Musar for Niddah 61:9
שלשה חדשים הראשונים ולד דר במדור התחתון אמצעיים ולד דר במדור האמצעי אחרונים ולד דר במדור העליון וכיון שהגיע זמנו לצאת מתהפך ויוצא וזהו חבלי אשה
When I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth;<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Ps. CXXXIX, 15. ');"><sup>8</sup></span>
Shenei Luchot HaBerit
Concerning this inseparable bond, the Torah says in Exodus 19,5 prior to the revelation at Mount Sinai: והייתם לי סגלה, "You will be My treasured possession." The means by which Israel becomes G–d's most treasured possession is the Torah. The word, i.e. vowel, סגל is comprised of three sounds, i.e. three times the letter י. Between them they represent the ten emanations, the ten commandments and the ten directives by means of which G–d created our universe. The Zohar at the end of Parshat Nasso where the offerings of the princes are described, comments that the verse עשרה עשרה הכף, (Numbers 7,86) "ten, ten the כף" which at first glance seems superfluous, for who does not know that twice ten equals twenty, means that the first ten represent מעשה בראשית, whereas the second ten represent the Ten Commandments when the Torah was given. The Torah wishes to tell us that the creation of the universe was justified only when Torah was revealed and accepted by the Jewish people. Together these "twenty" formed a unit, seeing that when one spells the letter י ten, as a word i.e. יוד, the numerical value is 20, i.e. כ. The inseparable relationship between G–d, Israel and Torah is thus amply documented. Israel is attached to these "twenty," as is mentioned in Deut. 4,4: ואתם הדבקים בה', "as for you who cleave to the Lord etc." The congregation of Israel, עדת ישראל, are ten (i.e. the minimum number of a quorum amongst which a part of the Presence of G–d can be found is ten). This number applies both to the spiritual part of the people, נשמה, as well as to their bodies, since the Talmud Nidah 31 tells us that there are three partners in the creation of a human being, G–d, father and mother. G–d's input is described as comprising ten parts, the soul and its various potentials. Father and mother between them also contribute ten components, the body and the materials it is formed of. This makes man a partner of G–d in the Creation of the universe in a manner of speaking Just as the purely spiritual world, עולם האצילות, had been "born," so now the אדם תחתון, man of the lower world was "born" in order to get to know G–d. This is what is meant by the Talmud Shabbat 119 saying that whoever says his prayers on the Sabbath Eve including the recital of Genesis 2,1-3, becomes a partner of G–d in His work of Creation. It is well known that this is the night our sages especially recommend for man and his wife to cohabit and fulfill the commandment to procreate.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy