Musar su Proverbi 8:21

I once read an explanation of this: When a man commits adultery a malignant spirit is created in the form of the woman with whom he strayed. Then, when his time comes to leave this world, she wraps herself around him and drags him down to Gehinnom. It seems to me that this is what the Sages were alluding to when they said (Sanhedrin 100a), “In the future the Holy One Blessed is He will bestow upon every righteous person three hundred and ten worlds. As it is written, ‘To cause those who love Me to inherit substance (yeish, the numerical value of which is 310)’ (Mishlei 8:21).” I have heard this passage explained as follows: As we have already mentioned, when a man does a single mitzvah a single angel is created. The Sages tell us (Chullin 91b) that each angel is two thousand parsaos across (1 parsah = 2.80 miles.), as it is written, “And its body was like [the Sea of] Tarsus” (Daniel 10:6). According to tradition this sea was two thousand parsaos wide. Now altogether there are 613 Torah precepts and seven rabbinical enactments, totaling 620, the numerical value of the word keser — “crown.” Therefore, when the Jewish people keep the entire Torah, including the rabbinical injunctions, they acquire 620 angels.

This is a further reason why we have a statement that every righteous person will inherit 310 worlds in the future (Proverbs 8,21 — להנחיל לאוהבי יש as interpreted in the introduction to Tractate Avot). The worlds referred to are the worlds of Atzilut, Briyah, Yetzirah and Assiyah. There is no need for an allusion to the עולם האצילות seeing it has infinite dimensions which are impossible to symbolize by numbers. In that world there is something much closer to absolute unity than in any of the "worlds" which form part of the process of development. Since, however, even that world of emanations divides into ten parts, it is alluded to by the number 10 rather than 100.

All the descendants of Jacob will have a share in the world to come. The words (28,11) וישכב במקום ההוא which introduces Jacob's dream, contain most of these allusions. The word וישכב must be divided into two words, i.e. ויש, and כ"ב. The word ויש alludes to the world of the future, as we know from Proverbs 8,21: להנחיל אוהב יש, "in order to make those who love Me inherit something of substance." Our tradition interprets this statement to mean that every צדיק in the future will inherit 310=שי worlds (Uktzin 3,12). This corresponds to the nation ישראל, which is alluded to in the letters כ"ב, (metaphor for the alphabet which makes up the Torah).

The meaning of the name "Israel" in the future envisioned would not only denote the fact that he had prevailed in a struggle between the forces of evil and of good. At that time, Israel would not compete with evil but with the most highly placed angels. The position of Israel then would be so exalted that angels would address halachic enquiries to Israel. Rashi has mentioned this in connection with Numbers 23,23: כעת יאמר ליעקב ולישראל מה פעל השם, "At such a time Jacob and Israel will be spoken to about what G–d's works are." [my translation reflects the commentary mentioned. Ed.] The name "Israel" also denotes something of eternal value. We have already explained that the first two letters 310-יש, refer to the 310 worlds that every צדיק and צדקת will inherit in the Hereafter, [based on להנחיל אוהבי יש, Proverbs 8,21 Ed.] The remaining letters רלא, are an allusion to the superiority of Israel over the angels, seeing that Israel possesses the merit of having observed the Torah which is based on 22 letters, (alphabet) These 22 letters are 231 gateways, i.e. the permutations constructed from the alphabet as explained in the Sefer Yetzirah. [The second Mishnah in the fifth chapter of the book explains how these permutations are worked; you combine the first letter א, for instance, with all the other 21 letters. The second letter ב, is combined with the remaining 20 letters. The third letter ג, is combined with the remaining 19 letters, etc. By continuing in this fashion you will arrive at a total of 231. Ed.] The name ישראל is a composite of יש+ראל. Jacob had seen an allusion to this already in his dream of the ladder, during the course of which he glimpsed the highest domain of holiness, a dimension of the World to Come. When he lay down, i.e. וישכב, the letters in that word are a composite of יש+כ"ב, the 22 letters of the Aleph Bet. We have elaborated on that theme in its place. When Samael named Jacob ישראל, however, that was not what he had in mind, and that is why Jacob had still suffered from the "touch" (ויגע) during the struggle with Samael even after he had obtained his blessing. This effect also expressed itself in the word וישכב, with which Shechem's rape of Dinah is introduced in 34,2 [It would have been sufficient to merely mention ויענה, "he violated her against her will," the word following וישכב. Ed.]. The same word וישכב is repeated in the Torah's description of Reuben's relations with Bilhah, his father's concubine, in 35,22. Subsequently, however, there was no longer any Nachash (in the sense of serpent) attached to Jacob [play on words of Numbers 23,23 כי לא נחש ביעקב where Bileam describes the virtues of the Jewish people], seeing the name Jacob referred to the World to Come ever since Jacob's spirit was resurrected. This in turn represented an additional spiritual level over and above the one where G–d called Jacob "El," in 33,20. When G–d called Jacob "Isra-el," we must view the "Isra" as an additional dimension to the title "El" that He had already bestowed on him. The numerical value of the word א-ל, is 10% (מעשר) of the numerical value of the word 310) יש).