One morning there was knock on Beryl’s bedroom door. His mother was shouting, “Beryl, get up. It’s time to go to school.” Beryl whined, “Ma, I don’t want to go. First of all, the students hate me. Second, the teachers hate me. Why should I go to school?” His mother yelled back, “Beryl, I’ll tell you why you should go to school. First of all, you are thirty years old. Second, you’re the principal of the school!”

* * *

Nitzavim: 9/11, the U.N., and the Letter Lamed

G-d uprooted them from upon their land, with fury, anger and great wrath, and He cast them down to another land, where they are to this day. The hidden things are for G-d our G-d, but the revealed things are for us and our children forever, to fulfill all the words of this Torah.[1]

QUESTIONS
In the Torah scroll, the letter Lamed in the word vayashlicheim, “and He cast them down”, is written as an unusually large letter. The next verse also stands out because eleven dots are written above the letters of lonu ulvoneinu ad, ‘for us and our children (forever)’ . What is the message for us in these mysterious signs?

It was during the week of this Torah portion that the tragedies of September 11th, 2001 occurred. What can we learn from this?

In order to answer these questions, first we need to understand that “and He cast them down” alludes to exile. This allusion may be more deeply understood through the large letter Lamed according to two approaches: a.) The responsibility of a Jew in relation to Torah study and b.) The responsibility of a Jew in relation to the nations of the world.

FIRST APPROACH TO LAMED: THE JEW’S JOURNEY IN TORAH

Meaning: Lamed etymologically means Limud, ‘to learn’, which has the same root as the word talmud. The Talmud is the Oral Law developed not in Israel in a time of peace, but rather in the Babylonian and present exiles.

Gematria: The numerical value of Lamed is 30. It took Rav Ashi thirty years to compile all the oral teachings through out history back to Moses, and to compile it as the Babylonian Talmud.[2]

Graphic Design: The third Lubavitcher Rebbe, the Tzemach Tzedek, says there’s a reason the Lamed is the tallest letter. It symbolizes the descent of the soul from the higher worlds down to this physical world. In his compilation of the laws of Torah study, the first Lubavitcher Rebbe, the Alter Rebbe, explains that the soul of a Jew descends into the world for the purpose of studying (limud) the entire Torah. The soul reincarnates until it has studied the whole body of the Written and Oral Law [3] and until it has created and taught (lameid) new insights in each of the four areas of Torah knowledge.[4]

SECOND APPROACH TO LAMED: THE JEW’S JOURNEY AMONG THE NATIONS
Meaning: Lameid, ‘to teach’. The purpose of being ‘cast down into another land’, into exile, is to teach to the nations of the world the Seven Noahide Laws. These are the Divine laws revealed to all humanity through Noah (listed at the end of this issue of Letters of Mystique).[5]

Gematria: Lamed = 30. The name Yehuda, ‘Judah’ also has a gematria of 30. The first Jewish national exile began when King Tzidkiyahu was cast down and exiled to the land of Babylon. He was the thirtieth generation in the lineage of Judah, the father of all kings.[6]

Graphic design: Lamed looks like a letter Vav on top of a letter Chaf. The descending line of Vav represents G-d who descends from the higher worlds to the lower worlds. The gematria of Chaf is 20, which represents the ten powers of the Jewish soul and ten powers of the non-Jewish soul. Lamed, therefore, represents a Jew influencing a non-Jewish soul to connect to G-d. A Jew has the responsibility to reveal G-d’s reality to non-Jews by teaching them the Seven Noahide Laws.

ELEVEN IS TRANSFORMATION
Based on the above, we can understand why there are eleven dots on the words “us and our children.” The Torah is telling us that the reasons for exile are many. Many of them are hidden until the coming of Mashiach. However the reasons that are revealed to us, those that are important for ourselves and our children to know, are hinted in the eleven dots.

The number ten represents holiness, as in the Ten Commandments. Eleven however, is one more than ten–it implies something extra, outside of goodness. There were eleven ingredients in the ketores, the incense burned before G-d in the Holy Temple, and one of these ingredients, myrrh, was from the blood of a non-kosher animal. Yet, in the process of burning the incense before G-d, the non-kosher element was transformed to holiness.

Eleven therefore represents transformation, the basic purpose of exile and tragedy: to transform ‘non-kosher’ energies into holy energies. We can accomplish this by learning Torah, and teaching and inspiring the other nations of the world to divest themselves of idolatry and corruption. When we encounter nations who are immersed in unholiness, we can transform them by teaching them the Seven Noahide Laws.[7] Occasionally, we may also accept converts, transforming the latent Jewish souls that are hidden among the nations.

Similarly the Arizal explains that by innovating in Torah, we release the Divine sparks that were ‘captive’ in exile. We thus transform exile into redemption.

SEPTEMBER 11th
September 11th, 2001 was a Tuesday. Tuesday is the third day after Shabbos, on which we study the third aliyah of the weekly Torah portion. It is in the third aliyah that we find the verses we’ve been discussing. Therefore the “portion of the day” for September 11th hinted at the date (the eleven dots),[8] as well as the day’s events (the tall Lamed). “And he cast them down” seems to hint at the fallen towers. The extra height of the Lamed could hint to the extraordinary height of the buildings.

