Living by Yaakov's Power: Da'as and Hope

1The Midrash relates (Bereishis Rabbah 96:5): “Rabbeinu HaKadosh¹ lived in Tzippori for seventeen years, and he applied to himself the verse ‘Yaakov lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years’ [Bereishis 47:28]: ‘and R' Yehudah lived (vachayah) in Tzippori seventeen years.’” The explanation lies in the form vachayah, with a hei at the end. It is used for someone who receives his life through someone else. So it says of the newborn girls, “if it is a daughter, she shall live (vachayah)” [Shemos 1:16]: the midwives were not to put them to death as they did the boys, but to keep them alive. Likewise, “except the one to whom the king extends the golden scepter, he shall live (vechayah)” [Esther 4:11]: the king grants him his life and does not order him killed, as the law of the kingdom required. This form, then, describes life received from another. And that is what Rabbeinu HaKadosh meant when he applied the verse to himself. Yaakov Avinu, the elder, lived in Egypt for seventeen years, and by the power of those years Rebbi lived his seventeen years in Tzippori.

2According to Kabbalah, this hints at the holy Name formed from the first letters of es hashamayim v'es ha'aretz, “the heavens and the earth” [Bereishis 1:1]. Its numerical value is that of tov, “good,” which is seventeen, and it is called the Name of Da'as, of inner understanding. Through da'as Yaakov knew and understood why he had come to Egypt. From that same da'as Rabbeinu HaKadosh understood why he was in Tzippori. The number seventeen in both cases alludes to this. It equals tov, for they both knew that everything comes from the Creator for the good.

3Later the Midrash says, on “For Your salvation I hope, Hashem” [Bereishis 49:18], that “everything depends on hope” (Bereishis Rabbah 98:14); see its wording there. This too means that all of Israel's hope comes from the portion of Yaakov within them, as it says, “For I, Hashem, have not changed, and you, sons of Yaakov, have not been consumed” (Malachi 3:6). This is Israel's strength and might, their stronghold and their trust: they know with certainty that they will never be consumed, Heaven forbid. Perhaps this is the hint in what Rachav asked of Yehoshua's spies, that they give her “a true sign” [Yehoshua 2:12]. The holy Zohar (Vayikra)² asks, “What is ‘a true sign’? It is the letter vav, the level of Yaakov.” As is known, Yaakov is alluded to in the letter vav, and it says, “Grant truth to Yaakov” [Michah 7:20]. They answered her, “This cord (tikvas) of scarlet thread you shall tie in the window” [Yehoshua 2:18]. That is, the hope (tikvah) planted and rooted in the heart of every Jew: bind this to yourself, for it comes from the trait of Yaakov Avinu.

4The “cord of scarlet thread” hints at prayer. As Chazal say (Berachos 32b; Devarim Rabbah 2), “If a person prayed and was not answered, let him pray again, as it says, ‘Hope to Hashem, be strong and let your heart take courage, and hope to Hashem’ [Tehillim 27:14]: hope, and hope again.” The “scarlet thread” also recalls “Your lips are like a thread of scarlet” (Shir HaShirim 4:3), which alludes to Torah and prayer. By this power we pray, and pray again and again. Our hope stays strong that we will never be lost, Heaven forbid, even after all the troubles. For He will yet shine for us, and “in His light we shall see light” [cf. Tehillim 36:10]. (From the author's handwritten manuscript.)