8. The Five Fingers[21]

The five names of the five fingers (agudal, etzba, amah, kemitzah, and zeret) when added together equal (numerically) 1105 = 13 ^. 85. 85 = milah, “circumcision.” 13 = milah in “reduced numbering” (where 40, the normative value of the letter mem, reduces to 4, and so on). Upon fulfilling the mitzvah of circumcision, God’s 13 Attributes of Mercy reveal themselves, as mentioned above. This very secret we see to be reflected in the fingers themselves which the circumcision serves to balance.

The number 1105 = 5 ^. 221. Thus, the average value of each one of the names for the five fingers is 221. 221 = ya’ir, “he shall shine light.” We are taught in Kabbalah that when one points one’s finger, he actually radiates light. The word etzba (the word for “finger” in general, and the name of the pointing finger, in particular) is an acronym for or-tzeva-behirut-otzma (“light” that radiates the three dimensions of color: “hue,” “brilliance,” and “saturation”). (The word tzeva, the root word of etzba, which means “color,” is itself the acronym for the three dimensions of color: “hue,” “brilliance,” and “saturation.”) 221 = etzba (163) plus chen (58), “grace.” In Kabbalah, 163 is the value of the full spelling of the Divine Name of da’at (alef-hei-vav-hei, pronounced Akvah); 58 is the average value of the four primary spellings of God’s essential Name Havayah (whose individual values are 72, 63, 45, and 52).

All five numbers 1105, 13, 85, 5 and 221 share in common their being “inspirational” numbers, i.e., the sums of two successive square numbers. 1105 is the 24th inspirational number (1105 = 24² + 23²). Similarly, 13 is the 3rd inspirational number, 85 is the 7th, 5 is the 2nd and 221 is the 11th! Inspirational numbers convey the consciousness of connection to God by means of His mitzvot (the full number of mitzvot in the Torah is 613, the 18th inspirational number; the number of negative mitzvot is 365, the 14th inspirational number), beginning with the mitzvah of milah. Milah = 85, which is the 7^th—and hence the most “beloved”—inspirational number, as mentioned above. Each inspirational number is the middle-point of a square number. 85 is the middle-point of 169 = 13², the secret of the 13 Divine Principles of Mercy revealed upon circumcision.

The value of the names of the five fingers, 1105, equals that of the first five words of the Shema. The sixth word, echad (“one”), thus signifies “the single covenant” which appears “in the middle” of the fingers in order to balance them and unite them.

The word for “hand,” yad, equals 5 in “reduced numbering,” signifying the five fingers of the hand, where the thumb is separate from the remaining four fingers. In the normative numbering system, yad = 14, corresponding to the 14 joints of the five fingers. In two hands there are 28 = koach (“strength”) joints, corresponding to the 28 letters, inscribed in the hands, from alef to alef, from 1 to 1000 (the 22 letters from alef to tav, from 1 to 400; the five final letters—kaf, mem, nun, pei, tzadik—from 500 to 900, and return to alef, which, as a word, means “one thousand”).

In the most commonly cited reflective alphabetic transformation of atbash—whereby the first letter of the alphabet, alef, is paired with or exchanged by the last letter, tav, and the second letter, beit, is paired with the second last letter, shin, and so on—each of the first four pairs of letters (at bash gar dak), when calculated in “reduced numbering,” = 5. At bash thus allude to the ten fingers of the hands, while gar dak allude to the ten toes of the feet.

Each of the next five pairs (hatz vap za chas tan) = 14 (yad, “hand”). The Torah speaks of “five hands” with reference to Joseph’s allocation of the produce of Egypt as viceroy of Pharaoh. Each of the two remaining pairs (yam kol) once more = 5.

The entire alphabet of 22 letters in “reduced numbering” = 100 (10²), where the six pairs that equal 5 add to 30 and the 5 pairs that equal 14 add to 70. The division of 100 into 30 and 70 corresponds to the division of the 10 sefirot into the 3 higher sefirot of the mind and the 7 lower sefirot of the heart.

