Elul/Ki Seitzei: Behind Enemy Lines

The following concepts have been adapted from the Sfas Emes and Rav Moshe Wolfson. Feel free to print this out and read it over Shabbos, just please not during Tefilos!

We’ve been taught through the generations that there is an intrinsic connection between the Torah readings (Parshios) and the Holidays/goings on of the calendar (Moadim). This relationship is called ‘HaKriya Meoreres Es HaZman’ - The Scripture is enlivening the Season. The themes relevant to current events are always emerging from the Parshios that parallel them.

As we find ourselves in the month of Elul, moving full speed towards Rosh HaShana, we read this week’s Parsha of Ki Seitzei. Our job at this point is twofold: First, we need to show some of the beauty and depth that emerges from the connection between Elul and Ki Seitzei and once that dynamic has been detailed we need to bring it home and transform the concepts into every-day realizations. Let’s explore.

Chazal revealed that the twelve months of the year parallel the Twelve Tribes of Israel – the Shvatim. The Shvatim were arranged into a camping formation during their wandering in the wilderness which later served as the reference point for how they matched up with the months. Based on this alignment, the Shevet that corresponds to this month is the Tribe of Gad. In order to get greater clarity on Elul, we need to delve into the essence of Gad.

At the end of his life, when Yaakov Avinu was blessing the Shvatim, he was also giving them definitions. He was stating their historical essence. To Gad he said, Gad Gadud Yigudenu – Gad shall be a raiding troop. Yaakov Avinu was foretelling Gad’s role as a provider of fierce warriors. This further manifests itself on Gad’s tribal banner which displays an army unit. At the very end of the Torah, where Moshe Rabbeinu blesses the tribes, Gad is once again described with savage imagery, “He is like a lion, he rips off the heads and arms of his prey.” In short: don’t mess with Gad, when he’s on the scene it’s time for war. Moreover, on the Choshen, the priestly, gem-studded breastplate, a stone represented each tribe. Based on the Kabalistic tradition, each gem serves as a conductor and a channel of a specific energy.  Gad’s gem was the Achlama (commonly known as the amethyst) which served as a vessel for courage and strength – fitting for their skill in warfare.

But then how is Elul like going to war?

On the most basic level, we are initiating our Milchemes HaYetzer (our battle against the evil-inclination) with newfound intensity. As we march towards Rosh HaShana and Yom Kipur, the days where we come face to face with our deeds of this year, we move forward with inspiration to tackle those destructive forces that seek to hold us back and keep us down. In Elul we storm the enemy known as the Yetzer Hara. And for that we need to channel the energies of Shevet Gad.

In the Torah, Rosh HaShana is called Yom Tru’a – the Day of (Shofar) Blowing. We prepare ourselves for this by blowing the Shofar everyday since the beginning of the month. This spurns the comment of the Zohar that Rosh HaShana and the days preceding it are days of war. How are the days connected to Yom Tru’a days of war? Because the Torah tells us that when war comes, “VaHaRei’oschem” – ‘And you will sound off the horns.’ VaHaRei’oschem comes from the word Tru’a, as in Yom Tru’a, Rosh HaShana. When we go to war we take out the blow-horn. Elul. Tru’a. Shevet Gad. We are going to war.

And this manifests right in the beginning of the Parsha. HaKadosh Baruch Hu tells the Jews not to fear in battle for behold, Hashem is going with you into war, L’HaTzilcha, U’Laseis Oivecha MiPanecha – To save you and to take away your enemies from before you. The first letters of each of the four words L’HaTzilcha, U’Laseis Oivecha L’fanecha (Lamed, Vav, Alef and Lamed) together form the acronym for the word Elul.

So let’s explain what the war of Elul has to do with the war of Ki Seitzei.

When discussing war, the Torah details the laws of the Eishes Yefas Toar (literally: the woman of beautiful form). The Torah explains that when in battle, if a warrior saw a beautiful woman, under the correct circumstances he could take her as a wife.

To our shallow minds this sound quite licentious. In the intensity of violence and rage, the barbaric Jewish foot soldier snatches up a refugee in a moment of lust.

