The Baal Shem Tov has said that he learned all the secrets of healing though the first verse of this 3rd Book in the Torah, Vayikra. I wish I knew them for I’d surely share them with as many people as I could, but I do understand how he could get them from this verse.
This portion is all about the sacrifice that the Tabernacle priests, (Aaron and his sons) made and should make on our behalf to mitigate and cleanse the guilt of our sins. The portion begins with the 256th paragraph of the Torah, 256 being the numerical value of Aaron, the only person connected with the actual word Moshiach in the entire Torah. And within the first word of the Book Leviticus, Vayikra, is a small (reduced) letter alef, the first letter in the name Aaron, and the first in the Hebrew alphabet.
This is all pertinent to what the Baal Shem Tov of blessed memory learned, because illness is tikune, which means its a form of punishment for some guilt, some transgression in this or some previous life, and when he healed someone, we was in essence making a spiritual sacrifice on their behalf, much as Aaron and priests did when the Tabernacle and Holy temples existed. That’s why the Torah repeats “He will be forgiven” (V’nislach Lo) at the end of all the sacrifices. When a sin is forgiven there is no longer a reason for punishment, and more often than not the punishment is just a wake up call to make someone aware that they have a sin that needs atoning.
We know that it’s all about the alef, whose spelled out value is 111 because there are 111 verses in this portion and there are no coincidences in the Torah. This letter is the tip of the revolving flaming Sword of Hashem (HShM) that brings judgment and protection of the heavenly secrets with each of the 4 arms of the alef extending along a different blade edge. It’s also the 42-letter Sword of Moses (MShH) that brings wonders (PLE), which is spelled as Alef in reverse with Alef at the tip. But that’s not the source of the secrets.
The numerical value of this small alef (ELP) used as elef (ELP) is 1000. And the rest of the word Vayikra (Called) is 216. Now 216 is Gevurah (the sefira of judgment) where according to the Zohar the voice of the shofar hails from, the voice of the shofar that was mentioned in Exodus (Shmot) 19:19 at the giving of 10 Commandments (Utterances) .
Together the 2 components have a gematria value of 1216 and when we subtract 2 for the kolel we get 1214, which is the exact numerical value of both “70 languages” (ShBAYM LShVNVT), and for “permutation of the letters” (ZYRVP HEVTYVT), which is, according to the Zohar, how all those secrets and much more are revealed.
When you understand the connection that you’re making and are in the right consciousnesses and the letters roll the secrets are revealed. We can explain the connections and thus prime the letters for you, but having the right consciousnesses is an individual choice and is only had by doing your spiritual work.
It’s not coincidental that this portion lies shortly before Pesach (passover) when we must work hard to remove all the chametz (impurities/dirt) from our homes/lives. It’s more than Spring cleaning; it’s digging deep within our souls as we clean to unearth (un-leash from malchut) our klippot (negative husks). Ever try to clean computer cables? That’s what we’re like. Our positively charged souls have this baked on grime clinging to it, that we need to scrape and grind away. And as we do that physically, we need to meditate that we’re doing it from all the difficult parts of our lives. Like the illnesses, the difficulties we’re facing now are there to show us what we need to work on and where to scrape for G-d is merciful and gave us many gifts and tools, as we’ll see below.
As the Book of Vayikra begins it’s the first time G-d is speaking to Moses in the Mishkan (Tabernacle), which is normally shielded from him by a cloud. “God called to Moses, speaking to him.” “Vayikra EL Moshe V’Ydaber Adonai.” All the words are jumbled from the normal order that we’re used to seeing in the Torah.
In our recent article, “Sometimes We Forget” we discussed the verse “G-d spoke to Moses,” “V’Ydaber Adonai El Moshe…(VYDBR YHVH EL MShH)” which is in fact the most numerous verse in the Torah and is found 91 times in the Torah, and as it just so happens this is the 91st chapter in the Torah. Yet here these words are jumbled: “Vayikra EL Moshe V’Ydaber Adonai.”
When things are jumbled they are done so to conceal and when things are concealed they are more powerful and more important to us, which is why the dirt of the surface is easy to find and remove but not so much that in the crevices and beneath tables.
In this case, the jumbling also brought the two letter Alefs in the phrase together, side by side or even superimposed, but what actually happens is that “Vayikra EL” becomes combined and has a numerical value of 248, that of rachem, mercy and also of Abraham, whose name also begins with Alef, not coincidentally. This is the mercy (grace) injected into the judgment to bring the healing.
This also why the jumbled phrase ends with “V’Ydaber Adonai,” also of numerical value (248), that of rachem (mercy/grace).
As previously discussed, 91 is the value of the all-important unification of the YHVH with Adonai (YEHDVNHY), the connection between Zeir Anpin and the Shechina, (the female aspect of G-d that pertains to our world), the very connection that Moses makes for us, the bond between Heaven and Earth, and the connection we should be making in our heads when we say Amen.
So as we’ve seen the jumbled phrase Vayikra EL Moshe V’Ydaber Adonai” is structured as 248, Moses (345), 248, and one could say that it’s Abraham, Moses, Abraham. But it’s also Moses, who is Zeir Anpin, in the middle of 2 x 248 = 496, which is the numerical value of Malchut, and thus the necessary unification of Zeir Anpin and the Shechina, Heaven and Earth in order to bring forgiveness and healing.
The Tabernacle was concealed by the cloud. Moses (Zeir Anpin) was concealed within Malchut. Mercy was concealed within Judgment. The cures were concealed withing the illnesses. And the tiny letter alef was concealed within this phrase. As we prepare for Pesach and Mashiach, let’s dig through the concealment and search out every tiny bit of negativity in our homes, lives, and souls.
Amen
By the way, the tiny alef is the alef of Amen. The first Book of the Torah has 50 chapters, giving us the letter Nun (N) of numerical value 50. The second Book of the Torah has 40 chapters, giving us the letter Mem (M) of numerical value 40. And a we start the 3rd Book, we begin the 91st chapter with the tiny Alef (E) of numerical value 1, completing the backwards (concealed) word NME or EMN (Amen), of numerical value 91, the tip of the sword.
So say Amen and mean it.
