A yid makes a נדר as a סיג לתורה. The שלה הקדוש says the reason we need to come on to סייג, is because of סיגים, impurities, sediment due to our חטאים, especially חטא העגל which brought back the זוהמת הנחש. The root of סייג and סיג is סג, which equals sixty three, the number of mesechtos in ש”ס. Torah SheBeal Pe, TBP. is the tikun for חטא הגל. As we sink lower in טומאה, with each passing generation, we need more סייגים, due to the principle ברוב כעס רוב הכמה (Mishle). The concept of התרת נדרים is mentioned only here in Parshas מטות, even though the topic of נדרים is written in various Parshios. It’s a very encouraging for us that נדרים could be removed. Hashem made a שבועה that the yidden wouldn’t enter א”י for forty years. In a Gemorra in כתובות, there are three שבועות of not starting up with the goyim. A שבועה is associated with גלות, whereas הפרה is associated with גאולה. In מגילת איכה, י”ם and בני ישראל are referred to as in a state of נדה, as the pasuk says אל אשה בנדת טומאתו and תמוז אב=456=בנדת. Women are compared to a גפן, where the more blood they have, the more children they’ll bear. The גפן refers to the עץ הדעת, which according to the main opinion, was a גפן, grape or wine. This sin brought טומאת נדה into the world, and in the future, there won’t be any נדה, and some say that the חזיר will have סימני כשר. אשה בנדת טומאתו=1224=חדשה ליה-וה בשבועתיכם -this נדה state came to an end on Shavuos, when פסקה זהומת and the blood was transformed to white milk -דם נאכר ונעשה חלב.

The חטא העגל revived the נדה state once more, and revived the חטא עץ הדעת, in the month of תמוז. Tamuz is the month of בכרי ענבים, where Rav Shimshon Astropli says the letters before ענבם are אל-סמ, inferring that this is a month that the שטן has power. Mesechta נדה ends of with כל השונה הלכות מובטח לו …שנאמר הליכות עולם לו. Of the sixty three mesechtas, thirty six or לו have Gemorra. As we already said, the reason we come on to TBP. is because of חטא. The very first משנה in TBP. hints this concept of סייגים, and says כדי להרחיק אדם מן העבירה. In פרקי אבות it says כל תורה שאין עמו מלאכה סופו בטלה….The ר”ת of כדי להרחיק אדם מן העבירה spells out מלאכה. The mida of יראה has to precede חכמה.

Pinchas was to head the war against מדין. We mentioned before that Pinchas who descended from יוסף, took revenge on מדין for their share

in מכירת יוסף. It was Pinchas that killed בלעם who was the נשמה of Lavan. Pinchas who is אליהו is the one that gets rid of קליפת בלעם ולבן. Eliyahu is associated with the number five, as we find that the fifth כוס at the Pesach Seder is the כוס של אליהו. The fifth expression of Geula is והבאתי, and משיח בן דוד=424=והבאתי, when the fifth level of the נשמה, the יחידה, will be revealed. The word אור is written at the beginning of חומש five times. Eliyahu is rooted in the אור הגנוז – תשבי=712=את האור כי טוב ויבדל, and אליהו=52=ויבדל. Parshios מטות ומסעי bring us into the חודש החמישי- Av, and also the

ספר החמישי –דברים. The month of מנחם אב was created with the letter ט, so says the ספר היצירה. If someone sees a ט in a dream, it’s a סימן טוב. Rav Tzadok says the first time a word is written in the Chumash, is the source of that word. The first time ט is written in חומש is the word טוב- את האור כי טוב, which Rashi says refers to the אור הגנוז. The בני יששכר says that this first ט has four crowns, which equals 4 x 9 =36, hinting to the thirty six hours that the אור הגנוז was shining, before Hashem hid the light. There are also thirty six Mesechtos with Gemorra in TBP., thirty six hidden Tzadikim, and thirty six candles that we light on Chanuka. The בן יהודיע shows how the number 9 is unique and is never erased 9×5=45- 4+5=9, 9×3=27 2+7=9.

