Musar su Salmi 20:78

מצות מינוי המלך . The straightforward meaning of the commandment to appoint a king is to imbue the people with the fear of the authority he wields. They will observe Torah laws better because there is a terrestrial king who will hold them responsible for non-observance. Because of this the king is commanded to be especially scrupulous in his own מצוה observance as it would not do for him to call to order or even convict others for sins which he himself is guilty of. This idea is symbolized by the Torah's command that the king must have two Torah scrolls, i.e. he must be twice as scrupulous as his subjects in observing what is written in the Torah. The reason he is warned not to amass too many wives, too many horses, or too much gold and silver is because each one of these is indicative of too much greed. The possession of too many horses also falls under this heading, since the king must rely on G–d and not on man made means of salvation. We remind ourselves of this in our daily prayers when we recite Psalms 20,8: "They (call) on chariots, they (call) on horses, but we call on the name of the Lord our G–d." Our sages rule that the king must be extra scrupulous in his personal conduct in order to inspire his subjects and not give them an excuse to sin by pointing to his own own lax observance of the commandments; we in our time can apply this ruling to our teachers and rabbis and anyone in a position of authority.

Continuing the allegory, Jacob, "concealed" the letter ע in his name when he crossed the river יבק, (which is יעקב minus the letter ע), as reported in 32, 23: ויעבר את מעבר יבק. The Kabbalists say that the remaining letters of his name, i.e. י-ב-ק stand for יעננו ביום קראנו, "May He respond to us on the day we call upon Him." The letter ע is "swallowed up," concealed in the word יעננו. Since the letter ע, when following the letter י, is practically not heard, it supplements the word יבק as if the former had been spelled יעקב. The expression יעננו ביום קראנו can then be perceived as a call by Jacob. I have elaborated elsewhere on the numerical value of the word ויעבור being equivalent to the Ineffable Four-Lettered Name being spelled in words i.e. 72 + 216, both permutations of the name of G–d.

The deeper meaning of the word is that it is an instrument ready and willing to be fashioned by G–d. Acceptance of Divine input from the Celestial Regions results in a spiritual awakening in our regions. Our sages who stated that the sacrificial service is something needed in the Celestial Regions meant that the concept of Israel in the Celestial Regions depends on this input from us through our sacrifices for the furtherance of its own perfection. This is the meaning of Psalms 20,3: ישלח עזרך מקדש "May He send you help from the Sanctuary." It is a reference to sanctity in the "higher" regions helping to establish sanctity in our "lower" regions. The meaning of the word מקודש is also that "for the sake of the sanctity which will emanate from our regions G–d sends His help from above." Jacob merited this level of sanctity because he, as the first of the patriarchs, succeeded to sire children all of whom were loyal to G–d and His teachings. As a result he qualified for the name corresponding to all that the name ישראל in the Celestial Regions in connection with מעשה בראשית stands for. This is the mystical dimension of Genesis 47,31: וישתחו ישראל על ראש המטה, "Israel bowed at the head of the bed." This is also the mystical dimension of Midrash Tanchuma Kedoshim 1 אתם מתקדשים בי ואני מתקדש בכם, "You will become sanctified through Me, and I will become sanctified through you." Whichever way you look at this, it all expresses צדקה, "righteousness," as it shows G–d's desire to help those who wish to sanctify themselves.

Our Sages instituted that we recite three times a day the verse, “And He, the merciful One atones iniquity, and does not destroy; He frequently withdraws His anger, and does not arouse all His rage” (Tehillim 78:38). It is said once in the prayer “Acknowledge Hashem, call upon His name,” once in “And a redeemer will come to Tzion,” and once at the beginning of the evening service. The reason for this is as follows: In this verse there are thirteen words, corresponding to the thirteen Divine attributes of mercy and three times thirteen is thirty-nine. Now, each day the evil impulse overwhelms a person so that it is only with the greatest difficulty that he is able to avoid committing sins carrying the penalty of thirty-nine lashes. Thus the recitation of this verse is a way of requesting the Holy One Blessed is He to grant atonement for the person’s sin as if he had actually received the lashes, in order that he will not be destroyed on account of it. For iniquity provokes the destructive forces called “anger” and “wrath.” It was these that brought indictments against Israel continually while they were in Egypt so that the Holy One Blessed is He, through His graciousness and compassion only revealed Himself to save them in the merit of the three Patriarchs. When He did reveal Himself it was in the form of the three Divine names: E-H-Y-H (“I will be”), Y-H-V-H (Tetragrammaton) and A-D-N-Y (“Lord”). The sum of the numerical values of these names is 112, which is equal to that of the acronym YB”K, the initial letters of the words, Ya’aneinu be’yom kareinu — “He will answer us on the day that we call out” (Tikkunei Zohar Chadash 130a). For this reason after we recite the verse, “And He is merciful, etc.,” we then recite the verse, “Hashem will save; the King will answer us on the day that we call out” (Tehillim 20:10).