This cannot possibly be. We are talking about the Jews who had Moshe Rabbeinu as their leader. Jews in the time of conquering the Land of Israel, in the time of David and the Beis HaMikdash. The Torah goes out of its way to tell us the tremendous piety of the soldiers fighting on behalf of the Jews. The fuel that pushed these men was completely divine. We don’t have the proper perspective to categorize them. So it can’t be that we are dealing with petty covetousness.

Says the Ohr HaChayim, the Eishes Yefas Toar wasn’t necessarily beautiful in physical form; rather she was beautiful in spirit. The holy Jewish soldier, pumped up on divine energy was sensitive enough to be able to see that this person possessed a unique soul not at all connected to the nation that he was currently warring against. This person doesn’t belong with them, this person belongs with us, it’s just that right now she’s trapped and it’s our job to take her back. The whole concept of Eishes Yefas Toar is so much deeper than we thought. This is not about releasing pent up desires, rather it’s about rescuing captured souls.

This happens to us over the course of the year. I departed from Rosh HaShana last year inspired. I had great expectations for the upcoming months. But slowly my hopes may have become disappointments. Maybe disappointments turned into failures. The little things piled up and I can barely recognize myself. When I look in the mirror the face is the same, but the person that it represents isn’t. My soul has become trapped in a life that it doesn’t really belong to. What am I going to do?

Hashem says that if we make ourselves open to the relationship, He’ll bring us back. How do we do this? First we notice that we may not be holding in the place that we need to be and then we yearn to make it right. We spend just a little but of time meditating on how great it would be if we could be maximally close to HaKadosh Baruch Hu. We say a little bit of Slichos. We invoke the thirteen Attributes of Mercy, the Yud Gimel Midos Shel Rachamim. We come to the realization that He wants us to come to Him even more than we do. We open ourselves up to the relationship and He makes it happen.

This is Elul. The word Elul serves an acrostic for ‘Ani L’Dodi V’Dodi Li’ – ‘I am to my beloved and my beloved is to me.’ This means that inasmuch as I become dedicated to my Beloved (Hashem), in as much as I make myself a receptacle for him, he’ll come and pull me out.

Like we just mentioned. Soon, when we start saying Slichos (If you are Sefardi then you’ve probably already started) you’ll notice that all the paragraphs and poems all come back to the bottom line where we call out the Thirteen Attributes of Mercy – the Yud Gimel Midos Shel Rachamim. The Kabalistic tradition explains that these Divine Traits emanate from a facet of reality that cannot be sullied with transgression. We declare the Yud Gimel Midos Shel Rachamim as expression of our cognizance that if Hashem so chooses, He can overpower any impurity that has come between Him and us. When we invoke that, when we declare that realization, a wave of purity fills the world that breaks down those barriers.

It is by making ourselves aware of the entrance of the Yud Gimel Midos Shel Rachamim’s healing energy that we can be pulled back into the side of holiness. And for this reason, the Gematria, the numerical value of the words Yud Gimel Midos Shel Rachamim (1091) parallels that of Yefas Toar (also 1091). The two concepts are one in the same. For just as the holy Jewish warrior sees a soul that need to be taken back, so too, in the month Elul, the month of Gad, Hashem comes and pulls us back as well.

This is not a call to action. The point of reading this essay is not that I’ll walk away and force myself to change all my habits. This essay is a request to tap into an awareness. When I know and remind myself that God wants me then it will instinctively awaken every aspect of my life. Connecting to my inborn yearning to be attached to something Bigger than myself is all the fuel necessary. When I sit and prepare before Davening for a minute then the whole Tefilah is changed. The deeper that I engrain the understanding that I want Him and that He wants me the more vitality I become enlivened by. I’ve Mamesh never felt like this before…

HaKadosh Baruch Hu should bless us to have open minds and hearts. He should awaken our senses to be in touch with the rhythm of His universe so that we won’t miss out on an opportunity like this. When we pull ourselves to a greater level of perception, when tap into our inborn desire for holiness and the knowledge that He’s longing for us, the entire of our life will change. If we can do this we will surely live lives of Simcha and Shleimus moving closer to the Creator and ultimately the Geulah Sheleimah!

