Blotting out
(5 associated with being blotted out: Amalek, Moses, God’s name for The Sotah, Mashiach)
This week we celebrated Purim. The groggers we used to audibly blot out the name of Amalek, in partial fulfillment of the mitzvah to blot out the name of Amalek. And why do we blot out the name of Amalek? Just as Hashem has war against Amalek from generation to generation, our hope is that the stigma and existence of Amalek would be utterly removed. We are specifically told to remember to blot out his name and not to forget (Deuteronomy 25:19). Interestingly enough, on the same week that we actively seek to blot out the name and memory of Amalek, Moshe seeks Hashem’s pardon for the sin of the Eigel Zahav/ Golden Calf by requesting that his very name is blotted out from His (Hashem’s) book.
וְעַתָּה אִם־תִּשָּׂא חַטָּאתָם וְאִם־אַיִן מְחֵנִי נָא מִֽסִּפְרְךָ אֲשֶׁר כָּתָֽבְתָּ׃
Now, if You will forgive their sin [well and good]; but if not, erase me from the record which You have written!”
-Exodus 32:32
Blot out the name of Moshe?
What does it mean to blot out one’s name? What about blotting a name from Hashem’s book? It means that the knowledge of the person, and his/her deeds are to be utterly removed from existence. We will address the following: “What was Moshe asking Hashem to do?”; “How does Hashem do the same?”; “How do we respond in light of the significance of the acrostic/name Yeshu(a)”
What is Moshe asking Hashem to do? In short, he is asking Him to erase his record from His book. What is connected to this is an important question we may ask, which book is being spoken of? Rabbi Hezekiah ben Manoach, in his commentary Chizkuni, answers:
מחני נא מספרך אין לומר מספר התורה שהרי עדיין לא נכתב, אלא מאי מספרך מספר החיים שבני אדם נכתבים בו בר״ה כדאיתא במסכת ר״ה. מספרך אלו הבינונים, אשר כתבת אלו הצדיקים.
מחני נא מספרך, “please erase my name from Your book;” this is not a reference to the Torah which had not yet been committed to writing. Moses refers to the “Book of life” in which every human being is inscribed on Rosh Hashanah if he was found deserving on the basis of his past record. This is based on the Talmud in tractate Rosh Hashanah folio 16, where the “book” is referred to as “the book of life,” in which the righteous are inscribed.
-Chizkuni Exodus 32:32:1
Rav Nachman bar Yitzchak elucidates in Rosh Hashanah 16b
ר”נ בר יצחק אמר מהכא (שמות לב, לב) ואם אין מחני נא מספרך אשר כתבת מחני נא זה ספרן של רשעים מספרך זה ספרן של צדיקים אשר כתבת זה ספרן של בינונייםתניא ב”ש אומרים ג’ כתות הן ליום הדין אחת של צדיקים גמורין ואחת של רשעים גמורין ואחת של בינוניים צדיקים גמורין נכתבין ונחתמין לאלתר לחיי עולם רשעים גמורין נכתבין ונחתמין לאלתר לגיהנם שנאמר (דניאל יב, ב) ורבים מישני אדמת עפר יקיצו אלה לחיי עולם ואלה לחרפות לדראון עולם בינוניים יורדין לגיהנם
Rav Naḥman bar Yitzḥak said: This matter is derived from here: “And if not, blot me, I pray You, out of Your book which you have written” (Exodus 32:32). “Blot me, I pray You”; this is the book of wholly wicked people, who are blotted out from the world. “Out of Your book”; this is the book of wholly righteous people, which is special and attributed to God Himself. “Which You have written”; this is the book of middling people. It is taught in a baraita: Beit Shammai say: There will be three groups of people on the great Day of Judgment at the end of days: One of wholly righteous people, one of wholly wicked people, and one of middling people. Wholly righteous people will immediately be written and sealed for eternal life. Wholly wicked people will immediately be written and sealed for Gehenna, as it is stated: “And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall wake, some to eternal life and some to shame and everlasting contempt” (Daniel 12:2). Middling people will descend to Gehenna to be cleansed and to achieve atonement for their sins,
-Talmud Bavli, Rosh Hashanah 16b
There is a parallel to Sefer Hitgalut/Book of Revelation. It states:
וָאֵרֶא אֶת־הַמֵּתִים הַקְּטַנִּים עִם־הַגְּדֹלִים עֹמְדִים לִפְנֵי הַכִּסֵּא וּסְפָרִים נִפְתָּחִים וַיִּפָּתַח סֵפֶר אַחֵר וְהוּא סֵפֶר הַחַיִּים וַיִּשָּׁפְטוּ הַמֵּתִים מִן־הַכָּתוּב בַּסְּפָרִים כְּמַעֲשֵׂיהֶם׃
And I saw the dead, both great and small, standing in front of the throne. Books were opened; and another book was opened, the Book of Life; and the dead were judged from what was written in the books, according to what they had done.
