Rabbi Mansour 2010
Shabbat Morning Class
פרשת נשא
פרק ה'-פסוק ו,ז: "איש או אשה כי יעשו מכל חטאת האדם למעול מעל בה' ואשמה הנפש ההיא. והתודו את חטאתם אשר עשו והשיב את אשמו בראשו וחמשיתו יוסף עליו"
"A man or woman that commits any sin of man, to act treacherously against Hashem and that person is found guilty." "They shall confess the sin they committed, and make restitution for the principal amount of his guilt, and add its fifth to it".
The simple explanation of these Pesukim is regarding one who swears falsely in denial of stealing something, but then admits that he has sworn falsely. This person must bring a Korban and repay what he has stolen plus a penalty of an additional fifth (20%).
Why does the Pasuk say מכל חטאת-"any sin", if it is only discussing a specific case? It also says את חטאתם-"their sins", this seems to imply any sin, not just the sin of one who admits swearing falsely about theft ? How are we to understand; "והשיב את אשמו בראשו"??- (the simple meaning of these words are: return his sin to his head?!)
Questions like these prompt us to delve into the deeper messages of the Pasuk and the many different secrets contained within.
One understanding is based upon the Gemarah that says when a man does a Mitzvah he creates "good" angels that will lead him to Gan Eden after he passes away. However, when a man sins he creates "evil’ angels that engulf him and pull him into Gehinom.
Why is it that the good angels created by our Misvot lead us to Gan Eden but the evil angels created by our sins engulf us and pull us to Gehinom? Why don’t the evil angels lead us to Gehinom (like the good angels lead us to Gan Eden) why do they have to engulf us and pull us??
The Maharasha explains that this is comparable to a king who invites one of his subjects to a feast. He dispatches messengers to summon him and the man excitedly hurries after the messengers in anticipation of the feast. However when the king orders his subject to be thrown in prison, he sends messengers who forcefully grab the subject and take him to prison. The messengers will surely not simply lead the prisoner and expect him to follow them! So too by the angels, when it comes to Gan Eden they know the man will follow them but when it comes to sending someone to Gehinom they must engulf him and not let him get away!
A person during his lifetime always has the options to do Teshuvah- repent to Hashem and rectify his sins. There are two types of Teshuvah. One is out of fear of Hashem (fear of his retribution) and one is out of love of Hashem (his love for Hashem drives him to repent). When a person does Teshuvah Meyirah (out of fear) his sins become as if they were "accidents". When a person repents out of Ahava (love) his sins turn into Misvot!! These two types of Teshuvah are represented by the two letters "heh" that appear in the name of Hashem (י-ה-ו-ה) (the ה' is the letter that represents תשובה because it is as if it is written תשוב-ה-return the ה', (the Shechinah) to its place). The Second ה' of Hashem’s name represents Teshuvah Meyirah, the first ה' represents the higher form of Teshuvah Meahavah (love) (this is because the holiness of Hashem’s name starts with the final letter ה' and ascends up to the tip of the י').
With this concept we understand a new meaning in the Pasuk. When a person sins (מכל חטאת האדם) then he repents and does Teshuvah (והתודו את חטאתם), through his Teshuvah he turns the evil angels that he originally created through sinning- which are behind him pushing him into Gehinom- and he turns them into good angels who go in front of him to lead him into Gan Eden. "והשיב את אשמו-בראשו"-"he turns his אשם (evil angels) into good angels that lead him" (בראשו= to go in front of him). How is this accomplished? Through Teshuvah Meahavah, and this is hinted in the words "וחמישיתו יוסף עליו. The letter ה' is the fifth letter of the Aleph Bet. The letter ו' represents doubling something (as it says Yishak Avinu’s blessing to Yaakob Avinu ויתן לך which is explained "Hashem should give, then give again! The ו' doubled the blessing), the word וחמישיתו is now understood as ו-חמישית, the fifth letter (ה')- which is doubled, meaning two ה'’s. These are the two ה’s of Hashem’s name that correspond to the two types of Teshuvah. When does a person turn the evil angels into good ones that will lead him? When he does Teshuvah Meahavah represented by the second ה' (in ascending order) of Hashem’s name! The final words "יוסף עליו" hint to these two ה’s of Hashem’s name. יוסף(add on to)- עליו. The word עליו can be broken up into על-יו. Add it to the י-ו. Add the two ה’s to י-ו and this completes the name of Hashem (י-ה-ו-ה) (it may also hint to the ה' since the word עליו can be read עלי-ו [on top of the ו']. What is the letter that is "on top" [comes before] the ו'? It’s the ה'.). The words of the Pasuk are now understood as follows: the two ה’s, which is part of Hashem’s name, represent the Teshuvah necessary to turn evil angels into good angels that will lead a person into Gan Eden!!
