The Secret Teachings of All Ages
by Manly P Hall
The Leyden and Stockholm Papyri Greco-Egyptian Chemical Documents From the Early 4th Century AD
EZEKIEL CHAPTER 27
"Now you, son of man, take up a lamentation for TZOR." (v 1). Ezekiel's prophecy in the previous chapter about the coming downfall of Tyre is now followed in the present chapter with an elaborate allegory about the calamity that was to befall this most successful ancient commercial superpower.
Tyre was a heavily fortified Phoenician island city situated "in the heart of the seas" approximately 3.5 miles from the Lebanese mainland. A line of mainland suburbs provided timber and water for the mother city, which amassed enormous wealth from its maritime trade. As we see from our present chapter, every kind of exotic luxury product poured into Tyre from all parts of the then-known world. The locations of her many different suppliers and trading partners as mentioned in this chapter stretch from Persia (v 10) and Media (= Kilmad v 23) in the east to Greece (v 13), Italy (=Elisha v 7) and Germany (= Togarmah, "Germamia" v 14) in the west, and from S. Russia (=Meshech, cf. Muscovy, v 13) in the north to the Red Sea coastal regions of Arabia (v 21) and Africa (Phut=Libya? Somalia ? v 10, Sheva= Ethiopia v 23) in the south.
Tyre 's great wealth and strength derived from her strategic position with "your borders in the heart of the sea" (v 4). "Because Tyre was situated in the sea and was destroyed in her place, Ezekiel depicts her allegorically as a most magnificent ship which was overloaded with cargo and was sunk by an east wind (see v 26), and because of the weight of the ship the sailors were unable to save it" (Metzudas David on v 5; cf. Rashi on v 26).
The prophesied downfall of Tyre was to come about because "you have said, I am of perfect beauty" (verse 3). "Until now, everyone used to say that Jerusalem was 'of perfect beauty, the joy of all the earth' (Lamentations 2:15), but now (after the destruction of the Temple by Nebuchadnezzar) you arrogantly say, 'I am of perfect beauty'" (Rashi ad loc.).
In verses 4-25 of our present chapter, the prophet paints a detailed picture of the exceptional wealth and glory that led to Tyre 's swelling pride, providing us with an abundance of fascinating information about the sophistication of trade and commerce in Biblical times. We should not think for a moment that the people of those times were simple and primitive.
"The rowers brought you into great waters: the EAST wind has broken you in the heart of the seas" (v 26). Tyre became subject to Nebuchadnezzar, who came from the east and to whom she paid tribute, after which she fell under the power of Persia , also in the east.
In verses 27ff Ezekiel prophesies that all of Tyre 's wealth together with her sailors and men of war would "fall into the heart of the seas" (i.e. they would fall prey to other powers) causing horror and consternation among all her former trading partners and allies, who would tear out their hair and rend their garments in bitter mourning over the fearful destruction of such a glorious, prosperous world power on account of her overweening arrogance.
CHAPTER 28
After having addressed the CITY of TZOR in the previous chapter, the prophet is now told to turn to her RULER, the "Prince of TZOR", who was the very epitome of the maritime empire's arrogance. "Because your heart is lifted up and you have said 'I am a god, I sit in the seat of God in the heart of the seas', but you are a man and not a god, yet you set your heart as the heart of God" (v 2).
According to tradition, the "Prince of TZOR" is none other than Hiram king of Tyre , who was a friend of King David and collaborated with King Solomon in the building of the Temple in Jerusalem , and who is said to have lived for a thousand years! We learn from verse 15 of the present chapter that initially, "you were perfect in your ways from the day that you were created until iniquity was found in you". To have been a friend of the righteous King David and to have played a key role in the building of Solomon's Temple , Hiram must indeed have been a most exceptional CHASSID UMOS HA-OLAM (a saint of the nations of the world). Indeed our sages said that Hiram was one of thirteen who did not taste the taste of death (together with Enoch, Eliezer servant of Abraham, Methuselah, Eved Melech HaKushi, Batia daughter of Pharaoh, Serah daughter of Asher, the three sons of Korach, Elijah, Mashiach and Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi - Yalkut Shimoni). Hiram is listed as one of nine who entered the Garden of Eden while they were still alive (Avos d'Rabbi Nathan). But the same source cites the view that Hiram was removed from there and his place was taken by R. Yehoshua ben Levi (Avos d'Rabbi Nathan).
