Running Commentary on Torah 48 — Mei Merivas Kadesh

Beginner: **The opening verse** is a verse of rebuke from the end of Devarim — Moshe is told he will not enter the Land **'al asher me'altem bi... b'mei merivas Kadesh midbar Tzin'** — 'because you (Moshe and Aharon) acted treacherously against Me at the waters of strife at Kadesh in the wilderness of Tzin' (Devarim 32:51). The whole Torah is a vast peirush on this single verse — every word (mei, merivas, Kadesh, Tzin) will be unlocked into a *bechina*. **The first key is the vowel-name *tzeirei*** (the two horizontal dots making the 'ay' sound). *Tzeirei* is heard as the *bechina* (aspect) of *vayyitzer* — 'and He formed' (Bereshis 2:7) — and the chazal-teaching that there are *yetzirah for tov, yetzirah for bad, yetzirah for reward, yetzirah for punishment* (Zohar Bereshis 27a; Ra'aya Mehemna Behar 111a; Berachos 61a). So *tzeirei* contains the double force of *din ve-rachamim* — judgment and mercy. **And this is the *bechina* of *Binah*** — the upper *sefirah* of understanding — *for there the *vlad* (the fetus, the spiritual form of every soul) is formed*, as it says, *'ki im la-binah tikra'* (Mishlei 2:3) — 'for if (im, also read as *eim*, mother) you would call out for *binah*' — Binah is the cosmic Mother. There two faces meet — *chesed v'din* — *for from there dinim mis'arin* (judgments are aroused — Zohar Vayikra 10b). **And Binah is the *bechina* of *sukkah*** — for the verse says, *'tesuk'keini b'beten imi'* — 'You screened me (root SKK, same as sukkah) in my mother's womb' (Tehillim 139:13). The womb is the original sukkah — the inner shelter where every formed thing is held. **And the same Binah-sukkah is the *bechina* of *koach ha-tefillah*** — the power that a person puts into prayer, *'kol atzmosai tomarna'* — 'all my bones shall say' (Tehillim 35:10). And again sukkah, as Iyov says, *'b'gidim va'atzamos tesoch'cheini'* — 'with sinews and bones You screened me' (Iyov 10:11). The body itself, when one davens with full force, becomes a sukkah — a frame of bones and sinews that shelters the divine word. **Now the deep mechanism**: the *koach* (force) that a person puts into the *teivos* (the words/letters of prayer) — these are the *kaf-ches atvan d'uvda d'breishis* — the **28 letters of the Act of Creation** (the 28 letters of the verse *'B'reishis bara Elokim eis ha-shamayim v'eis ha-aretz'* by which the world was made). And the *Asarah Ma'amaros* — the Ten Utterances by which the world was created (Avos 5:1) — *receive their koach from those 28 letters*. So when a person speaks the words of tefillah with koach, **the very speech he is speaking is the speech of HKB"H Himself** — *'va-asim devarai b'ficha'* (Yeshayahu 51:16). His words are *koach ma'asav* (the power of His works, Tehillim 111:6). **And the Ma'amaros are *chesed*** — *'ki amarti olam chesed yibaneh'* — 'for I said, the world will be built with chesed' (Tehillim 89:3). And chesed is *sukkah*, *bechina d'chibbuk* (the bechina of the divine embrace) — for after *'va-asim devarai b'ficha'* the verse continues *'u'v'tzeil yadi kisisicha'* — 'and in the shadow of My hand I covered you' — sukkah = the shadow of the Hand = the *chibbuk yad yamin*, the embrace of the right Hand (Zohar Pinchas 214b). **The opposite case** — *dibburim that are not holy* — arouse the **sukkas notzrim, sukkas akum** (the sukkah of the gentile-side, the sheltering canopy of the sitra achra), as it says, *'asher pihem diber shav vi-minam yemin shaker'* — 'whose mouth speaks vanity and whose right is a right of falsehood' (Tehillim 144:8) — that is the *chibbuk d'sitra