meta: {"file": "/data/tomer/Sefaria-Export/txt/Tanakh/Commentary/Rabbeinu Bahya/Rabbeinu Bahya/English/Rabbi Mike Feuer, Jerusalem Anthology.txt"}
text: Rabbeinu Bahya
  רבנו בחיי
  Rabbi Mike Feuer, Jerusalem Anthology
  
  
  Rabbeinu Bahya
  
  Introduction
  
  
  
  Bereshit
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Verse 1
  
  
  
  Verse 2
  
  male and female He made them – The soul (nefesh) and the intellect, because they are the essential components in learning wisdom and the body is considered as nothing other than their vessel. 
  And He blessed them – He blessed them with plentitude and additional wisdom. And he called them Adam - For human beings are only called human (Adam) by reason of the soul and intellect, without which they are “…compared to the muted animals.” (Tehillim 49:13) And once he came to be in the image of Gd, he should have reproduced in his likeness and image, and so he did because he birthed the intellect and wisdom which he named Shet (from the term foundation stone – even shetiya), because the intellect is the essence and foundation of everything just as his son Shet was the essence of all generations and the chief of all the righteous.å
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Verse 1
  
  
  
  Verse 2
  
  
  
  Verse 3
  
  
  
  Verse 4
  
  
  
  Verse 5
  
  
  
  Verse 6
  
  
  
  Verse 7
  
  
  
  Verse 8
  
  
  
  Verse 9
  
  
  
  Verse 10
  
  
  
  Verse 11
  
  
  
  Verse 12
  
  
  
  Verse 13
  
  
  “…after it was caught in a tree by its horns…” (Genesis 22:13) In the plain sense ‘after’ is because the angel said to him: ‘do not send forth your hand against the lad,’ and then he was the sheep caught in the tree by its horns. The word ‘in the tree’ teaches that the place was a forest and there were trees there, it is the place known as “the house of the forest of Lebanon” (Kings I 7:2) This is what David said regardingthe Divine Presence “…we found it in the fields of the forest.” (Psalms 132:6) Behold, it is in the portion of Benyamin, of which it is written “Benjamin is a wolf, he will prey…” (Genesis 49:27)
  
  Shemot
  
  
  
  Vayikra
  
  
  
  Bamidbar
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Verse 1
  
  
  
  Verse 2
  
  
  
  Verse 3
  
  
  
  Verse 4
  
  
  
  Verse 5
  
  
  
  Verse 6
  
  
  
  Verse 7
  
  
  
  Verse 8
  
  
  
  Verse 9
  
  
  
  Verse 10
  
  
  
  Verse 11
  
  
  
  Verse 12
  
  
  
  Verse 13
  
  
  
  It is possible to say that the Tabernacle and the Sanctuary come to hint at the Holy Temple below which is a reproduction of the Holy Temple above and opposite it, and so it says “…directed toward Your habitation, which You made, O Lord…” (Exodus 15:17) The place for your habitation here is the Tabernacle which is parallel to the Sanctuary. The intention of the verse is that he defiles the Tabernacle and that Sanctuary as well, which is Knesset Yisrael, the Holy Temple above. On this the Rav (Ramban) wrote: “Because he defiled the Tabernacle of the Lord,” this is a hint to the Sanctuary of the Sanctuary. That is to say, to Knesset Yisrael which is the Sanctuary of the Sanctuary below and rests there. Or to Knesset Yisrael which is the Sanctuary to the Sanctuary above, which is the special name. Because the sanctuary below is aligned with that above, therefore it says Tabernacle and Sanctuary. So too it is written “I have surely built You a house to dwell in…” (Kings I 8:13) A House which is aligned with zevul. And we find an explicit verse regarding this “The built-up Jerusalem is like a city that was joined together within itself.” (Psalms 122:3) This is the linguistic secret embedded in the name Jerusalem (Yerushalayim) which is plural, like eyes (einayim), ears (oznayim) and the like. And the letter yud which is missing (in how the name Yerushalayim is written in the Bible) is the Holy Temple above, she is the last letter hey in the Divine name. Therefore you find Yerushalayim written in full (with the yud) five times in the Bible to hint to us that the hey is connected to her at a time of wholeness.
  
  Devarim
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Verse 1
  
  
  
  Verse 2
  
  
  
  Verse 3
  
  
  
  Verse 4
  
  
  
  Verse 5
  
  But only to the place which the Lord your God shall choose from all your tribes – This place is Mount Moriah, which was known and famous among the nations because they knew its elevated status through received tradition. It need not even be mentioned that Israel in the wilderness knew this place through the forefathers, as the binding of Yitzchak took place there. In the Guide to the Perplexed (3, 45) the Rambam gave three explanations of why the text called it simply ‘the place’ and did not explicitly name it as Mount Moriah, famous and known to all. First - if the nations had known that there prayer is received and offerings find favor, each nation would have wanted to seize it, causing great struggle and bloodshed between the nations. Second – since the Canaanites dwelling in the land knew that in the future Israel would inherit their land and serve Gd and offer sacrifices in that place, they would have destroyed it to the extent that they could. Third – the tribes would have argued with each other, each one seeking that this place be included in his portion of the land. This would have caused dissension among them just as the desire for the priesthood did. Therefore the Torah hid this place and simply called it ‘the place.’ There is no need to mention that it was hidden from the nations, but rather even from Israel, because even though everyone knew the greatness of Mount Moriah they did not know that it was the place which the Lord would choose.
  You shall inquire after His dwelling – You should seek His glory which dwells there. From here the Sages derived the word shechina, in reference to glory, as in “And the glory of the Lord rested on Mount Sinai…” (Shemot 24:16) and “…so that His glory dwell in our land.” (Tehillim 85:10) This is said in reference to Shiloh.