Chasidut zu Bereschit 41:52
וְאֵ֛ת שֵׁ֥ם הַשֵּׁנִ֖י קָרָ֣א אֶפְרָ֑יִם כִּֽי־הִפְרַ֥נִי אֱלֹהִ֖ים בְּאֶ֥רֶץ עָנְיִֽי׃
Den zweiten nannte er Ephrajim, denn: »Gott hat mich in dem Lande meines Elends fruchtbar gemacht.«
Kedushat Levi
Another approach to help us understand the line ועשית בגדי קודש לאהרן אחיך לכבוד ולתפארת: We know that of the twelve months of the year 6 months belong to the season known as “winter”, whereas the other 6 months are known as “summer.” The twelve months correspond to the 12 lunar cycles each of which is identified by star patterns described as מזלות, “constellation of stars in the sky.” Each month another one of these constellations carries out its assigned tasks. The twelve constellations may be summed up as 6 holy attributes, part of the mystical אור ישר ואור חוזר, “direct light emanating from the source, and reflected light carrying the spiritual input by the creatures who had encountered it. The six holy attributes are: 1) man’s love for his Creator, and his desire to serve Him out of love so as to provide Him with pleasure from His creatures. 2) The awe in which man holds G’d; his dread of transgressing rules that outlaw certain activities and defy His wishes. 3) the glory of G’d that man must experience when he sees how G’d “boasts” of man’s good deeds, compare Isaiah 49,3: עבדי אתה ישראל אשר בך אתפאר, “You are My servant Israel in whom I glory.” 4+5) the faith Israel displays. These are two virtues, even though they have a common heading. [The author had on a previous occasion distinguished between faith which is totally oblivious of any advantage one might personally gain from it, and faith which is tied to certainty that G’d will reward one tangibly. Ed.] 6) The attribute of negating self interest by linking oneself unreservedly to G’d and being completely content with whatever it is that He has in mind for him.
The 12 constellations are represented in the gemstones of the breastplate of the High Priest where they symbolize the 12 tribes of the Jewish people, the holy nation.
The month of Adar corresponds to the tribe of Joseph from whom 2 of the twelve tribes emerged. This is why when there is a need to insert an extra month in the calendar to compensate for the 11 days plus, that the lunar “year” is shorter than the solar year, this month appears in our calendar as both Adar I and Adar II. The appropriate zodiac sign for this month is therefore that of דגים, fish, which are a symbol of fertility as we know from Genesis 48,16 where Yaakov blessed Joseph by predicting that his sons’ offspring would be as numerous as that of fish. Another example of Joseph’s numerous offspring is alluded to in the words בן פרת יוסף “Joseph is a fruitful son.” Genesis 49,22. Just as fish are safe from the evil eye, seeing they are not visible on the earth’s surface, swimming beneath the surface of the oceans, so the Talmud in B’rachot 20 understands the words עלי עין, in the same verse as the protection afforded Joseph’s offspring from the potential damage from the evil eye of people envious of them.
When the letters of the word דג, “fish” are inverted, the result is גד, a word related to מזל in the sense of good fortune. (compare Talmud Shabbat 67) There the sages accuse people who wish themselves “that their mazzal, גד (protective star), not be tired either by day of by night,” as uttering idolatrous phrases. In the case of Joseph, whose two sons were called מנשה and אפרים respectively, the former is an allusion to historically negative phenomena, whereas the word אפרים is symbolic of historically favourable occurrences. Joseph already presaged this when naming his sons (Genesis 41,51-52) when he saw in the birth of his first son a reminder of his years of suffering, whereas he predicted a better future as being associated with the birth of his second son. The month of Adar similarly symbolizes hard times for the Jewish people during the first half, until after the 14th when the nation during the reign of Ahasverus had been saved from Haman’s wicked plots.
According to the Talmud Shabbat 104, where positioning of the letters and its symbolic significance is discussed, the symbolism of the letters of the Jewish calendar telling us something through the sequence in which they appear, our sages see in the sequence גד an abbreviation of the words גומל דלים, “G’d at work in reversing the fate of the poor, (Jews in exile)” The letter ד is understood to refer to the initial subjugation of the Jewish people, whereas the letter ג is understood as the subsequent turn for the better in the fortunes of this people. This is used as a reversal of the normal interpretation of such pairings of letters when the letter that is later in the alphabet appearing first, is considered as a bad omen. It was reserved for G’d to demonstrate that when He, as opposed to astrological factors, i.e. mazzal, is involved, He can reverse the predictions of the astrologers based on idolatry. Besides, we must never forget that even when G’d subjects us to harsh measures, the ultimate objective is to bring about our repentance and subsequent redemption. The Purim story is the best example of this, although it was unique in that not a hair of a single Jew was touched on that occasion, the disaster having been warded off by the people’s repentance in time.
