חלק ב — תורה 72

9. This is the explanation of: “The b’er (well) which captains chafaruha (dug), which n’divei (the nobles) of the people excavated, with a m’chokek (scepter), with their staff. And from the wilderness, a gift” (Numbers 21:18).

B’ER— This alludes to Bei’URei (the interpretations of) Torah which the “captains” of the Jewish people merit on account of a “Moshe” gazing at them. As a result of this, each one receives the greatness appropriate for him, through which they merit Torah interpretations, the concept of original Torah insights, as mentioned above. As a result of the Torah interpretations they are worthy of shame and repentance, as mentioned above.

And this is: The well which captains chafaruha.

ChaFaRuha— This alludes to shame, as it is written (Isaiah 24:23), “The moon ChaFRah (will be ashamed), the sun will be embarrassed.” By virtue of the aforementioned Bei’URei Torah, the concept of B’ER, one merits embarrassment, as mentioned above. And this is:

which captains dug— That is, the aforementioned captains, the concept of “captains of thousands, [and] captains of hundreds…,” as mentioned above. And this is:

which n’divei of the people excavated— “N’DiVei of the people” alludes to repentance, as Rashi expounds the verse “when the people hitNaDeiV (offered)” (Judges 5:2)—when they offered their heart to repentance. And this is:

with a m’chokek, with their st aff— “M’chokek” is Moshe, as our Sages, of blessed memory, taught (see Bava Batra 15a). In addition, M ’ChoKeK has a numerical value of 248—alluding to Moshe’s lowliness which is in every single Jew, in his 248 limbs, within each and every limb, as mentioned above. “With their staff” alludes to resurrection, as our Sages, of blessed memory, expounded the verse “each man his staff in his hand” (Zechariah 8:4)—the tzaddikim are destined to resurrect the dead… (Pesachim 68a). Thus, this is “with a m’chokek, with their staff”—i.e., Moshe’s lowliness, which is within all the 248 limbs of each and every person, will be restored to life as a result of repentance. And this is:

And from the wilderness, a gift— “Wilderness” alludes to lowliness; that a person trains himself to be a wilderness, as our Sages, of blessed memory, taught (Eruvin 54a). As a result of this “a gift”—i.e., Shabbat, as our Sages, of blessed memory, taught: I have a precious gift in My treasure-vault. Shabbat is her name (Shabbat 10b). This is because the delight of the World to Come—the concept of Shabbat/eternal life—will primarily be only for each individual’s lowliness, as mentioned above.