Revelation 20:12
John Gil comments on Revelation 20:12
“…and the books were opened; the book of God’s omniscience, which contains all the actions of the wicked, in which all their sins are taken notice of, and will now be brought to light; and the book of his remembrance, in which they are all written as with a pen of iron, and with the point of a diamond; and the book of the creatures, which they have abused, and which will witness against them; and the book of providence, the riches of whose goodness have been despised by them; and the book of the Scriptures, both of law and Gospel, as well as the book of nature, of the light of nature, see Romans 2:12 to which may be added, the book of conscience; the consciences of men will be awakened, and will accuse them, and bear witness against them, and be as good as a thousand witnesses:
and another book was opened, which is the book of life: the same that is mentioned in Revelation 3:5 the book of eternal election…”, See Gill on Revelation 3:5, See Gill on Revelation 13:8, See Gill on Revelation 17:8.
-John Gil, Gil’s Exposition of the Entire Bible, Revelation 20:12, cited from biblehub.com
John Gil comments on Daniel 7:10
“…and the books were opened; both to take the trial in writing, and to produce evidence against the criminals; the book of God’s purposes and decrees concerning these beasts; the book of prophecies relating to them; the book of God’s remembrance, and of their own consciences, with respect to the evils committed by them; and the book of records, statutes, and laws made in such cases; even the book of the Scriptures, which contains the revelation of the will of God….”
-John Gil, Gil’s Exposition of the Entire Bible, Daniel 7:10, cited from biblehub.com
The next verse is God’s response to Moshe.
וַיֹּאמֶר יְהֹוָה אֶל־מֹשֶׁה מִי אֲשֶׁר חָטָא־לִי אֶמְחֶנּוּ מִסִּפְרִי׃
And the Lord said to Moshe, Whoever has sinned against me, him will I blot out of my book.
-Exodus 32:33
Rabbinic commentator Ovadia Sforno on Ex. 32:33
“…the idea that I will wipe out the merits of those who have not sinned against Me in order that through your loss of these credits they may qualify for My forgiveness is a non starter. This would be a brand new system of justice. The system of reward and retribution I have practiced is based on the fact that the sinner would have to pay for his sin, while receiving reward for his good deeds. I do not recognise a system whereby sins can be offset against previously accumulated merits, or vice versa. If I do not recognise such trade-offs of the sins and good deeds of the same individual against one another, I most certainly will not allow the transfer of other people’s merits to wipe out the debit balance of a third party. As a result of these considerations, your proposal is not acceptable.”
-Sforno, on Exodus 32:33
God’s reply that He will punish the guilty and not the innocent instead of the guilty, makes perfect sense then. He had no reason to erase Moshe from the Book of the Living. God did not completely annihilate Israel nor did He destroy Moshe. He forgave the sin for the egel zahav/golden calf (to those who were repentant), broke up the consequences in smaller measures (according to chazal), and made mention of Moshe’s name throughout the Torah. However, there is a tradition that Moshe’s name isn’t mentioned in all of Parashat Tetzaveh.
Rabbi Yaakov ben Asher in his commentary Tur HaArokh comments:
ואתה תצוה, “and you are to issue instructions, etc.” Moses has not been mentioned by name in this portion, seeing that he had said to G’d that He should erase his name from His Book. (Exodus 32,32) Although Moses had said this conditionally, i.e. if G’d were to kill the Jewish people as punishment for the sin of the golden calf, we have a rule that a curse of a sage, even if uttered only as something conditionally, is taken by G’d at face value.
-Tur HaArokh, Exodus 27:20:1
Interestingly, there’s a connection between Moshe and the Suffering Servant of Isaiah 53:
לכן אחלק לו ברבים יכול כאחרונים ולא כראשונים ת”ל ואת עצומים יחלק שלל כאברהם יצחק ויעקב שהן עצומים בתורה ובמצות תחת אשר הערה למות נפשו שמסר עצמו למיתה שנאמר (שמות לב, לב) ואם אין מחני נא וגו’
Rabbi Samlai proceeds to expound the verse “Therefore will I divide him a portion among the great” to mean that he will receive reward. One might have thought that he will receive reward like the later ones and not like the earlier ones, so the verse states: “And he shall divide the spoil with the mighty,” meaning like Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, who were mighty in Torah and in mitzvot. “Because he bared his soul unto death,” meaning he gave himself over to death on behalf of the Jewish people, as it is stated: “Yet now, if You will forgive their sin; and if not, blot me, I pray You, out of Your book that You have written” (Exodus 32:32).
-Talmud Bavli, Sotah 14a
He gave himself over to death, as it says “…if not, erase me now from Your book, which You have written.” (Shemot 32:32) “…and with transgressors he was counted…” (Yeshayahu 53:12) He was counted with the generation that died in the wilderness. “…and he bore the sin of many…” (ibid.) He gained atonement for the sin of the Golden Calf. “…and interceded for the transgressors.” (ibid.) He pleaded for mercy on the behalf of the sinners in Israel that they should repent.
-Yalkut Shimoni on Torah 816:2
The basis for being willing to be blotted out from the Sefer HaChayim (book of Life) comes from a place of complete sacrificial love, מסירות נפש Messirut Nefesh, (self sacrifice) and from ביטול היש Bittul HaYesh, a complete nullification of self. The threat of annihilation of Israel put Moshe into a difficult position. Yet it was his attribute of messirut nefesh that was being revealed in that dire moment.
Rebbe Nachman comments,
“B’tach in God – This is as in “calm and BeTaCh (security)” (Isaiah 32:17). He has absolute rest….and re’eh faith – He can be like the Faithful Ra’aya (Shepherd), sacrificing his soul for the Jewish people.”
– Likutey Moharan 79:4, Volume 9, Breslov Research Institute, pg. 171
The Breslov commentary on Likutey Moharan states:
“Rebbe Nachman links the Hebrew verb r’eh, which means ‘tend’ or ‘shepherd’ with Ra’aya, the Aramaic noun for shepherd.” The Zohar repeatedly refers to Moshe Rabbeinu as the ‘Ra’aya Mehemna,’ the Faithful Shepherd, whose self-sacrifice in tending for the Jewish people had no equal. Rebbe Nachman thus reads ‘re’eh’ (shepherd) faith, as alluding to the aspect of Moshe-Mashiach, sacrificing oneself to hasten the coming of God’s chosen redeemer.“
– Commentary to Likutey Moharan, Volume 9, Footnote 55, Breslov Research Institute, pg. 170
How does Hashem do the same? Just as Moshe is willing to allow his name to be erased, so does God. This week’s parsha has a few connections to the law of the Sotah, the unfaithful wife. In Numbers 5:12-24, God is willing to have His name blotted out.
‘If any man’s wife goes astray, and is unfaithful to him, and a man lies with her carnally . . . and there is no witness against her . . . The priest shall bring her near, and set her before HaShem; and the priest shall take holy water in an earthen vessel, and of the dust that is on the floor of the tabernacle the priest shall take, and put it into the water. . . He shall make the woman drink the water of bitterness that causes the curse, and the water that causes the curse shall enter into her and become bitter.”
