The Essence

The portion of the Torah read this week begins: “When you go out to war against your enemies, and G-d your G-d delivers him into your hand, and you capture its captives, and you see amongst the captives a beautiful woman, and you desire her, you make take her for a wife. You shall take her into your house, and she will shave her head and grow her nails long. She shall take off her [beautiful] dress of captivity and dwell in your house, mourning over her father and mother for a month. Only after this may you [again] engage in intercourse with her, and she will become your wife. But if [after the mourning period] you do not desire her, you may send her away, but you may not sell her for money….”[1]

Know, that the hair of Z’eir Anpin is black, due to the influence of the states of gevurah [which produce this hair]. [His hair] is black as a raven, due to [the influence of] the attribute of judgment.

As we have explained previously, the male (Z’eir Anpin) is the archetype of chesed while the female (Nukva) is the archetype of gevurah. This is because the female personifies G-d’s drive to be revealed in creation, and this requires both strength and severity (to resist the enticements of evil), while the male personifies the abstract Divine idea itself, outside the context of creation.

One aspect of the flow of Divine energy between the partzufim is reflected in the hair. Hair is seen as a hollow channel filled with Divine “light.” However, since it is possible to cut the hair without experiencing any pain (which is of course not the case with any other part of the body), the life-force present within hair is seen to be extremely attenuated. The force flowing through hair is thus highly contracted, a manifestation of the power of gevurah and judgment. (Judgment in the sense of being strictly rationed and apportioned).

The black hair of Z’eir Anpin is contrasted with the white (or grey) hair of Arich Anpin. Arich Anpin is such a high, intense level of Divine consciousness that even the contraction represented by hair does not produce truly contracted (dark) light, but rather a lower state of chesed.

The hair of the Nukva of Z’eir Anpin is red, since Nukva is itself constructed out of gevurah, as we have explained previously.

As our sages said, “black [blood] is really red [blood] that has deteriorated,”[2] this being [the influence of] the attribute of judgement.

The color red is associated with gevurah. The fact that black (in this case) is a form of red provides the association between black and gevurah.

The Mishnah lists five colors of blood that are considered a sign of menstrual tumah (impurity), but the sages of the Talmud find only four scriptural allusions to different colors of menstrual blood. This is solved by pointing out that black blood is simply red blood that has changed its color. As the Talmud continues, “Black blood is not black originally. It assumes the black color only after it is discharged, like the blood of a wound which becomes black after it had been discharged from it.”

These powers of judgement are the ten Names Elokim that enter Z’eir Anpin from Ima, and then return upward as reflecting light, which is judgement.

The Name Elokim is associated with the sefirah of binah, and specifically, with its power of contraction and limitation. Binah in general is a process of limiting, defining, honing down and contracting the infinite insight of chochmah. But beyond this, the process of intellect becoming emotion—the creation of Z’eir Anpin out of Ima—is a further contraction, a quantum leap lessening the intensity of revelation characteristic of intellect into that characterizing emotion. The ten Names Elokim are the ten sub-sefirot of binah that enter into Z’eir Anpin.

If so, [the light] which itself is judgement is surely severe judgement, enough so that the red is changed into black. As it is written, “His locks are curly, black as a raven.”[3]

The Song of Songs is considered, Kabbalistically, to be the song of love between Z’eir Anpin (the groom) and Nukva d’Zeir Anpin (the bride).

These are the hairs whose numerical value is ten times that of Elokim, being equal to the word for “lock.”

The numerical value of Elokim (alef-lamed-hei-yud-mem, 1 + 30 +5 + 10 + 40) is 86. Ten times 86 is 860. The word for “locks” (taltalim) may be split into the singular for “lock” (taltal) and the plural suffix (-im). The numerical value of taltal (taf-lamed-taf-lamed, 400 + 30 + 400 + 30) is 860.

The plural suffix (-im) of the word for “locks” signifies the 50 letters comprised by the ten Names Elokim. This is why the verse concludes, “dark as a raven.”

Each Name Elokim comprises five letters, 10 x 5 = 50. The word taltalim thus signifies the numerical value of ten Names Elokim and the letters that form these Names.

