Parashas Bo

"All the legions of Hashem (G-d) went out from the land of Egypt." (Exodus 12:41)

Most people do not pay very much attention to the design of the human body, considering why it is shaped the way it is. The holy Ari writes about this subject extensively, especially the relationship of the various body parts to the spiritual world. This knowledge alone is enough to make a person aware of how beholden he is to his Creator and that the purpose of one's existence on earth is not attaining temporary earthly pleasure, but to perfect his soul, as well as his body, in order to make himself into a vessel that can receive Hashem's light.

The following are some of the Ari's teachings of the spiritual significance of the design of the human body:

• The nose is shaped like the Hebrew letter "vav", which has the numerical value of six. The eye is similar in shape to the Hebrew letter "yud", which has a numerical value of ten. Two eyes and one nose, therefore, are represented by ten plus ten plus six equals twenty-six. Twenty-six is the sum of the letter values of one of the names of Hashem. Thus the name of Hashem is inscribed upon our bodies, teaching us that He is the master of each person, for it is customary to write one's name on his belongings; there are seven orifices contained in one's head - two eyes, two nostrils, two ears, and one mouth corresponding to the seven candles of the menorah (candelabrum) that was lit in the Temple; the three layers of the eye that surround the pupil represent the three patriarches (Avraham, Yitchak and Ya'akov); the lips are similar in shape to the willow leaves that we use on the holiday of Succoth; the thirty-two teeth correspond to the thirty-two paths of wisdom; there are said to be thirteen points of the beard which correspond to Hashem's thirteen attributes of mercy.

• There are three segments in each of our two arms and two legs, which equals twelve, relating to the twelve tribes; there are 248 limbs which correspond to the 248 positive commandments in the Torah and 365 primary veins which correspond to the 365 negative commandments; we have ten fingers, corresponding to the ten (elementary) commandments, ten pulses, relating to the ten sefirot (spiritual energy centers which reflect different aspects of Hashem's emanations in the physical world) and ten types of song which comprise the book of Psalms.

The Baal Shem Tov writes that fragments of a person's soul are contained in his spoken words, so with every word he speaks, his life force is slightly diminished. However, positive and holy speech, due to its connection to nourishing spiritual energy centers, has the ability to add life force. [This is one tends to feel energized and revitalized after speaking such noble words.]

Rabbi Nachman taught that speech transmits the vibrational frequencies of the spcikcr's mind and is therefore intimately connected to and the messenger of the mind. The Egyptians controlled the Jews, both mentally and psychologically. and thus affected their speech as well, making them unable to pray or speak words of holiness. The oppression they suffered was, therefore, a barrier to a connection with Hashem. [How lucky we are today that we are not in this condition, and may we never, G-d forbid, experience this again.] When the Jews were redeemed from Egypt, their minds were freed as well, and they were once again able to express words of holiness and prayer. (1 Likutai Moliaran 56:7)

The following brief teachings will enhance our understanding of the importance of speech and enable greater comprehension of our subject, Speech is connected to the sefirah [see above, sefirot] known as "Malchut", authority. Authority is usually conveyed through speech. Malchut is the lowest of the ten sefirot. residing on the side of holiness at the place where purity meets impurity [similar to a town that lies on the border of Connecticut but is part of New York]. The mind is connected to the three highest sefirot, chochmah, binah and da'as (loosely translated as wisdom, understanding and knowledge) and gathers information through the two eyes, two nostrils, and two ears when making evaluations and decisions. Speech is usually the expression of the mind's conclusion based on the information from the other senses, implying that speech contains the essence of all the body parts that were involved in the decision process. Therefore, pure and good speech can transform a person's entire essence to sanctity and holiness whereas impure speech brings a person's essence into the realm of evil. which may be manifested as poor mental and physical health, and general difficulties in serving Hashem. With this background in the essence of speech we can now proceed to the main body of our subject.

