Tehillim 18 and the ציץ Forehead Plate
Tehillim 18 and the ציץ Forehead Plate
Tehillim 18:28
– “Ki atah am ani toshia ve-einayim ramot tashpil” – (For You save a humble people, and You humble haughty eyes).
“And make a forehead plate ציץ of pure gold.” (Shemot 28:36)
The forehead plate ציץ represents all the souls of Israel that were contained within Adam before the sin. 90 of them – צ – flew away and ascended above; 10 – י – remained in the first man; while nine hundred – ץ – (final tzadi) were cast down into the realm of the kelipot (husks of impurity). Thus, we arrive at the combination of letters ציץ. Since the souls of the Jewish people arose first in the Creator’s thoughts when He created the world, the plate ציץ, which signifies the totality of Jewish souls, was placed on the forehead, where thoughts are formed.
Another reason the plate was placed on the forehead is that in the Hebrew alphabet, the letters following .מ.צ.ח (forehead) are .ק.ט.נ (small) – an allusion to the fact that redemption will come in the merit of humility.
That is why it is said (Shemot 28:37): “It shall be on the front of the turban (the forehead plate),” for the letters preceding .מ.צ.נ.פ.ת (turban, head covering) in the alphabet are the letters עם שפל (a humble people), as it says in Tehillim: “For You save a humble people.”
The plate is placed on the forehead beneath the turban, thereby alluding to the meaning of the continuation of the verse from Tehillim: “…and You humble haughty eyes.”
The turban atones for the sin of arrogance, which is another reason the plate is beneath the turban.
(From the book “Ben Ish Chai – Shemot – Code of Torah Laws by Weekly Torah Portion”)
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Tags: The Hidden Meaning of Tehillim, Ben Ish Chai, Forehead Plate ציץ, Tehillim 18, Tehillim 18 and the Tzitz (Forehead Plate)