When the Jewish people used to go out to make war, the five Names Elokim of the right side would be joined with the five Names Elokim of the left side, in order to exact vengeance from their enemies. All that would thus be evident of these ten Names Elokim would be the five of the right side. For would the five of the left side be visible, the forces of evil would latch onto them.

Although one would think that wartime is when one should evince gevurah, the power of the left side, we learn here that this is not the case. True, power and might (gevurah) must be present within the army (or individual) waging war, but its/his outward conduct must be that of chesed. The fact that the enemy has chosen to oppose the forces of holiness means that he must be fought, conquered—and if necessary annihilated—for his own good. (It should be remembered that the Torah enjoins the nation to exhaust peaceful overtures before resorting to war.)

Thus, fighting the enemy is an act of chesed for him and for reality as a whole. There is thus no place for any outward demonstrations of vindictiveness or the like. On the contrary, should the people evince any of the outward trappings of gevurah unnecessarily, they weaken themselves by allowing the essence of their enemy to intrude into their being. This of course lessens their merit to win. As we are taught, when the Jews were crossing the sea on dry land and the Egyptians were being drowned in it, the angels complained to G-d that both parties were guilty of idol worship; why, then, was He showing favor to one over the other? And anger, according to sages, is equivalent to idol worship. Also, the Song at the Sea, which the Jewish people sang to G-d after being delivered from the Egyptians, mentions G-d’s right arm twice, but not His left arm.

This is why the straps [of the tefilin] are black, for they are to reflect these [black] hairs [of Z’eir Anpin]. Furthermore, the right strap is to be longer than the left one.

The tefilin manifest the flow of consciousness from the intellect of Z’eir Anpin (the man wearing them) downward. The head tefilin comprises four compartments, signifying chochmah, binah, and the two aspects of da’at (the five states of chesed and the five states of gevurah). The two sides of the straps emerging from the head tefilin and encompassing the head signify chesed and gevurah themselves. The knot at the rear of the head signifies tiferet. The two straps descending from the knot signify netzach and hod.

The straps are to black in order to reflect the hair of Z’eir Anpin, i.e., the protracted flow of Divine light into Nukva and the world in general. This is reflected in the fact that the partzuf of Leah is said to be situated behind the head of Z’eir Anpin, at the level of the knot of the head tefilin, while the partzuf of Rachel is the hand tefilin itself. As we said, the female (both in woman in general as well as in the female aspect of man) is the warrior whose task it is to battle the materialism of this world. Thus, in the flow of Divine energy reaching her through Z’eir Anpin, the right side must predominate. Then the war will be able to be fought properly, as described above.

This is alluded to in the verse [which opens this passage of the Torah]. The numerical value of the word for “when” [ki] together with the first letter of the word for “you go out” [teitzei, tav] is that of the five Names Elokim of the right side.

The numerical value of ki (kaf-yud, 20 + 10) is 30; that of tav is 400; 400 + 30 = 430. The numerical value of Elokim, as above, is 86. 5 x 86 = 430.

These [aspects of the Name Elokim] appear [in this verse] with G-d’s proper Name [the Name Havayah].

The verse continues: “…to war against your enemies, and G-d [Havayah] your G-d [Elokim] delivers him into your hand….”

[G-d’s proper Name is spelled] Havayah [and read as] Adni; the numerical value of these together is 91, the numerical value of amen.

Havayah (yud-hei-vav-hei, 10 + 5 + 6 + 5) = 26; Adni (alef-dalet-nun-yud, 1 + 4 +50 + 10) = 65. 26 + 65 = 91. Amen (alef-men-nun, 1 + 40 + 50) = 91.

This is also the numerical value of the remaining letters of the word for “you go out” [teitzei].

Teitzei is spelled tav-tzadik-alef. The numerical value of the final two letters (tzadik-alef, 90 + 1) = 91.

This, then is the implication of this verse: “When you go out” [alludes to the five Names Elokim of the right side, together with G-d’s proper Name Havayah,] as we have said. “…to war against your enemies” [in this way], then it is a sure thing that “G-d your G-d,” i.e., [G-d as manifest in] these two Names Havayah and Elokim “will deliver him into your hand.” “Your hand” alludes to the five Names Elokim of the right side, reflected in the five fingers of the right hand. Then, “you will capture its captives.”