Rabbi Nachman taught that impure and improper speech causes the parts of the speaker's soul that are transmitted via, and attached to his speech to become trappcd in the realm of evil, making it very difficult lo communicate with and pray to Hashem. The forces of evil are nourished by and can only exist because of the units of holiness that they can steal, but they can utilize only the weakest and lowest particles of holiness, because these forces are unable to tolerate the intensity of the holy light from the higher levels. If they do "swallow" this light, it can cause them great damage. The sparks of holiness that the evil forces can use are obtained from the outer fringe of the side of holiness, i.e. the sefirah of Malchut, connected to speech. So speech is the medium containing holy sparks that is the most accessible to the forces of evil. The remedy for this is fasting, as the verse says, "Because of their transgression, and because of their sin, are [they] afflicted." (Psalms 107:17) [The Hebrew word for "afflicted" is yisahnu, which has the same root as the Hebrew word I'hisanos, to fast. In other words, our verse could be understood to mean, because of the sinner's sins, they listed to rectify their transgressions. Three verses later, the psalm tells us Hashem's response to the sinner's attempt to make amends, "He [Hashem] sends his [the sinner's] word [and releases the sinner's soul from the forces of evil that had become trapped there]." (Psalms 107:20) So we see that fasting redeems the part of the soul that has become trapped by the forces of evil through improper speech.

All earthly desire is derived from the forces of evil. However, these desires are necessary for they motivate a person to maintain his body's health. When a person likes excessive desire for anything, desire beyond that which is necessary to maintain his body, the forces of evil are able to garner nourishment from the holy sparks contained in the object of the physical longing, which further inflames the passion.

One of the strongest desires is the desire for food. It is important that one attempts to control this urge, for Rabbi Nachman taught that a person who excessively indulges in food and drink is unable to utter any words [of holiness] to Hashem. (I Lekutai Moliaran 163) This implies that gluttony causes one's speech to become trapped by the forces of evil. The place where speech is trapped is the back of the throat.

To maintain the balance of free will, Hashem created certain areas in the body [paralleling the world] containing forces of evil and other areas where units of holiness reside. The neck is one area with a high concentration of evil forces. The throat is the most narrow part of the body. Narrowness and constriction always reflect the presence of the spiritual energy "din", harshness. Din is where the forces of evil reside. Therefore, its narrowness indicates the connection of the throat and back of the neck to the forces of evil. These areas are associated with the desire for food. The three root letters of the Hebrew word "Pharaoh" can be rearranged to spell the word meaning "back of the neck", oref, indicating that some of the same evil forces that were found in Egypt are contained in the back of the neck. Since the neck contains veins, the esophagus (food passage) and the trachea (windpipe), these anatomical features are also spiritually associated with the essence of Pharaoh which is implied by the Torah's mention of three of Pharaoh's officers. The royal butcher is associated with veins [for veins are found in meat], the royal butler with the esophagus [liquid passes through it] and the royal baker with the trachea [because air is used in baking].

The neck is situated just below the mouth which, as alluded to above, is connected to the lowest level of the side of holiness, Malchut, As we mentioned above, the forces of evil can only be nourished from this, the lowest level of holiness. When, through impure speech or eating, fragments of a person's soul become trapped in the back of his neck (oref) they connect to the essence of Pharaoh, which is the spiritual essence of the exile of Egypt and negates his ability to speak any holy words. The Hebrew word for Egypt is Mitzrayim which is from the root maytzar meaning narrowness or constriction. Thus, this inability to speak words of holiness is known as the constriction of the throat. King David wrote, "My throat is hoarse [from crying for help] and unable to speak." (Psalms 69:4) This refers to the person who is unable to speak to Hashem because part of his soul is trapped in the back of the neck due to improper speech. Unholy speech or impure eating can mire a person in his own spiritual exile.

