וַיְהִ֛י בִּנְסֹ֥עַ הָאָרֹ֖ן וַיֹּ֣אמֶר מֹשֶׁ֑ה קוּמָ֣ה ׀ יְהוָ֗ה וְיָפֻ֙צוּ֙ אֹֽיְבֶ֔יךָ וְיָנֻ֥סוּ מְשַׂנְאֶ֖יךָ מִפָּנֶֽיךָ׃
און עס איז געװען, אַז דער אָרון האָט געצױגן, האָט משה געזאָגט:שטײ אױף, גאָט, און זאָלן צעשפּרײט װערן דײַנע פֿײַנט, און זאָלן אַנטלױפֿן דײַנע שָׂונאים פֿאַר דיר!
Kedushat Levi
Numbers 30,3. “when a man utters a vow, etc.;”
In a book called Shaarey Orah, (a kabbalistic volume by Rabbi Joseph ben Avraham Giktalia, earliest printing 17th cent.) the word נדר is broken down into נון דר, the letter נ referring to Israel’s faith in G’d, Who in turn supervises our fate in all His Mercy at all times and wherever we are, not abandoning us for even a second. When this letter is found in the Torah written in an inverted form, as in Numbers 10,35 or in Job 38,1, it points to G’d’s supervision of the various parts of His universe. While the letter נ in that verse in Job is not inverted but rather is a final letter in the middle of a word, our sages in Nedarim 8 concluded that a vow applies even to the promise to perform a commandment when it is the result of the person making this vow having experienced proof of G’d’s supervising His universe. On such an occasion the person who has had this religious experience decides to abstain even from matters which-as far as the Torah is concerned- he is within his rights to enjoy.
[In order to understand this, it is necessary to remember that the vows discussed in the Torah and the Talmud involve use of the name of G’d, something severely punished when used in vain, as per the third of the 10 Commandments. Although the Talmud in Nedarim uses a verse from psalms as the justification, our author feels that the remarks by the author of the book שערי אורה reinforce what we have learned in the Talmud. Ed.]
In a book called Shaarey Orah, (a kabbalistic volume by Rabbi Joseph ben Avraham Giktalia, earliest printing 17th cent.) the word נדר is broken down into נון דר, the letter נ referring to Israel’s faith in G’d, Who in turn supervises our fate in all His Mercy at all times and wherever we are, not abandoning us for even a second. When this letter is found in the Torah written in an inverted form, as in Numbers 10,35 or in Job 38,1, it points to G’d’s supervision of the various parts of His universe. While the letter נ in that verse in Job is not inverted but rather is a final letter in the middle of a word, our sages in Nedarim 8 concluded that a vow applies even to the promise to perform a commandment when it is the result of the person making this vow having experienced proof of G’d’s supervising His universe. On such an occasion the person who has had this religious experience decides to abstain even from matters which-as far as the Torah is concerned- he is within his rights to enjoy.
[In order to understand this, it is necessary to remember that the vows discussed in the Torah and the Talmud involve use of the name of G’d, something severely punished when used in vain, as per the third of the 10 Commandments. Although the Talmud in Nedarim uses a verse from psalms as the justification, our author feels that the remarks by the author of the book שערי אורה reinforce what we have learned in the Talmud. Ed.]
Kedushat Levi
Leviticus 10,35. “It would be whenever the Holy Ark would begin its journey, etc.;” this paragraph is inserted between two letters נ each facing in the wrong direction. The reason for this that the letter נ symbolizes the attribute of יראה , “fear, awe.” People who are ashamed are afraid of facing one another. We have a principle according to which each one of us must be humble when facing the Lord with awe. We repeat this idea in our prayers every morning when we recite:לעולם יהא אדם ירא שמים בסתר וגו', “Man should ever be G’d-fearing in private, etc.;”(Tanna de bey Eliyahu Rabbah chapter 21) On the other hand, when a person endeavours to extract and elevate fallen sparks from the shechinah which are mired in the terrestrial regions, he has to publicly demonstrate his reverence for G’d in order to arouse a similar desire in these “fallen” sparks.
This idea is illustrated by our verse which commences with the words: ויהי בנסוע הארון, which describes the journey of the G’d fearing Israelites through the spiritual wilderness trying to locate such “fallen” sparks and be instrumental in bringing them back to their celestial habitat. When the two letters נ have been inverted so that they face each other, they symbolize that the Israelites are now displaying their awe of the Lord publicly in order to encourage any stray fallen sparks of the shechinah to begin their journey back to their original habitat.
This idea is illustrated by our verse which commences with the words: ויהי בנסוע הארון, which describes the journey of the G’d fearing Israelites through the spiritual wilderness trying to locate such “fallen” sparks and be instrumental in bringing them back to their celestial habitat. When the two letters נ have been inverted so that they face each other, they symbolize that the Israelites are now displaying their awe of the Lord publicly in order to encourage any stray fallen sparks of the shechinah to begin their journey back to their original habitat.