9. Partzufim and Contact Points[22]

Each self-contained state of reality, including each human being, possesses five personas (partzufim), which develop from the five initial points of keter, chochmah, binah, the midot, and malchut, corresponding to the tip of the yud and the four letters of God’s essential Name, Havayah:

•         Arich Anpin (“the Long Face”),

•         Abba (“the Father”),

•         Ima (“the Mother”),

•         Z’eir Anpin (“the Small Face,” the son or groom), and

•         Nukva diZ’eir Anpin (“the Female of Z’eir Anpin,” the daughter or bride).

Each of these possesses all three energy centers/contact points running down their middle line, giving fifteen energy centers or contact points.

Indeed, every one of us, created in the image of God, reflects, in body and soul, all five Divine personas, for which reason every one of us is considered to be a “complete world.”[23] And so, we may identify fifteen energy centers or contact points running down the middle line of our bodies.

In Kabbalah, every meditative state and spiritual endeavor to arouse energies and create unions relates to a specific prayer to God. The meditation on the fifteen contact points is an “intention” (kavanah) of the blessing that follows the recital of the Shema every morning. The text of this blessing—confirming the absolute truth of Judaism, which finds its expression in the recital of the Shema—begins with the word emet (“true”) followed by fifteen synonyms or variations of the concept “true,” each of which is prefaced with the letter vav (“and,” implying connective energy; as a word, vav means “a hook”).

The middle line of the body or the middle axis of the supernal sefirot is referred to in general as emet. In particular, the three letters of emet—alef, mem, and tav—the “beginning, middle, and end of the alphabet,”[24] correspond to the three contact points of the inner dimension of Atik Yomin (“the Ancient of Days”), which permeate and give life-force to all of the five general personas of each world. Ultimate truth is neither right nor left; it is the power that unites the right and the left to become one. It derives from the origin of the “middle” that transcends both antithetical states of right and left. It possesses a full spectrum of fifteen “hues,” reflected in the body as fifteen contact-points running down its middle line.

The fifteen contact-points divide into five groups of three, each group corresponding to one of the five primary personas of the complete human “world.” The first group of three are: (1) the point at the top of the skull, (2) the point where the hair meets the forehead (the place above which the head-tefilin are placed), and (3) the point of the middle of the forehead (referred to as the essential point of the “forehead of will”). All three of these points embody super-rational energy; they are all above the eyes, the beginning of conscious perception. They correspond to the three points (figuratively: mouth, chest, and brit) of Arich Anpin (above Abba and Ima, the Father and Mother—chochmah and binah, the rational mind).

The next group of three are: (1) the point between the eyes (the “mouth” of wisdom), (2) the point of the nose, and (3) the indent above the upper lip (the point that the angel strikes before birth to cause us to forget all the Torah we learned in the womb). These are the three points (mouth, chest, and brit) of Abba.

Next come (1) the tip of the tongue in the mouth, (2) the point of the chin, and (3) the middle point of the throat. These are the three points (mouth, chest, and brit) of Ima.

Then come (1) the point between the shoulders, (2) the middle point of the upper chest (referred to as the “bird of the soul”), and (3) the middle point of the (lower) chest (the essential point of the chest, the point of embrace described above). These are the three points (mouth, chest, and brit) of Z’eir Anpin.

Finally come (1) the point of the navel (the “mouth” during pregnancy), (2) the point of the lower abdomen (the point of the female womb), and (3) the point of the (male) brit. These are the three points (mouth, chest, and brit) of Nukva diZ’eir Anpin.

The words in the blessing following the Shema correlated to these fifteen points are: (1) veyatziv (“and firm”), (2) venachon (“and established”), (3) vekayam (“and enduring”), (4) veyashar (“and straight”), (5) vene’eman (“and faithful”), (6) ve’ahuv (“and beloved”), (7) vechaviv (“and cherished”), (8) venechmad (“and precious”), (9) vena’im (“and pleasant”), (10) venora (“and awesome”), (11) ve’adir (“and mighty”), (12) umetukan (“and corrected”), (13) umekubal (“and acceptable”), (14) vetov (“and good”), and (15) veyafeh (“and beautiful”). The sentence concludes: “…is this upon us forever,” referring, as we said, to the Shema, Judaism’s essential statement of faith.