Thus, success in the war against evil is predicated on holy conduct, as opposed to fighting evil with evil conduct.

We must now inquire as to the statements of our sages that [the soldier] is permitted to engage in sexual intercourse with the beautiful woman once during the war, and that the Torah in this passage acquiesces to the evil inclination.

According to our sages, the Torah permits the beautiful woman to the soldier within the parameters described in this passage (that he must marry her, etc.) because otherwise he would not be able to resist her.

Because the soldier cannot conquer his urge must the Torah then permit her to him? If this is so, then let the Torah do the same will all other prohibitions!

Secondly, it is stated further in the Torah that [one of the punishments for national wrongdoing is that] “G-d will return you to Egypt in ships…and you will be sold there to your enemies as slaves and handmaidens, and no one will buy.”[4] Why is causing us to return to Egypt a punishment? The Torah does indeed tell us that “you will see them [the Egyptians] no more,”[5] but is going against the Torah’s command a punishment?

Thirdly, why did G-d say this about Egypt, but not about other exiles? Why is He against our returning to Egypt, but permits us to travel to Babylonia or Media?

Fourthly, why do our sages normally speak of only four exiles—Babylonia, Media, Greece, and Edom—as in the verse “And behold, a dark fear…,”[6] but the exile of Egypt, which was more severe than any of these, is not mentioned together with them?

[To answer all this:] The four exiles correspond to the four letters of the Name Havayah, and the exile of Egypt to the upper tip of the yud, which outweighs them all and is greater than they.

The four letters of the Name Havayah correspond to chochmah, binah, the midot, and malchut, respectively, while the upper tip of the yud corresponds to keter, the source of them all. The super-conscious is more powerful and its rectification therefore more crucial than all the other powers of the soul.

Therefore it is mentioned repeatedly [in the Torah] and is not mentioned together with the other [exiles], for it is in a class by itself.

Now, the purpose of exile is to elevate the fallen sparks of holiness that [were scattered all over the earth and] were mixed in with evil due to the sin of Adam. This is the meaning of the verse, “There is a time when a man overcomes another man to his detriment,”[7] meaning that the “evil man” overcomes the “holy man” to his own detriment, for the fact that he oppresses Israel and rules them allows Israel to totally extract from him all the sparks of holiness within him.

“Evil man” and “holy man” here mean the forces of evil and good. Just as in the vision of Ezekiel the array of Divine attributes flowing into creation had the form of a man, and the anatomy of terrestrial man reflects this organization of forces, so are the forces of evil arranged in the human form.

And wherever they go, the Shechinah [Divine presence] goes with them, in order to elevate her component parts.

The Divine presence accompanies the Jewish people in their exile, in order to reconstruct herself out of the fallen sparks of her shattered self.

That is why we are commanded not to return to Egypt, but are not so prohibited with regard to other nations [that have oppressed us], for we have not yet elevated all [the Divine sparks] within them.

“And they emptied out Egypt,” meaning that during the Egyptian exile the Jewish people elevated all the Divine sparks that inhered in that culture and country.

This is why the punishment for wrongdoing is that G-d “will return you to Egypt in ships.” Since Egypt corresponds to the upper tip of the yud, and there remain Divine sparks to elevate in the other lands, which are in comparison to Egypt like the body is to the head, Israel must return to Egypt.

By returning to Egypt, the general exile, Israel can then proceed to elevate whatever sparks remain in the derivative exiles of the other nations.

But as to Egypt itself, “no one will buy.” When there were sparks of holiness embedded within them they desired to rule over Israel. But since Egypt has already been totally refined, they no longer have any desire to enslave Israel. Therefore, they will not want to buy them as slaves.

Babylonia corresponds to the head, as it is written: “You are the head of gold.”[8] Media and Persia correspond to the two arms, Greece corresponds to the body, and Edom and Ishmael correspond to the two legs. This is why the latter two exiles are long.

The present exile is seen as an extension of the Roman exile (Edom is Rome), since culturally and legally, Western civilization shares the values and worldview of ancient Rome. A subset of this exile is that of Ishmael, the Arabs, who are seen as an antithesis of Roman civilization and values, and who will rule over the Jewish people for a time concurrently with the exile of Rome.

