A strong desire arose in the chasid's heart to understand the tzaddik's intention with the verse "And the sons of Dan, Chushim." He related the matter to all the Torah scholars and chasidim in his town, and each gave a different interpretation, but none of these not satisfied him. He decided to write about it to his brother-in-law who was a rabbi in Peshischa (Przysucha). But he and his colleagues could not grasp the tzaddik's intention either. A year passed, but the mystery was not resolved.
In the second year, he again presented the matter to the elder scholars and chasidim in his town, and an interpretation was suggested by the group, which they all agreed and decided was the correct interpretation: The tzaddik intended to hint that although Dan had only one son, Chushim, nevertheless it is written about him in the plural form "and the sons," because from this one son many sons would come forth. Indeed, the tribe of Dan was numerous as it says in the Talmud: “’And the sons of Dan, Chushim,’ because they were as numerous as the reeds of a cane.”
The tzaddik hinted to him that he would not have more children and this son would be his only one, but that this son's descendants would be numerous. And so it was: this Chaim Yirmiyahu was an only son to his parents, but the family multiplied and Chaim Yirmiyahu, had many sons and daughters.
What does a tzaddik do when he wants to bless a chasid with children, but for hidden reasons finds it difficult to do so? The answer that threads through the story is that "grandchildren are like children.” Thus, he instructs that the son to be born should be named after his grandfather, and he blesses the father with a great multitude of grandchildren. Like a single reed from which many leaves sprout and which then subsequently form many groups of reeds, even one son can indeed become many children indeed.
The great multiplication of Chushim is a messianic trait and in fact, Chushim (חשים) is an anagram of Mashiach (משיח) and about Mashiach the prophet says, “He will carry a great burden of government and peace without end.”
The Mashiach is thus also a unique individual who radiates infinite illumination. The Mashiach illuminates the entire world, and all generations as well. This is alluded to in the verse "They shall fear You with the sun, and before the moon, for generations and generations" (יראוך עם שמש ולפני ירח דור דורים).
The final letters of the last four words in this verse (דורים ולפני ירח עם שמש) spell Mashiach (משיח), for the Mashiach is like a single candle that illuminates in all directions, truly without end.
The oneness of children with their parents connects to Chushim son of Dan in another way as well. The verse “And the sons of Dan: Chushim” is found within the Torah’s enumeration of the seventy souls in Jacob’s household that descended to Egypt. But even though the Torah concludes that they were in all seventy souls, when we actually count their names, it turns out that there were only sixty-nine in the list! Various answers are brought to this question, and the one relevant to our discussion is brought in the book Pardes Yosef. He writes that in the Tannaic sage Rabbi Meir's Torah scroll [Rabbi Meir was a scribe], an alternate reading was found, “And the son [in singular form] of Dan: Chushim.” The author resolves this by explaining that according to Rabbi Meir's view, a fetus is considered an independent person, and therefore Yocheved, Jacob's granddaughter, who was in her mother's womb at the time of the descent to Egypt, completes the family to the count of seventy. But according to the sages, who rule that a fetus is part of its mother’s body (“A fetus is [like] its mother's thigh”), it is necessary to split Chushim in two and write "And the sons of Dan: Chushim."
This interchange between Yocheved and Chushim son of Dan teaches that he contains within him the secret of Yocheved, Moses’ mother. Even the name of Chushim’s father, Dan, alludes to a formative event in the life of Miriam, Yocheved's daughter and Moses’ sister. Dan also means “judgement” and alludes to the judicial principle known as kal vachomer (argumentum a fortiori), or “argument from the stronger.” The Mishnah usually refers to this principle as “din,” cognate with “Dan.” This principle also has important personal significance for Miriam as it was used by God when Miriam was stricken by leprosy. God then used this principle and said, “If when her father had but condemned her [for one day when she spoke the truth], should she not be ashamed [for speaking ill of Moses and be condemned] for seven days? Let her be shut out from the camp seven days, and after that let her be brought in again.”
Moses then prayed for his sister and his prayer for her healing begins with God’s Name, Kel. This Name is the first of the 13 Principles of God’s Mercy, which correspond to the 13 Principles of Torah Logic, the first of which is kal vachomer; thus, Kel corresponds to kal vachomer.
The parallel intensifies when we understand that both Miriam and Yocheved are connected to the multiplication of children. Both were midwives in Egypt, and of Yocheved it is said that "she gave birth to 600,000 in one pregnancy," an allusion to Moses, in whose merit 600,000 descendants of Jacob were born and saved from Egypt. Miriam brought her parents back together and acted to bring about the birth of Moses. Even the story of the leprosy came about because Miriam criticized Moses' separation from his wife, another connection with procreation.
Returning to Chushim (the anagram of Mashiach), with whom we began, marriage and the multiplication of offspring are indeed very messianic. The coming of Mashiach depends on bringing many new children into the world, and unlike Moses, Mashiach will not separate from his wife. And what about the division of Chushim into two, according to the 'Pardes Yosef'? Two Chushim can be understood as alluding to two aspects of Mashiach: Mashiach ben Yosef and Mashiach ben David.
1. Bava Batra 143b.
2. Isaiah 9:6.
3. Psalms 72:5.
4. Numbers 12:14.
