Gates of Understanding: The Order of Seven Times Seven in Counting the Omer

Introduction

Maggid Shiur:

Rabbosai, erev Shabbos after Kedoshim. We are continuing a bit to continue what we began to discuss in the previous two shiurim, the topic of the order of seven times seven of Sefiras HaOmer. There are still many things that we don’t understand at all, but I just want to begin to add a bit of explanation, a bit of a continuation to what we have learned. And as we have said, at least begin to show what needs to be put together here, what is the topic that needs to be learned together, put together.

Chapter 1: Fifty Gates of Understanding – The Foundation of the Ramban

The Midrash and Its Connection to Sefiras HaOmer

So let’s begin like this. We spoke about the Midrash “Fifty gates of understanding were created in the world and all were given to Moshe except for one.” This is one source, one kind of way of thinking that we are learning here.

And seemingly the meaning of this, as the Ramban says, and the source that connects this to Sefiras HaOmer, u’feirash, is the Ramban in his introduction to the Torah. The Ramban in the introduction to the Torah says that what it says “Fifty gates of understanding were created in the world,” first he explains like this, what is the meaning?

What is Binah?

The Ramban says in the introduction to the Torah, his language is, sorry, how am I, that in the world there are fifty gates. And he explains, “Fifty gates of understanding” means, it’s not just gates of understanding. What then is the meaning of binah? Binah means to understand the world, to understand reality.

Yes? So understanding reality means that the world is divided into fifty, fifty gates.

The Metaphor of a Gate

He says, let’s see first what he says simply. Fifty gates, fifty… I know why it’s called a gate. Sha’ar means a gate. Perhaps sha’ar is a way of dividing things. I don’t know where it comes from, the… one must think about where the comparison comes from, the metaphor, the parable of a gate.

Yes? We are accustomed, one writes a book, one writes sha’arei… Sha’ar means like a gate. What it seems like is the idea is, one can think, one must think about this, why is something a sha’ar? What is this a sha’ar?

Perhaps the word is, as we learn “b’chochmah yibaneh bayis,” chochmah is the understanding of how things are, it’s called like a heichal, like a bayis, “chochmos bansah beisah,” the Torah, the world is called a bayis, yes, bayis, beis bereishis. It’s a thing like one enters, like keviyusa, there is a yeshiva, there is a place, a beis medrash where one learns the thing, and there are fifty ways in to this.

One can interpret it this way, and perhaps this explains why it is seven times seven.

The Ramban’s Examples

The Ramban says, let’s say, the trees are one gate, people are a second gate, animals are a third gate, and so on. And what is the meaning of a gate? One must understand.

The Ramban, here see the language with which he begins. The world has different heichalos, heichal of the first day, heichal of the second day, the light and darkness is called one bayis, and the sun and moon is called another bayis, etc.

Chapter 2: Hiskallelos – How Each Thing Contains the Entire World

The Foundation of Hiskallelos

And one can also explain that the sha’ar means that each thing is truly the entire world. Let’s understand a simple thing, this is called in Kabbalah the concept of hiskallelos, and that’s why there is indeed seven times seven.

How the World is Divided

The meaning is like this, I want to understand the world. You tell me, “vayomer b’ma’amar echad,” can I understand it? That the Ribbono Shel Olam can understand. But a person, “zachor v’aseh b’dibur echad,” only the Ribbono Shel Olam can do that.

Chochmah Elyonah – Understanding Everything at Once

Or a person in the way that he has such a kind of hasagah, or in the chochmah b’rosh that they called above, when he grasps an insight, he grasps something like almost a nevuah, he sees everything at once, but he cannot explain it because it’s not a thing.

Emunah Peshutah – Bitul HaDa’as

Or below, as they said “emunah peshutah,” where one is mevatel da’as.

The Parable of Tefillin – Chochmah SheBaYad

Or one can even say when a person does, yes, it’s very interesting that as I said tefillin shel yad is in one bayis, and the meaning of this, this week we learned tefillin, remember, the meaning of this is that when a person does, yes, say Shabbos, you can say Shabbos has twenty-five kavanos, twenty-five reasons, twenty-five explanations, what does Shabbos mean? Forty-nine!

But when a person is mekayem and he does Shabbos, he does everything at once.

Tefisah B’Fo’al – The Action Itself

And even actual grasping in actual practice, also in the lev ha’adam, I can learn many kavanos, many ways, in practice when I do, which shitah does one do?

Yes, sometimes I learn, there is the shitah of the Rambam on the understandings in the matter of mitzvos, the shitah of the Ramban, the shitah of the Kuzari, the shitah of the Baal Shem Tov, the shitah of the Ramak, the shitah of the Arizal. Okay, then one asks today, okay, and which one are you having in mind? Yes, so one asks a foolish question.

The Practical Question: Which Shitah?

So too one learns that there are four different explanations of Sefiras HaOmer, and which one should one have in mind?

