Musar for Bava Metzia 167:22

The two arms of man correspond to the emanations חסד and גבורה. The two legs correspond to the emanations נצח and הוד. The male reproductive organ within which all the forces of the body coalesce and form his seed and by means of which he unites with his wife, corresponds to the emanation מלכות. After the Torah had described the union of man and wife [i.e. man in the plural i.e. אותם, Ed.], it mentions that G–d blessed them (Genesis 1,28). He called their combined name אדם. Man had not become whole until joined by his wife as a separate entity. When this occurred Man's soul wore garments of distinction [i.e. the body. Ed.] Man's essence is his "interior," his body is merely his "clothing." This "clothing" was snow white, as if he were wearing clothing made of "light," i.e. כתנות אור. Man's body then could be described as illuminating both his soul and itself. This provided man with three different kinds of wholeness or "perfections." They are alluded to in the acronym מגן (usually understood as shield, protection). The three letters forming that acronym are the first letters of each of the words ממון, money, גוף, body, and נשמה, soul. This is what is meant when the beauty of Jacob is described by our sages as comparable to the beauty of Adam. The Torah refers to it when it describes the mental and physical state of Jacob/Israel shortly after his encounter with Samael. We read in Genesis 33,18: ויבא יעקב שלם, "Jacob arrived whole." We are told in Shabbat 33b, that the word "whole" comprised the three aspects we have mentioned as the perfection of Adam. The Talmud described one of the aspects in which Jacob was "whole,” שלם, as תורתו; this refers, of course, to the state of his נשמה, his soul, since it is Torah which illuminates our soul. Adam the whole was not deficient in any area that is part of life. He did not have any needs since he already found himself at home in גן עדן, in an ideal environment. His food was derived from the trees of גן עדן. He did not have to work for a living and was therefore free to directly devote all his time to the service of G–d. The Torah describes that Adam was placed in גן עדן in order לעבדה ולשמרו, was placed in such an undemanding environment in order to enable him to serve G–d without hindrance and impediment. Our sages interpret the word לעבדה as referring to the performance of positive commandments, whereas the word לשמרה refers to the care taken not to transgress negative commandments. Adam performed all six hundred and thirteen commandments in a theoretical, spiritual fashion. All of this is explained in Pardes Rimonim chapter הנשמה, and I have elaborated on this elsewhere (מסכת חולין item 104, new edition of של"ה השלם by Rabbi Meir Katz). Man unfortunately did not even manage to spend a single night in גן עדן before he sinned. (cf. Psalms 49,13). His "jewelry" was removed as a result of his seduction by the serpent. This brought in its wake that instead of wearing "garments" which illuminated his soul as well as his body, he had to wear garments made of the hide of flesh, i.e. animals which did not represent anything spiritual. Ever since, new generations of man are the product of the smelly drop of semen, i.e. semen which is polluted by the residual pollutant of the original serpent. Once Eve had become defiled through sexual union with the serpent, the defiled party had to leave the holy site, i.e. גן עדן, just as in the desert anyone who was ritually impure could not remain within the holy precincts of the מחנה שכינה, the camp hosting the Presence of G–d. The immediate result of this was the toil involved in securing his sustenance, his clothing and his shelter. This is what the Torah meant when it describes that G–d told Adam: "You will eat bread in the sweat of your brow" (Genesis 3,19). Because man was constructed from parts of nature, מטבע, he has a tendency to pursue money, matbei'a, as symbolized by the word מטבע. He uses this money, מטבע, to secure his needs.

Although we have stated that all generations subsequent to Adam contain some element of his, the link to Adam is only via the patriarchs who serve as the go-between. The only people who are named אבות, patriarchs, are Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The same applies to the matriarchs. Only Sarah, Rebeccah, Rachel and Leah are considered אמהות, matriarchs. We are all considered their children seeing that they are the roots and we are the branches. This whole process commenced ultimately with Adam and Eve, both of whom together are called אדם. How does this process work? Abraham and Sarah are the תיקון, reformation of Adam and Eve ensuring their continuity. Isaac and Rebeccah are the קלסתר פנים, the visible image of Abraham and Sarah, whereas the existence of the universe as we know it is due to Jacob. The "beauty" of Jacob is described as equivalent to the "beauty" of Adam (Baba Metzia 84a). Jacob is considered as attached to the tree of life because Adam had severed this attachment when he ate from the tree of knowledge. The patriarchs are important because it was they who started to repair the damage Adam had caused. Abraham may be considered as the root of the tree of knowledge, Isaac as its trunk, the area whence knowledge of good and evil is gained; Jacob represents the substance or content of "the tree of life in the midst of the garden," seeing that all his children remained loyal to his teachings. G–d Himself said about the Jewish people (Jacob) ואתם הדבקים בה' אלוקיכם חיים כלכם היום, "and you who have cleaved to the Lord your G–d are all alive this day" (Deut. 4,4). This means that all of Israel is basically in a position to live eternally [life of the soul after death of the body Ed.].

