Musar su Salmi 96:78

Nachmanides has this to say on the expression of לכבוד ולתפארת, in 28,2: "As far as the mystical dimension of these instructions, i. e. ועל דרך האמת, is concerned: They should make prestigious garments for Aaron so that he could perform service in them to the G–d who represents true glory and splendour and who dwells amongst the Israelites. The might and glory of the Jewish people is their G–d, as we know from Psalms 89,18: כי תפארת עוזמו אתה, "For You are their strength in which they glory." We also know this from Isaiah 64,10 בית קדשנו ותפארתנו אשר הללוך אבותינו, "Our Holy Temple and the site of our glory where our forefathers praised You." The word קדשנו refers to our כבוד, honour, the word תפארתנו to the glory of Israel. We also have a verse in Psalms 96,6: עוז ותפארת במקדשו, "Strength and glory in His Sanctuary." Isaiah 60,13 speaks of לפאר מקום מקדשי ומקום רגלי אכבד, "To glorify the site of My Sanctuary and the place where My feet rest." The prophet evidently describes that the site of the Temple is to reflect G–d's splendour and honour. G–d is glorified through Israel viz: Isaiah 49,3: ישראל אשר בך אתפאר, "I glory in you Israel."

We read in Chronicles I 16,27: הוד והדר לפניו, עז וחדוה במקומו, "Glory and majesty are before Him, strength and joy are in His place." This verse contains a lesson about the exiles of the Jewish people, i.e. that they are for the good of the Jewish people. The chapter quoted describes an ongoing activity, i.e. בשרו מיום אל יום ישועתו, that even the redemption that has not occurred yet should be spoken of daily, or better still, it refers to a period of over one thousand years. Considering that in our eyes G–d's day is equal to a millenium, it follows that this is why Adam died on the day he ate from the tree (as he was warned he would in Genesis 2,17), though he lived close to one thousand years, the verse quoted in Chronicles, clearly refers to a period of exile. Lamentations 1,13, which describes the exile as already lasting כל היום,-at least one thousand years,- prompts the Zohar to comment that "my very glory," הודי, has proven to be my ruin." When you re-arrange the letter of the word הוד, you get דוה, as in כל היום דוה, "suffering constantly" (ibid.). I have already elaborated on this elsewhere, where I wrote that the word "הדר," is derived from "היפוך, i.e. "turning something around, reversing it," similar to the meaning of the expression "הדרן עלך," i.e. הפוך בה והפוך בה," (keep reviewing it, keep busy with it). What the Zohar meant was that the original "הוד," glory, will eventually lead to an even greater degree of "הוד" in the messianic future, just because that "הוד" had been converted to "דוה." We are told of that day in the future that ישמח ה' במעשיו, "that G–d will delight in His works" (Psalms 104,31). When you re-arrange the letters of the word ישמח, you have the word משיח, a reference to when that time will come. Concerning that day, the Midrash says that the Messiah will be given the combined “הוד, glory of Moses and הדר (its reversal) of Joshua, meaning that from the time of Joshua the spiritual decline set in, and the glory, הוד, kept turning into progressively more דוה, suffering. The הדר, decline would then reverse itself, i.e. the meaning of that term would no longer be negative. This process will lead to the cessation and disappearance of the iniquity due to the pollutants that the serpent spread throughout the world, and will enable the Messiah to make his appearance, and the new dimension of "light," the glory of the Messiah to manifest itself. The הדר (reduced measure of majesty in relation to Moses) of the new leader Joshua will be reversed at that time, a time described in Ezra 2,63 as the period when there is once again a High Priest who can stand in front of the אורים ותומים, the time when Elijah will have appeared. This period is alluded to when the Torah tells us in Numbers 27,21 that the new leader of the Jewish people will have to consult G–d by means of the אורים ותומים, i.e. the Ineffable Name worn by the High Priest Elazar in his breast plate. We also find an allusion to messianic times when the Jewish people are counted in our portion; the name of the son of Dan is given as שוחם (26,42), whereas in Parshat Vayigash, (Genesis 46,23) it is given as חשים. I have found that the Ari comments on this that the reason why the letter ו is missing in the spelling of that name in Genesis is to allude to the letters in the word משיח. In the time immediately preceding the arrival of the Messiah, one of the descendants of Dan will conduct a great battle. All this is mentioned in the Zohar's commentary on Parshat Balak (page 68-69, Sullam edition). It is based on Genesis 49,17: "Dan shall be a serpent (נחש) by the road, a viper (שפיפון) by the path, that bites the horse's heels so that its rider is thrown backwards." According to the Zohar, the "serpent" is a reference to Shimshon whereas the "viper" is a reference to Elijah who rescued Tzaliah a descendant of Dan when the latter "flew" in pursuit of Bileam. The latter, escaped by means of sorcery and Tzaliah was at a loss what to do. When Numbers 23,3 describes Bileam as וילך שפי, this is a reference to Bileam's profound identification with the negative forces in this world as symbolized by the serpent. Jacob's blessing to Dan referred to above and resulted in two descendants of Dan referred to as Tzaliah and Ira asserting mastery over the evil forces of this world. Ira was one of David's warriors. This is what is alluded to in Samuel II 8,4: "David hamstrung all the horses (of his adversary)…"The רכב referred to in that verse alludes to Genesis 49,17, i.e. an exploit of Dan. The words ויפול רוכבו אחור in that same verse refer to someone called Shalyah from the tribe of Dan who will assist the משיח בן יוסף in the war preceding the coming of the Messiah. The verse in Genesis concludes with the word לישועתך קויתי השם, to indicate that looking forward to imminent redemption at that time will be justified. The reason why the son of Dan here is referred to as שוחם is to express the hope that this descendant of Dan at the time mentioned will be equivalent to the משוח מלחמה, the Priest whose special task it was to accompany Israel in battle (Sotah 42 on Deuteronomy 20,2). [Active participation in war was certainly not the Priest's normal function. In fact any priest who had killed a person was no longer fit to perform Service in the Temple. Ed.] Pinchas too, seeing that he was descended maternally from the tribe of Joseph, whose descendants will play the leading role in the battle preceding the coming of the Messiah, was such a משוח מלחמה. At a later stage this very שוחם is "transformed" into a חומש. When someone has inadvertently used sacred property, i.e. Temple property, for personal or mundane purposes, he must make restitution of the principal amount plus twenty per cent so that the total amount paid back is twenty percent (חומש) larger than the original. The people of Israel are considered as קדש לשם "sacred to the Lord," as Rashi explains on Song of Songs 8,12: האלף לך שלמה, ומאתים לנוטרים את פריו. Israel is considered G–d's vineyard, and anything stolen from it must not only be replaced, but the חומש, in this case מאתים, must be added to make the restitution legal.

