Today we welcome the new month of Kislev. It is well-known that the months of the Hebrew year parallel the Tribes of Israel and the zodiacal constellations. According to Sefer Yetzirah, each month also embodies one of twelve fundamental aspects of humanity and life: sight, sound, smell, speech, taste, touch, action, motion, temper, joy, thought, and sleep (ראיה, שמיעה, ריחה, שיחה, לעיטה, תשמיש, מעשה, הלוך, רוגז, שחוק, הרהור, שינה). Each of these further corresponds to twelve main parts and organs of the human body, and actually emerges at their core from the twelve “elemental” letters of the Hebrew alphabet, as well as the twelve permutations of God’s Ineffable Name. Recall that Sefer Yetzirah divides up the alphabet into three categories: “mother” letters, “doubled” letters, and “elemental” or “simple” letters (for more on these, see here). Continue reading
Tag Archives: Senses
Secrets of Purim
What is the deeper mystical meaning of the Purim festival? Is a Jew really required to get drunk on the holiday? And why does the Tanakh describe Mashiach as being able to judge by “smelling”? Find out in this class where we take a plunge into the science and Kabbalah of Purim. Also: what really happened when the Talmudic sage Rava “killed” Rabbi Zeira on Purim? What is the deeper reason for dressing up in costumes? And what was the real name of Mordechai?
For how the ten chapters of Esther correspond to the Ten Sefirot, see here.
For a detailed exploration of the “Four Who Entered Pardes”, see here.
For a written summary of this class, see ‘When Rava “Killed” Rabbi Zeira’.
The Ten Plagues on the Ten Senses of the Human Body
‘The Fifth Plague of Egypt’ by J.M.W. Turner (1800)
This week’s parasha, Bo, describes the final three plagues that God brought upon Egypt. There is an allusion to this in the very name of the parasha, since the gematria of “Bo” (בא) is 3. It is not a coincidence that the Torah divides the Ten Plagues between two parashas, seven in last week’s and three in Bo. In fact, all things that are “Ten” in the Torah (such as the Ten Utterances of Creation, the Ten Commandments, or the Ten Trials of Abraham) follow the same pattern of 7 and 3. The pattern is based on the Ten Sefirot, where there are three higher mochin, “mental” faculties, above the seven lower middot, “emotional” faculties or character traits. Since the Ten Sefirot permeate all aspects of Creation, this same pattern reveals itself in many places.