word from the blessing	partzuf	body
veyatziv	firm	Arich Anpin “The Long Face”	mouth	top of skull
venachon	established	chest	where hair meets forehead
vekayam	enduring	brit	middle of forehead
veyashar	straight	Abba “Father”	mouth	between the eyes
vene’eman	faithful	chest	nose
ve’ahuv	beloved	brit	indent above upper lip
vechaviv	cherished	Ima “Mother”	mouth	tip of tongue
venechmad	precious	chest	chin
vena’im	pleasant	brit	midpoint of throat
venora	awesome	Z’eir Anpin “The Small Face”	mouth	between the shoulders
ve’adir	mighty	chest	midpoint of upper chest
umetukan	corrected	brit	midpoint of lower chest
umekubal	acceptable	Nukva diZ’eir Anpin Female of Z’eir Anpin”	mouth	navel
vetov	good	chest	lower abdomen (womb)
veyafeh	beautiful	brit	male brit

10. Contraction and Relaxation[25]

In Hebrew, the word for “blood vessel” (gid) is related to the word for “opposition” (nigud). In Tanya,[26] we are taught that while the root n-g-d means “against” or “opposed to,” it implies as well “removed” or “distanced from.” The removal of the opposing force allows for relaxation between successive contractions. In the sefirah of gevurah itself, the gevurah within gevurah contracts while the chesed within gevurah relaxes (in preparation for the subsequent contraction).

The dynamic of contraction and relaxation characterizes the class of angels whose spiritual abode (the “heaven” known as Ma’on[27]) is in the realm of the sefirah of gevurah. These angels are referred to as chashmalim, which means that they are “at times silent, at times speaking.”[28] The time of silence is the time of contraction; the time of speaking is the time of relaxation. As it is written, “The words of the wise spoken in a state of tranquility, are heard.”[29]

The dynamic of contraction and relaxation is found throughout the body. For example, in the circulatory system, it is evident in the vascular contraction and relaxation of the heart, arteries, and veins. Varicose veins result from turbulent blood flow due to damage to valves, resulting in secondary contraction/relaxation dysfunction. In the muscular system, the variation of the slow and rapid twitch of the muscles is a function of the contraction and relaxation of the muscular tissue. In the gastrointestinal system, the peristalsis of the intestines is a contraction/relaxation dynamic. The recovery time of various organs differs, varying with their cycles of contraction and relaxation. Nausea and vomiting result from imbalances in the contraction/relaxation equilibrium of the intestines. Pressure changes in the brain (a contraction/
relaxation phenomenon) depend on the balance of water and minerals in the body.

11. Light, Water, Firmament[30]

Clearly, the innate capacity to recreate one’s own self derives from the very essence of one’s soul—the etzem haneshamah, in the terminology of Hassidism. The essence of one’s soul is one with God’s infinite light. Thus, the power to reproduce is one’s innate “power of the infinite” (koach haein sof); it originates in infinity and extends, from generation to generation, to infinity.

In Kabbalah, we are taught that reproduction begins with the manifestation, in the mind, of the essence of one’s self as pure “light” (or). The light then becomes “seed,” or “water” (mayim), in the idiom of Kabbalah. When the male seed fertilizes the female seed, the newly-formed embryo is called the “firmament” (rakia).

In Hassidism, the triplet of “light,” “water,” “firmament”—or, mayim, rakia—parallels another basic triplet of concepts, “light,” “life-force,” “energy”—or, chayut, ko’ach. First, there is the revelation of transcendent “light,” which hovers above the body. Then, the transcendent light enters the body to become immanent “life-force.” Finally, the relatively spiritual life-force is converted into physical “energy,” which actualizes, in the development and functioning of the body, the latent potential of the spiritual life-force. (In many so-called “healing” systems these three concepts are greatly confused. Both triplets begin with “light.” “Water” corresponds to “life-force,” as we find in the idiom of the Torah, “living waters.” Indeed, the living human body is 60-70% water. “Firmament” corresponds to “energy,” for it is the energy of the mother that defines and develops the relatively spiritual seed of the father, just as the firmament defines the water, separating the higher, spiritual waters from the lower, material waters.

