This weekend we conclude the annual Torah reading cycle with the final parasha, v’Zot haBerakhah. It begins by saying: “This is the blessing with which Moses, the man of God, bade the Israelites farewell before he died. He said: YHWH came from Sinai, and shone upon them from Seir—appearing from Mount Paran, and approaching from Ribeboth-Kodesh; lightning flashing at them from His right.” (Deuteronomy 33:1-2) The three concluding words, esh dat lamo (אש דת למו), are cryptic and mysterious, giving rise to various interpretations and translations.
The first word, esh, is seemingly clear, meaning “fire”. However, in an actual Torah scroll, it is fused with the next word and written as eshdat lamo (אשדת למו). This combined term is more difficult, and can mean “slope“ or “waterfall” or “cascade“, so some translations of the verse say “a fiery stream for His people”. Meanwhile, the word dat later came to mean “law” or “religion” (see Em laMikra on the verse). So, some interpretations translate the phrase as “He gave a fiery law to His people”. Others say God gave the Torah “out of the fire”, or that He gave a “flaming Torah”. Rashi comments here that it refers to the famous mystical teaching that God gave the Torah as “black fire on white fire”.
The Tikkunei Zohar (57b) expands on this fiery Torah theme and first suggests that it’s a Torah of fire because if we don’t fulfil the Torah, God’s fiery wrath comes down upon us, chas v’shalom. This is what led to the destruction of the First and Second Temples, and the exile of the Shekhinah. Later (in 127b), the Tikkunei Zohar has a much deeper discussion. The meaning of that fiery Torah on God’s right side is actually a reference to the “angel of the Torah”, who is always described as God’s “right-hand man”, so to speak. This is, of course, Metatron.
Recall that Metatron is the title given to Hanokh, better known as “Enoch”, the seventh-generation descendant of Adam, who ascended to Heaven after 365 years and was transformed into an angel (Genesis 5:18-24). He was given permission to sit next to God’s throne, on His right, which is why his title is “Metatron”, ie. meta-thronos, in Greek literally meaning the one sitting next to God’s throne. (Recall that Rabbi Elisha ben Avuya saw Metatron sitting enthroned and this led to his heresy, as relayed in the Talmud, Chagigah 14b. For an in-depth discussion on Metatron and the Book of Enoch, see this class.) The Tikkunei Zohar then reveals some incredible new insights:
Turns out, Metatron is actually the same angel as Peniel, presumably the one that wrestled Jacob (Genesis 32:31). The Zohar proves it by pointing out that another common title for Metatron is Sar haPanim, “the Prince of Presence”, or the angel that actually appears as the “face of God” in this world. When Jacob says he saw the face of God, this is obviously not literal, since “you cannot see My face, for no man can see Me and live”. (Exodus 33:20) Rather, Jacob saw the face of Metatron, who is God’s representative on Earth.
The same is true when we say that Moses spoke to God “face-to-face”. Again, this is not literally possible, and the Torah says that God only showed His “back” to Moses (Exodus 33:23). Rather, the “face” is referring to Metatron, who was Moses’ teacher and guide through the Wilderness. (See the Raavad on Sefer Yetzirah, where he says that רבו של משה רבינו מטטרון). When God says He will send His main angel to lead the Israelites through the Wilderness, “to guard you on the way”, and that He placed His name within him (Exodus 23:20-21), the Sages identify this angel as Metatron (Sanhedrin 38b). So, it is Metatron who is Peniel, literally the “face of God” in this world. And it does not stop there.
We know there is another angel called Raziel, literally “secrets of God”, entrusted with the loftiest divine information and mystical wisdom. The Zohar here says Raziel is also Metatron! After all, as Enoch, he was the first to teach mankind the secrets of Torah—hence his very name Hanokh, which means “education“ or “educator”. He is described as history’s first scribe, first teacher, first philosopher and scientist (see Jubilees 4:21-22). Fittingly, when he became an angel, he was entrusted with all of the Torah’s secrets, and reveals mystical secrets to later prophets and sages.
As the revealer of this great light, Metatron is also called Uriel, “light of God”. The Tikkunei Zohar points out that raz (רז) and or (אור) have the same gematria (207), for the secrets of Torah are divine light. And thus, the angelic names Raziel (רזיאל) and Uriel (אוריאל) also have the same gematria (248), for they are the same angel. We are then told that this number 248 is also the value of “Abraham” (אברהם), for he was the first to teach of the Torah’s mitzvot. Recall that the Torah has 248 positive mitzvot (things to do), and 365 negative mitzvot (things to simply abstain from). So, there are 248 precepts to actually fulfil practically. Abraham was the first to receive and fulfil such mitzvot, including circumcision. And the Heavenly messenger and teacher and conduit of these laws is Metatron, ie. Uriel/Raziel, hence the 248 value. (III Enoch 48 says that Metatron has 70 names altogether, including Yophiel, Dibburiel, and Tumiel. Note also that Enoch lived 365 years on Earth, corresponding to the 365 negative commandments.)
