meta: {"file": "/data/tomer/Sefaria-Export/txt/Tanakh/Commentary/Penei David/Penei David/English/merged.txt"}
text: Penei David
  פני דוד
  merged
  
  This file contains merged sections from the following text versions:
  -Sefaria Community Translation
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  Penei David
  
  Title Page
  
  
  
  Genesis
  
  Bereshit
  
  
  
  Comment 1
  
  
  It is possible to hint that the word <i>bereishit</i> is [made up of] the letters, "<i>beareshet yod</i> (by expression of ten)," which hints to (Avot 5:1), "with ten proclamations was the world created." And see what is written in <i>Petach Einayim</i> on the Mishna, "In ten proclamations," with God's help.  And I heard from an old God-fearing man that the words, <i>Bereishit bara</i> including the numerical equivalent of two [for these two words] is the numerical equivalent (<i>gematria</i>) of "Hear O Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is One" (Deuteronomy 6:4). Up to here are his words, may His memory be a blessing for life in the world to come. And he gave me pleasure, since in the beginning of the Torah, there is found a hint to His unity, may He be blessed, and [also] all of the <i>kavannot</i> (mystical meditations) that are in the secret of the unification are hinted in these words, as it is stated in the Zohar and in the writings of Ari, of blessed and righteous memory - all of them are hinted in the beginning of our holy Torah. And after much time, I briefly chanced upon the book, <i>Tsvi Kodesh</i>, and I see at the end of page 2, that he wrote this <i>gematria</i>, and added that it is for this reason that our holy Rabbi (Rabbi Yehuda Hanassi) started the [corpus of the] Mishna with the commandment of reading the Shema, see there. 
  
