A Person’s Lifespan

A Person’s Lifespan

How long was a person’s life truly meant to last? In “Sifra de-Tzniuta,” Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai reveals a remarkable secret to us—how long a person’s life was truly meant to last. In Chapter 5 of “Sifra de-Tzniuta”, he writes: “Therefore it is written: ‘And his days shall be 120 years.’” (Bereishit 6:3) For י-ו-ד—“Yud,” “Vav,” “Dalet”—is both whole and incomplete. “Yud” י by itself is equal to 100. [In classical gematria, “Yud” י has the numerical value of 10; here, however, it is evidently referring to the Upper “Yud”, to which Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai assigns the gematria value of 100, because 10 represents the ten sefirot, each of which contains another 10 sefirot]. The two letters—ו “Vav” and ד “Dalet”—are two times 10 [since ו “Vav” and ד “Dalet” are part of the milui, or spelled-out form, of the letter “Yud”, Rashbi considers these letters to be worth 10 each as well]. This yields 120 years. “Yud” by itself, when revealed in Zeir Anpin, extends to 10,000 (ten thousand) years. [It follows that after the sin, a person’s life was meant to last 10,000 years, but because of the sins of the generation of the Flood, it was reduced to 120 years—a reduction of 83 times. Remarkably, the gematria of the word מחלה, “illness”—that is, what shortens a person’s life—is also 83]. Now it is written: “You have laid Your hand upon me.” (Tehillim 139:5) “Sifra de-Tzniuta”—Salvation for the Final Generation «Sifra DeTzniuta» – Salvation for the Final Generation   You can find the complete text of “Sifra de-Tzniuta”, with transliteration and translation, on our website in the Books section of the menu, in PDF format. The Silatehilim website expresses its profound gratitude to Rav Alexander Tzvi Sypkov for preparing the transliteration and translation from Aramaic of “Sifra de-Tzniuta” for the site. May the zechut of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai protect Am Yisrael!   (Based on the book “Sifra de-Tzniuta,” translated and transliterated by Rav Alexander Tzvi Sypkov for Silatehilim)