By Hillel ben David (Greg Killian)
Waters of Eden –
By Aryeh Kaplan
In this study I would like to examine the biblical significance of the
number forty.
Every time one finds the number forty in Torah, its inner meaning is the ascent
from one level to the next higher one. We get a new mission at forty. But the attainment of a higher level can
come only after first reaching and fulfilling all aspects of the previous
level, and then making an emptiness in the middle to allow for the emergence of
something entirely new.
Forty is composed of 4 x 10
The number ten signifies a
unity made of parts. We see this in the fact that we have a single
number, ten (10), which is composed of a one (1) and a zero (0). The parts,
zero and one, are unified in the single number ten (10).
The number four signifies
completion or fullness.
To understand forty and it’s significance, lets start by looking at what a
renown Rabbi has to say about the meaning of the number forty:
Waters
of
One of the laws of mikveh (a gathering of waters for immersion - baptism)
is that it must hold at least forty Seah, or approximately 200 gallons of
water. In deriving this quantity of forty Seah, we saw that in a sense, this
was based upon a measure of man. It is interesting to note that the concept of
forty occurs a great many times in the Torah. The flood of Noah lasted forty
days, Moses was on
Why is the number forty so important? Why do we come across this number as
a duration of time so often in the Torah? We find the
beginnings of an answer in the laws of childbirth,
as they applied in the time of the Holy Temple. The
pain and infirmity associated with childbirth are an indication of the
imperfection of human reproduction, and therefore, they bring about a state of
"impurity" in a woman who has given birth. The Talmud
states that one reason a woman had to bring a sacrifice after giving birth to a
child was because she had so much pain that she would swear never again to bear
a child.
Nidah 31b R.
Simeon b. Yohai was asked by his disciples: Why did the Torah ordain that a
woman after childbirth should bring a sacrifice? He replied: When she kneels in
bearing she swears impetuously that she will have no intercourse
with her husband. The Torah, therefore, ordained that she should bring a
sacrifice. (R. Joseph demurred: Does she not[1] act
presumptuously[2] in which
case the absolution of the oath[3] depends
on her regretting it?[4]
Furthermore, she should have brought a sacrifice prescribed for an oath!)[5] And why
did the Torah ordain that in the case of a male [the woman is clean] after seven days and in that of a female after fourteen days?
[On the birth of a] male with whom all rejoice she regrets her oath after seven
days, [but on the birth of a female] about whom everybody is upset she regrets
her oath after fourteen days. And why did the Torah ordain circumcision on the eighth day?[6] In
order that the guests[7] shall not
enjoy themselves[8] while his
father and mother are not in the mood for it.[9] It was
taught: R. Meir used to say, Why did the Torah ordain that the uncleanness of
menstruation should continue for seven days? Because
being in constant contact with his wife[10] [a
husband might] develop a loathing towards her. The Torah, therefore, ordained:
Let her[11] be
unclean for seven days[12] in order
that[13] she
shall be beloved by her husband as at the time of her first entry into the
bridal chamber.
Childbirth, and the pain associated with it, is related to man's
imperfection and therefore requires "purification”. In speaking of this purification, the Torah says:
Vayikra
(Leviticus) 12:2-4 "When a woman conceives and bears a male
child, she shall be unclean seven days, as the days of niddah... And she shall
continue... for thirty-three days...."
Counting the days required for purification after childbirth, we find a
total of forty.
Our sages teach us that these forty days represent the time
that an embryo takes to attain human form. From a standpoint of Jewish Law, an embryo does not have any status as a human being
until forty days after conception This concept is also sound from a scientific
viewpoint, since it is well known that the human embryo
begins to assume recognizable human form around the fortieth day after
conception. This helps explain why the flood described in the Torah lasted for
forty days. According to the traditional interpretations, the main sin that
brought about the flood was sexual immorality. The Midrash
thus says that the flood lasted for forty days because the people of that
generation "perverted the embryo that is formed in forty days."