Jacob was the descendant of Isaac and Rebeccah. In the case of Abraham's son Isaac, G–d had promised Abraham only כי ביצחק יקרא לך זרע, that part of Isaac would be his worthy seed, not all of Isaac. The Torah reports that Rebeccah loved Jacob (25,28). We have said that then the world was filled with Jacob's "beauty," which was of the kind once possessed by Adam, מטתו שלמה, Jacob's bed was perfect, i.e. all his children were loyal to his teachings which enabled him to become known as ישראל. Since only ישראל is called אדם, the connection between Jacob and Adam is clear.

To get back to the meaning of “אחד” in the prayer known as קריאת שמע. The first letter א in that word symbolizes both Jacob and Joseph, each of whom were unique. That letter is not just the first letter of the alphabet, but it symbolizes the Aleph= Eleph of the first man, who commenced human history. Adam's uniqueness is joined by Jacob's uniqueness, seeing Jacob's beauty has been described as similar to Adam's. In turn, Joseph, the בן זקונים, was the זיו איקונין, the spitting image of his father. Moreover, the א of Adam is an allusion to the garments of אור, light, that Adam wore before his sin and which were exchanged for garments of עור, skin or leather, after he had sinned. G–d Himself had made these garments for Adam and his wife as recorded in Genesis 3, 21. When we read in Job 10, 11 “עור ובשר תלבישני,” You have clothed me with skin and flesh, this is an admission that Adam's, i.e. man's "Oneness" the fusion of body and soul, was torn asunder as a result of his sin. Ever since that time man became a dichotomy of גוף ונפש, body and soul. The ascent of the one meant the automatic descent of the other. Before the sin, whenever the soul shone, the body lit up also. Body and soul worked in tandem. At that time the soul radiated a major amount of light, the body a smaller amount; the important thing was that both radiated light. We have elaborated on these concepts repeatedly.

Now to the third gift עולם הבא, the World to Come, acquired only through one's having to suffer afflictions and deprivations. That world is identical with what our sages call the ארץ ישראל של מעלה, concerning which it is said in Jeremiah 17,12: כסא כבוד מרום מראשון מקדשנו, "O Throne of Glory exalted from old, our sacred shrine!" Jacob did not sire any spiritually inferior children and it is therefore his features that are reputedly engraved on the Throne of Glory. He was the immediate source of a whole nation of 600,000 holy souls who formed the mystical dimension of the holy Torah, for these souls are the spiritual dimension of Torah inasmuch as the Torah contains 600,000 letters. I have explained this in detail elsewhere. These souls in turn are "hewn" out of the Throne of Glory and form a cluster around it representing the perfect nation descended from Jacob. [That which happened historically in our world is reflected conceptually and spiritually in the "higher" world Ed] This is why Sanhedrin 90 teaches that every Israelite has a share in that עולם הבא.

The reason that these numbers need to be found in the construction of the תפילין is the statement of the Talmud Kidushin 35, based on: למען תהיה תורת השם בפיך that the entire Torah is compared to תפילין (Exodus 13,9).

We have explained that in the emanation מלכות the letters of the Ineffable Name are active in radiating energy in all six possible directions, which is the mystical dimension of how the concept of מעשה בראשית was translated into the creation and development of matter. By combining the emanation מלכות itself with these six forms of energy we have actually seven forms of energy. The point is that we encounter the combination of twice 6=12, as well as the combination of twice 7=14. We explained earlier that just as there are 6 stages of בנין which originate on the left side of the pattern of the system of emanations, the side of דין, so there are 6 stages of בנין which originate on the right side of that pattern, the side governed by חסד. The number 14 is arrived at by adding the two respective "ones”, i.e. Jacob and Joseph as the central קנה that form the letter א. Symbolically speaking, Jacob's "beauty" and that of his "look alike” son Joseph, are the means by which the lost א of the כתנות אור of Adam can be recaptured. Whatever Jacob and Joseph did not accomplish in their attempt to repair the damage wrought on the world by Adam's sin will be repaired in Messianic times.

There is another explanation, basically along the same lines. We have already explained that Jacob represented the "beauty of Adam," i.e. a human being at its highest spiritual level. He guarded the flocks of Laban for twenty-two years. All this was in order to extract the two good "drops" (of semen) Laban had ever emitted, i.e the ones from which Leah and Rachel were born. These two drops of semen were the ones that were emitted by Adam and had become mixed with the semen which the serpent had injected into Eve when he had mated with her in גן עדן. [The serpent's part of the semen produced the likes of Laban. Ed.] Similarly, David, who was the re-incarnation of Adam, had to become a shepherd of the flocks belonging to Naval (Abigail's first husband) in order to extract from Naval another drop of semen which had not yet been fertilised, and was latent within Abigail's womb. This is the mystical dimension of Abigail. The original serpent, represented in David's time by Naval, who in turn was the re-incarnation of Laban, possessed the spiritual power to retrieve the spiritual essence Jacob had deposited within Leah. When David appeared on the scene of history, he took Abigail from Naval, [she became David's wife after Naval's death.] David had to guard the sheep of Naval, just as Jacob had to guard the sheep of Laban. This is the hidden meaning of Samuel I 25, 16: חומה היו עלינו גם לילה גם יומם כל ימי היותנו רעים הצאן. "They were a wall about us both by night and by day, all the time we were with them tending the flocks." Thus far the Arizal.