"You have been in Eden , the garden of God ; every precious stone was your covering." (v 13). This verse lists ten different kinds of precious stones, and is the foundation of the midrashic teaching that when God brought Eve to Adam in the Garden of Eden, He made him ten CHUPOS (marriage canopies). This midrash (which conceals much more than it reveals) is based upon the style of DRUSH known as "understanding one thing from another". The ten canopies are not mentioned directly in the Biblical text in Genesis, but since Ezekiel reveals the adornments enjoyed by Hiram in Eden , the midrash deduces that these were the adornments that God brought for Adam and Eve.
The above-mentioned view that Hiram was removed from Eden is also expressed in a lengthy midrash in Yalkut Shimoni giving a detailed description of an enormous phantasmagorical "sky-scraper" structure of seven "firmaments" that he built out of steel, glass and other materials, plating it with gold and studding it with precious stones, in order to provide a fitting throne for himself. This description brings to mind many modern expressions of the same kind of arrogance, such as the late lamented World Trade Center . The midrash concludes: "Hiram became arrogant because he had sent cedars for the Temple . The Holy One blessed be He said, I will destroy My House so that Hiram will not be able to vaunt himself over Me. What was his end? The Holy One blessed be He brought up against him Nebuchadnezzar, who raped his mother in front of his eyes and took him down from his throne and used to cut off two finger-breadths of his flesh every day and dip them in vinegar and make him eat them until he died a horrible death. And what happened to his palaces? The Holy One blessed be He tore apart the earth and hid them away for the righteous in the world to come" (Yalkut Shimoni).
In the words of Rabbi Yitzchak Luria (the "ARI"): "The matter of Hiram king of Tyre's arrogance arouses great wonder, but it may be understood in conjunction with teachings about Pharaoh king of Egypt, who was also very arrogant and said he was a god (see Ezekiel 29:3). Now all pride is in the neck (GARON, 'throat'), as it says, 'the daughters of Zion .walk with outstretched necks' (Isaiah 3:16). Now Pharaoh and Hiram are both rooted in the husks (KELIPOS) that have a hold on the neck of Zeir Anpin. This is why Pharaoh is called king of Egypt (MITZRAYIM) because Egypt is the "throat", which is very narrow (TZAR) indeed. Likewise TZOR is from the same root as MATZOR, like MITZRAYIM. The letters of Pharaoh rearranged make up the word OREPH (back of the neck), while the gematria of HIRAM is the same as that of GARON (with the kolel), because Hiram is on the side of the throat (the front of the neck) and not at the back (OREPH). All the husks that have their hold at the throat - causing constricted consciousness (MOCHIN D'KATNUS) - are greater than all the other husks, and their level is very great. This is why Pharaoh and Hiram, who both have their hold here, were very exalted and had the arrogance to turn themselves into gods. Pharaoh said, 'I do not know HASHEM' because he had no hold on the level of the expanded consciousness of HAVAYAH, and likewise Hiram said, 'I have sat in the seat of God (ELOKIM)' because his hold was on the level of ELOKIM, i.e. in the 'throat' but not in the head on the level of Havayah" (Sha'ar HaPsukim on Ezekiel ch 28).
Verses 20-24 prophesy the destruction of Tyre 's northern neighbor of Sidon , which would remove a pricking briar from the side of the House of Israel. (The "pricks" were well felt in Israel during the 2006 Lebanon war, when many rockets fired by Hizbullah forces from Sidon caused considerable damage.)
The downfall of Israel 's proud neighbors will have the see-saw effect of facilitating the return of the House of Israel from their exile among the nations (vv 25-26). Speedily in our times! Amen.
Avraham ben Yaakov
According to Dius the Phenician and Menander the Ephesian (see Josephus, "Contra Ap." i., §§ 17, 18), Hiram, the son of Abiba'al, reigned thirty-four years, and died at the age of fifty-three. Solomon built the Temple in the twelfth year of Hiram's reign, which, according to this statement, must have lasted from 969 to 936 B.C. This does not agree with the Biblical data; for if Hiram sent materials to David after his conquest of Jerusalem and was still alive twenty years after the construction of Solomon's Temple, his reign must have lasted about sixty years. It is likely, however, that the Hiram of David's time was the father of the Hiram of Solomon's; and this supposition is confirmed by II Chron. ii. 12. Josephus, relying on the two above-named historians, relates further (l.c.) that Hiram built first the temple of Hercules, and then the temple of Astarte when he made his expedition against the Tityans. According to other Phenician historians (quoted by Tatian, "Contra Græcos," § 37), Hiram gave his daughter in marriage to Solomon.
