Ten by Five – Pinchas
רְאוּבֵן בְּכוֹר יִשְׂרָאֵל בְּנֵי רְאוּבֵן חֲנוֹךְ מִשְׁפַּחַת הַחֲנֹכִי לְפַלּוּא מִשְׁפַּחַת הַפַּלֻּאִי. לְחֶצְרֹן מִשְׁפַּחַת הַחֶצְרוֹנִי לְכַרְמִי מִשְׁפַּחַת הַכַּרְמִי (במדבר כו, ה-ו).
In the catastrophic sin at Shittim, twenty-four thousand people in Am Yisrael died. One cannot escape the similarity between this number and the number of R' Akiva's talmidim that also died in a plague (more on this later).
Following this, HKB"H commands Moshe and Elazar the son of Aharon to once again conduct a census of Am Yisrael. Rashi brings two reasons why this census was necessary. The first brings a mashal of a shepherd where wolves have attacked his flock and he wants to count the remaining sheep. The second reason, Rashi brings from the Tanchuma (פנחס, ד), when Moshe "received" Am Yisrael when they left Egypt, the Torah lists their number. Now, towards the end of Moshe's life, he is "returning the flock" as it were, he again has to make a count before doing so.
This census differs from others in the Torah. When it lists the various families, the psukkim prefix the name of the family with the letter ה and suffix it with the letter י., i.eהַחֲנֹכִי, הַפַּלֻּאִי, הַחֶצְרוֹנִי, הַכַּרְמִי, וכו' . Rashi explains why.
When Am Yisrael received the Torah on Har Sinai, the other nations were jealous. "Why are you giving the Torah to Am Yisrael and not to us?", they asked. HKB"H shut them up and responded הֵבִיאוּ לְפָנַי סֵפֶר יוּחֲסִין שֶׁלָּכֶם, "Bring Me the records of your ancestry!". By doing so, HKB"H was proving to the other nations that they could not trace their ancestry. There was so much idol worship, adultery and incest amongst the goyim, that not everyone knew who their real father was. Lehavdil, Am Yisrael could accurately trace their ancestry back – all the way to Avraham Avinu without any impropriety (ילקוט שמעוני רמז תרפ"ד).
The goyim scoffed "Really? And Am Yisrael are so pure in their ancestry? When Am Yisrael's men were slaves in Egypt, the Egyptians had total control over their bodies and could do with them whatever they pleased. How much more so with their women! How can you prove that your children did not have Egyptian fathers?"
To prove such a thing means relying on the word of the women, that they remained true to their husbands. It is their word against those of the goyim! Only HKB"H can see things that are hidden, so to resolve the issue, HKB"H attached His "stamp", His holy name י-ה, to each and every family as a seal of authenticity, to silence the fallacious claim of the goyim and testify that no infidelity had taken place.
In this shiur I would like to discuss this specific name of HKB"H י-ה, its essence and how it is reflected in many other Torah concepts, for example the Lechem HaPanim.
Before delving into this unique name, let us visit a Midrash (מדרשי רבי עקיבא, אלפא ביתא דרבי עקיבא). In this exemplary work, R' Akiva explores the letters in the Hebrew alphabet and explains each letter's unique structure, hidden meaning and significance.
R' Akiva says that HKB"H created our physical world with the letter ה, as it says אֵלֶּה תוֹלְדוֹת הַשָּׁמַיִם וְהָאָרֶץ בְּהִבָּרְאָם (בראשית ב, ד). Don't read the word as בְּהִבָּרְאָם, but rather as בְּ "ה" בָּרְאָם, that HKB"H created this world with the letter "ה".
On the other hand, HKB"H created עוֹלָם הַבָּא with the letter י. The letter י is the smallest, most minimalistic of all the letters and the reason HKB"H created עוֹלָם הַבָּא with the letter י is to teach us that anyone who minimizes themselves will inherit עוֹלָם הַבָּא.
When HKB"H was writing the Torah, the letters began arguing amongst themselves which would be the first letter in the Torah. They each approached HKB"H asking that the Torah begin with them, and each gave their appropriate reasoning. I will not repeat the reasoning of all of them here, only the reasoning of the letters י-ה.
