This 4th Shabbat of the שׁ ִ בְ עָה דְּ נֶחָ מָ תָ א – the seven Haftarot of consolation – tips the balance. After reading three Haftarot of rebuke followed by three of consolation, the number on both sides of the ledger match, and Knesset Yisrael remains uncomforted: עֲנִיָה סֹעֲרָה לֹא נֻחָמָה. This 4th week of nechama sees Hakadosh Baruch Hu Himself comfort Knesset Yisrael, breaking the tie, and beginning their rise from despair. I would like to begin with one piece of our Haftara (Yeshaya 52:8):
מַה־נָּאווּ עַל־הֶהָרִים רַגְלֵי מְבַשֵּׂר מַשְׁמִיעַ שָׁלוֹם מְבַשֵּׂר טוֹב מַשְׁמִיעַ יְשׁוּעָה אֹמֵר לְצִיּוֹן מָלַךְ אֱלֹהָיִךְ. קוֹל צֹפַיִךְ נָשְׂאוּ קוֹל יַחְדָּו יְרַנֵּנוּ כִּי עַיִן בְּעַיִן יִרְאוּ בְּשׁוּב ה' צִיּוֹן׃
How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that brings good tidings, that announces peace; that brings good tidings of good, that announces salvation; that says to Zion, Your G-d reigns! The voice of your watchmen is heard: they lift up the voice; together shall they sing: for they shall see eye to eye, the Lord returning to Zion.
The Metzudot explain, the Navi is referring to the time of the Geula, where we will witness the return of prophecy. The watchmen referred to (צֹפַיִךְ) are the Nevi’im, who see the future through visions sent by Hakadosh Baruch Hu, and the meaning of עַיִן בְּעַיִן – eye to eye, is that the prophecy which stopped when Chagai, Zecharia, and Malachi died will once again return at the time of the Geula. With the rebuilding of the Beit Hamikdash, we will regain that vision. The Haftarah of Ki Tavo, which we will read in two weeks’ time, also contains reference to eyes (Yeshaya 60:4):
שְׂאִי־סָבִיב עֵינַיִךְ וּרְאִי כֻּלָּם נִקְבְּצוּ בָאוּ־לָךְ בָּנַיִךְ מֵרָחוֹק יָבֹאוּ וּבְנֹתַיִךְ עַל־צַד תֵּאָמַנָה׃
Raise your eyes and look about; They have all gathered and come to you. Your sons shall be brought from afar; Your daughters like babes on shoulders.
There is deep meaning in the connection made between Geula and eyes, and with special significance for the days of Elul we’ve entered. To better understand this idea, we’ll begin with the opening words of our Parsha along with the explanation of Rav Chaim Vital, based on Sefer Yetzira.
שׁ ֹפְטִים וְשׁ ֹטְרִים תִּתֶּן־לְךָ בְּכׇל־שְׁעָרֶיךָ
Judges and officers, you shall appoint for yourself.
Man has שׁ ִ ב ְ ע ָ ה שׁ ְ ע ָ רִ י ם (seven gates) to his head – two eyes, two ears, two nostrils, and one mouth – and must place guards at each. One must be careful with what they gaze at, what they eat, what they smell, and how they speak, essentially judging what is permissible and what is forbidden. These are the shoftim our Parsha refers to. The officers, or shotrim, then enter the picture, as one must correct themselves if they act inappropriately within any of their gates.
Some have the custom of checking their Tefillin during the month of Elul, and it relates to this very idea. The Sefat Emet says, the two letter ‘שׁ’ on the tefillin shel rosh represent the טְ רִ ים'שׁ ֹ פְ טִ ים וְ 'ֹשׁ. They have three and four heads, respectively, corresponding to the seven gates that must be guarded. Additionally, the strap of the tefillin shel yad is wrapped seven times, further representing this concept, and in particular, the whip used by an officer to bring matters under control.