2. Artificer sent by Hiram, King of Tyre, to Solomon. He was apparently of a mixed race; his father being a Tyrian, and his mother of the tribe of Naphtali (I Kings vii. 13, 14) or of the tribe of Dan (II Chron. ii. 12 [A. V. 14]). The words "ḥuram abi," which terminate II Chron. ii. 11 (A. V. 13), generally translated "Huram my father's" (see No. 1), are taken by some to be the name of the artificer; with this name compare "Hammurabi," of which "Hiram Abi" may be a local variant or misreading. The name is curiously used in Freemasonry. There is an essential difference, as regards the nature of Hiram's technical specialty, between I Kings and II Chronicles. According to the former, Hiram was an artificer only in brass; and the pieces which he executed for the Temple were the two pillars Jachin and Boaz, the molten sea with its twelve oxen, the ten lavers with their bases, the shovels, and basins, all of brass (I Kings vii. 14-45). But in II Chron. ii. 13 [14] it is said that Hiram was "skilful to work in gold, and in silver, in brass, in iron, in stone, and in timber, in purple, in blue, and in fine linen, and in crimson; also to grave any manner of graving." Thus he seems to have superintended all the work of the Temple. Josephus says ("Ant." viii. 3, § 4) that Hiram's father was Ur of the stock of the Israelites, that he was skilful in all sorts of work, but that his chief skill lay in working in gold, silver, and brass. Josephus apparently interprets the words "ish ẓori" to mean a man who lived in Tyre, and the name of "Ur" probably originated in the confusion between "Hiram" and "Bezaleel." In I Kings vii. 40 (A. V. margin) the form "Hirom" () occurs.
Hiram, Huram - Jewish Encyclopedia
Rocks and Dust - By Hillel ben David (Greg Killian)
"Rock" is the normal translation of the Hebrew words tzur. There are a couple of other words which are sometimes translated as rock: eben [stone], selah [rock formation], or matzeivah [stone monument]. Whenever these words appear, they are metaphors for HaShem.
Maimonides notes, in his Guide for the Perplexed,[1] in his explanation of the term tzur - rock: Tzur - rock is an equivocal term.
That is to say, the word has several meanings, entirely different one from the other, as opposed to a borrowed term, namely, a metaphor, where there is a similarity between the various meanings. One way that the Torah conceals its esoteric truths is by using words having multiple meanings. It is for this reason that the story relating to the cleft in the rock[2] is formulated the way it is, the term "tzur" intentionally chosen because of its multiple denotations. Maimonides explicates the various meanings of the word "tzur."
It is a term denoting a mountain… It is also a term denoting a hard stone like flint… It is, further, a term denoting the quarry from which quarry-stones are hewn…
In derivation from the third meaning of this equivocal term (quarry), the word was applied to G-d, who is also designated by the term "tzur."
Subsequently, in derivation from the last meaning, the term was used figuratively to designate the root and principle of every thing… On account of the last meaning, quarry, G-d, may He be exalted, is designated as The Rock, as he is the principle and the efficient cause of all things other than himself. Accordingly, it is said:
Debarim (Deuteronomy) 32:4 The Rock, His work is perfect.
Debarim (Deuteronomy) 32:18 Of the Rock that begot you, you were unmindful.
Debarim (Deuteronomy) 32:30 Their Rock had given them over.
Shmuel alef (I Samuel) 2:2 And there is no Rock like our G-d.
Yeshayahu (Isaiah) 26:4 The Rock of Eternity.
The last verse cited by Maimonides to illustrate the meaning of the term tzur relates to G-d's revelation to Moses in the cleft of the rock:
The verse, "And you shall stand upon the rock"[3] means: Rely upon, and be firm in considering, G-d, may He be exalted, as the first principle. This is the entryway through which you shall come to Him, as we have made clear when speaking of His saying [to Moses]: "Behold, there is a place by Me".[4]
Think, for a moment, about the implications of HaShem being a quarry from which other rocks are hewn.
