Musar sobre Números 3:15

The allusion to the study (למוד) of Torah is found in the letter ל. There are four letters in the alphabet which contain the letter ל when spelled out: אל"ף, גימ"ל, דלי"ת, למ"ד. The ל in the letter אל"ף alludes to Jacob, who is the "big" א of Adam, as we have pointed out earlier. He is the שר ואלוף ושורש העולם, the Prince, the Champion, the root of the whole world. The letter ל in the גימ"ל alludes to Levi, who was the third son born to Leah. This tribe may be considered as associating Torah study already with its formation within the mother's womb. Moses, who represents Torah more than anyone else, was also the third child of his mother. He handed us the Torah in the third month, a Torah intended for a people divided into the three groups of כהן-לוי-ישראל, viz. Shabbat 88a. [This allusion is expanded even further in the Talmud. Ed.] The letter ל in the דלי"ת alludes to Yehudah who was the fourth son of Leah. He provided the fourth leg of G–d's Throne. When the letter ל is spelled as a word, we have the word למוד, study, the essence of Torah. This is an allusion to Joseph who represents the "crown" of Torah. Another way of viewing the letter ל is to focus on its numerical value, i.e. 30 ,שלושים. When Joseph attained his position of power the Torah describes him as בן שלושים שנה בעמדו לפני פרעה, "Thirty years old when he stood before Pharaoh (41,46). Thus the mystical dimension of the letter ל is the "crown" of Torah. The Torah reports (Exodus 13, 19) that Moses took the bones of Joseph, (when the Jews left Egypt. He fulfilled a promise given to Joseph on oath by his surviving brothers.) the word for "bones" in Hebrew being the same as the word for "essence," i.e. עצם. The Torah's report then has a dual meaning, i.e. Moses took Joseph's essence with the Jewish people when they left Egypt. Having acquired Joseph's essence, Moses was later able to give the Jewish people the Torah. To come back to the roots.