“Zera Shimshon” on Tehillim
Tehillim 25:14 – The Secret of Brit Milah
– “Sod Ado-nai lire'av, u'vrito lehodi'am” –
(The secret of the L-rd is for those who fear Him, and He reveals His covenant to them.)
“Zera Shimshon” draws attention to the fact that the mitzvah of “pri'ah”—the second stage of circumcision, when the mohel removes the membrane during Brit Milah—was given to us orally much later by Moshe Rabbeinu at Mount Sinai, and was subsequently instituted in the time of Yehoshua bin Nun.
David HaMelech reveals this:
– “the secret of the L-rd is for those who fear Him”—the mitzvah of “pri'ah” was considered a secret, hidden even from Avraham Avinu, from the one who feared the L-rd, and was transmitted to the descendants of Yaakov as halachah through Moshe;
– “and He reveals His covenant to them”—the mitzvah of circumcision itself was revealed to Avraham Avinu (but only its first part; the secret part was concealed from Avraham’s non-Jewish descendant, Yishmael). (“Zera Shimshon,” “Ki Teitzei”)
Tehillim 47:6 – Judgment on Rosh Hashanah
– “Alah Elokim bitruah, Ado-nai bekol shofar” – (G-d ascends amid the sound of the trumpet; the L-rd, amid the voice of the shofar.)
The Midrash “Vayikra Rabbah” (29:3) explains that this verse alludes to how the Almighty judges the Jewish people on Rosh Hashanah. At first, the Almighty judges the people with strict judgment, and the Name associated with strict judgment is Elokim.
But when the Almighty hears the sound of the shofars of Klal Yisrael, He rises from the throne of judgment and sits upon the throne of mercy.
This teaches us that through the mitzvah of shofar, we can transform Din (strict judgment) into Rachamim (mercy).
In the second part of the verse, the ineffable Name of HaShem is used, symbolizing mercy—“Ado-nai.”
When the entire Jewish people take the shofar in hand (in the second half of the verse, David HaMelech uses the word “shofar”, rather than “teruah”) and concentrates on the kavanot (the holy Names and mystical secrets), the mitzvah rises to the highest level and the punishment is mitigated.
There is an allusion to the shofar mitigating judgment in the word “shofar” itself: the letters ש “shin” and ו “vav” in this word have a combined gematria of 306, which is also the gematria of the word “dvash” (honey). This alludes to Hamtakat Dinim (the sweetening of judgments).
Tehillim 68:13
– “Malchei Tzevaot yidodun yidodun, unvat-bayit techalek shalal” – (Kings of hosts flee, flee, and she who remains at home divides the spoils.)
Rema Mi-Fano (Ma'amar Tzevaot HaShem 11) teaches that HaShem simultaneously serves as witness and judge in our lives—He Himself testifies about us and judges us.
Rema Mi-Fano writes that both the word עד “ed” (witness) and the word דיין “dayan” (judge) have a gematria of 74.
He finds support for this in this psalm, where David HaMelech uses the word “yidodun” twice, meaning to flee or scatter. The gematria of the word ידדון “yidodun” is also 74.
(Silatehilim note)
It is interesting that after the Kings of hosts (the judgments in this context) flee, “she who remains at home divides the spoils”—the spoils, “shalal” שלל , have a gematria of 360, equal to the gematria of “orech-din” (advocate), while “she who remains at home” represents the Shechinah, who vindicates her people.
Tehillim 72:1–2
– “Li-Shlomo Elohim mishpatecha le-melech ten, vetzidkat'cha leven-melech. Yadin amecha vetzedek, va'aniyecha vemishpat” – (Of Shlomo. O G-d, grant Your judgments to the king and Your righteousness to the son of the king. May he judge Your people righteously, and Your poor with justice.)
David HaMelech prayed for his son Shlomo with the words of this psalm: “mishpatecha le-melech ten” (grant Your justice to the king), “yadin… vemishpat” (he will judge justly).
The “Ba'al HaTurim,” speaking of the mitzvah of reaching a compromise between litigants, finds that the word “hamishpatim” המשפטים is an acronym for the phrase
הַדַּיָּן מִצְוָה שֶׁיַּעֲשֶׂה פְּשָׁרָה טֶרֶם יַעֲשֶׂה מִשְׁפָּט
“ha-dayan mitzvah she-ya'aseh pesharah terem ya'aseh mishpat” – (it is a mitzvah for the judge to propose a compromise before issuing a judgment). (“Zera Shimshon” on Mishpatim)
(Translation based on the book “Zera Shimshon” on Tehillim)