The חודש החמישי of Av, is כנגד הוד, which Gemorra Brachos נח says הוד זו היא בהמ”ק. Pinchas, in killing the five kings, hints that we will have an end to the five גלויות, the fifth and final one being גלות ישמעאל, who tries to prevent כלל ישראל from entering into א”י, and to prevent the והבאתי. Pinchas -Eliyahu will end the אבילות of חודש מנחם אב, and turn it into שמחה, the greatest day being ט באב. The name of משיח isמנחם (Av), and Hashem will מנחם us with מנחם- Mashiach. According to the Ari Tzal, the month of Av is שמעון, the one who was most responsible for מכירת יוסף. In our Parsha, Pinchas battles against מדין, the source of all מחלוקת, since Pinchas is a descendant of יוסף, and is now taking revenge from Midyan for their part in מכירת יוסף.

The 24,000 that died in the plague, were from שמעון, and Pinchas was the one that put an end to the plague, with his zealous act. The תנא דבי אליהו is at the end of מסכתה נדה, and he- Eliyahu is the one that puts an end to the נדה, the גלות and brings peace to the world. There is another opinion of the יערת דבש, who says that Av is גד. It was mainly Gad who pushed to have his portion in עבר הירדן. Moshe thought that another חטא המרגלים was taking place, thinking that they

don’t want to enter the land, however Gad known for their battle prowess, assured Moshe that they would fight with all ofישראל בני, for fourteen years, and remove the nations that occupied א”י. Rebeinu Bachya says that the nine cities in the portion of Gad and Reuven, from עטרות until נבו ובעל, are כנגד the nine ספירות from כתר till יסוד (pasuk לב:ג), and the next pasuk beginning with הארץ is the sefir of מלכות. עטרות is כנגד כתר, the crown being worn on one’s head.. In pasuk לב:לד it says ויבנו בני גד את דיבן ואת עטרת, and in פרשת מסעי לג:מה , it says ויסעו מעיים ויחנו בדיבן גד, where Rashi says that עיים means destruction. This is a רמז that כלל ישראל will leave the period of destruction and come to בן דוד=66=דיבן. Gad is מתקן the חטא המרגלים and fights alongside theישראל בני in the conquest of א”י, and has the זכות to have Moshe buried in his portion. The Midrash says that Moshe will rise, and take the entire generation out of Galus, in the month of מנחם אב. The month of Av is destined to be a month of בנין –ויבנו בני גד את .. Av has in it נחמו נחמו.The combination of Hashem’s name for Av is derived from הסכת ושמע ישראל היום, and the mode of Av is שמיעה. The הפטרה of מסעי begins שמעו דבר יה-וה, and Av is נגד שמעוןSefarim say that even if the only זכות we have is saying שמע every day, and מקבל עול מלכות שמים it’s a big thing, a new beginning. Even though in Av we fell, as it says ותרד פלאים, the month is called מנחם אב.

During the nine days we don’t eat meat -(red), but we eat dairy- white. The לבן of טומאה is eradicated in this Parsha. The month of חורבן becomes the month of Geula – הא ואו דלת=453=מלך המשיח=453=חדש מנחם אב. On the tenth of Av, in a split second, we have a drastic change from אבילות to joy, from נדה to Brachos. אב is the acronym ארור ברכה. We go from נפלה עטרות to regaining our עטרות, our crowns-כתר =620. There are 620 mitzvos- 613 T. and 7 R. The חתם סופר says that a letter that is written large is equal to four times its value, and so שמע is equal to – 70 x 4=280+40מ +300ש =620. When we say the שמע, we are מקבל on ourselves the 620 mitzvos. In the ירושלמי it says that all of the עשרת הדברות, which contain 620 letters, are hinted in the שמע. In the month of Av, we start over- טובה=928=חמשה עשר באב כתיבה וחתימה .

