, because his mother was Shlomit bat Divri from the Tribe of Dan. However, tribal association goes according to the father and not the mother. The mekalel's father was an Egyptian guard, who lusted for Shlomit when they were still in Egypt and one day when Shlomit's husband Datan was out of the house, this Egyptian slept with her. From this union a son was born – the mekalel. When he discovered what had happened, Datan confronted this Egyptian guard and this is what Moshe saw, Datan being beaten by the Egyptian, whom Moshe slew using the שֵׁם הַמְּפֹרָשׁ.
The mekalel petitioned Moshe to allow him to be included in the Tribe of Dan. Moshe asked HKB"H and the answer he received was that tribal association goes according to the father, not the mother. Since his father was an Egyptian and not from the Tribe of Dan, he could not be included in Dan. If he would have accepted the blueprint – recognition and gratitude, this person (the Torah does not mention his name, only calls him the mekalel) would have lived a long and happy life. However, he refused to follow the blueprint – he mocked the blueprint, the Lechem HaPanim – and he cursed the same שֵׁם הַמְּפֹרָשׁ that Moshe used to kill his father, the Egyptian guard.
The Torah wants to teach us the mitzva of Shmita, so it first teaches us the blueprint – the Lechem HaPanim (combined together with the Menorah). It then teaches us what will happen if we fail to follow the blueprint – the mekalel. Now the Torah can teach us about Shmita. We have learned the blueprint, we have learned what can go wrong if the blueprint is not followed, now we can understand Shmita. It is all one package. That is why it appears here at the end of Emor, immediately before Shmita in parshat Behar.
Why does the Lechem HaPanim not appear in Shmot, together with the Shulchan in parshat Truma? Actually, it does, and here is the major chiddush of sefer Meir Panim.
The blueprint of the Lechem HaPanim is not localized to one specific part of the Torah, it permeates the entire Torah, starting from the first passuk in Breishit. It is the precursor to Creation itself, the blueprint for Creation – דֶּרֶךְ אֶרֶץ קָדְמָה לְתוֹרָה. It is the precursor to every passuk in the Torah, every mitzva, every halacha, every מִדָּה that the Torah teaches us. Recognition and gratitude. The "bride" (Am Yisrael) recognizing and remaining loyal to the "groom" (HKB"H). Continually looking for more and better ways to show gratitude to HKB"H, by observing His Torah and striving to do hidur mitzva, זֶה אֵ-לִי וְאַנְוֵהוּ. This love is mutual and reciprocated and results in marital bliss.
This is why the Lechem HaPanim is called a בְּרִית עוֹלָם, it is HKB"H's blueprint of everything! The Torah, the world, life itself, children, our health, parnasa, the mitzvot … everything!
Our history is a journey of successes and failures in following the blueprint, a journey that will ultimately end in a return to the blueprint and eternal "marital bliss". בבי"א.
Shabbat Shalom
Eliezer Meir Saidel
Machon Lechem Hapanim
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