Shoftim - Courts and Judgement

The Large Sanhedrin, or the Supreme Court of 71 judges, represents Understanding. Understanding, in turn, is the secret of the Supernal Judgment, as reflected in the name of God “The King of Judgment” which we use between Rosh HaShannah and Yom Kippur. Understanding and Repentance are spiritually synonymous, and these are the days when Understanding rules. The 71 judges in the Sanhedrin reflect the name of God Adonai (יהוה) with its gemetria of 26 plus the deep knowledge represented by the expansion of this name (יוד הא ואו הא), with the gematria of 45, and 26+45=71.

The Smaller Sanhedrin courts of 23 were first consulted on every matter, even that of capital punishment. The requirement for the 23 arises because the 10 are the minimum to acquit, two more are needed to find guilty, which gives 22, and since the court cannot have an even number of judges, they add one more.

However, there is a deep meaning for this number. The name of God usually connected to the quality of Mercy is Adonai (יהוה), and its expansions, for example, the one above (יוד הא ואו הא) have 10 letters. So 10 are needed to acquit. The name of God connected to strict judgment, Elohim (אלהים), has 13 letters in the expansion (אלפ למד הי יוד מם). Thus 23 judges can properly combine the Mercy and the Judgment and arrive at a just result.

Art: Charles Hunt - A Plea For Mercy

Re'eh – Intentions for Kosher Slaughter

Previously we learned about kosher slaughter as a step in the soul's reincarnation from an animal to a man. However, there are also more specific intentions that a slaughterer must have in his mind at the moment of slaughter.

When he cuts, he must think that the place of slaughter is the neck, garon (גרון), the gematria of which is 259. This is equal to three times the name of God Elohim (אלהים), the gematria of which (plus the whole) is 86 * 3 + 1 = 259. These are the three aspects of consciousness of the Cosmic Man, Zeir Anpin, which he possesses in his youth. They are called "youthful or childish consciousness," and they need to be replaced by mature or wise consciousness. They are found in the neck of Zeir Anpin because this is what connects his body – behavior – to his brain–mind.

The slaughterer should also think that the "childish consciousness" often results in the wrong behavior and thus represents the judgments found in the world. He should also bring down the wise consciousness in three aspects, thus sweetening and correcting the judgments found in the neck of Zeir Anpin, represented by the neck of the animal. The result of this is the combination of the name of God Adonai (יהוה) and Elohim (אלהים) three times, which (together with 1 for the whole) have the gematria of (86 + 26) *3 + 1 = 337, the same as the gematria of "kosher slaughter," or "shehitah" (
השחיטה).

It is well known that the name of God Adonai represents Mercy, whereas the name Elohim represents judgment. By combining the two, the slaughterer achieves the sweetening of the judgments found in the world, thus effecting cosmic changes through his actions.

Art: Sir Anthony Van Dyck - Youthful Self-Portrait

Ekev – All That Mitzvah

"All that mitzvah that I am commanding you today – you must guard and keep it."

The grammar seems not to fit here, and it should say "All those mitzvot" instead. However, this teaches us a rule. A person who started a mitzvah must finish it because a mitzvah is ascribed to the one who completes it. That is why the Torah said, "All that mitzvah" – not part of that mitzvah.

Another way to understand this is to connect it to the prohibition discussed just prior – to distance one from idol worship. One who denies idol worship – defined as ascribing spiritual powers to any physical object or spiritual entity existing without being sustained and empowered by the Creator of all things – is considered as if he observed the whole Torah perfectly.

Yet another way to understand "all that mitzvah" is to say that we are talking about the study of the Torah. That is why it says, "All" – to include the Talmud and other oral teachings, which were later transcribed into writing. Then "guard and keep" means "learn and do and be careful not to forget what you learned."

Art: Paul Seignac - Learning To Count

Vaetchanan – Moses Returns to His Youth

“At that time, I (Moses) pleaded with God.” Moses knew a special way of prayer that is delivered directly, through the passageway we've described before. “But God had turned Himself against me because of you.”

As is known, Moses has moments of immaturity and maturity. This is also true for all souls, and in this they are similar to Zeir Anpin, the Spiritual Man, who passes through the stages of pregnancy, youth (immaturity) and wisdom (maturity).

God gives wisdom to the true leaders of the generation, but only in accordance with the merits of the generation. When the generation of the desert worshiped the Golden Calf, they caused Moses to regress and go from maturity back to immaturity and further into the state before being born. He lost all the Lights of Wisdom that he previously possessed, and returned to his immature youth. The state of before-being-born of Zeir Anpin is in the womb of Ima Ilaa, the Supernal Mother. That is the secret of the phrase, “But God turned Himself (vayitaber) against me,” literally, “made me return to my pregnant mother.” For just as the wrongdoings of the generation cause Zeir Anpin (the spiritual sum of the humanity) to regress and return to immaturity, so too it applies to the leaders of the generation.

Art: Paul Gavarni - Pregnant woman with her mother

Dvarim – The Limited Blessing Of Moses

When Moses said, “May God, Lord of your fathers, increase your numbers a thousandfold, and bless you as He promised”, the Jews objected, “Are you putting a limit (admittedly large) on the blessing?” To this Moses answered, “It is in my possession, a thousandfold blessing, and that I am giving to you. Beyond that, the blessings should come from the level of Aba Ilaa, Supernal Father."

Moses himself is on the level of El Shaddai. This is the name of God Who gives blessings until your lips begin to say “Dai,” or “Enough.” The gematria of Moses (םשה) is 40+300+5=345, and the gematria of El Shaddai (אל שדי) is 1+30+300+4+10=345.

If you spell out the name of El Shaddai (אלפ למד שין דלת יוד), you will get 1000 (1+30+80+30+40+4+300+10+50+4+30+400+10+6+4=999, plus 1 for the complete word). A thousand in Hebrew is Aleph, and the Hebrew alphabet, which starts from Aleph-Beth is a different way of saying Aleph-Binah, Beginning of Understanding, or Learn to Understand. That is how far the power of Moses reached – to the level of Ima Ilaa, or the Supernal Mother, who represents Understanding. Beyond this is the level of the Supernal Father, and that is where Moses asked that the blessing will continue.

Art: Franz Marc - Portrait Of The Artists Mother

Pinchas – Jealousy

As learned earlier, the word Jealousy appears three times in the introductory verse of the Pinchas Torah portion, and there is a meditation from Baal Shem Tov, closely connected to the name of God “Jealous”. In principle, it works like this.

It is known that Evil exists only in the lower spiritual worlds, but that in the upper one, called Atzilut, or the World of Nearness, all is Good. By taking the subject of prayer and lifting oneself together with it into the World of Nearness, one comes to the state where Good and Bad are indistinguishable, because the Bad there is also Good. Then on his spiritual descent into the physical world, one finds that the necessary changes have been accomplished.

Even the meditation itself, without the use of a mikvah, is beneficial to the person, and even without accomplishing any other results. Some say, even no meditation is beneficial.

Art: Claude Oscar Monet - Meditation - Madame Monet On The Sofa

Meditation of Baal Shem Tov

Taken from Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan's "Meditation and Kabbalah" - with gratitude