The Eyes in Elul and the Months of Tammuz and Av
The Imrei Chaim says, our primary avodah during the month of Elul is connected to our eyes, pointing to אֱלוּל as an acronym for הּ -יָ 'לְ עֵינֵינוּ 'וְ הּ -יָ 'לְ נוּ 'אָ – our eyes are turned to Hakadosh Baruch Hu more than all other senses during the Yamim Nora’im. After blowing the Shofar, we recite the tefilla of וֹם הֲרַ ת עוֹלָםּ הַי, with its closing line of תְלוּיוֹת עֵינֵֽינוּ לְךָ – our eyes are fixed on You. The Shaliach Tzibbur recites the following lines in Mussaf: וְעֵינֵיהֶם לְךָ בָּם תְּ לוּיוֹת עֵינֵי עַמְּךָ – the eyes of Your people are fixed on them, and their eyes look longingly to You; followed by the words עַֽיִן נוֹשְׂאִים לְךָ לַשָּׁמַֽיִם – They lift their eyes to You in heaven.
The sefer MaShehaya Al HaNevi’im explains the concept of כִּי עַיִן בְּעַיִן יִרְאוּ בְּשׁוּב ה' צִיּוֹן and brings an idea found in Bnei Yissaschar (Tammuz-Av 1:4) that differs slightly from what is found in Sefer Yetzira. The month of Tammuz, according to the Sefer Yetzira, is connected to the eyes. The Arizal says, both Tammuz and Av are connected to the eyes, referring to them as the Months of the Eyes, and Bnei Yissaschar adds, the right eye is Tammuz and the left eye is Av. These are the two months damaged by our sins, and during whose time calamity befell Bnei Yisrael. He points to the pasuk in Megillat Eicha as connecting the eyes to the events and pain of those months: עֵינִי יֹרְדָה מַּיִםעֵינִי – my eyes flow with tears (Eicha 1:16).
These months will only be corrected at the time of Geula, as the arrival of Mashiach will be preceded by the arrival of Eliyahu HaNavi, who we know is also (the neshama of) Pinchas. The numerical value of Eliyahu (52) together with Pinchas (208) equals 260, the same as עַיִן (130) plus עַיִן (130). Further hints are found in the story of Hakadosh Baruch Hu appearing to Moshe in the burning bush, where we are told: כִּי סָר לִרְאוֹת ’ַ רְ א הּ וַי – Moshe turned aside to look. The word סָר also has a numerical value of 260. After listening to Hakadosh Baruch Hu, Moshe ultimately responded: שְׁלַח נָא בְּיַד תִּשְׁלָח – send the one you usually send. Targum Yonatan ben Uziel explains this to mean Hakadosh Baruch Hu should send the one He plans to send, namely, Pinchas and Eliyahu. Bnei Yissaschar explains the episode as Moshe Rabbeinu asking why he should go and redeem Bnei Yisrael from Egypt only to set them up for three more painful exiles before Mashiach arrives to eternally redeem them. סָר לִרְאוֹת – he saw the סָר (260), i.e., the עֵינַיִם (two times עַיִן – 260) of Tammuz and Av which would not be fixed until the arrival of Mashiach, and he asked why not bring the Mashiach right away and skip the difficult stages in between. He was told there was a reason.
The Bnei Yissaschar adds, during the months of Tammuz and Av, both eyes of Bnei Yisrael were damaged. The breach of the walls took place during the month of Tammuz, and the destruction of the two Batei Mikdash during Av. Furthermore, the Beit HaMikdash itself is referred to both as the eyes of Bnei Yisrael – עֵינֵיכֶםמַ חְ מַ ד (Bava Batra 4a), and the eyes of Hakadosh Baruch Hu – וְהָיוּ עֵינַי וְלִבִּי שָׁם כָּל הַיָמִים (Berachot 62b).
Lastly, Bnei Yissaschar says, we learn that עַיִן fell as a result of the Churban. Where is this learned? Megillat Eicha is written in alphabetical order, with the following exceptions: The fifth chapter is out of order; chapters two through four each have one letter out of order; and the third chapter repeats each letter three times. As a result, the Megillah has five instances of divergence from the order of the aleph-bet, and the Gemara (Sanhedrin 104b) points out the nature of these differences, including that the letters appearing out of order are מ, נ, ס, פ, and ע. Of note, the letter פ comes before ע, and the Gemara attributes this to the spies putting their mouths (פִּ יהֶ ם) before their eyes (עֵינֵיהֶם). Their mouths spoke words their eyes never saw! By dropping down a spot, the עַיִן fell.