Midrash
Rabbah - Bereshit (Genesis) XXXII:5 5. FOR YET SEVEN DAYS, etc. (VII,
4). R. Simeon b. Yohai said: They have transgressed the Torah which was given
after forty days,[14]
therefore I WILL CAUSE IT TO RAIN... FORTY DAYS AND FORTY NIGHTS. R. Johanan
said: They corrupted the features which take shape after forty days,[15]
therefore I WILL CAUSE IT TO RAIN... FORTY DAYS AND FORTY NIGHTS. AND EVERY
LIVING SUBSTANCE (YEKUM) THAT I HAVE MADE WILL I BLOT OUT. R. Berekiah said:
That means, whatever exists (kayomaya) upon it.[16] R.
Abin said: The one who arose against him [his brother].[17] R.
Levi said in the name of Resh Lakish: He [God] kept him [Cain] in suspense[18] until
the Flood came and swept him away: hence it is written, And He blotted out
every one that had arisen (Gen. VII, 23).[19]
It is interesting to note that the Zohar gives a
similar reason for the fact that the punishment was through water. The division
of the waters represent the original concept of sexuality in creation,
with the "upper waters" as the male
element, and the "lower waters" as the female.
The generation of the flood perverted this basic concept of sexuality, and
therefore, the "upper waters" and "lower waters" came
together to punish them. The Torah thus says:
Bereshit
(Genesis) 7:11 "The springs of the great deep were split
open, and the windows of heaven were opened.
This same concept also applies to Mikveh, which can be made up of rain waters and spring waters. The same concept also
applies to the giving of the Torah. This also involves the idea of birth. The Jewish people were born anew under the
covenant of the Torah, and the Torah itself, in being transmitted to man, had
to undergo a birth process. As in the case of man, this was to take forty days.
The same reasoning also explains why the Israelites spent forty years in the
desert. When Moses sent spies to explore the Promised Land, the Torah tells us
that:
Bamidbar
(Numbers) 13:25 "they returned from spying out the land at the end of forty days."
The spies knew that the Israelites would undergo a spiritual rebirth when
they entered the Promised Land. In order to experience this rebirth themselves
and report on it, the spies spent forty days in the land. They were not worthy
of the land, however, and therefore, they brought back a bad report. As a
result of this report, the Israelites rebelled against Moses, not trusting that
HaShem would give them the land. It was then decreed
that they should spend forty years in the desert, as the Torah says:
Bamidbar (Numbers)
14:34 "Following the number of days in which you
spied out the land - forty days - for every day, you shall bear your sins for a
year - forty years."
These forty years represent yet another kind of rebirth - the rebirth of an
entire generation that would be worthy of eventually entering the Promised
Land. We see that the number forty represents the process of birth. As we have
said, it is related to the measure of man. This also explains the forty Seah of
water that the Mikveh must contain. The Mikveh also represents the womb, and
therefore, these forty Seah parallel the forty days during which the embryo is
formed.
In order to understand why birth and embryonic development always involve
the number forty, we must introduce yet another concept.
Our Sages teach that the world was created through ten Divine
utterances. Mystically, each of these ten utterances manifests itself on four different levels, hence a total of forty. On Shabbat, we refrain from 39 categories of forbidden
labor. The Talmud refers to these 39 as "forty
minus one" because each one parallels one of the forty levels of creation,
except for the highest level of creation, creation of something from absolute
nothingness, which has no parallel in our physical
world.
Creation consists of four stages, alluded to in the verse:
Yeshayah (Isaiah) 43:7 "All that is called by My Name,
(1)
for My glory,
(2)
I have created it,
(3)
I have formed it,
(4)
and I have made it."
These four stages are represented by the four letters
of the Tetragrammaton, God's Name Yud Hay Vav Hay. The first stage is
"God's Glory," where things exist conceptually, but not in actuality.