Numbers 5:12-24
The Gemara in Nedarim 66b writes:
ההוא דאמר לה לדביתהו קונם שאי את נהנית לי עד שתטעימי תבשילך לרבי יהודה ולר”ש ר’ יהודה טעים אמר ק”ו ומה לעשות שלום בין איש לאשתו אמרה תורה שמי שנכתב בקדושה ימחה על המים המאררים בספק ואני על אחת כמה וכמה
§ The Gemara relates: There was a certain person who said to his wife: Benefiting from me is konam for you until you have given Rabbi Yehuda and Rabbi Shimon your cooked food to taste, so they can see for themselves what a bad cook you are. She brought the food to them, and Rabbi Yehuda tasted it, without concern for his honor. He said: This is an a fortiori inference: And what can be seen, that in order to make peace between a man and his wife, the Torah said: My name, that is written in sanctity, shall be blotted out in the waters that curse, as the words written on a scroll, including the name of God, were blotted out during the ceremony of preparing the water that a sota would drink. And this is so even in a case of where it is uncertain if this will bring peace between them, as she may or not be guilty of adultery. I, all the more so, should waive my honor in order to bring peace to this couple.
-Talmud Bavli, Nedarim 66b
“In the course of the sotah ceremony, which determines whether a woman was unfaithful to her husband, God’s Name is written on a shard of clay that is then dipped in water, causing the Name to be erased. It is as if God is saying, “My Name, which was written in holiness, may be erased in order to bring out peace between husband and wife.”
-Rebbe Nachman’s Torah, Parashat Naso, Breslov Research Institute, pg. 30, cf. Chullin 141a
Similarly it is brought down in the Yerushalmi in Sotah 1:4 a story with a similar end deduction. It relates the story about a disgruntled husband and his interaction with his wife. This wife went to hear a shiur from Rabbi Meir every erev Shabbat. On one occasion the shiur (lecture) lasted much longer than normal and she returned home to find that the lamps in her home had burned out. Her husband angrily asked where she had been, and in his rage said he wouldn’t allow her to enter the house until she spat in Rabbi Meir’s eye.
According to the account, Rabbi Meir heard about the situation through ruach hakodesh and pretended to have a medical problem with his eye. He promptly announced that anyone who knew of a special prayer to whisper over the eye should come forth. Her neighbours advised her that this was her opportunity – she should whisper something and then spit in his eye quickly afterwards. When he approached her and he asked if she had a cure, she couldn’t bring herself to do it out of honor for the revered sage. He responded that she should spit in his eye seven times. Upon her doing so, he told her that her husband said she spit in his eye once, but she did so seven times! His students saw this as a real affront to their Rebbi and were horrified. However, the Yerushalmi concludes:
אמר לון ולא יהא כבוד מאיר ככבוד קונו. ומה אם שם הקודש שנכתב בקדושה אמר הכתוב שיימחה על המים בשביל להטיל שלום בין איש לאשתו. וכבוד מאיר לא כל שכן
He said to them, should Meir’s honour be like the honour of his Creator? If the Holy Name which is written in holiness should be erased in the waters [i.e. in the case of sotah] in order to restore peace between a husband and his wife, how much more Meir’s honour (should be erased)?Thus, such is Hashem’s love for matrimonial harmony, He will seemingly forgo His honour to ensure that this is done.
-Talmud Yerushalmi, Sotah 1:4
This demonstrates the concept of Messirut Nefesh, for it is rooted in Love.
The basis for being willing to be blotted out comes from a place of complete sacrificial love, Messirut nefesh, (self sacrifice) and from Bittul hayesh, a complete nullification of self.
The term for blotting, wiping out, or erasure is מָחָה “Machah”. Therefore the terms Yimach shemo (“may his name be erased/blotted out”) is one of the strongest curses in the Hebrew language.
The phrase is associated with Haman the Agigite, but has been applied to any abhorrent enemy of Israel such as Shabbatai Zevi, Joseph Stalin, Adolf Hitler, Adolf Eichmann, Josef Mengele, and any other malcontents. In Hebrew the abbreviation of the phrase “May his name and memory be erased” is (יש”ו) Y-SH”U.
