02 Jun Bamidbar: The 42 Encampments and Elokah the Power of Creation
Parshas Bamidbar: The 42 Encampments and Elokah the Power of Creation
Inspired by the teachings of Harav Yitzchak Ginsburgh and Rabbi Moshe Genuth
It was in the emptiness of the Wilderness of Bamidbar (the desert) that the Israelites were able to fill their spiritual void and unify as a Nation. Bamidbar was a place to create, recreate and rectify themselves individually and as a Nation. In similar fashion, we are always experiencing the emptiness of the desert of Bamidbar as we must always look to fill our individual and National spiritual void, in our journey to recreate and rectify ourselves.
The revelation of Matan Torah on Shavuos created a ‘conduit’ of heaven and earth… above and below.
42 Encampments of Bamidbar –
There are 42 encampments on the journey of Bamidbar where the Klol stopped and camped. There is a secret revealed in the gematria of the (un-namable) Name of G-d ‘Elokah (Kel)’ = 42 which is associated with chesed. It is one of the secrets of 42 in Kabbalah in relation to the Elokah as ‘the power of Creation of the Universe’ as the Divine act of creation begins with God’s saying ‘yehi’ (‘let there be…’) = 25, and concludes with God’s seeing His creation to be tov (“good”) = 17. 25 (the beginning of the creative process) plus 17 (the conclusion of the creative process) = 42 (the all-inclusive power of creation). ‘(Rav Y. Ginsburgh – inner.org).
The ‘power of Creation’ Elokah (42) is the power of birth and re-birth.
Each of the 42 encampments was a time for an individual and National cheshbon (a time of taking inventory) , and the integration of the experiences of the journey in order to rectify their heart. The 42 encampments thus represent the interinclusion of 6 of the 7 lower emanations (emotive experiences) of the heart (6 x 7 = 42); chesed, gevurah, tiferet, netzach, hod, yesod (these are aka zeir anpin) and the 7th Malchut (kingship – nukvah). The culmination of all 6 emanations ‘from above’ is the 7th as Malchut (Kingship). The experience of malchut is to receive the rectification from all 6 emenations above and to elevate all heavenward. The journey of Bamidbar is then to manifest and integrate Malchut-Kingship of the Land, the Children of Israel, and bring Mashiach.
Each of these 42 encampments thus represents the aspect of the creation of a rebirth of a new self and a new Klol Yisroel. It is the same in our lives today. We ought not miss the opportunities to stop at our unique individual (42) encampments to integrate change into ourselves by connecting our mind (intellect, upper) with our heart (emotive, lower) in order to bring about our personal rectification-tikun, the rectification of the Jewish Nation…and the Final Redemption, Mashiach.
Some significant references to 42 –
The first 42 letter of the Torah in Bereishis, the Creation of the Universe, are the 42 letters of the ineffable Name of G-d;
In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. (Gen 1:1) Now the earth was unformed and void…(Gen 1:2). These words beginning the Torah contains Hebrew 42 letters. Each time the Nation journeyed and camped marks a point in the process of transformation… tshuvah and rebirth. An act of Creation.
The numerical value of 42 is found in tefillin; In each of the tefillin (phylacteries)—the head and the arm tefillin—there appears in each the phrase “I will be” (אֶהְיֶה) 21 times, thus the total appearance of the phrase in the arm and head tefillin is 21×2=42 times. Ek*ah is a holy 4 letter name of God that implies new birth or self revelation. The tefillin are agents for drawing down the energy of the mother principle, allowing a person to “become” and make progress in life (R. Ginsburgh)… a rebirth.
Following are insights of ’42’ as it relates to the Name of G-d Elokah, the attribute of the power of creation from Harav Yitzchak Ginsburgh…
Names of G-d; Elokah (42)
Harav Yitzchak Ginsburgh
In Kabbalah, the Name Elokah is generally associated with the sefirah of chesed (as is the Name Kel, which is composed of the first two letters of Elokah).
Elokah (as well as Kel ) is often considered to represent a “meta-Name,” i.e. a referent for God’s very (“unnamable”) Essence, which possesses a “spectrum” of Names (or “garbs”).
The soul of Israel is described as “an actual part of Elokah from on high.”
Elokah = 42 (2 times 21, the value of God’s Name Ekyeh which appears as a pair in God’s words to Moses: “Ekyeh asher Ekyeh”). As the world was created with the power of God’s 42 letter Name, the Name Elokah implies the power of creation. The Name Kel in at-bash = 420 = 10 times Elokah.
One of the secrets of 42 in Kabbalah in relation to the creation of the universe is that the Divine act of creation begins with God’s saying yehi (“let there be…”) = 25, and concludes with God’s seeing His creation to be tov (“good”) = 17. 25 (the beginning of the creative process) plus 17 (the conclusion of the creative process) = 42 (the all-inclusive power of creation).
In at-bash, the first 2 letters of the Name Elokah (Kel ) transform to tav, kaf, which = 420. The additional two letters of Elokah (vav,hei ) transform to pei, tzadik, which = 170. 420 = 10 times 42; 170 = 10 times 17. At the very end of creation, God saw all that He had created to be “very good.” This is the significance of the additional 170 of God’s Name Elokah.
The most basic of the “full spellings” of Elokah = 203, which = barah (“He created”), the second word of the Torah (and the first three letters of the first word of the Torah, Breishit). Our first father Abraham (the letters of whose name permute to spell barah ma, “He created ma [the intermediate state between ‘nothing’ and ‘something’, that amorphous state of creation which reflects the ongoing process of recreation, something from nothing].” The two words barah ma = 203 and 45, the “full spellings” of Elokah and Havayah ), who corresponds to the sefirah of chesed (whose Divine Name is Kel or Elokah) was the first man to reveal God’s presence on earth. In the words of the Torah, he revealed God to be Havayah Kel olam (“Havayah, God–universe).”
Significantly, the verse does not read “God of the universe” (Genesis21:33), which would imply that God and universe are two separate entities [God being the master of His created universe], but rather “God-universe,” implying that in absolute truth, God is One with [in] His universe. This is true meaning of the Jewish ideal of monotheism, first proclaimed by Abraham). This phrase = 203 = barah =Elokah (in “full spelling”).
We are always experiencing the emptiness of the desert of Bamidbar as we must always be mindful to fill our individual and National spiritual void with goodness in our journey to recreate and rectify ourselves.
Leib Getzel (Lawrence) Lax
Addictions and Counseling
lawrenceJlax@gmail.com
LawrenceLax.com
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