This is also why our sages refer to the final stages of the exile as “the heels of the Messiah,”[9] for in that time it will be necessary to elevate [the Divine sparks] that have become enmeshed in the lowest elements [of these exiles], the feet.

Regarding this body, our sages said: “The son of David shall not come until all the souls have been emptied out of the Body,”[10] referring to the holiness that has been mixed in with the evil of the “evil man” mentioned above.

The usual meaning of this saying is that all the souls waiting in their spiritual storehouse (known as the “Body”) must be born into this physical world at least once in order for Mashiach to come. Here, it means that all the Divine sparks (“souls”) must be elevated and thus emptied out of the body representing the exiles of Israel.

Now, as we said, Egypt outweighs all the other exiles for it corresponds to the tip of the yud and transcends the rest of this “body.” Therefore, when the messiah comes and the process of elevation and refinement [of the sparks] will be completed, “death will be swallowed up forever”[11] and the sparks will be totally elevated as they were in Egypt. About this time it is written, “as in the days when you went out of Egypt I will show him wonders.”[12]

All this enables us to understand the subject of the beautiful woman. As is known, all those who engaged in this type of war—an optional war—were absolutely righteous, and had not even [committed the sin] of talking during prayer.

The Torah commands the Jewish people to wipe out the seven pagan nations that occupied Canaan, in order to possess the land of Israel and fill it with holiness. In this obligatory war, we are commanded, “you shall let no soul live.” The war we are discussing here, however, is not of this type, but a voluntary war we are allowed to wage in order to expand the borders of Israel.

Before going out to fight this war, all those who were afraid to fight because they felt that their sins would disqualify them from G-d’s protection were allowed to leave the front. Thus, the ones who remained were only those totally confident in their sinless state.

It is impossible for the evil inclination to persuade such a righteous person to defile himself with a non-Jewish woman. Therefore the Torah informs us that if he does indeed feel attracted to her, it is because there is a holy spark enmeshed in this nation and something of it is found in this non-Jewish woman. This spark is connected to the soul of this man, and he therefore is attracted to her.

We are taught that the soul descends into this world not only for the general purpose of elevating the fallen sparks of holiness, but that there are in fact specific sparks that each soul is uniquely suited to elevate.

Therefore the Torah permits her to him. With the power of the spirit that he introduces into her through intercourse, it is possible that the good in her will be able to overpower the evil and expel it. The woman will then be fit to enter the realm of holiness and convert to Judaism.

Sexual intercourse is meant of course to be a union not only of body of soul as well; through intercourse, the righteous man will impart something of his Divine consciousness to this woman.

Nonetheless, their offspring will still be rebellious, for it is impossible that some residual evil will not remain in her [that will manifest itself in their child].

The passage of the Torah describing the laws of the beautiful woman is followed by the laws of what is to be done to an exceptionally rebellious son. According to the oral tradition, the juxtaposition of these two passages is meant to convey that the offspring of the soldier and the beautiful woman will be rebellious.

“But if you do not desire her”—this indicates that whatever good there was within her was the minority and became nullified, for the evil overcame it and expelled it. It joined together with the spirit he introduced into her, which then returned to him and was elevated. She was thus left totally evil.

In this case, the spirit introduced into her through intercourse was not able to expel the evil since she herself did not possess enough good to combine forces with his good and overcome the evil. The indication that this indeed happened is if after the mourning period he is no longer attracted to her.

—translated from Likutei Torah and Sefer HaLikutim by Rabbi Moshe Wisnefsky

[1] Deuteronomy 21:10-14.

[2] Nidah 19a.

[3] Song of Songs 5:11.

[4] Deuteronomy 28:68.

[5] Exodus 14:13.

[6] Genesis 15:12, discussing Abraham’s vision of the future of his descendants: “And behold, a great, dark fear fell upon him.” “‘Fear’ refers to Babylonia…. ‘dark’ refers to Media…. ‘great’ refers to Greece…. ‘fell upon him’ refers to Edom’” (Bereishit Rabbah 44:17).

[7] Ecclesiastes 8:9.

[8] Daniel 2:38. Daniel is speaking to Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylonia.

[9] Sotah 49a.

[10] Yevamot 62a.

[11] Isaiah 25:8.

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