DailyHalacha.com

Rabbi Mansour 2010
Shabbat Morning Class
???? ??? ?????


The Pasuk says " ?????? ?? ????? ????? "-"I will remember my covenant with
Yaakob". Hashem says that he will remember his promise to Yaakob and redeem his
children. Rashi comments that this Pasuk is one of five places in the Tanach that
Yaakob’s name is spelled ????? with a ' ? (as opposed to ???? without a ' ?). There is also
five places in the Tanach that Eliyahu Hanavi’s name is spelled ???? , missing the ' ? (as
opposed to ????? with a ' ?). Rashi explains that the reason why there are five Yaakob’s
spelled with a Vav and five Eliyahu’s spelled without, is because Yaakob "took" these
five Vavs from Eliyahu as a security, to guarantee that Eliyahu will come and herald the
Mashiach for the Jewish people.
Why was only Yaakob Avinu the one to be concerned with the final redemption
and take security from Eliyahu Hanavi? What about the other Avot and Tzadikim? We
also need to understand; why did Yaakov take five Vavs from Eliyahu as security?
Wouldn’t just one Vav have been enough? Also, why specifically the Vav? Why not a
different letter? Finally, why was a security necessary altogether? One only takes
security from someone who he is concerned will not deliver. What was Yaakob so
afraid of that he needed to take a security from Eliyahu, as if to imply that he needed a
guarantee because he didn’t trust him?!
The three Batei Hamikdash (the first two and the future third) correspond to our
three forefathers. The first Bet Hamikdash for Avraham, the second for Yishak, and the
third for Yaakob. Avraham’s Bet Hamikdash was compared to a ?? (mountain),
Yishak’s was compared to a ??? (field), and Yaakob’s is compared to a ??? (house)
which is the most permanent of the three, since the third Bet Hamikdash will never be
destroyed.
This answers the first question. Yaakob was the one to be concerned with the
final redemption because that is when the third Bet Hamikdash – the Bet Hamikdash of
Yaakob- will be built. This will be heralded by Eliyahu. Yaakob was insuring that this
will take place. In addition, the Zohar explains that Yaakob Avinu was present to
witness the first redemption from Egypt as the Pasuk says; "???? ????? ?? ????? ?? ??
??? ???" -"Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore". If the Pasuk was referring
to the Jews, the Pasuk should have said ????? (they saw) in plural instead of the
singular term ???? (he saw). It says ???? , because it is referring to Yaakob Avinu, who is
called Yisrael ( ????? ?? -prince) when discussing such great moments, as opposed to
Yaakob ( ????? ??? -heel) when normally discussing Yaakob. Yaakob greeted the Jews
as they crossed the Yam Suf and were freed from the Egyptians. The Zohar says that
the same "old man" who was present then, will be present again at the final Geulah.
????? ?????? -the later redemption will be like the earlier one in that Yaakob Avinu will
be there. This is why it was Yaakob who was concerned with guaranteeing our
redemption from exile.
Why five Vav’s? Today in the exile, Hashem’s name is "incomplete". The Pasuk
says " ?? ?? ?? ?? ? -? ????? ??' ????? "-"for there is a hand on the throne of Hashem,
Hashem maintains a war against Amalek". Hazal explain that in the exile, when we are
still at war with Amalek, Hashem’s name is: ?-? (as the Pasuk says ?? ?? ?-? ). In the
future when Mashiach comes, and Amalek is defeated the ? -? will be added and
Hashem’s name will be complete ( ?-?-? -? ) . Our goal today is to complete Hashem’s
name by bringing the Mashiach. We say in the Kadish " -"????? ?????? ???? ???
"Exalted and sanctified be his great name". The word ???? (his name) can be broken
up to be read: ??-?-? (The name ?-? ). We are asking that Hashem’s name - which is
currently only ?-? - should be; ????? -made great and lengthened into ?-?-? -? with the
coming of the Mashiach.
The Baal Shem Tov explains that the great Tsadikim were concerned with
"completing" the name of Hashem, and their service was done with that intention. This
should also be all of our intentions- to complete Hashem’s name with the adding of .?-?
