Parshat Bamidbar: 12 Archetypes of Israel
Wednesday, May 21, 2014
Parshat Bamidbar
(Numbers 1)
According to the Triennial Torah Cycle
Year 1
Parshat Bamidbar opens up with Moses and the children of Israel inבְּמִדְבַּר (Bamidbar). The term Bamidbar means מִדְבַּר Midbar: desert with the prefix: בְּ(beit) meaning “in” and so the name Bamidbar literally means “in the desert.” The setting and context of our narrative is the children of Israel who are sojourning in the desert/wilderness after their exodus from Egypt.
The desert or wilderness is a place that lacks cultivation and in our own minds represents a consciousness that is dominated by a multitude (erev rav) of uncultivated thoughts and undisciplined desires. These lower desires and undisciplined state of mind can lead one to a life devoid of spiritual maturity and cause one to focus only on the external perceived reality and this is the idolatry of the erev rav (the myriad of negative desires that lead the mind away from the perception of the Divine) which is intermingled with the children of Israel (consciousness of the higher worlds). In order to restrain the erev rav and to keep the mind of Israel above the debased perception of idolatry the Torah (Teaching/Law) is given at Sinai which restrains, instructs and transforms these desires to a higher level of holiness.
However, before the individual consciousness can appropriately receive the Torah of Sinai it must go through specific revelatory stages of development just as the children of Israel went through various stages of the Exodus as to serve as an example of this sublime process.
The children of Israel were liberated from Egypt (Mitzrayim) the place of the mundane principle which enslaved the Israelites within the restricted perception of external oppression to material thoughts, desires and lower animalistic behavior. After leaving the restriction of Egypt the next level of development occurred at the valley of Rephadim עמק רפאים. Rephadim represents a period of rest that occurs after each level of spiritual growth. After the rigorous battle and dramatic flight from Egypt the children of Israel rested at Rephadim. Rest indicated a place of spiritual evolution but the incident of Moses striking a rock for water at Rephadim demonstrates that this place of rest was unstable and precarious. HaShem instructed Moses to speak to the rock that it should bring forth water for the children of Israel. The rock represents the higher sense of the intellect (sechal) and the water from the rock was to be the spiritual sustenance which is provided by this higher spiritual capacity. However, Moses lost control of his emotions due to the erev rav (undisciplined desires) and succumbed to the middot of emotional destruction by being aroused to anger and striking (as opposed to speaking) the rock. This act turns the symbolism of this act around entirely. In this dysfunctional scenario the rock is the breaking of the higher mind or the decline of spiritual growth and the subsequent rushing of water representing the lower emotions (middot) overtaking our higher spiritual inclinations.
Further, it was at the Valley of Rephadim that the Israelites were attacked by Amalek: “Then Amalek came and fought with Israel at Rephidim” (Exodus 17:8). The Amalekites were descended from Edom who represents consciousness of the physical body. עֲמָלֵק (Amalek) means: consumer, war-like, dweller of the vale. Thus we can see that Amalek is the consuming force of lust that centers around the consciousness of the physical body. This is in contrast to Israel and whenever Moses (abstract mind/Netzach) was overcome by the lower middot (emotional nature) this gave pretense for Amalek to arise and to destroy the children of Israel (consciousness of God). Weakness of will and spiritual development can open a door for Amalek. This is why Amalek attacked from the rear of the Israelites encampment. It was in the rear that the feeble and the weakest of Israel’s people were located. Amalek always preys on weakness.
The higher state of Israel overcame and defeated the lower state called Amalek but this wasn’t a total victory as there is an admonishment by Moses to remember the Amalekites and an indication that Israel would continue to struggle against Amalek. Thus this admonition applies to anyone who thinks they have consciously evolved beyond their lower desires as Amalek can always arise in a time of weakness and attempt to destroy spiritual progress.
