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Orchard of Delights
symbolizes his ability to control the animalistic drives that fuel
humanity’s desire for food.
Joseph becomes the quintessential example of how humans can
overcome their base cravings and enable their intellects to rule over
their emotions. Rather than attempting to annihilate the body’s
innate needs, he harnessed them to the good. By conquering these
forces, Joseph went from bondage to second-in-command of Egypt.
£Dreams and the Secrets £Dreams and the Secrets Dreams and the Secrets
£
of Space, Tof Space, T
of Space, Time, and Soulime, and Soulime, and Soul
The key to Joseph’s correct interpretation of the butler and baker’s
dreams in the portion of Vayeishev, as well as Pharaoh’s dreams in the
portion of Miketz, was his ability to conceive of the dreams’ physical
objects and their quantities as signifying time. Rashi comments that
Pharaoh’s magicians interpreted the seven cows and the seven ears
of grain as signifying the numbers of daughters Pharaoh would give
birth to and the number of daughters he would bury, or alternatively
the kingdoms he would conquer, and then lose. Only Joseph realized
the intrinsic connection between the objects, which exist in space,
and time – a connection which Albert Einstein only made at the
beginning of the last century.
Rabbi Yitzchak Ginsburgh explains that time is the inner dimension
of space, in that the three physical dimensions only “move” or change
through time. The Sefer Yetzirah (3:3) discusses five dimensions:
three of space, one of time, and one of soul. Science, which now
posits time as well as space as a dimension, still has not discovered
the “soul” dimension – the Divine dimension that provides reality
with its life force and offers it value and purpose. Time serves as
the intermediary between the dimensions of space and soul, between
the physical world and the spiritual worlds. Interestingly, science
has recently accepted the critical effect consciousness has on reality.
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Vayishlach
his limitations, is inherited directly from his grandfather Abraham.
Or, to phrase it differently, “the actions of the fathers are a sign to
the children” (Sotah 34a).
The Hebrew word for “he wrestled” contains the same letters as
Jacob, except the letter ayin in Jacob is exchanged for an alef. The
missing letter ayin from the word “Yabbok” is realized within Jacob
but then transformed into an alef during his existential battle that
fateful night. The letter alef numerically equals one, representing the
unity of purpose that Jacob had to attain in order to defeat his foe.
The letter ayin significantly equals seventy, the exact number of souls
later accompanying Jacob down to Egypt. Jacob wrestling with the
“man” represents his struggle to attain the inner certainty that he
was worthy and able to accomplish all that God had promised him.
The Hebrew word for “he struck him” (teka) containing two letters
from Jacob’s name, reveals a deep psychological truth. Whenever
we do battle – whether with external forces, with internal forces,
or with both – we do not walk away whole from the encounter.
Even when we are victorious, there are inevitably wounds we take
with us. Whether these wounds come in the form of cutting words
or suspicions aroused, guilt experienced or raw emotions exposed,
every victory has its price to pay. The trick is to learn to take things
in stride and shrug off the negatives. The Torah explicitly mentions
that Jacob was wounded, but shortly thereafter it recounts that
Jacob came “whole” to the city of Shechem. He was able to shrug off
his injury and remain unhampered by it.
The similarity of the letters in these four words, which allude to
Jacob’s struggle, is a profound example of how the inner dimensions
of the Torah are revealed by the subtleties of the Hebrew language.
This is why any translation of the Torah from the original Hebrew
can never convey the true depths of its meaning. Tellingly, to reveal
these depths the Torah must be studied using the PaRDeS system,
for only then can the full import of the text be revealed.
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