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© 2011 John D. Brey.

There is a Pesach knot not perceived in the peshat not informed by the sod stained with the blood of the Passover lamb; this could be considered Passover lame . . .. In layman's terms, why, for God's sake, does not the Pesach Haggadah remark more on the bloodstained sod which untangles the knot about why all the threads of the Passover narrative are not knotted into a whole-cloth through which a clear meaning could be seen without all the chokabloc obfuscations?

Cut to the chase: since the wearing of the phylacteries are said by Moses to be a worn, and not a worn out, symbol of God's Passover lamb "hovering-over" (pesach) the firstborn Jew to guard him against the “passing-over” (pesach) of the death angel, why does not the Pesach Haggadah tie the Passover lamb which saved the firstborn Jew of the Exodus, to the Passover lamb which saved the firstborn Jew of the Akedah?

Inquiring minds surely know the blood of the Passover lamb, and the circumcised limb, are both said to have been placed on the door in order to appease the death angel at the Passover?[1] Midrash Rabbah Exodus goes so far as to suggest that the blood of the Passover lamb reminds God of the blood of Abraham's circumcision: "Why did God protect them through blood? So that He should remember in their favour the blood of Abraham's circumcision.”[2]

If God remembers the blood of circumcision when he sees the blood of the Passover lamb, then perhaps, since Moses claims the Passover lamb is the primary point of wearing the phylacteries, the wearing of the phylacteries should be connected to the blood of Abraham’s circumcision? After all, that's what God sees when he sees the Passover lamb's blood. ------ And that's what’s supposed to be seen when any Jew dons the "Shaddai" emblazoned phylacteries. ------ And that’s not hard to see since it’s stated that because of the mitzvah of circumcision, Abraham's willingness to obey the mitzvah, God revealed the name "Shaddai" in the first place, which is in his flesh,[3] so to say. The name "Shaddai" is directly connected to the blood of Abraham's circumcision, which is directly connected to the blood of the Passover lamb, which is directly connected to the wearing of the name "Shaddai," when donning the phylacteries.

In Exodus chapter 13, Moses implies that donning the phylacteries represent a memorial to the salvation of the firstborn through the blood of the Passover lamb. This same lamb’s blood was earlier associated with the saving of the firstborn at the Akedah. . . On the peshat level it’s hard to imagine what the phylacteries could possibly have to do with the Passover lamb, or the blood of the Passover lamb, since nothing jumps out as immediately peculiar to a lamb or the blood of a lamb in the symbolism of the phylacteries?[4]

Nevertheless, lamb’s blood is conspicuous both times Jewish firstborn are saved from the thanatotic desires of Hashem’s anointed seraph. At the Akedah, and later at the Passover, the blood of the lamb serves as the surrogate for the blood of the firstborn. And since the Akedah is the full-enactment of Abraham’s earlier ritual circumcision, which ritualizes the death of the firstborn, the relationship between the blood of circumcision and the blood of the lamb, which is remarked on in various midrashim about the two bloods being mixed on the Passover doorpost,  receives its original precedent when the blood of Abraham’s ritual circumcision is understood, at the Akedah, and therefore retroactively, to have represented the surrogate blood of the lamb spilled at the Akedah. Which is to say that the blood of Abraham’s circumcision, which is supposed to represent the blood of the firstborn, ends up instead (retroactively) representing the blood of the lamb (since the lamb, and not Isaac, ends up, cut up, to establish the covenant). The Akedah is the first of two instances where the idea of the blood of the circumcision is intermingled with the idea of the blood of the lamb. And according to the sages both bloods are mixed on the Passover doorpost,[5] even as they’re all mixed up in the circumcision and the Akedah.

