“If a man makes a vow to Havayah or takes an oath imposing an obligation on himself, he shall not break his pledge; he must carry out all that has crossed his lips.” (Numbers 30:3)
First Reading: Serving God During Exile
The section on vows appears at the beginning of Parashat Matot at the end of the Book of Numbers. The section opens with the words, "This is the thing which Havayah has commanded," and Rashi provides an explanation for this expression—which appears in other places as well—saying that it is the special phrase that distinguishes Moses from other prophets who prophesied with "Thus says Havayah." There is something about the section on vows where the uniqueness of Moses over other prophets is revealed, in that he prophesied with a clear vision and with the power of the sage to annul vows. The sage is an extension of Moses in every generation and a spark of the Mashiach. Likewise, a husband in relation to his wife and a father to his daughter have a similar power in the annulment of vows.
This section is very much connected to women, as it primarily deals with the vows of women under the authority of their fathers or husbands, or in their own authority. Only one verse in the section deals with the vows of men, thus there is a special rectification of the woman's mode of Divine service here.
Before we begin, let's preface by saying that the making of a vow or an oath reveals a power that was not previously disclosed, and it is connected to the revelation of the spark of the Mashiach within each person. We have 248 positive commandments and 365 negative commandments, but surprisingly, a Jew who makes a vow (a neder) has the power to add a prohibition or an obligation beyond what the Torah prescribed. It is as if he or she is, in a manner of speaking, akin to the Almighty who gives us commandments.
Another important preface to make is that Maimonides writes that we refrain from making vows, which is why we are accustomed to adding the words “bli neder,” meaning “without a vow,” to our commitments to do things. This is a surprising attitude, as the power of the vow is truly great. The power of the one who vows comes from the spark of the Mashiach within him or her, while the power of the sage who annuls the vow comes from the power of Moses our teacher, who has a certain superiority over the soul of Mashiach. Indeed, apart from the Mashiach there is the soul of Ra’aya Mehemna, the soul of Moses, the shepherd of faith, who comes after the Mashiach to integrate the surrounding lights revealed by the Mashiach, internally.
Usually, when we speak about the spark of Mashiach, we explain that it is a Divine inspiration a person receives to pursue the task of rectifying the world—tikkun olam. The person is then filled with the infinite light—the infinite revelation of Godliness. But these are initially chaotic lights (אוֹרוֹת דְּתֹהוּ) that need to be provided with suitable vessels of rectification so that they do not shatter reality. Here, in the Torah’s treatment of vows, this power of rectification comes as a power of prohibition, to forbid oneself. It is a power of contraction and limitation in the soul, which comes after the revelation of the infinite light and is no less a Messianic power. The revelation of the light is in the manner of initiative and the impulse to act, but afterward comes the power to limit this impulse, and it is a stronger power.
Still, the question stands: why do we refrain today from using the power of the vow?
The answer is connected to the power of the sages to nullify a commandment from the Torah. The example brought in Chasidut for this is the sages’ nullification of the blowing of the shofar on Rosh Hashanah that falls on Shabbat due to the concern of carrying it four cubits in a public domain. In Chasidut, it is explained that this reason is only an external one that is meant to conceal the deeper, inner explanation, which is that since the time of the sages, what the shofar blowing achieves is done automatically within the soul when it is Shabbat. Therefore, we do not lose the fulfillment of the commandment because it is accomplished automatically by the sanctity of Shabbat; we just need to understand how.
Of course, this is only the situation in our ages, but in the future, the shofar will indeed be blown because then it will be able to draw down a different revelation, a revelation that is not normally drawn down on Shabbat. This is the paradigmatic framework for thinking about all the things that, in principle, are supposed to be done but are not practiced today.
Usually, this is an issue that greatly disturbs ba’alei teshuvah who are newly motivated by books rather than by the traditions and practices they grew up on. Another example: someone studying Kabbalah learns that on Shabbat there should be twelve loaves, and when he goes to his rabbi's house, he sees only two loaves. When he asks why, the rabbi answers that, in practice, it is not done this way, which greatly disappoints him. The way to explain this is that the matter is accomplished internally in a different manner, as we have explained.
The same applies to vows. Due to the concern that the one who vows might not be able to uphold the vow, all of Israel has adopted the practice of avoiding them as much as possible and are careful to say, “bli neder” (without a vow). Because nowadays, we can access the power of the vow, with all its inherent motivating force, without actually verbalizing it. In the time of the Temple, this was not the case. Then, it was possible to reveal much more with verbal expression than today, but what affects us internally today can be accessed even without verbal expression. On the contrary, it can be expressed in a more intense manner and without limitations because we do not verbalize it. Not only have we not lost anything, but we have gained the immediate availability of the power of vows because we do not need to verbalize it and because it is constantly accessible internally. What this means is that although the unspoken vow does not practically forbid us, spiritually it is binding and fulfills the verse, “One who speaks truthfully in his heart.”
