The 70 Faces of Torah Exposition - Shalom to All, In my very last post here in this forum (Learn Torah), I revealed the spiritual nature within the letter Tet ט of the Hebrew Aleph Bet, by exploring the phonetic-root of the letter itself. In it we saw that the letter Tet ט signifies the Ultimate reward of creation - The Creator (HaShem) bestowing Good טוב upon us! In relaying these truths, the Torah seemed to describe perfection of Self (Soul/Spirit), as being equivalent to achieving Divine Unity, which is termed Good; which on a deeper level indicates that one cannot be said to be Good unless he/she is in sync with the Divine Order of the Universe (The Torah)! In expounding upon the above, we saw that the Hebrew word for Good is טוב (Tov), which also has a numeric equivalency of 17. So in a sense, the Torah was intimating that in order to achieve Divine Unity (Good) one must be in sync with the Whole Law (Torah) or in Hebrew חמשה חומשי תורה - which means 5-fifths Law; and since 5-fifths equals One Whole, then 5-fifths Law signify the Whole/Entire Torah. So if attaining Mastery of Spirit and hence Divine Unity were expressed as a mathematic equation, Tov טוב (Good) which is numerically equivalent to 17 and the Torah, which consists of 5 books (Kameeshah Komeeshee Torah - 1 Whole Law), would ultimately be expressed as 17.5! PLEASE. Keep this number in mind, as I will close this post with it Fully Defined! The Midrash teaches that there are 70 Faces to the Torah (Bamidbar Rabbah:13:15). What this means then is that there are 70 ways of looking at or into the Torah. In fact, the Hebrew letter Ayin ע which literally means Eye in Hebrew, has a numerical equivalence of 70!!! So then the Eye, which we use to look at or examine things/truths, has a numerical equivalency of 70 in Hebrew, intimating to us that the Torah can be analyzed in 70 different ways! So then, Torah Exposition, has 70 Faces, or 70 ways of delving into its inner meanings, as our sages of Blessed memory have indicated in the above Halachic Midrash (Bamidbar Rabbah:13:15). We read in the book of Ezra, that Ezra the Priest, set his heart to Expound לדרש (Midrash) on the Torah (Ezra:7:10)! Expound or exposition is by definition signifying: the portion of a story that introduces background or hidden information to the audience. So then, Torah Exposition consists of 4 levels of revealing the Torahs Truths, which are: 1). Pshat פשט which stands for the plain or literal meaning of any given Torah verse. 2). Remez רמז which indicates a greater Truth in the text itself by way of hint or allusion. 3). Drash דרש from whence the term Midrash is derived, is actually a combination of the above two; delving into and beyond the literal meaning of the text, by way of what it (The Text) may allude to via: Gematria (Numerical Equivalence), the very Shape of the letter such as the Over-Sized Bet ב of Berashit in the first Chapter of Genesis:1:1 and the extremely Small Hey ה of Bhebaram בהבראם of Genesis:2:4 in Hebrew. 4). Sod סוד which is the Esoteric meaning of the Text, which employs all of the above methods alongside some of the Esoterically Traditional (Kabbalistic) methods of Torah Exposition! When Torah Scholars or Master Teachers of Torah, delve into the text of the Torah itself, they employ the above mentioned 4 methods, which actually form the acronym: PaRdeS, from whence we get the term Paradise; however in Hebrew, PaRdeS פרדס translates as Orchard or Garden, which in the sense of Torah Exposition, signifies delving into the Mysteries of the Law (Torah)! In the most allegorical book of the Entire Torah (Hebrew Scriptures), Song of Songs שיר השירים which contains the Greatest Depth of Hebraic Allegory was paraphrased by Rabbi Akiba as Holy of Holies, even as he said: All the Songs of Scripture are Holy, but the Song of Songs is HOLY of HOLIES!!! In this amazing/immense Depth of Thought, King Solomon shares with us an Allegoric Song of G-ds Unrestrained Love for Israel, as well as Israels precious/fragrant Loyalty to G-d when she is en sync with the Torah. In delving into these truths Allegorically, King Solomon describes in one verse, the various levels of Torah interpretation/exposition (Midrash) as: PaRdeS פרדס in Hebrew, which again signified entering the Orchard of Torah Learning in Depth (Song of Songs:4:13)!! In conclusion, my intent in relaying these truths, is to open the unfamiliar-eye up to understand the Torah is like an Onion, which has to be peeled back 70 layers in order to Truly understand and comprehend it. In doing so, one will need to incorporate the various methods of Torah Exposition as outlined above. For the main idea of Torah Exposition (A Systematic way of Delving in the Immensely Deep Waters of the Torah), is to bring the intended audience to the Greatest possible comprehension of the Divine Will of G-d, so that one can incorporate this depth of thought into the very fiber of his/her being in order to achieve Divine Unity (Good). As we saw in the opening sentences of my post here, if we were to express the Divine Plan (Torah/5 books) and Ultimate reward (Good 17) as a mathematic equation, we would have 17.5; and since we just saw above that Torah Exposition has 4 Levels , we can now fathom a great mathematical Truth in light of Torah Exposition. For since the Torah has 70 faces which are manifest on 4 different levels and represents our Tool in achieving Divine Unity (17.5), then 70 divided by 4 (70 Faces of Torah and 4 Levels of Torah Exposition) = 17.5 - Divine Unity!! As always I pray that I have touched someone with thoughts that our G-d has put upon my heart this morning and as always I pray that HaShem Bless our Endeavors and Edify our Every step towards HIM! Avdiel Ben Levi עבדיאל בן לוי
Posted on: Mon, 21 Jul 2014 18:34:49 +0000
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