Matos: I Pledge Allegiance...

The following is based in part on concepts from the Sfas Emes and Rav Moshe Wolfson. Feel free to print this out and read it over Shabbos, just please not during Tefilos!

In the beginning of this week’s Parsha we are introduced to the concept of Nedarim and Shvuos, oaths and vows. To make a vow, a person invokes God’s Name in a pledge and commits himself to do an action, or, conversely, to refrain from something. For example, “I need to be kinder. Therefore I swear, B’Sheim Hashem, to water my neighbor’s plants.” Or on the side of refrain, “I’m looking out for my health, and in God’s name I pledge not to consume any more energy drinks.”

Something astonishing happens when this pledge is made. Because the Torah now requires of me to uphold that vow, when I am Mekayem, when I fulfill my promise I carry out a Mitzvah Deoraisa – a Torah commandment! Why is this amazing? It’s miraculous because I created a new Mitzvah that’s all my own! This seems striking at first glance, so let’s explain.

Because of my Shvu’a to water it, my neighbor’s plant becomes a Cheftzah Shel Mitzvah – a Mitzvah object. Like we said, the Torah now requires of me to keep that oath. Therefore, in regards to me, those flowers are intrinsically holy. They are the object upon which I carry out the Mitzvah to uphold my vow. With the power of the Torah, I have infused them with Ratzon Hashem – the will of the Creator. They are now part of the framework of the Torah. For me, these plants are now Mitvah #614. Simultaneously (and this is the perplexing part) what is a Cheftzah Shel Mitzvah to me is just an ordinary potted plant to everyone else. There is some level of subjective holiness to them.

What emerges is that through the power of Nedrarim and Shvuos I can create a unique Mitzvah that applies just to me. But we need to understand how the Shvu’a makes this happen. What ocurs when I pledge an oath that all of a sudden a new Mitzvah is brought into the world?

A journey into another teaching of Chazal will shed more light on our subject…

The Pasuk in Koheles tells us, “V’HaNefesh Lo Timaleh” – No matter how many physical pleasures the body encounters and experiences; the soul will never be satisfied with such things. Why is this so? Why can’t I simply calm down my spiritual aspirations via physical avenues. For this, our sages provided us with a parable.

A young and excited mountain dweller attempted to capture the heart of the princess. After much persuasion the mature, sophisticated maiden decided to spend the day with the rural man. He attempted to win her over with a home cooked meal, a trip to the rodeo and all of the rugged-style delights that he was used to. But as nice as it all was the princess just wasn’t satisfied. It was a nice attempt, but simply put she was too refined for his coarse lifestyle.

This is the meaning of “V’HaNefesh Lo Timaleh”. The spiritual essence present within us is an outgrowth of Godliness that is rooted in the loftiest echelons of the metaphysical reality. Our body on the other hand, as we learned in Bereishis, is formed out of dirt. As hard as the body may try to entice the soul with earthly pleasures, it’ll never work – the Soul is a Princess. She has already been satisfied with the sublime joy of closeness to Hashem and nothing else will do.

The Gemara in Messeches Nidah describes what is perhaps the moment of this upmost satisfaction. There we are told that before the fetus leaves the mother, the spiritual consciousness of the unborn child lives in bliss. Chazal describe how the soul of the child is illuminated by a universal awareness where the whole world, with all of its details is seen as one unified energy. The unborn child is granted a perspective where Divine Providence is at the peak of recognition. And with this global meta-perspective the child learns the whole Torah with an Angel. This, in spiritual terms, is as good as it gets. It is at this ripe time that the Angel forces the child to take upon itself an oath. An oath to be a Tzadik - A Shvu’a to keep all of the Mitzvos.

Why do we need to pledge something that we don’t remember? The answer is that it’s not the pledge that is the importance; rather it is the spiritual reality that it affects which is the real focus of a Shvu’a.

We see Shvuos made several times in the Torah. Avraham Avinu made his servant Eliezer take upon himself a Shvu’a before setting out to find a wife for Yitzchak. Yaakov Avinu made Yosef HaTzadik swear to take his body to be buried in Eretz Yisrael. Why was such oaths necessary? What, Eliezer, a faithful servant and a Tzadik in his own right, wasn’t going to listen? Avraham was scared? Similarly, Yaakov didn’t believe that Yosef would obey? Why did they demand promises?