The next stage is creation," which represents creation ex nihilo,
"something out of nothing." Then comes "formation" where
the primeval substance attains the first semblance of form. Finally comes
making," where the process is completed and yields a finished product. Our
sages also teach us that the world was created with ten sayings. These are the
ten times that the expression "and God said" appears in the account
of creation:
Midrash
Rabbah - Bereshit (Genesis) XVII:1 1. AND THE LORD GOD SAID: IT IS NOT
GOOD THAT THE MAN SHOULD BE ALONE (II, 8). We learnt: By ten commands was the
world created,[20] and
these are they: In the beginning God created (Gen. I, 1); And the spirit (ruah)
of God hovered (ib. 2)[21]; And God
said: Let there be light (ib. 3); And God said: Let there be a firmament (ib.
6); And God said: Let the waters be gathered together (ib. 9); And God said:
Let the earth put forth grass (ib.11); And God said: Let there be lights
(ib.14) And God said: Let the waters swarm (ib. 20); And God said: Let the
earth bring forth (ib. 24); And God said: Let us make man (ib. 26). Menahem b.
R. Jose excluded, ’And the spirit of God hovered over the face of the waters,’
and included, AND THE LORD GOD SAID: IT IS NOT GO0D THAT THE MAN SHOULD BE
ALONE. R. Jacob b. R. Kirshai said: A separate command was devoted to the wind.[22]
These "ten sayings" enter into each of the
four stages of creation, the total number of elements
of creation is forty. The number forty is therefore very intimately related to
the concept of creation.
In enumerating the categories of "work" that are forbidden on the
Sabbath, the Talmud
teaches us that there are "forty less one." As we know, these
thirty-nine categories of "work" parallel the types of activity that
went into creation, just as our own Sabbath rest parallels the Sabbath of
creation. There is one type of "work," however, that we cannot
duplicate, and that is creation ex nihilo
- creating something out of nothing. This is the one category that is not
included among the types of work forbidden on the Sabbath. Otherwise, the
categories of "work" represent the elements of creation - "forty
less one." The four basic stages that we mentioned earlier are also
alluded to in the "four branches" of the river from Eden. As we have discussed, this river is very intimately
related to the concept of Mikveh. The forty Seah of the Mikveh represent the
basic elements of creation. The primeval stage of creation was basically one of
water. Therefore, when a person passes through the forty Seah of water in the
Mikveh, he is passing through the initial steps of creation.
End of The Waters of
The Mem
– מ ם
The letters of the Hebrew
alphabet are assigned numeric equivalents and are then explained in terms of
these equivalents. This mode of interpretation is called gematria. Numbers
themselves are assigned symbolic significance by our tradition. To cite one
example: the number forty has come to symbolize beginnings and new beginnings.
Thus, creation is renewed after forty days of flooding. The covenant with the Jewish people,
our beginning as a nation, is granted after Moses' sojourn of forty days on
Every time one finds the number forty in Torah, its inner meaning is the ascent
from one level to the next higher one.
The letter Mem is the thirteenth
letter of the Hebrew Alphabet. The letter Mem is equivalent to forty (40).
The Mem represents the age or time of completion.[24]
The letter Mem is the first
letter of the word Mayim – The Hebrew
word for water. Mayim- מים starts with an open mem and
concludes with a closed mem. Water, a drash or parable
for Torah. The closed "mem" is used in the first saying of Creation.
The open "mem" is used in the subsequent nine sayings of Creation.
ם - The closed, Final
Mem, represents the era of Mashiach as
explained in Kabbalah.
מ - The
open "mem" looks like a square with a small opening at its lower left
corner. The final "mem" – looks like a complete square.
The word Mashiach (Messiah) itself begins with
a mem. In the time of the coming of Mashiach, the earth will be filled
with the knowledge of HaShem
as the waters cover the sea (Isaiah 11:9); then, even the closed mem
will be revealed. Only once in the entire Torah, in reference to Mashiach, do we find a closed mem in the middle
of a word:
Yeshayahu (Isaiah) 9:6 To
increase reign and peace without end.
Sotah 2a ....for Rav
Every time one finds the number forty in Torah, its inner meaning is the ascent
from one level to the next higher one.
The Talmud states that from conception until
"formation" of the fetus (ye'tziras ha'vlad) is forty days. A human being is referred to as a "small world";
thus, forty days represents the formation of an entire world, in microcosm.
