The fourth reading ends with the verse, “Moses saw that they had indeed done all the work exactly as God had commanded, and Moses blessed them.”
The final three words, “Moses blessed them” (הֶׁשֹם מָתֹאְךֶרָבְיַו) is a perfect square since its gematria is 1024, or 32 squared. In cubits these are the exact dimensions of the Courtyard Altar in the Temple in Jerusalem. 1024 is also the total number of letters in the Shema.
The middle word in the phrase, “them” (םָתֹא) is itself a square, since its gematria is 441, or 21 squared.
In a phrase with three words where all the words have an odd number of letters, we can take the first, middle, and final letter of the words. In this case they will be— הֶׁשֹם מָתֹאְךֶרָבְיַו—which spell “chaos” (ּהוֹּת), the World of Chaos, whose value is 411. Since there are three letters in the word “chaos,” the average value of each letter will be 137, the value of “Kabbalah” (הָלָּבַק), etc. Apart from these three letters, the rest of the phrase equals 613. So the phrase, “Moses blessed them,” 1024, has the same value as the sum of 613 and “chaos” (ּהוֹּת), 411.
Creation of Being, Creation of Chaos
The Torah’s first word is “In the beginning” (יתׁאשֵרְּב). Since this word has 6 letters it can be permuted in 720 different ways. One of the most straightforward permutations is “I have created shin” (ישׁאתָרָּב). What is interesting about this permutation is that the value of “I have created” (יאתָרָּב) is 613.
Isaiah says, “I have made the earth and on it I have created man.” Regarding this verse, the Lubavitcher Rebbe writes in HaYom Yom, in the name of the Ba’al Shem Tov that: “I am who I am” have made the earth. And for what? For man. And for what have I created man? For “I have created” (יאתָרָּב), whose value is 613. The world was created for man so that he can follow Torah and its commandments. So “I have created” is the purpose of creation.
What does the shin (ש) in this permutation—“I have created shin” (יאתָרָּבש) stand for? One possibility is that it stands for some phrase whose value is 300, the value of shin. For example, it could stand for “the spirit of God” (יםִהֹלֱ אַחּרו), or it could stand for the filling of God’s Name, Elokim (אלף למד הי יוד מם), whose value is also 300. The spirit of God that was hovering over the waters is the spirit of the Mashiach.
But there is another explanation, that the shin stands for the word, “being” (ׁשֵי)—the being that was created ex nihilo, from nothingness. So, “I have created shin” stands for “I have created being” (ׁשֵי יִאתָרָּב).
Now let us note that “chaos” (ּהוֹּת) has the same value as “being from nothingness” (ןִיַאֵ מׁשֵי)—the “being” (ׁשֵי) that was created from nothingness. We now have that, “Moses blessed them” (הֶׁשֹם מָתֹאְךֶרָבְיַו) equals “I have created something from nothing” (ןִיַאֵ מׁשֵי יִאתָרָּב)!
Order in Chaos
Modern Chaos Theory stipulates that there is concealed order even where there is chaos. In the account of creation, the word “chaos” is followed by the word “void.” The Bahir explains that this word “void” (ּהוֹּב) stands for, “it is in it” (אּ הוֹוּב).
What is in the chaos is concealed order. The World of Chaos mentioned earlier is alluded to in the life and death of the Seven Kings of Edom. Because they were all chaotic, they all died without leaving an heir. But the last king, the eighth king, Hadar is the order hiding within the chaos.
In the psyche this all corresponds to the seven emotive faculties of the heart. When a person breaks down emotionally these seven emotive faculties shatter one by one, but then the purpose of the shattering is revealed—the eighth king.
Likewise, after the sin of the Golden Calf, God commanded to construct the Tabernacle. It was also known as, “the Tabernacle of Testament”—testifying to God’s forgiveness. God forgave them for the Golden Calf and brought His Presence to dwell in their midst.
Moses’ blessing, as Rashi writes, was, “May it be the will that the Divine Presence shall dwell in your handiwork.” The final verse of the fourth portion brings us full circle to God’s forgiveness. There turned out to be order in the chaos, in the sin. Indeed, at the very end of our parashah, we read that, “The cloud covered the Tent of Meeting and God’s Presence filled the Tabernacle.”
(from a class given on 26th of 1st Adar, 5771)
