Rabbi Mansour 2010

Shabbat Morning Class

פורים

The human body represents the name of Hashem. The head represents the letter י', the right hand represents the ה', the body represents the ו', and the left hand represents the final ה' (the head resembles a י', the body is long and resembles a ו', and the 2 hands that have five fingers are like the 2 ה'’s- ה' equals 5). The top of the יוד has a little "crown", this is called the קוצו של יוד. When a Jew puts on Tefillin, the Tefillin upon his head represents this crown of the יוד.

What connects the head to the rest of the body (i.e. the י' to the rest of the letters of Hashem’s name)? The neck. The neck is the connector between the יוד and the rest of the letters of Hashem’s name that are represented by the rest of the body. The neck is comprised of 2 tubes. One is called the קנה (the trachea) and the other is the ושט (the esophagus). The קנה is used to breathe and to facilitate speaking and usage of the voice. The ושט is used for eating, it is the tube that connects and passes food to the stomach. The קנה represents spirituality, since we use the voice to pray to Hashem and for the study of Torah. Theושט represents the physical bodily needs, since it is used for eating. The righteous however, use both the קנה and ושטto serve Hashem- since every action they do, even the physical acts of eating and nourishing the body are done strictly so that they may have the strength to continue to serve Hashem. They elevate both the קנה and ושט into holiness.

This is why a religious Jew is sometimes referred to as אדם כשר a "kosher" Jew. Why do we call him "kosher"? Kosher is a term normally reserved for food?! Since when slaughtering an animal in order to make it kosher, the requirement for a proper שחיטה is severing the 2 pipes of the throat the קנה and ושט. A kosher Jew means that he has mastered these 2 pipes- the pipes that when properly severed renders an animal kosher. He has elevated his physical acts into spiritual ones by acting only for the sake of heaven.

This also explains why it says that at the end of time Hashem will slaughter the יצר הרע (זביחת היצר) since the 2 pipes that are severed when slaughtered represents the 2 ways of life- the spiritual and physical- and in the end of time all will be only spiritual.

There is a story in the Gemarah Taanit דף ה' of Rav Nachman and Rav Yishak who were once eating a meal together. Rav Nachman asked Rav Yishak to say some words of Torah, he answered "so says Rav Yochanan it is forbidden to speak during a meal – ‘’שמה יקדים קנה לושט’’- "lest one’s windpipe precede the esophagus and receive the food". This can cause choking ח'ו. After the meal Rav Yishak said to Rav Nachman "so says Rav Yochanan יעקב אבינו לאמת – "Yaakov Avinu never died".

What was the deeper message that Rav Yishak was trying to convey to Rav Nachman? The קנה as mentioned represents the spiritual and ושט represents the physical, those who eat in a physical gluttonous manner that focus only on the enjoyment of eating the food, they must speak words of Torah in the course of their meal, in order to remind themselves of their purpose on this world. However the Sadikim who only eat in order that they sustain their bodies to be able to continue to serve Hashem, they need not and should not speak at all. Their act of eating in itself is a great Misvah! This is what R’ Yishak was saying, we should not speak lest it seem that we are יקדים קנה לושט – we are showing priority to the קנה over the ושט. Meaning it will seem that we only use our קנה-windpipe to serve Hashem but not the ושט-esophogus, and for that reason we need to speak words of Torah- since our eating is not on the same level as our service of Hashem that is done with the windpipe. Therefore R’ Yishak suggested they remain silent since this was not the time to speak, because they were already engaged in the Misvah of eating which they were obviously doing only לשם שמים.

This also explains why R’ Yishak chose to tell R’ Nachman after the meal יעקב אבינו לאמת-Yaakov never died, since Eisav represents the ושט- the physical, he was only concerned with his desires and his physical existence, as the Targum explains in the Pasuk that describes Eisav selling his birthright to his brother Yaakov "ויבז עשו את הבכורה" (he disgraced his birthright) the Targum says "ושט עשו"- Eisav personified the ושט, he said "הנה אנכי הולך למות", he was focused only on the physical and therefore realized that when one only acts for his physical pleasures, nothing remains for him in עולם הבא, since his existence becomes solely physical. Therefore when he passes from this world he is truly "dead’ since his life is over, the physical world is over. However Yaakov - who represented the spiritual- his existence is eternal, since his focus was always on his spiritual growth toward Hashem and therefore all of his acts- even his eating and bodily needs were elevated to spirituality. Even after the body ceases to exist on this world the נשמה continues to thrive since it was the sole focus in this world. Yaakov never died, since everything he did was spiritual and there was nothing physical to die. This is the connection to what R’ Yishak was telling R’ Nachman earlier during the meal, that both the קנה and ושט must be elevated to spirituality and this is the aspect of eternal life.

Haman and Ahashverosh understood this secret of the importance of the קנה and ושט of the neck and its significance in its connecting to the letter יוד of Hashem’s name. This is why Ahashverosh made the feast for the Jews to partake of, he was trying to negatively affect the ושט and have the Jews use it to eat his food.