Forty is also a number associated with Torah and da'at.
It was over the course of forty days that Moshe received the Torah on Har
Sinai. He subsequently spent two more sets of forty days
on Har Sinai to achieve forgiveness and atonement
for the incident of the golden calf. Moshe himself, who is considered
"rooted" in da'at, lived for 120 years, or three
sets of forty years. Also, it rained for forty days and forty nights during the
Flood; the Pri Tzadik says this was because Noach's generation could have
received Torah in their time, had they been fitting. The Talmud
also speaks to this:
Menachoth
99b R. Johanan and R. Eleazar both said, The Torah was
given in forty days and the soul is formed in forty days:[25]
whosoever keeps the Torah his soul is kept, and whosoever does not keep the
Torah his soul is not kept. A Tanna of the School of R. Ishmael taught: It is
like the case of a man who entrusted a swallow to the care of his servant and
said to him, ‘Do you think that if you suffer it to perish I will take from you
an issar[26] for its
value? [No,] I will take your soul from you’.
This concept underlies many of the forty day periods found in the Torah:
1. The forty days of rain of the Great Flood. The intention was to destroy
all life. Just as [human] life forms in forty days, so too it took that
interval to erase it from the earth:
Bereshit (Genesis) 7:1-4 HaShem then said to
Noah, "Go into the ark, you and your whole family, because I have found
you righteous in this generation. Take with you seven of every kind of clean animal, a male and its mate,
and two of every kind of unclean animal, a male and its mate, And also seven of
every kind of bird, male and female, to keep their various kinds alive
throughout the earth. Seven days from now I will send rain
on the earth for forty days and forty nights, and I will wipe
from the face of the earth every living creature I have made."
2. The forty days that Moshe remained on
Shemot (Exodus) 34:28 Moses was there with HaShem forty days and
forty nights without eating bread or drinking
water. And he wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant--the Ten Commandments.
Devarim (Deuteronomy) 9:9-11 When I went up on the mountain to receive the
tablets of stone, the tablets of the covenant that
HaShem had made with you, I stayed on the mountain forty days and forty
nights; I ate no bread and drank no water. HaShem gave me two stone tablets
inscribed by the finger of God. On them were all the commandments HaShem
proclaimed to you on the mountain out of the fire, on
the day of the assembly. At the end of the forty days and forty
nights, HaShem gave me the two
stone tablets, the tablets of the covenant.
Devarim (Deuteronomy) 9:15-26 So I turned and went down from the mountain while
it was ablaze with fire. And the two tablets of the covenant
were in my hands. When I looked, I saw that you had sinned against HaShem your
God; you had made for yourselves an idol cast in the shape of a calf. You had
turned aside quickly from the way that HaShem had commanded you. So I took the
two tablets and threw them out of my hands, breaking them to pieces before your
eyes. Then once again I fell prostrate before HaShem for forty days and forty
nights; I ate no bread and drank no water, because of all the sin
you had committed, doing what was evil in HaShem's sight and so provoking him
to anger. I feared the anger and wrath of HaShem, for he was angry enough with
you to destroy you. But again HaShem listened to me. And HaShem was angry
enough with Aaron to destroy him, but at that time I prayed
for Aaron too. Also I took that sinful thing of yours, the calf you had
made, and burned it in the fire. Then I crushed it and ground it to powder as
fine as dust and threw the dust into a stream that flowed down the mountain.
You also made HaShem angry at Taberah, at Massah and at Kibroth Hattaavah. And
when HaShem sent you out from Kadesh Barnea, he said, "Go up and take
possession of the land I have given you." But you rebelled against the
command of HaShem your God. You did not trust him or obey him. You have been
rebellious against HaShem ever since I have known you. I lay prostrate before
HaShem those forty days and forty nights because HaShem had said
he would destroy you. I prayed to HaShem and said, "O Sovereign HaShem, do
not destroy your people, your own inheritance that
you redeemed by your great power and brought out of Egypt with a mighty hand.