One Way: Go with One Explanation

So sometimes a person says, my having in mind is decisive. I understand, there is a sefer that says this way, there is a sefer that says the opposite. But in practice, when I do avodas Hashem in practice, I must go with what my heart inclines to, with what my heart desires, I must go with one explanation, I don’t go with the other explanation. Other explanations I only learn theoretically, that there was once historically such an explanation, and I don’t learn it.

The True Way: Combination of All

This is one way how one can say it, but it’s not the true way how it usually works, and usually one who learns more than one way and he has more than one explanation, there are ways how he fulfills all.

Or one can say, some combination of all, some kind of mixture of all the explanations, and they stand together each in its place. Sometimes one is more mixed, one is less mixed.

The Rebbes and Teachers

That’s why there are the rebbes, the teachers who always teach in a selective manner, he doesn’t go so clearly with one shitah, and he doesn’t even know perhaps the difference, he says oy vey, there’s no difference, it’s all one thing.

There are people who are more learned, they always want to know the difference between one shitah and the other, but a great part of this has to do with this, because if one lives in practice, when one speaks halachah l’ma’aseh, what is called avodas Hashem, it must always be everything at once. It’s the combination of everything, according to how it turns out. Okay, this is the yad, the chochmah shebayad, the chochmah corresponding to the heart.

Chapter 3: Three Types of Hiskallelos

Rosh – Divide in Order to Understand

But to understand one must divide.

Now, here in the dividing, excuse me, in the lev we said, here we have already learned two types of hiskallelos.

First Hiskallelos: From the Side of HaKadosh Baruch Hu

We spoke here about the hiskallelos that is from the side of HaKadosh Baruch Hu, from the side of the upper perspective everything is one, one can call it the binah, from the side of chochmah, let’s call it now, yes, in the upper world, from the side of the perspective of the Ribbono Shel Olam everything is one.

Second Hiskallelos: From the Side of the Action of the Person

And also from the side of the action of the person, a person can only do one thing, he cannot be mekayem Sefiras HaOmer in one minute according to the explanation of the Ramban and in one minute according to the explanation of the Ibn Ezra. He must go with something that he receives, even in practice, even whoever doesn’t know clearly, he cannot tell you any process of how he combines all the shitos, practically somehow one combines all the shitos of what he does and actually does.

Third Hiskallelos: Sha’arei Binah

Now we will iy”H briefly learn a third type of hiskallelos, a third kind of way how all things connect, because this is the hiskallelos of the seven within seven itself.

I think that about this it is called, I’m thinking now, I wasn’t precise and didn’t look it up and search, but perhaps about this it is called sha’arei binah.

Chapter 4: Sha’arei Binah – Each Gate is the Entire World

What Does Sha’arei Binah Mean?

What does sha’arei binah mean? The meaning is like this, if you want to understand the world, let’s say, we say the first thing that stands in Bereishis is or v’choshech.

The Parable of Or V’Choshech

Or v’choshech is one-seventh of the world, yes? There are very many other things besides or v’choshech in the world. There are also animals and people, there is also zachar u’nekevah bara osam.

Zachar u’nekevah is in the world, yes? Very many mekubalim, everything revolves around the framework of zachar u’nekevah, and explains how each thing has a zachar u’nekevah. There are thousands more things that one can do this way.

Understanding One Gate = Understanding the Entire World

But one understands that truly, when I understand the topic of or v’choshech, I thereby understand the entire world.

I cannot understand the concept of or v’choshech, I will say, Koheles when it’s divided in time makes it Koheles. I will say, on the first day of Bereishis there was nothing yet except or v’choshech, so then the entire world was only or v’choshech. Can I speak about or v’choshech as a thing in itself.

And this is necessary so that people should be able to grasp ma’aseh bereishis, one says or v’choshech by itself. But you hear, I’m saying this in meaning, I must make the entire world or v’choshech, because I can say even now, in reality or v’choshech is not, perhaps it was the first day like that, I don’t even know, perhaps that is only written so we should be able to understand, as Rashi says, truly everything was created at once.

Or V’Choshech is in Every Thing

Also in reality every thing in the world has somewhere or v’choshech, or v’choshech influences every thing. When you understand or v’choshech correctly, you will understand how this makes the day and night, how this makes the stars and moon, how this makes everything, basically.

In total, when I learn or v’choshech, I learn the entire world from the aspects of or v’choshech.

The Parable of Zachar U’Nekevah

The same thing, I learn zachar u’nekevah, zachar u’nekevah there is zachar u’nekevah of the person, zachar u’nekevah of the animals, zachar u’nekevah is the heavens is a zachar and the earth is a nekevah, and so on.

Zachar U’Nekevah in the Entire World

And even when one says practically, not only can one say that each thing is by way of parable a zachar u’nekevah, truly, in order that the power of memory of a person should work, there must be an entire world. And understand each thing, and understand the entire world.

What you want to divide is only fifty gates of understanding, fifty ways how to arrive.