כי בי-ה ה' צור עולמים

What did the previous quotation of Psalms 20,6, "May we shout for joy in Your victory!" have to do with flags? Furthermore, what did the Midrash mean when it said that the flags were meant to lend each tribe a distinctive individuality, i.e. שיהיו נכרים? Why should the use of the expression חיבה גדולה "great fondness," by the Midrash on two occasions be the equivalent of love, אהבה?

Another difficulty is that we are told by the Midrash in Song of Songs 2,4, that when G–d descended on Mount Sinai to give Israel the Torah He brought with Him 22,000 ministering angels. We know this from the verse in Psalms 68,18, רכב אלוקים רבותים, אלפי שנאן. "The chariots of G–d are myriads upon myriads, thousands upon thousands." All these angels were made to appear with flags, or like flags. Israel developed a yearning for flags and wished also to have flags like these. This is why it says in Song of Songs, 2,4, "He has brought me to the house of wine," i.e. Sinai where the Torah was given, which in turn has been compared to wine." The verse in Proverbs 9,5,"Drink of the wine I have mixed," refers to Sinai. The words דגלו עלי אהבה, in Song of Songs 2,4, refer to Israel exclaiming "I wish G–d would display His love for me through the flags." G–d responded saying: "Since you yearn for flags, I am surely going to fulfil your request," to wit Psalms 20,6, ימלא השם כל משאלותיך, "may the Lord fulfil your every wish." G–d immediately informed Israel of His decision by instructing Moses to make flags for them, as is written: “איש על דגלו באותות.” So far the Midrash. This Midrash too requires an explanation. Again we need to know what the term "love" is all about! We further need to know how the wording in this Midrash adds anything to the previous Midrash on that subject?

My merit has been depleted by all the favors and the fulfillment of Your promises." According to Rabbi Aba in Bereshit Rabbah 76,5 the word קטונתי, means that Jacob felt unworthy of all the favors he had experienced at the hands of G–d. Rabbi Levi, however, feels that Jacob had felt entitled to receive favors, but had exhausted his merits by so doing. Both Rabbis are quite correct. Jacob's remarks expressed both his feelings vis-a-vis Esau and his feelings vis-a-vis Samael. Concerning his standing vis-a-vis Esau, Jacob expressed concern that the very favors he had experienced up to now might place him in a disadvantageous position, for Esau had not been recompensed for his merits. We know from Shabbat 32a that a miracle performed for someone draws on his accumulated merits. The Talmud derives this principle from our verse. Rashi understands the verse in the latter sense. We must conclude that Jacob appealed to G–d at this point to perform a miracle for him now too, in order to save him from Esau. When he invoked the four-lettered Name of G–d, we see a similarity to Psalms 20, 8: ’אלה ברכב ואלה בסוסים ואחנו בשם ה' אלוקינו נזכיר, "They (call) on chariots, they (call) on horses, but we call on the name of the LORD our G–d," for true salvation is G–d's domain. Not feeling morally entitled, Jacob pleaded with G–d to perform the miracle for the sake of His Name. Regarding his imminent confrontation with Samael, however, he said: קטונתי מכל האמת, he invoked his own specific attribute of “אמת,” as we have explained repeatedly in connection with Michah 7,20: תתן אמת ליעקב, "You will keep faith with Jacob." This attribute is a reference to the Torah which is known as תורת אמת, in other words the Torah was given to the people of Israel through this attribute of Jacob. According to the Kabbalists the Torah originates in the upper regions of Heaven, a region where the attribute of Jacob is at home. Jacob is described in the Torah as being איש תם, "a perfect individual residing in the 'tents' of Torah” (Genesis 25,27). The expression קטונתי, "I am too insignificant, too unworthy," may be understood better when we compare it to the last Mishnah in tractate Sotah 49, where we are told that after the death of Rabbi Yossi the “קטנותא,” there were no longer any men deserving the title "the pious one." If Rabbi Yossi was so pious, why does the Mishnah refer to him as "the little one?" According to Rashi the meaning is that Rabbi Yossi was the least pious of all the pious men preceding him. According to Maimonides it means that Rabbi Yossi was the "root" of all the pious men, and the root is by nature something that has small beginnings. Jacob then alluded to the process of attaining significance as being one that commences by one's being small, קטן. This is also why Jacob is popularly known as יעקב הקטן, "little Jacob." In his entreaty to G–d to save him from Samael, Jacob referred to this when he said: קטונתי. When Rabbi Levi said in the Midrash that Jacob meant: "I was deserving, he meant "but now I have become 'small' seeing that my merits may have been used up."

At this point I want to explain the meaning of the verse "ובשם אלוקינו נדגול," "we will march with the banner of our Lord" (Psalms 20,6). This will be the conclusion of our explanation dealing with the אותות, i.e. that the word אותות is really a reference to the אותיות, the letters of G–d's name, and that they appear between them on the four flags of the four camps of the Israelites.