בס”ד במדבר  

The Torah doesn’t say what exact date שבועות falls, implying that Shavuos- מתן תורה, being the 50^th day of Sefira, is למעלה מן הזמן. It could fall on the fifth, sixth or seventh of Sivan, depending on whether Nisan and Iyar are מלא or חסר. Shavuos is called weeks since the great achievement one could accomplish, depends on the weeks that proceed. The תפארת ישראל says a yid should never give up hope on rectifying his midos, and that even on the last day he has hope- עד ממחרת שבת השביעית תספרו חמשים יום. First the pasuk says שבע שבתות תמימות, which is forty nine days, and then it says fifty days, hinting that if a yid had not done very much in the forty nine days, he can still change himself on the fiftieth day. Even a yid that fell into the lowest טומאה, he can מתקן himself even on the last day. Really as long as a yid is alive, he always can come close to Hashem יתקע בשופר גדול ובאו האובדים=1294=מלכות שבמלכות The last day of Sefira corresponds to the last day of גלות or the last day of life.

In the תפילה after theספירה , there is תהילם סז of למנצח בנגינות מזמור שיר where from the next word אלה-ים until the last word ארץ there are

forty nine words, having in mind the appropriate word for each day of the Sefira. There are also forty nine letters in the pasuk ישמחו וירננו until תנחם סלה, where it’s written to have in mind the appropriate letter for that day in Sefira. The אנא בכח has seven sentences of six words (שם מב), where each week of sefira corresponds with a different pasuk, the last day corresponding to the ר”ת of the six word pasuk. So the last day of sefira is the acronym of שועתנו קבל ושמע צעקתנו יודע תעלומות, which is שקוצית. The last word of למנצח is ארץ, and the ה from סלה. Incredibly all together equals-

וביום הבכורים בהקריבכם מנחה חדשה ליה-וה=1202=בראשית ברא אלה– ים שקוצית+ארץ+ה=1202= .

Shavuos, on the fiftieth day is connected to Yovel in the fiftieth year where we return to our roots-בראשית . The whole world was created for the purpose of Torah. Nisan and Sivan is one chunk of time, which is fitting for Geula. David HaMelech was born and died

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onשבועות . Megillas Ruth is the מגילה of גאולה, the יחוס of David – בחג השבעות=796=וישי הוליד את דוד. The Alshich says that Ruth was a גלגול of the Lot’s older daughter. The relations of Tamar and Yehuda, or Ruth and Boaz or Lot and his daughters all came about through seemingly non modest unions, all in a concealed manner to confuse the שטן. The רוקח says that the name ישי is יש backward and forward, hinting to the future כל ישראל יש להם and the שי עולמות reward for the צדיקים. Shavuos, the fiftieth day is a metaphor to the יובל, the fiftieth year, and the גאולה . Shavuos is also the Yahrzeit of the בעל שם טוב who came to the world to prepare it for the Geula – רב ישראל בעל שם טוב =1202 (as above).

The שלחן עורך says that פרשת במדבר is always the Parsha read before Shavuos, as it says מנו ועצרו, where מנו is the counting of the yidden in Parshas במדבר, and עצרו is Shavuos or עצרת. Before Shavuos, the yidden strive to eradicate their ישות and reach the level of ביטול and ענוה, as ונפשי כעפר לכל תהיהis a prerequisite to פתח לבי בתורתך. The more humble a yid is, the more Torah he merits to receive. Moshe who received and encompassed the entire Torah, was the biggest ענו on earth. This is perhaps why במדבר always precedes Shavuos, since a desert is empty and flat, implying that every yid must make himself like a desert in order to receive the Torah. A desert is הפקר, ownerless, implying that the Torah belongs to everyone.

The day before Shavuos ה סיון is when כלל ישראל uttered the famous words נעשה ונשמה, which was the purpose for them leaving Egypt- יציאת מצרים=891=נעשה ונשמע . The main יציאת מצרים was a spiritual one, meaning the negative and impure effects of מצרים has to be eradicated in every yid. As long as a yid is subservient to מצרים, he’s unable to say נעשה ונשמע. The Gemorra in Shabbos says that when the yidden said נעשה ונשמע, Hashem said בני בכורי ישראל. Shavuos is referred to as יום הבכורים a לשון of בכור. The קליפה of Amalek attempts to take this level of humility that a yid possesses and turn it into יאוש, convincing him that he’s really nothing ויזנב בך. However at the same time that a yid is humble, he has to have the proper pride in who he is- ויגבה לבך בדרכי יה-וה, the acronym being יובל. On the יום המיוחס, which was on ב סיון, Hashem said of the yidden- אתם תהיו לי ממלכת כהנים וגוי קדוש, which definitely should fill each yid with the fitting self-worth.

