Does the number 0.123456789101112131415161718192021 have any
meaning to you? At first glance it appears like a random list
of numbers with some recognizable sequences, such as 1
through 9 at the beginning and three 1s in the middle. On
closer inspection "Champernowne's Number C" is revealed as an
orderly sequence of integers from 0 through 21 and upward.
How about the number .42857142? That's a bit harder, as no
sequence is apparent. However, when we learn about what are
commonly called "algorithms" (defined by The Oxford
Dictionary of Current English as "n. process or set of
rules used for calculation etc., esp. with a computer"), we
can recognize an algorithm for this number of 3 divided by 7:
it is the decimal equivalent of 3/7.
Human beings need order. The mind is u<%-3>nsettled when
confronted with disarrayed perceptions. Rabbi Moshe Chaim
Luzzato, zt"l emphasizes this in his introduction to
his classic philosophic exposition The Way of G-d:
"When one knows a number of things, and understands how they
are categorized and systematically interrelated, then he has
a great advantage over one who has the same knowledge without
such distinction. It is very much like the difference between
looking at a well-arranged garden, planted in rows and
patterns, and seeing a wild thicket or forest growing in
confusion" (Feldheim ed., pg. 21).
Without order, not only is one dissatisfied but he can
literally "go crazy." From birth a human being is equipped
with a unique tool, by which he surpasses the rest of
Creation, suited to the task of making order from chaos --
the human mind.
"For the commandment is a candle, and Torah is light, and the
path of life is ethical edification" (Mishlei 6:23).
The Maharal of Prague at the beginning of his introduction to
his great commentary Derech Chaim on Pirkei
Ovos explains that man is lost in the dark of his opaque,
dense body ensconced in the darkness of this world, until he
wearies searching for the portal of light from above. The
capacity of human reason sets man apart from the animal
kingdom. It enables man to explore, comprehend and even to
seemingly reign over the universe in which he abides.
Yet human reason alone is not a sufficient tool in the human
attempt to truly reign over, to fully comprehend, and even to
sincerely and objectively explore this universe. For man is
trapped in the opaqueness of his physical nature. The
commandments are the candle that lights our way in the
darkness of this world, illuminating the path through the
forest of this world as well as highlighting the rocks and
stumps to avoid; the Torah itself is like an enormous bonfire
which illuminates the entire countryside giving meaning to
the entire universe.
The festival of Shavuos is called by the Sages the "Festival
of Weeks," as it takes its identity from counting the seven
weeks between Pesach and Shavuos. Indeed, it is the only
festival for which a calendar date is not specifically
mentioned. Rather it is identified in the Chumash by
its relation to Pesach.
Seven, explains the Maharal of Prague, is the number of the
physical world. There are seven days of the week and seven
"sides" to a room (the 4 walls, ceiling, floor, and the
interior living space). Shabbos is the "interior living
space" that gives definition and meaning to the 3 days that
precede it and to the 3 days that follow it.
The gemora in Megilla (31b) teaches, "Tanya
Rebbi Shimon Ben Elazar said, Ezra decreed to Klal Yisroel
that they read the curses of Toras Cohanim (Vayikra)
before Atzeres (Shavuos), and the curses of Mishnah Torah
(Devorim) before Rosh Hashana. What is the reason? Says
Abaye, and others trace it to Reish Lokish, `In order to
finish off the year and its curses.' We can understand,
remarks the gemora, that by reading the curses of
Mishnah Torah we have fulfilled `in order to finish
off the year and its curses.' But how is this fulfilled in
Toras Cohanim? Is Atzeres a Rosh Hashana? Yes, Atzeres
is also a Rosh Hashana, as it is taught in the Mishnah,
`And on Atzeres (judgment is passed) on the fruit of the
trees.'"
What do the fruits of the trees have to do with Atzeres, the
Festival of the Giving of the Torah?
On Atzeres we are judged for our appreciation of Torah, for
how much we bear the fruits of the Torah on which we have
labored. "Odom ke'eitz hasode -- Man is like the tree
of the field." This teaches us that cutting down a fruit tree
is tantamount to murder.
We also learn that man is like a fruit tree, albeit an upside
down tree: his "roots" are his head planted, as it were, in
the soil of Heaven, and his "branches," his legs and arms
with which he produces his "fruits," the expression of the
Torah he has nourished from Heaven, the commandments.
"Im bechukosai teileichu ve'es mitzvosai tishmeru
va'asisem osom -- If you will follow My decrees and observe
My commandments and perform them" (Vayikro 26:3). Rashi
brings the midrash to explain that the verse teaches
us that only by toiling intensively in Torah ("follow My
decrees"), with the intent to observe the mitzvos ("observe
My commandments"), and actually carry through to their
fulfillment ("and perform them"), will one merit all of the
blessings listed in the parsha. Why is this the case?
How do all of the blessings including the rains in their
time, the land giving its produce, the tree giving its fruit,
and peace in the land -- follow from intensive Torah study
and the sincere fulfillment of its commandments?
The answer lies in the understanding that Torah is the
"blueprint of the universe." If the "architects" of Hashem's
buildings in this world (Klal Yisroel) intensively
scrutinize this blueprint with the intent of fulfilling its
master plan, the world will naturally unfold as it should.
Conversely, the "curses" come in sets of seven (Vayikra
26:18,21,24,28) which, as we have explained in the name
of the Maharal of Prague, is the number of the natural world.
If the blueprint is not intensively and precisely examined
and fulfilled, the natural world which is, as it were,
frustrated, unappreciated, and untapped, comes back to exact
its retribution for being misused. If the "formula" for the
"equation of the universe" is not solved, the consequences
will be an explosion in the laboratory!
By counting seven weeks of seven days we explore every facet
of the natural world and elevate these facets from their
physical status to carry them with us to the 50th day that is
above nature. We bring light into the darkness of this world
and "make sense" of a world of random numbers and seemingly
random incidents.
May we merit, with Hashem's Help, to raise ourselves to ever
greater spiritual heights and assist in solving the "equation
of the universe!"