It is understood that doing Teshuvah Meahavah turns the evil angels into good ones, but what happens to the angels when someone does Teshuvah Meyirah (out of fear)? His sins do not turn into Misvot, therefore the angels do not turn into good ones. On the other hand, if a sin is forgiven, what happens to the evil angels he created??
Apparently they are destroyed. This is hinted to in the Pasuk in Ashrei. "טוב ה' לכל ורחמיו על כל מעשיו"-"Hashem is good to all and his mercy is on all his creations". Hashem is good to all. If so, how could he destroy these angels that were created by sins? Why isn’t Hashem merciful with them to allow them to continue to exist? The answer lies with the ending of the Pasuk "ורחמיו על כל מעשיו" "he has mercy on all who he (Hashem) created". These evil angels that were created by the man’s sins, Hashem would "rather not" have them created. They are therefore not called "Hashem’s creation" they are called "man’s creation". The Pasuk says that Hashem is merciful only on his creations not mans. He therefore allows these evil angels to be destroyed since they are not "his creations" (of course everything is from Hashem, it’s just that it was man who caused the creation of these angels through his sins).
This may also be why man must sometimes experience exile in order to rectify certain sins, because by doing Teshuvah he caused the death of the angels that he had created, even though this was inadvertent (since the person simply wanted to repent, not to kill any angels). The law of an inadvertent killing is חייב גלות- must go into exile to a ערי מקלט(the cities designated for this purpose), so too this person must experience exile. This is why after doing Teshuvah on Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur we leave our homes and "exile" ourselves into our Succah. We go into Galut from our homes because of the angels we destroyed through our Teshuvah.
There is another understanding of the Pasuk relating to the effects of Teshuvah. A person is compared to a candle. The words נפש- stand for נר פתילה שמן-(candle, oil, wick). The body is like a candle and the head is like a wick that is placed in oil. When a person does a Misvah he supplies oil to the "wick of his head". When he transgresses an Aveirah he extinguishes the "flame of his head". This explains the Pasuk which states "the oil should not cease from your head". The oil generated by the performance of Misvot should not cease. This also explains the Pasuk that says "חכם עיניו בראשו"-"a wise man’s eyes are in his head". Is only a "wise mans" eyes in his head?? Also, why "in his head"? Eyes are not inside of our heads? The explanation is that Shelomo Hamelech was stating that a wise man’s eyes (his focus) are on his head, meaning; his concern is regarding his head. He is constantly analyzing the "status of his head", making sure his spiritual flame is well plenished with the oil generated by his Misvot!
This is also a reason why a man wears a Yarmulke (which literally stands for Yare-Malkah [fear of the king- Hashem]) on his head. He recognizes that the Shechinah "resides" on his head and that is where his holiness is found.
This is the meaning of the Pasuk; when a person sins (מכל חטאת האדם) he extinguishes the spiritual flame of his head. When he repents (והתודו) he reignites the flame of his head. "והשיב את אשמו בראשו"-"he returns it to his head-ראשו. By doing Teshuvah a man returns the Shechinah to his head. There are four worlds (אצילה, יצירה, בריאה, עשיה) these four worlds correspond to the four letters of Hashem’s name. We are in the world of עשיה, which corresponds to the last letter ה' of Hashem’s name. The Shechinah is with us in this world. When we sin, we "chase" the Shechinah back up to the higher world, but when we repent we cause the Shechinah to come back down to us- to our world that corresponds to the final letter ה' of Hashem’s name. This is hinted in the words וחמישיתו - יוסף עליו- the Shechinah will come back down to the ה' (וחמישית is the fifth letter of the Aleph bet: the ה'- which also represents the Shechinah). The Pasuk is showing us that through our Teshuvah we reignite our spiritual flame and reunite with the holy Shechinah!