The answer comes from the makeup of the word Shvu’a. There are two main approaches to its meaning that we need to address.

The Chidushei HaRim explains that the word for an oath is deeply rooted in the word Sheva, meaning seven, which is spelled the same way. What is the importance of seven? Says the Maharal, the number seven is nature and man within it. How so? Seven days of the week, seven colors in the rainbow, seven notes in the musical scale. Seven creates a whole picture. At the same time the Kabalists speak of the seven Midos, root character traits that man embodies. Because of this duality, the Shvu’a thrusts the essence of the person into the makeup of reality.

Also, Shvu’a is profoundly connected to Save’a – satisfied (also spelled the same way). The Koach, the power of a Shvu’a totally fills a person. Because an oath is made in the Name of Hashem, when a person swears he directs the lifeforce that Hashem sustains the world with into the essence of his being. He becomes spiritually satisfied.

It is the meeting point of these two meanings that we can understand the full ramifications of the Shvu’a. The Shvu’a creates a tremendous alignment of forces. At the dramatic moment were there is a precise placement of man within the world (Sheva), he becomes ripe and ready to serve as the vessel that he needs to be for the incoming energy of Sheim Hashem that fills him (Sove’a).

The oath serves as the precise spiritual boost that he needs to become imbued with an exacting flood of fresh strength; perfect for whatever his new mission may be.

Yosef HaTzadik and Eliezer were made to take oaths not to ensure that they would remain faithful, rather it was in order to empower them to carry out their missions with levels of intensity and inspiration that they previously didn’t know that they could attain. The goal of the Shvu’a was to spin the cosmos in such a way that they would be able to carry out the task in a way that was until that time unimaginable.

So too we say V’HaNefesh Lo Timaleh because at that moment of surreal holiness in the womb, the soul accepts upon itself uniquely magnificent and transcendent concentrations of spiritual capability. Those precious moments that we described above serve as a very special convergence of Sheva and Sove’a. Once that happens, once the Shvu’a takes place, the soul is satisfied, it’s empowered, it feels whole, and therefore it is obvious that any baser animalistic pleasure simply won’t be able to compare.

With one more parable we can understand how this generates the anomalies of Cheftzah Shel Mitzvah.

There is Chinese folk music playing all around you right now. Why don’t you hear it? You don’t hear it because you don’t have the proper tool tuned into the proper frequency that can extract it from the air. But with a radio on the right station you would be able to enjoy the relaxing tones of the paixiao and the yangqin (yes, they are real) as you read this.

This is what Shvu’a does. Through the unique dynamic of the Shvu’a, he who takes the oath attains the exact Kochos to emit the perfect spiritual frequency that transforms a potted plant into a Cheftza Shel Mitzvah. For one person it’s holy, and for another person it’s a potted plant.

And it is the Shvu’a in the womb that makes all the difference in the world between Jew and gentile. Why is it that on Succos a Yid can grab a Lulav and it is holy, and yet Goy holds the exact same thing and for him it serves no particular purpose? Why is that when a Jew wears a combination of wool and linen it serves as a steel block on his soul, and yet when a non-Jew wears the same combination it’s totally fine? It's the same answer as the potted plant, just bigger.

The Shvu’a that we all take in the womb opens us up and tunes us in to the frequency called Ratzon Hashem. There’s a vibration pumping through the universe, there’s ‘Chinese folk music’ blasting everywhere – our souls can hear it and their souls can’t. The oath that each and everyone of us experiences puts us in a place totally incomparable to a soul that has not undergone such an experience. The significance of the oath that we can’t remember is the fact that because of it we stand on a plane above and beyond everything else. Every other Shvu’a taken over the course of history is merely a microcosm of that.