In order to pull back the wool[6] to get a closer look at the phylacteries, and understand their association with the blood of the lamb, no clue should be overlooked, least of all the fact that the Name “Shaddai” (shin-dalet-yod, ש ד י) is directly related to the phylacteries. Surely it’s no accident that the name “Shaddai” is first unveiled when the blood of the circumcision is spilled as the pre-Akedah surrogate for the blood of Isaac.[7] Similarly the word “lamb” (shin-heh, ש ה) is first spoken when its blood becomes the surrogate for the speaker (Isaac) at the Akedah.[8]

The shin ש of the name “Shaddai” is literally engraved on the “bayit” ב, or box, which protrudes from the forehead of the phylactery wearer. The dalet ד is formed by means of a knot on the backside of the head (fashioned from the leather strap which holds the shin-bearing box in place). The shin ש and dalet ד together spell "demon" ש ד, such that the head-phylactery appears to represent something akin to the serpent-crown worn by the Jew’s former captors the Egyptians. The shin-bearing box protrudes from the Jew’s forehead in a manner not unlike the head of the cobra that protrudes from the serpentine crown worn by the Egyptian king.

Since the “crown” represents its wearer’s subordination of his thoughts to the thoughts of God, the head augmented by the serpent crown represents the very throne of God, the place where God’s wishes are revealed and transferred from the divine to the human realm. This transference is put into affect through the mediation of the divine-serpent (represented in iconic imagery by the crown, and in anthropomorphic symbolism by the high priest). The serpent’s high priestly mediation of divine thought is coupled with the supreme authority of the human king over his subjects.

In light of the fact that the “box” on the head-phylactery, the “rosh bayit,” signifies a “house,” it’s significant that the house in question is unquestionably the house of the Lord since the rosh bayit (head phylactery) contain Torah scrolls. The connection between the “crown” and the “high priest” (who serves in the house of the Lord) is noteworthy in light of the fact that interpreters of ancient temple symbolism have long envisioned the stone temple (i.e. the “house of the lord”) as an anthropomorphic monument to the divine man, Adam Kadmon (or some other divine anthropos). The “covered” temple (the “head” of the temple structure), which is protected by the crowning appurtenance of the entire temple structure, the holy veil, clearly represents the head of the divine Man cast in stone, so that by hanging the serpentine shatnez between the most holy place and the rest of the temple structure, the imagery of the serpent-crown as a high priestly covering for the head of the divine man receives its symbolic confirmation.[9]

The serpent represents the high priest who mediates between the divine realm, which exists behind the veil, and the mortal realm outside the veil. The serpent-crown on the king’s head fittingly signifies the veil in the temple since the temple veil is constructed of “shatnez,” which is created when wool and linen are interwoven to create a serpentine-fabric the wearing of which is forbidden to all but the high priest.[10] The linen represents the serpent high priest who is  “second in command” to God, while the wool represents the right hand (authority) of the human king who receives the mediation of the high priest concerning the divine realm. [11]

Since linen is the garb of the priest it’s appropriate that the bayit or “box” ב י ת of the head phylactery (the Jewish crown) is engraved with two shin ש ש, which as fate would have it, spell out the Hebrew word “linen.” The same phylactery box that protrudes from the Jewish forehead (like an erect serpent) is also garbed, symbolically, with the linen ש ש of the high priest. One of the shin on the head bayit is four-vaved, and the other three.

According to Rabbi Ginsburgh, the letter beit ב is itself constructed of three vav ו (the top, side, and bottom, all represent the letter vav ו). And since the vav is associated with the curtains of God’s tabernacle, or house, we know that if we add up the three vav that make up the bayit, or beit (which is the box on the head phylactery), with the three vav on the one shin (the shin ש like the ב is constructed of three vav) and the four vav on the second shin, we come up with the same ten curtains (vav) that make up the tabernacle in the desert. And since the curtains of the tabernacle are made of shatnez, a fabric representing the skin of a serpent, it's interesting that the ten vav equal 60 (the vav representing the number 6) like the letter samech ס (numerically 60) which letter, samech, is a pictogram of, and represents, the uroboros biting its own tail ס. The strap on the head phylactery, which is tied in a dalet-knot on the back of the head (so that the shin and the dalet spell "demon") forms a respectable symbol for the uroboros, the serpent of eternity, the samech, which is the serpentine curtain protecting the tabernacle of God, the visible skene of his “house.”