This is hinted to in the Pasuk: " ???? ?' ?? ???????? "-literally "May Hashem fill all your
requests". This Pasuk can be divided to read: ???? ?'- ?? ???????? to complete
Hashem’s name ( ?? ??????? - ,(????? ??? , that should be all your requests and
desires! We await the Mashiach and the ? -? being added to Hashem’s name. This
explains why Yaakob took five Vavs since ?-? is five Vavs! (' ? equals five, thus ? -? is
the letter Vav five times). Yaakob chose five Vav’s as the guarantee from Eliyahu,
because this is the result of the Geulah that Eliyahu will announce!
In addition, on Pesah night we drink four cups of wine. The four cups correspond
to the four terms of redemption that is written in the Pesukim; , ???????, ??????, ??????
?????? (I shall take you out, rescue you, redeem you, and take you). We have a
custom to pour a fifth cup of wine and leave it on the table for Eliyahu Hanavi. Where
does this custom come from? One reason given is that on every Mosei Shabbat,
Eliyahu Hanavi would visit the Baal Shem Tov and wish him a Shavua Tov. One time
however, Eliyahu walked into the room of the Baal Shem Tov and left immediately
without wishing him a Shavua Tov. The Baal Shem Tov’s students asked him; why did
Eliyahu left so fast?! The Baal Shem Tov explained that he (Baal Shem Tov) had
reached such a high level and-on this occasion- did not control and conceal it before
Eliyahu came. The holiness was too much even for Eliyahu and he had to run out! On
Pesah night, Hashem lifts us to the highest level- the 50th level! On that night, we
become so holy that even Eliyahu is "afraid" to approach us. The Gemarah advises
that for fear, one should drink wine to calm himself. We give some wine to Eliyahu to
"calm him" from the sudden fright of walking in to our homes and seeing us on such a
lofty level!
Another reason for the cup of Eliyahu is that it represents a fifth term of
redemption, and that is ?????? - i will bring you (into Israel) because, what good is the
redemption if we don’t have a place to go?! The fifth cup of Eliyahu corresponds to
?????? , because Eliyahu is the one who will herald the coming of the Mashiach, and
bring all the Jews into Israel. The word ?????? is numerically 424 which is the same
numerical value as ???? ?? ??? . It is also the same numerical value as the word ,???
which is the name that the Mashiach will wear on his forehead (this name is hinted to
in the Megilat Esther that says ??? ?? ????? ). This is why Yaakov took five Vavs from
Eliyahu, because Eliyahu represented ?????? - the fifth term of redemption, the fifth
cup of wine, and the final Geulah.
The ???? ????? explains that Yaakov took five Vavs as if to make Eliyahu swear
on the five books of the Torah that he will redeem the people. The Targum Yonatan
ben Uziel brings an explanation regarding the coverings that were made for the
Mishkan. One of the coverings was an eleven section long covering that was six
sections connected to another five sections. The Targum explains, that the reason why
it was broken up into six and five is because, the six stands for the ??? ???? ???? (the
six books of the Mishnah- the oral Torah) and the section of five represent the five
books of the ???? ????? (the written Torah). From here we see six and five
representing the two parts of the Torah- the written and oral.
The Torah is crucial to our redemption from the exile. The ??? ????? ?????
explains that the four exiles (Bavel, Paras, Yavan, Edom) correspond to the four
Sadikim- Avraham, Yishak, Yaakov, and Moshe. We are currently in Galut Edom which
is the exile corresponding to Moshe Rabeinu. Moshe does not want to redeem a nation
of ?????? (idle people who waste time)! The only way Moshe will advocate our
redemption is if we apply ourselves to the study of Torah- the five books of the written
and the six books of the oral. (The fact that the Torah is our key to the redemption is
hinted to in the Pasuk that describes the Geulah " ???? ????? ???? ????? ????? "-"Zion
will be redeemed through justice and its returnees through righteousness’’. The
numerical value ???? ???? ???? is 1076 which is the same Gematriyah as: ?????