The letter י said "Start the Torah with me!"
רבש"ע! רְצוֹנְךָ שֶׁתִּבָּרֵא בִּי אֶת עוֹלָמְךָ, שְׁבִי נִקְרֵאת "יָ-ה ה' צוּר עוֹלָמִים" (יִשְׁעֵהוּ כו, ד), וְלֹא עוֹד אֶלָּא שֶׁבִּי יוֹדוּךָ עַל כָּל מַעֲשֶׂיךָ בְּכָל יוֹם כָּל בָּאֵי עוֹלָם, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר "יוֹדוּךָ ה' כָּל מַעֲשֶׂיךָ" (תְּהִלִּים קָמָה, י), וְלֹא עוֹד, אֶלָּא שֶׁבִּי תְּחִלַּת שִׁמְךָ נִקְרָא יָחִיד.
The letter י gave three good reasons for starting the Torah with the letter י. The first reason is that "Your name י-ה begins with the letter י". The second reason is that "everyone will thank You using the letter "י. Thirdly and finally, "the letter י is the first letter of Your name י-ה-ו-ה".
HKB"H replied "I cannot create the world using the letter י, because in the future I will create the יֵצֶר הָרַע using the letter י, as it says כִּי יֵצֶר לֵב הָאָדָם רַע מִנְּעֻרָיו (בראשית ח, כא)".
The letter ה said "Start the Torah with me!"
רבש"ע! רְצוֹנְךָ שֶׁתִּבָּרֵא בִּי אֶת עוֹלָמְךָ, שֶׁבִּי עֲתִידִין יִשְׂרָאֵל לוֹמַר לְפָנֶיךָ הוֹדָיָה וַהֲדָרָה, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר "הוֹד וְהָדָר לְפָנָיו וְגוֹ'" (דברי הימים א, טז, כז), וְהֵן עֲתִידִין לִקְרוֹת לְפָנֶיךָ וּלְהוֹדוֹת גְּבוּרָתְךָ, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר "הוֹדוּ לַה' קִרְאוּ בִשְׁמוֹ וְגוֹ'" (תהלים קה, א).
The letter ה gave two examples of the same good reason, that "Am Yisrael are going to sing Your praises, הוֹדָיָה, that begins with the letter ה".
HKB"H replied "I cannot create the world using the letter ה, because in the future I am going to bring יוֹם הַדִּין to the world, as it says הִנֵּה הַיּוֹם בָּא בֹּעֵר כַּתַּנּוּר וגו' (מלאכי ג, יט)".
The name י-ה is in fact an abbreviation, the first two letters of HKB"H's full name י-ה-ו-ה. Chazal and the Mefarshim say that the name י-ה symbolizes imperfection in HKB"H's name.
The first time the name י-ה appears in the Torah is in Shirat HaYam - עָזִּי וְזִמְרָת יָ-הּ וַיְהִי לִי לִישׁוּעָה וכו' (שמות טו, ב).
The Ramban (ibid.) says that when Am Yisrael were praising HKB"H they used an "imperfect" variation of His name and he cites two reasons (I am repeating them here in reverse order to which the Ramban states them, in order to tie in with the next section). One of the reasons is וְעַל דֶּרֶךְ הָאֱמֶת, בַּעֲבוּר כִּי יְשׁוּעַת הַיָּם כֻּלָּהּ הָיְתָה עַל יַד מַלְאַךְ, because, according to the Ramban, the miracle of the splitting of the Red Sea was not performed by HKB"H directly, but by proxy, using an angel, using the great and vengeful מִדַּת הַדִּין and was therefore - imperfect.
The Ramban gives another reason that relates to the next time the name י-ה appears in the Torah, later in the same parsha, in connection with Amalek וַיֹּאמֶר כִּי יָד עַל כֵּס יָהּ מִלְחָמָה לַה' בַּעֲמָלֵק מִדֹּר דֹּר (שמות יז, וז).
The existence of Amalek diminishes HKB"H's (full) name so that only the first two letters remain and not all four. Similarly, HKB"H's כִּסֵּא is incomplete because of Amalek, it is missing the letter א at the end – כֵּס.