Suspended Letters and the Battle of Yaakov and Eisav
With these ideas in place, we can continue to a line from the Chida in Nachal Sorek, on כִּי עַיִן בְּעַיִן יִרְאוּ בְּשׁוּב ה' צִיּוֹן, but before doing so, we’ll introduce it with several concepts related to the letters we find in Tanach.
Yitzchak Avinu had two sons, both of whom have the letter ע in their names – יַעֲקֹב and עֵשָׂו. How they wound up with these names is of significance. Eisav came out of the womb fully formed, with hair and teeth, and was thus named for his completeness – עָשׂוּי. Yaakov was then named for his act of grabbing onto his brother’s heel – עָקֵב – as he left the womb first, but rather than assuming the name עָקֵב, he wrestled the trailing letter – י – from his brother’s name and attached it to his own, becoming יַעֲקֹב.
There are four places in Nach where we find אוֹתִיּוֹת תְּלוּיוֹת – suspended or hanging letters. What do these letters look like? Imagine finding a missing letter in a document you’re writing, and marking a small arrow on top of the spot together with the missing letter. The first instance appears in Sefer Shoftim (18:30), in a pasuk regarding Moshe Rabbeinu’s grandson who worshipped the idol of Micha. The Gemara says (Bava Batra 109b), rather than have his name appear next to that of Moshe Rabbeinu, it is written out as יהוֹנָתָן בֶּן גֵּרְשֹׁם בֶּן מְנַשֶּׁה, with the נ suspended, as if he was the son of Menashe. Two additional back-to-back instances appear in Iyov (38:13,15), where the hanging letter is an ע in the word עִרְשָׁים, having it appear as rashim – impoverished people, rather than wicked people. The Gemara says (Sanhedrin 103b), this is because once a person becomes impoverished on earth below and the number of his enemies grows, he becomes poor in Heaven above, as he is certainly a sinner and that is why he is hated. The final instance is in Tehillim, where the suspended letter is an ע in: יְכַרְסְמֶנָּה חֲזִיר מִיַּעַר וְזִיז שָׂדַי יִרְעֶנָּה – The swine out of the wood ravages it, and the wild beast of the field devours it (Tehillim 80:14). Who is David HaMelech referring to in this pasuk? Rav Chaim Vital and Rabbeinu Bachya say the answer is Eisav. Why are they referring to him as a חֲזִיר? Because the חֲזִיר has a unique attribute (Devarim 14:7):
אֶת־זֶה לֹא תֹאכְלוּ מִמַּעֲלֵי הַגֵּרָה וּמִפְרִיסֵי הַפַּרְסָה הַשְּׁסוּעָה אֶת־הַגָּמָל וְאֶת־הָאַרְנֶבֶת וְאֶת־הַשָּׁפָן כִּי־מַעֲלֵה גֵרָה הֵמָּה וּפַרְסָה לֹא הִפְרִיסוּ טְמֵאִים הֵם לָכֶם׃ וְאֶת־הַחֲזִיר כִּי־מַפְרִיס פַּרְסָה הוּא וְלֹא גֵרָה טָמֵא הוּא לָכֶם מִבְּשָׂרָם לֹא תֹאכֵלוּ וּבְנִבְלָתָם לֹא תִגָּעוּ׃
These, however, do not eat from the regurgitators of cud and from the cloven-soled: the camel and the hare and the hyrax; for regurgitators of cud are they, but have no cloven sole; they are ritually unclean for you. And the swine, because it is cloven-soled but does not regurgitate its cud; it is ritually unclean for you. From their flesh do not eat, and do not come in contact with their carcasses.
Of the four species that carry one kosher sign but not the other, three of them chew their cud but do not have split hooves, and the חֲזִיר is alone in possessing split hooves but not chewing its cud. Chazal say it tries to trick people by stretching out its arms and saying, “Look, I’m kosher.” If we remove the hanging ע, we’re left with חֲזִיר מיר. Chazal, in providing analogies for each of the galuyot, connect that of Edom to the חֲזִיר, and as we know, עֵשָׂו הוּא אֱדוֹם – Eisav is Edom. Furthermore, the hub of Edom is in רֹמִי. The pasuk יְכַרְסְמֶנָּה חֲזִיר מִיַּעַר is referring to Eisav, says Rav Chaim Vital, and his essence pivots around the letter ע.