What I need to take out of all of this is that there is a wellspring of tailor-made Kochos inside of me, just waiting to be tapped into. An amazing spiritual calculation has resulted in my unique role in the universe. I can extract Kediusha from the world around me in a way that no one else who ever has does or will exist can. When we have this amazing realization we can begin to find and access those Kochos - and HaKadosh Baruch Hu should give us a Bracha that we will – there is no doubt that we will live lives of Shleimus and Simcha, moving closer to HaKadosh Baruch Hu and ultimately the Geulah Sheleimah!

Kedoshim: Help Me Help You

The following is based on the Sfas Emes and Reb Tzadok HaKohen. Please feel free to print this out and read it over Shabbos, just not during Tefilos! :)

This week’s Parsha, Parshas Kedoshim deals with an array of Mitzvos Bein Adam L’Chaveiro - Commandments which apply between man and his neighbor, the regulations of interpersonal relationships. Honest business, honoring one’s parents, being kind to the disabled and generous to the poor; and most famously V’Ahavta L’Reiacha Kamocha, love your fellow as you love yourself – among many other similarly categorized Mitzvos are mentioned.

Chazal tell us that Moshe Rabbeinu conducted a Hakel - a mass gathering of all the Jew, to teach, of all things, Parshas Kedoshim. When we have all the Jews together, why read this? When we have the attention of all the Jewish people, we tell them to be nice? Why couldn’t he just write it down like any other part of the Torah? To answer this question we need to ask another, and get deeper into what is Kedoshim really all about.

Unlike most of the Parsha, the first verse calls for a very general spiritual requirement of every Jew. Kedoshim Tihiyu – Ki Kadosh Ani Hashem Elokeichem - “You shall be holy, for I, Your God am Holy.” But what exactly does this mean?

The Rishonim offer two possibilities, the first, given by Rashi is that in order to be holy we need to distance ourselves from all Aveiros (sins) that have to do with Arayos (prohibited sexuality). To be Kadosh means to elevate above our baser desires to a loftier state of control.

The Ramban offers an alternative understanding. To be holy means not just control ourselves in the realm of that which is not allowed, but it means to become more refined in regards to that which is allowed. For example, there is no prohibition in the Torah against eating Kosher meat and drinking Kosher wine. But that doesn’t mean it is the path of the devout and righteous to gorge on burgers and get trashed all day either – can you picture your favorite Rabbi doing that? Something’s not right. In this view, to be Kadosh means to become diginified, even within what is permitted.

Either way you look at it, Kedoshim Tihiyu is about overcoming the physical as means to achieve more spirituality. Kedoshim teaches us to strive for greater levels of purity. But in this context, this topic is out of place. Let’s explain.

We are taught that titles in Torah-literature carry tremendous significance. The goal of any given title is to encapsulate as much of the content as possible. If this is so, what does Kedoshim’s name have to do with the content of the rest of the Parsha. Bein Adam LeChaveiro is one thing, and my personal Avodas Hashem is another? And even we want to say that they are connected – being as Hashem told us about both – why name a whole Parsha about man and his fellow man after a commandment between man and his Maker?

Perhaps the connection between Bein Adam LeChaveiro and Bein Adam LeMakom is deeper than we thought…

We know that Am Yisrael as a unit achieves a collective Kedusha that is greater than the sum of the maximum potential of each individual. As the Midrash tells us, had one Jew been missing, the Torah would have not been able to be given. Matan Torah (our standing at Mount Sinai) was totally dependant on Achdus (national unity). We needed that one last Jew to push the whole nation over the edge. That’s why the Torah HaKedosha can only be given when Am Yisrael is in a state of K’Ish Echad B’Lev Echad (A whole nation standing unified as a single body with one heart). The word Yisrael is an acronym for the term Yesh Shishim Ruba Osios LaTorah – ‘There are Six Hundred Thousand (root) letter in the makeup of the Torah.’ And while each letter, each verse, each concept carries intrinsic holiness – it’s not considered a valid Torah scroll until every single letter is present. When it comes to the holiness of Jews, as the saying goes: “The total is greater than the sum of the parts.”

Therefore it follows that in as much as a person is connected to the Achdus of Am Yisrael he will be able to achieve higher and higher levels of personal spiritual achievement.