As we progress in this study, we will see that Maimonides was surely correct when he said that Tzur is equivocal. So, lets look at another common word for rock.
Eben the Hebrew word for rock, "eben", is all about connecting. According to Rashi,[5] the Hebrew word stone or eben - אבן,[6] is a contraction of the words father (ab – אב) and son + (ben - בן). Both words share the letter beit - ב. This word shows what we all know, that a son is an extension of his father. Yaaqov’s hope for the Jewish people is that we connect from generation to generation – through the Torah.[7]
The Hebrew words “stone” (eben - אבן), “father” (ab - אב), and “son” (ben - בן) were spoken by Mashiach in which he put all the pieces together:
Matthew 3:9 And do not suppose that you can say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham for our father’ (ab - אב); for I say to you that from these stones (eben - אבן) G-d is able to raise up children (ben - בן) to Abraham.
With this introduction, lets turn over a few rocks and see if we can’t connect to the Torah’s usage of this common word.
Rock
First usage of tzur in the Torah is found in:
Shemot (Exodus) 17:6 Behold, I will stand before thee there upon the rock in Horeb; and thou shalt smite the rock, and there shall come water out of it, that the people may drink. And Moshe did so in the sight of the elders of Israel.
This suggests that a rock has an association with HaShem and a rock is meant to provide something for us. In the case above, the rock was to provide water, a connection to life.[8]
HaShem as a rock
Why is HaShem referred to in the following Pasuk as a tzur, a rock?
Debarim (Deuteronomy) 32:15 But Yeshurun waxed fat, and kicked: thou art waxen fat, thou art grown thick, thou art covered with fatness; then he forsook G-d which made him, and lightly esteemed the Rock of his salvation.
In an earlier Pasuk, Rashi explains this term used as an alternative description of HaShem.
Debarim (Deuteronomy) 32:4 He is the Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment: a G-d of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he.
Tzur, rock, implies strength, Rashi explains.[9] HaShem is called by this name when we wish to talk about His power and steadfastness. It is as Targum Yonatan renders the word, mighty, and his elaboration makes it clear that HaShem is a rock when he is involved in connecting people, animals, or things.
Targum Pseudo Jonathan 32:4. Moshe the prophet said: When I ascended the mountain of Sinai, I beheld HaShem of all the worlds, HaShem, dividing the day into four portions; three hours employed in the Law, three with judgment, three in making marriage bonds between man and woman, and appointing to elevate or to abase, and three hours in the care of every created thing: for so it is written: The Mighty One whose works are perfect, for all His ways are judgment, a faithful G-d before whom no iniquity comes forth, pure and upright is He.
Notice that all of the activities, inn the Targum, involve connecting.
Water from a rock[10]
One of the more famous Torah rocks was the well that traveled with the Children of Israel in the wilderness. Let’s examine this incident a bit more closely. We need to remember that Moshe was told to bring forth water from a rock on two different occasions.
The first time was in Shemot (Exodus) 17:1-7, which tells of an incident in which the Jews asked for water during their first year in the desert, at which time Moshe was told to strike a rock and bring forth water.
The second is Bamidbar (Numbers) 20:1-13, which tells of the incident in the beginning of the Jews' fortieth year in the desert, when the Jews asked for water, Moshe was told to speak to a rock to bring forth water, and Moshe struck the rock, instead.
Recall that the reason Moshe could not enter the Promised Land was because of a rock. When the people cried for water at Kadesh, HaShem told Moshe to take his rod and before the eyes of the community order the rock to give water. So Moshe took the rod as he was commanded, went to the rock in front of the community and struck it to bring forth water. HaShem immediately told Moshe that because he had not trusted enough to affirm HaShem's sanctity, Moshe cannot enter the Promised Land.[11] Fair enough. HaShem had said to speak to the rock and did not say to hit the rock. Moshe did not follow orders. Others who had not followed orders precisely were struck dead immediately. This is a relatively mild punishment.
Bamidbar (Numbers) 20:7 And G-d spoke to Moshe, saying, “Take the staff and gather the Assembly, you and Aharon your brother, and speak to the rock (selah) before their eyes and give from its waters; bring forth water from the rock to give water to the Assembly and their animals.”