Amalek, the Snake, and the Power of the Letter Ayin
A fascinating angle of this idea, perhaps related more to Purim than Elul, loops in both Haman and the snake of Gan Eden. We learn that the numerical value of עֲמָלֵק (240) is equal to that of רָם – haughtiness, and רָמִי is another way of referring to someone from the nation of Amalek, who was the torchbearer of Eisav and the chief executor of his mission. Chazal say, Amalek and the snake of Gan Eden are nearly identical, in that they had the same idea and end goals to their nefarious actions. From the beginning of the Torah until the snake’s curse we find 70 pesukim. Similarly, from the pasuk in Megillat Esther that introduces Haman into the story, until the pasuk where he is hung from the tree, we also find 70 pesukim. From Creation to curse – 70 verses, and from Haman’s strength to his fall – 70 verses, because it was all done around ע (70). The Gemara famously asks (Chullin 139b), where we find Haman in the Torah, and the answer given is from the sin in Gad Eden, “הֲמִן הָעֵץ” – he is in the tree!
The Enlarged Ayin of Shema and the Months of the Year
We can now return to the idea brought by the Chida in Nachal Sorek. The two ayins are that of Yaakov and Eisav. Eisav’s ayin is suspended, and Yaakov’s is different as well – it is rabbati – enlarged. Where do we find this? In the first word of Shema: שְׁמַע יִשְׂרָאֵל. He has this large ayin because the Gemara says (Pesachim 56a), our first reference to the pasuk of Shema is when Yaakov Avinu was set to reveal when the full redemption would take place in the end of days but had his nevuah temporarily taken away. Suspecting it may be due to one of his children being unfit, as was the case with his father and grandfather, they responded in unison: שְׁמַע יִשְׂרָאֵל, and he responded in turn: בָּרוּךְ שֵׁם כְּבוֹד מַלְכוּתוֹ לְעוֹלָם וָעֶד.
The Megaleh Amukot (Va’etchanan) provides 252 peirushim on the words אֶעְבְּרָה־נָּא. His 107th explanation ties in with ideas from the Shelah HaKadosh and Agra D'Kala, which I will present here in a unified manner. It is known to all that Yaakov and Eisav split Olam Hazeh and Olam Haba between them, with Yaakov Avinu opting for the spiritualty of the World to Come, and Eisav wanting just what he could physically grab in this world right now. The Zohar says (Yitro), they also split the months of the year between them – six apiece. Yaakov took Tishrei, Cheshvan, and Kislev; and Eisav took Tevet, Shevat, and Adar. Yaakov took Nisan, Iyar, and Sivan; and Eisav took Tammuz, Av, and Elul. Eisav’s control of Tammuz and Av led to Bnei Yisrael to the Churban of Churbanot. Why? Because during these months, he tries to contaminate us through the eyes. He is the Yetzer Hara, the Satan, and the Malach HaMavet. He, in three different forms, comes down and pushes us to sin, ascends to prosecute us, and finally takes our life as punishment. Do you know what the Malach HaMavet looks like? I personally do not yet know, but the Gemara says (Avodah Zara 20b):
אָמְרוּ עָלָיו עַל מַלְאַךְ הַמָּוֶת שֶׁכֻּלּוֹ מָלֵא עֵינַיִם בִּשְׁעַת פְּטִירָתוֹ שֶׁל חוֹלֶה עוֹמֵד מֵעַל מְרַאֲשׁוֹתָיו וְחַרְבּוֹ שְׁלוּפָה בְּיָדוֹ וְטִפָּה שֶׁל מָרָה תְּלוּיָה בּוֹ כֵּיוָן שֶׁחוֹלֶה רוֹאֶה אוֹתוֹ מִזְדַּעְזֵעַ וּפוֹתֵחַ פִּיו וְזוֹרְקָהּ לְתוֹךְ פִּיו מִמֶּנָּה מֵת מִמֶּנָּה מַסְרִיחַ מִמֶּנָּה פָּנָיו מוֹרִיקוֹת.
The Angel of Death is entirely full of eyes. When a sick person is about to die, he stands above his head, with sword drawn in his hand, and a drop of poison hanging on the edge of the sword. Once the sick person sees him, he trembles and thereby opens his mouth; and the Angel of Death throws the drop of poison into his mouth. From this drop, the sick person dies, is putrefied, and his face becomes green.