This will be rectified in the time of Mashiach. The Ba'al HaTurim says the words מִדֹּר דֹּר in gematria is לִימֵי מָשִׁיחַ. In the time of Mashiach, when Amalek is eradicated, the missing letters will be restored, as it says כִּי בָחַר ה' בְּצִיּוֹן אִוָּהּ לְמוֹשָׁב לוֹ (תהילים קלב, יג). The word אִוָּהּ are the missing letters. The א added to כֵּס completes the word כִּסֵּא and the letters וה added to the word י-ה completes the full name of HKB"H י-ה-ו-ה.
According to the Rambam, the other reason the name י-ה is used in Shirat HaYam is because it was sung while Amalek still existed and was therefore imperfect. In the future, in the time of Mashiach, אָז יָשִׁיר – then (in the future) it will be complete and perfect.
From this we see that the name of HKB"H י-ה signifies imperfection, something that is not fully complete.
Once we have the above principles, many things in the Torah that are difficult to explain, suddenly make sense. Let us examine a few examples.
The sin of Yosef against his brothers and the sin of the brothers against Yosef, took a perfect construct, the "Twelve Tribes" and made it imperfect, thereby invoking מִדַּת הַדִּין.
The שִׁיר שֶׁל יוֹם that we say on Thursdays, references Rosh Hashana תִּקְעוּ בַחֹדֶשׁ שׁוֹפָר בַּכֵּסֶה לְיוֹם חַגֵּנוּ. The fact that Rosh Hashana exists at all is because man sinned and needs to atone. It is an imperfect reality. The word כֵּסֶה, or כס-ה, is reminiscent of the Amalek reference – כֵּס an imperfect throne (missing the א) and the letter ה associated with יוֹם הַדִּין. Two psukkim later in Tehilim it says עֵדוּת בִּיהוֹסֵף שָׂמוֹ וכו', it adds a letter ה to name יוֹסֵף. Rashi says that Yosef was set free from prison in Egypt on Rosh Hashana and then HKB"H added the letter ה to his name, symbolizing יוֹם הַדִּין. The Gemara (Sota 10b) says the letter ה was added to his name because Yosef was מְקַדֵּשׁ שֵׁם שָׁמַיִם בַּסֵּתֶר when he refrained from sinning with the wife of Potiphar. Despite this, Yosef was still sent to prison, as a cheshbon for his former sin, that he spoke lashon lahara against his brothers (שמות רבה ז, א).
Later, after the brothers reconcile, the passuk says that Yosef gave his 11 brothers gifts - לְכֻלָּם נָתַן לָאִישׁ חֲלִפוֹת שְׂמָלֹת וּלְבִנְיָמִן נָתַן שְׁלֹשׁ מֵאוֹת כֶּסֶף וְחָמֵשׁ חֲלִפֹת שְׂמָלֹת (בראשית מה, כב). Yosef gave one suit of clothes to each of the brothers and to Binyamin he gave five suits of clothes. So, we have ten suits (one for each of the brothers) and five suits for Binyamin. Ten by five, י-ה.
Why this distribution? The answer is that the ten brothers were complicit in the sin of selling Yosef to Egypt while Binyamin was not (he was back at home with Yaakov). The numbers ten and five, reflect an imperfect reality. The sin of selling Yosef to Egypt is a cardinal sin that keeps popping up again and again throughout history and is constantly being waved in our faces by the מְקַטְרֵג. Like the story of Purim, like the עֲשָׂרָה הֲרוּגֵי מַלְכוּת, etc.
Another example is when Moshe changed הוֹשֵׁעַ to יְהוֹשֻׁעַ, as it says וַיִּקְרָא מֹשֶׁה לְהוֹשֵׁעַ בִּן נוּן יְהוֹשֻׁעַ (במדבר יג, טז). The שם משמואל (פרשת שלח, ח) explains that Yehoshua, like Moshe, was very humble and minimized himself, like the letter י. Yehoshua possessed the י, but it was not visible for all to see. Therefore, Moshe renamed him יְהוֹשֻׁעַ making the י visible to all. Despite this, the name יְהוֹשֻׁעַ, beginning with the letters י-ה, symbolizes imperfection (when compared to Moshe - פְּנֵי מֹשֶׁה כִּפְנֵי חַמָּה פְּנֵי יְהוֹשֻׁעַ כִּפְנֵי לְבָנָה, Gemara Bava Batra 75a).
