Tetzaveh : Moshes Missing Name

[muman613]

Tetzaveh : Moshes Missing Name

This Shabbat I learned a couple of new things. I hope to explain them to others so that we can discuss and learn.

One of the things which we all learn is that Parasha Tetzaveh is the one portion in the Torah after Shemot where Moses name is absent. The sages have explained that this is due, in part, to the fact that after the Children of Israel sinned at the golden calf and Hashem had vowed to destroy them, that Moses told Hashem that if the Israelites were destroyed that Moses wanted to be written out of Hashems book. Moses succeeded in persuading Hashem not to destroy the Jews through his devout prayers and supplications, but due to the concept that whatever a Chocham or Tzadik says must come true, Hashem removed Moses name from a single Parasha of the Torah.

One other bit of information which always interests me is that the Mesoritic note tells us that there are 101 pasuks in this Parasha. This interests me because the gematria of my first name is 101 and this is the value for the angel Michael.

http://www.sichosinenglish.org/books/vedibarta-bam/020.htm
Alternatively, when the Jews sinned with the eigel (golden calf), Hashem contemplated no longer accompanying the B'nei Yisrael and said to Moshe: "Hinei malachi yeileich lefanecha" — "My angel will go before you" (32:34). Hashem wanted the angel Michael to lead the Jewish people together with Moshe. (The word "malachei" — "My angel" — can be rearranged to read "Michael,") Moshe refused to accept the angel Michael and insisted that Hashem Himself accompany the Jewish people (Rashi 33:15).

In Parshat Tetzaveh, there are 101 pesukim and the siman (mnemonic) to remember this is the word Michael, which has the numerical value of 101. The Parshah in which there is a remez (hint) for Michael does not mention the name of Moshe because Moshe refused to go together with Michael.

I had already learned this much until today...

But then I realized another angle when I heard a Dvar Torah which tied Purim to todays Parasha. Although Purim is still many days away we are still in Adar Rishon, and the sages explain that we still should increase our joy in Adar Rishon, and rejoice in Purim Katan...

We know one of the lessons of the Megillah Esther is that although Hashems name is absent from the Megillah that we should always see Hashems hand in history, and especially in the divine providence for the Jewish people, who still persist despite the persecution at the hands of the nations for thousands of years.

To bind together the ideas of the hidden hand of Hashem and the hidden name of Moses in the Parasha Tetzaveh one needs to employ a gematria technique which involves spelling out the letters in the name. In the case of Moses we have the following:

Mem Shin Heh

Now if we spell out the letters it is:

Mem  = Mem Mem
Shin = Shin Yud Nun
Heh  = Heh Aleph

Now if we subtract the name Moshe from the letters we end up with:

[Mem] Mem [Shin] Yud Nun [Heh] Aleph = Mem Yud Nun Aleph

The gematria of that is equal to 101, the number of pesukim in Parasha Tetzaveh.

http://www.torah.org/learning/parsha-insights/5762/tetzaveh.html
The numerical value of the hidden letters of Moshe's name, the mem (40), the yud (10), the nun (50) and the aleph (1), equal 101--which is the number of passukim in this week's parsha. The physical embodiment of Moshe has left us but, looking past the external, the essence of Moshe is very much with us even now.

So once again we see that although it seems that Hashem is absent, and even it seems when Moses is absent, that Hashem is behind everything. That although there are times we cannot see that clearly, and there are times we even doubt ourselves, that there is meaning behind everything.

Moses name is absent because Hashem needed to fufill the promise that the curse of the righteous will come true... But even when fufilling that rule he still provides a hidden way for Moses to appear in the Parasha...

http://torah.org/learning/ravfrand/5770/tetzaveh.html?print=1

http://torah.org/learning/ravfrand/5770/tetzaveh.html

Blot Me Out Of Your Book

Parshas Tezaveh is the only parsha in the last 4 books of Chumash (i.e. - after the birth of Moshe Rabbeinu) in which Moshe's name is not mentioned. Chazal say this was a fulfillment of Moshe's plea to be "wiped out of the Book that You wrote" [Shmos 32:32], which he uttered when pleading for forgiveness on behalf of the Jewish people for the sin of the Golden Calf. The curse of a righteous person comes true, even if it was only uttered conditionally. Thus, Moshe's words, although uttered conditionally (if You do not forgive the people), did not go totally unfulfilled, even though the Jewish people were in fact forgiven. In this small way, Moshe's name WAS erased from G-d's Book, in that his name does not appear in Parshas Tezaveh.