Mind Over Body – Parchas Bechukosai 5769
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Loading ...וזכרתי את בריתי יעקוב (כו:מב).
”I will remember my covenant with Yaakov” (26:42).
Rashi informs us the reason that Yaakov’s name is spelled here with an additional Vav (יעקוב). There are five times that ‘Yaakov’ is spelled with an extra Vav and five times that ‘Eliyahu’ is spelled with his Vav missing (אליה-ו). This is to signify that Yaakov took this letter from Eliyahu’s name as a collateral to assure that Eliyahu would come to redeem the Jewish people from exile! Now, this certainly is a deep Torah secret, but let us delve into it to see what we can glean.
The Chida (Chomas Anach) quotes the following fascinating Chazal. Eisav got his name because he was born highly developed and full of hair. His name shows that he was עשוי, fully made! Yaakov got his name because he grasped on to the heel of Eisav struggling to emerge first, thus עקב, heel. Yaakov stole the Yud of עשוי, making his own name יעקב, and left his brother with עשו. In the future when Moshiach comes, Yaakov will take the Vav of עשו as well thus becoming יעקוב and leaving only עש, moth, a worthless tiny creature! This too is a Torah secret, but perhaps we can gain a practical lesson from it all!
The Chida goes on to explain that Yaakov’s action of taking the letter Vav on five occasions is to hint to two important letters. First and most obvious is the ו,Vav itself, the letter which he took. The second is the number of times that he took it which is five and is equivalent to the hebrew letter ה, Hey, hence ו-ה. These two letters are highly significant for Chazal say, that as long as Amalek are in the world, Hashem’s name (י-ה-ו-ה) is minimized to only י-ה, G-d, and is lacking its ending of ו-ה! Thus, the bringing of Moshiach will restore the final two letters. What does this all mean?
Amalek’s (עמלק) etymological root is מליקה, decapitation of the head. Why is this their name and essence? Hashem gave us freewill by providing us with a brain and a body. Our body has animalistic and earthly drives; it desires the pleasures of this world. Our brain on the other hand knows what is good and true and desires spirituality and perfection. With our conscience decisions we can choose to control our impulses and steer ourselves towards proper actions. The battle rages and victory is only in the hands of one who kings his intellect over his body thereby making his knowledge guide his actions. Thus, a head decapitation signifies a separation from knowledge and bodily application. The body is removed from the head’s control. Amalek strives for us to cut off our heads (knowledge and connection to Hashem) and rather let our bodies rule! The Seforim write that theי-ה of God’s name represents knowledge and the ו-ה at the end represents the body, physical action. Our job is to connect them, whereas Amalek strives to detach them! (Indeed, Eisav, the grandfather of Amalek and founder of their hedonistic worldview died by decapitation and his head was buried in the Cave of Machpayla! His body, the ruler of his life, surely did not belong in that holy burial plot!)
Thus we can begin to understand the above quoted Chazal. Yaakov’s role out of the three Avos was to be the family builder of the Jewish Nation; to show the twelve tribes how to live their lives connected to Hashem. Yaakov desired to connect the ו”הto the י”הand to act accordingly! In fact, when Moshiach comes Yaakov will undermine all of Eisav’s strength by grasping his Vav (physicality), showing that he had conquered it! Yaakov entrusted Eliyahu with this responsibility as well. Thus, the two letters which the Chida found hinted in the words of Chazal (the letter ,ו Vav, and its five times (,ה Hey) that it was taken from Eliyahu) were precisely the letters which represent the practical application (ו-ה) of Torah observance! Eliyahu thereby became the enforcer of Torah law. He was entrusted to act when necessary, to ensure that the Nation was living by Hashem’s commands. Indeed, the Gemara (Sanhedrin 98a) tells us that Eliyahu stated that he will arrive to announce Moshiach when we repent and listen to Hashem’s voice! In Eliyahu’s time he saw that the people weren’t acting properly and thus he made a public display of Hashem’s sovereignty on Mount Carmel. He took action and entreated his fellow brothers to follow his lead! Hashem rewarded Eliyahu by sending him to be present at every Jewish Bris Milah, circumcision, as this act shows our willingness to subjugate every part of our body to act for Hashem. (Incidentally, this is hinted by the word בריתי in our exact verse!)
Eliyahu was a reincarnation of Pinchos the Cohen. Pinchos is most famous for his passionate action for the glory of Hashem when he rose from among the Jews to protest and punish Zimri’s terrible sin against God. The theme here is action! Additionally, Eliyahu HaNavi performed resurrection of the dead on a young boy. That child grew up to be the prophet Yonah, whose book stresses the theme over and again that we must act in accordance with the will of Hashem! This is the precise idea here.
Surely the concepts discussed here are of a very lofty nature, but the lesson that we see is clear. Our job in life is to live by the beautiful truths that we have in our heads and to apply it as best that we can to our everyday lives. Indeed, we all know that although this is often a most difficult task, when we do it we are rewarded with the greatest happiness and fulfillment available to mankind!
Categories: Parshas Bechukosai Acknowledging Hashem, Action, Emes, Ruchnius / Gashmius