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There are 159 pesukim in Parshas במדבר, the סימן being חלקיה-ו. Every Jewish soul is a חלק אלוקי ממעל, and the portion of Torah we have is based on the חלק אלוקי ממעל that we have. Every yid has a unique role that no one else has יש=310=עמר=310=כי חלק יה-וה עמו. Also קטן=159, where דוד המלך is called קטן, as he was small in his own eyes, but knew exactly who he was. Every yid on Shavuos is like a newly born baby קטן שנולד. By Moshe, the Torah here doesn’t list his ancestors, and Rashi says that since he taught Torah to the sons of Aharon, they were considered like his born children. The Geula is a time of התחדשות. The Torah that was concealed will be revealed – תורה חדשה.The שתי הלחם represents both the revealed Torah and the concealed Torah. King David is the מלכות פה TBP. David’s whole existence came about through תורה שבעל פה- TBP when Boaz revealed the Halacha of מואבי and not מואבית. Doag held that David was not not fit to be a king, and not even a yid. The real reason that שמואל הנביא wrote מגילת רות was to publicize the יחוס of דוד.

Shavuos is the י”ט of TBC and also TBP and the פנימיות was revealed through the Baal Shem Tov. The Zohar says that the Geula will take place on Shavuos -חדשה לה” בשבועותכם , the acronym חלב. The ימי הספירה are ימי דין represented by the color red- blood, while Shavuos represents the color white- milk הדם נאכר ונעשה חלב that is the blood was transformed into milk. The ימי הספירה is compared to the שבעה נקיים of a נדה, where the טהרה takes place with the mikva of Shavuos. Rav Meltzer once asked רב יוסף חיים זוננפלד why he goes to the mikva every day, as he thought that this was ביטל תורה. Rav יוסף חיים answered that if a mikva could transform a goy into a yid, then it could transform a yid into a better yid. Shavuos is the day that we become better yidden – ובא לציון גואל ולשבי פשע ביעקב=1217=חדשה לה“ בשבעתיכם =1217=רבי ישראל הבעל שם טוב

Parshas במדבר is the first Parsha in a new ספר called במדבר and also called ספר הפקודים. If one thinks of it, these two names are really opposites. BaMidbar means a desert, an empty and הפקר

wilderness- not a מקום חשוב, whereas פקודים means counted, and a דבר שבמנין is חשוב. This is the third time the yidden were counted, and the Gemorra says that something that is always counted could

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never be nullified, even though the number of yidden compared to the goyim would normally dictate them being nullified by the majority. The Gemorra says that a ממזר תלמיד חכם is greater than a כהן עם הארץ -as it says in Mishle תורה=611=יקרה היא מפנימין. The מדבר is a place of אמונה, as the yidden entered the desolate and barren wilderness w/o any provisions as it says לכתך אחרי במדבר במקום אינו זרוע. Faith -אמונה is needed when someone doesn’t see what’s ahead of him. באמונתך בלילות in time, is like a desert in place. The Gemorra says that the camel travelers were kosher people, since they always looked up to and relied on Hashem. When it comes to secular knowledge, a person has much pride in that which he knows. However the more a yid knows of Hashem- ידיעת ה”, he realizes he really know nothing, and has אמונה that there is so much more that he doesn’t know, since the Almighty is infinite. Greater אמונה leads to greater ידיעת ה” as it says in the Haftora וארשתיך לי באמונה וידעת את ה”. The כלל ישראל saw a vast wasteland, however due to their great faith, they followed Hashem into the desert וארשתיך=937=לכתך אחרי במדבר=937=ויסעו מרפידים ויבאו מדבר סיני.

Hashem took us as his bride because of our אמונה. In רפידים the yidden lacked אמונה, and were full of doubts- היש ה” בקרבנו אם אין and lacked excitement in serving Hashem, resulting in עמלק attacking.