achra*, the embrace of the Other Side. **Therefore** the verse *'titz'pnem b'sukkah me'riv leshonos'* — 'You will conceal them in a sukkah from the strife of tongues' (Tehillim 31:21): when the tongues of the *akum* prevail R"L, the *Shechinah is in riv* (in strife) with HKB"H. As the Tikkunim say (Tikkun 21, daf 44b) on *'shim'u harim riv'* — 'hear, mountains, the strife' (Mikhah 6:2) — *'de-ihi riv al benaha b'galusa'* — She quarrels over Her exiled children. **For in Eretz Yisrael She is *rabbi*** (Tikkun 21, 45b) — the very letters רי"ב flip and become רב"י (rabbi, mistress/master): in galus = riv; in EY = rabbi. **And the *ikkar* of Eretz Yisrael is by way of *koach ma'asav*** — 'the koach of His works He told to His nation, to give them the inheritance of nations' (Tehillim 111:6). When that koach — the bechina of sukkah — is damaged, the umos ha-olam prevail, yemin shaker prevails, and *rabbi* turns back into *riv* — 'She is in riv over Her children, who were exiled from their Father's table and left their land.' **And from this comes the practical principle**: *sukkah — i.e., tefillah b'koach — is a segulah l'banim* (a propitious remedy for children). And for this reason, immediately after Sukkos comes Shemini Atzeres — when the *nukva otzeres v'koletes ha-tipah she'lo tapil* (the feminine collects and holds the seed so it should not miscarry — as explained at the end of *Pri Etz Chaim*, kavanos Shemini Atzeres). **And this is the bechina of** *'tesuk'keini b'beten imi'* — sukkah becomes *ibbur* (pregnancy). And therefore *'va'tispalel Chana al Hashem'* — 'Chana prayed *upon* Hashem' (Shmuel I 1:10) — *al* davka, the unusual preposition (Zohar Acharei 79b; cf. Zohar Toldos 137 and Or Ha-Chaim there) — because sukkah-tefillah-b'koach is the very *al*, the encompassing canopy through which the seed of children comes down. Intermediate: **Coarse seg 1 (Binah / sukkah / koach ha-tefillah / segulah l'banim)**: 'Al asher me'altem bi... b'mei merivas Kadesh midbar Tzin' (Dev 32:51). **Tzeirei = bechinas vayyitzer = yetzirah l'tov/l'bish/l'sachar/l'onesh** (Zohar Ber 27a; RM Behar 111; Ber 61a) = **din v'rachamim** = **Binah** (sham notzar ha-vlad; Mish 2:3 'ki im la-binah tikra' / im=eim; chesed+din, dinim mis'arin — Zohar Vay 10b). **Binah = sukkah** (Teh 139:13 'tesuk'keini b'beten imi') = **koach ha-tefillah** (Teh 35:10 'kol atzmosai tomarnah'; Iyov 10:11 'b'gidim va'atzamos tesoch'cheini'). Koach in teivos = **28 atvan d'uvda d'breishis**; 10 ma'amaros mekablin koach me-28 atvan elu (Avos 5). Dibbur b'koach = atzman dibburei HKB"H — 'va-asim devarai b'ficha' (Yesh 51:16) = 'koach ma'asav' (Teh 111:6). Ma'amaros = **chesed** ('olam chesed yibaneh' Teh 89:3) = sukkah = chibbuk; 'u'v'tzeil yadi kisisicha' = tzeil yad = chibbuk yad yamin (Zohar Pinchas 214b). **Dibburim lo k'doshim** → sukkas notzrim/sukkas akum (Teh 144:8 'pihem diber shav vi-minam yemin shaker') = chibbuk d'sitra achra. **'Titz'pnem b'sukkah me'riv leshonos'** (Teh 31:21): leshonos akum gov'rim → Shechinah riv im KBH (Tikkunim 21 daf 44b 'shim'u harim riv', Mikh 6:2 = riv al benaha b'galusa); b'EY ihi rabbi (Tik 21 45b) — riv→rabbi. **Ikkar EY = koach ma'asav** (Teh 111:6 'koach ma'asav higid l'amo... lases lahem nachalas goyim'). Pegima b'koach=sukkah → umos gov'rim, yemin shaker, rabbi→riv. **Sukkah = tefillah b'koach = segulah l'banim**. Lachen tekhef achar Sukkos Shemini Atzeres — nukva otzeres v'koletes ha-tipah (Pri Etz Chaim, Sh"A). 'Tesuk'keini b'beten imi' = sukkah na'aseh ibbur. 'Va'tispalel Chana **al** Hashem' (Shmuel I 1) — al dayka (Zohar Acharei 79b; Toldos 137; Or Ha-Chaim sham) = sukkah.

