This study is offered in the loving memory of Mr. Arnold Student Litman, may he rest in peace.
Our study this week takes us to the root of a very, very serious problem and the Gematria behind the problem. We begin with Hashem speaking to Moshe Rabbeinu on Har Sinai. Forty days appeared to have passed. Moshe hadn’t returned. A problem immediately began... Things got out of hand. It was like a runaway freight train going downhill.
An evil idea was formed. Aharon was consulted. Gold was solicited, found, collected, formed into the image of a calf, finished and worshiped within hours... One could easily say this was a very dark day in Kal Yisroel’s past. In fact Rashi says it was a very dark day. ‘On the sixteenth of Tammuz the Satan came and caused disorder in the world by creating the appearance of darkness, deep gloom and confusion {so as to lead people} to say: ‘Moshe has certainly died.’’’
How could so much evil be accomplished in such a short time? How could things get so out of hand in just hours? The answer is not so complicated. B'nei Yisroel arrived at Har Sinai on the first day of the third month. It was the first of Sivan. This was only 45 days removed from Mitzriam. Shortly after arriving they began the three day preparation period to meet Hashem. Then on the seventh of Sivan, just 52 days after being delivered from Mitzriam, Moshe went up on Har Sinai. He was away for the next forty plus days. B'nei Yisroel’s leader was gone. Our supreme judge was gone. Our teacher was gone. What were we to do now?
Let’s face it, after ten plagues, heavy deliverance, the parting of the Sea of Reeds, total destruction of Pharaoh's army, a cloud to lead us by day and a pillar of fire by night, the sweetening of the water at Marsh, manna falling each morning, swarms of quail by evening, water gushing forth from the rock at Rephidim, the battle with Amalek, the establishment of a legal system, preparation to meet Hashem and meeting Hashem and the giving of Ha Torah; what could the next forty days have been like?
We have a clue. B'nei Yisroel had not been taught the entire Torah, their legal system {the system of leaders appointed by Moshe} was in place less than three weeks when Moshe Rabbeinu departed. Just sit back for a minute and think about this. Besides this there were two distinct groups of people. There were over three million Jews and there were a few thousand non Jews who came along for the ride. They were not Jews. They were not Torah observant. They were observers... They were reporters... They were insurgents...
At every difficulty they were there doing what insurgents do. At the Sea of Reeds B’nei Yisroel cried out to Hashem, but they ‘‘{the insurgents} said, to Moshe, ‘Were there not enough graves in Mitzriam that you took us out to die in the wilderness?...’ Shemos 14:11. At Marsh they complained... they led the complaints against Moshe in the wilderness, ‘‘And B’nei Yisroel said to them, ‘If only we had died by the hand of Hashem in the land of Mitzriam, as we sat by our pots of meat and ate our fill of bread...’’’ Shemos 16:3. The insurgents stirred it up on the Shabbat... then at Rephidim again they stirred it up... then when Moshe did not return they began all over again. How do we know this? While B'nei Yisroel learned Ha Torah, observed Shabbat and awaited Moshe’s return they, the insurgents, made plans to stir it up. They devised schemes. Everything was in place. By the sixth hour on what may have been the fortieth day they went into action. Their intentions, their purposes, their actions were designed to return B'nei Yisroel to slavery. Their plan was to attack the only commands that B'nei Yisroel had heard from Hashem at Har Sinai.
‘‘I am Hashem, your G-d, Who brought you from the land of Mitzriam, from the house of slaves.’’ Shemos 20:2
‘You must not have other gods before My Presence.’ Shemos 20:3
‘You must not make a carved image, or any picture that is in the heavens above, or in earth below, or in the water below the earth.’ Shemos 20:4
‘You must not prostrate yourself to them, and you must not serve them. For I, Hashem your G-d, Am a jealous Alm-ghty...’ Shemos 20:5
It was these commands that the insurgents attacked. They said, ‘These are your gods Yisroel that brought you from the land of Mitzriam’ Shemos 32:4
Now notice the Gematria Mispar Katan of these eight words = 116
Vah Yohm Roo - Ay Leh Eh Loh Heh Chaw - Yisroel + Ah Shehr - Heh Eh Loo Chaw - May Eh Rehtz - Mitzriam....
116 is the exact number of years of B'nei Yisroel’s slavery. The intent of the insurgents was to neutralize Hashem as G-d Alm-ghty, our Deliverer, terminate our worship of Him, terminate our freedom of worship and return us to the slavery of idol worship.
They were well organized. They were well prepared. They moved swiftly. The suddenness of their actions temporarily overshadowed us, casting us into a temporary obscurity. For a short time our sense of reasoning was blacked out. We were cast into a spell of deep darkness. This was Ah Fee Law {Thick / Obscure} The Gematria for Ah Fe Law = 116
Finally we were greatly missing ‘his right hand.’ We were missing the hand that carried the rod. We were missing that hand that raised the rod against Pharaoh, and the hand that raised against the Sea of Reeds, the hand that struck the rock, the hand raised in blessing over our battle with Amalek, the hand that guided us and blessed us... It was Moshe’s hand, his right hand. In the same way when someone very special like a parent or grandparent leaves us we greatly miss them. We miss their courage and their encouragement. We miss their visits. We miss their presence. And every Erev Shabbat we miss their right hand gently reaching out to bless us.
Our enemies seized our loneliness for Moshe and attacked us. We see this in the Gematria Yaw Mee Noh {His Right Hand}.
Wishing you the best,
Blessings and peace,
Dr. Akiva Gamliel Belk
Written 5760
Updated 5764