The צבי לצדיק asks why does the Parsha begin וידבר משה אל ראשי המטות? The מטות are down days which have to be connected to and

מהפך to the ראשי. In Parshas מסעי לד:ד, it mentions the place חצר אדר, hinting to the idea that just as the month of Adar was מהפך from יגון to שמחה, so can the three weeks be מהפך from מטות to ראשי. What happened to Adar, will happen to מנחם אב. The התרת נדרים that is spoken about in our Parsha, is an important עבודה of ר”ה and יה”כ (כל נדרי ). The ראשי המטות, the יחיד have the ability to מפיר נדרים that is to revoke and nullify vows-not his own לא יחל דברו, but others. When the two and a half שבטים asked to stay on עבר הירדן, it says that Moshe, who thought it was another חטא המרגלים, reminded them that Hashem got angry and swore that he wouldn’t take the generation into א”י- ויחר אף יה-וה ביום הזה וישבע. Hashem’s anger became a vow, implying to refrain, to restrict- בין המצרים, which are like the מצרים of time. In גלות, there is an oath that we cannot rebel -כתובות. After the חטא העגל, Hashem took a vow to wipe out the yidden, but ויחל משה, Moshe nullified the vow. The three weeks represents restraint -גלות, however smack in the middle, we read of annulment of vows. שמשון also had the ability to מפיר נדרים. The consoling will come when there will be הפרת נדרים – חדש החמישי=685=נחמו נחמו עמי יאמר אלה-יכם=685=הפרת. Then the third בהמ”ק will be built – נחמו נחמו עמי יאמר אלה-יכם=685=מקדש אדנ-י כוננו ידיך. The משיח will be פורץ גדר, will break through all the restrictions.

The war with מדין, the source of strife and מחלקת, was to remove the restraints. After this, the next topic discussed was the koshering of the כלים that were in the domain of דין –טומאה, and immersing them in a מקוה. We learn here that when buying a new כלי, we must immerse it first in a מקוה. Similarly, these days, which are under the domain of the מדת הדין, must be purified (in the מקוה). The three weeks have twenty one days and twenty one nights of אבילות ( many do not count ט באב in the חשבון) – אה-יה אשר אה-יה -where אה-יה=21. The ארי הקדוש says that the כוונה we should have under the water of the מקוה is the מילוי of אה-יה, which means -I will be a new entity. We crouch under the water in a fetal position, where there is no air, and emerge into new life. The מלוי of אה-יה isמקוה = 151= אלף הה יוד הה . This is similar to

הפרת נדרים where the restraints are removed. These כלים that were forbidden to use, are now permitted.

The request of גד and ראובן to remain in עבר הירדן at first seemed to be

another חטא המרגלים, as we stated. The nine cities that they requested were originally cities of עמון ומואב that were conquered by סיחון ועוג. Only then could the yidden take these cities, since when they were in the hands of עמון ומואב, it was forbidden for כלל ישראל to even enter their land. And so עמון ומואב טהרו בסיחון is like a הפרת נדרים. The cities that were forbidden, are now permitted. Moshe divided these cities and gave them to Gad and Reuven. These nine cities represent the nine days, which will turn around for good in the future, as the nine cities will be part of א”י in the future. The city עטרות is כנגד ט באב, the day we lost our crowns נפלה עטרות ראשיהם, and the only city of the nine, with a ט in it. On ט באב, the yidden will regain their crowns in the future- חדש החמישי=685=נחמו נחמו עמי יאמר אלה-יכם=685=עטרות. After the חורבן, it was decreed that when there was no מצנפת, yidden couldn’t wear any crowns, at weddings, or for any other occasion. The בהמ”ק is the עטרות in the pasuk in איכה. Unkelas translates עטרות as מכללתא (meaning all inclusive- כנגד כתר). Purim is the tikun of ט באב, the time that מרדכי walked out of the palace with an עטרה on his head פורים על שם הפור=1067=בית השלישי=1067=תיו שין עין הא בית אלף בית. The inner מילוי of ט באב is the בית השלישי. The Gemorra in Brachos ט says that we must read שנים מקרה –אפילו עטרות ודיבון . Maybe these are singled out since Unkelas translates עטרות as מכללתא. The חתם סופר says that we read שנים מקרה ואחד תרגום, since Targum is the language of Galus, and we want to subdue it, with the principle of ביטל ברוב.