Devarim (Deuteronomy) 10:10 Now I had stayed on the mountain forty
days and nights, as I did the first time, and HaShem listened to me at this
time also. It was not his will to destroy you.
3. The forty days of the spies. The transition to yet another world
perspective, that of the Jews as a nation united
with their land, was to have begun. Unfortunately, the spies produce a
slanderous report on the land and the Jews are relegated to forty years in the
desert, one year for each day.
Bamidbar (Numbers) 13:16-25 These are the names of the men Moses sent to
explore the land. (Moses gave Hoshea son of Nun the name Joshua.) When Moses
sent them to explore Canaan, he said, "Go up through the
Bamidbar (Numbers) 14:29-35 In this desert your bodies
will fall--every one of you twenty years old or more who was counted in the
census and who has grumbled against me. Not one of you will enter the land I
swore with uplifted hand to make your home, except Caleb son of Jephunneh and
Joshua son of Nun. As for your children that you said would be taken as
plunder, I will bring them in to enjoy the land you have rejected. But you--your
bodies will fall in this desert. Your children will be
shepherds here for forty years, suffering for your unfaithfulness, until
the last of your bodies lies in the desert. For forty years--one year
for each of the forty days you explored the land--you will suffer for
your sins and know what it is like to have me against
you.' I, HaShem, have spoken, and I will surely do
these things to this whole wicked community, which
has banded together against me. They will meet their end in this desert; here
they will die."
Bamidbar (Numbers) 32:13 HaShem's anger burned against Israel and he made them wander in the desert forty
years, until the whole generation of those who had
done evil in his sight was gone.
4. The forty day period after childbirth. Forty days after birth of a boy,
or eighty days after birth of a girl, the mother brings offerings to the Temple. After the birth of a male child the mother is
required to observe a cycle of separation. She separates herself for 7 days +33
days which equals a total of 40 days. This represents the beginning, the middle
and the end of the cycle of separation from physical
relationships, etc. (Vayikra.12:4, 6
days of creation + 1 day of rest + 33 days the body mourns the separation of the son.) The child is
elevated to a new level as the mother brings the offerings:
Vayikra (Leviticus) 12:2-7 Speak
unto the children of Israel, saying, If a woman have
conceived seed, and born a man child: then she shall
be unclean seven days; according to the days of the
separation for her infirmity shall she be unclean. And in the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised. And she shall then continue in the blood
of her purifying three and thirty days; she shall
touch no hallowed thing, nor come into the sanctuary,
until the days of her purifying be fulfilled. But if
she bear a maid child, then she shall be unclean two weeks, as in her
separation: and she shall continue in the blood of her purifying threescore and
six days. And when the days of her purifying are fulfilled, for a son, or for a
daughter, she shall bring a lamb of the first year for a burnt
offering, and a young pigeon, or a turtledove, for a sin offering, unto the
door of the tabernacle of the congregation, unto the priest: Who shall offer it before HaShem, and make an atonement for her; and she shall be cleansed from the
issue of her blood. This [is] the law for her that hath
born a male or a female.
There is a certain spiritual impurity after
childbirth that extends for a double 40 day period after the birth of a girl,
at the very same time there is a complementary law in the Torah that for the
entire 80 day period for a girl, the blood which the woman sees is pure blood.
Thus she is permitted to have relationships with her husband
during this entire time. That time lasts for a double
period as opposed to after the birth of a boy, when her blood is pure, i.e. she
can maintain relations with her husband only for 40 days. After the initial 7
days when she goes to the mikveh she is pure for 40 days
after the birth of a boy, and after the birth of a girl for 80 days.
5. In a book of Jewish
Mystical philosophy titled Torah Ohr, it is explained that the Flood was
not simply the punishment for a totally corrupt world. For, to destroy the
world, HaShem could have chosen any number of different methods to this end.
The Flood was also an act of purification, which is why the deluge lasted for
forty days. The number forty corresponds to the forty seah (a fluid
measurement) in a mikveh (ritual bath).
