By Hillel ben David (Greg Killian)
Man is a metaphor. Indeed, one of several meanings of the Hebrew word adam (“man”) is “I resemble.” For man is a microcosm of creation—in the words of the Talmud, “As the soul fills the body, so HaShem fills the universe.”[1] Thus Iyov declares, “From my flesh, I perceive HaShem”[2], by contemplating the workings of our body and the manner in which it relates to and is animated by our soul, we gain insight into the workings of creation and the manner in which it relates to and is sustained by its source. Man is a microcosm, and so provides analogies for all other worlds which can explain the secrets of reality and the great riddles hidden from our senses”.[3]
According to R. Bachya, our primary duty is to study that which is closest to us: the human being.
It is our duty to study the
origins and birth of the human, the form and
structure of his physical frame, how the various
body parts are connected and function together, the purpose of each individual
part and the need for it to take its present form. Next we should study man's
advantages, his various temperaments, the faculties of his soul, the light of
his intellect, his qualities -- those that are
essential and those that are accidental; his desires, and the ultimate purpose
of his being. When we have arrived at an understanding of the matters noted in
regard to man, much of the mystery of this universe will become clear to us,
since the one resembles the other... as Job said (Job 19:26): "From my flesh I see God."[4]
The Rambam[5] states that the only way to love and fear HaShem is through the study of His creation, for only through this study are we able to know HaShem. Our understanding of HaShem can only be achieved by the intellectual investigation of the genius and balance of His creation. Every detail, every remarkable insight and fact is necessary in our attempt to know (daat) and connect with HaShem.
The human body is the physical element in a complex and ultimately spiritual being. The human body is not simply the housing for the spiritual essences, it is part and parcel of the combined human being, a being that will ultimately exist in greater spiritual form in the world to come, after the resurrection. For when the world to come begins, and we stand up at the resurrection, we will stand up with combined body and soul, though both will be raised to a much higher spiritual level than at which we stand today.
The walls of the succah represent the human body, and are even adorned with kishutim, jewelry, so-to-speak, as we adorn a body. For, like the body itself, the walls of the succah are only a temporary and somewhat flimsy encasement for the person, the soul, that enters and then later leaves it.
The spiritual nature of the human body is manifested in an erect posture. This is one of the aspects of a human being which shows his spiritual nature. The fact that a man stands upright and has a certain glow in the face is a manifestation of his difference from an animal. These two features distinguish us from the animals.
Maharal’s View
Maharal suggests that the human body symbolizes aspects of HaShem, rather than that the actual form of the body reflects the form of HaShem in some way. In his view, human characteristics such as our walking upright, having two eyes, the heels of our feet, all remind us, if we understand them correctly, of attributes of HaShem. Specifically, our walking upright indicates a lack of subservience, our eyes remind us of HaShem’s awareness of good and evil, and our heels can remind us of the ubiquity of sin.
Vilna Gaon’s View
According to our mystical tradition, the human being is a microcosm of all creation, and within the human being one can find the characteristics of every creature. The Vilna Gaon, a leading sage of the 18th century, states that this idea is expressed in the following pasuk, where the Creator proclaims:
Bereshit
(Genesis) 1:26 Let us make
the human being in Our image and after Our likeness.
Who was the Creator speaking to when He said, 'Let us make the human being'? According to the Vilna Gaon, the Creator was addressing all of creation, bidding each creature to contribute a portion of its characteristics to the human being. For example, the human being's strength is traced to the lion; his swiftness to the eagle; his cunning to the fox; and his capacity for growth to the flora.
THE TORAH AS A
LIVING ORGANISM
The weaving of the Torah from the Ineffable Name (YHWH) suggests the analogy that the Torah is a living texture, a live body in the formulation of both Azriel of Gerona and the Zohar. The Torah "is like an entire building; just as one man has many organs with different functions, so among the different chapters of the Torah some seem important in their outward appearance and some unimportant," yet in actual fact all are bound together in a single organic pattern. Just as man's unified nature is divided up among the various organs of his body, so the living cell of HaShem's Name, which is the subject of revelation, grows into the earthly Torah that men possess. Down to the last, seemingly insignificant detail of the Masoretic text, the Torah has been passed on with the understanding that it is a living structure from which not even one letter can be excised without seriously harming the entire body. The Torah is like a human body that has a head, torso, heart, mouth, and so forth.
The Divisions of
the Body
The human body is divided into three parts: the head, the most aristocratic part of the body; the middle section, which incorporates the heart; and the lower section of the body, the most mundane of all (symbolizing the three sections of the Mishkan, the Kodesh Kodeshim (Holy of Holies), the Kodesh (the Holy Place), and the Chatzer (the courtyard), and the three worlds, the world of the angels, the world of the luminaries, and this world.