A vow can be used in one of two ways. Usually, it is used to create a prohibition, to refrain from doing something, but it can also be used to create an obligation. The latter type relates to consecration for the Temple. So, although it is not necessary to actively fulfill the unvocalized vow (like if someone vowed to bring a certain gift to the Temple), with respect to its impact internally on the psyche, it makes no difference whether you verbalize the vow or not. Another way to think of it is that there may be one who verbalizes his thought, but will not have much of an impact on his psyche, and there is one who will not verbalize his thought, but will have a profound impact on his psyche.
Boiling all this down to one important principle, which we might say is the core of Chasidic service of God: the primary work we do in our age is internal. In our current state of exile, the main work is internal, and when redemption arrives, the focus will once again shift to the external. That is why our vows are internal work. As such, vows are central to all Chasidic service since the Ba’al Shem Tov because they represent the service of self-restraint—the mind ruling over the heart. Indeed, the Tanya begins with the issue of vows: “They make him [the soul before coming into the world] vow to be righteous." Before the soul descends into this world, it is given the strength and the effluence needed to withstand all the trials and challenges of life. The vow reveals the soul’s essence, which is the spark of Mashiach in the soul.
אַ֥ךְ אֶת הַזָּהָ֖ב וְאֶת הַכָּ֑סֶף אֶֽת הַנְּחֹ֙שֶׁת֙ אֶת הַבַּרְזֶ֔ל אֶֽת הַבְּדִ֖יל וְאֶת הָעֹפָֽרֶת (מטות לא, כב)
“Only the gold, the silver, the copper, the iron, the tin, and the lead.” (Numbers 31:22)
Second Reading: The Elements of Antiquity
The Torah portion of Matot describes the war against Midian. At the end of the war, a short section addressing the laws of purging utensils is presented. It reads,
And Elazar the priest said to the soldiers who had gone to the battle, “This is the statute of the law that Havayah commanded Moses: Only the gold, the silver, the copper, the iron, the tin, and the lead, everything that can withstand fire, you shall pass through the fire, and it will be pure except for that which must be purified with the water of sprinkling; and all that cannot withstand fire, you shall pass through the water.”
Apart from the exceptional introduction in which Elazar the priest conveys the words God spoke to Moses, this section contains the largest list of metals in the Pentateuch: gold, silver, copper, iron, tin, and lead. These six metals, along with the metal known as "quicksilver" in English, which today is known as mercury, constitute the seven metals known to ancient science. The seven metals are mentioned by the commentators of the Book of Formation as analogous to the seven visible planets (Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn), to the seven transformations,[1] the seven double letters (בגד כפר"ת), and more. It follows then that the seven metals correspond to the seven sefirot from loving-kindness to kingdom, also known as the sefirot of the emotive and habitual faculties of the soul. We will soon see this parallel in detail.
The Four Elements of Antiquity
An important question asked in the study of ancient science, and consequently in understanding the perception of the sages regarding the elements, pertains to the relationship between the four elements—fire, air, water, and earth—and the seven metals. In the Torah’s inner dimension, the relationship between 4 and 7 can be found in the relationship between the four faculties that make up the super-consciousness and the intellect and the emotive and habitual faculties that number seven. Therefore, it is indeed fitting to position the four elements of antiquity—fire, air, water, and earth—as corresponding to the sefirot crown (the super-consciousness) and wisdom, understanding, and knowledge (the intellectual faculties).
However, first, let us note that while all seven metals of antiquity (six of which are found explicitly in our reading) are still defined today as chemical elements, the four ancient elements are not. For example, we currently present water as being a composite substance, a molecule containing two hydrogen atoms for every one oxygen atom. What this means is that it would not be consistent to place the four elements of antiquity in the same model as the seven metals of antiquity.
Nevertheless, with a bit of thought, it is easy to recognize that each of the four ancient elements corresponds to a modern chemical element. Water, as its name suggests, corresponds to hydrogen. Oxygen is the most important component for humans in the air. Nitrogen (nitrates) is the essential active element in the earth, promoting growth. Finally, fire corresponds to carbon, the primary material of combustion. It is important to note in passing that almost all the material of the human body (and similarly the bodies of animals and plants) is composed of these four essential elements: hydrogen, carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen.
Now, if we arrange the four elements and the seven metals according to the sefirot while noting the atomic number of each element or metal, we get the following structure (partzuf, in Kabbalistic terminology):
| crown
Air • Oxygen (O) Atomic number: 8 |
|
| understanding
Fire • Carbon (C) Atomic number: 6 |
wisdom
Water • Hydrogen (H) Atomic number: 1 |
| knowledge
Earth • Nitrogen (N) Atomic number: 7 |
|
| might
Gold (Au) Atomic number: 79 |
loving-kindness
Silver (Ag) Atomic number: 47 |
| beauty
Copper (Cu) Atomic number: 29 |
|
| acknowledgment
Lead (Pb) Atomic number: 82 |
victory
Tin (Sn) Atomic number: 50 |
| foundation
Mercury (Hg) Atomic number: 80 |
|
| kingdom
Iron (Fe) Atomic number: 26 |
|
The Spirit within Matter
This partzuf of the elements contains an extraordinary wealth of important phenomena for understanding the spiritual aspects of matter. We will mention only a few simple and clear phenomena.