The perfect example is Aharon HaKohen. Aharon, the Kohen Gadol is synonymous for the apex of our discussion, namely Kedusha. He is the only one allowed into, and also synonymous with the Kodesh HaKodashim, the sacred inner sanctum of the Mishkan, the Holy of Holies. And yet, what does Chazal say about him? He was busy all day creating peace in the home. By intensifying his relationship with other Jews, his relationship with God strengthened automatically. The Mishna which tells how to be (in principle) a student of Aharon tells us, to be Ohev Es HaBrios U’MeKarvam LaTorah, ‘Love all the creation and bring them close to the Torah.’

And now we understand the depth of it: only when is via a path of love to all creations can a closeness with the Torah be generated.

With this we also understand the teaching of Chazal that when one is Noach LaBrios (sweet to the creations) it is a sign that he is also Noach L’Boro (sweet in the eyes of his Creator).

The same concept explains the Midrash that tells us how to be like Hashem. The Passuk that we started with tells us, Kedoshim Tihiyu – Ki Kadosh Ani Hashem Elokeichem - “You shall be holy, for I, Your God am Holy.” But what is God’s holiness, and how do we imitate it. With this Chazal say Ma Hu Rachum Af Atah Rachum, Ma Hu Chanun Af Atah Chanun - ‘Just like He is Merciful, so too shall you be merciful. Just as He is Gracious, so too shall you be gracious.’ Merciful and gracious are attributes that fall under the category of Bein Adam LeChaveriro! The Torah is telling us that closeness to God is dependant on closeness to our fellow Jew.

And to drive it home, Rav Moshe Wolfson brings down that the Gematria (numerical value) of the phrase V’Ahavta Es Hashem Elokecha ‘And you shall love Hashem your God’ (511), is the same as Passuk in this week’s Parsha, V’Ahavta L’Reiacha KaMocha Ani Hashem ‘Love your fellow as you love yourself, I am God’ (also 511).

Now we can understand why Kedoshim Tihiyu is read at Hakel, and why a Parsha about Bein Adam LeChaveiro is named after a Mitzvah which is Bein Adam LeMakom.

It’s now clear that the most opportune time to read Kedoshim , to learn about what Rashi and the Ramban said above is when we have all of the Jews in one place. A moment with such an atmosphere of K’Ish Echad is the time that we learn on an intrinsically deeper level about how to be closer to HaKadosh Baruch Hu.

It is only through devotion to Klal Yisrael that a person will succeed as an individual. Many Mitzvos are proceeded with the small prayer entitled L’Sheim Yichud - that they will be accepted and accomplish the various spiritual tasks that they are meant to do. Every L’Sheim Yishud ends the same way, “B’Sheim Kol Yisrael” – and I’m doing this in the name of all Jews. Because when my Mitzvah has the whole Jewish nation standing behind it, it’s infinitely more powerful.

HaKadosh Baruch Hu should give us a Bracha that our hearts are filled with nothing but love for other Jews and the world at large. He should energize us with the excitement that we need to jump at the opportunity to help some out. When we tap into a mindstate the pushes us to connect to other Jews, it will inevitably lead to a stronger connection to Hashem. If we can do this there is ono doubt that we will live lives of Simcha and Shleimus, moving closer to HaKadosh Baruch Hu, and ultimately the Geulah Sheleimah!

Tetzaveh/Adar: The Nose Knows

The following is partially based on the teachings of Rav Moshe Wolfson. You can feel free to print this out and read it on Shabbos, just preferably not to be read during prayers.

I apologize for the extra length – it’s Adar. I couldn’t help myself.

In last weeks Parsha we learn about the building of the Mishkan (the Tabernacle) and all of the vessels that were used inside of it. This week, the topic shifts to the man running the show on the inside – The Kohen Gadol. We learn about what he wears, who his staff is (the rest of the Kohanim, Preists) and their inauguration.

This begs the famous question: If last week was about Vessels and this week is about Priests, then what happens at the end of the Parsha? After an entire Parsha dealing with the Kohanim, all of a sudden, in the last eight verses the subject switches back to dealing with vessels, specifically the Mizbeach HaKetores - the Altar used for the burning of the incense. What about the Mizbeach HaKetores necessitates that it be taught to us only now?

