#142 - "To Thy SEED Have I Given It"

Noting that today is the 41st day of the Sephirat HaOmer count, the Kabblistic Sephira for this day is Yesod She'B'Yesod "Foundation within Foundation". And as mentioned in the second introduction to the Tikunei Zohar, the Kabbalistic Sephirot correspond to various parts of the body. For Yesod, it is the part of the body on which the Brit Mila (circumcision) is performed, called in the text as the phrase Ot Brit Kodesh "Sign of the Holy Covenant".

Bearing in mind that these seven Kabbalistic Sephirot - Chesed/Gevurah/Tiferet/Netzach/Hod/Yesod/Malchut - also correspond to the seven days of the week, it is Yesod that corresponds to the sixth day of the week, and as it turns out this year, the first time in 14 years, the Sephira period corresponds in order of the days of the week. Hence, this day of the Sephira which is represented by the Sephira combination of Yesod She'B'Yesod falls out this year on the sixth day of the week, the day of the week on which Adam and Eve, the first of mankind, were created. Indeed, it is most appropriate that it is this day of the week that corresponds to Yesod, for it is for the sake of mankind that Hashem created this world. Hence, it is mankind that is the foundation of the world. And more precisely, as noted in Mishlei (Proverbs 10:25), the Tzadik, righteous person, is the foundation of the world.And as we know Kabbalistically, the concept of Tzadik is most related to the Sephira of Yesod.

The reason for the connection of the Tzadik to Yesod is because this is based especially on the concept of Shemirat HaBrit, observing the Covenant, refering to what relates to matters of the male membrum. That is, it is supposed to be used only for holy purposes in terms of permitted sexual relations, and all other uses of it outside of this domain due to lustful thoughts goes against this, being called Pegam HaBrit, G-d forbid blemishing the Covenant.

While it is especially hard in this society to avoid the various temptations that could G-d forbid lead to sexual sins, or even just impure thoughts, starting with looking at members of the other sex that straight men are attracted to, the rewards for Shemirat HaBrit are enormous. (As for homosexual men, Rabbi Moshe Feinstein of blessed memory, the leading Posek (decider of Jewish law) of the previous generation made it clear that homosexuality is not a desire, but rather an abomination that people choose to follow. This is in sharp contrast to the false claims of homosexuals or evil scientists who want to justify such behavior as being born with it or being in their DNA genes).

The prime example of the Tzadik who represents this concept is Joseph son of Jacob, for he personally went through an enormous tempation of the constant pleadings of the beautiful looking wife of his master Potifar to sleep with her at the highlight of his hormonal age of 18. Having passed the big test, though at the cost of 12 years in prison, he is called Yosef HaTzadik, and is one of the Shiva HaRoim "Seven Shepherds" who grace our Succot with their spiritual presence. He is the only one of the 12 Tribes who merited to have his two sons being considered as two separate Tribes themselves; hence, the amount of land of Israel alloted to these two tribes when combined was like twice the amount that the children of any given Tribe received. For though he was the son of the 12 sons of Jacob who lived the least amount of time in Israel being that he was exiled by his older brothers at the tender age of 17, his spiritual challenges made him all the greater Tzadik than the rest of his brothers, aside from his superior Torah knowledge that he had, as Jacob focuses his Torah teaching energies on him.

So in a way, Joseph representing the sixth day of the week via the Sephirah of Yesod, made some rectification for this day of the week, the day on which Adam and Eve, newly created, also sinned via the temptation of the forbidden fruit. In fact, the words Peh (mouth) which is used for eating and Mila (male membrum) have the same Gematria of 85. And as noted in Kabbalah, Shemirat HaLashon, watching what we say, helps us with Shemirat HaBrit, while not using our mouth the right way such as slandering or talebearing on others has the opposite effect on our Brit, G-d forbid.

Time is short for me today on this Erev Shabbat, shortly before the Sabbath, but there are many wonderful sources of learning how to properly observe Shemirat HaBrit, which includes Shemirat HaEinayim, being careful of what our eyes watch, as our rabbis tell us, "The eye sees, the heart covets, and the body sins" (I hope to post these sources after Shabbat). But I must tell you that while there are even websites that have information on this most important concept that determines one's eternal fate, the internet itself is something that many rabbis have declared unsafe to use, and it is only for purposes such as making a living with it that some of them hesitantly have permitted, being that one's children are ever prone to sneak behind their parent's back and watch what they like. Fortunately, there are programs that weed out at least most of what is prohibited to look at according to the Torah.

One thing that I do want to mention is that the word used in the various sources about sexual purity in reference to semen is the word Zera "seed". And how many times in the Chumash does this word spell in consecutive order of these letters? It's the same answer as the number of this post - 142. And what does the text say in reference to the final time that it is used in the Torah? It is in Hashem's final message to Moses right before he dies, which is about the land of Israel, to which Joshua, descendant of Joseph and Moses' successor, led the Jewish people a month later "To thy seed have I given it" (Deutronomy 34:4)

26 Iyar, 5772/ 41st Day of the Sephirah - Yesod She'B'Yesod