Forever with his People
A lesson from the Tiferes Shlomo Parshas Chukas
נקום נקמת בנ"י מאת המדינים כו' אלף למטה לכל מטות ישראל
“Take vengeance for Bnei Yisrael from the Midianim… One thousand for each tribe, from each of the tribes of Yisrael”
“Take vengeance for Bnei Yisrael from the Midianim… One thousand for each tribe, from each of the tribes of Yisrael”
The word מאת is made up of the word מת (death) with the addition of the letter א. The letter א represents the G-dly force that give life to a person. Kabbalistically this refers to the attribute of Chochma, as alluded to in the verse אאלפך חכמה which can be read as “Chochma is your Alef”.
The same letters spell the word אמת, meaning truth. Truth only exists when connected to the light of G-d. Without the א, only מת (death) remains.
The Tiferes Shlomo uses this idea to explain the verse ועושה חסד לאלפים לאוהבי ולשומרי מצותי - “And He does kindness to thousands (of generations) to those who love Me and guard My Mitzvos”. The verse can also be read that Hashem does kindness by bestowing the “Alef” to those who love Him.
In Shacharis we make the Bracha יוצר המאורת, that Hashem creates the luminaries. In the word מאורת, the word אור separates between the letters that spell מת, alluding to the G-dly light of the א, that Hashem created to push away death.
Hashem instructed the soldiers to take vengeance מאת המדינים. They would do this by removing the א that separates the letters of מת. Instead it says אלף למטה. Whilst literally meaning “one thousand for each tribe”, this can also be read as “Alef” to each tribe.
Instead of vivifying the nation of Midian, the Alef, representing the G-dly light would go to the tribes of Bnei Yisrael to be a source of life, leaving their enemies as מת.
The same letters spell the word אמת, meaning truth. Truth only exists when connected to the light of G-d. Without the א, only מת (death) remains.
The Tiferes Shlomo uses this idea to explain the verse ועושה חסד לאלפים לאוהבי ולשומרי מצותי - “And He does kindness to thousands (of generations) to those who love Me and guard My Mitzvos”. The verse can also be read that Hashem does kindness by bestowing the “Alef” to those who love Him.
In Shacharis we make the Bracha יוצר המאורת, that Hashem creates the luminaries. In the word מאורת, the word אור separates between the letters that spell מת, alluding to the G-dly light of the א, that Hashem created to push away death.
Hashem instructed the soldiers to take vengeance מאת המדינים. They would do this by removing the א that separates the letters of מת. Instead it says אלף למטה. Whilst literally meaning “one thousand for each tribe”, this can also be read as “Alef” to each tribe.
Instead of vivifying the nation of Midian, the Alef, representing the G-dly light would go to the tribes of Bnei Yisrael to be a source of life, leaving their enemies as מת.