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Parashat Shlach Lecha Excerpt from Yishmiru Da-at by Zalman Schachter-Shalomi

mikxean zayl written for the preceding the new w"dx`a b"nyzd fenz month of tammuz, 5743 / 1983 in the holy land

miyp` jl gly Send out for yourself men .('a b"i xacna) ,ux`d z` exezie who will scout the land (Numbers 13:2)

myde The divine name, YHVH, sexiv ly according to [the tradition of] permutation [of letters] fenz yceg for the month of Tammuz weqtn `vei is found in [an acronym of last letters] from the verse, eppi` df (b"i 'd xzq`) ( 5:13) “zeH (Heh) eynenU (Vav) ,il dey shveH (Heh) lI (Yod) / this is worthless to me,” .rxtnl 'ied epiid [which spells] YHVH backwards, [i.e. HVHY]. ohxq elfn fenz dpde And consider: The sign of Tammuz is Cancer ,mind-ceqi zcn ezcne and its quality is water sign 'iga exwre and its chief characteristic is the level of .dgtyne ziad zxwr wife as center of household and family, [the astrological House of the home]. 'gd `id dfd ycegl zcgeind ze`d The particular letter for this month is chet drinyd yege and sense, hearing, .miyegd lk lr dler which goes beyond all the senses.

eiykr ik For this time of year, [a theme is] oaxegd the churban / destruction of the Holy Temple i"pc` mya in the name of ADN”Y (f"i c"i xacna) dyn lltzd okle and, for this reason, Moshe prayed dzre (Numbers 14:17) “Now, i"pc` gk `p lcbi please, let the strength of ADN”Y be increased, ,xen`l zxac xy`k as You spoke, saying,” r"rl ik for at this time, c`n ylgp xeaicd gk the power of DiBBuR / speaking [right] is very weakened. mdilr xbq ('b c"i zeny) ik For, (Exodus 14:3) “Closed in upon them is ,xacnd hamiDaBBeR / the power of speech” gq-dt oi`e and there is no Peh-sach / open mouth .('c 't ycw `xwn xry - miig ur ixt) (Pri etz chayim - Shaar Mikra kodesh 80:4).

Parashat Shlach Lecha Page 1 http://www.rzlp.org/wordpress xy`k la` But, when ('h b"iw milidz) dgny mipad m` the mother of children is happy (Psalm 113:9), `awepd f` then haNukvah / the feminine - drityn is the bestower [of bounty] - dret 'iga epiid and that's the level of Puah, [one of the (my i"yx oiir e"h '` zeny) G-dfearing midwives], (Exodus 1:15, cf., there) -- miclid z` oiigze zclind “the midwives” “but they saved the children alive” .(`"k my) miza mdl yrie “and He made them houses” (ibid 21). zekixv eid `l miypde And the women were told they must not, ,fenzd z` zekal (c"i 'g l`wfgi) ( 8:14) “weep for Tammuz,” [an idol ik of an ancient Near East deity], for lig zy` ('c a"i ilyn) (Proverbs 12:4), “woman of valor” is ,dlra zxhr “crown of her husband,” [i.e. God], .`ax diny ycwzpe lcbzp f` then we increase and sanctify the great name.

lawn xkfd f`e And then, the masculine receives ,drityn dawpde and the feminine bestows, .dnlyd dle`bd dielz dfae and on this depends the entire redemption. dyw el` epinia xy` lage And it’s a pity that in our time it is very hard dry itl t"dkl lekiy xkf `evnl to find males who are able, at least for a time, daxe dfr dad` ly lawn zeidl to be a recipient of the strong, plentiful love .dawpd cvn d`ad that comes from the feminine.

w"ndia axgyne And from the time of the destruction of the Temple [when sacrifices were no longer offered, then the energies that had been empowered by the arousal from below, i.e.,] oipr zvw lqtp the raising of mayim nukvin / feminine waters, ,p"n z`lrd were somewhat diminshed, [and only verbal prayer remained. Also diminished], ,zepaxewd z`lrd the raising of the korbanot / sacrifices, 'ek xya mrh dlhpe “and the taste of meat was removed,” etc., ,zeixra dpzpe d`ia mrh “the taste of sex was into illicit things,” (.d "r oixcdpq) (Sanhedrin 75a). oewze But [the “feminine waters” are our longing for] `weec dpikyd the “fixing of the Shechinah,” [i.e. redemption], xzkl dler zeklndyk when the [Sefirah of] Malchut rises to Keter .dlra zxhr zeidl to be the crown of her husband!

