Mei HaShiloach · Volume I, Prophets, I Samuel, Chapter 20
1
ולא דבר שאול מאומה ביום ההוא כי אמר מקרה הוא בלתי טהור הוא כי לא טהור. מלת כי משמש כאן בלשון דהא, והוא נתינת טעם לדבר למה אמר כן, כי החזיקו שהוא מכיר את שורשו שיש לו פגם בזה, וזהו כי לא טהור כאשר ידעתיו בזה, והענין בזה לאשר הניח הש"י אוצר הטהרה בזה השבט לכן היה להם תמיד עסקים ומאורעות וברורין בזה, כידוע ממעשה תמר שהיה התחלת הבנין של מלכות בית דוד כמו שנתבאר במקומו [ח"א פ' וישב ד"ה ויהי ער], ובת שבע, ובת פרעה, והש"י בירר את כלם שיצאו מאתו הדברים, והנה אבן של יהודא הניתן בהחושן היה שמו נפך שמספרו עולה ק"ן, ודוד המלך ע"ה עשה ק"ן פרשיות בתהלים, כי נ' מורה על טהרה ושלשה פעמים נ' מורה על שלימות הטהרה האמיתיות, ושלמה המלך ע"ה עשה את ים הנחושת שהיה מחזיק מאה וחמשים מקוה טהרה (עירובין י"ד.) גם עשה משלי, שיר השירים וקהלת שהם נ' פרשיות חוץ מפרשה אחרונה שבמשלי שהיא פ' אשת חיל.
“And Shaul said nothing on that day, for he said, something has happened (a seminal emission), he is not clean, because he is not clean.” (Shmuel 1, 20:26) The word ci in this verse means, “because.”10The word ki has four different meanings in Scripture; if, perhaps, but, and d’ha, because or behold. See Rashi on Bereshit, 18:15.. This usage explains the reason for this verse’s seeming redundancy. Shaul asserted that he understood his own nature at its root, and that his purity was deficient. God had entrusted the storehouse of purity to the tribe of Yehuda. Therefore, their dealings and affairs were constantly undergoing birurum (clarifications) in this aspect.*Some describe a person’s tikkun [rectification, involving birur, or clarification] as the place where they are deficient We see this in the incidents with Tamar, who was the progenitor of the Royal Davidic line, as is explained in its place (Mei HaShiloach, Parshat Vayeishev, on the verse, “and Er”). So too with Bat Sheva (who King David married under what looked like suspiscious circumstances) and the daughter of Pharaoh (who King Shlomo married even though she was not Jewish). God clarified all of their actions, and made it clear that it was all God’s doing. (Like the statement of the Gemara, when Yehuda said of Tamar, “She is more righteous than I [mimeni],” that this was God saying, “the entire incident came forth from Me [mimeni].” See Rashi ad loc.) Thus the stone representing Yehuda in the High Priest’s breastplate, the Choshen Mishpat, was the nofech, or carbuncle.11The breastplate was adorned with twelve stones, and each one represented one of the tribes of Israel. See Sefer Shemot, Parshat Tetsave, for a full explanation. The numerical equivalent of the three letters in nofech (nun = 50, peh = 80, chaf = 20) is 150. David haMelech thus included 150 chapters in the book of Tehilim. The letter and number nun, fifty, teaches of purity.12See the Meor Einim of Reb Menachem Nachum of Chernobel, zts’l, in Parshat Nasso, where he says that the first forty-nine gates in Binah–Understanding are the repository for all the severe judgments, dinim, in the world, and the fiftieth gate is the great mercy that sweetens them all. Also the “Mekor Mayim Chaiim,” the commentary from the teachings of Reb Yitsik Eisik of Komarno zts’l on the “Sefer Baal Shem Tov,” says on the first verse in the book of Vayikra that “sick,” chole, is the numerical equivalent of forty-nine, wheres healing comes from adding the one to reach the fiftieth gate. This is the small aleph in the word Vayikra, which the Baal Shem Tov zts’l says is the source of all healing. Furthermore, the fifty days from Passover to Shevuot are a process of national cleansing of the spirit of Israel, where we must be completely pure for the “wedding” on the fiftieth day, which is the festival of Shevuot. Thus three times nun, fifty, 150, represents the absolute completeness of purity. *In Jewish law, doing something 3 times represents a hazaka (presumption), i.e. the ox gored three times so it is presumed to be deadly. Hence completeness. Thus nun, or 50, is purity, and three times 50 is complete purity. In terms of Kabbala, three times encompasses the expansion, contraction, fusion dynamic that is the basis for the entire universe (Tikuneu Zohar Intr.) [Hagahot Peretz] Shlomo haMelech had fashioned the brass laver used to wash the hands and feet of the Cohanim in the Holy Temple, called the yam [sea] hanechoshet, which contained exactly 150 mikvot or ritual baths (Eruvin, 14a).13First of all, the sea, as was the name of the laver, is called a mikveh, ritual bath, used for purification. Then also, 150 plus one is the numerical equvalent of the word, mikve, mem = 40, qoof = 100, vav = 6, hei = 5. Furthermore, Shlomo haMelech composed the books of Mishlei (Proverbs), Shir haShirim (Canticles), and Kohellet (Ecclesiastes), which total fifty chapters, aside from the last chapter in Mishlei, which is the Parsha of Eishet Chayil, the “Woman of Valor.” (The grand finale of the life’s work of King Shlomo and in a class by itself. [Hagahot Peretz])
ולא דבר שאול מאומה ביום ההוא כי אמר מקרה הוא בלתי טהור הוא כי לא טהור. מלת כי משמש כאן בלשון דהא, והוא נתינת טעם לדבר למה אמר כן, כי החזיקו שהוא מכיר את שורשו שיש לו פגם בזה, וזהו כי לא טהור כאשר ידעתיו בזה, והענין בזה לאשר הניח הש"י אוצר הטהרה בזה השבט לכן היה להם תמיד עסקים ומאורעות וברורין בזה, כידוע ממעשה תמר שהיה התחלת הבנין של מלכות בית דוד כמו שנתבאר במקומו [ח"א פ' וישב ד"ה ויהי ער], ובת שבע, ובת פרעה, והש"י בירר את כלם שיצאו מאתו הדברים, והנה אבן של יהודא הניתן בהחושן היה שמו נפך שמספרו עולה ק"ן, ודוד המלך ע"ה עשה ק"ן פרשיות בתהלים, כי נ' מורה על טהרה ושלשה פעמים נ' מורה על שלימות הטהרה האמיתיות, ושלמה המלך ע"ה עשה את ים הנחושת שהיה מחזיק מאה וחמשים מקוה טהרה (עירובין י"ד.) גם עשה משלי, שיר השירים וקהלת שהם נ' פרשיות חוץ מפרשה אחרונה שבמשלי שהיא פ' אשת חיל.
