{"id":40558,"date":"2018-09-20T09:20:55","date_gmt":"2018-09-20T06:20:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=40558"},"modified":"2022-04-13T23:17:33","modified_gmt":"2022-04-13T20:17:33","slug":"holy-workout-music","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/holy-workout-music\/","title":{"rendered":"Holy Workout Music"},"content":{"rendered":"
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After the death of their father, Joseph\u2019s brothers send messengers who plead to him:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u05d0\u05e0\u05d0 \u05e9\u05d0 \u05e0\u05d0 \u05e4\u05e9\u05e2 \u05d0\u05d7\u05d9\u05da – <\/span>\u201cPlease forgive the transgression of your brothers\u201d (Genesis 50:17) <\/span><\/p>\n

Why the use of the <\/span>root<\/span><\/i> \u05e0.\u05e9.\u05d0<\/span>? The messengers here are teaching us three things about teshuva.<\/span><\/p>\n

Throughout Tanakh, this root is used to describe the action of lifting, most notably with the noun \u05e2\u05d9\u05e0\u05d9\u05d9\u05dd (eyes), to lift one\u2019s eyes, or idiomatically, to focus. We see this is Psalm 121, \u201cI lift my eyes to the mountains\u201d. This text places us metaphorically, spiritually, and narratively standing in the desert gazing towards the mountains. We stand in hope, looking towards the place where the highlights of our Jewish journey have occured (The Binding of Isaac, the Burning Bush on Mt. Horeb, the Revelation at Sinai, and the dwelling of God in the First and Second Temple). However we still gaze from afar, not in those mountains and not in those great moments, but from the dryness of the desert. This is a dichotomy the messengers teach us of <\/span>teshuva<\/span><\/i>, the balancing of longing and hope.<\/span><\/p>\n

Further, in <\/span>Zera Kodesh<\/span><\/i>, R. Naftali Zvi of Ropshitz taught that at Sinai, what the Jewish people heard as they received Torah was the sound of the Hebrew letter <\/span>aleph<\/span><\/i> (<\/span>\u05d0<\/span> – a silent consonant). Why? Because God\u2019s famous line \u201cI am the Lord your God\u201d (Exodus 20:2) begins with the letter <\/span>aleph<\/span><\/i>. When the character <\/span>aleph<\/span><\/i> is written, it is comprised of two <\/span>yuds<\/span><\/i> and a <\/span>vav<\/span><\/i> which, when added together utilizing <\/span>gematria<\/span><\/i> (the mystical numeric system of Hebrew letters) <\/span>aleph <\/span><\/i>shares a value of 26 with the tetragrammaton, God\u2019s holiest name. R. Naftali goes on to say that found in the human face is the letter <\/span>aleph<\/span><\/i>, the eyes being the <\/span>yuds<\/span><\/i> and the nose being the <\/span>vav<\/span><\/i>. This is the meaning of the famous phrase \u201cin the image of God, God created the first human\u201d (Genesis 1:27).<\/span><\/p>\n

This is further proved in Sanhedrin 37a \u201c[God] stamped all the people with the seal of the primordial Adam, and not one of them is similar to another\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n

The final point the messengers are teaching us is that the act of <\/span>teshuva <\/span><\/i>is the act of lifting our eyes, despite transgressions, in order to see the <\/span>aleph<\/span><\/i>, the stamp of God and holiness in each person. To do the heavy lifting for those who have wronged us.<\/span><\/p>\n

May this season of renewal be blessed with sore necks, from lifting our gaze to beautiful mountains and holy people.<\/span><\/p>\n

May this niggun be your holy-workout-music to inspire your lifting.<\/span><\/p>\n