Raising the Shechinah: Shlomo's Parables and Songs

37“And they said, ‘Will you indeed reign over us? Will you indeed rule over us?’” This follows what we said of Yosef in the earlier teachings on “And Yisrael loved Yosef”: he raised the attribute of Malchus, kingship. The brothers longed for this too, and in their words they intended that the Shechinah be raised through him. They said hamaloch (המלך), meaning hei melech (ה מלך), “hei, king”: a hint to the last hei of the four-letter Name, which is the attribute of Malchus. “Melech timloch over us” means: raise her on high. “Im mashol timshol over us”: mashol means to rule, but here it is read as mashal, a parable. When the tzaddik wants to bring something about, he must liken the thing he needs to a parable, intending that through the parable the thing it stands for, the thing he needs, be set right. This is what is said of Shlomo HaMelech, “He had three thousand parables.”¹ Three thousand, alafim, are three alefs, for elef, a thousand, is spelled like the letter alef (אלף). Through the three alefs of the Name Ehyeh,² everything needed is set right, and Shlomo HaMelech set these alefs right through his parables. Then “his songs were five,” and again alefs.³ This hints that after Shlomo came to a great level, to thank Hashem and sing to Him with songs and praises, he brought about the raising of the Shechinah up to Chochmah. The Shechinah is the last hei, whose number is five, and alef hints at Chochmah, for the letters of alef (אלף) spell pele (פלא), wonder: the wonder of Chochmah. Understand this.