The Midrash Yalkut Shimoni, makes the following comment:[12]
"Speak to the rock, do not strike it. G‑d told Moshe, 'when a child is young, the educator may hit the lad in order to teach him. When the child grows into adulthood, however, the educator must rebuke him only verbally. Similarly, when the rock was but a 'small child,' I instructed you to strike it; but now [after 40 years when it has "grown up"] you must only speak to it. Teach it a chapter of Torah and it will produce water."
This is a strange Midrash. What is the comparison between a rock and a child? And how are you supposed to teach a rock a chapter of Torah?
Obviously, according to the Midrash, the story with the rock was more than a physical event concerning an attempt to draw water from a hard inanimate object. It was also a psychological and moral tale about how to educate and refine human "rocks" so that they can produce water, and use the water for connecting to HaShem and to others.
Before any refinement could be achieved, the outer "rock" needed to be cracked. The "hard skin" they naturally developed over 210 years in exile, needed to be penetrated before its inner vibrant and fresh waters could be fully discovered.
That is why, immediately after the Exodus, G‑d instructed Moshe to strike the rock. At this primitive point in Jewish history, smiting the "rock" was appropriate, indeed critical. Their hearts were too dense to be pierced in any other way. Moshe needed to be forceful, direct and blunt.
Forty years later, their children and grandchildren, born and raised in liberty and in a highly spiritual environment, developed a sense of selfhood quite different from their parents and grandparents. Forty years in wilderness, in the presence of Moshe, Aaron and miracles, left a dent. The nation had spiritually and psychologically matured.
But suddenly, they, too, began to lament and kvetch about a lack of water. Yet a subtle reading of the text exposes us to a tune quite different from the tune present in their parents' cry 40 years earlier. This new generation of Jews asks only for water, not for meat or other delicacies. They do not express their craving to return to Egypt. Nor do they wish to stone Moshe. They are simply terrified of the prospects of death by thirst.
G-d was sensitive to the nuanced distinctions. He commanded Moshe to speak to the rock, rather than strike it. "Now you must speak to it, teach it a chapter of Torah and it will produce water", in the above recorded words of the Midrash. The Jews have come a long way. The model of smiting must be replaced with the model of teaching and inspiring.
At that critical juncture, however, Moshe was unable to metamorphose himself. Moshe, who came to identify so deeply with the generation he painstakingly liberated from Egyptian genocide and slavery and worked incessantly for their development as a free and holy people, could not easily assume a new model of leadership. Moshe, calling the people "rebels", struck the rock. He continued to employ the method of rebuke and strength.
And he struck it twice, because when you attempt to change things through pressure, rather than by persuasion, you must always do it more than once.
This demonstrated that Moshe belonged to the older generation and because of his profound love and loyalty to that generation - about whom he told G-d that should He not forgive them, He could erase Moshe' name from the Torah,[13] he was not the appropriate person to take the new generation into the land.
Moshe did not possess the ability to properly assess the transformation that had taken place in the young generation of Jews who had come of age. This was not a flaw of Moshe; it was his virtue: A result of his extraordinary intimate connection with the minds of his generation. Moshe has become one with them.
What is more, Moshe wished not, perhaps could not, speak to the rock, for that would demonstrate the flaws of the Jews he faithfully led for forty years; it would highlight the contrast between enslaved parents and liberated children. Moshe chose to diminish himself rather than diminish his people. That is what made Moshe such a unique leader.
So G‑d told Moshe, "You did not have faith in Me, to sanctify Me in the eyes of the children of Israel". Instead of exposing the elevated spiritual status of the new generation of Jews, Moshe diminished their moral level, creating a crack in their profound and mature relationship with G‑d.
Two Types of Stones
The above explanation will clarify another curious anomaly in the biblical description of the two incidents with the water. The description for the "rock" in the first incident is the Hebrew term "tzur." The description for the rock in the second incident is the Hebrew term "selah." Why?
(In the case of the tzur, the nation had yet to reach such a high level, though they had been in need of a great miracle in terms of the water. Hitting the rock was a way to do this and to counteract the spiritual imbalance at that time. In fact, “tzur” is the name used to indicate that the rock itself had yet to become transformed to a higher spiritual level, indicated by the word “selah” used 40 years later.)
In English we translate both Hebrew words, tzur and selah, to mean a rock. But in the Hebrew there is a significant difference between the two terms. A tzur is a rock that is hard and solid both in its exterior and interior parts. It is all rock. A selah, on the other hand, is a rock that is hard and rocky on its outside, but its interior contains water or moisture.