These cities were taken from סיחון and עוג. The מגלה עמוקות says that סיחון corresponds to Tamuz, and עוג to Av. The Torah says that the size of Og’s bed was nine Amos, a seemingly superfluous fact. The nine Amos represents the nine days of Av. These cities, being conquered just before entering א”י, is a metaphor that the months of Tamuz and Av will be transformed, when משיח comes and yidden will judge their brothers favorably עוג מלך בשן=521=מכללתא=521=דרש טוב. Moshe wasn’t afraid of Sichon, but was afraid of Og. Reuven was given the city of חשבון, to rectify his lack of חשבון when moving his father’s bed. Moshe was מתקן Reuven, and the corresponding month of Tamuz, when he gave the Bracha to Reuven- ויחי ראובן ואל ימות. Reuven was given נבו, the place of Moshe’s buriel, as a tikun. Moshe, however did not rectify Shimon, who will receive his תקון only in the future. The Ari says that from a ניצוץ of Og, came the Tanna שמעון בן נתנאל, who represented יראת חטא. Shimon will receive נתן א-ל, a

tikun in the future. Shimon was the most responsible for מכירת יוסף, the one that said הנה בעל החלומות הלזה בא, and desired to kill Yosef. He was the זה לאומת זה of Esav- שמעוןis the letters מן עשו, or he was the punisher מעונש, as he couldn’t tolerate evil -אוהבי יה-וה שנאו רע. Shimon mistakenly directed this מדה toward his brother יוסף. The result was גלות מצרים and all future גלויות. The חורבן took place in the month of Shimon- Av, which resulted from his lack of כבוד אב, and causing his father Yaakov to mourn for twenty two years. Therefore we have twenty two days of אבילות from יז בתמוז until ט באב. Just like Yaakov refused to be comforted for twenty two years וימאן להתנחם, we refuse to be comforted for twenty two days. The נחמה will be in the future, when Shimon will receive his tikun. Esav, on the other hand, due to his כבוד אב, was able to destroy the בהמ”ק.

The בני יששכר says that the goal is to connect the month of Av to Nisan, ט באב to פסח. The first day of פסח always fall out on the same day as Tishe BeAv. ט באב is the birth of משיח. The Parsha speaks of the borders of א”י, beginning and ending with ים המלך, and ט באב in time, is the ים המלך in place, where משיח is rooted. בסדם is the ר”ת of סוד מלכות בית דוד. In Parshas וירא יט:טו it says -ואת שתי בנתיך הנמצאת ירושלם=586=הנמצאת, referring to the two daughters of Lot, where חז”ל say from them came משיח –מצאתי דוד עבדי. Sedom, in the ים המלך was the lowest place in the world both physically and spiritually, corresponding to the lowest days of the year, in Av. סדום was the most beautiful place, and will again regain its beauty in the future – וישם מדברה כעדן וערבתה כגן יה-וה. The dead sea will come back to life.

Shimon didn’t get a ברבה from Yaakov, but in the Bracha to Yehuda-Nisan, a Bracha was hinted שמע יה-וה קול יהודה. Shimon’s portion of א”י was נכלל in the portion of Yehuda, and they battled together in the first conquest of א”י. At the end of time, the month of Av, will be like Nisan. The only two months that are mentioned in the Parsha are Nisan -יציאת מצרים, and Av, the death of Aharon. Yehuda, who represents Nisan, was called גור אריה, and the month of Av has the מזל of אריה. The מדה of Aharon connects שמעון to יהודה, Av to Nisan. In מנחם אב we lost the בהמ”ק, but the third בהמ”ק will be built in Av. The חודש החמישי is the חודש המשיחי- בונה ירושלים יה-וה=685=חדש החמישי. The גמורה tells us that the בהמ”ק will be built either in Nisan or in Av.

Parshas מסעי has 132 pesukim, the סימן being מחלה חולה. This is a very strange סימן, firstly since almost all סימנים have only one word, and secondly, what type of סימן is disease –sick? This is really the last Parsha in Chumash, since ספר דברים is a completely different ספר a different entity, called משנה תורה. The Torah repeats the last of the forty two stations over and over— בערבת מואב על ירדן ירחו

So Parshas מסעי represents the last generation, the last stop just before we enter א”י, which we could see and even taste. Our generation fell more than any other, and it’s almost impossible to connect to the previous generation, before the Holocaust. This is why Parshas מסעי does not begin with a ו”, like 90% of the Parshios, since it represents a disconnected generation, which is very sick, physically, spiritually, and emotionally. This could be the reason for such a strange סימן of מחלה חולה.