Another understanding of the Pasuk is based upon the relationship between a man and wife. The Gemarah lists five basic obligations that a woman has to her husband. They are: 1) cook for him. 2) bathe him. 3) arrange his bed. 4) sew his clothes. 5) pour for him a to drink. This accounts for the difference in numerical value between איש and אשה. איש=311 and אשה=306 the difference between them is 5. The man has an additional 5 in which the woman is subservient to him. This also explains the difference between two Pesukim. In one Pasuk, Shelomo Hamelech says "מצא אשה מצא טוב"-"if you’ve found a wife you’ve found good". In another Pasuk he says "ומצא אני את האשה מר ממות"-"I find the woman to be more bitter than death!" (This is why the morning after his wedding they ask the groom מצא או מוצא? "is she מצא like the Pasuk that describes her as "good" or is she מוצא (with a ו) like the Pasuk that describes her to be "more bitter than death"?!). In the first Pasuk Shelomo calls the "good" wife אשה. In the second Pasuk he refers to the "bitter" wife as האשה-the wife. Why is this so? The good wife understands that her place is to serve her husband with these five. She is therefore called אשה, which is 306; (5 less than איש). The bitter wife considers herself "equal" to her husband and does not feel that she must serve him. She is therefore referred to as האשה, which is 311-the same numerical value as איש. This is who Shelomo was describing as a wife "more bitter than death"!
These five benefits that a husband receives from his wife do not come to him "for free". The husband has his own five obligations. They are towards his children. A father must: 1) perform a Berit Milah on his son. 2) redeem him when he his 30 days old. 3) marry him off. 4) teach him a trade so that he may support himself. 5) teach him Torah.
When חם ושלום a child strays off the proper path, the Onus is on the father, since it was his responsibility to raise the children properly. The husband enjoys the five obligations of his wife "in exchange" for the five obligations that he has to his children.
With these concepts the Pasuk is understood as follows; "ואשמה הנפש ההיא"-"and that soul sins". "That soul" is referring to a third party, namely the child. When a child veers off the path and grows up committing sins, "והשיב את אשמו בראשו"-"the sin is on his head". His head, meaning it is the father’s fault that the child is acting this way. Why is it the father’s fault? "וחמישיתו יוסף עליו" because he has the five (וחמישיתו) benefits of the wife- on him (עליו), resulting in his numerical value totaling five more than the wife (יוסף עליו). The Pasuk is teaching us the proper relationship between man and wife, and that it is the father’s responsibility to insure the spiritual growth of his children.
The holiness of man and wife
A man and woman have the holiness of the Sefer Torah! The man is compared to the letters of the Torah and the woman is compared to the parchment of the Torah. This is why at a wedding the man wears black (like the black letters of the Torah) and the woman wears white (like the white parchment of the Torah). Each is equally important. The ink is nothing without parchment to write it on, and the parchment without ink is also meaningless! The husband and wife are equally integral in the holiness of their marriage. It says in איש ואשה there is Hashem’s name of י-ה. The man has the י' and the woman has the ה'. If we take away Hashem’s name we are left with אש-אש- fire and fire! However even if with the י-ה of Hashem’s name, the אש-אש (fire) is still present in their names. These 2 אש-fires represent the Torah. The Torah is called "black fire on white fire" (black ink on white parchment). These 2 אש that are in the names of איש אשה correspond to the 2 fires- the black on white fire which is the holy Torah that a man and wife represent.
This may be one reason why a Sofer, as he is about to begin writing a Sefer Torah, declares: "הרי אני מקדש את עצמי לכתוב"-"I herby sanctify myself to write a Torah". This is similar to the phrase that a man tells a woman when marrying her:"הרי את מקודשת לי"-"behold you are sanctified to me". The Sofer is alluding to the marriage of man and wife, of which the Torah he is about to write represents.
The numerical value of איש אשה is 617. This is exactly the same numerical value as אות-קלף (letter parchment) = 617!
A man and woman should understand the importance of their relationship and realize that together they are comparable to the holy Sefer Torah! This will result in great respect and love for each other and will bring peace and harmony to our homes.