The fact that the head phylactery represents the emblem of a serpentine seraph (a divine high-priest) guarding the way to the Most Holy place  (where the throne of God resides), fails to address the question concerning the symbolism tied up, so to say, in the hand phylactery, worn as it is on the subordinate arm of the one donning the phylactery?

The basic idea is that the subordinate arm is wrapped in a phylactery strap, while a second bayit, or box, is attached above the elbow on the upper part of the arm. A “yod-knot” similar to the “dalet-knot” (on the back of the head phylactery), is tied at the hand bayit (yad bayit) such that it’s commanded that the “yod-knot” must touch the hand bayit. This commanding that the yod-knot touch the hand bayit is an important key in the decipherment of the entire ritual.

Having the yod-knot touch the hand bayit, reveals that the “bayit” itself represents a “yod,” so that letter symbolism and anthropomorphism become intertwined in the ritual of the phylactery. Which is to say that the bayit are black, the knots are black, and the arm is wrapped in the black leather strap. All these elements of the phylactery are made to represent letters written in ink and inscribed on the human body representing the general principle that “Shaddai” is written on the human wearer of the phylactery.

Midrash Tanchuma explains that in a broad sense the head phylactery represents the shin ש, the arm phylactery represents the dalet ד, while the yod י of the Name is represented by the corona revealed at the circumcision.[13] For good or ill, the yod of the name “Shaddai” is written on the body in blood rather than black ink, making the yod the one letter that’s not like the others.

In a more specific sense, it’s clear that if the one letter that’s not like the others, the yod of the circumcision, is eliminated from the picture (for the reason that it’s not like the others, and is covered up during the wearing of the phylacteries), there’s still the yod-knot signifying the hand-bayis as a yod tucked up under the dalet formed when the arm is wrapped up in the black leather strap of the hand phylactery. This yod on the hand phylactery is situated such (under the arm above the bend in the elbow) that rather than representing a freestanding yod (as in the name Shaddai ש ד י), it represents a yod tucked up under the dalet formed when the subordinate arm is bound up tight with the leather strap. But a yod י tucked up under a dalet ד is no longer a dalet ד and a yod י but is instead transformed into the letter heh ה, which is constructed of a yod י covered up by a dalet ד י. The yod and the dalet become ה.

The strap on the hand phylactery is wrapped around the hand in such a manner as to form the letter shin. So that if the circumcision yod is eliminated from the picture, since it’s written in blood rather than ink, and since it’s hidden from sight at all times when the phylactery are donned, it turns out that the shin on the hand, when combined with the rest of the hand phylactery (the dalet and the yod forming a heh), spell the word “lamb” shin-heh ש ה instead of ש ד י, or ש ד. . . Which is to say that in this saying there are now three specific entities associated with the phylactery: Shaddai (ש ד י), Shed (ש ד), and Lamb (ש ה).

The relationship between circumcision blood and the blood of the lamb comes into view in that the word “lamb” ש ה has no blood, and no freestanding yod, while if the dalet is cut, and pulled back (in a blood-ritual like brit milah) . . . to reveal the yod of the circumcision limb, then not only is the word “lamb” ש ה transformed into ש ד י but the reason the yod is formed in blood rather than ink forces itself into the light of day. When the blood of the circumcision limb has had its way with the Passover lamb ש ה, such that the name ש ד י is unveiled for the first time (when the veil ד is rolled back to reveal the mark of circumcision י) all of the primary players of the Passover are seen for the first time in their allotted role.

