by Rabbi Moshe Miller
The Future is in the Balance
The Sefer Yetzirah is one of the most ancient and esoteric texts of the Kabbalah. It is here that we first find the concept of the Signs of the Zodiac, which correspond to the twelve months of the Hebrew calendar.
Our Sages assure us that the Jewish people transcend the effects of the stars and constellations, for they are merely natural channels - like an axe in the hand of a woodchopper - which G-d uses to conduct His world. Nevertheless Kabbalah derives important lessons from the sign of the zodiac associated with each month.
The sign of the month of the High Holidays, Tishrei, is scales. Of course, the traditional interpretation of what this means to us is that our deed and actions of the past year are weighed and measured by the Heavenly Court. If our mitzvahs and goods deeds exceed our transgressions we can be assured of good things to come.
The Kabbalah, however, offers a fascinating explanation. Each of the princes of the twelve tribes of Israel gave various gifts for the dedication of the Sanctuary. Among them were pans used for incense, as the verse states, "each incense pan weighed ten sanctuary shekels" (Numbers 7:86).
Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, author of the Zohar, points out that the verse uses a peculiar expression, literally "ten ten per pan." Why the repetition of the word ten? And he explains: Once, to allude to the work of creation, and once to allude to the Torah. As our Sages tell us in the Ethics of the Fathers (Pirkei Avot 5:1) there are ten utterances (the ten sefirot) with which the world is created. Corresponding to them are the Ten Commandments.
What does this tell us? That the world was created for the sake of Torah, and as long as the Jewish people occupy themselves with Torah, the world will continue to exist. But if the Jewish people abandon Torah, the verse declares, "If not for My Covenant, i.e. the Torah, I would not have set day and night, and the bounds of heaven and earth" (Jeremiah 33:25, Rashi).
Now we can understand why the scale is associated with this month. Rosh HaShanah, the Jewish new year, commemorates - actually, relives would be more accurate - the process of creation, and particularly the creation of man. Hence we reflect upon the creation of the worlds, and their coming into being through the Ten Utterances - the ten sefirot.
But this is not all; there is a second pan to the scale that prevents the first one from sinking down. We also med itate upon the purpose for which this wondrous structure exists - for the sake of the Ten Commandments, symbolizing the entire Torah. When the creation and its purpose are properly harmonized the scale is evenly balanced and the world is indeed a good place to live. But who stands at the fulcrum to ensure that the proper balance is maintained? The Jewish People!
The Zohar also shows how the Ten Commandments and the Ten Utterances balance each other: For lack of space, I will briefly mention only the first two of each: The first commandment, instructing us to have faith in G-d, states: I am the L-rd your G-d. . . ." (Exodus 20:2). Regarding creation the verse states: "There shall be light, and there was light." From the verse, "G-d is my light and salvation, whom shall I fear?" (Psalms 27:1), we learn that faith in the Holy One blessed be He is also called "light." Hence, light and faith in G-d, the first commandment, correspond.
It is written in the second commandment: "You shall have no other gods before Me," and the corresponding verse regarding creation states, "There shall be a firmament between the waters, and it shall divide between
water and water."
"There shall be a firmament," refers to the Jewish people who are part of G-d Above (Iyov 31:2), for they are attached to that plane which is called Heaven.
"Between the waters," - among the words of Torah, which is called water, as our Sages explain (Baba Kama 17a).
"And it i.e. the Jewish people, shall divide between water and water" - between the Holy One blessed be He who is called "the Source of Living Water" (Jeremiah 2:13), and false deities which are called "broken wells" (ibid.) containing bitter and stagnant water. Thus, the division between water and water is dependent on the Jewish people learning Torah.
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