Indeed, light-water-firmament (or-mayim-rakia) is the process by which God created the world. On the first day of creation, the word for “light” [or] appears five times; on the second day of creation, the words for “water” [mayim] and “firmament” [rakia] each appear five times.

The initial letters of or-mayim-rakia spell omer (“saying”), the root of the word used in the Torah for the ten sayings of creation. With each creative utterance God created a facet of reality, each in a manner similar to physical reproduction.

Before our present-day understanding of the physiology of reproduction, the idea that the male seed originates in the brain seemed to materialists like another fantasy of pre-scientific imagination. Today, the tables have turned. In terms of modern medicine, the physiology of arousal occurs along the neurohypophysial axis. The emotion of love (in the heart) stimulates the hypothalamus (in the brain), which in turn stimulates the adrenal gland to secrete adrenal hormones (ACTH) that act on the seminiferous tubules to produce male seed.

In Hassidism, we are taught that the essence of the soul, the unconscious source of all light, dwells in the innermost point of the heart, where true love is born. The initial conscious manifestation of light, or, is the moment at which a new insight—a bolt of lightning—flashes across the mind. The or stimulates the endocrine system to secrete hormones that ultimately produce male seed, mayim. In the female womb, mayim becomes rakia.

The root omer is closely related to the word for “truth” (emet). The first two letters of the two words (alef-mem, the initial letters of or mayim) are identical; the third letter of omer, reish (= 200), doubles itself numerically to become the third letter of emet, tav (= 400). And so we find the idiom in the Book of Proverbs:[31] “sayings of truth” (imrei emet).

Emet (“truth”) is the inner experience of yesod (“foundation”), the sefirah corresponding to the reproductive system in human physiology. In Kabbalah, we are taught that yesod, while being the sixth and concluding emotive attribute of the soul, possesses a special affinity to the mind that the other emotive attributes do not possess. We are told that yesod ascends to the mind to draw down the seed into the reproductive organ. The description presented above greatly enhances our understanding of the functioning of the reproductive system as corresponding to the sefirah of yesod.

12. Spirituality and Reproduction[32]

The lower triangle of the Magen David is constructed of three sefirot, namely, chesed, gevurah, and yesod, corresponding to the skeleton, the blood vessels, and the reproductive system, respectively. The 248 bones of the skeleton correspond to the 248 positive commandments of the Torah (the do’s) and the 365 major blood vessels correspond to the 365 prohibitive commandments of the Torah (the don’ts). The healthy functioning of the reproductive system may thus be understood to depend on the sound health, on the physical plane, of one’s bones and blood vessels and, on the more spiritual plane, on one’s commitment to the Torah’s commandments, both positive and prohibitive.

God chose Abraham, the numerical value of whose name equals 248, to be the first Jew, “for he will instruct his children and household to guard the way of God [i.e., perform all of His commandments].”[33] Because of his devotion to perform the commandments, he was blessed with progeny. Initially, his reproductive system did not function; he was barren, physically unable to bear children. When commanded by God to circumcise himself, at the age of 99, he was given an additional letter to his name—Abram/Abraham—bringing its numerical value of his name to 248. Only then did he receive, together with his wife Sarah, full potency to bear Isaac, the son who would inherit him and continue the lineage of the Jewish people.

The sages further explain that to rectify one’s reproductive system, one must know how to properly balance the functions of one’s right and left hands. These correspond to the two sefirot of chesed and gevurah; in the body, to the skeleton and the blood vessels. The right hand “draws near” while the left hand “rejects.”[34] The positive commandments of the Torah give full expression to the force of the right hand to “bring near,” while the prohibitive commandments give expression to the force of the left hand to “push off.”) This balance is especially necessary with regard to the sexual drive—in the terminology of the sages, the yetzer, the base “inclination” of the soul—the power that drives the funtioning of the reproductive system.

13. Regularity and Health[35]

In the blessing recited after discharging digestive waste, we bless God for creating us “with many orifices and cavities. It is revealed and known before Your Throne of Glory that even if one of them were to be closed or one of them to be opened, it would be impossible to endure for even a moment.” This blessing refers to the orifices and conduits of all the physiological systems, even though the context in which the blessing is recited is that of the proper functioning of the digestive system.[36]

The reason we bless God for the proper functioning of all our physiological systems in the context of that of the digestive system is that the digestive system is associated with the sefirah of malchut, the spiritual channel through which all the sefirot above it flow into the next level (“world”) of reality. “All the rivers flow unto the sea,”[37] the “sea” being a Kabbalistic metaphor for malchut, and the “rivers” are a metaphor for the sefirot above malchut.

