The Alter Rebbe and the Maggid of Mezritch write that when we say the Shema, when saying the first word, we should have in mind certain phrases whose initials spell the six possible different permutations of “Shema” (שמע). These six permutations are: משע ,שעמ ,עמש ,עשמ ,שמע, and מעש.
The first and simplest of these phrases is, “Lift your eyes to heaven and see [Who created these?]” (שאו מרום עיניכם), whose initials are שמע. This phrase is suggesting an interesting connection between “hearing” (Shema) and “sight” (“Lift up your eyes”), the type of unification we experienced during the Giving of the Torah at Mt. Sinai, as the Torah says, “And all the people saw the sounds.”
Indeed, it says that Moses originally wanted the Shema to read, “See O’ Israel, Havayah is our God, Havayah is One.” In any case, by having this phrase in mind, we can unite also our sight and our hearing.
Another phrase whose initials spell the עמש permutation of “Shema” is “You have placed Your haven on high” (שמת מעונך עליון). When we reverse the order of the letters of Shema, עמש, they form the initials of the well-known phrase, “the yoke of the Kingdom of Heaven” (עול מלכות שמים).
Interestingly, the next phrase comes from our parashah, Beha’alotcha. When Rashi explains what it means to “raise the flames” on the Menorah, he writes, “[until] the flame rises on its own” (שלהבת עולה מאליה). This phrase’s initials are the שעמ permutation of Shema. This is particularly interesting because the verse after Shema is “You shall love God with all of your heart, with all of your soul, and with all of your might” (ואהבת את ה' אלקיך בכל לבבך ובכל נפשך ובכל מאדך) and the gematria of the words, “with all of your heart, with all of your soul, and with all of your might” (בכל לבבך ובכל נפשך ובכל מאדך) is exactly the same as “flame” (שלהבת).
The next phrase is “the Space of Reality” (מקום עולם), and its initials form the מעש permutation. This phrase is used as a connotation for the Almighty Himself and means to say that God Himself is the space in which all of reality exists, but He Himself is not contained within that same space.
The final phrase whose initials spell the מעש permutation is taken from the Book of Proverbs, “Who has ascended to heaven“ (מי עלה שמים).
Since we have six permutations and six phrases it is quite straightforward to order them into a partzuf. To do so, we need to identify, which of the three letters of these permutations, the shin (ש), the mem (מ), and the ayin (ע) corresponds to each of the three intellectual faculties: wisdom, understanding, and knowledge. Once we have done so, we can use the model that maps the permutations of wisdom-understanding-knowledge to the six emotive sefirot from loving-kindness to foundation.
In our case, the letter mem is associated with water and therefore with wisdom. Shin normally represents the source of fire, and thus the sefirah of understanding. Finally, the ayin is the ayin of the sefirah of knowledge (דעת).
Following this identification, we can place the permutations in place, as follows:
- wisdom-chochmah חכמה
- understanding-binah בינה
- knowledge-da’at דעת
- loving-kindness-chessed חסד
- might-gevurah גבורה
- beauty-tiferet תפארת
- victory-netzach נצח
- splendor-hod הוד
- foundation-yesod יסוד
- kingdom-malchut מלכות
wisdom-chochmah חכמה מ
understanding-binah בינה ש
knowledge-da’at דעת ע
loving-kindness-chessed משע מקום עולם
might-gevurah שעמ שלהבת עולה מאליה
beauty-tiferet עמש מי עלה שמים
victory-netzach מעש מי עלה שמים
splendor-hod שמע שאו מרום עיניכם
foundation-yesod עשמ שמת מעונך עליון
kingdom-malchut שמ
One of the first things we notice in our completed partzuf or model is that the phrase “[until] the flame rises on its own” (שלהבת עולה מאליה) from our parashah corresponds to the sefirah of might, the most natural place to place the description of a flame.
1. Isaiah 40:26.
2. Exodus 20:15.
3. Psalms 91:9.
4. Berachot 61b.
5. Rashi on Numbers 8:2.
6. Bereishit Rabbah 68:9.
7. Proverbs 30:4.