A further example is the Luchot HaBrit - ten commandments, five on each tablet, again the construct י-ה, symbolizing imperfection. The first Luchot were broken and the second Luchot were man made.
We have five fingers on each hand and ten fingers on both hands. Our hands are an imperfect construct, to remind us the limit of our own power, lest we think כֹּחִי וְעֹצֶם יָדִי עָשָׂה לִי אֶת הַחַיִל הַזֶּה (דברים ח, יז), which is equivalent to avoda zara.
There are many more examples, but I will bring just one more to wrap up this section. The Lechem HaPanim was shaped from a piece of dough that was ten tefachim long, by five tefachim wide (Menachot 96a), another י-ה construct. The Lechem HaPanim is a tikkun for the sin of Adam and Chava with the עֵץ הַדַּעַת.
Lechem HaPanim in its initial י-ה state is the imperfect manifestation of abundance in this world, compared to the Mann, לֶחֶם אַבִּירִים that was Adam's food before the sin. This is why the initial dough must be folded on the long, ten tefachim, side (folds of two tefachim on either end). The resulting footprint of the Lechem HaPanim on the Shulchan is six tefachim by five tefachim – ו-ה, thus completing the י-ה-ו-ה and achieving the tikkun.
Getting back to our census at the beginning of the shiur. A glaring question is why this unique census, adding the letters י-ה, appears davka in parshat Pinchas?
Chronologically this should have been the first census HKB"H commanded Moshe to conduct, immediately following Matan Torah, in Ki Tisa. This, chronologically, is when the other nations made their false claim regarding the integrity of Am Yisrael. The census in Ki Tisa should have been הַחֲנֹכִי, הַפַּלֻּאִי, הַחֶצְרוֹנִי, הַכַּרְמִי, וכו' - containing HKB"H's stamp of fidelity. Why wait until the last year in the Midbar and just after the incident at Shittim, to detail it?
The answer is that the fallacious claim of the goyim was repeated, twice! First just after Am Yisrael received the Torah and again after they sinned at Shittim. After Shittim and Am Yisrael sinning with the Moabite women, the question of Am Yisrael's fidelity and סֵפֶר יוּחֲסִין once again was brought into question. After the twenty-four thousand died in the plague, the goyim claimed once again "How do you know that covers everyone? Perhaps there is an illicit relationship that gave rise to offspring that fell through the cracks?"
This is why the "special" י-ה census appears here, to quell both fallacious claims. Just as they were pure and devoid of infidelity at Har Sinai, so too are Am Yisrael pure and devoid of any taint in their ancestry just prior to entering Eretz Yisrael, despite Bilam and Balak's evil scheme.
The Ari z"l says that the twenty-four thousand students of R' Akiva that died in a plague, were gilgulim of the twenty-four thousand who died at the sin of ba'al peor and were a tikkun for them.
Similarly, R' Akiva himself, one of the עֲשָׂרָה הֲרוּגֵי מַלְכוּת, was a tikkun for another י-ה construct, the sin of selling Yosef.
At this very moment, as we speak, the same lack of respect that R' Akiva's students showed one another is being repeated between the rival factions in Am Yisrael - this time on steroids. This is one side of the coin that needs urgent addressing.
The flip side is that also, at this very moment, Am Yisrael is fighting bravely on multiple fronts to eradicate Amalek and restore the missing letters אִוָּהּ to complete the imperfect י-ה and make the broken כֵּס whole once more. To restore י-ה-ו-ה to His כסא and bring about the Geulah, וְהָיָה י-ה-ו-ה לְמֶלֶךְ עַל כָּל הָאָרֶץ בַּיּוֹם הַהוּא יִהְיֶה י-ה-ו-ה אֶחָד וּשְׁמוֹ אֶחָד (זכריה יד, ט).
Shabbat Shalom
Eliezer Meir Saidel
Machon Lechem Hapanim
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