Fifty Gates of Understanding: Hiskallelos HaMidos and the Gates to Understand the World

Hiskallelos HaMidos – The True Meaning

In total, when I learn or v’choshech, I learn the entire world from the aspects of or v’choshech. And the same thing: I learn zachar u’nekevah – zachar u’nekevah there is zachar u’nekevah of the person, zachar u’nekevah of the animals, zachar u’nekevah is the heavens is a zachar and the earth is a nekevah, and so on. And even when it says practically, not only can one say that each thing by way of parable is a zachar and a nekevah.

Truly, in order for zachar u’nekevah for a person to work, there must be an entire world and understand each thing – understand the entire world. What we see the beginning is only fifty gates of understanding – fifty ways how to arrive to hear, to understand the world. Through the gate one arrives at the entire thing.

For this, this is the simple meaning of what we call hiskallelos hamidos – there is chesed shebigvurah and gevurah shebechesed. The meaning is: truly in reality there is only one great thing. From the side of the Ribbono Shel Olam there is only not any chesed, not any gevurah – there is one great unity. But what, in order that we should understand, we say: “Ah, this kind of thing is called chesed.”

But one must think and see it, that in order to understand the chesed, you must also understand – as you now said before – you must also understand the gevurah, you must also understand the tiferes. In other words, the chesed shows you how to see the entire world from its perspective.

Every Wisdom is a Perspective on the Entire World

Each one who is a chacham in a certain science or in a certain process of understanding the world, he understands everything through this. It may be that not for everything is this the best way to understand – for that one needs to have a completely different way, the next gate of understanding.

What explains living things is one of the seven gates of understanding. And living things need to have food – dead things, domem food, and so on – and through this it lives. So it’s not simple that one can – there is not truly a science only of living things, there is not truly a science of any thing separately.

There is a science of each thing – an external science, an external gate, an external wisdom – that learns the entire world from the gate of the thing. And consequently, in each thing you can find the second thing and the third thing.

I need to find a better, clearer parable to explain this – I don’t have at the moment in my head a clearer parable – but this is the meaning. And therefore this is sha’arei binah – this is the meaning of fifty gates of understanding.

The Third Type of Understanding: All Gates in Each Gate

So here we said: here there is a third type of understanding. Because in each gate there are all the gates truly, but what I learn this with is the perspective.

One says for example: in time one can divide everything, in place one can divide everything, in nefesh one can divide everything – all kinds of ways how one can learn. And truly there is no time without place, no time without people – there are not all these things external in reality. But in our understandings there are all these things external, and each one of our kinds of understandings, our kinds of wisdoms, our kinds of sciences that we learn, is a gate to understand the world.

This is the meaning of sha’arei binah.

The Maharal’s Question: Why Separate Gates?

And therefore one also marks it. The Maharal asks: why is this at all a different gate? He asks – I mean one must look in the Maharal – he asks: a sheretz is one gate and fish is a second gate, what is the difference? Sheratzim and fish is the same thing.

No, because there must be a different kind of understanding. One needs for this different kinds of concepts, different kinds of vessels, in order to understand how sheratzim work. And indeed from the perspective of sheratzim you can understand: sheratzim need there to be sand, sheratzim need there to be animals that eat them, that they eat. Sheratzim have a perspective on the entire world, sheratzim have a kind of way of understanding the entire world.

But what makes it an external gate is that this is a chochmas hasheratzim, and this is not the same thing as chochmas hadagim, and so on.

This is the meaning: “Fifty gates of understanding were created in the world.”

“Nimseru L’Moshe Chutz Me’echad” – The Ramban’s Approach

Now, on this it says: the fifty gates of understanding were created in the world, we are told two things. First of all: “And all were given to Moshe except for one.” So it says in the Gemara, as it says: “vatechasserehu me’at me’Elokim” – all were given to Moshe except for one.

The Ramban interprets like this: what does “nimseru l’Moshe” mean? Moshe Rabbeinu was the great chacham and he knew everything. The Ramban understands that this means – so he says – that “all were given to Moshe” means that this has something to do with the wisdom of Moshe Rabbeinu, with the level of Torah. Moshe Rabbeinu, the Five Books of Torah, “Torah tzivah lanu Moshe” – “nimseru l’Moshe.”

He says, the Ramban argues: consequently it must be that in the Torah is hinted all the gates of understanding. This is one of his sources that he says there in the introduction that all wisdoms must stand in the Torah.

The Ramban’s Proof: All Wisdoms in Torah

What he means to say is: one of his proofs, one of his words, sources that he brings to prove this is the statement of fifty gates of understanding “nimseru l’Moshe.” And “nimseru l’Moshe” he learns doesn’t mean simply Moshe the person knew this – it’s interesting to say that Moshe the person knew all wisdoms – rather all lie in the Torah.

Ah, don’t you see in the Torah that they speak about everything? But in the Torah there is derech remez (the way of hints), there are other ways that you can find in the Torah.