After the Israelites overcame the Amalekites they proceeded to journey to Mt. Sinai. Sinai is where Moses had received illumination in the narrative of the burning bush story. It was here that Moses would rise above Israel to receive Divine revelation to transmit to the children of Israel. Sinai represents a pinnacle of union with the Divine- a state of high consciousness and spiritual development. Moses ascended this mountain but the children of Israel did not. They determined to stay behind due to their submission to the emotion of fear. Fear overcame them and subsequently the children of Israel did not ascend to the level of consciousness that Moses had. This is why that to this day our Sages instruct that no person or prophet has ever arisen as great as Moses our Teacher. Moses received an unsurpassed revelation of the Divine and then descended the heights of Divine Awareness so as to communicate the path to the Israelites. However, due to the Israelites refusal to ascend and submission to the negative emotion of fear the erev rav arose once again and persuaded Israel to turn again to idolatry and hedonism. (For a further explanation see my commentary on Parshat Ki Tisa).
The Tribal Significance
16 These were the elect of the congregation, the princes of the tribes of their fathers; they were the heads of the thousands of Israel.
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The enumeration of the twelve tribes represents a significant treatise on the incarnation of the Soul and its myriad levels of archetypal dispositions which define and characterize it’s personality, perceptual abilities and potential within the physical body. It is taught by our Sages that the Soul enters in to a covenant agreement with itself and the greater spiritual reality prior to incarnating into its present life. The current life was examined for all of its possibilities and its potential in advancing the development of the soul. A particular life within the mundane is defined according to a prototype (archetypal image) and it is fashioned from a combination of physical and spiritual processes to design it as a fit vessel (kli) for the purpose and intent of the Soul which will utilize it.
According to our Sages the 12 Tribes of Israel represent the 12 signs of the מַזָּרוֹת Zodiac (Mazzarot) and these signs define and elevate Israel. The following section of the Midrash also goes along with our current narrative by indicating that the 12 Tribes not only cause Israel to be elevated but that subsequently the name of Amalek would be blotted out forever…
“With Kislev came the merit of Hanukah,with Tebeth the merit of Nehemiah, as it says, And the children of the captivity did so. And Nehemiah the priest... were separated... in the first day of the tenth month... and they were finished with all the men that had married foreign women, etc. Nehemiah X, 16 f. With Shebat came up the merit of the Men of the Great Synagogue; for on the twenty-third of that month all Israel gathered together to take counsel about the concubine of Gibeah and the graven image of Micah. When the month of Adar came up, he found no merit in it and he began to rejoice. He then turned to examining the signs of the Zodiac. In the sign of the Lamb he found the merit of Passover, as it says, Every man a lamb, according to their fathers’ houses (Ex. XII, 3). In that of Taurus (ox) was found the merit of Joseph who was called ox, as it says, His firstling bullock, majesty is his (Deut. XXXIII, 17); and also the merit of the offering, as it says, When a bullock, or a sheep, or a goat is brought forth, etc. (Lev. XXII, 27). In Gemini (twins) was found the merit of Peretz and Zerach who were called twins, as it says, Behold, twins were in her womb (Gen. XXXVIII, 27). In Leo (lion) was found the merit of Daniel who was from the tribe of Judah which is called lion, as it says, Judah is a lion’s whelp (ib. XLIX, 9). In Virgo (virgin) there was the merit of Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, who were like a maiden that knows no man except her husband; so they did not change their God or their law and clung to their Judaism. Libra (scales) is Iyov (Job), as it says, O that my vexation we weighed, and my calamity laid in the balances (Iyov (Job) VI, 2). Scorpio is Yechezkel (Ezekiel), as it says, Thou dost dwell among scorpions (Ezek., 6). Sagittarius (bowman) is Joseph, as it says, But his bow abode firm (Gen. XLIX, 24). Capricornus (kid) is Jacob, as it says, And she put the skins of the kids of the goats upon his hands (ib. XXVII, 16). Aquarius (water-carrier) is Moses, as it says, And moreover he drew water for us (Ex. II, 19). On reaching the sign of Pisces (fish) which shines in the month of Adar, he found no merit in it and rejoiced saying, ‘Adar has no merit, its sign has no merit, and what is more, in Adar Moses their master died.’ He, however, did not know that on the first of Adar Moses died and on the first of Adar he was born. He said: ‘Just as fishes swallow one another, so I will swallow them.’ Said the Holy One, blessed be He, to him: ‘ Wretch! Fishes sometimes swallow and sometimes are swallowed, and now it is you who will be swallowed.’ Said R. Hanan: The same thing is intimated by the verse, Whereas it was turned to the contrary, that the Jews had rule over them that hated them (Est. IX, 1). R. Tanhuma said: And the Lord said not that He would blot out the name of Israel (II Melakim (Kings) XIV, 27), but what He said was, For I will utterly blot out the remembrance of Amalek (Ex. XVII, 14)”- Midrash Rabbah - Esther VII:11
There are many different divisions of the Tribes of Israel and their correspondences with the Zodiac. Following are the divisions of the Tribes of Israel according to the archetypal images of the Zodiac from their birth order:
Mazzorah according to their birth order:
Reuben
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Taurus
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Simeon
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Gemini
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Levi