“And Shaul said nothing on that day, for he said, something has happened (a seminal emission), he is not clean, because he is not clean.” (Shmuel 1, 20:26)
The word ci in this verse means, “because.”10The word ki has four different meanings in Scripture; if, perhaps, but, and d’ha, because or behold. See Rashi on Bereshit, 18:15.. This usage explains the reason for this verse’s seeming redundancy. Shaul asserted that he understood his own nature at its root, and that his purity was deficient. God had entrusted the storehouse of purity to the tribe of Yehuda. Therefore, their dealings and affairs were constantly undergoing birurum (clarifications) in this aspect.*Some describe a person’s tikkun [rectification, involving birur, or clarification] as the place where they are deficient We see this in the incidents with Tamar, who was the progenitor of the Royal Davidic line, as is explained in its place (Mei HaShiloach, Parshat Vayeishev, on the verse, “and Er”). So too with Bat Sheva (who King David married under what looked like suspiscious circumstances) and the daughter of Pharaoh (who King Shlomo married even though she was not Jewish). God clarified all of their actions, and made it clear that it was all God’s doing. (Like the statement of the Gemara, when Yehuda said of Tamar, “She is more righteous than I [mimeni],” that this was God saying, “the entire incident came forth from Me [mimeni].” See Rashi ad loc.) Thus the stone representing Yehuda in the High Priest’s breastplate, the Choshen Mishpat, was the nofech, or carbuncle.11The breastplate was adorned with twelve stones, and each one represented one of the tribes of Israel. See Sefer Shemot, Parshat Tetsave, for a full explanation. The numerical equivalent of the three letters in nofech (nun = 50, peh = 80, chaf = 20) is 150. David haMelech thus included 150 chapters in the book of Tehilim. The letter and number nun, fifty, teaches of purity.12See the Meor Einim of Reb Menachem Nachum of Chernobel, zts’l, in Parshat Nasso, where he says that the first forty-nine gates in Binah–Understanding are the repository for all the severe judgments, dinim, in the world, and the fiftieth gate is the great mercy that sweetens them all. Also the “Mekor Mayim Chaiim,” the commentary from the teachings of Reb Yitsik Eisik of Komarno zts’l on the “Sefer Baal Shem Tov,” says on the first verse in the book of Vayikra that “sick,” chole, is the numerical equivalent of forty-nine, wheres healing comes from adding the one to reach the fiftieth gate. This is the small aleph in the word Vayikra, which the Baal Shem Tov zts’l says is the source of all healing. Furthermore, the fifty days from Passover to Shevuot are a process of national cleansing of the spirit of Israel, where we must be completely pure for the “wedding” on the fiftieth day, which is the festival of Shevuot. Thus three times nun, fifty, 150, represents the absolute completeness of purity. *In Jewish law, doing something 3 times represents a hazaka (presumption), i.e. the ox gored three times so it is presumed to be deadly. Hence completeness. Thus nun, or 50, is purity, and three times 50 is complete purity. In terms of Kabbala, three times encompasses the expansion, contraction, fusion dynamic that is the basis for the entire universe (Tikuneu Zohar Intr.) [Hagahot Peretz] Shlomo haMelech had fashioned the brass laver used to wash the hands and feet of the Cohanim in the Holy Temple, called the yam [sea] hanechoshet, which contained exactly 150 mikvot or ritual baths (Eruvin, 14a).13First of all, the sea, as was the name of the laver, is called a mikveh, ritual bath, used for purification. Then also, 150 plus one is the numerical equvalent of the word, mikve, mem = 40, qoof = 100, vav = 6, hei = 5. Furthermore, Shlomo haMelech composed the books of Mishlei (Proverbs), Shir haShirim (Canticles), and Kohellet (Ecclesiastes), which total fifty chapters, aside from the last chapter in Mishlei, which is the Parsha of Eishet Chayil, the “Woman of Valor.” (The grand finale of the life’s work of King Shlomo and in a class by itself. [Hagahot Peretz])