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Orchard of Delights
The Jewish people en masse came to this realization in Elijah’s
time. In order to stem the nation’s attraction to the neighboring
people’s false gods, the prophet Elijah challenged the priests of Ba’al
to a “Battle of the Gods” on Mount Carmel. Putting into motion
an audacious plan – one requiring him to offer a sacrifice outside
the confines of the Temple which ordinarily was prohibited – he
would prove to everyone the identity of the true God. The test was
as follows: each side would construct an altar, and the side that
successfully brought down fire from heaven upon its altar would
prove that its deity was the true God. After an entire day of Ba’al’s
priests praying in vain, it was Elijah’s turn. After he prayed briefly,
fire rained down from heaven and dramatically consumed Elijah’s
offering. The people responded enthusiastically to the revelation of
God’s Oneness by exclaiming: “Hashem He is Elokim – Hashem He
is Elokim” (1 Kings 18:19-39).
This declaration of God’s oneness is employed at the dramatic
culmination of Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the year. At the
conclusion of Neilah, the last prayer of the day, when the prayers
reach their zenith, the congregation in unison proclaims: “Hear
O Israel, God our God [Hashem Elokeinu], God [Hashem] is One”
(Deuteronomy 6:4) once; “Blessed is the name of His glorious
kingdom for all eternity” three times; and “Hashem He is Elokim”
seven times.
Often the initial experience of constriction and judgment do not
seem to be merciful and loving; thus, one of the cardinal principles
of Jewish thought is that ultimately all that God does is for the good
and that everything which occurs stems from His essential oneness
and love. This fundamental belief is among the most mystical
understandings a person can arrive at regarding the essence of God.
However, it is also among the most practical, as it offers human
beings the most positive way of experiencing life.
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Sivan there is a disagreement over whether the Torah was given
on the sixth or the seventh day of that month (Shabbat 86b-87a).
According to Rabbi Yosi who argues for the seventh (and with whom
Rashi agrees), it is especially clear that the day on which the Torah
was given reveals the intrinsic connection between the ten plagues
and the Ten Commandments, for the division of ten into three and
seven is again recalled. Further supporting this connection, the
Ten Commandments themselves reflect this division as three of
the commandments are expressed in the positive and seven in the
negative.
Not only the “first” giving of the Torah (the first set of tablets)
reflects the seven-three division, so does the second giving of the Torah
(the second set of tablets). After the people sinned by worshipping
the Golden Calf and Moses destroyed the tablets, he prayed for God
to forgive the people and descended from Mount Sinai after three
periods of forty days with the second tablets on Yom Kippur, the
tenth day of the seventh month.
Another instance of the number ten in the Jewish calendar is
the Ten Days of Repentance, beginning with Rosh Hashanah and
culminating with Yom Kippur. Of these ten days, three are holidays
– two days of Rosh Hashanah and one of Yom Kippur – and seven are
not. The seven intermediate days form a transitional period between
Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, and the entire ten days serve as
the transitional period between the old and new years. Fittingly, it is
on the tenth day, Yom Kippur, that the finite human being perhaps
more than any other time of the year attempts through prayer and
spiritual service to reconnect to his or her infinite source in God.
Ultimately, the division of ten into seven and three is also reflected
in the Jewish people’s inheritance of the Land and the coming of
Mashiach. In the book of Bereishit, God promises Abraham that his
descendants will inherit the Land of Israel from ten nations (Genesis
15:18). Yet, after this promise is made, only seven Canaanite nations
are ever mentioned. What happened to the other three nations?
The Slonimer Rebbe explains that each of the children of Israel’s
seven shepherds purified and uplifted one of the seven lower sefirot,
which in turn corresponded to one of the seven Canaanite nations.
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