As previously mentioned, the remedy for such a spiritual exile is fasting. The effectiveness of a fast lies in fact that the person lives off the food he has eaten on the previous day which connects his soul to the past such that, when combined with repentance, he can rectify his past. Fasting therefore has the power to move things backwards. By fasting, one releases the part of his soul that had become trapped in the back of his neck and returns it to the side of holiness, restoring his ability to pray and speak words of holiness. Through fasting one draws forth the spiritual "waters of kindness" [which moistcn the throat] restoring his ability to talk to Hashem.

There is a numerical system known in Hebrew as "a'cho'rie'yim" (lit. going backwards), which involves adding the most recent letter value back to the previous sum. The name of Hashem (yud-kay-vav-kay) in a'cho'rie'yim equals 72 which is the value of the Hebrew letters "ayin" and "bais". The name of G-d, Elokim, in a'cho'rie'yim equals 200, which is the value of the Hebrew letter "resh". These three letters - resh, ayin, and bais spell the Hebrew word "ra'av", famine. That the value of the word is obtained by going backwards, (a'cho'rei'yim) hints at the power of famine or fasting to bring a person back to rectify his past. On the allegorical level, the episode of Avraham's (Abraham's) being forced to travel to Egypt due to a famine is consistent with our teaching that a fast can rectify one's speech and redeem one's soul. An explanation of the following verses will show how this works. The verse says, "There was a famine in the land [of Israel]..." (Genesis 12:10) The word famine - ra'av - refers to fasting to restore one's soul to the side of holiness through activating the two names of Hashem - Yud-Kay-Vav-Kay and Elokim, which together have the same numerical value as ra'av, as mentioned above. The verse continues, "... and Avram went down to Egypt, [at this point in his life Avraham was called Avram]' Avraham perfected the attribute of "chesed," kindness. This refers to our aforementioned teaching that fasting causes the spiritual waters of kindness to enter the throat. alleviating the dryness in the throat, enabling the redemption of one's trapped soul from the back of the neck and from its spiritual exile. [Note: Both the Baal Shem Tov and Rabbi Nachman say that in the later generations, the human body has become weaker and a person's health could be jeapordizcd by excessive fasting. Therefore, they recommend that the average person fast only on the six fast days commanded us by the Torah and our Sages. These will be sufficient for the rectifications we need.] Avram arrived in Egypt and the verse tells us the reaction of Pharaoh's officers when they saw his exceptionally beautiful wife, Sarai [later called Sarahl. "The officers of Pharaoh saw her and praised her to Pharaoh," (Genesis 12:15) which led to her abduction by Pharaoh. As discussed above, speech is spiritually connected to Malchut, authority. Women are especially connected to the power of Malchut - speech. Therefore. Sarai's abduction by Pharaoh indicates that when speech is abducted (by the forces of evil) it is trapped at the back of the neck (oref). "And Hashem plagued Pharaoh [because he abducted Sarai which caused Pharaoh to release her]." (Genesis 12:17) This symbolizes how Hashem actually causes units of holiness to be swallowed up by evil in order that other sparks of holiness which have already, been trapped there, unable to escape, can be released when this stronger item of holiness "fights its way out". When the waters of kindness, (which are connected to the higher level of holiness) enter the throat and surround speech (connected to the lower parts of holiness) the forces of evil are swallowed up and are forced to eject the holy aspects of speech that had been abducted as well as all the other units of holiness trapped there. The forces of evil are unable to tolerate the higher levels of holiness, it harms them just as when Pharaoh's officers took Sarai into Pharaoh. They didn't know that she was protected by, her husband's higher level of holiness which ended up harming them, so they wer forced to release her. (1 Likutai Moharan 62:5)

This has been just a small glimpse of how the Torah relates to our daily lives and physical existence, and how important it is to guard our speech in order to connect to Hashem. This is one reason that at the end of the Amidah (the set of prayers said three times daily) we pray, "Oh, L-rd, guard my tongue from evil and my lips from speaking guile..." The biblical Exodus is directly related to every individual's life journey and his own redemption from his personal exile. The more we learn these concepts, the better equipped we will be to fight the forces of evil and to reveal more and more of Hashem's holy light in the world, ultimately bringing about the final redemption, speedily. during our lifetimes. Amen!!