The Mashiach
“Yeshu” is actually an acronym for the formula ימח שמו וזכרו(נו) (Yimach Shemo V’Zichro[no]), meaning “may his name and memory be obliterated”.
The name Yeshu
A few centuries ago, the name Yeshu was applied to Yeshua of Natzeret, as a “play” on His correct name that is actually an acronym standing for יִמַּח שְׁמוֹ וְזִכְרוֹ Yimach Shemo Ve’zikro, “May his name and memory be blotted out”. (Yod Shin Vav, yet missing the Ayin). For many, the idea of his name being blotted out is highly offensive. But, this is the focus and point of his mission. He was willing to have his name blotted out for Israel and for Humanity. As a consequence, this is the name of the Messiah when he is separated from his people, operating within concealment.
The name Yeshu in Gematria has a numerical value of 316. Interestingly, the spiritual connection between Yeshu and the phrases/titles of the same numerical value becomes revealed.
316Yeshu – ישו
Tree of Yosef (Ezekiel 37) – עץ יוסף Yosef my son is still alive (Gen 45:28) – עוד יוסף בני חי
The Man (Gen 42:30)– האיש Behold a Ram Behind (Gen 22) – והנה איל אחר
For I am poor and needy (Psalm 109:22) – כי עני ואביון אנכי
These examples all relate to a form of exile, separation, redemption in concealment.
From Yeshu to Yeshu’a
The full spelling of Messiah’s name is significant not just because of the spiritual connections revealed in the Gematria, but also because of the Value that the Yod and Ayin hold. The Yod in Yeshu doesnt have to be Yemach. Rather, some have suggested that the word Yechi (“May live on”) or Yitbarach (“May be blessed”). We know that the discourse among the Rabbonim in Sanhedrin 98, the name of Messiah begins with Yinon (Psalm 72:17 ) , as for an enduring name or kingdom.
Likewise, the Ayin, holds significance in the full name. The numerical value of Ayin is 70 and is connected to the sight. The 70 is suggestive of the 70 nations. “Every eye will see him…” (Rev. 1:7) states the scripture. Let us consider the full name through Notarikon via the Roshei Tevot (Acrostic via the head letters).
Another permutation is:
יחי שמו וזקרו עולם ישוע
Yechi Shemo Ve’zikro Olam , May his name and memory live forever.
Fascinatingly, in Gematria we can see how the full name of Yeshua relates to the fullness of the Redemption, Mashiach ben David, and Hashem’s sovereignty over His world revealed in various phrases.
386Yeshua – ישוע
David ben Yishai – דוד בן ישי The Clean Bird – העוף הטהור Tzippor (spelled in full), Bird – ציפור King of the Earth – מלך הארץ In HaShem’s Mashiach – במשיח י-ה-ו-ה Royal City – עיר המלוכה Hero of Yisrael – גיבור ישראל The Son is a Living Man – הבן איש חי Maker – עשׂיו
ShaPO – שפ”ו – A Divine Name
The Spirit of HaShem upon David from that Day – רוח י-ה-ו-ה אל דוד מהיום
All of this relates the amazing point that like Moshe who was willing to be blotted out of Hashem’s book for the sake of Israel, and likewise Hashem was willing for His name to be erased for the sake of the unity of husband and wife, so too was Mashiach Yeshua willing to take upon himself the punishments of Israel and bnei Adam (humanity) for the sake of life and redemption.
God made this sinless man to be a sin offering on our behalf, so that in union with him we might fully share in God’s righteousness.
-2 Corinthians 5:21
For the Messiah himself died for sins, once and for all, a righteous person on behalf of unrighteous people1, so that he might bring you to God. He was put to death in the flesh but brought to life by the Spirit; and in this form he went and made a proclamation to the imprisoned spirits, to those who were disobedient long ago, in the days of Noach, when God waited patiently during the building of the ark, in which a few people — to be specific, eight — were delivered by means of water. This also prefigures what delivers us now, the water of immersion, which is not the removal of dirt from the body, but one’s pledge to keep a good conscience toward God, through the resurrection of Yeshua the Messiah. He has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities and powers subject to him.
-1 Peter 3:18-22
B”H