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Vayikra
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1. The Rose

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Prologue Verse 189 Prologue Verse 174 Prologue Verse 1 Prologue Verse 7

With Yehuda Serour With Yehuda Serour With Yehuda Serour With Daniel Naor
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Portion Prologue
Synopsis:
The secret of spiritual protection is revealed through a richly metaphorical discourse given by Rabbi
Chizkiyah. The Rabbi explains that the spiritual forces that protect and watch over us are called the Thirteen
Attributes of Mercy. They are transmitted into our physical world through the first thirteen words of the
Torah. When judgments are decreed against us, these thirteen forces can safeguard us from their influence.
We begin drawing this Light of protection to ourselves at the very moment we begin to browse and behold
the mystical shapes and sequences of the Aramaic text, and to learn the spiritual insights presented there.
Rabbi Chizkiyah opened the discussion with the verse, "As the Rose
among the thorns" (Shir Hashirim 2:2). HE ASKS: What is the Rose? ,
AND HE REPLIES: It is the Congregation of Yisrael, WHICH IS , .
MALCHUT. Because there is a Rose; and there is a Rose. Just as the .
Rose among the thorns is tinged with red and white, so is the ,
Congregation of Yisrael affected by the qualities of Judgment and ,
Mercy. Just as the Rose has thirteen petals, so the Congregation of

Yisrael is surrounded by the thirteen attributes of Mercy. Thus,
between the first mention of the name Elohim, which appears in the .
1..
passage, "In the beginning Elohim created" (BERESHEET 1:1) TO ,
THE SECOND MENTION OF ELOHIM, THERE ARE THIRTEEN
WORDS IN THE VERSE, WHICH TRANSLATE AS "THE, .
HEAVEN, AND THE, EARTH, AND THE EARTH, WAS,
WITHOUT FORM, AND VOID, AND DARKNESS, WAS UPON,
THE FACE, OF THE DEEP, AND A WIND" (IBID. 2). These words .
surround and guard the Congregation of Yisrael.
,
After this, THE NAME ELOHIM is mentioned another time in the ,
passage "ELOHIM MOVED OVER" (IBID.). And why is it
mentioned again? In order to bring out the five rigid leaves that , .
surround the Rose. And these five LEAVES represent the five gates of . .
salvation. And this secret is written about in the verse, "I will raise the , ,
cup of salvation" (Tehilim 116:13). This is the 'cup of benediction' .
that is raised after the meal. The cup of benediction must rest on five
fingers, and no more, just as the Rose rests on five rigid leaves that ,
represent the five fingers. And this Rose is the cup of benediction.
2..
FROM THE second to the third mention of THE NAME Elohim,
there are five words, WHICH TRANSLATE AS "MOVED, OVER, , .
THE SURFACE, OF THE WATERS, AND SAID." AND THESE ,
WORDS PARALLEL THE FIVE LEAVES. From this point, THE .
VERSE CONTINUES, "ELOHIM SAID... LET THERE BE LIGHT" ,
(BERESHEET 1:3). After this light was created, it was concealed and , ,
enclosed within the covenant that entered the Rose and fructified it. .
This is referred to as "a fruit tree yielding fruit...whose seed is in
itself" (Ibid. 11) and this seed is the Brit. , .
.

And just as the covenant is sown by forty-two matings from that same ,
3.. seed, so the engraved and holy name is sown by the forty-two letters ,
that describe the works of Creation.
.

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