The waters of Noah cleansed the world by immersion in the same way one is
purified by immersion in the waters of the mikveh. This separation and
removal of all extraneous and undesirable elements has the ultimate purpose of
bringing the world (and a person) to a higher
level, hence forty:
Bereshit (Genesis) 7:11-13 In the six hundredth year
of Noah's life, on the seventeenth day of the second
month--on that day all the springs of the great deep burst forth, and the
floodgates of the heavens were opened. And rain fell on the earth forty days and forty
nights. On that very day Noah and his sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth, together
with his wife and the wives of his three sons, entered
the ark.
Bereshit (Genesis) 7:17 For forty days the flood kept coming on
the earth, and as the waters increased they lifted the ark high above the
earth.
Bereshit (Genesis) 8:6 After forty days Noah opened the window he
had made in the ark And sent out a raven, and it kept flying back and forth
until the water had dried up from the earth.
6. The Children of
7. The forty days between the beginning of the
month of Elul and Yom Kippur
are the days of Selichot, repentance. The revelation of the thirteen attributes to Moshe took place on the first
day of Elul (forty days after the sin of the golden calf on 17 Tammuz), and the sign of the forgiveness of Israel
was given on Yom Kippur, when Moshe descended the mountain for the second time
with the second tablets of the law. We have forty days
between the beginning of the month of Elul and Yom Kippur when every Jew hopes
to be "born again" and ascend to the level of the angels as be speaks
with a full voice: Baruch shem kvod, malchuto leolam vaed!
Finally we see that forty related to ascension in the ascension of Mashiach
on Lag B’Omer.
After a period of “forty” days teaching his Talmidim after
his resurrection[27], Mashiach ascends finally to the heavens[28],
awaiting his return at the time appointed by HaShem,
Most Blessed be He! On Lag B’Omer, Yeshua ascended into heaven[29]. Since Lag B’Omer
was a day for the heavens
to be opened, we can understand why Yeshua ascended on this day. Further, it is
apparent that He will return the same way:
II Luqas (Acts) 1:9 And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was
taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight. 10 And while they looked
stedfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white
apparel; 11 Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into
heaven? this same Yeshua, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come
in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven. 12 Then returned they unto Jerusalem
from the mount
called Olivet, which is from
Yochanan (John) also
brought together the ascension and the Bread from Heaven (manna) in the following sod level
passage:
Yochanan
(John) 6:53 Then Yeshua said unto them, Verily,
verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye
have no life in you. 54 Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life;
and I will raise him up at the last day. 55 For my flesh is meat indeed, and my
blood is drink indeed. 56 He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth
in me, and I in him. 57 As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the
Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me.
58 This is that bread which came down from heaven: not as your fathers
did eat manna, and are dead: he that eateth of this bread shall live for ever.
59 These things said he in the synagogue, as he taught in
It is also apparent
that His ascension was also necessary for another gift to be sent to us from heaven:
II Luqas (Acts) 1:4-5 4 And, being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should
not depart from Jerusalem,
but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me. 5
For John truly baptized
with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence.
Ephesians 4:1 I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord,
beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, 2 With
all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love;
3 Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 4 one body, and
one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; 5 One Lord, one
faith, one baptism,
6 One God and Father of all, who is
above all, and through all, and in you all. 7 But unto every one of us is given
grace
according to the measure of the gift of Mashiach. 8 Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high,
he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men. 9 (Now that
he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts
of the earth? 10 He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above
all heavens,
that he might fill all things.) 11 And he gave some, apostles; and some,
prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; 12 For the
perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the
body of Mashiach: 13 Till we
all come in the unity of the faith,
and of the knowledge
of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the
fullness of Mashiach:
We may derive, then, that the eighteenth
day of Iyar (Lag B’omer) is an auspicious time
for King Mashiach’s revelation. However, this revelation may come in the form
of blessing, as we had with the manna, or punishment, as we had with the flood.
In preparation of this day it is incumbent upon us in to pray
and repent so that HaShem’s revelation
manifest itself in the form of blessing and not destruction.