Wednesday 17 Shevat 5783 (08.02.23)
Why the Third Month?
בַּחֹ֙דֶשׁ֙ הַשְּׁלִישִׁ֔י לְצֵ֥את בְּנֵי־יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל מֵאֶ֣רֶץ מִצְרָ֑יִם בַּיּ֣וֹם הַזֶּ֔ה בָּ֖אוּ מִדְבַּ֥ר סִינָֽי׃
"On the first day of Sivan 2448, the third month after Nisan, in which the Israelites had left the land of Egypt they came to the Sinai Desert, where God told them He would give them the Torah. The anticipation they felt on this day over receiving the Torah is to be re-experienced daily, for we are to relate to the Torah as if God gives it anew every day."
What is the Significance of the Number Three
The letter associated with the number three is the Gimel. Gimel represents the person who has who gives to the person who does not have. This may involve a rich man giving food, money or work to a poor man. But it can also be about knowledge and spiritual matters. Like a teacher gives to his student. So the third month after Nisan is the perfect month that The Giver par excellence gives His Torah - knowledge and education - to His people and through the 7 Mitzvot to the whole world.
The Three as Ultimate Oneness and Truth
HaShem is One, there is nothing outside of Him. For us humans, this is difficult to grasp, which is why He reveals Himself to Moses (Exodus 3:14) as "אֶֽהְיֶ֖ה"
וַיֹּ֤אמֶר אֱלֹהִים֙ אֶל-מֹשֶׁ֔ה אֶֽהְיֶ֖ה אֲשֶׁ֣ר אֶֽהְיֶ֑ה וַיֹּ֗אמֶר כֹּ֤ה תֹאמַר֙ לִבְנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל אֶֽהְיֶ֖ה שְׁלָחַ֥נִי אֲלֵיכֶֽם׃
"And G-d said to Moses, "Ehyeh-Asher-Ehyeh, "* continuing, "Thus shall you say to the Israelites, 'Ehyeh* sent me to you.'""
We can understand that more easily. That HaShem was always there, that He is there and will always be there. That He is immutable and, above all, that He is the Truth. Which makes everything He says or does truth.
The word "אֶֽהְיֶ֖ה" has the gematria-value of 21 (5+10+5+1). The word is repeated, which makes that we can multiply 21 by 21 which gives the number 441, which is the gematria of the word אֱמֶת - truth (400+40+1).
Our world consists of duality, through Torah, by gaining knowledge how to deal with this duality, we re-establish unity, unity of this dualistic world with HaShem. Connecting body and soul, connecting the physical world with the spiritual world, connecting good and evil.
Today - some - People of the Nations do not Reject
Edom did not want the Torah, they asked HaShem what was in the Torah and when HaShem said that 1 of the commandments was, "Thou shall not kill",
Edom rejected and replied, Our ancestor Esau received the blessing from his father Isaac that he should live by the sword. That is the heritage and characteristic of our people. We are a nation of mighty warriors, we do kill.
Also Ismael did not want the Torah, they also aksed HaShem what was in the Torah and when HaShem said that 1 of the commandments was, "You shall not steal", they answerd: How are we supposed to make a living? Stealing is our speciality. Our ancestor Ismael was a great expert at liberating money and property from other people, we do steal.
We Noahide saccept the 7 Mitzvot that HaShem gave to Moses at Mount Sinai. We want to hear and we want to do. Grateful we are that Israel accepted Torah and in this way preserved our 7 Mitzvot, for today, the time when the nations will go up to Tsion to learn Torah.
Sources: Kehot Chumash Shemot and Yitro, Let My Nation Serve Me by rabbi Yosef Deutsch
Angelique Sijbolts is one of the main writers for the NoahideAcademy.org website. She contributes for the admin of the website in English and Dutch. She teaches Hebrew to beginners and intermediate students at the Academy.
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