There are 6 Torah portions or parashot, named after a person. They are, Noach, Chayei Sarah, Yitro, Korach, Balak, and Pinchas. These 6 are out of a total of 54 portions in the Torah in total—53 Torah portions customarily noted plus one additional parashah, because we divide Neetzaveem and Vayeilech. This means that a seventh of the Torah’s portions are named after a person.
Divided between the Five Books of Moses, the Chumashim, we find two parashot named after people in Genesis (Noach and Chayei Sarah), one in Exodus (Yitro—it is very significant that the giving of the torah was in merit of Yitro, who by converting raised all the sparks in the world). In Leviticus there are none. In Numbers there are 3. And finally, in Deuteronomy there are none. This week’s parashah, Korach is the first in the Book of Numbers, then we will have Balak and Pinchas.
What is the significance of specifically these 6 parashot, or in other words how can we correspond them to some well-known model. Balak (ק ל בּ) is particularly connected with Kabbalah since the root letters of Kabbalah (קבל) are the same as the three letters of Balak.
Let us begin with Noach. Noach is considered in Kabbalah to be the foundation of the father principle (ד יְסו אַ בָּא) because he enters the Ark, which is identified as the foundation of the mother principle (ד יְסו אִ מּ ָ א). From this unification, Noach is able to beget a whole new world after the flood. As such, Noach is associated with wisdom (chochmah).
The only female among the six is Sarah, and so we identify parashat Chayei Sarah with the mother principle, or the sefirah of understanding (binah).
Yitro (ֹ יִתְ רו) literally means “an addition” (ן ֹ יִתְ רו) since he was able to include an additional paragraph in the Torah—the paragraph describing his advice on how to appoint courts of law that would assist Moses in governing the people. Moses himself is associated with the sefirah of knowledge (da’at). Thus, Yitro’s addition to the Torah (and to Moses) is associated with the sefirah of knowledge (da’at), since knowledge is described as an addition (דַּ עַת ן ֹ יִתְ רו).
The first three parashot named after people—Noach, Sarah and Yitro—thus correspond to the intellect in the sefirot, “wisdom, understanding, and knowledge” (חָ כְ מָ ה בִּינָה דַּ עַת), in order.
The giving of the Torah is in the parashah that corresponds to da’at (Yitro). When he converts, all the sparks are elevated and then the Torah, which comes out of wisdom, and can give life to he who possess it (הַ חָ כְ מָ ה ֶהּ תְּ חַ י בְעָלֶיהָ ).
Now we come to the three parashot in the Book of Numbers. Careful observation will lead us to the conclusion that are even more a single unit than were the first three parashot. Korach corresponds to victory, or netzach. How so? Korach contested Moses’ leadership, and this type of contest is known as הִ תְ נַצְחוּת, in Hebrew, which comes from the same root as netzach, or the sefirah of victory. More specifically, Korach is identified as belonging to the soul root that is constantly battling and contesting Moses. In the future world, Korach will indeed blossom, following the verse, “the tzaddik will blossom like a date palm” (צַדִּ יק כַּ תּ ָ מָ ר יִפְ רָ ח), whose final letters spell Korach (ח ר ק). Korach wanted to include the right—referring to Moses—in the left—referring to the Levites (Korach was a Levite). But in parashat Korach, Moses ultimately wins the contest against him, because Moses represents eternity, an alternate meaning of netzach. Thus, Korach was able to reveal an aspect of Moses that no one else could.
Pinchas is directly and clearly related to the sefirah of foundation, the locus of the covenant. Pinchas was a zealot, zealous for God’s covenant, and therefore received an eternal covenant of priesthood. His zealotry was awakened by the blemish of the covenant initiated by Zimri, who openly enacted a marital union with Cozbi, the Moabite princess.
Balak, the final parashah named after a person corresponds to the sefirah of acknowledgment, or hod. How so? Balak describes the archetypal example of overturning a negative decree into something positive. Balak started out by hiring Balaam to curse the Jewish people, but Balaam ended up blessing them. This complete reversal is related to the sefirah of hod, about which we find the verse, “My splendor [hod] has reversed to be my destroyer” (ְ חִ ית ׁ לְ מַ ש עָלַי נֶהְ פַּ ך דִ י ֹ וְ הו). Thus, any reversal is related to this sefirah. In the body, hod corresponds to the immune system. When a curse affects the immune system, the person becomes vulnerable to all kinds of ailments. But just as it can cause ailments in the form of autoimmune disease, the immune system, when it functions properly, can reverse and protect the body from any foreign invader.
Thus, our full partzuf is,
- wisdom-chochmah ה מ כ ח Noach
- understanding-binah ה ינ בּ Chayei Sarah
- knowledge-da’at ת ע דּ Yitro
- victory-netzach ח צ נ Korach
- splendor-hod ד הו Balak
- foundation-yesod ד סו י Pinchas