The sefirah of knowledge is considered a bridge between the intellect and the seven lower attributes—the emotive and habitual faculties. In our partzuf, knowledge is represented by the element of earth, while the seven metals are essentially defined as types of ores that are found in the earth.
The atomic number of quicksilver (mercury) is 80, which corresponds to the numerical value of the name of the sefirah “foundation” (יְסוֹד) to which it corresponds in the partzuf.
The sum of the Hebrew names of the seven metals (כֶּסֶף זָהָב נְחֹשֶׁת בְּדִיל עוֹפֶרֶת כֶּסֶף חַי בַּרְזֶל) is seven times the numerical value of “iron” (בַּרְזֶל), indicating that among all the metals, iron is the most central. Indeed, it is known that the Hebrew word for “iron” (בַּרְזֶל) serves as an acronym for the names of Jacob’s wives—the archetypal feminine souls (of kingdom): Bilhah, Rachel, Zilpah, and Leah (בִּלְהָה זִלְפָּה רָחֵל לֵאֶה) with the handmaidens preceding the matriarchs, a topic we have discussed in length elsewhere.
The sum of the atomic numbers of all seven metals (47, 79, 29, 50, 82, 80, 26), is 393, which is precisely the numerical value of the word “handmaid” (שִׁפְחָה). The sum of the atomic numbers of just the four lower metals corresponding with victory, acknowledgment, foundation, and kingdom (50, 82, 80, 26) is 238, which is also the value of “Rachel” (רָחֵל), the archetypal soul of kingdom.
Furthermore, the numerical sum of the names of all ten sefirot (כֶּתֶר חֲכָמָה בִּינָה חֶסֶד גְּבוּרָה תִּפְאֶרֶת נֶצַח הוֹד יְסוֹד מַלְכוּת) is 2868, which is 12 times 239, again the numerical value of “iron” (בַּרְזֶל), the metal corresponding to kingdom, providing another illustration of the centrality of iron.
זֶ֣ה הַדָּבָ֞ר אֲשֶׁר צִוָּ֣ה י־הוה לִבְנ֤וֹת צְלׇפְחָד֙ לֵאמֹ֔ר לַטּ֥וֹב בְּעֵינֵיהֶ֖ם תִּהְיֶ֣ינָה לְנָשִׁ֑ים אַ֗ךְ לְמִשְׁפַּ֛חַת מַטֵּ֥ה אֲבִיהֶ֖ם תִּהְיֶ֥ינָה לְנָשִֽׁים (מסעי לו, ו)
“This is the thing that God commanded to the daughters of Tzlofchad, saying, to whomever they see fit, they shall be wives, but to the family of the tribe of their father they shall be wives.” (Numbers 36:6)
Seventh Reading: The Daughters of Tzlofchad and the Future
A woman who inherits a portion in the land can marry only someone from her tribe. This is an explicit commandment in the Torah, but it was enacted for only one generation! In the following generation, the verse, “This is the thing” was explained as “This thing will not be enacted, only in this generation.” And then it was declared that the prohibition had ended and the tribes could intermarry. This happened on the Fifteenth of Av. This is the reason that this day is so happy.
The phenomenon of a commandment that is required at the beginning and is then nullified, is reminiscent of the words of the sages: “Mitzvoth will be nullified in the future days to come.” This refers to a future reality in which we will not need to be commanded to do that which is required. In other words, at a practical level the halachah will remain the same, but it will not be necessary to command us to follow it.
On a deeper level, we learn from this that when the mitzvah has been fulfilled to perfection one time—as the righteous daughters of Tzlofchad certainly did—the purpose of the mitzvah has been accomplished and then the future state of “mitzvoth will be nullified” can be accessed. If so, all 613 mitzvoth are simply waiting for us to finally fulfill them to perfection. At that point, the role of the mitzvoth as actions performed because of a command will have been fulfilled and we will progress to the next stage of clinging to God—from a place of joy and pleasure.
Surprisingly, the Sages explain that the daughters of Tzlofchad themselves were not obligated to marry into their own tribe of Menasheh. “To whomever they see fit, they shall be wives.” Instead, the prescription to marry within their tribe was simply a piece of good advice.[2] In other words, the daughters of Tzlofchad chose what was they saw fit out of their own free will, to fulfill what other women were obligated to fulfill.
This is another point in which this mitzvah constructed a general Torah principle: namely that at their core, all the mitzvoth are “pieces of good advice.” Indeed, we find that the Zohar refers to all 613 mitzvoth as “advice.” The mitzvah is a good piece of advice on how to cling to God. In this world, the advice is obligatory and sometimes requires us to curb our sense of freedom to do what we like. But in the future, we will see how this advice is the very best and we will embrace it completely willingly.
[1]. Called temurot, in Hebrew. See Sefer Yetzirah 4:1.
[2]. Bava Batra 120a
