Pekudei - 100

The 100 talents were used to cast the bases ("adanim") for the sanctuary and the cloth partition. There were 100 bases made out of the 100 talents, one talent for each base.

The name of God, Adonai (אדני), has a numerical value of 65:

1=א
ד=4
נ=50
י=10

and spelling out the name Adonai,

אלפ דלת נונ יוד

then spelling out that spelling,

אלפ למד פא דלת למד תיו נונ ואו נונ יוד ואו דלת

You get 35 letters. Altogether, 65 and 35 make up 100.

The 100 bases, or sockets, represent Kingship, or Malchut, which is the secret of the phrase, "And now let the strength of God (Adonai) increase." The sockets also represent the Female, while the upright beams represent the Male.

Currently, however, the spelling of Adonai lacks the letter י in תיו, and the 34 letters that result are the numerical equivalent of דל, poor.

Art: Thomas Benjamin Kennington - The Pinch of Poverty

Vayakhel – Fixing the Sin of the Golden Calf

Moses assembled the Israelite community and said, "These are the words that God has commanded for you to do... build the Temple."

Jews have previously assembled (ויקהלו) against Aaron, forcing him to create a Golden Calf. Now, Moses had to assemble (ויקהל) them to return them to their spiritual source by bringing them closer to himself.

Moses had to assemble the whole congregation. The essence of this generation was knowledge (הדעת). However, the mixed multitude (ערב רב) also had its strength in knowledge. In fact, their gematria is the same as knowledge.

ערב רב = 70 + 200 + 2 + 200 + 2 = 474 (erev rav, mixed multitutude)

דעת =  4 + 70 + 400 = 474 (knowledge)

Only by bringing them close to himself could Moses separate knowledge from knowledge.

Since they sinned with the words "these," saying, "These are your gods, O Israel." Moses had to correct this with "these," stating, "These are the words." Since by worshiping the Golden Calf, they denied the whole Torah, Moses had to correct it with two things which are also considered as the entire Torah – Shabbat (for one who observes Shabbat is considered to observe the whole Torah) and the building of the Temple.

Therefore, Moses told them, "Six days shall you work - as a commandment, not as a permission. Since they are sanctified by building the Temple for six days of the week, they will ie sanctified with extra holiness and receive an additional soul on the seventh day.

Art: Alexander Johnston - The Sabbath Eve

Ki Tisa - Lifting Up the Head with the Hair

God spoke to Moses, saying: When you take a census of the Israelites - literally, "when you lift the heads of the sons of Israel."

Why is counting referred to as "lifting of the head"? This has to do with the spiritual concepts represented by the head's hair.

The upper Sefira of Keter, or Crown, has all ten Sefirot. Keter represents the Will. Before God created the world, He had to desire to do it. To have the desire to do it, He needed to have the desire for that, and so on. This includes an infinite loop and is a meditation device in itself.

Of the ten Sefirot, or ways in which God conducts the world, only Netsach and Hod - Victory and Glory, represented by the right and left legs in man's body, have the self-restricting judgment in them. The other eight continue to expand with kindness, and only these two can thus be made to come back as "Returning Light," bringing back the sparks of holiness that fell down. This is achieved by sweetening their judgments, by the power of Keter.

The hairs are like pipes that contain light, as in the letter Vav. The scalp of the head is analogous to the heavenly sphere, and the hairs, which make holes in the scalp, are analogous to the pipes or letter Vav, transmitting spiritual influences below.

That is why the expression is "when you lift the head of the sons of Israel" - to lift their head with the hair, to clear up the spiritual pathways from Heaven. This is achieved by counting, to which the hair is connected, giving charity with the coin called Shekel - Weight, and by the various permutations of the Name of God. The hair also prevents the Evil forces from viewing the back of the head.

Art: Albrecht Dürer - Self Portrait in a Fur-Lined Coat