Parashat Shlach Lecha Page 2 http://www.rzlp.org/wordpress [Returning to the sentence dealing with the NAME of this month where Haman says that all this honor which he is getting from other is insufficient for him:] ryxd onde And Haman the wicked, 'igaa el 'idy dn lk despite being on the level of, ,('h b"l ziy`xa) ax il yi “I have plenty,” (Genesis 33:9) el ic did `l could not have enough ,eznypa mbtd mrhn because of the flaw in his soul ,il dey eppi` df lky that, “all this is worthless to me,” (HVHY), onf lk wetiq el oi` ik for at all times, he was distracted ezlef xg` edyin yiy by there being someone else .wetiq el yiy for whom there was satisfaction, [i.e. Mordechai]. icigid zeidl dvx ond Haman wanted to be the only one .exwia utg jlnd xy` “that the king delighteth to honor.” dyecwa jetidle But with holiness, it’s just the opposite: dfl df zeyx dad`a mipzep mlek They all lovingly “give permission one to another” mxveil yicwdl to sanctify their creator my iycwnl xwird ik for the point is that in sanctifying the name x"gpl didiy it will be a delight [to anyone, for another] .`klnc `xwil to honor the king.

milbxnd ly m`hg k"b dfe And this was also the spies’ , ux`d lr daic e`ivedy that they spoke ill of the land diayei z` zlke` ux`dy xnel saying, “The land consumes its inhabitants,” .(a"l b"i xacna) (Numbers 13:32). -- ux` dpde And indeed, land [is like malchut:] ('c 'a ziy`xa) (Genesis 2:4) miwl` 'ied zeyr meia “On the day that havaye elokim asot / made - minye ux` earth and heaven” - zeklnd `id i.e., [land is like] malchut [as it, too, produces], - rxtnl 'ied havaye upside down - .i'd'e'd ycegd sexiv permutation [of letters] for the month, HVHY. ('h b"iw milidz) dfd ycegae And [especially] in this month, ( 113:9) -- dgny mipad m` “Mother of children rejoices” -- xzia zelyazn zexitd the fruits really ripen .fenzc `tweza drtydd z`y because of plenitude of summer solstice.

Parashat Shlach Lecha Page 3 http://www.rzlp.org/wordpress ux`d zex¥tne And from the fruits of the land, [the seven species], zeax zevn mi`a many regulations are derived .ux`a zeielzd that depend upon [one living in] the land. ly mzxez itk milbxnde And the spies, according to the teachings of r"p owfd x"enc` our master the wise one (his soul in Eden), eaiygd `l they, [the Jewish wanderers,] didn’t think much of ,ux`a zeielzd zevn regulations that depend upon the land, mixia` mgla xzei evx ik for they much preferred “ food,” ,mixn ly dx`ae ond epiid i.e. Manna, and [water from] Miriam’s well yewlne dxeia `le and not “the rains in their season” ,zevnd dyrn zekfa mielzd which depend on taking on the Mitzvot; ceakd ipprae and [they preferred] the clouds of glory ,oprde y`d cenr mdilry upon which stood the pillar of fire and cloud. zewitql qpkdl mdl dnle And why should they enter into uncertainty xivwe yixg ly regarding the plowing and harvesting in a world aeygl mc`d z` `iadl lelry mlera that can bring a person to think that it is igk ik (f"i 'g mixac) (Deuteronomy 8:17) “My strength ici mvere and the might of my hand that has ,dfd ligd z` il dyr accumulated this wealth for me." d"awd de`zn la` But the Holy One of Blessing desires mipezgza dxic el didiy to have a dwelling below [among human beings,] ,alke ryedi z`vxda dvxe and S/He prefers and ’s speech, .c`n c`n ux`d daeh ('f c"i xacna) (Numbers 14:7) “... [it] is an exceedingly good land.” ,my qlwpe` mbxzy itke And as the Targum Onkelos (ibid) says `cgl cr' “ad la-chada la-chada” / (meaning both ,'`cgl exceedingly and singularly - like yechidah), .ytpay dcigi i.e., yechidah sheb'nefesh. `pngx xn` okle And that's why the merciful one said - oyprn x`p wiy ,'miyp` jl gly' shelach lecha anashim / shik nur menshen - mi`nvr eidiy [make sure the ones sent] will be self-governed mnvr cgeyn miiwpe and free of self-bribery, [i.e., honest with themselves] ,miyp` ipira `evnl so that they find favor in the eyes of people, ,ux`d z` exezie “viyaTuRu / who will scout out the land,” ux`d zxez ecnliy [i.e.], who will study the of the earth .ux`d ipipr jezl dxezd z` qipkdl to put the torah into earthly things.

translation by Gabbai Seth Fishman

Parashat Shlach Lecha Page 4 http://www.rzlp.org/wordpress