A New Explanation: Torah is One of the Sha’arei Binah

I want to add to this a bit of explanation. I think it needs to be brought out. It’s no chochma (wisdom) to say “everything is in the Torah.” What do I gain from that? I can’t learn it out.

I think that according to what I’ve now said, one can understand it this way:

One must understand – we said that when we say chamishim sha’arei binah (fifty gates of understanding) it means in total that the world is divided into fifty.

The 32 Netivot Chochma from Sefer Yetzirah

I thought earlier: In Sefer Yetzirah (the Book of Formation, an ancient Kabbalistic text) it says that the world is on thirty-two. “Shloshim ushtayim netivot chochma” (thirty-two paths of wisdom) – with these the Almighty created the world, and so on.

One might think that it means that the Almighty has some computer system called the 32 netivot chochma, and from this He made the world. But whoever learns Sefer Yetzirah sees that what it actually means to say is that the world is divided into thirty-two basic ingredients – yes? The twenty-two letters and the ten sefirot. This is the basic way how the world is divided, and to understand the entire world is to understand that this is the world.

When the Almighty created the world with this, it doesn’t mean that this exists outside of the world – this is the world that the Almighty created.

The 32 Netivot Chochma versus Chamishim Sha’arei Binah

It’s truly a bit like a contradiction, and other mekubalim (Kabbalists) speak about this: which is it? Is it 32 netivot chochma or chamishim sha’arei binah?

And the answer is certainly this, and there are other approaches, or there are other ways how to explain this. After all, one can divide everything in different ways, one can divide the world in many ways:

– One of the ways is thirty-two netivot chochma that Sefer Yetzirah thought of

– A second way is what the Midrash from the Gemara thought of: chamishim sha’arei binah

Certainly this is chochma and this is binah. One can think about how, why is there actually a difference? What did the one who said chochma 32 mean? What did the one who said binah 49 mean?

Lag BaOmer: The Transition from Chochma to Binah

Certainly there is an explanation for this, and Lag BaOmer (the 33rd day of the Omer) is that it’s already after the 32 netivot chochma. So he has already gone beyond understanding the world from that aspect, now the chamishim sha’arei binah unfold. There remain seventeen – that means there are seventeen more from the sha’arei binah than the netivot chochma.

Sha’arei Binah and Netivot Chochma: The Same Idea

And another important thing one can understand is that what we call sha’arei chochma and netivot – sha’arei binah and netivot chochma – is further the same idea.

Sha’ar (gate) means like a way into the binah, into the understanding of the world, and netiv (path) also means a way – it’s a way in. It’s not just that one of the netivot is external to the other. Each one of the 32 netivot is a way to understand the entire world through that netiv – that is, netiv alef and netiv bet, however we’ll call it from the 32 netivot chochma.

What Does “Everything is in the Torah” Mean?

Now, all these things were given over to Moshe. We need to understand it this way – I mean we need to understand it this way:

Moshe, the Torah – what is the meaning that everything is in the Torah? I mean, one doesn’t need to come with all these interesting Torah insights based on remez (hints), based on gematria (numerical values of Hebrew letters), in order from the letters – the Ramban brings such kinds of things. It could be that this is the meaning that the Ramban spoke about, but I think one can say something simpler.

The Torah Contains the Entire World

Now, let’s say: the six days of creation contain the entire world, and in general the Torah contains all kinds of things from the world.

I mean, I saw in the Midrash last week in Parshat Tazria, it says “isha ki tazria” (when a woman conceives) – the Midrash begins to explain how a baby is born. The Gemara, yes: “isha mazra’at techila yoledet zachar” (if the woman emits seed first, she gives birth to a male) etc. etc. The Midrash goes into much more detail that here it speaks about how a baby is born.

Parshat Tazria: Halacha and Medicine Together

Now let’s understand the simple meaning, yes? “Isha ki tazria” doesn’t speak about the science of how to have babies. That’s not the topic of the parsha. It’s a parsha of halachot (laws). The parshiyot of Vayikra are halachot. It says how, what will be the law: if she gives birth to a female, if she gives birth to a male, what is the law of tumah from childbirth, of tumah of niddah etc., what is the law of all these things.

But let’s understand: I said earlier that all chochmot (wisdoms) are included in each other, yes? And people say: ah, in order to be a rav, in order to rule correctly on halachot niddah, one needs to be a bit of a doctor who understands how babies are born. Because if I don’t know what is dam niddah, I don’t know what is dam leidah, I don’t know if it’s a ziva or if it’s a leidah – these are all matters of medicine.

I know that today’s altogether (in general) says that it has no connection. I hold that it’s not correct. It could be it has no connection because we are confused, because we don’t know, and one must go with what the poskim have said even if it doesn’t match. But it’s clear: whoever learns the Gemara, whoever learns the sources in the Rishonim and Acharonim, it’s clear that from the perspective of truth this is the same chochma.

You want to be able to say that all chochmot are one? In other words, this is one sha’ar (gate).