The Chida asks, why מָלֵא עֵינַיִם – full of eyes? Why not full of ears or mouth? He answers, because most of the sins man falls prey to, is judged guilty of, and is punished for, are through the eyes. It is the Satan – or the (סמא"ל)ס"מ, as referred in Kabballah – involved in each of these steps that man falls victim to. What did the ס"מ do during the two months of Tammuz and Av that led to the destruction of the Batei Mikdash, the eyes of Hakadosh Baruch Hu and Bnei Yisrael? The spies set out on the day before Rosh Chodesh Tammuz, and they were righteous on that day. But on the forty days that followed, during the months of Tammuz and Av which are under the control of Eisav, they fell. As learned earlier, their mouths said what their eyes did not see. The Torah tells us: וְהַיָמִים יְמֵי בִּכּוּרֵי עֲנָבִים – the time was the time of the first-ripe grapes. Rabbi Shimshon of Ostropola says, the letters just prior to ם-ב-ע-נ are ל-א-מ-ס because the Satan was just ahead of them, waiting to catch them and bring them down.
Elul Rescued and the Power of the Letter Yud
If we learned what the Satan accomplished during the two months of Tammuz and Av, just imagine for a moment what he could have achieved had he held onto the month of Elul, which Eisav took according to the Zohar. The month of closeness with Hakadosh Baruch Hu, and our time of Teshuva and הּ -הּ וְ'עֵינֵינוּ לְ 'יָ -אָ 'נוּ לְ 'יָ – when our eyes are turned to Hakadosh Baruch Hu, could have gone in the opposite direction. אֱלוּל would have been נַפְשׁוֹיְלוֹיְא – woe to me and woe to my soul. How was this outcome avoided? The Megaleh Amukot says (107), when Yaakov Avinu saw that Eisav took the month of Elul – and that Hakadosh Baruch Hu let him have it – he was mortified! This most important month could not be left in the hands of evil, so Yaakov Avinu acted. At the time of his birth, Eisav’s name was still ‘עָשׂוּי’. His name became Eisav only after Yaakov pulled the trailing letter י from his name, adding it to his own. What is the significance of this letter yud? Sefer Yetzira says, each month of the year has an associated letter. Nisan – ה; Iyar – ו; Sivan – ז; Tammuz – ח; Av – ט; Elul – י. When Yaakov took the י from Eisav’s name, he was in essence taking the month of Elul from him. Eisav was left with the months of Tammuz and Av – or ח-ט. His letters amount to the word cheit – sin. What about the א in the word חטא, you ask? Alef doesn’t count for sins. Chazal say we have a minhag not to eat egozim (nuts) on Rosh Hashanah, because the numerical value of אגוז (17) is equal to that of חטא (18). This math only adds up when removing the alef (1) from the word.
Elul, Rosh Hashanah, and the 51 Days of Mercy
Ye'arot Devash says (1:6), Balak called on Bilaam to curse Bnei Yisrael, and he extended this invitation on Erev Rosh Hashanah, after the wars with Sichon and Og which took place during Elul. He attempted to curse them, but was unsuccessful because he arrived during the Aseret Yemei Teshuva, a period when Hakadosh Baruch Hu does not anger – the Judge cannot show anger in the courtroom. Bilaam was unsuccessful and indicated the reason: וּתְרוּעַת מֶלֶךְ בּוֹ – Bnei Yisrael blow the Shofar on the day of Rosh Hashanah and Hakadosh Baruch Hu responds by moving from the Kiseh Din to the Kiseh Rachamim. Megaleh Amukot adds, Balak added the following request of Bilaam, “Bnei Yisrael have the most powerful cards in their hands – the months of Elul and Tishrei, two months [of Teshuva and Rachamim] where they start anew with a clean slate. Please, curse these days. Please return them to the hands of the Satan.”
Rabbotai, how many such days of closeness and rachamim do we have each year? The period doesn’t start on Rosh Chodesh Elul and end on Yom Kippur, but rather continues until Hoshana Rabba. That 21st day in our special period – and the 21st day of Tishrei – is an extra day of atonement given to us in the merit of Avraham Avinu, the 21st generation in the world. As a result, the entire period is 51 days long. What do we do and say on the final day, on Hoshana Rabba? We circle the bimah seven times and recite הוֹשַׁע נָא hundreds of times. Why? Because it is the 51st.