When you are dealing with a "rock" that has no moisture stored in it, you have no choice but to smite it. However, when you are confronted with a rock that is merely rocky on the outside but soft on the inside, you have no right to smite it. Now, you must speak to it and inspire it to reveal its internal waters of wisdom, love and inspiration.
Dust
Dust, afar - עפר,[14] is an unexpected ingredient in the composition of Adam. It is rare that anyone thinks of themselves as “dust of the earth”. We tend to have a more elevated concept of ourselves as a the ‘highest form of earthly being’. Never the less, when HaShem went to create man, He started with dust.
Bereshit (Genesis) 2:7 And HaShem G-d formed man (adam) from the dust of the earth (adamah) and He blew into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living being.
But man is called Adam. What is established here is an interesting connection: Adam and Adamah, man and earth. And not just earth, but “dust of the earth”. The word used for the earth out of which Adam was made is Adamah. They are the same noun: Adam is the masculine form, Adamah is the feminine. We are literally earth-creatures. There is a sense of this connection also in English in the cognate relationship between the words "human" and "humus[15]". (The identification of the earth as feminine and humans as masculine reflects the traditional agricultural or poetic characterization of the earth being, like woman, the receiver of seed and bearer of fruit.)
They are the same word: Adam and Adamah. Just by virtue of his name, it would appear that of the elements which form man, it is Adamah rather than the G-dly element, which would seem to be the primary ingredient.
Dust represents death, the inanimate that has no life-force. The body alone is just “dust of the earth”, it needs the soul to give it life.
From the above pasuk, we see that there are two unique building blocks that form the basic elements of man: Dust and the breath of HaShem. Man is both physical and spiritual, earthly and G-dly.[16]
Because of Adam’s sin, the dust which formed our humble beginning, will also be our end:
Bereshit (Genesis) 3:19 In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.[17]
Rashi, draws our attention to the origin of the dust out of which Adam was formed. He brings two very different midrashic explanations:
“DUST FROM THE ADAMA: He gathered his (Adam’s) dust from the four corners of the globe so that in whatever place he may die, the ground will absorb him in burial.
AN ALTERNATIVE READING: G-d took his dust from the place of which it is said “You shall make an altar of earth (adamah) to Me”[18].. I only wish that he may gain atonement ...”
Let us examine the images that Rashi presents to us here. It is difficult to understand what these colorful interpretations are trying to suggest. What do we mean when we talk about the raw materials for man coming from the entire globe? Apparently, we are suggesting that man somehow encompasses the entire world. This first interpretation of Rashi’s is expanded upon by The Netziv[19] in his commentary, HaEmek Davar.
“G-d gathered earth, a little from here and a little from there, unlike the way that he created animal and beast. Human existence differs greatly from that of the animal kingdom. Animals will live only in a specific climate, each according to their specific nature. Each animal is born and thrives in a particular climate. Man is different, living throughout the world, in hot and cold climate, adapting diet and nutrition in accordance with the local conditions. This is the result of G-d gathering the materials for man from all over the globe. In addition, certain lands breed certain temperaments ... but man has no defined temperament due to his diverse origin.”
So the unique aspect of man is his adaptability and universality. His versatile, portable, robust nature is encapsulated in this image. Man lives everywhere in the world. There is nowhere where man is a stranger. Because man is a creation of all places, he is at home in all places. The first Midrash emphasises the universal nature of man.
But what of the second midrash? The second midrash plays on the word ‘adamah’, knowing that the altar in the Temple is described using that self-same word: “mizbeach adamah”.[20] On this basis the midrash proposes that man’s origin’s lies in a single spot, the site of the future Temple in Jerusalem. Why? Why does man need to be created from this hallowed place?
According to Rashi, this particular ingredient is vital to grant man the future opportunity of atonement and forgiveness. In this very daring reading, the midrash notes an inherent ‘flaw’ within the blueprint of man, the inevitable tendency towards sin, a devastating imperfection. Man, if he is to exist as man, is going to sin, and thus the very fact of his existence necessitates teshuva,[21] leading to forgiveness, and atonement.[22] Thus forgiveness must precede his very creation. Indeed, this Midrash tells us that it is a crucial ingredient of every fibre of his being.