Torah is One of the Sha’arei Binah – Not All of Them

I can say, I want to say such a meaning:

The Torah is only one of the sha’arei binah. I know that the Ramban says that the Torah is all chamishim sha’arei binah – he had all forty-nine. I think that’s not correct.

Torah – what does Torah mean? Certainly, the word Torah more broadly can mean everything. But the Torah, according to the garment of the Torah that we have, the plain Torah – what Torah means is primarily halacha, how one should conduct oneself in this world – this is one of the sha’arei binah.

The Ramban Only Speaks About Nature

The Ramban says chamishim sha’arei binah – he only speaks about nature. But it’s surely obvious that how people need to conduct themselves properly – and then the Rambam (Maimonides) explains in his introduction: when Shlomo HaMelech speaks, the wisest of all men, “vayedaber al ha’etzim ve’al ha’avanim” (and he spoke about the trees and about the stones) [I Kings 5:13] – whoever looks into Shlomo HaMelech’s books, in Mishlei and Kohelet, he actually speaks a bit about “nature,” but he speaks much more about middot (character traits), about mussar (ethics), about how a person should conduct himself.

And the Rambam explains there in a deep way, but the simple thing is: let’s say first of all in the simplest way, how people, the conduct of people is also part of nature…

Halacha, Science, and the Chamishim Sha’arei Binah: How Torah and Reality are One Whole

Shlomo HaMelech’s Wisdom: Human Conduct as Part of Nature

And then the Rambam explains in his introduction, when Shlomo HaMelech speaks, the wisest of all men, “vayedaber al ha’etzim ve’al ha’avanim” (and he spoke about the trees and about the stones). Whoever looks into Shlomo HaMelech’s books, in Mishlei and Kohelet, sees he speaks a bit actually about nature, but he speaks very much more about middot, about mussar, about how a person should conduct himself.

And the Rambam explains there in a deep way. But the simple thing is, let’s say, first of all in the simplest way, how people, the conduct of human beings is the most important part of nature, to understand the world. During the six days of creation comes also the mitzvah of how one should conduct oneself on Shabbat. To understand how people conduct themselves and how they should conduct themselves, this is certainly one of the great chamishim sha’arei binah that were created in the world. This is not an external thing.

Against David Hume’s Separation: “Is” and “Ought” are Connected

Those who say that halacha has nothing to do with science, this goes with a critical approach of David Hume (Scottish philosopher of the 18th century), who says that what one ought to do and what is are two different worlds. This is not correct, and we do not go, God forbid, with this approach. Because certainly what ought to be comes from what things are.

Whoever understands nature, whoever understands the world, as we say, “histakel be’oraita uvara alma” (He looked into the Torah and created the world) – the world and the Torah are just two sides of one coin. To understand what things are, this tells us what they ought to be.

Halacha Contains Sodot HaMetzius

And about this, this is the depth of why we say that in halacha lie sodot haTorah (secrets of the Torah). What does sodot mean? Sodot hametzius (secrets of reality). If you look into halachot tumah of childbirth, you see that this is connected, this is built on how the childbirth actually is. It’s not separate. If it’s separate, it’s a great separation, and one must repair this separation. This is like the exile of the Torah, the exile of the Shechina, which one must repair.

Halacha and Science: Two Gates to the Same Reality

But still, yes, it’s certain that it’s connected. It’s certain that whoever understands better the medicine of niddah, understands better halachot niddah. And if not, if he disagrees with other rabbis who say a different interpretation in halachot niddah, there is a contradiction, there is a question. But it doesn’t mean that the essential thing of how it works must work that way. One learns this way, and one learns that way. Doubt, so I certainly hold.

But what? What we see yes is, it still doesn’t mean that the wisdom of medicine of how babies are born is the same thing as the wisdom of halacha of Yoreh Deah part two. It’s two… but what is it? From this it’s called two gates. One gate is halacha. One gate is how one conducts oneself with tumah of childbirth, with tumah of niddah, with all these laws that revolve around this. And a second, and from this aspect, as you understand now what I said earlier, I was looking for a parable, now you actually understand one parable, a simple parable that we are familiar with.

Halacha as a Gate to the Entire World

The wisdom of halacha is a gate to understand the entire world. Someone who wants to understand all halachot, there are halachot on everything. Even on what one does in space there are halachot, yes? One writes responsa for whoever goes to space, how to keep halacha. On everything there is a halacha.

And if you want to understand, one actually the gate how you enter into the entire world is the Torah, is the halacha, is Torat Moshe, which the simple meaning is the essence of Torah is halacha leMoshe miSinai it’s called, yes? Halacha. Moshe’s thing is halacha. He gave mitzvot, halachot, mitzvot. From this you can enter into all of Torah in its entirety. This is also the foundation. “Amar HaKadosh Baruch Hu, lo hayu li arba amot shel halacha” (The Holy One Blessed Be He said: I had nothing but four cubits of halacha), the Rambam asks a question.

