Sunday, March 27, 2005

From Purim to Pesach part 2

Need some more brainstorming on this one, but, for starters:

There is an interesting thing about many Letter Tzaddi (or Tzaddik) based words
- they connote some measure of constriction or pressure. For example: "Hinei zeh
omed achar kosleinu mashgi'ach min ha'chalonos MEITZITZ min ha'charackim" - the
word MEITZITZ means to look through a narrow aperture or to squint.

There seems to be a distinction between similar types of words in this category:
Mem-Tzaddi words vs. Tzaddi-Mem words. The M-TZ words, such as Motzatz imply
applying pressure or squeezing (perhaps via the connotation of the Mem prefix -
"From" - i.e., "from something to squeeze") while the TZ-M words, such as
Tzameh, thirsty, imply the void created as a result (i.e., "what is the result
of the squeezing process"). The distinction, however, seems somewhat arbitrary,
and needs some fine-tuning.

All of this likely has to do with the more esoteric concept of a tzaddik
(without getting into the exact appellation of the letter, the Gemara in Shabbos
links it to the tzaddik persona), who is the gibbor ha'kovesh - applies
pressures to - yitzro. I think in the Kabbalistic system also, the "tzaddik
yesod olam" represents the narrowed pathway through which the shefa flows back
and forth from the upper sefiros to malchus and vice versa. 90 is a 10
(shleymus) multiple of 9, and yesod is the ninth sefira.

Phonetically, the pronunciation of the tzaddi also sounds and requires the
tongue to squeeze the palate.

Thus, a word like Matzah probably pertains to the pressure applied to the dough
to prevent its rising - which is why an alternate meaning of the word is an
altercation, in which two parties apply pressure to one another. "Le'matzos"
means to pour out completely - extracting every last drop from a barrel, and, of
course Mitz is the result of Metzitzah, which extracts juice, and Tamtzis is
essence. And, of course, Meitzar is a narrowed space. A Metziah is something
that came through a process of narrowing your search until you hit upon the
found object.

OTOH, Tzameh, as before, means a void experienced because liquid has been
drained from you, and tzom is similar in connotation. Tzimtzum thus is the
result - the void - which occurs after Hashem removed His presence from the
conscious dimension of existence (could be that we speak about Tzimtzum with the
tzaddi preceding the mem because we do not, C"V, which to imply that Hashem
truly extracted His presence from the Beriyah, but rather that our perception is
that that is the case.

Chametz, thus, is either the destruction (ches connoting churban) or
transcendence (ches connoting that which rises above the normal natural process
- 7 vs. 8) of the M-TZ process - the kneading and working the dough is arrested
and the dough is allowed to rise. Metzach is a fascinating opposite, as it seems
to connote that the forehead contains and constrains the brain, but at the same
time expresses it, as in "chochmas ha'partzuf" (BTW, the Peh-Tzaddi combo is
fascinating, as a Peh seems to connote openness - so Peh-Tzaddi is a "busting
out of confines" - "U'poratzto" or "Potzeh" - while the Tzaddi-Peh combo
connotes a narowness - for a vaster purpose - like a "tzofeh" who squints in
order to see further.

So Matzoh is "Lechem Oni" not just because poor people eat it - but because it
is itself afflicted and pounded in order to prevent it from rising. And, the way
Oni is spelled in Devaim 16:10, chaser, it is in gimatriya 130 - the numerical
value of the chasadim (5 x 26) in the Sidduro shel Shabbos's analysis of the
word Kahal that we cited earlier in this series (BTW, the gimatriya of the
gevuros (5 x 86 - shem Elokim - would be 430 - the number the Chumash gives for
our sojourn in Mitzrayim - the land of Meitzar). Were Oni to be spelled with a
vav it would, of course, be the same as Tzom, Kol, Mammon, but it's not.

All of which is leading us to the essence of Matzoh, which brings us, however,
first, to correlate 135 - the gimatriya of Matzoh ( and Kahal) to the gimatriya
of 150 which is metaher the sheretz. I will leave that for a further e-mail, but
make some preliminary points for now:

1. Y-H, Chazal say, is the name with which the Universe was create ("BY-H Hashem
tzur olamim" - this actually leads me to suspect that when Chazal tell us ein
ha'sehm shalem ad she'yimocheh zar'o shel Amalek, it is the *first* heh and vav
that are missing, not the second heh). Olam ha'Boh with a yud and Olam ha'Zeh
with a heh.

2. Reb Tzadok in explaining 150 says that all things are comprised of "rosh, sof
vo'emtza" (BTW, sheer tangent, 50 is also in gimatriya "tameh"). He also notes
there that the yam she'oso Shlomo contained 150 mikva'os tahara, and the teiva
of No'ach contained 150,000 mikva'os (450K cubic amos, and a mikva is three
cubic amos) and, of course, the water rose for 150 days.

3. 150 is the 10 multiple of Y-H, 135 is the nine - tzaddik - multiple of Y-H.

4. On another tangent - those who fight Esav and Amalek - Yosef *ha'tzaddik* and
Yehoshua - both have lifespans of 110 - the missing vav-heh (6+5=11x10=110)?

2 comments:

  1. I was emailed the following question:

    Hello-

    On your blog you wrote:

    Tzimtzum thus is the result - the void - which occurs after Hashem removed His presence from the conscious dimension of existence (could be that we speak about Tzimtzum with the tzaddi preceding the mem because we do not, C"V, which to imply that Hashem truly extracted His presence from the Beriyah, but rather that our perception is that that is the case.


    Is this a way of saying tzimtzum aino kipshuto? If that is what you meant to say then why write C"V as if to imply that tzimtzum kipshuto is somehow a heretical belief? (I would hope that is not what you meant.)

    ReplyDelete
  2. I do believe tzimtzum k'peshuto is heretical (or, at least, close to it). I do not think anyone really holds of tzimtzum k'peshuto.

    ReplyDelete