Gematria of Sh’ma Yisroel & Ten Commandments
Kabbalah versus Chassidus: theory versus action.
Chassisdus: Haskalah (intellect-mind) versus Avodah (service-heart).
Avodah: Love and Fear (awe) of G-d.
Tanya: Love is the fuel for positive mitzvohs. Fear is the fuel for the negative mitzvohs.
Love is the hidden fuel for even the negative mitzvohs.
The two most important passages of Torah are the Ten Commandments and the Shema. Both declare the essential Jewish belief in the absolute Oneness of G-d.
Difference: Sh’ma is stated by man, while Onochi comes from G-d were heard directly from the “Mouth of Might.” (Makos 24a)
Which one more likely to prompt love, and which one fear? Sh’ma= love, Onoichi=fear.
One of the most important concepts in gematria is that of figurative numbers. Every group of numbers has one or more distinctive geometric shapes which allow us to give it visual form.
The Ten Commandments appear twice in the Torah: the first time in Yisro and then again in Va’eschanan. The first two verses in each version are exactly the same, letter by letter. (The first difference appears in the third verse.)
In these first two verses there are exactly 64 or 82 letters:
אָנֹכִי י־הוה אֱ־להֶיךָ אֲשֶׁר הוֹצֵאתִיךָ מֵאֶרֶץ מִצְרַיִם מִבֵּית עֲבָדִים. לא־יִהְיֶה לְךָ אֱלהִים אֲחֵרִים עַל־פָּנָי.
The same phenomenon can be found in Shema, (also in Va’etchanan).
שְׁמַע יִשְׂרָאֵל יהוה אֱ־לֹהֵינוּ יהוה אֶחָד. וְאָהַבְתָּ אֵת יהוה אֱלהֶיךָ בְּכָל־לְבָבְךָ וּבְכָל־נַפְשְׁךָ וּבְכָל־מְאדֶךָ.
We graphically organize each as an 8 by 8 square matrix:
The letters in the four corners of the square of the Ten commandments are: יִרְאָה = fear.
These two commandments were spoken from the “Mouth of Might,” Might is גְבוּרָה = 216, numerically equivalent to יִרְאָה = 216.
“Just as there [when Torah was given on Sinai] it was given with terror, fear, trembling and quaking, similarly here [in accepting the Torah anew every day] with terror, fear, trembling and quaking. (Berachos 22a)
In contrast, in the heart of the matrix of the Shema we find אֲהַבָה = love. These words express Moshe’s character as “a lover of Israel.” (Menachot 65a)
Regarding the effect of giving of the Torah on Mt. Sinai, the Torah writes: “so that His fear shall be upon your faces.” (Exodus 20:17) Sages: Torah is talking about is humility (בּוּשָׁה ). (Nedarim 20a) Bereishees (בְּרֵאשִׁית becomes: יְרֵא בשֶׁת ), alluding to: “The beginning of all wisdom is the fear of God.” (Psalms 111:10)
Chassidus: flows from a person’s wisdom. A person’s wisdom illuminates his face. (Ecclesiastes 8:1)
In Hebrew, the word for “face” (פַּנִים ) is related to the word for “corner” (פִּינָה ). The ability to truly turn, that is to change course, from one direction to another is achieved through the power of the corner, which serves as a visual metaphor for the nothingness—i.e., the self-nullification in the soul, whose source is in wisdom, Since Torah/Sinai is meant to “fear to our faces,” the word “fear” (יִרְאָה ) is recorded in the square’s four corners.
Love works in the opposite direction.
The 8 letters that form the geometric heart of both squares spell the words “the power of love” (עצְמַת אַהַבָה ), making love the shared heart, or root, of both. עצְמַת אֲהַבָה = is 613.
The commandment to fear God is in itself a positive commandment, meaning it must be motivated by love. Love is ultimately the source of all the commandments: both positive and prohibitive.
The numerical sum of the 16 letters in the last line of each of the two matrices, ר י ם ע ל פ נ י ו ב כ ל מ א ד ך = 613.
Both sets of four corners, the face of each square are: י ר א ה ש ל ו ך , whose sum is 572 = 13 · 44, or “love” (אֲהַבָה = 13) · 44, the numerical value of one of the alternate “letter fillings” of God’s essential Name Havayah.
The totality of these four verses, for the sum of all 128 letters is 5953. The midpoint of 5953 is 2977, which is equal to 13 x 229. 13 is the numerical value of “love” and 229 is sum of the numerical values of “fear” and “love.” So what we have is “love” multiplied by “fear” and “love”:
2977 = אֲהַבָה · יִרְאָה אֲהַבָה !