A blessing for a good inscription and sealing for a good and sweet year to all, in all that is needed, physically and spiritually. A year of spreading the wellsprings outward until the fulfillment of the words: “’The master has come’—this is the King Mashiach,” who will come and redeem us, and we will merit to hear from his mouth “a new Torah,” the Torah that originates in Atika, where there is no left-judgment, but all is right-sided with “abundant loving-kindness.”
To be worthy of this revelation, we must also awaken and strengthen ourselves with the trait of “abundant loving-kindness,” which is beyond the rational (the aspect of Atika, the supernal crown), and then we will see the fulfillment of the saying of the sages: “Let the ‘good’ [Moses, who is also the final redeemer] come and receive the good [the new Torah] from the Good One [the revelation of God’s very essence, which is the essence of good and therefore naturally bestows goodness] for those who are good [we, the people of Israel, those who are described as “the good ones” good ones, as it says ‘Do good, God to the good and to those who are upright in their hearts’].”
Numerical Secrets of 5785
Our new year is 5785. Customarily, we designate it by the number 785, or תשפ"ה. Let us contemplate three distinct expressions from the Bible whose value is 785. These expressions will then guide us in our service and rectification for the coming year.
The Vineyard of the God of Hosts
The prophet Isaiah (Chapter 5) likens the people of Israel to a vineyard planted by God, “For the vineyard of the God of Hosts is the House of Israel” (לֵאָרְׂשִית יֵּבתֹאוָבְם י־הוה צֶרֶכיִכּ). God hoped for good grapes, but the vineyard produced rotten grapes. Instead of justice and righteousness, the kingdom of Israel conducted itself with “oppression and outcry.” But we must not despair! In the year of “the vineyard of the God of Hosts” (תֹאוָבְם י־הוה צֶרֶכ), 785, we will strive to nurture anew God’s vineyard, the People of Israel in the Land of Israel according to the Torah of Israel, with a proper justice system and acts of righteousness between man and his fellow.
A vineyard has an actual definition. Unlike scattered vines, a vineyard is defined as a grouping of five vines arranged so that they face each other. To be God’s vineyard, we must unite together and become God’s bundle—as the prophet Amos says, “He placed His bundle upon the earth”—with fruitful cooperation. The vineyard is beneficial and delightful, and in the Song of Songs, it is the meeting place of the groom and bride, symbolizing the Supernal Beloved and the Congregation of Israel.
When Noah, the man of the earth, planted a vineyard, its inebriating wine led to sin, but when Mashiach (ַיחִׁשָמ) nurtures “the vineyard of the God of Hosts,” the vineyard will be a source of joy (חַמְׂשִי) for both God and men with its good wine.
The Appearance of Children
At the center of God’s vineyard, the center of the life of God’s people in the Holy Land, stands the Holy Temple. In the First Temple, in the Holy of Holies, King Solomon placed two large cherubim (in addition to the cherubim on the Ark of the Covenant). The Book of Chronicles describes this, “And in the Holy of Holies, he made two cherubim with the appearance of children” (יםִעֻצֲעַה צֵׂשֲעַם מִיָנְׁים שִברוְים כִּׁשָדֳּקַ הׁשֶדֹית קֵבְּ בׂשַעַּיָו).
The gematria of the two words that mean “the appearance of children” (יםִעֻצֲעַה צֵׂשֲעַמ) is 785. The faces of the cherubim resemble those of a young boy and a young girl, and the word “children” (יםִעֻצֲעַצ) in this phrase also alludes to “offspring” (יםִאָצֱאֶצ). Thus, the blessing of procreation extends to the entire Jewish people from the Holy of Holies in the Temple as it passes through the “Holy of Holies” in every Jewish home, the parents’ inner chamber, where the Divine Presence dwells.
In the year of “the appearance of children” (יםִעֻצֲעַה צֵׂשֲעַמ), we will be blessed with “children who are an inheritance from God, the reward of the fruit of the womb,” with many offspring who will grow and be educated in the “vineyard of the God of Hosts” (תֹאוָבְם י־הוה צֶרֶכ) and will find delight in “playful acts” (another alternate translation for יםִעֻצֲעַה צֵׂשֲעַמ) as befitting the holiness of Israel. We will also, of course, yearn for the construction of the Holy Temple.
And the Spirit of God Shall Rest Upon Him, Wisdom and Understanding
As mentioned, the Mashiach is the one who tends to “the vineyard of the God of Hosts,” uniting the people in cooperation with every individual producing their good fruit, and establishing a kingdom where true justice and righteousness prevail, following the example set by King David, about whom Scripture says, “David reigned over all Israel; and David executed justice and righteousness for all his people.” The Mashiach’s role is to build the Holy Temple in its place.
About the Mashiach, it is said, “The spirit of God shall rest upon him, a spirit of wisdom and of understanding, a spirit of counsel and of might, a spirit of knowledge and of the fear of God” (ַחּה רוָרּבוְגּה וָצֵ עַחּה רוָינִבּה וָמְכָ חַחּ י-הוה רוַחּיו רוָלָה עָחָנְו) ת י-הוהַאְרִיְת וַעַּד). This year, 5785, we will merit the fulfillment of the words, “The spirit of God shall rest upon him, a spirit of wisdom and of understanding” (הָמְכָ חַחּ י-הוה רוַחּיו רוָלָה עָחָנְו), whose value is 785. First this will be fulfilled in the Mashiach himself, and through his merit, it will manifest in each and every one of us.
Through the Divine inspiration referred to by the words, “the spirit of God shall rest upon him” and the rectification of the intellect referred to by the words, “the spirit of wisdom and of understanding,” the heart is filled with “a spirit of counsel and of might” and with “a spirit of knowledge and of fear of God” and all the predestined fortunes mentioned above will be realized. As the verse continues, the spirit of the Mashiach will be the source of his justice and righteousness, “He shall smell the fear of God, he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither will he criticize after what his ears hear, but with righteousness he will judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the land; and he shall smite the land with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked. And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins.”
The same spirit of the Mashiach is also the source for the education of children who delight in the playthings and toys of the Messianic era, when “the wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the basilisk’s den.”