This suggests that man has a higher purpose than merely being the “dust of the earth”. This higher purpose is lost in Adam. Adam after the fall, epitomizes the “dust of the earth” aspect.
Our humble beginning as the “dust of the earth” is turned around later when Avraham recognizes and acknowledges HaShem. HaShem, then, makes a promise to Avraham.
Bereshit (Genesis) 28:14 And HaShem said unto Abram, after that Lot was separated from him, Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward: 15 For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever. 16 And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth: so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed also be numbered.
The Midrash explains the very powerful significance of this choice of words. This is more than just a blessing of multitudes. The blessing of “dust of the earth” represents the history of the Jews. Everybody tramples over the dust of the earth, but in the end the dust of the earth always remains on top.
In the final analysis, the “dust of the earth” is always on top. This is the analogy and the blessing of “Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth.” Yaakov is told that his children will be trampled upon and spat upon, like the dust. But in the end, like the dust, they will remain on top.
That same dust ultimately covers those who trample it.
Bereshit (Genesis) 3:19 From dust you are taken and to dust you will return.[23]
Shabbath 152b Our Rabbis taught: ‘And the dust return to the earth as it was, and the spirit return unto G-d who gave it’: Render it back to him as He gave it to thee, [viz.,] in purity, so do thou [return it] in purity.
Thus we come full circle to show that the tremendous blessing also carries with it a powerful reminder that we should remain humble, knowing what our end will be.
Adam's purpose, was to lift himself up beyond the dust within himself and reach an exalted level of spirituality. This is alluded to in the pasuk:
Kohelet (Ecclesiastes) 3:21 Who knows the spirit of the sons of man that goes up above, and the spirit of the animal that descends below to the earth.
Indeed, a scholar who succeeds in learning Torah lishmah, for its own sake, experiences a similar ascendancy:
Avot 6:1 And he is lifted up and elevated above all that is mundane.
Little Dust
Efron the Hittite sold a cave and its land to Avraham.[24] This cave was called Machpelah.[25] Normally Efron is spelled ‘full’ (with five letters). However, after he negotiated in bad faith with Avraham for the field for burying Sarah, Efron’s name is spelled ‘missing’ (with four letters)[26] as a sign by the Torah of the belittling of his stature.
Avraham found the cave in the fields that belongs to Efron. He could see Adam and Chava in the cave. He also saw that they were buried by the entrance to the Garden of Eden that was in the cave of Machpelah.[27]
That was the reason why he wanted to have ownership of this place. He was ready to pay any price and he did pay the full price. His intension was to give us, the future generations, the connection to the tree of life. The patriarchs and the matriarchs that are buried there protect the entrance to the Garden of Eden for us until the time of the resurrection of the dead. Avraham established control over the gates to the Garden of Eden and bridged the gap between death (our world, the Tree of the Knowledge Good and Evil) and life (Garden of Eden and Tree of Life).
It is by no accident that Abraham bought the Machpelah Cave from Efron (עפרון)[28] the Hittite, whose name is derived from the same root as “dust” (עפר). Man was created, “dust from the earth” and after his sin he was destined to die, “for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” Yet “dust” takes on new significance when Abraham states his famous expression of submissiveness and lowliness:
Bereshit (Genesis) 18:27 And Abraham answered and said, Behold now, I have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord, which am but dust and ashes:
“I am dust and ashes”, the attribute of submissiveness is implied in our context too, in the above mentioned phrase, “Sarah died in Kiryat Arba, which is Chevron,[29] in the land of Canaan”. Canaan (כנען) is from the same root as “submissiveness” (הכנעה). As the indicated by the Zohar, the four elements of the “city of four” (Kiryat Arba) remain connected by the merit of “the land of Canaan” i.e., the dust-like attribute of a submissive soul.
The field Avraham buys is called Sde Efron: the field of little dust. The name “field of little dust” has resonance: It is as if Avraham buys the dust, the afar out of which Adam was first made. One midrash says the dust that created Adam’s body was from the place of the Temple, while another midrash says that Adam’s body was created using dust from every corner of the world. We can understand both of these midrashim as containing the truth. Avraham is buying a stake in the land on which he lives, the land on which the Temple will one-day stand. And, there is a connection between Avraham and the whole earth.
Tzur meaning
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.