This blessing is one of the two blessings found in our prayers that praise and bless God as the Healer par excellence. The other is the eighth blessing of the Amidah, “…Who heals the sick of His people, Israel.” In the latter blessing, we entreat God to heal us; in the former blessing, we thank Him for healing us and express our amazement at the wondrous workings of our physiology. In particular, we note the miraculous way in which that which is meant to be open does not close and that which is meant to be closed does not open. This alludes to the passage of the Talmud quoted above, that at the moment of birth “that which was closed opens and that which was open closes.” And so the blessing concludes: “Blessed are You, God, who heals all flesh and works wonders.”

The first, seminal description of healing in the Torah is the account of how Abraham prayed to God to open the orifices of the Philistines and their king, Abimelech.[38] God had closed these orifices because Abimelech sought to defile Sarah.

Thus, the essence of healing, as described in the first instance of healing in the Torah, is opening orifices that should be open but have been closed.

The expression the Torah uses to describe the Philistines’ relief at being healed is “…and they gave birth,” alluding to the association between healing and giving birth—via the common element of opening and closing the proper orifices—that we saw in the passage quoted from the Talmud.

The highest form of cure is that effected through prayer. In the story of Abraham and Abimelech, Abraham heals Abimelech through prayer.[39]

Immediately following this episode, the Torah describes how God granted Abraham and Sarah a child after many years of barrenness. From this juxtaposition, the sages point out that when someone is suffering from a certain problem and he prays on behalf of someone else suffering from the same problem, the one who prays is answered first.[40] Inasmuch as this episode is the prime example of healing in the Torah, we see that the most effective prayer for healing is the patient’s prayer for another patient!

The priest is the quintessential physician in the Torah.[41] The Torah refers to Abraham as a priest in the verse, “You are a priest forever.”[42]

Specifically, the Philistines suffered from the closing of five orifices: the seminal orifice, the anus, the urethral orifice, the ears, and the nostrils.[43] We may understand the fact that five specific orifices were affected as an allusion to the fact that through their sin, the Philistines caused an aberration in the flow of the Divine beneficence that is channeled through the five states of Divine judgement (gevurah). This is reflected in Abraham’s explanation of their affliction: “There simply is no fear of God [Elokim] in this place”[44]; the Name Elokim indicates the attribute of Divine judgment and fear is the inner experience of gevurah. Also, when describing how God healed the Philistines, the Torah uses the Name Elokim rather than the Name Havayah, which we would have expected since it indicates the attribute of Divine mercy: “And God [Elokim] healed Abimelech, his wife, and his maidservants….”[45]

The Torah uses the term “stoppage” to describe this disease. The root of this word (ayin-tzadik-reish) permutes to spell the root of the words for tzara’at (tzadik-reish-ayin), the archetypal disease, and “pain” (tzadik-ayin-reish). Clearly, this root and its permutations are primary linguistic referents to disease.

Indeed, the great medieval sage and physician, Maimonides, asserts that the first objective in the maintenance of proper health is regularity and that the first sign of incipient disease is constipation.[46]

Abimelech described the sickness he and his people suffered from as “an occurrence that does not occur,”[47] i.e., a supernatural phenomenon. This is echoed in the blessing recited over the proper functioning of the body, in which we refer to the appropriate opening and closing of the orifices as a manifestation of God’s supernatural power within nature—“…who heals all flesh and works wonders.”

This blessing consists of 45 words (according to the version of the Arizal), the numerical value of the word for “man” (adam). The blessing begins, “Blessed are You, God, our God, king of the universe, who formed man with wisdom….” In Kabbalah, “wisdom” (chochmah) is read koach mah, “the power of what?”[48] The numerical value of the word for “what?” (mah) is 45, the same as that of the word for “man” (adam).