“Arba Amot Shel Halacha” – Halacha as a Gate to All Reality

That is, and it’s a pity for someone who has learned a bit of halachot niddah, and he wants to see that there are no sodot haTorah, there is no Kabbalah, there is no ma’aseh bereishit and ma’aseh merkava, everything is halacha. According to how we learn one can understand, the Rambam learns there differently, but according to how we learn one can interpret that arba amot shel halacha means in total, halacha is also a gate to the entire world.

What we seek is to understand reality, to be part of reality, the Almighty’s world, this is what we seek. There are many gates for this, each person must have his gate.

“Ein Adam Lomed Torah Ela Mimakom Shelibo Chafetz” – The Precision

And one can see, in this gate there are many contradictions that we said earlier, that each person must go according to his natural inclination, his libo chafetz. I ask a question, what does it mean? One should learn Torah only in the place where his heart desires? I don’t understand, every Jew is obligated to learn the entire Torah. Suddenly you say, you hold by Shlomo’s Uktzin, so what? It’s halacha, it’s in the Torah, you must learn Masechet Uktzin. What does libo chafetz mean?

It’s amazing, it doesn’t say “ein adam lomed Torah ela ma shelibo chafetz” or “ela hachelek shelibo chafetz”. It says “ein adam lomed Torah ela mimakom shelibo chafetz” (a person doesn’t learn Torah except from the place that his heart desires).

The Question is Only From Which Gate

That is, the question is only from which gate you enter. And each person can see, if someone is interested in some way how to enter into wisdom, a way how to enter into Torah, there is someone who learns halacha because he loves Kabbalah, he wants to understand sodot haTorah, he looks into the Zohar, he sees that the Zohar is all built on halacha. It’s always built on verses. He looks into the verses, and in order to understand the intentions.

And conversely, when someone will learn the simple meaning of Scripture and he sees in the Zohar, he explains from the Zohar one can clearly see the simple meaning of Scripture. And each person who learns in the Torah and what is in his portion of the science of the world that we are accustomed to, can see that it’s always from every way, from every place that a person just begins to be interested, he comes to everything, if he follows Torah, if he is not lazy.

The Parable of Sefirat HaOmer

If he is lazy and he forgets one day of counting, so to speak by way of parable, and he begins, he says, “ah, I’ve already forgotten one day, I can already say a Torah thought on the parsha, I’m already a philosopher,” then he doesn’t arrive. But if he is not lazy and he goes through until, yes, this is the meaning, he goes through until the fiftieth gate, he counts all the days of the counting, that is he begins, each person begins from one place, each person begins from some other chesed shebigvurah, through this he comes to everything.

Chamishim Sha’arei Binah Includes All the Wisdoms in the World

As I say here, when the Ramban says “chamishim sha’arei binah nimseru leMoshe” (fifty gates of understanding were given over to Moshe), the meaning is that in the wisdom of halacha are included all the wisdoms in the world. Because if you want to know halachot niddah, you must understand what is the nature of niddah.

And the same thing conversely, chamishim sha’arei binah were given over to the science of how she makes a baby, because from there he came to halacha.

“Vedibarta Le’etzat HaBanim” – To Know What Everything is Good For

As the Rambam said there that “vedibarta le’etzat habanim“, the meaning is, to know each thing truly is to know what each thing is good for. Not just what it is, but what it’s good for, what is the good in it. And the good in it, this is the Torah, “ein tov ela Torah” (there is no good except Torah). The Torah is what tells the good of each thing.

So truly, the end of science is also to know how one conducts oneself, what one does, there is what one conducts oneself regarding people, there is what regarding the entire world, etc. etc. This is the meaning of “chamishim sha’arei binah nimseru leMoshe”.

“Chutz Me’echad” – The Fiftieth Gate

Now, I hope that I’ve brought out a bit and explained according to how I understand the statement, and we need to go a bit further. First of all, it says “chutz me’echad” (except for one). “Chutz me’echad”. What does “chutz me’echad” mean?

Says the Ramban, I interpret thus: “chutz me’echad” – hu beyedi’a, hasha’ar beyedi’at haBoreh yitbarach shelo nimsar lenivra (this is in knowledge, the rest is in the knowledge of the Creator blessed be He which was not given over to any created being). Chutz meHashem, although the meaning is not nivra.

Not a Gate of the Created

He says the Ramban, if you put it in it says nivra ba’olam, let’s say that nivra ba’olam means the other 49, the first fiftieth gate is not a gate of the created. Do you understand what I’m saying here? Not a gate, what does not a gate of the created mean?

Knowledge is only a thing that speaks about the thing that is known. If you know trees, you know the gate that was created, the gate is the wisdom that speaks about trees. If you know hippopotamuses, you know the gate of hippopotamuses in the world. If you know the Almighty, which gate do you know? Not a gate of the created, you know the Almighty Himself.