Even though Aharon’s death was mentioned before in Parshas חקת, it is here that the date is mentioned- ר”ח אב. This is an example to what the שלה הקדוש says, that the Parsha happening at a certain time, means that it is very connected to that time. We read this Parsha always in the vicinity of ר”ח אב, and so the date of Aharon’s passing is mentioned here. The Parsha mentions here in pasuk לד:יג, that there were 9 ½ tribes that occupied א”י, as the other 2 ½ were in עבר הירדן. Where do we ever see a number like this in all of Chumash? Again the Parsha falls in the vicinity of the 9 ½ days of אבילות, from ר”ח אב until noon of the tenth.

Parshas מסעי begins with the word אלה, which has a trup of a אזלה גרוש, from the word גרושין- implying גלות, resulting from the אלה אלה-יך ישראל of the חטא העגל. The Torah is hinting to all the ד” גלויות – אלה מסעי בני ישראל, the acronym being אדום מדי בבל יון. The Parsha speaks of יציאת מצרים where the מצריים were busy burying their dead, while the yidden were leaving. This is the way it should be now, and not the yidden in אבילות, but we should be burying the בין המצרים. The month of Av is the month of הוד, which the Gemorra says is the בהמ”ק. Hod is the מדה of Aharon, who was מסתלק on ראש חודש of the month of הוד –Av. The destruction of the בהמ”ק was due to שנאת חנם and the rebuilding of the בהמ”ק will be in the זכות of the מדה of Aharon- אהבת שלום. When Aharon passed away, a civil war broke out, since the מדה of שלום died with him.

Parshas מסעי describes the travels of the yidden in גלות, leading to the חטא המרגלים, and then the שתי חורבנות. We are now in the last station, waiting for the doors of the train to open – והיתה ליה-וה המלוכה=588=בירושלם=588=על ירדן ירחו .

In the future when there will be a tikun forשמעון , that is שמעון will be במילוי, and the מלכות will return to Yehuda – לא יסור שבט מיהודה=688=שין ממ עין וו נון. The שופר will be blown for the last time to usher in the גאולה. In Parshas מסעי, which represents the last generation, the last יובל (out of 21 times) is mentioned in the Torah. The very last pasuk, in מסעי, which is the last pasuk in ספר במדבר, also begins with אלה. This pasuk,המצות אלה.. is a tikun for the אלה of the עגל, and is the 1288th pasuk in ספר במדבר, representing the end of Galus יתקע בשופר גדול ובא האובדים =1288.

As we already mentioned, Shimon was the one most instrumental in מכירת יוסף. Later Shimon rescued Dina from Shechem, and then married her. From this union Osnat was born, who later married יוסף. The רפואה was there before the מכה. Shimon will be rectified when משיח comes and ט באב will be restored with the בהמ”ק being built in Av. The Torah says that אפרים and מנשה are like ראובן and שמעון

אפרים מנשה=726=ראובן שמעון. Efraim is כנגד ראובן, and the tikun for תמוז–Reuven is ש”ע in תשרי, the month of אפרים. Menashe is the tikun for שמעון. The Ari says that מנשה represents חשון. The ילקוט שמעוני says that the בהמ”ק will be built in Av, and dedicated in חשון. Moshe gave מנשה a portion on both sides of the Jordan.

The land of Sichon was given to ראובן and גד, whereas the land of עוג, who was a greater טומאה, was given to מנשה. Was it a positive thing to split the portion of מנשה in two, or was it a punishment. Some say that since it was מנשה that put the goblet in the sack of Binyamin, this resulted in the שבטים ripping their clothes and therefore the portion of Menashe was split –“ripped”. However as a result of putting the גביע in Biyamin’s sack, the שבטים united -אחדות. Yosef could have caused a מחלקת with his brothers for selling him. Instead he chose love and harmony, and for this Menashe was זוכה to a portion in א”י and in עבר הירדן. Shimon who displayed anger received no distinct portion, but his חלק was נכלל in Yehuda’s, whereas Yosef who had no כעס, merited to have two portions on both sides. ארץ ישראל does not tolerate anger. Menashe gets a portion in עבר הירדן, which will be א”י in the future (מנשה is the letters שמנה), and also in the א”י of the