The number of words in the eighth blessing of the Amidah (“…who heals the sick of His people, Israel”) is 28, the numerical value of the word for “power” (ko’ach). Thus, these two blessings allude together to the sefirah of chochmah (the “power” of “what?”). Chochmah is the sefirah of life, as it is written, “they die, but not with chochmah,”[49] and “chochmah gives life to those who possess it.”[50]

The blessing of the Amidah begins: “Heal us, God, and we shall be healed….” The numerical value of this phrase is 700 (10 times 70). The full numerical value of the blessing of thanksgiving for God, the healer, healing us, is 9800, 2 times 70², or 14 times 700. The three Hebrew words for “Heal us, God, and we shall be healed” comprise 14 letters; the average value of each letter is 50. This number represents the 50 gates of healing the sick, who possesses only 49.[51] 9800 = 14 times 700 (or 50 times 14²). 14 signifies the secret of the healing “hand” (yad = 14) of God.

14. Six Permutations[52]

The root of the Hebrew word tiferet (p-a-r) is a permutation of the root meaning “healing” (r-p-a). Also, in Kabbalah we find that the angel of healing, Raphael, is the angel that corresponds to the sefirah of tiferet.

According to Kabbalah, each of the “six extremities”—the six emotive attributes of the heart from chesed to yesod—corresponds to one of the six permutations of the three first letters of God’s essential Name, Havayah. (God’s four-letter Name, Havayah, is indeed composed of three distinct letters, i.e., its first three letters, for its second and fourth letters are identical, the letter hei.) In the permutations that correspond to the higher three of these six—chesed (yud-hei-vav), gevurah (hei-vav-yud), and tiferet (vav-yud-hei)—the letters of God’s Name appear in direct order; in the permutations that correspond to the lower three of these six— netzach (yud-vav-hei), hod (hei-yud-vav), and yesod (vav-hei-yud)—the letters of God’s Name appear in reverse order. Thus, the “direct lights” of the three higher permutations are reflected in the “reflected lights” of the three lower permutations.

Specifically, chesed is reflected in yesod—as alluded to in the verses: “The world is built upon kindness [chesed]”[53] and “The righteous one is the foundation [yesod] of the world.”[54] Gevurah is reflected in netzach—meaning that strength is reflected in victory and conquest—a strong person (gevurah) will overcome, succeed, and be victorious (netzach). Finally, what is most interesting to us here is that the direct light of tiferet is reflected in the returning light of hod. This implies that medicine derives from tiferet but disease and the power of the body to overcome it relate to hod.[55]

All the above will become clear by visualizing the six permutations as they correspond to the six attributes of the heart:

gevurah		chesed
הוי		יהו
	tiferet
	ויה
hod		netzach
היו		יוה
	yesod
	והי

15. Death and Life[56]

The 72 three-letter mystical Names of God are derived from three consecutive verses in the Torah,[57] each of which contains 72 letters. The first of the 72 Names is formed by combining the first letter of the first verse, the last letter of the second verse, and the first letter of the third verse; the second is formed by combining the second letter of the first verse, the second to the last letter of the second verse, and the second letter of the third verse; and so on. The full array of these 72 Names is as follows:

כהת	אכא	ללה	מהש	עלם	סיט	ילי	והו
הקם	הרי	מבה	יזל	ההע	לאו	אלד	הזי
ההו	מלה	ייי	נלך	פהל	לוו	כלי	לאו
ושר	לכב	אום	ריי	שאה	ירת	האא	נתה
ייז	רהע	חעם	אני	מגד	כוק	להח	יחו
מיה	אשל	ערי	סאל	ילה	וול	מיכ	ההה
פוי	מבה	נית	ננא	עמם	החש	דני	והו
מחי	ענו	יהה	ומב	מצר	הרח	ייל	נמם
מום	היי	יבמ	ראה	חבו	איע	מנק	דמב

Significantly, the Name samech-alef-lamed is the 45^th of these 72 Holy Names. 45 is the numerical value of the word for “man,” adam, in the Talmudic phrase, “the end of man is to die.” It is also the numerical value of the word for “what?” (mah), the word that Moses used to express his (and his brother, Aaron’s) state of selflessness (venachnu mah, “and we are what?”[58]). From this we learn that true selflessness, the inner experience of chochmah, above death in essence (the level of Moses, of whom it is said, “Moses did not die”[59]), comes from the very meditation on the Name of the Living God: “the end of man is to die”!