There are 613 commandments. The positive commandments (do), numbering 248, are equivalent to the number of organs in the human body. The 365 negative commandments (do not do) are equivalent to the number of blood vessels in the human body. The 613 mitzvot relate to 613 specific physical areas in the body, a Hakham (Rabbi) can analyze whether a limb is affected by an adversely conducted mitzva.
Man has 248 limbs they are as follows: Thirty bones in the foot, six in each toe. Then, ten bones in the ankle, two in the lower leg, five in the knee, one in the thigh, and three in each hip. There are eleven pairs of ribs. The hand has thirty bones, six in each finger. There are two bones in the forearm, two in the elbow, one in the upper arm, and four in each shoulder. This yields a sum of 102 bones on each side, for a total of 204.
Besides these, there are another 46 limbs. These include the eighteen vertebra of the spine, nine bones in the head, and eight in the neck. There are also six in the "gateway to the heart," which is the chest, and another five at the outside orifices. The total is 248 limbs.
The Hakhamim (Rabbis) declared that there were 248 members (bones) in the human body[6]; namely, forty in the tarsal region and the foot (30+10 = 40); 2 in the leg (the tibia and fibula); 6 in the knee (including the head of the femur, and the epiphyses of the tibia and fibula); three in the pelvis (ilium, ischium, and pubes); eleven ribs (the twelfth rib, owing to its diminutive size, was not counted); 30 in the hand (the carpal bones and the phalanges); two in the forearm (radius and ulna); 2 at the elbow (the olecranon and the head of the radius); 1 in the arm (humerus); four in the shoulder (clavicle, scapula, coracoid process, and acromion)—which makes 101 for each side of the body, or 202 for both—eighteen vertebræ; 9 in the head (cranium and face), eight in the neck (7 vertebral and the os hyoides), five around the openings [sic] of the body (cartilaginous bones), and six in the key of the heart (the sternum).
The human form also has 248 limbs (and organs), corresponding to the 248 positive commandments of the Torah, and 365 connecting tissues, veins or sinews, corresponding to the 365 prohibitions of the Torah[7].
Like man, the earth is also divided into 248 parts with a head, eyes, mouth and other limbs. It also has 365 arteries. Every time a person observes a commandment, he sustains one of his limbs, as well as a part of the world. Each limb announces, "Observe a commandment with me, so that I will live long". It is for this reason that man is called a microcosm He is a miniature universe, having in him everything that exists in the world.
Nowhere is it written which mitzva corresponds to which item in the body. This appears to be a secret Tzaddikim have. When something goes wrong physically, it is because a mitzva or group of mitzvot are not being performed properly. The power that should be flowing to that limb is subverted. The power that should be coming from the soul (Torah) to the physical body (mitzvot) is not flowing properly.
“The body,” writes Hakham
Culi[8], “has 248 limbs and 365 blood vessels . . .
The soul has exactly the same number of limbs and blood vessels, but these are spiritual rather than physical. Each part of the soul is in its counterpart in the body, and is
strongly bound to it.”
* * *
The Shela Hakodesh writes that each of the 248 positive mitzvot corresponds to one of the 248 limbs of the body and each of the 365 negative commandments corresponds to one of the 365 veins and arteries of the body. Each positive mitzva that one fulfils and each negative commandment that one is careful not to transgress nourishes its corresponding limb or vein. However, if one neglects one of the mitzvot or commits a sin, he blemishes the parallel limb or vein of his neshama. The Shela then notes that it is impossible for any one individual to observe all 613 mitzvot. Some mitzvot apply only to kohanim; others, only in Eretz Israel or when the Bet HaMikdash stood. Still, others apply only in rare circumstances, e.g., if one's brother dies without children and there is a mitzva for him to marry his brother's widow (yibum). If that is the case, how can one properly prepare his neshama for the Next World and prevent his neshama from being blemished?
The Shela answers that if one fulfils those mitzvot that he is capable of performing and learns the sections of the Torah related to all the mitzvot, it is considered as if he fulfilled the entire Torah. This is alluded to in the passage here. "For this commandment that I command you today is not hidden from you...". This refers to those mitzvot that are hidden from one and are impossible to fulfil, e.g., mitzvot that apply to kohanim. "...And it is not distant...". This refers to mitzvot that are possible to fulfill but circumstances are rare, e.g., Yibum or Birchat HaChama. "...Nor is it across the sea...". This refers to mitzvot that can only be performed in Eretz Israel thereby exempting one who lives across the sea. The Torah says that one should not say that it is hidden, far, in the heavens or across the sea. Rather, it is very near to you, in your mouths and in your hearts to learn and delve into it. The pasuk ends with the words "to perform it". All that precedes these final words is given on condition that one performs those mitzvot that he can fulfil.
* * *
Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai interpreted the following verse:
Devarim (Deuteronomy)
“In the midst” [be’kerev] refers to none other than your heart, and “your camp” [machanecha] is your body with its 248 limbs. The verse thus continues, “Make su