The Lechem HaPanim Arranged as Two Sets of “Vav”
Continuing this train of thought, we will now explain the mitzvah of “lechem hapanim”—“show bread” or “face bread”—on Shabbas. Here is the pertinent passage in parshas Emor (Vayikra 24, 5): "ולקחת סולת ואפית אותה שתים עשרה חלות, שני עשרונים יהיה החלה האחת, ושמת אותם שתים מערכות, שש המערכת על השלחן הטהור לפני ה', ונתת על המערכת לבונה זכה והיתה ללחם לאזכרה אשה לה', ביום השבת ביום השבת יערכנו לפני ה' תמיד מאת בני ישראל ברית עולם". You shall take fine flour and bake it into twelve loaves; each loaf shall be two tenth-eifahs. You shall place them in two stacks, six per stack, upon the pure Shulchan, before Hashem. You shall put frankincense on the stack, and it shall be for a remembrance for the bread, a fire-offering for Hashem. Each and every Shabbas day, he shall arrange it before Hashem continually, from Bnei Yisrael, as an eternal covenant.
We can explain the matter based on what the Tur (O.C. 290) presents in the name of the Midrash: "אמרה תורה לפני הקב"ה, רבונו של עולם, כשיכנסו ישראל לארץ, זה רץ לכרמו וזה רץ לשדהו, ואני מה תהא עלי, אמר לה, יש לי זוג שאני מזווג לך ושבת שמו, שהם בטלים ממלאכתם ויכולין לעסוק בך". The Torah voices her concerns before HKB”H that when Yisrael enter the land and are occupied with their fields and vineyards, she will be neglected. HKB”H tells her that Shabbas will be her mate. For, on Shabbas, Yisrael abandon their work and are free to engage in Torah study.
Thus, on Shabbas Kodesh, when a Jew is unencumbered by work, it is the optimal time to teach his children and grandchildren Torah—fulfilling the obligation associated with the two “vavs” of "מדור דור". Therefore, HKB”H gave us the mitzvah of “lechem hapanim,” alluding to the Torah which is referred to as “lechem.” We find this in the Gemara (Chagigah 14a) expounding on the passuk (Mishlei 9, 5): "לכו לחמו בלחמי"—come, partake of My bread. Therefore, they arranged the showbread on Shabbas in two stacks of six facing each other on the pure Shulchan. In this manner, they alluded to the study of Torah with one’s children