In addition, the Arizal teaches that when, three times a day, we say the verse, “You open Your hand and satisfy the needs of every living being,”[60] we are to bear in mind that the final letters of the first three words in this verse (poteiach et yadecha) spell the holy mystical Name chet-tav-chaf, “the Name of Livelihood,” which, when transformed in atbash reads samech-alef-lamed, which are the initial letters of the phrase, “the end of man is to die.” And so we see again that an awareness that human mortality is indeed a Divine phenomenon connects us to the Source of Life and the Source of Livelihood.

In addition, the very Name chet-tav-chaf means “to cut,” as in the phrase, “[God] cuts [i.e., apportions] life for all the living.”[61]

16. Expert Healing[62]

Sometimes, the expert physician must use a miniscule dosage of poison in order to cure the body. Only a most expert physician is allowed to do so. The Ba’al Shem Tov takes this as an analogy for spiritual healing by an expert “physician” (a great tzadik[63]). In modern medicine, vaccination exemplifies this principle. A vaccine is a radically weakened strain of the disease that is administered in order to immunize the body against it.[64] Indeed, as seen above, the healing system of homeopathy is based upon the principle of “the law of similars,” healing disease by a minute dose of the disease itself.

We find a beautiful allusion to this in the Book of Ecclesiastes. There, King Solomon enumerates 28 changing “times,” listed in 14 pairs. Each one of the 28 “times” is a phase of human experience and endeavor in this world. These phases correspond, in Kabbalah, to the 28 phases of the moon in its monthly cycle around the earth. The third pair of “times” reads: “There is a time to kill and a time to heal.”[65] From this we may infer that the power to kill can be transformed into the power to heal.

Of the 28 “times,” “a time to heal” is surely the time of the physician. The letters that spell the phrase, “and a time to heal” (ve-eit lirpo) permute to spell the phrase, “an act of light” (pe’ulat or). We have seen[66] that the word for “healing” (refuah) permutes to spell “the light of the mouth” (or peh) and that the healing power of the physician begins in his eyes, which project comforting and healing light to his patient, just as God began to heal the shattered initial world of Chaos by the creation of goodly light. Indeed, of the 28 times, “a time to heal” is the 6^th from the beginning and the 23^rd from the end, alluding to the third verse of the Torah—“And God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light”—which is composed of 6 words and 23 letters. Moreover, as we have seen, the seven different letters of this verse spell or milah, “the light of circumcision,” which equals numerically or peh, “the light of the mouth”—refuah (“healing”).

17. Healing and the Torah[67]

Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said: “If someone is travelling without an escort, he should delve into the study of the Torah, as it is said, ‘for they [the words of Torah] are a gracious escort.’[68] If one’s head aches, he should delve into the study of the Torah, as it is said, ‘for they are a gracious escort [accessory, i.e., ornament] for your head.’[69] If one’s throat aches, he should delve into the study of the Torah, as it is said, ‘...and a necklace for your neck.’[70] If one’s stomach aches, he should delve into the study of the Torah, as it is said, ‘it is healing for your navel.’[71] If one’s bones ache, he should delve into the study of the To­rah, as it is said, ‘...and drink for your bones.’[72] If one’s whole body aches, he should delve into the study of the Torah, as it is said,[73] ‘...and heal­ing for all his flesh.’”[74]

Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi’s teaching begins with the thought that the Torah is one’s life’s “escort” or “companion.” This supports our present explanation that the healing power of the Torah derives from the soul-level termed chayah, the “living one.” In Kabbalah, we are taught that had Eve (Chavah), the Torah-archetype of man’s marital companion, not sinned, her name would have been Chayah. All of life on earth, ever since the primordial sin, is analogous to a traveler walking a dangerous path, in need of a protective escort.