MONTH OF ELUL
What is the connection between the above themes and Elul? There are two Lameds in the word Elul representing the two approaches above. The two Lameds could represent the two World Trade Center towers, as well.

To double something is to emphasize and magnify it, so the double Lamed could also represent the one extra large Lamed in our verse. As mentioned above, a soul descends to the world in order to study and activate the Torah. This is precisely the meaning and purpose of Elul, to increase in Torah study and mitzovs. This is teshuvah, ‘return’–returning the soul from its exile to its original pristine levels, even while living in this world.

STORIES
Wherever I go, I make sure to carry cards listing the Seven Noahide Laws. Since I love to strike up conversations with strangers, I often have the opportunity to offer non-Jews the gift of these universal laws, and the path to G-d that they represent. Recently, while riding in a taxi, I began to talk with the driver about the laws of Noah. He was delighted to know about them. He said, “Rabbi, all my life I believed there must be some laws for a good life. I’m so happy you told me about them. They can bring peace to the world.”

* * *

My uncle Rabbi Avraham Hecht is the president of the Rabbinical Alliance of America. The Lubavitcher Rebbe once asked him to arrange an address to the United Nations concerning the Seven Noahide Laws. Rabbi Hecht asked, “Rebbe, how should I approach this? As the Rebbe knows, generally only heads of state or the Pope can address the U.N.” The Rebbe said, “I would like you to try nonetheless. And a Jew with a beard and peyos should deliver the address. This person, however, should not be a representative of the Land of Israel.” Rabbi Hecht did have a meeting with a U.N. official who said that the Seven Noahide Laws could be presented as a letter on United States Government stationary and placed on the podiums of each of the UN delegates. However, as Divine Providence had it, Rabbi Hecht hesitated to take the official’s offer (since the Rebbe had specified a speaker), and the moment of opportunity passed.

If any of our readers has a connection with the U.N., we would like to explore ways to finally fulfill the Rebbe’s request.

ACTION: Please copy the Seven Noahide Laws below and email them to a non-Jewish friend. Explain that these laws were revealed from G-d to Noah and then to Moses, for all humanity, to create world peace.

G-d’s Laws for all Humanity: The Seven Noahide Laws

1. CARRY OUT JUSTICE – Support the establishment of a just government and legal system. Pursue justice on personal and communal levels.
2. REFRAIN FROM BLASPHEMY – Do not curse the Supreme Being. Cultivate respect and gratitude toward the Creator of the Universe.
3. REFRAIN FROM IDOLATRY – Do not worship any human being or any created thing. Do not create idols. Cultivate an understanding of the Oneness of the Supreme Being, the G-d of Israel.
4. REFRAIN FROM ADULTERY – Do not engage in illicit or harmful sexual practices according to Torah definitions. Foster wholesome relationships, thoughts, words and actions.
5. REFRAIN FROM MURDER – Do not harm another willfully. Work to enhance human life.
6. REFRAIN FROM THEFT – Respect others and what is rightfully theirs; practice charity and generosity.
7. REFRAIN FROM EATING THE LIMB OF A LIVING CREATURE – Be kind to animals; protect and cherish all life forms, all of G-d’s creations.

FOOTNOTES
[1] Deuteronomy, 29:27-8
[2] Sefer HaErchim Chabad, “Osios”, Lamed
[3] P’shat, the simple meaning; remez, alluded meanings; drash, expanded homiletical meanings; and sod, Kabbalistic meanings and the deep mysteries of the Torah.
[4] Sefer Hagilgulim, Ch. 4; Mishnas Chassidim, Tractate Chiyuv HaNeshamos, Gilgul HaNeshamos; The Alter Rebbe’s Hilchos Talmud Torah, Ch. 1, Law 4; and Iggeres HaKodesh, Epistle 29, and elsewhere.
[5] The Talmud says the purpose of exile is to add geirim, converts, to the Jewish People. We can interpret geirim as geirim toshavim, ‘pious ones among the nations of the world’ who follow the Seven Noahide Laws. Chassidus interprets this Talmudic statement to mean converting negative energy into positive energy.
[6] Jacob blessed his son Judah with offspring who would be kings.
[7] The authority of these laws derives from the verse, “And the L-rd G-d commanded it upon the man…” (Genesis, 2:16). They were given again to the nations of the world through the teachings of Moses at Marah (Exodus, 15:25-16), and then again at Mount Sinai. They are known by the name of Noah because they first became fully applicable for all human beings through him, after the Flood.
[8] Even though this event occurred on the 23rd of Elul, it is said that ‘G-d counts by the nations of the world’ (Psalms, 87:6). Therefore the Torah could hint to the eleventh day, through the eleven dots. The words “…for us and our children, forever to fulfill this Torah” are, of course, a matter for meditation and spiritual activism.