And if we zone in on the very last verse, we come away with a very interesting anomaly in the language of the Passuk. The Torah says that no one other than the Kohen Gadol will be involved with the Mizbeach HaKetores, nothing other than the specific Ketores will be brought on it. But the Kohen Gadol will sprinkle blood on its corners to atone for the Jewish people. The verse says in regards to Yom Kippur, “V’Chiper Aharon Al Karnosav Achas BaShana MiDam Chatas HaKipurim, Achas BaShana Yichaper Alav L’Doroseichem, Kodesh Kodashim Hu LaHashem.” – ‘Aharon the Kohen Gadol will bring atonement upon its horns once a year, from the blood of the sin-offering of the atonements, once a year, shall he bring atonement upon it for your generations; it is Holy of Holies to Hashem.’

We walk away from this verse learning that some ritual is performed on this altar once a year. We even told some details of how this is performed. We are told it’s very important - Kodesh Kodashim. But if we read carefully, we see that we are told twice that this event happens only once a year. What, we couldn’t get it the first time?

A completely unrelated question: We all have heard the famous line that the Holiest day of the year, the tenth day of Tishrei, Yom Kippur is really Yom HaKippurim, Ki-Purim - Like Purim, but Purim itself is even greater. If the comparison is made, what’s the connection between the two, and what puts Purim on a higher level?

If we take a few moments to set ourselves up clearly, everything will come together beautifully.

Our journey begins with a deep teaching of the Bnei Yissacahr. We know from our youth that we have five senses. Touch, sight, taste, hearing and smell. In accordance with the Kabbalistic tradition, these five senses line up with the four letters that make up Hashem’s Shem Havaya, (ie: A Yud, a Hay, a Vav and a final Hay) So the obvious question is, there are five senses and four letters, how does that line up? The sources explain that the letter Yud has a tip on the very top called the Kotzo Shel Yud, the thorn of the Yud. All of the energy, all of the spirit contained in Shem Havaya is contained in and spreads out from this point of the Kotz. This upmost point is so high, so spiritual, so lofty that is maintains a partial identify unto itself – its holiness is so intangible that it’s part of Hashem’s name even though it’s not even a letter. Therefore there are really five parts to Shem Havaya.

If the Kotzo Shel Yud is so lofty it would reason that only the most spiritual sense is connected to this level. In order to figure this out, we need to look back to the first time in the Torah where senses are used, and that is back in the Garden of Eden when Chava is convinced to eat of the Tree of Knowledge. She sees the tree. She listens to the snake. She feels the fruit and takes it. And finally she eats from the fruit. Which one is missing? Smell. Therefore, what arises is that all senses with the exception of the sense of smell have been tarnished by the sin of the Tree of Knowledge.

This purist of routes, the nose, is specifically where God gives life to a person, as we see when He fashioned Adam HaRishon, VaYipach B’Apav Nishmas Chayim, and Hashem blew into man’s nose a soul of life. It’s the most direct line to the soul, as we will explain right now.

These two sets of five, with the Kotzo Shel Yud lining up with the sense of smell, together line up with another set of five. That set of five is the five parts of the Jewish soul. Nefesh, Ruach, Neshama, Chaya and the Yechida. This highest level, the Yechida is of the same nature as we have already explained. It cannot be contaminated. No matter how far a Jew goes, no matter how much sin is done, the Yechida remains totally uncontaminated. And therefore this purist level corresponds to the uncontaminated sense of smell and the Kotzo Shel Yud.

This power comes down in Adar. The Arizal teaches us that the different parts of the human head correspond to the months of the year, and Adar corresponds to none other than the nose.

This is why the two main characters in the Purim story are named after types of incense. Ester is also called Hadasa, which is a type of fragrant leaf, and Mordechai’s name comes from the language of Mor Dechi which is an Aramaic term for incense.

This is also why we could only overcome Haman in Adar. Haman wielded a tremendous amount of evil and impure force. He served as a major spiritual prosecutor against the Jewish people. So much so is this the case that it’s brought down that in the Court of Heaven he won, and a death sentence was set out against the entire Jewish people.