“Lo Yirani Ha’adam Vachai”

But Moshe Rabbeinu Didn’t Receive This

But Moshe Rabbeinu (Moses our teacher) didn’t receive this. How do we know? There’s a verse, the Almighty told him “lo yirani ha’adam vachai” [no person can see Me and live], the whole conversation in Parshas Ki Sisa. Moshe Rabbeinu also didn’t know the Almighty kemo shehu (as He is). What did he know about the Almighty? Mitoch habri’ah [through the Creation]. So he says, so is the simple meaning, so says everyone, yes, the Ramban says so.

The Question: Does the Torah Contain Everything Except the Almighty?

In other words, here we’re going to explain another interpretation of what we learned that the 50th gate is really just another 49 gates. It can’t be, let’s understand, it can’t be that one should say “hakol nimsru l’Moshe” (everything was given to Moshe).

In other words, someone said this: “nimsru l’Moshe” is stated in the Torah, meaning it comes out truly, in the Torah is written everything about the entire world except for one thing that’s not written in the Torah – about the Almighty. It’s a wonder.

It’s Literally Mockery

The entire Torah came to inform people that there is a God, “Shema Yisrael Hashem Elokeinu Hashem Echad” [Hear, O Israel, Hashem is our God, Hashem is One], “atah horeisa ladaas ki Hashem hu haElokim ein od milvado” [You have been shown to know that Hashem is God, there is none other besides Him]. What does it mean that in the Torah is written everything except the Almighty? It’s literally mockery. The Torah speaks only of the Almighty.

On the contrary, one should say in science books is written everything except the Almighty; the Torah contains the Almighty except for everything – that would make more sense. What does it mean that in the Torah is written everything except the Almighty?

The Torah Speaks About Created Beings

But on the other hand, this is certainly true. Why? Because what the Torah speaks about is only about created beings, the Torah speaks about how one should conduct oneself, how the created beings need to conduct themselves, that’s the meaning of the Torah. How the Almighty should conduct Himself, that’s for the Almighty, that’s not for people to know, “lo yirani ha’adam vachai,” no person can know the Almighty, no person can see the Almighty, no person can understand the Almighty.

But It Is a Divine Torah

But what is it on the other hand? Why is it called Torah? Why is it a Torah from Heaven? It’s a divine Torah. And what makes it a divine Torah? It’s a divine Torah in that all 49 gates that are written in the Torah all came, they all came to say “Bereishis bara Elokim vayechulu hashamayim veha’aretz” [In the beginning God created… and the heavens and the earth were completed], to give testimony on the act of Creation.

The Fiftieth Gate Is Again 49 Gates

So that’s the meaning that in the fiftieth gate, certainly the fiftieth gate exists. No one should say, God forbid, that one doesn’t know the Almighty. Certainly one knows the Almighty. But the fiftieth gate is another forty-nine gates. It’s again, one knows the Almighty, because one looks.

One can say one looks from the fiftieth gate at all the other forty-nine gates, and from that one understands the entire world.

Two Paths: Cigarettes to the Almighty, or the Almighty to Cigarettes

And one can also say incidentally, there’s also a way, yes, as we said, there are people who are curious about cigarettes, and in honor of that he needs to learn all kinds of wisdoms because everything is connected.

So there’s a second one, there’s a Jew who is only curious about the fiftieth gate, he’s curious about understanding the Almighty. One tells him, you want to understand the Almighty? One cannot understand the Almighty directly, one must understand through the entire world. Hineni muchan umezuman (behold I am ready and prepared), learn the entire world to understand the Almighty. This is certainly the holiest path. This is the meaning of Torah, true Torah.

Why Matan Torah Was on the Fiftieth Day

Why was the Torah, the giving of the Torah, on the fiftieth day? Because it was the fiftieth, that’s the “lo nimsru l’Moshe”. Lo nimsru l’Moshe is the meaning, this is truly only, the only thing that Moshe Rabbeinu was interested in was the thing that “lo nimsru l’Moshe,” in the fiftieth gate, in the “es mah Elokim” [with what is God].

Through His Desire to Know the Almighty

Rather what? Through his desire to know the Almighty, from that he received the entire Torah. And certainly, since one never understands the Almighty, therefore one constantly adds chiddushei Torah (Torah insights), constantly adds to investigate the world, constantly adds to investigate wisdom, because that’s a different motivation.

There’s someone who is motivated that his desire is to know I know what, how his cigarettes work. There’s another whose desire is to know the Almighty. Both of them know the same thing, from the cigarettes one arrives at the Almighty. But he came from the Almighty to the cigarettes.

Learning from the Fiftieth Gate All the Other 49 Gates

That’s the meaning, he learned from the fiftieth gate all the other forty-nine gates, vechozer chalilah (and returning again and again), one can learn deeper and deeper, that’s the thing we learned the other time, the simple meaning of the words of the Baal Shem Tov.

“Chutz Me’echad” = “Echad Elokeinu”

And that’s the meaning “kulam nimsru l’Moshe chutz me’echad” (all were given to Moshe except one). Chutz me’echad, that’s the One, the “echad Elokeinu shebashamayim uva’aretz” [One is our God in heaven and on earth].