Since I am already on this subject, I want to include an insight which G–d has granted me concerning the peculiarities of the ערכין legislation in פרשת בחוקותי. We find the letters י and ה respectively as symbolizing two categories: 1) When the Torah lists respective monetary values for males and females in the chapter, the numbers "five" and "ten," ה and י respectively -in different combinations- form the backbone of this legislation. We have said that the letters י-ה which symbolize the attribute of Mercy, are used in connection with evaluation of the male, whereas the letters ו-ה which symbolise the attribute of Justice are used in connection with the evaluation of the females. The Biblical allusion to all this is found in Psalms 96,11: ישמחו השמים (masculine), ותגל הארץ (feminine), [the respective first letters of the two expressions י-ה, and ו-ה respectively are the symbols of male and female. Ed.] The second category of numberings in that chapter uses the letters י-ה, as each representing either male or female. Psalms 122,4, speaking about שבטי י-ה עדות לישראל, alludes to the fact that the Jewish nation is composed of males and females and that only when they are together are they considered "the tribes of G–d."

Laban became aware of this, and this is why he protested in 31,43: הבנות בנותי, והבנים בני והצאן צאני וכל אשר אתה רואה לי הוא. "The daughters are mine, the sons are mine, the flocks are mine; all that you see around is mine!" I have already mentioned that we are called צאן while we are in exile. We also have scriptural proof for this from Psalms 44,23 נחשבנו כצאן טבחה, "We are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered." When we are on a high spiritual level, however, we are referred to as אדם, as we have shown. There is a difference, however, between אדם when referred to as a male, and between אדם when referred to as female. When G–d first created the human species, the Torah says of G–d's work זכר ונקבה בראם, ויקרא את שמם אדם. "He created them male and female, and He named them Adam" (Genesis 5,2). All the redemptions which we have experienced in the past have always been associated with the female element inherent in אדם; this is why our gratitude was always expressed by שירה חדשה, "a new song (feminine term) instead of as שיר חדש. When the redemption of the future materializes, however, we shall give thanks to the Lord with a שיר חדש, acknowledging the additional dimension of that redemption.

David goes on to say: הודו, "give praise," an allusion to Lamentations 1,13: כל היום דוה, "in misery all day long" (constantly). The Zohar, in understanding the "day" as the day of G–d's timetable, i.e. 1000 years in our reckoning – as we have explained on several occasions – feels that the present exile was decreed for a minimum of 1000 years. This period could prove fatal for the Jewish people as alluded to when you reverse the letters in the word הוד i.e. דוה. When the Psalmist states in Psalms 96,6: הוד והדר לפניו עוז וחדוה במקומו, according to our sages, the word הדר is derived from the word הדרן, "review or reversal. If our actions are "good," then the result is הוד; if they are "evil," the result would be דוה, ongoing misery. Either way, all this happens in His Presence, i.e. G–d arranges that even the "evil" will eventually turn into good, i.e. the result of דוה will eventually be הוד, praise of G–d. I have explained this in greater detail elsewhere. The idea that הוד is reversible is expressed very clearly in Daniel 10,8: והודי נהפך עלי למשחית "My splendor turned into a destructive force."