Which is to say that prior to circumcision, where presumably the unification of higher and lower takes place, and where the bloody yod is revealed for the first time, we have a serpent high priest ruling the head, the head bayis (rosh bayis), and a lamb (subordinate arm) the hand bayis (yad bayis), beneath the head bayis, presenting the serpent priest the source for the sacrificial blood which is taken into the most holy place of the temple. When the blood of the lamb is drawn by the head/high priest, the divine serpent . . . then and only then is the dalet opened and the yod (the mark of God’s presence) comes out from behind the skene of the lambskin such that this bleeding mark of God’s Presence, the bloody yod (the mark of circumcision), is added to the shin of the head phylactery, and the opened dalet of the arm phylactery, spelling out the Name “Shaddai” (head, arm, and corona), which is thus the Name representing the unification of “above” and “below,” of divinity and flesh n’ blood, in the person where this revelations becomes more than mere ritual observation of the component parts.[15]

Crossing the t’s and dotting the i’s, it could appear that the serpent itself is the rosh bayit (“house”) of God,[16] while the lamb of God, the yad bayit, could be considered a secondary residence (unless the yad bayit is primary, and the rosh bayit secondary?). Every point, points in this direction, so to say. Which is to say that imagining the phylactery boxes (bayit) as the home, housing the letter “yod,” makes sense on too many levels to ignore. And too many savvy sages of the past have noted that the letter yod represents the Presence of God, and for too many reasons to be reckoned with . . . . not the least of which is the fact that the letter’s number is ten, like the number of curtains forming the tabernacle (where God’s Presence resides), and the number of sefirot on the tree of life (an emblem of the Presence of God), as well its representation as the number of thorns on the shins which adorn the phylactery-wearer[17] after he’s embellished his body, making it a thorny tree-house, where in prayerful meditation, God is invited to reside.

A student of idle curiosity, or perhaps justified irony, would be quick to note that if the yod is imagined as the symbol of the “Presence” of God, then the yod and the beit tend to be meaningfully tied together in the symbolism, since the head bayit is the letter beit, the “house” while the yod is the Presence residing within this house of the Lord (the yod is represented by the Torah scrolls inside the bayit).

If a bloody cross were imagined on the forehead, beneath the two ink letters (beit-yod), the ones intertwined in the symbolism of the head phylactery, and if these two-fold letters were pulled back to reveal a bloody letter, the ancient tav, the mark of righteousness, then it would become apparent that this tav, this yod, and this beit, represent all the letters needed to spell out the word “beit” ב י ת, and that spelling it out that way tends to justify the idea that the head phylactery is indeed a residence for the mark of the Presence of God, the yod, hidden as it is, beneath the head phylactery, which secondarily covers up the tav.

In the same sense that the yod is covered up by the dalet (forming a heh) when “Shaddai” is transformed into “lamb,” so too, the head phylactery covers up the bloody cross (the ancient tav) as well as the yod (whose Presence is registered on the cross/tav), when the beit descends over the tav while housing the yod. And since Rabbi Ginsburgh reveals to us that the shin represents both a “thorn-bush” and a “flame,” it’s remarkable that the same shin that forms a fiery thorn-bush when the lamb of God is partially revealed to Abraham, and then to Moses, also covers the yod (God’s Presence) when Shaddai is presented symbolically as a lamb, and even when the lamb of God, whose Presence is registered on the bloody tav, is made to reside in a thorny crown as the place of his Shabat rest.
 