This is because Adam and Eve were expelled from their natural milieu of the Garden of Eden. The Hebrew word for “garden” [gan] is cognate to “protected” [mugan], but outside the garden, one is no longer protected.) At the level of chayah, one “touches” or “kisses” the infinite light of the Torah as do waters to waters, like two companions walking together.[75]

Elsewhere,[76] Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi himself states that “it is forbidden to use the words of Torah to heal.” There, the Talmud differentiates between reciting Biblical verses in order to be protected, i.e., to prevent an illness from striking, which is permissible (Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi himself would recite Biblical verses before going to sleep in order to be protected during sleep), and reciting or whispering verses over an infection or disease in order to cure it, which is forbidden.

The commentaries resolve the apparent contradiction between the two statements of Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi in several manners:[77]

•         When Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said that “if one’s head aches, he should delve into the study of the Torah,” he meant that one should study Torah for its own sake, delving so deeply into it that he forgets his own physical ailments. This is certainly permissible and a great mitzvah in its own right. The healing of the body will follow spontaneously.

•         Since all physical illness derives from spiritual illness, the healing power of the Torah is directed to the soul of man, not to his body. When the soul is healed, the body becomes healed in turn. Thus, if one primarily intends to heal his soul with words of Torah, even though he knows that this will be advantageous for his body, this is permissible, whereas if one intends directly to heal his physical illness with words of Torah, this is forbidden.

•         It is only forbidden to recite Biblical verses for the sake of healing physical ailments when one is not in mortal danger. In cases of mortal danger, it is permissible.

•         When Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said that “if one’s head aches, he should delve into the study of the Torah,” he meant that the Torah may be used as “preventive medicine.” As we saw above, he himself would recite Biblical verses in order to be protected during sleep. According to this interpretation, the word for “ache” (chash) indicates that the person has a premonition that an illness is imminent.

These four interpretations themselves can be seen to correspond to the four letters of God’s Name, whose full manifestation, as taught in Kabbalah, is at the level of chochmah, the chayah of the soul. Studying Torah for its own sake corresponds to the yud of God’s Name. Understanding that the healing power of the Torah is primarily spiritual corresponds to the first hei of God’s Name. The apparent “condescension” of the Torah to allow itself to be used to heal physical ailments in cases of mortal danger corresponds to the vav of God’s Name. (This is where the primordial kings of Edom, the origin of physicality, ruled and died; their “resurrection” comes about by the healing power of the Torah.) The Torah as “preventive medicine” corresponds to the final hei of God’ Name. Here, one fears the onset of disease and is conscious to take all means to prevent it.

In summary:

י yud	studying Torah for its own sake heals spontaneously
ה hei	the Torah’s healing power is primarily spiritual
ו vav	the Torah descends to heal dangerous physical ailments
ה hei	the Torah acts as preventive medicine

18. The Indestructible Bone[78]

The sages teach us that there exists an indestructible bone at the top (or, according to certain opinions, at the base) of the spine, from which the body will be resurrected at the End of Days. This is called either etzem ha-luz (“luz bone”) or luz shel shidrah (“luz of the spine”).[79]

The numerical value of etzem ha-luz is 248, the number of limbs, according to the sages, in the human body, corresponding to the 248 positive commandments of the Torah. Thus, this one, eternal bone encapsulates all the limbs of the body.

In modern terminology, we may say that this eternal, most essential “bone” (in Hebrew, the word for “bone” [etzem] is the same as the word for “self” or “essence”) is the fully-encoded description of man in one DNA molecule. From this essential molecule, the whole man will, in the time of resurrection, spring back to life. Indeed, the most potent site of DNA in the body is the bone marrow, corresponding to the sefirah of chochmah, of which is said, “they will die, but not with chochmah.”[80] Even upon physical death, not only does the luz bone not die, but it ensures the future reconstitution of the entire body.

The numerical value of luz shel shidrah, 882, equals 2 times emet (“truth,” 441 or 21²). In Kabbalah and Hassidism, truth implies eternal life, for to be “true” is never to cease. Of Jacob, “the man of truth,”[81] it is said, “Jacob did not die.”[82] 2 times emet implies resurrection and eternal life on two simultaneous planes, the physical plane and the spiritual plane. This accords with the opinion of Nachmanides (and that of Kabbalah and Hassidism) that with the Resurrection of the Dead, not only the soul but the physical body as well will live on forever.

Endnotes - Preface