Beginner: **Coarse seg 2 — Eretz Yisrael, the three walls of the sukkah, the future safah berurah, and the unlocking of *Mei Merivas Kadesh*.** **Eretz Yisrael itself is *segulah l'banim***, as Chazal said on *'lech lecha me-artzecha'* (Bereshis 12:1) — *'and there you will merit children'* (Rosh Hashanah 16b) — for *'nachalas Hashem banim, schar pri ha-beten'* (Tehillim 127:3): the *schar* (reward) of children is the *schar* of *sukkah* (the same root SKK), bechina of *'tesuk'keini b'beten imi'*. The land grants children because the land itself is sukkah. **And the *ikkar* of Eretz Yisrael is by way of *koach ma'asav*** — 'koach ma'asav... lases lahem nachalas goyim' (Tehillim 111:6) — and this *koach* is again sukkah: 'kol atzmosai tomarnah,' 'b'gidim va'atzamos tesoch'cheini,' 'va-asim devarai b'ficha u'v'tzeil yadi kisisicha.' One unbroken thread: *koach ha-tefillah → koach ma'asav → koach ha-aretz → sukkah*. **Now the navi's three demands**: *'higid lecha adam mah tov, u-mah Hashem doresh mim'cha, ki im asos mishpat, v'ahavas chesed, v'hatzne'a leches im Hashem Elokecha'* (Mikhah 6:8). The Rebbe maps each clause: ***'asos mishpat'* = *din*** (Makkos 24a expounded the verse this way) — bechina of *'smolo tachas l'roshi'* — His left hand under my head (Shir Ha-Shirim 2:6); ***'v'ahavas chesed'* = the *chasadim p'nimi'im*** — the inner *chasadim*; ***'v'hatzne'a leches'* = the *makkifim*** — the *encompassing* lights — *bechina of sukkah*. **Why?** Because the walls of the sukkah are *shtayim k'hilchasan* (two complete) and a *shlishis afilu tefach* (a third even of a handbreadth) (Sukkah 6b): the two full walls are *Netzach v'Hod*, and the partial third is *Yesod*. So *'v'hatzne'a leches'* unpacks: ***'v'hatzne'a' = Yesod*** (which is *megaleh tefach um'chaseh tefach* — reveals a handbreadth and conceals a handbreadth — Nedarim 20b — exactly the *third wall of a tefach*); ***'leches' = Netzach v'Hod*** (the legs of *halicha*, going); ***'im Hashem Elokecha' = Eretz Yisrael*** — *'kol ha-dar b'EY domeh ke'mi she'yesh lo Eloka'* (Kesuvos 110b) — and EY is made *mi-koach ma'asav* as above. So the three Mikhah-clauses fold neatly into the three walls of the sukkah of EY. **The future tense (*l'asid lavo*)**: in the time-to-come, the umos ha-olam will be tested by *mitzvas sukkah* (see Avodah Zarah 3a — the famous gemara of HKB"H offering them the easy mitzvah of sukkah). Then will be fulfilled *'az ehepoch el kol ha-amim safah berurah'* — 'I will turn to all the peoples a clear language' (Tzefaniah 3:9). And the word *safah* (שָׂפָה) is itself the *roshei teivos* of *Schar Pri Ha-Beten* (שׂכר פרי הבטן) — bechina of sukkah, exactly as above. So the *clarification of the universal language of mankind* and the *gift of children through sukkah* are one and the same future event. *Riv leshonos* will reverse, *bechina of riv* will end, *'safah achas l'avdo shechem echad'*. And the *emes* will rise — *'sfas emes tikon la'ad'* (Mishlei 12:19) — even the umos will return to serve Him *shechem echad*. **Two contrasting roshei teivos in Bereshis 4:7**: *'im teitiv s'eis'* — 'if you do good, you will be uplifted' — *r"t Sfat Emet Tikon* (the verse you'll fulfill); *'la-pesach chatas roveitz'* — 'sin crouches at the door' — *r"t Rachel l'mafrei'a (b'chazaras anpin)* — Rachel spelled in reverse — bechina of *riv* (Rachel = the Shechinah; reversed = riv in galus, where umin d'alma prevail and 'pihem diber shav'). **And now the verse opens**: ***'b'mei merivas'*** — 'in the waters of strife' — this is *bechina of mei chasadim*, *bechina of sukkah*, *which saves from riv leshonos*, as in *'titz'pnem b'sukkah me'riv leshonos.'