We see from the above that both Jacob and Joseph repaired damage caused by the אדמוני, since both hated Esau. What our sages said about Adam giving 70 years of his life to David is also true. The whole point of granting life to David was to repair the damage done to G–d's universe by Adam, without which a Messianic age and all its benefits to mankind would not be needed. Adam's צלם אלוקים, divine image, needed to be restored first and foremost through the constructive lives of the patriarchs. We explained all this in our commentary on Parshat Chayey Sarah. The 70 years Adam donated to David were "illuminated," assumed a positive meaning through Jacob and Joseph having donated 70 years of their already meaningful lives. We have explained earlier that the "beauty" of Jacob was of the same quality as the beauty of Adam [before his sin, of course. Ed.]. Genesis 39,6 describes Joseph as: ויהי יוסף יפה תואר, he had handsome features for he evidently inherited these from his father, seeing Joseph is viewed as his father's replica. We have seen from Samuel I 16,12 that David's features are described in similar terms. Once the Messiah will arrive on earth, Adam will be rehabilitated completely, will be אד"ם, the first letters respectively of the incarnations in אדם דוד משיח.

Adam and Eve, who were the cause of the drop of semen becoming smelly, were also instrumental in Adam ejaculating semen for one hundred and thirty years without that semen impregnating his wife. Instead, that semen turned into a variety of evil spirits, thus necessitating additional refinement צירוף, and תקונים. The exile in Egypt was the first step designed to remove impurity from the holy seed of the descendants of Jacob who resembled the spiritual beauty of Adam before he had sinned. Jacob's first drop of semen was intended to impregnate Rachel, whom he thought he had married under the wedding canopy. It was Joseph who kept alive the covenant with G–d, and therefore the descent to Egypt of Jacob's entire family was orchestrated through Joseph. The area in which this refinement was to take place was one called ערות הארץ, a part of the earth in which shame resides. The earth is perceived as being similar to a human being in that it has a head, eyes, arms, legs, as well as parts corresponding to the private parts of a human being, מקום ערוה. Our sages deduce this from such verses as Proverbs 8, 26: ראש עפרות תבל, "the head of the clumps of dust in the world;" earth is also described as רחבת ידים "possessed of generous hands" (Genesis 34,21). Scripture speaks of the earth's טבור, "navel." There are many similar metaphors which describe parts of the earth. This means that though earth is one continuous mass, entity, it possesses many parts just as a human being, who is a unit, has many parts. Just as various organs in the human body perform different functions and possess different degrees of importance, so earth has many parts, each of which performs a different function.

The second introduction needed to understand the whole issue is the fact that Esau and Jacob were twins inside Rebeccah's womb, and that she was the mother of both of them. This means that she was like the crucible within which Jacob was refined, whereas Esau at the same time absorbed all the residual polluted material of the original serpent that had still cleaved to Rebeccah in her capacity as Laban's sister. Esau inherited all the falseness of Laban. This left Jacob like pure, refined silver. That is what our sages had in mind when they referred to Jacob's beauty as equaling that of Adam (before his sin). The fact that Esau had absorbed all the negative residual elements within Rebeccah had enabled Jacob to become the pious person he was. Rebeccah loved Jacob; Isaac loved Esau more. The deeper reason for this is, as we have already explained, that there was some affinity between Isaac, whose root was the emanation of דין, the same emanation as the one the serpent=Satan=Esau was rooted in. Rebeccah, on the other hand, loved Jacob, seeing that her appearance was just like that of her mother-in-law Sarah, as we have explained. When Sarah is described in Genesis 20,3 as בעולת בעל, the Talmud Ketuvot 61 describes this as meaning that her husband was in a state of ascension at the time. The Torah compliments Sarah by testifying that together with her husband she ascended to higher spiritual regions. Rebeccah experienced something similar. We know that Isaac was described as עולה תמימה, an unblemished total offering [ עולה in the sense of something that ascends Ed.], at the time he was bound on the altar at Moriah. Our Rabbis say that nonetheless Isaac was like a קרבן עולה ויורד, in the matter of the עקדה, meaning that at different times he was at different spiritual levels. While he was bound on the altar, for instance, he was on a higher spiritual level than when he descended from the altar, aware that he was not to be sacrificed after all, seeing that G–d had appointed an alternative offering in his stead, namely the ram that was caught in the thicket by its horns (Genesis 22,13). Jacob was called an איש תם, the word תם referring to his spiritual ascension. Esau, on the other hand, though from a holy source as we explained when we described his head as being cradled by Isaac , was of the caliber that was liable to descend rather than to ascend spiritually.