The 12 constellations are represented in the gemstones of the breastplate of the High Priest where they symbolize the 12 tribes of the Jewish people, the holy nation.
The month of Adar corresponds to the tribe of Joseph from whom 2 of the twelve tribes emerged. This is why when there is a need to insert an extra month in the calendar to compensate for the 11 days plus, that the lunar “year” is shorter than the solar year, this month appears in our calendar as both Adar I and Adar II. The appropriate zodiac sign for this month is therefore that of דגים, fish, which are a symbol of fertility as we know from Genesis 48,16 where Yaakov blessed Joseph by predicting that his sons’ offspring would be as numerous as that of fish. Another example of Joseph’s numerous offspring is alluded to in the words בן פרת יוסף “Joseph is a fruitful son.” Genesis 49,22. Just as fish are safe from the evil eye, seeing they are not visible on the earth’s surface, swimming beneath the surface of the oceans, so the Talmud in B’rachot 20 understands the words עלי עין, in the same verse as the protection afforded Joseph’s offspring from the potential damage from the evil eye of people envious of them.
When the letters of the word דג, “fish” are inverted, the result is גד, a word related to מזל in the sense of good fortune. (compare Talmud Shabbat 67) There the sages accuse people who wish themselves “that their mazzal, גד (protective star), not be tired either by day of by night,” as uttering idolatrous phrases. In the case of Joseph, whose two sons were called מנשה and אפרים respectively, the former is an allusion to historically negative phenomena, whereas the word אפרים is symbolic of historically favourable occurrences. Joseph already presaged this when naming his sons (Genesis 41,51-52) when he saw in the birth of his first son a reminder of his years of suffering, whereas he predicted a better future as being associated with the birth of his second son. The month of Adar similarly symbolizes hard times for the Jewish people during the first half, until after the 14th when the nation during the reign of Ahasverus had been saved from Haman’s wicked plots.
According to the Talmud Shabbat 104, where positioning of the letters and its symbolic significance is discussed, the symbolism of the letters of the Jewish calendar telling us something through the sequence in which they appear, our sages see in the sequence גד an abbreviation of the words גומל דלים, “G’d at work in reversing the fate of the poor, (Jews in exile)” The letter ד is understood to refer to the initial subjugation of the Jewish people, whereas the letter ג is understood as the subsequent turn for the better in the fortunes of this people. This is used as a reversal of the normal interpretation of such pairings of letters when the letter that is later in the alphabet appearing first, is considered as a bad omen. It was reserved for G’d to demonstrate that when He, as opposed to astrological factors, i.e. mazzal, is involved, He can reverse the predictions of the astrologers based on idolatry. Besides, we must never forget that even when G’d subjects us to harsh measures, the ultimate objective is to bring about our repentance and subsequent redemption. The Purim story is the best example of this, although it was unique in that not a hair of a single Jew was touched on that occasion, the disaster having been warded off by the people’s repentance in time.
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Sefat Emet
(a) In the name of my grandfather and teacher, of blessed memory: He explained the disagreement between Beit Shammai and Beit Hillel as to whether one increases day by day or decreases. He explained that, in the lamp, there is an aspect of illumination and one of combustion, that being to burn the waste material and to purge the inside by the fire of desire for Him, may He be blessed. And Beit Shammai are of the view that, initially, it is necessary to "depart from evil [and (then) do good]" (Ps. 34:14), and thus the practice of decreasing day by day. And Beit Hillel are of the view that the main idea is to increase day by day, such that the enthusiasm that illuminates through him will purify his body and will automatically purge the waste material. (b) And this is also what is written that Yosef placed Menashe first, while Ya'akov placed Efraim first. For the name Menashe is from "God has made me forget [nashani] ... my travail" (Gen. 41:51), as with "forget your people and your father's house" (Ps. 45:11), and he thought this about Ya'akov. But Ya'akov our ancestor, peace be on him, realized that not everyone is prepared for this, and he placed Efraim first [see Gen. 41:52: Efraim "for God has made me fertile (hifrani)"], corresponding to the view of Beit Hillel. Thus far [my grandfather's] statement, may his memory be for a blessing. (c) And according to this, both the formulation "increases day by day" and the formulation "decreases day by day" make sense, for they are in truth two paths. There are those who proceed by diminishing the subjugation of the body, and there are those who proceed by increasing the light of the spirit and of the insides. And this is a matter of "Ehad marbeh v'ehad mam'it" [originally, it is all the same whether one does much or one does little, provided that one directs one's mind towards Heaven. Ber. 5b, 17a]. And these two aspects are of Hallel and Thanksgiving, as we have said elsewhere.
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