As we know, Metatron served as guide and protector of Israel in the Wilderness. He is the “guardian of the Torah”, and it is the fiery Torah that protects us, as our Sages teach that those who are immersed in Torah learning and mitzvot are spared the flames of Gehinnom, since they themselves become fire, like a “fire salamander” (Chagigah 27a). Metatron, on God’s right, is the revealer of “fiery Torah” (note that Uriel also means “fire of God” in Aramaic), which is our fiery defence. Hashem sent his fiery angel lamo, to His people, as a guardian angel. Thus, there is a protective quality associated with Metatron, and with the fiery Torah phrase esh dat lamo. In fact, the initials of this phrase make one of the 72 special three-letter names of God, אלד. (One commonly finds this three-letter sequence on modern “Kabbalah jewellery” and pendants.) This connects to an interesting teaching of the Baal Shem Tov.
The 72 Names of God
Adele the Prophetess
The Baal Shem Tov (Rabbi Israel ben Eliezer, c. 1698-1760, the “Besht”) is best known as the founder of Hasidism. When his daughter and first child was born, he named her “Adele” (sometimes spelled Udel, Odel, or Aidel). The Baal Shem Tov’s Hasidim were astonished by this name choice. Presumably, this was a German name (meaning “noble”), and the Hasidim expected something more traditionally Jewish. The Besht explained that it was indeed a holy name, derived from those same mysterious words in our parasha, esh dat lamo, the initials of which spell “Adele” (אדל), and that also make up one of the holy 72 three-letter names of God. The Besht predicted that the girl would go on to be a great Jewish woman, and his prediction came true.
Adele (c. 1720-1797) grew up learning with her father, and became a bona fide Hasid in her own right. In fact, she was known to work miracles, too, and was recognized as having ruach hakodesh, for which she was sometimes called Adele haNeviah, “Adele the Prophetess”. She has also been called the “First Lady of Hasidism”, as she played a key role in the early years of the movement. Her eldest son, Moshe Chaim Ephraim, wrote the famed text Degel Machaneh Ephraim, while her second son Boruch helped launch the Hasidic movement from its first “capital city” of Medzhibuzh. Her daughter Faiga was the mother of Rebbe Nachman of Breslov (1772-1810). And Rebbe Nachman went on to name his own daughter Adele after his grandmother.
In one well-known story, the Baal Shem Tov attempted to make aliyah (and thereby bring about the Geulah). He took his two children with him: Adele, and her much younger brother Tzvi (who also served as the Besht’s scribe). Their ship made a stop in Istanbul, where the captain abandoned them, not long before Pesach. Stranded and penniless, they were hungry and alone until Adele discovered a wealthy Polish Jew who took care of them. They conducted the Pesach seder in his home. During chol hamoed, the Besht and his kids boarded another ship for the Holy Land. The ship hit a wild storm at sea, and at one point Adele was lurched into the raging waters. She was miraculously saved. The Besht reasoned that he is not meant to go to Israel—perhaps the time for the Final Redemption had not yet come. The family headed back to Europe.
Adele got married to a young man named Yechiel Michel (known as “the German”, Der Deitchel, or HaAshkenazi). The two made a living selling shoes, but struggled to have children at first. The story goes that one Simchat Torah, or perhaps during a party after Yom Kippur, the Hasidim were dancing and one of them had terribly torn shoes. She offered him a new pair in exchange for a berakhah to have children. The deal went through beneficially for both sides, and Adele soon had her first child. This ties right back to Metatron.
The Midrash says that Metatron, as Hanokh, originally worked as a shoemaker. “With each stitch he would say barukh shem kevod malkhuto l’olam va’ed, a verse with the power to unify and connect all the Heavenly Palaces.” (Midrash Talpiot, Letter Chet) In this merit, he rose to the highest levels and was eventually crowned and enthroned in Heaven. The “crown” of God, Keter (כתר), has a value of 620 representing the 620 pillars of light and the 620 mitzvot of the Torah (613 for Israel and 7 for Noahides), of which Metatron is the guardian (being both Uriel, “God’s light”, and Raziel, “God’s secrets”). And Metatron is alluded to by those same three letters that make up Adele’s name, the fire on the right hand of God, esh dat lamo. More amazingly, the milui of these letters (אל״ף דל״ת לאמ״ד) is 620!
Lastly, Metatron is also linked to the name of God El-Shaddai (אל שדי). In fact, it is well-known that the value of “Metatron” (מטטרון) is 314, like Shaddai. We find that within the name El-Shaddai are those same three letters aleph, dalet, lamed. The remaining letters spell shai (שי), the special “gift” of 310 worlds that Hashem will give to each righteous person in the World to Come (Uktzin 3:12). When we all eventually ascend Heavenward, as did Metatron, and receive our Heavenly portion, it will consist of shai olamot (or yesh olamot), 310 worlds to explore and delight in. May we all merit to attain these worlds.
Chag sameach!
Sukkot Learning Resources:
Secrets of Sukkot (Video)
Mysteries of Shemini Atzeret & Simchat Torah
Medicinal Properties of Arba’at haMinim
Ushpizin & Anti-Ushpizin