When Shabbos is ערב ראש חודש, we read the הפטרה of מחר חודש, which speaks of the close friendship of דוד with יונתן, the son of שאול המלך. King Saul was angry with David, and David asked Yonaton if his father was still angry with him. יונתן told David that tomorrow is ר”ח and advised David not to come, and he would see by the reaction of his father Shaul, if he was still angry at David. Yonaton said ונפקדתה כי יפקד מושבך , meaning since your seat is empty – יפקד מושבך, we’ll see if you are remembered -ונפקדתה. A person who is missing, is remembered. במדבר is פקודים, in that the way we are remembered is, if we are missing, that is if we are humble -קטן. The more בטל a yid is, the more חשוב he is.

Another reason we read this הפטרה is that on ער”ח the moon is totally מבוטל to the sun- the moon is completely hidden. It says שבע שבתות תמימות, meaning that we are working on being תמים, complete, where Rashi says that תמים means ענו. There is no greater מום than a בעל גאווה, an arrogant person. The Torah is given to

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תמימים, as it says תורת ה” תמימה. Parshas Pinchas is another Parsha where the yidden are counted, and has in it all the מוספים. Only by the קרבן of Shavuos does it have to be תמימים, and even the wine has to be תמים- with no sediments. It takes seven weeks, which is a משל to one’s whole lifetime, to reach the level of תמימות. Hashem said toכלל ישראל – תמים תהיה עם ה” אלה-יך, where Rashi says that if a yid achieves תמימות, then the reward is עם ה” אלה-יך – Rashi says עמו וחלקו. This fits in well with what what we said that the more humble a yid is, the more the חלק-יהוis revealed to him קטן=159=חלקיה–ו.

Elimelech was wealthy, and Rashi says that he left א”י because he was a צרת עין-(stingy), one of the ten causes of צרעת. On Shavuos we are transforming the צרעת into עצרת. Elimelech went to מואב, who were also stingy, lacking the Jewish trait of kindness (Alshich)- לא קדמו בלחם ובמים. Ruth, coming from this צרת עין, completely transformed herself into a woman full of kindness. We read this on Shavuos to bring forth the important message that the Torah is received by those yidden who have kind and selfless characters. Due to this צרת עין, Elimelech who was from Yehuda went to מואב, where רות who was from מואב ends up in בית לחם which is in יהודה. The reason Moav couldn’t be annihilated was because רות had the spark of משיח in her. Similarly Yisro came from מדין, the place of strife and מחלוקת, but transformed himself into a man of peace, and was זוכה to have ויחן שם ישראל נגד ההר, the true unity of all the yidden, written in ‘his’ Parsha- רות יתרו=1222=ויחן שם ישראל נגד ההר.

In רות ג:יג, Boaz wished to inquire if his uncle, who was a closer relative, wished to marry Ruth. That night Boaz said ליני הלילה והיה בבקר, where Rashi says he swore to his יצר הרע that he wouldn’t touch רות, even though they spent the night in the same room. Boaz showed tremendous self-control, as is evident in his name בו עז, that is- in him was great strength. He wanted to marry Ruth in front of a minyan of ten, with קדושה, and to publicize the Halacha of – מואבי ולא מואבית, that only the men from Moav are excluded to marry into כלל ישראל, but not the women. Boaz was also showing Ruth that his intention was to marry her, but they had to wait until morning. She was worried that like Yehuda had no intention to marry Tamar to his third son, after his other two sons died, the same fate would fall on her after her two husbands died -מחלון and later כליון.

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The Halacha of ten yidden being present by a Chupa is learned from here. The ארי הקודש says that the Geula is hinted in this pasuk. If my uncle will marry you, then good, and if not I, Hashem will marry you. The גאולה will come in a good way if the yidden deserve it, and if they don’t Hashem will redeem us anyway, however we must wait “till morning”. כלל ישראל received the Torah on the fiftieth day of Sefira, on הר סיני. The fiftieth word in the Torah is בוקר referring to שבועות.