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Cancer
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Leo
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Zebulon
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Virgo
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Issachar
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Libra
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Dan
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Scorpio
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Gad
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Sagitarius
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Asher
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Capricorn
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Napthali
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Aquarius
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Joseph
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Pices
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Benjamin
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Aries
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Following is the correspondence between the 12 Tribes of Israel to the 12 months of the year according to the Sefer Yetzirah:
Month
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Judah
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Nisan
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Issachar
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Iyar
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Zebulun
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Sivan
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Reuben
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Tammuz
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Shimon
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Av
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Gad
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Elul
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Ephraim
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Tishri
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Menashe
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Marsheshvan
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Benjamin
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Kislev
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Dan
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Tevet
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Asher
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Shevat
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Naftali
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Adar
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The question we need to be asking now is how do these archetypes impact us in a practical way? I want to share an interesting excerpt from a book I read concerning archetypes from a woman named Carolyn Myss:
“The time has come for our society to make a quantum leap in our awareness and acknowledge the central role of intuition. Archetypes are the vocabulary of intuition, and the more familiar we are with them, the more clearly we will resonate with our own intuition. Archetypes speak to us in the language of myths and symbols, perfectly suited to a society that has become fluent in high-tech code… It was inevitable that one day our rational intellect would find a way to engage with our intuitive intelligence, and through the medium of archetypes it has.” (Archetypes: Who Are You?)
The Kabbalah has always spoken in the language of archetypes and its study was restricted for a time because the quality of the human intellect was not able to receive and correctly process the language of the Kabbalah in days of old. However, now Kabbalah has arisen to a prominent place on the world stage as more and more people are engaging its Wisdom. The Kabbalist’s (Mekubalim) predicted of this time when the intellect of humanity would increase and the Kabbalah would be taught even to small children. The language of the Torah is now being understood in a way that speaks directly to the human soul in the language of archetypes. This is the manner in which all of my commentaries are written as every word and even letter in the Torah is a symbol of a greater inner reality which when understood can create an ascent of consciousness to a high degree of enlightenment which is called: mochin d’gadlut (expanded perception).
Archetypes are the language of our inner reality and as such have been referred to as the Inner Net. Each archetype compliments or contradicts another and we are each composed of many of them. These form our essential nature and having the awareness of them can provide us the ability to harness the positive traits and overcome the negative traits which hold us back. This is the essential awareness of the self which can only be discovered by obtaining a thorough knowledge and understanding of our own archetypal make-up.
The Sages teach us that Israel is not bound to the Zodiac (archetypes) like the nations (goyim/gentiles) around us. In the Talmud Rav Johanon states: “there is no mazal (literally "star") for Israel, but only for the nations.” In the Kabbalah we see Israel as an archetype of Yashar El- one who cleaves to God and indicates a high level of spiritual development (mochin d’gadlut). The Goyim (gentiles) represents a mundane and depraved consciousness (mochin d’katnut). Thus at the level of Israel one arises above the influence of the archetypes for they are aware of all of their own desires and traits and have corrected them. However, most of humanity is at the level of the goyim which is dominated by the influences of the archetypes as this level of existence is completely unaware of the self and the grand scheme of existence. Therefore this distinction between Israel and the nations has nothing to do with the external concept of Jews and non-Jews as most Jews in the external realm are considered goyim in spiritual terms as they are at the debased level of mochin d’katnut.