The Ramban’s Hint in the Torah: Counting of the Omer and Jubilee

Says Rabbeinu Yonah, now he explains, the number of forty-nine comes out to be the fifty gates of understanding. Mispar zeh remez baTorah bisfiras ha’omer uvisfiras hayovel [This number is hinted in the Torah in the counting of the Omer and in the counting of the Jubilee], ka’asher ye’agud bo Yisrael begashem retzon Hashem [as Israel should connect with it in fulfilling the will of Hashem].

Says the Ramban, the number, in Chazal (our Sages) it says fifty, it doesn’t say that it says yes, it says 49 gates of understanding, fifty gates of understanding is 49 gates of understanding, which is seven times seven, and the fiftieth is lo nimsar l’Moshe (was not given to Moshe).

Says the Ramban, how does this appear in the Torah? How is this hinted in the Torah? We already asked last week, what does the Ramban mean appears in the Torah?

The Question of the Connection Between the Fifty Gates of Understanding and the Secret of the Days of the World

Introduction: A Clear Question Without an Answer

And I will now make clearer that there’s a question here, and I will make the question clearer. I don’t know an answer to the question, we’re thinking about the answers further, but I will make the question clearer.

How Is the Concept of Fifty Gates of Understanding Hinted in the Torah?

The Question

In the Torah, how is hinted the concept of the fifty gates of understanding where “kulam nimsru l’Moshe chutz me’echad” [all were given to Moshe except one]? How is the concept hinted? So there’s no apparent connection in Bereishis (Genesis). Okay.

The Hint: Two Times When We Count 7 Times 7

But in the Torah it says by counting, two times one counted 7 times 7. Yes, 7 times one counts many times in the Torah, but 7 times 7 one counts only twice in the Torah:

1. Once Sefiras HaOmer [Counting of the Omer] – 7 weeks

2. The second is Sefiras HaYovel [Counting of the Jubilee] – 7 shemittos [sabbatical cycles]

These are two times when one counts 7 times 7, and each time the 50th is kodesh [holy]:

– The 50th day of Sefiras HaOmer is kodesh

– The 50th year of Yovel is kodesh, “shnas hayovel” [the Jubilee year] which is kodesh

That’s the meaning, and here he found the hint of this mispar [number], the mispar hakolel [the inclusive number] where 7 times 7 is found only in these two places.

The Question Becomes Deeper

Now there’s an important question that we already asked last week: What connection does it really have? Now one can understand the question more deeply.

The Ramban’s Secret of Counting the Omer: The Secret of the Days of the World

When the Ramban Says This Secret

We’ve seen what the Ramban [Ramban: Nachmanides] is going to say, the secret that he’s going to say there, is be’ezras Hashem [with God’s help] when one arrives at Parshas Emor, Behar, Bechukosai [the Torah portions of Emor, Behar, and Bechukotai], the Ramban explains the secret of Sefiras HaOmer.

The Secret: The Days of the World and the 7,000 Years

The secret of Sefiras HaOmer, he says, is that in the world there are yemos ha’olam [the days/eras of the world], the secret of yemos ha’olam. The connection to Bereishis [Genesis] is a hint to 7,000 years. The seventh year is Shabbos [Sabbath], “yom shekulo Shabbos umnucha l’chayei ha’olamim” [a day that is entirely Sabbath and rest for eternal life].

The Midrash: Seven Shemittos and the Jubilee

Actually, so it says in the Midrash [Midrash: rabbinic homiletical literature], that there are seven shemittos, actually there is a Jubilee. The world stands for 50,000 years at least, perhaps after that after the Eitz HaDaas [Tree of Knowledge] another fifty gates of understanding from that.

The Hint of the Six Thousand Years

And therefore the sheshes alfei shana [six thousand years] is a hint, each day that was that thousand years of the Creation, of history, and at the end one arrives at the fiftieth gate, one arrives at Shabbos, because that’s the seven thousand years, yomo shel HaKadosh Baruch Hu elef shana [a day of the Holy One, blessed be He, is a thousand years], one arrives at the secret of the Jubilee, after seven circles of this one arrives at the secret of the Jubilee.

The Great Question: What Is the Connection Between the Two Approaches?

The Formulation of the Question

One must understand, and I’m going to stay with the question again, one must understand: What does this have to do with what we just learned so beautifully that this is the fifty gates of understanding, which is the way how the entire world is klul [included] in this?

What does this have to do at all with the order of history, which is apparently the secret of yemos ha’olam?

The Problem: Two Different Approaches

The secret of yemos ha’olam apparently includes much more the order that the Ramban says that the Torah hints at asidiyos [future events], what will be in each year, each thousand years, etc. [and so on].

This one must understand very well.

Conclusion: The Question Remains Open

There’s certainly an answer, everyone can think be’ofanim peshutim [in simple ways] and in deeper ways, but here we remain for today.