In the sixth week of ספירה which is יסוד, the parallel phrase in the אנא בכח is יחיד גאה לעמך פנה זוכרי קדושתך, we’re asking Hashem to turn to those who remember his קדושה. Yosef was tested in this area, and was זוכה to מלכות. Yesod leads to מלכות. In this week, Amalek attacked the yidden after they fell into laxity רפיון ידים. Of Amelek it says אשר קרך בדרך, where Rashi says they try to seduce the yidden in areas of ברית -קרי. We are now preparing for שבועות when the שתי הלחם were brought – שתי הלחם=2 xלחם =2x78=156=יוסף. Moshe sent יהושע to battle Amalek, since he was a direct descendant of יוסף who excelled in תיקון הברית. He was the only one who could battle Amalek. Also after their excitement in the coming מתן תורה, Amelek attempts to cool them off אשר קרך. In today’s world prior to the גאולה שלמה, there are tremendous tests in the area of ברית. The yidden were supposed to enter ארץ ישראל on כג אייר, three days after they left הר סיני, but they were crying that עריות was prohibited, and so they didn’t enter. This was the week of יסוד.

After the fifth week of ספירה, the week of הוד, of which the Zohar says the gates of heaven are open, the gates close for the next two weeks, and reopen on Shavuos. The Koznitzer Rebbi said a parable of a king who was marrying of his son, and goes into seclusion for two weeks before the wedding. There are three times the word וארשתיך ( language of marital union) is written in this week’s הפטרה, which is said when wrapping the straps of the tefillin around the fingers, during the morningתפילה . One refers to the union of Hashem and כלל ישראל at Har Sinai, another when the משכן was put up, and the third to the future בהמ”ק. The Torah is threefold, as is written in the Gemorra- the Torah that is of three parts תורה נביא כתובים, was given by Moshe who was the third child, in the third month- סיון. The relationship of the Almighty and כלל ישראל is both like a marriage, and like father and son, as it says בני א-ל חי, which came about at מתן תורה, after 49 days of Sefira א-ל חי=49. Even

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after a temporary separation in the marriage that we have with Hashem, after the חטא העגל, the relationship of father and child could and will never be severed.

The mitzvah of Sefira teaches us the uniqueness of every day – היום אם תשמעו בקולי. Today is the only day. By Amelek Moshe said צא וילחם מחר, since one of his schemes of taking a yid from serving Hashem to the fullest, is to push off what you could do today, to tomorrow. Amelek is about the guilty past and the worry of the future, instead of focusing on the now. We have seven weeks or seventy years to make every day count. The purpose of the Torah is to elevate נפש מקום וזמן. The very first pasuk in ספר במדבר has these three dimensions- Moshe is נפש, the מדבר סיני and אהל מועד is מקום, and באחד לחדש השני בשנה השנית is time. The goal is to transform the נפש and the place and the time into קדושה, like the yidden turning the מדבר into אהל מועד, and the חכמים adding a month or a day. Once the yidden left the restraints of מצרים, they were no longer subjected to time and place. Through תשובה, yidden could change their past. The Torah was given to us in a desert, where there are no distractions. When a yid learns Torah he must disconnect from the world that is “no cellphones”. We must take this world, which is like a desert, and through learningתורה , we cultivate it and turn it into a garden – וישם מדברה כעדן וערבתה כגן ה”. Just a few years back, America was a desolate, far from spiritual, wilderness but was elevated into a מקום קדוש. It’s written that the מדבר is a place of נחשים שרפים ועקרבים. Every yid w/o Torah is filled with snakes and scorpions in his head. It is literally impossible w/o Torah to eradicate our animal tendencies, as שלמה המלך said אדם איר פרא יולד, that everyone is born like a wild animal. The month of Sivan is זבולן, since he was the one who took the world, even the business world and elevated and sanctified it- זבול נ- – שער ה-נ =625=הפעם יזבלני אישי. Hashem’s desire is to make this world His dwelling place- דירה בתחתונים.