[1] Pirke de Rabbi Eliezer, XXIX; Midrash Rabbah, Ex.XVII, 3, XIX, 5; The Zohar, Bo, 2:36a.
[2] Midrash Rabbah, Exodus, XVII, 3.
[3] See Essay, “Shaddai” the Lamb of God.
[4] A wool tallit is made to “hover-over” (pesach) the head of the tefillin wearer during prayers. It’s hypothesized that the tzitzit on the tallit symbolize a time when animal skins (with legs on each corner) were used for a covering, such that the tzitzit represent the legs of the lamb so that the tallit is a lambskin/wool covering “hovering-over” (pesach) the tefillin wearer.
[5] See previous note.
[6] A wool tallit is made to “hover-over” (pesach) the head of the tefillin wearer during prayers. It’s hypothesized that the tzitzit on the tallit symbolize a time when animal skins (with legs on each corner) were used for a covering, such that the tzitzit represent the legs of the lamb so that the tallit is a lambskin/wool covering “hovering-over” (pesach) the tefillin wearer.
[7] The word “Shaddai,” shin-dalet-yod, is first used in the scripture when Abraham takes part in the circumcision.
[8] The word “lamb” shin-heh, is first used when Isaac queries Abraham about where why they don’t have a sacrificial lamb.
[9] See Schwaller de Lubiz, The Temple of Man, or Raphael Patai’s, Man and Temple. Perhaps when the Jew drapes the wool tallit over the head donning the phylactery, he is imitating Moses’ need to cover his own face with a veil hiding the fact that his face had been face-to-face, so to say, with the God who dwells behind the veil, on the throne?
[10] The scholar Margaret Barker claims that: "It is beyond doubt that the priests were angels [saw themselves as representing angels], and this information is more important for understanding the links between Christian Liturgy and its temple antecedents than any amount of historical information about the practical matters of temple organization" The Great High Priest, p. 107-108. In various midrashim its suggested that shatnez glistens like the skin of a serpent. In the same book, Barker states that the high priest alone “wore garments of the same fabric as the veil” (p. 210). Also see Exodus Rabbah, XXXVIII, 8, where the high priest’s garment is compared to garments of God and the angels.
[11] In The Alef-Beit, p. 316, Rabbi Ginsburgh states that the shin represents “`the viceroy’ or `second [to the king]’ (משנה).” Its form is a flame, such that it ably represents the fiery-serpent, or “seraph” who is second in command to Hashem. Some go so far as to consider this angel of the Lord a “second” or “viceroy” YHVH. ------ Although the Hebrew word for "priest," kohen, has unknown etymological roots, in Akkadian it speaks of a "snake charmer." Serpents were often depicted as being used by the gods to guard great wealth, precious stones, or books where secret teachings were held (Ezek. 28:14; Isaiah 14:12; Jer. 49:16). Some suppose a relationship between "Leviathan" and the “Levitical” priests. According to Martin Buber, " . . . the Hebrew word kohanim, which usually means priest, is synonymous, where it describes a secular court office, with `the first at the hand of the king', or with companion, adjutant." ---- Joseph is given a linen robe when he becomes second in command to the Egyptian king (Ginsburgh, The Alef-Beit, p. 48).
[13]  Midrash Tanchuma, Tzav 14 “. . . all circumcised of Yisroel will enter Gan Eiden, for the Holy One, Blessed is He, placed His Name in Yisroel so they may enter Gan Eiden. Which Name and seal has he ingrained in them? Shaddai [shin-dalet-yod]. The shin was placed upon the head; the dalet upon the arm; and, the yod upon the circumcision.”
[14] See Essay, “Shaddai” the Lamb of God.
[15] There’s a true Jew, an actual historical figure, who bled from the thorny crown of yod represented by the head bayis (emblazoned with it’s thorny shin). There’s a true Jew, an actual historical figure, whose hidden power was revealed when his hand was impaled by the thorny addendum to the thorny crown, the hand bayis embellished with its thorny shin . . . a true Jew whose “feet” (or “heel”) so to say, bled out the circumcision blood of the lamb in the actual viewing of the nation of Israel, and the hoary representatives of the Gentile hoards; which is to say that this Jew was not a casual wearer of the name “Shaddai.” For for this wearer of the phylactery, every letter was engraved and emblazoned into flesh and blood, and every damned letter shone out in its naked glory for all the world to see.
In Tishby's, The Wisdom of the Zohar, vol. 3, p. 1188, it says concerning the phylactery: "And a man should adorn himself with them because it is the supernal holy name, as it is written `All the peoples of the earth shall see that the name of the Lord (YHVH) [is called upon you] ' (Deuteronomy 28:10). And whoever puts on this exalted holy crown is called `king on earth,' while the Holy One, blessed be He, is in the firmament. This is the significance of `the king is held in the tresses' (Song of Songs 7:5)."
[16] Exodus 23:21 speaks of God’s name being confined in the angel of the Exodus.
[17] The head phylactery has a four-thorned (yod) shin on one side, and a three-thorned shin on the other side, while the shin formed on the hand phylactery is a standard three yod shin. The combined total of the yod on the phlactery shin is ten, which is the number of the yod, and a number closely associated with God’s residence and Presence.