  Comment 2
  
  
  "In the beginning (<i>resishit</i>)" in the Targum Yerushalmi is, "With wisdom did God create." And [its author's] words are simple according to the holy Zohar, since <i>resishit</i> is [the same] as wisdom (<i>hokhmah</i>), as it is written (Psalms 111:10), "The beginning (<i>resishit</i>) of wisdom is the fear of God." And it is written (Proverbs 3:19), "with wisdom did He establish the earth," [meaning] that wisdom  established the daughter (the earth/<i>malkhut</i>). And this is the [meaning of the] combination [of letters in the word,] <i>bereishit,</i> [which can also spell] <i>beit rosh</i> (house head) - <i>beit</i> hints to <i>malkhut</i> and <i>rosh</i> to wisdom (<i>hokhmah</i>); since the wisdom that is in '<i>abba</i>' established the daughter.
  And it is possible to hint that [since] the end of the Torah (Dueteronomy 34:12) is "before the eyes of all of Israel;" it comes out that from its end, [the letter,] <i>lamed</i> and the [letter,] <i>bet</i> of  <i>bereshit,</i>, there is [a numerical equivalent of 32. And <i>reishit hokhmah</i> (see comment above) hints to the 32 paths of wisdom.
  Alternatively, it is possible [to find a hint] in what was written by the Sages, of blessed memory, and which was cited by <i>Zera Berakh</i>, section 3 on this order, that King David, peace be upon him, held that wisdom is in the head and that is why he started Psalms with [the letter,] <i>alef</i>, and King Shlomo disagreed with him, [holding] that wisdom is in the heart, and hence he started the Book of Proverbs with a [letter,] <i>mem</i> to hint that wisdom is in the heart [which is in the middle of the body], just like <i>mem</i> is in the middle of the letters. And this is what King David, peace be upon him, said (Proverbs 23:15), "My son, if your heart is wise:" that if the main understanding is like you, that wisdom is in the heart and this is what is meant by "your heart is wise" - even though it is against my rationale - "my heart will rejoice;" since when a son is victorious over his father [in argumentation], [a father] rejoices, as He said [with apparent joy] (Baba Metzia 59b), "my children (which is also an acrostic for the Children of Israel) have defeated me, they have defeated me." This is the essence of the words of the rabbi [in] <i>Zera Barech</i>, section 3, see there at length.
  [Based on the above], it is possible to hint that King David, peace be upon him, started Psalms with [the word,] <i>ashrei</i> which is the [same] letters [as] <i>roshi</i> (my head), as (according to him,) wisdom is in the head. If so, it is [further broken down as] <i>rosh yod</i>, as [the letter,] <i>yod</i> is a hint to thought, as Rashi says in Parshat Beshalach - <i>yod</i> is because, of thought - and it is the wisdom of the <i>yod</i> of the explicit name [of God]. And according to the rationale of Shlomo that wisdom is in the heart, it is for this reason that the Torah began with a [the letter,] <i>bet</i> and ended with the [letter,] <i>lamed</i>, which are [the letters of] heart (<i>lev</i>). And that which is left over from the letters of <i>bereshit</i> [after the <i>bet</i> is removed] hints to wisdom and that is [what is meant] by <i>lev reshit</i> ('the heart is first') - that wisdom is in the heart.
  Alternatively, <i>bereshit</i> is a combination of [the letters of] <i>ashrei bat</i> (happy is the daughter) - which hints to the soul - as man is made up from the heavens and the earth and from all of the worlds; and by way of the Torah and its commandments, he binds the worlds and brings bounty to all of them. And with this is answered the inquiry of the early scholars (<i>Rishonim</i>) - that [since] the soul before its coming to this world eats from the bread of its Father and enjoys from the holy things of the heavens, so why was it created in the body and [brought] to this world, which is very dangerous [for it] - and go and see that with four [people] do we find that they died from the counsel of the snake [and not from their sins], only four, and [about this] it is written (Ecclesiastes 7:20), "there is no righteous person on the earth who does good and does not sin." And our master, of blessed memory, answered this inquiry by saying, "one who eats from his own (which he has earned), etc." And the Maggid praised this answer, as he said in the book, <i>Maggid Mesharim</i>, see there; and the commentators used this greatly, as is known. However, according to what has been said [above], it is fine; since with the coming of the soul to this world, the worlds connect - since the life force, spirit and soul (<i>neren</i>) attach [themselves] to the four [physical] elements and, through this, connect all of the worlds and bring bounty to all of them. And as my master, my elder, the rabbi explained - I brought his words in my little book, <i>Rosh David</i>, Parshat Mishpatim, see there - and it is clear, that [the order of things] is not sufficient except with the creation of man in this world. And behold, the holy elder expounded [the verse] (Exodus 21:7), "And if a man sells his daughter," to be about the soul. And this is hinted [to by] <i>ashrei bat</i> (happy is the daughter); meaning to say, the creation of man should not [seem] difficult as mentioned, since the 'daughter' is happy - happy is the soul that comes to this world. Since God has created man so that, through him, He connects the heavens and the earth and bounty comes to them all, and [so] He binds all of the worlds. And be exact and very much find the truth [to this].
  Alternatively, it is hinting - and first we will introduce [this] by what was written by the [author of] <i>Zera Berakh</i>, section 3 on this order of the day, page 2, side 4; that our Rabbis, of blessed memory, nicknamed a Torah scholar, 'daughter.' As they said that Torah [study] protects and saves from sin and from the evil impulse and [yet] they [also] said that the greater a person is than another, so too is his evil impulse greater than the other, and [so] a Torah scholar is in greater danger of sinning. And the commentaries explain that if a Torah scholar constantly sits in the 'tent' of Torah and does not go out, but rather reads and studies, such a Torah scholar is protected from sin; however if he properly fulfills the [concept] of 'Torah and the way of the world' (<i>Torah eem derekh erets</i>) and is involved in buying and selling, then the evil impulse bothers him and he is more in danger of sinning. And that is why a Torah scholar is compared to a daughter who always sits indoors, see there at length. And for this reason, the Torah opened [with] <i>bereshit</i>, which is a combination of [the letters of] <i>ashrei bat</i> (happy is the daughter), meaning to say, that the Torah requires the Torah scholar to be like a daughter - who should not go to and fro - and by this he will be saved from sin. And this is the hint: happy is the daughter - happy is the one who makes himself like a daughter; that he should be inside sitting in the tent. And with this, it becomes clear to me that which is written in Yoma 71, "'To you O men do I call' (Proverbs 8:4); Rabbi Berachia says, 'These are the Torah scholars that sit quietly like women and act strongly like men.'" And ostensibly, there needs to be a reason why he compares the Torah scholars to women. And Rashi there explains that it is [because] their strength is enfeebled like women. However, according to what has been said [above], it is possible that [the reason] he compares them to women is because they are like women, about whom it is written (Psalms 45:14), "All glorious is the king's daughter inside," and [in this fashion] are involved in Torah, [and, if not,] they [must] overcome their impulse like men, whom the evil impulse cannot [vanquish]. And be exact and find the truth [to this].
  
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