The word סיון is made of a ס which represents the entire ש”ס and then there are three lines that descend lower with each letter. This represents that the month of מתן תורה, Sivan demonstrates that Torah is an inheritance of all faction of Jews. No one has a soul monopoly on the Torah. The holy Torah descends into the business world and into the lowest elements. Hashem desires that the שכינה should dwell down in this world זבול נ –  

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זין בית ויו למד נון=625=וירד יה-וה על הר סיני

There is a custom that we eat dairy on Shavuos- חדשה לה” בשבועתיכם is the acronym of חלב. Milk originates in the blood. Also bad character traits are in the blood, as we call someone with anger issues, a “hot blooded” person. The seven weeks of sefira are ימי הדין, referred to as the שבע נקיים, whereas on Shavuos this red blood turns to white milk, the same process that takes place at birth הדם נאכר ונעשה חלב. Shavuos was the real birth of the Jewish people, after the 49 days of ספירה –לידה=49. Our sins are transformed to mitzvos and the מדבר סיני becomes the אוהל מועד.

Every Shavuos there is new hope and a rebirth of Torah. The last week of Sefira is the week of מלכות referring to דוד המלך, when the yidden connect with their roots. The תהלים of למנצח בנגינות has seven phrases, referring to the seven lower sefiros. The last phrase of יברכנו אלה-ים ..refers to the מלכות-

ושבתם איש אל אחזתו=1512=יברכנו אלה-ים וייראו אותו כל אפסי ארץ. The last day of Sefira is when כלל ישראל uttered the famous words נעשה ונשמע the purpose of leaving Egypt. On Pesach the yidden physically left Egypt, however they left מצרים spiritually on the last day, or the culmination of the Sefira – 891=מצות ספירה=ונשמע=891=יציאת מצרים נעשה.

Matan Torah is the true חרות, freedom from the Yetzer HaRa- נון שערי בינה=753=פסקה זהומתן.

According to one opinion, Sivan, the third month is Levi, the third son of Leah, of whom משה רבינו comes from. לוי means to connect, implying that when we connect to Hashem, He connects with us- ואתם הדבקים=608=הפעם ילוה אישי אלי.

The Midrash says that the goyim came to Hashem out of jealousy and asked why they couldn’t receive the Torah, where Hashem told them to bring their יחוס, which they couldn’t. Hashem testified that the yidden were pure by adding his name to theirs- הראובני השמעוני . There was no intermarriage in מצרים and the Torah is only for מיוחסים. Before leaving מצרים, the yidden took the bones of Yosef with them. They needed the עצמיות of יוסף, which is the מדת היסוד, before receiving the תורה, which was preceded by a three day separation. The days of Sefira are days to מתקן the מדת היסוד, similar to ימי השובבים- שובב=310=קרי=310=עמר– שובב is the root of  

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שובבים.

Shavuos is also called עצרת, which means to hold back-self-control (especially in עניני הברית ), the opposite of צרעת which came to those with no self-control. One of the names of Hashem- שם עב, which is connected to the מדת היסוד is חבו, the acronym of חיל בלע ויקאנו. A yid that is pure in this area merits his portion in Torah ותן חלקינו בתורתך.

Egypt was also called רהב, a טומאה of ישות and arrogance, and יציאת מצרים was the humbling of this gaiva, together with the receiving the Torah in a מדבר, a place of humility. It is only with יראת שמים and קדושה that a yid enhances his חלק in Torah. When a yid humbles himself, he could connect with others and when the yidden are in אחדות, they merit their חלק in Torah- ויחן שם ישראל נגד ההר=1222=חלקנו בתורתך.

The Ari HaKadosh says that the combination of Hashem’s name for the month of Sivan is ידותיו ולצלע המשכן השנית – יוהה

The דברי יחזקאל, the Shiniver Rav says the יד in ידותיו means כח. The strength of a yid is that he could turn ולצלע to the משכן a second time, that is a yid could always מתקן and change himself.

The NeDevorna said from the pasuk הכל מודים שבעצרת בעינן גם לכם that גם לכם =190=קץ which confers with the Zohar that the Geula will come on Shavuos. The pasuk in ויקרא concerning the קרבנות says- כי כל שאר וכל דבש לא תקטירו ממנו אשה ליה-וה. None of the sacrifices in the בהמ”ק were brought with either שאר or דבש since these are connected to דין –judgement. However on Shavuos we bring בכורים with dates, and the שתי הלחם with חמץ since Shavuos is so high that the דינים are sweetened with רחמים. The world was created for the yidden, the ראשית of Hashem to receive the Torah, and so Shavuos, the fiftieth day of ספירה, is when we return to our roots –Yovel, which is the fiftieth year- בראשית=913=כל שאר וכל דבש.