So how did we get out? Through this power of Adar, the month of the sense of smell, the month of Kotzo Shel Yud, the month of Yechida, the month of Hadasa andMor Dechi - the month that reveals the highest levels of purity. So no matter how intense the claim is against us, there is a certain point which supersedes any negative counterforce, and these powers are wrapped up in the essence of Adar.

And while this is true of Adar and Purim, it’s also true of Yom Kippur. It’s brought down that the Satan and all the forces which try to oppose Am Yisrael are given the day off on Yom Kippur, it is a day which is totally soul - the theme of Yechida.

And this is the Ketores. The Zohar brings down that the Ketores is the most beloved of all of the offerings and that the Kelipos, the negative spiritual forces simply run away when it’s energy enters into the world.

And this is the Kohen Gadol. He is the soul of the Jewish people. The main representative of us to God. The spiritual epicenter and the main charachter of the Mishkan.

And this is the Kodesh Kodashim, a place where the only thing that exists is relationship with God, based on top of the Even Shesiya, the Foundation Stone, the place from where all of creation started, the Kotzo Shel Yud of the universe.

And to bring it all together, it now makes perfect sense, that (this is a loaded sentence)… When the Kohen Gadol enters into Kodesh Kodashim on Yom Kippur he brings in with him only one thing – the Ketores.

And the amazing thing is that we received of these energies wrapped up in one, we received the light of Purim - in the exile. There was no redemption. The Purim story ends and we are still under Achashverosh’s rule. Because Purim teaches us that we can access the Yechida even not in the most ideal situation.

This explains why the Mizbeach HaKetores is not inside the Kodesh HaKodashim, even though logic dictates that it should. We now understand that there is always an energy of Kotzo Shel Yud that will reach outside of Kodesh Kodashim, the way the light of Purim (and everything that comes with it) reaches us in the exile. For that reason the Mizbeach HaKetores is on the outside, showing us that the experience of Kodesh HaKodashim is available even outside the Kodesh HaKodashim.

This revelation of Yechida is hidden in the name Megilas Ester. The term Megilas Ester can mean to be Migaleh that which is B’Hester, to reveal that which is hidden. This level of Kodesh Kodashim is usually under wraps, but the force of Purim draws it out for all to see, like the Mizbeach HaKetores - Yechida, comes into the public eye.

And now we understand how the Mizbeach HaKetores is taught to us out of place. It’s taught to us out of place, because its whole role is to draw holiness into places where it normally wouldn’t be found. So therefore and the very end of the Parsha away from all of the other vessels, there is the Mizbeach HaKetores bringing us back to Kodesh HaKodashim - the Holy of Holies. And as we saw in the verse, Kodesh Kodashim is the very name of the Mizbeach HaKetores.

And now we can also understand why Achas BaShana - ‘Once a year’ is written twice in the verse about Yom HaKippurim. ‘The Kohen Gadol will bring atonement upon it once a year, from the blood of the sin-offering of the atonements, once a year, shall he bring atonement upon it for your generations; it is Holy of Holies to Hashem.’ It appears twice because this experience of Kodesh Kodashim is a once-a-year deal that really happens twice. Once on Yom HaKippurim, the day which is like Purim, and once it’s brought all the way out into the open on Purim itself.

But at the end of the day what does it mean to be in touch with this part of myself? What difference does it make if I’m connected to my Yechida. The answer is that it makes all the difference in the world. If I know that in my truest essence, in the most real part of me I’m completely and wholly pure, then there is no stopping me. If I know that the real me is not even a little bit connected to impurity then I can never feel like can’t do it. Whatever that ‘it’ is, the fact that I’m rooted in such a pure, spiritual, sublime, lofty, clean place means that I’m linked up directly to the Big Man and such a power can carry me through any struggle, help me overcome any difficult time and help me achieve any impossible task. And Adar is the time to reach it.

HaKadosh Baruch Hu should give us a Bracha to be able to live by this. If we can maximize the potential being given to us right now, then there is no doubt that we will be able to do everything that we need to do to bring Moshiach.

Who, by the way, is called Ruach Apeinu Moshiach Hashem - Moshiach, the Spirit of our Noses. Go figure.