The Mishkan and the Brain
52 And the children of Israel shall pitch their tents, every man with his own camp, and every man with his own standard, according to their hosts.
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53 But the Levites shall pitch round about the tabernacle of the testimony, that there be no wrath upon the congregation of the children of Israel; and the Levites shall keep the charge of the tabernacle of the testimony.'
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54 Thus did the children of Israel; according to all that YHVH commanded Moses, so did they. {P}
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The next verses which close out the first chapter of Bamidbar tell us that the 12 Tribes of Israel (Archetypes) surrounded the Mishkan on all sides. The Levites would bring the offerings of the 12 Tribes to the Mishkan and perform the required duties of the sacred services.
According to our Sages the Mishkan is a type of the human head. As HaShem via the Shekinah principle is more revealed in the Mishkan, so, the soul is concentrated in the head. The term Israel can also be switched around to spell the term Li Rosh meaning “to me as a head.” In other words, there is an indication in these verses that the 12 Tribes of Israel which represent the 12 primary archetypes are connected to and infuse the head (Mishkan) with their influence and services.
This is a significant teaching that enables us to understand just how the human being is directly influenced by their archetypes. The brain itself is nothing but matter which acts as a transceiver of sorts but alone it is in and of itself nothing. The brain does not create consciousness rather it receives external impulses to create an internal reality and then relays the processed information back to the external Source.
The brain processes information via 12 cranial nerves. These 12 cranial nerves are responsible for the whole process of the brains interpretation of reality. Following are the 12 cranial nerves and their functions:
1. Olfactory- This is a type of sensory nerve that contributes in the sense of smell in human being. These basically provide the specific cells that are termed as olfactory epithelium. It carries the information from nasal epithelium to the olfactory center in brain.
2. Optic nerve- This again is a type of sensory nerve that transforms information about vision to the brain. To be specific this supplies information to the retina in the form of ganglion cells.
3. Oculomoter nerve- This is a form of motor nerve that supplies to different centers along midbrain. Its functions include superiorly uplifting eyelid, superiorly rotating eyeball, construction of pupil on the exposure to light and operating several eye muscles.
4. Trochlear- This motor nerve also supplies to the midbrain and performs the function of handling the eye muscles and turning the eye.
5. Trigeminal- This is a type of largest cranial nerve in all and performs many sensory functions related to nose, eyes, tongue and teeth. It basically is further divided in three branches that are ophthalmic, maxillary and mandibular nerve. This is a type of mixed nerve that performs sensory and motor functions in brain.
6. Abducent - This is again a type of motor nerve that supplies to the pons and perform function of turning eye laterally.
7. Facial-This motor nerve is responsible for different types of facial expressions. This also performs some functions of sensory nerve by supplying information about touch on face and senses of tongue in mouth. It is basically present over brain stem.
8. Vestibulocochlear - This motor nerve is basically functional in providing information related to balance of head and sense of sound or hearing. It carries vestibular as well as cochlear information to the brain and is placed near inner ear.
9. Glossopharyngeal- This is a sensory nerve which carries sensory information from pharynx (initial portion of throat) and some portion of tongue and palate. The information sent is about temperature, pressure and other related facts. It also covers some portion of taste buds and salivary glands. The nerve also carries some motor functions such as helping in swallowing food.
10. Vagus- This is also a type of mixed nerve that carries both motor and sensory functions. This basically deals with the area of pharynx, larynx, esophagus, trachea, bronchi, some portion of heart and palate. It works by constricting muscles of the above areas. In sensory part, it contributes in the tasting ability of the human being.
11. Spinal accessory nerve- As the name intimates this motor nerve supplies information about spinal cord, trapezius and other surrounding muscles. It also provides muscle movement of the shoulders and surrounding neck.
12. Hypoglossal nerve- This is a typical motor nerve that deals with the muscles of tongue.
These 12 cranial nerves are responsible for both the brain’s perception of reality and its subsequent interaction with reality. Each of these nerves receives stimuli according to information filtered through the 12 Archetypes (Tribes of Israel). As we can see the archetypes are part of the holistic reality being filtered through the senses of each individual human being and this defines their inherent capacities.
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