In Posen, on Portugal Street, the goldsmith, Avigdor Tuvia and his wife, Sarah Gitel owned several apartments which they rented out to families. As a goldsmith, Avigdor Tuvia had done most of his business with the wives of noblemen and other weathy people. Most of the time, he was dnmk or playing cards. His language was foul - full of curses, but nevertheless, he gave generously to charity. Sarah Gitel was also goodhearted, dedicating herself to lodging guests, giving funds for the weddings of poor brides and helping women who had recently given birth. However, her kind heart was rivaled only by her vile tongue.

Avigdor Tuvia and Sarah Gitel became old and eventually died, childless. Their apartment was left empty, and yet, every night, unearthly screams issued forth from the very bowels of the dwelling. Heavy footsteps, jumping and banging accompanied by wild music. The neighbors soon realized that demons had taken over the house and there began an exodus from Portugal Street, one by one.

The Baal Shem (Master of the Name) of Zameshtesh, Rav Yoel, was called in to try to rectify this situation. He divined that the souls of Avigdor Tuvia and his wife could still possibly be saved by donating their house to the community to be used as a house of study (yeshiva). This, he said, would purge the evil spirits that had gathered there. However, before Rav Yoel's recommendations could be put into action, the demons began to do wilder things than ever. The entire neighborhood was terrorized. Things became so bad that the local bishop was called in by the authorities to cast out the spirits. So priests conducted dozens of ceremonies, using crosses, holy pictures and water ... and they prayed. Suddenly, in the midst of their ministrations, the windows flew open and strange, frightening beings appeared, sticking out their long, red and hideous tongues, laughing hysterically and cursing the priests. Many of the priests, including the bishop, feinted dead away.

A minyan (prayer quorum of ten men) was gathered to dedicated the apartment as a house of study, according to the instructions of Rav Yoel. The men of the minyan, when they reached the gates to the outer yard, could hear the howling laughter and sounds like barking dogs, cackling roosters, shrieking cats and braying donkeys. The crash of shattering glass greeted them as they crossed the threshhold and an immense horde of repulsive creatures burst forth and fled the house as the sickening stench began to dissipate.

The fame of Rav Yoel's power spread throughout the city - even the bishop was impressed. However, after six weeks, the demons returned and took up residence in the basement, making noise and even attacking and injuring several people. Rav Yoel assembled a Bais Din (Rabbinical Court) and summoned the demons to trial, making them swear that they would not harm anyone in the courtroom. Then Rav Yoel presented his case, declaring that Ashmedai, the king of the demons had no right to send them amongst the people. He said that the place designated for demons are the deserts and forests, places with no civilization. The demons retorted that they did, indeed have a right to dwell in the house since they were the heirs to Avigdor Tuvia and Sarah Gitel, that they were brought to earth through the evil deeds, foul language and curses of the couple and so, the house legally belonged to them. Answered Rav Yoel, "Demons can not inherit property."

After the arguments for both sides had been fully presented, it was the Bais Din's turn to render a decision. "The demons have no right to the property and must leave!" A stifled sobbing could be heard as the demons disappeared, never to return again. (Sefer Ha'zichronos)

Acts of kindness which are done with one's body have no prescribed minimum measure [one receives reward even for a slight act]. E.g. visiting the ill, comforting mourners, burying the dead, providing for brides, accompanying guests. These acts are included in the commandment, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." (Lev. 19:18) Accompanying guests [at least four cubits] when they depart your home is greater than all the other acts of kindness. (Aruch HaShulchan; Choshen Hishpat; Hilchos Chovel B'Chavero, Siman 426)

Volume 3, Issue 14