Musar para sa Isaias 14:29

This אדמוני will eventually emerge purified and holy, a reference to the David who is also known as אדמוני. We read in Samuel I 16,12 that David is described as אדמוני עם יפה עינים וטוב ראי, "ruddy cheeked, bright-eyed and handsome." The first person to be described as אדמוני was Esau; it is therefore hardly a compliment to David to be similarly described. The essential difference is that whereas Esau was עין רע, represented all that is negative associated with the eye, David was the reverse, and is therefore described as יפה עינים. In David's case the positive aspects of eyes are meant: the prophet therefore describes him as טוב ראי. Solomon, who says in Kohelet 10,8: פורץ גדר ישכנו נחש, that "he who breaches the fence will be bitten by a snake,” may have referred to David's forbear Peretz, whom the Torah had described as "bursting out" (Genesis 38,29). The נחש referred to is the power of Esau. King Saul repaired the fence partially when he defeated נחש king of Ammon who went to war against Israel as reported in Samuel I 11,1. David also accomplished a great deal in this area during his reign. In the future, as the Messiah, however, he will take revenge on the forces of Esau in the manner of a serpent, as we know from Isaiah 14,29: כי משרש נחש יצא צפע, "For from the root of a snake there sprouts an asp."

When Israel had sinned, it was attacked by נחש the king of Ammon (Samuel 1,11,1). At that time, immediately after his appointment, Saul defeated the Ammonites. When Saul failed to carry out his task against Amalek completely, the נחש "serpent" (in the guise of the Philistines) raised its head; eventually Saul himself in desperation consulted with the witch of Endor, -an example of מעשה נחשים.- In the end, (Samuel I chapter 28) Saul was killed, and the kingdom reverted back to its permanent designates, to the house of Yehudah-David. David is described as אדמוני וטוב רואי, "ruddy, good looking," in Samuel I 16,12, the counterpart to Esau, who was called אדום, because he had absorbed all the pollutants of the original serpent which had made blood (red) the symbol of death. Esau had absorbed all this pollutant in order that Jacob might be free of it. We have shown that this was what Bileam alluded to when he proclaimed: כי לא נחש ביעקב, "that Jacob does not contain a vestige of the original serpent" (Numbers 23,23). The colour אדום, then can originate either in the קליפה, representing the blood of impurity, or in a sacred domain. When it originates in the sacred domain it is described, as in Samuel, as טוב רואי, "beautiful to behold." David is descended from Peretz, who was פורץ גדר, "achieved a break-through" against the forces of the נחש. David was an outstanding Torah scholar; when the honor of G–d was at stake he knew how to take revenge in the manner of a serpent. It is said of him: כי משורש נחש יצא צפע, "for from the stock of a snake there sprouts an asp" (Isaiah 14,29). The allusion is to David's father Yishai (cf. Targum) who is the נחש in our verse. These terms are used by the prophets as forces that are able to parry and subdue the original serpent, root of impurity.

It is well known that Amaleik, who is the “first of nations” (Bamidbar 24:20), is a descendant of the wicked Eisav. He has a share in the concept of an “other god,” because the value of Amaleik [עמלק] is 240, which is equal to the words אל אחר — “other god.” The corresponding principle on the side of holiness is רוח יהו"ה — “the spirit of Hashem” (Shoftim 11:29), which also has a value of 240. Corresponding to the husks of the ox and donkey on the side of holiness are the two Moshiachs. Moshiach son of David overcomes the husk of the donkey, as it is stated, “A humble man riding on a donkey” (Zecharyah 9:9), while Moshiach son of Yosef is called an “ox,” as in the verse, “He has the majesty of a firstborn ox” (Devarim 33:17). It is related in the Zohar (3:124b; Zohar Chadash Ruth, 101b) that from the joining of the two husks of the ox and donkey came another husk known as the “viper” [tzefa], as in the verse, “From the root of the serpent comes a viper” (Yeshayahu 14:29). The value of צפע equals that of “Amaleik” — 240. Therefore the ink with which a Torah scroll is written must contain mei afatz — “gallnut water” (Gittin 19a), because the word עפץ is the reverse of צפע. Thus, by writing the Torah scroll with gallnut water, we subjugate the husk of the viper.