present. In the פרשיות of the three weeks, we see Menashe mentioned over and over. Why did Moshe feel that after the conquering of Sichon and Og, maybe the oath that Hashem made, that he would not enter א”י, was nullified? Since Moshe was now in the land of עמון ומואב, which will be totally part of א”י in the future- (כנגד the three weeks), he thought he should be able to enter א”י of the present.

A double Parsha usually falls during a sad time- the three weeks, the ימי הספירה, and always a חזק חזק happens during difficult times, in order to מחזק the time- the three weeks, ספירת העומר, and עשרת בטבת -ויחי. It was שנאת חנם that was גורם these times, and a double Parsha represents unity and שלום. The war against מדין was a war against anger and מחלוקת. Moav wasn’t destroyed because Ruth still had to come from them, and because their anger was somewhat justified by the fear of being attacked. However Midyan joined a fight that was not theirs, simply because they loved the fight. After Pinchas was born, there was no more sparks of קדושה in מדין, and so the yidden had to wipe them out in order to humble the טומאה. However they made the mistake in leaving the women alive, the ones most responsible in the חטאים in שיטים. Because of his anger, Moshe forgot to teach the Halacha of koshering כלים, and so אלעזר did so. In many cases the tzadikim marry into the nations, with the intent to humble the טומאה, like Shimshon and שלמה המלך. After Moshe saw דתן ואבירם fighting, he knew that the כעס and מחלוקת was rampant amongst the yidden, and so he ran to מדין, and married צפורה, in order to humble the source of strife. Zimri, also had this intention, when he tookכזבי , and this is the reason he said to Moshe בת יתרו מי התיר לך. Zimri could have said “who gives you the right to marry a shiksa”, but he focused on בת יתרו, since his intent was to humble the טומאה, like Moshe did. However he was wrong, and since Midyan was bereft of any קדושה, only complete annihilation was the tikun. The fact that Moshe got angry here, proved that anger was still in the world, since the women were left alive, similar to שאול המלך leaving Agog alive. To bring משיח we must eradicate the strife and מחלוקת and transform ט באב into the greatest מועד. In pasuk מטות לא:ב Hashem is commanding Moshe to take revenge on Midyan for causing so many yidden to fall into sin by the מעשה שיטים —-תשעה באב=780= נקם נקמת.

The Ramban asks why by the other wars, like of Sichon and Og, was

there no requirement to Kasher the כלים? The Gemorra says that in the wars for א”י, the soldiers were permitted to eat treif. In לעתיד לבא the כחות הטומאה will be gone, and so the yidden fighting wars of א”י was a בח” of לעתיד לבא. The war with סיחון ועוג was conquering land originally of עמון ומואב, which will be ours in the future. If the yidden would have totally wiped out Midyan, the anger and strife would have been gone, and the גאולה imminent. Moshe was hoping that he wouldn’t have to teach the Halachas of koshering כלים. He got angry בא לכלל כעס בא לכלל טעות, and Elazer had to teach the Halacha.

Anger leads to נדרים, whereas הפרת נדרים is the calming of the anger. When yidden get angry, Hashem gets angry, and when they calm the anger, Hashem is calm – כל הכעס כל מיני גהינם שולטים בוWe say a person is hot-tempered when he’s angry, and has to cool off. The month of מנחם אב is a month that Hashem’s anger is let loose. But the month is called מנחם-אב, when we hope to cool off our father’s anger. Pinchas, who descended from Midyan fought against Midyan, similar to Ovadia who was a גר צדק, originally from Edom, was the one who prophesized their מפלה.