* The very *waters* are the chasadim that build the sukkah-shelter from quarrelsome speech. ***'Kadesh'*** — Targum *Rekem* (an embroidery-name, also a place-name) — *lashon rikem v'tzayer*, embroidered and shaped — *bechina of tzeirei* — that from which the *yetziras ha-vlad* comes, exactly the opening *bechina*. ***'Midbar Tzin'*** — Sukkah 32b reads *Tzin* as *'tzinei har ha-barzel'* (the iron-mountain palms) — and as *lashon t'murah v'chiluf* (substitution and exchange). **The peirush**: HKB"H commanded Moshe and Aharon to *speak to the rock* — so that Israel would learn *kal va-chomer* about *schar va-onesh* (if a rock without sin and without reward listens to its Maker, how much more so a person — Rashi). They damaged the *dibbur* (the very speech that should have been *koach ha-tefillah b'koach* — the sukkah of holy speech), and through that pegima caused R"L the strengthening of *riv leshonos* and of *yemin shaker* — 'asher pihem diber shav.' **And so *Tzin* — *t'murah*** — *t'muras Kadesh, t'muras tzeirei, t'muras sukkah d'kdusha* — the holy sukkah was substituted, R"L, with a *sukkah b'klipah*. **And therefore the punishment**: *'mi-negged tireh, v'shamah lo savo'* — 'from afar you will see, but you shall not enter' (Devarim 32:52) — for Eretz Yisrael is *mi-koach ma'asav*, and once they had pegumed that very *koach* by misusing the dibbur at the rock, *they could no longer enter the land that is built from that koach*. **The whole Torah collapses to one principle**: the koach of holy speech *is* the sukkah, *is* the womb of children, *is* Eretz Yisrael, *is* the safety from riv-leshonos, *is* the future safah berurah; pegimas ha-dibbur *is* the loss of all of these together. *Tefillah b'koach* puts every one of them right. Intermediate: **Coarse seg 2**: **EY = segulah l'banim** (R"H 16b on Bereshis 12:1; Teh 127:3 'nachalas Hashem banim, schar pri ha-beten' = schar sukkah = 'tesuk'keini b'beten imi'). Ikkar EY = koach ma'asav (Teh 111:6) = sukkah ('kol atzmosai... b'gidim va'atzamos... va-asim devarai... u'v'tzeil yadi kisisicha'). **Mikhah 6:8 'higid lecha adam'**: 'asos mishpat' = din (Makkos 24a; 'smolo tachas l'roshi' Shir 2:6); 'v'ahavas chesed' = chasadim p'nimi'im; **'v'hatzne'a leches' = makkifim = sukkah**. Defanos: 2 k'hilchasan = NH; shlishis afilu tefach (Suk 6b) = Yesod. **'V'hatzne'a' = Yesod** (megaleh/m'chaseh tefach, Ned 20b) = tefach-wall; **'leches' = N"H**; **'im Hashem Elokecha' = EY** (Kesuvos 110b 'ha-dar b'EY... yesh lo Eloka'). **L'asid lavo**: umos nis'nasu b'mitzvas sukkah (AZ 3a) → 'safah berurah' (Tzef 3:9); **safah = r"t Schar Pri ha-Beten** = sukkah. Riv leshonos hafuch → 'safah achas l'avdo shechem echad'; emes mis'gaber ('sfas emes tikon la'ad' Mish 12:19). **Roshei teivos contrast (Bereshis 4:7)**: 'im teitiv s'eis' r"t **Sfat Emet Tikon**; 'la-pesach chatas roveitz' r"t **Rachel l'mafrei'a** (chazaras anpin) = bechinas riv. **Verse cracked**: 'b'mei merivas' = mei chasadim = sukkah, matzeles me-riv leshonos ('titz'pnem b'sukkah me-riv leshonos'). 'Kadesh' targum **Rekem** = rikem v'tzayer = **tzeirei** (yetziras ha-vlad). 'Midbar Tzin' = tzinei har ha-barzel (Suk 32b) = **lashon t'murah v'chiluf**. Peirush: HKB"H tzivah l'daber el ha-sela li'lmod kal va-chomer al schar va-onesh (Rashi); pagmu b'dibbur → his'gabrus riv leshonos + yemin shaker. Tzin = t'muras Kadesh, t'muras tzeirei, t'muras sukkah d'kdusha → sukkah b'klipah CH"V. **Onesh**: 'mi-negged tireh v'shamah lo savo' (Dev 32:52) — EY mi-koach ma'asav, u-pgimas ha-koach = isukrus mei-ha-aretz.