??????? , and ????? ????? equals 524 – exactly the same as ????? ???? . The redemption
is dependent on our immersing ourselves in Torah study! [This Gematriyah is from R'
Moshe Chaim Sonnenfeld, and when he showed it to the Brisker Rav, the Rav first
checked the calculation then exclaimed; "even though i do not normally get excited
from Gematriyot - this one is definitely said with Ruach Hakodesh!!] )
This is another reason why Yaakov chose to take five Vav’s, since ' ? is five and ' ?
is six to show us that through the five and six books of the Torah ????? ???? ?? , we
will merit to be redeemed from the exile. This is also alluded to in the Pasuk itself that
we started with ( ?????? ?? ????? ????? ). There are exactly five Vav’s in that Pasuk: ??????
?? ????? ????? ??? ?? ????? ???? ??? ?? ????? ????? ???? ????? ???? . These Hint to the
five Vav’s take by Yaakob.
The Pasuk of ????? as mentioned, describes Yaakov greeting the Jews upon their
exit from the first exile of Egypt. In this Parasha as well, there are five verbs that begins
with Vav ( ?????, ????, ????, ?????, ??????? ) signifying the five Vavs and the Torah that will
redeem us from the Galut.
There is another important function that the 6 and 5 books of the Torah serve.
That is to help us endure the Galut. There are so many things that divert us, and all
types of distractions and addictions that one may succumb to. The Torah is what gives
us the clarity and fortitude that protects us from the influences. The Torah is the key to
our making it to the end of our exile. With this idea the Sar Shalom (original Belzer
Rebbe) explained the prayer that some have the custom to recite on Friday night. It
says " ??????? ??? ?????? ?????? "-"have mercy on me while in the Galut to redeem me."
The Sar Shalom asked: why doesn’t it say "have mercy to redeem me from the Galut"
why does it say: while in Galut to redeem me?? He answers that the prayer is referring
to be redeemed from the problems and pitfalls of the current Galut in order to endure
and survive to see the final redemption of the exile! We need to be redeemed in order
to make it to the redemption!
This explains why Yaakob needed to take the five Vavs as security from Eliyahu.
It wasn’t that he was afraid Eliyahu wouldn’t fulfill his duty, It’s because Yaakob wanted
to take something to help us make it through the Galut, and that was the Torah- which
is represented by the ' ? and ' ?. These six and five books are what we need to keep us
on track for the Geulah!
There is another reason given as to why Yaakov chose to take specifically the
Vav from Eliyahu, and that is from the ??? ???? ?????? , who explains that when
Yaakov’s brother Eisav was born he came out "done" and complete (with hair, teeth,
nails, etc…). For this reason they called him ??? which is like the word ???? -done. The
question is, why not call him ???? ? Why did they choose ??? -without the ' ? of ???? ? He
answers, that when they were born, Yaakov "grabbed" the ' ? away from Eisav and took
it for himself. This is hinted to in the name of Yaakov. He was called ???? , because
when he came out of the womb, he was holding on to the ??? -heel of Eisav. Shouldn’t
he have been called ??? ? Why ???? with a ' ?? This shows us that Yaakov had taken the
?' from ??? for himself and turned his name into ???? . The words of the Pasuk show this
to us. It says " ???? ???? ???? ??? "-"his hand was grabbing the heel of Eisav". The word
???? -his hand, can also be read ????? (his Yud) -he was grabbing the ' ? from the heel of
??? , the heel is the end-and the end (the last letter) of ???? is the ' ?. Showing that
Yaakov had taken the end of the name of ??? and kept the ' ? for himself to be called
.????
When Mashiach comes the Vav will be taken from ??? , leaving him only with the
letters ?? .?? means to "fall apart" or "dissipate". At the time of the redemption the ' ? of
??? will be taken, destroying the wicked Eisav. This is why Yaakov chose the Vav as
collateral. He was telling Eliyahu: "when you take the Vav from ??? I will give you your
Vav’s back!
At the time of Mashiach the Vav from Eisav will merge with the Yud of ???? . (The
combination of these two letters ' ? and ' ? have great significance. They represent the
Geulah. On Shabbat we have a slight feeling of the Geulah, for this reason we often
see on Shabbat this combination of ' [?????, ????, ?????, ?????, ?????])..??
How wondrous are the words of Rashi Hakadosh?! In just a few words he was
hinting to all these concepts and ideas that apply to us now, and will occur in the time
of Mashiach! May we be Zocheh to see Eliyahu Hanavi and the Mashiach speedily in
our time Amen.