The Gemara asks "המן מן התורה מנין" "Where is Haman hinted to in the Torah"? From the Pasuk in Bereshit that says "המן העץ אשר צויתיך לבלתי אכל ממנו אכלת"-"have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat?!" the letters המן (hamin) are the same as המן (haman). What is the deeper significance in why this Pasuk was chosen to allude to המן? This Pasuk shows us the gravity of the sin of improper eating, and therefore shows us why the Jews were punished so severely for eating from Ahashverosh’s party. It also hints to the devious scheme of Haman. Haman realized that the punishment for the sin of eating from the עץ הדעת is usually relaxed. However sometimes the sin is irritated and "woken up" to cause punishment to the Jews on its behalf. The שלה הקדוש says that at the time that Chava ate from the tree and used her ושט for the sin of eating, the ו' from the word ושט became elongated and turned into a ן' thus containing the letters of the word שטן! She "created’ the שטן by improperly using her ושט !! Our job is to obliterate the שטן by properly utilizing our ושט and turn שטן back into ושט! This is why it says "חכם עיניו בראשו"-"a wise man sees ahead"-חכם a wise צדיק, his focus is בראשו-בראש-ו' to put the letter ו' to the front (the ראש) of the word (to take the ן' of שטן located at the end of the word and turn it into the ו' of ושט located at the beginning of the word). This should be the focus of every good Jew! Haman was trying to reawaken the original sin of eating from the tree and destroy the Jews by severing their ושט - there connection to the יוד of Hashem- by forcing the Jews to misuse their ושט.

Ahashverosh was also behind this plan as we see he told Esther she may have anything she wants "until half my kingdom", in which he was referring to the Beit Hamikdash. Ahashverosh was telling Esther; ask me for anything except to rebuild the Beit Hamikdash. Why was Ahashverosh so afraid to rebuild the Mikdash? Because the Beit Hamikdash represented the neck of the world! The Pasuk in Shir Hashirim says "כמגדל דוד צוארך"- the Mikdash is like a neck (we also see that Yosef cried on Binyamin’s neck over the future destruction of the temples). This was exactly what Ahashverosh was trying to destroy, the neck and the connection of the people to Hashem!!

The Jewish people however repented with תשובה שלמה and "repaired the neck". The two pipes of the neck represent two ו'’s (since they are both long and "shaped" like a ו') in addition, the קנה-which represents רוחניות has 6 rings, these 6 rings correspond to the six books of the משנה that represent the תורה שבעל פה. The Jewish people reaccepted upon themselves the תורה שבעל פה (symbolized by the קנה) and recommitted themselves to spiritualize even their mundane affairs (symbolized by the ושט).

This is what it means קימו וקיבלו which can be read קימ-ו וקבל-ו. They reaccepted and fulfilled the 2 vav’s that make up the throat, which attaches us to Hashem.

This was the downfall of Haman who in his attempt to turn the ושט into שטן (a ו' into a ן'), he created a tree 50 אמה- for the letter נ' (which equals 50). In the end he himself was hung on this tree and his attempt to disconnect the Jews from Hashem backfired. The holiday of Purim represents the day that we eat and drink and use our ושט to elevate us closer to Hashem. This elevates the Vav’s of the neck and what they represent.

These vav’s are also elevated every Shabbat, since on Shabbat we pray to Hashem and study Torah with the קנה, and we also eat and enjoy with the ושט, all in a spiritual manner לכבוד שבת. This is what is meant in the אזמר בשבחין (written by the Arizal) that says בווין תתקטר with the וו’s they are bound. The Shabbat elevates both Vav’s and both aspects of the neck (this is why some have the Minhag to arrange the Challot into 2 sets of 6 to represent the two Vav’s [ו' equals 6]).

This explains what it is written that the Torah alludes to the rabbinic holidays of Purim and Hanukah. In Parashat Emor the Torah lists all of the holidays, and afterwards speaks of the Menorah, then speaks of the Shulhan (the table that the showbreads were placed). The Menorah obviously alludes to Hanukah and the Shulhan represents Purim. How so? (One answer from the Hatam Sofer is that on Purim we eat and drink- which is done on a table – a Shulhan. Therefore the Shulhan represents Purim). The Menorah and Shulhan were placed inside the Mikdash. The Menorah was on the south and the Shulhan was on the north side. The מזבח (alter) was between them, slightly recessed. The Menorah represents Torah; since it represents light, and it says אורה זו תורה (light is Torah). The Shulhan represents the physical גשמי, activities (since it represents a table that is eaten on). Therefore the Menorah represents the קנה,(this is why we use our voice to say Hallel during Hanukah) and the Shulhan represents the ושט. This is why when a person walked into the Mikdash and faced them, the Menorah was on the right and the Shulhan was on the left- just as it is in the throat. This is also why the מזבח had to be slightly recessed; (instead of directly between them) since the Menorah and Shulhan have to be next to each other as they are in the throat! This explains why the Shulhan corresponds to the holiday of Purim, since as mentioned, Purim is when we eat and drink and spiritually elevate the ושט, which is represented by the Shulhan! In addition, the Shulhan had twelve loaves of bread corresponding to the elevation of the 2 Vav’s (6+6=12).

This also explains why towards the end of the Megillah the name of אחשורוש is spelled אחשרש- missing it’s two vav’s- since the two vav’s of the throat that connects us to Hashem is exactly what Ahashverosh was trying to take from us, but we were successful in taking them from him! "קימ-ו וקבל-ו" we elevated our physical into spiritual, reaccepted the Torah, and rededicated our lives to only serve Hashem.