Throughout the present year, 5785, we have included a partzuf in each issue of Wonders. The Rosh HaShanah issue (no. 121) included an introduction to the topic of partzufim in general and in HaRav Ginsburgh’s teachings in particular, which apropos made use of the example of the seven kosher animals that appear in this week’s parashah, Re’eh. We now take the opportunity to expand the explanation of this partzuf, which over the years has become one of the most popular ones because of its unifying and conciliatory character for the Jewish people.
- might-gevurah
deer (י ב צ)
Masters of Revealed Torah - loving-kindness-chessed
gazelle (לָּיַא )
Wearers of White - beauty-tiferet
roebuck (רּמוְחַי)
Chabad - acknowledgment-hod
antelope (ןֹׁישִד)
Masters of Mussar - victory-netzach
ibex (ֹוּקַא)
Torah of the Land of Israel - foundation-yessod
buffalo (ֹאוְת )
General Chasidut - kingdom-malchut
giraffe (רֶמָז)
Breslov
In parshat Re’eh, the Torah restates that there are only a limited number of kosher cattle, “This is the cattle that you may eat, ox, sheep and goat.” However, this time, it adds a list of seven kosher animals that may also be consumed, “the gazelle, the deer, the roebuck, the ibex, the antelope, the buffalo, and the giraffe.”
When we survey this list from the point of view of Chassidic teachings, we find that it clearly corresponds to the ten sefirot. The three species of kosher cattle (ox, sheep, and goat) correspond to the first three sefirot, crown, wisdom, and understanding; the seven kosher animals correspond to the seven sefirot of the heart—loving-kindness, might, beauty, victory, thanksgiving, foundation, and kingdom.
More in depth, each of the kosher species represents a particular state of being. The three species of kosher cattle represent states of observing and performing the Torah’s commandments, while the seven species of kosher animals represent different pure and holy approaches found in the service of the Almighty. Indeed, a wondrous allusion to this last idea—that the seven kosher animals symbolize different paths, each unique and equally desirable, in the service of God—is that the numerical value of their Hebrew names as they appear in the verse (רּמוְחַיְי וִבְצּל וָּיַא רֶמָזָ וֹאוְתּן וֹׁישִדְ וֹוּקַאְו) is 1568, or 224, the value of the word “path” (ְךֶרֶּד) times 7. In other words, the average value of each animal is the same as the gematria of the word “path” (ְךֶרֶּד)—i.e., a unique path or manner of Divine service. 1568 is also the value of a very important verse describing the path of serving God, “In all your paths know Him and He will straighten your way” (ָיךֶכָרְּל דָכְּב ָיךֶתֹחְרֹר אֵּׁשַיְא יּהוְ וּהוֵעָד).
LOVING-KINDNESS (CHESED): WEARERS OF WHITE CLOTHING
The gazelle corresponds to loving-kindness and to Abraham, the archetypal soul of loving-kindness. It symbolizes the Divine path of the Sepharadic Kabbalists who wear white clothing (especially on Shabbat) and who concentrate on revealing the light of loving-kindness found in Kabbalah (as Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai told his students before passing on, “Our path is based on love”).
MIGHT (GEVURAH): MASTERS OF THE REVEALED TORAH
The deer, representing might and Isaac, symbolizes the Lithuanian tradition of publicly learning only the revealed aspects of Torah. This path centers on the intellectual debate figuratively called, “the battle of Torah” (הָרֹל תוֶׁה שָתְמַָחְלִמ), which also strongly contracts and limits (both aspects of the sefirah of might) the inner light of Torah.
BEAUTY (TIFERET): CHABAD
The roebuck, which represents the sefirah of beauty and Jacob, alludes to the Divine service of Chabad. The Chabad yeshivot are called Tomchei Temimim (lit., “Supporters of the Earnest”), a name that relates to Jacob who is described as an earnest man. The Chabad methodology places great emphasis on balancing the inner teachings of the Torah, Kabbalah and Chasidut (corresponding to loving-kindness), with its revealed teachings (corresponding to might). The service that reflects the sefirah of beauty can be described as, “Gazing upon the beauty of the king,” revealing God’s beauty through profound intellectual meditation.
VICTORY (NETZACH): TORAH OF ERETZ YISRAEL
The ibex, corresponding to the sefirah of victory, symbolizes the Torah of the Land of Israel which emphasizes the eternal (a synonym for victory) nature of the Jewish people and on the victorious outlook needed to hold onto the Land of Israel. Victory is a branch of loving-kindness and the Torah of the Land of Israel indeed receives its vitality from the path of the Kabbalists corresponding to loving-kindness, as above.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT (HOD): MUSAR
The antelope corresponds to the sefirah of acknowledgement and symbolizes the path of musar, the teachings of Torah dedicated to rectifying man’s moral character. Following the path of musar requires that the individual be willing to acknowledge the blemishes in his character. The blemishes themselves are caused by a fallen faculty of thanksgiving and acknowledgment, as suggested by the verse, “My thanksgiving has turned into my destroyer.” In the musar volume, Duties of the Heart, it is explained that the foundation of all moral character is the ability to be grateful and give thanks where thanks is due. Thanksgiving is an extension of the sefirah of might and indeed serving God through the elevation of moral character is ubiquitous in Lithuanian Torah (corresponding to might, as above).
FOUNDATION (YESOD): GENERAL CHASIDUT
The buffalo, that represents foundation, symbolizes the way of universal Chasidut (which developed mostly in Poland, Galicia, and Romania). General Chasidut is based on the notion of clinging to the tzaddik, the holy and righteous individual that leads each group. The tzaddik is described as the foundation of the world and through the tzaddik each of his followers attains a state of righteousness befitting his own individual status.
KINGDOM (MALCHUT): BRESLOV
The giraffe corresponds to the sefirah of kingdom and symbolizes the path of Breslov. The essence of the Breslov way requires assuming the stance of one who has nothing of his own and stands in total supplication before the Almighty. This is the spiritual stance of King David, who described himself as, “I am prayer.” Kingdom represents a state of awareness in which a person realizes that he possesses nothing that is his, but rather everything is given to him by God. The Breslov method for picking one’s self up is based on searching for good points in one’s self, the secret of the verse, “I will sing to my God as long as I exist”—looking for the good in my existence. This too is related to the sefirah of kingdom and to the Hebrew name of this animal, רֶמֶז, which is the same as the Hebrew word for “song” (רֶמֶז)!
Notes:
1. Deuteronomy 14:4.
2. Ibid. 14:5. It is important to note that the identification of the 7 kosher animals is not exact. We do not
