Timeless Torah

This week’s Biblical reading contains those famous six words that accompany the Jew throughout his life. It is one of the first prayers he learns, and the last he is likely to utter before he returns his soul to his Maker. I refer, of course, to the verse, “Shema (שמע) Yisroel Hashem Elokeinu Hashem Echad.” Although there is much to say (now, there is an understatement if there ever was one!) on these six words, we will limit our discussion to one letter.
Ayin (ע)is the sixteenth letter of the Hebrew alphabet. According to the AriZal, the ayin is a vav attached to a nun. While the nun represents humility, the vav (whose gematria of six represents the Six Orders of the Oral Law) signifies Torah, which unites Heaven and earth as symbolized by its inherent design of a connecting hook. Only an individual who is unassuming, possessing the humility of the nun, is fit to acquire the superior vav, i.e., the Torah.
There is a second aspect of the ayin’s design. The ayin (which actually means eyes) is shaped like two eyes united at the nerve center (optical chiasma) that receives and interprets visual impulses, at the back of the head. This offers us a new under¬standing of the positioning of the head tefillin that are to be worn, “between your eyes.” In Jewish law, this is understood to mean just above the hairline. Viewed from above, this spot is literally at the mid-point between one’s eyes and the chiasma. The head tefillin is thus set directly between the physical eyes of the body and the eye of the brain, just as the Torah pre¬scribes. The Torah’s most famous Ayin is undoubtedly the ayin of the Shema which is written larger than usual. The Tzemach Tzedek explains that this large ayin is in fact the antidote to the ayin of Psalm 80, “The boar of the forest - miyaar- מיער ravages it (Israel).” If you look closely at the Hebrew letters, you will notice that the ayin is not on the same line as the other letters, but is in fact slightly raised. According to Rashi, this suspended ayin indicates that if the Jews are righteous, the ayin will be transformed into an alef, so that the new word reads - מיאר meaning “river.” So while a boar in a forest is certainly dangerous, a boar in a river can’t swim, and is thus rendered harmless. (Note: this suspended ayin occurs at the exact mid-point of the Book of Psalms.) The Maharsha explains that this ayin represents the ayin of Eisav, עשו and his progeny Amalek, עמלק who constantly attempt to destroy the Jewish people. Chassidus explains that Eisav and Amalek attempt to “cool down” the Jews’ passionate quest for G-dliness. Eisav, like his brother Jacob, also knows of Torah. But he says, “Don’t take it so seri¬ously. You won’t be the first one to sin. You won’t be the first not to put on tefillin or keep Shabbos. Cool down. It’s not so important....” Therefore, the ayin of the Shema is large because the Shema expresses our unconditional acceptance of the yoke of G-d. That commitment thus transforms the ayin of indifference into the ayin of the Shema, which is our passion for G-dliness.
In the Hagaddah we read of Rabbi Elazar ben Azaryah’s opening address as leader, “I am like a seventy-year-old man and I had never succeeded in proving that one has to recount the Exodus from Egypt at night until...Ben Zoma, explained the verse, ‘Remember going out of Egypt all the days of your life’: days means the daytime, while the word all includes the nights as well.” A well-known question: why did Rabbi Elazar’s inaugural speech begin with the phrase, “I am like seventy?” Jewish mysticism teaches that each of us harbors seven general emotions. Each one of these seven traits in turn contains ten distinctive nuances. The number seventy (the gematria of ayin) therefore represents one who is in total control of his emo¬tions. Only after reaching this level, is one fit to lead others. The age of seventy, or for the eighteen year-old Rabbi who claimed he was “like seventy,” meant he had acquired perfect inner emotional control.
We now see the brilliance of Rabbi Elazar’s first address. It was not merely a speech; it was a mission statement. The Hebrew word Mitzrayim (Egypt), also means constraints and limitations. A leader is meant to guide his people out of these limitations. At first he leads them during the day, which represents the good and bright times. Thus even when things are going well, one is obligated to make greater strides and attain greater levels of piety. Subsequently, we are informed of a second scenario, at night. Even during the darkest and most challenging times we must transcend our constraints, regardless of economic conditions or other obstacles. Rabbi Elazar had attained the great Ayin. He had so refined each of his seventy emotional attributes, that even at the tender age of eighteen, he envisioned and articulated the task set before him as Nasi, leader of his people; lead the nation (regardless of circumstances, spiritual day or night) out of Egypt (limitations) to Redemption.
Indeed, Rabbi Elazar ben Azaryah’s very name intimates a special salvation from G-d. Elazar (in Hebrew) means “G-d is salvation,” while the name Azaryah means, “(My) salvation is G-d.” This explains Rabbi Elazar’s early acquisition of all the qualities needed for leadership: G-d was his help and salvation.
Each morning as we recite the Shema we should focus on our own ayin, and ask ourselves, “How much inner control do we have? Have we turned the ayin our Eisav into the nun of humility and the vav of Torah? So even though we use our hand to cover our eyes doesn’t mean we should be blind to the lessons of the Shema!