Yosef was clean of כעס, the appeaser, and so מנשה בן יוסף got a portion on both sides, as a reward for having no anger, whereas Shimon’s portion was hidden within the נחלה of יהודה, due to his כעס. The land of א”י does not tolerate כעס. The revenge against ישמעאל for their part in מכירת יוסף, and for all the other pains they caused כלל ישראל, will be taken in the future. ישמעאל always had it out for Yosef, as we see today, with them desecrating his קבר. ישמעאל has the same root as שמעון -שמע. Even though we don’t say תתקבל on ט באב, since our tefillos are not readily heard, we must intensify our prayers. When someone knocks on the door and nobody answers, he has to knock louder. Yishmael infuses anger in the world, and the world is angry with them. The key to the גאולה is אהבת חינם, and working on our anger and strife אחרית הימים=724=קליפת מדין.

Parshas מטות has 112 pesukim, the same number as וישב, the connection being that וישב is the Parsha of מכירת יוסף. Parshas מטות is the revenge against מדין, and the tikun for Shimon. The אבני נזר says that מטות means to bend, to extend. The job of every שבט, every yid, is to extend kindness down to the world. There are 72 days from יז בתמוז until ר”ה, and we have to ממשיך the חסד=72 down. Our goal is to make one flow of ten weeks of חסד, as opposed to three and seven

weeks.

There are nine ערי מקלט- three in עבר הירדן, three in א”י, and three in the future. We read about these cities during the three weeks, which represent the three ערי מקלט of the future- קני קניזי קדמוניAn ערי מקלט is refuge from the גואל הדם. The גואל הדם represents the יצר הרע. On ר”ה the Torah commands us to blow שופר 3 x 3 תקיעות-the same number as the ערי מקלט.

The חידא and the ילקוט ראובני both say that the last pasuk of מטות – ויקרא לה נבח בשמו warns of the severity of לשון הרע, where נבח is the bark of a dog- someone who speaks לשון הרע is מתגלגל into a dog. The לה is the ר”ת לשון הרע- צרעת=760=ויקרא לה נבח בשמו. When the yidden left מצרים, they had rectified the לשון הרע, and so the dogs didn’t bark. Sticks and stones can break your bones, but names will never harm you. This is a goyish concept, but according to the Torah, words are much worse. The war of מדין comes right after the topic of נדרים, the Parsha to watch our speech. The war of מדין is a war against מחלוקת, and freedom of speech. The מגלה עמוקות says that the name of משיח בן יוסף is נחמיה בן חושיאל, which is the acronym of נבח. משיח בן יוסף will do what Pinchas, his great grandson did, and take revenge from ישמעאל. The מגלה עמוקת says in pasuk לב:לח that the בני ראובן built the cities of חשבון and אלעלא ….and שבמה, which is the ר”ת שור בור מבעה הבער.

Esav is the שור, and ישמעאל is the חמור. These two nations represents a composite of all the seventy nations (Vilna Goan). The פרי צדיק says that לשון הרע is what joins these two nations together, which then brings עמלק. When we take the פנימי of שור and חמור- ומו=52=כלב which is עמלק. The שור on the side of קדושה is משיח בן יוסף, and the חמור on the side of קדושה is משיח בן דוד-עני רוכב על חמור- The way to battle the שור and חמור of קליפה, is through proper speech– שור חמור=760=ויקרא לה נבח בשמו. The גלות came about through improper speech -דבתם רעה. The essence of a yid is קדושת הפה. Parshas מטות, always read during the בין המצרים begins and ends with the importance of proper speech. Moshe first saw a מצרי hitting a yid, which is more or less ‘normal’. However the next day שמות ב:יג, Moshe saw two yidden fighting. Here the pasuk says והנה, which is a לשון of behold. Moshe said וכן נודע הדבר, where דבר is דיבור. Moshe saw that speaking לשון הרע was the main problem of גלות מצרים. The

punishment for speaking לשון הרע is נע ונד –גלות, as we see by Kain and other places. In מגילת איכה Rashi brings this expression many times by the pasuk with נדה in it. The word נודע is נע ונד . This is what we must work on before ט באב, and then ב”ה we will merit to see the גאולה in our days. Baruch Hashem there is a big התעוררות in our times, in guarding ourselves from the evils of לשון הרע, and in this זכות, we should see the פנימיות of תשעה באב, which is the בית השלישי— בית השלישי=1067=תיו שין עין הא בית אלף בית