Parshat Naso, as you know, is the longest single parsha in the Torah. In most years, Naso follows Shavuot, which is appropriate – once we receive the Torah, the next thing is to dive straight in and begin reading the longest parsha in the Torah.
There are 176 pesukim in Parshat Naso. An interesting thing is that if we compare the number 176 to other texts, we find that the longest masechet in the Gemara is Bava Batra, which has 176 pages. The longest psalm in Tehillim (119) also has 176 pesukim.
This is hinted to by the word Naso. The letter “nun” is the first letter in parshat Naso. The letter sin (or shin) is the first perek in Bava Batra Shutafin, and the aleph is the first letter in the first pasuk of Tehillim (119) – Ashrei temimei darech, etc.
In other words, the number 176 is indicative of “the longest” of some specific thing.
The sefer Kav HaYashar (102) says that the purpose of the number 176 is to uproot something called Klipat Tzfo, the shrapnel of Tzfo which is 176 in gematria.
In order to understand this, we need to backtrack to Parshat Vayishlach (Bereshit 36:15-16). At the end of the parsha, the Torah lists the descendants of Eisav – “These are the chieftains of the sons of Eisav, the sons of Eliphaz, the firstborn of Eisav – chieftains Teiman, Omar, Tzfo, Knaz. Chieftains Korach, Ga’atam, Amalek, these are the chieftains of Eliphaz in the land of Edom, these are the sons of Ada.”
In other words, Tzfo was one of the sons/chieftains descended from Eliphaz, the son of Eisav. We are more familiar with the fact that Eliphaz was the father of Amalek. Who was this Tzfo character?
The Ramban (Bereshit 49:31) fills us in with the details. The Ramban quotes Sefer Yosifun, written by Yosef Ben Gurion (a few millennia before the other Ben Gurion). When Yosef came to bury Yaakov in Me’arat HaMachpelah, we know (Sota 13a) that Eisav objected, claiming that he was the firstborn of Yitzchak and not Yaakov. Everyone knows the story how Chushim, the son of Dan, decapitated Eisav, and Eisav’s head rolled into Me’arat HaMachpelah and landed in Yitzchak’s lap. The Ramban fills us in on a few more of the details. It did not end with the decapitation of Eisav.
Eliphaz’s son Tzfo and his band of thugs then attacked the burial party and waged war on them in an attempt to prevent them from burying Yaakov. When Yosef left Egypt to bury Yaakov, the pasuk (Bereshit 50:9) says that he took armed forces with him. Why did Yosef need armed forces to bury Yaakov? Because he knew that he was going to have trouble from Eisav and his sons.
Yosef and his forces defeated and captured Tzfo and imprisoned him in Egypt. Many years later, when Yosef died, Tzfo escaped and fled to a country called “Kanfnaya” (which is now Poland) and later became the first king of Italy and Rome. In other words, the Roman Empire is descended from Tzfo.
Sefer Kav HaYashar (above) says that Tzfo was the most powerful of all the descendants of Eisav and the first of the kings of the seventy nations of the world. The word Tzfo in gematria is “Polin” (Poland in Hebrew) and this is why the kingdom of Edom is known as “Metropolin” – a conglomeration of 70 nations.
We know that when Adam and Chava sinned with the Tree of Knowledge they created something called klipot – which can perhaps be translated as shrapnel – Adam HaRishon’s neshama was shattered into 288 shards from the “explosion” of this cataclysmic sin. Before the Geulah can arrive, all these 288 klipot need to be repaired according to the Sifrei Kabbalah.
The Ari, z”l, says that when Am Yisrael left Egypt, 202 of these klipot were repaired when the Erev Rav accompanied them. Rav (resh bet) in gematria is 202. The most damaging and enduring of all these klipot is called Tzfo. It was a direct consequence of the sin of Chava and Adam.
The gematria of Tzfo is four times the word Dam (blood) referring to the four exiles, of which Edom is the longest.
Tzfo harbors some of the worst disasters to befall Am Yisrael. The gematria of Tzfo is “Etz gavoha” – referring to Haman. How high was the tree? 50 amah. The gematria of Tzfo (176) + 50 = 226, which is the gematria of Babi Yar. Sefer Kav HaYashar also brings other gematria hints to the massacre of Khmelnytsky, who slaughtered between 40,000-50,000 Jews in Poland, during the years 1648-1649.
Kohelet (7:14) says that when Hashem creates something, at the same time, He creates its diametric opposite. Parshat Naso, with the magic number 176, harbors both the dread of exile, but also the hope of redemption.
Am Yisrael are currently in the midst of one of our worst crises ever in history. However, the darkness of the pit also conceals … the spark of hope.
Just as Hashem created Tzfo, 176, the longest parsha, the longest masechet in the Gemara, the longest perek in Tehillim, the longest and most severe exile… He also created its counterpart – Tzuf.
Tzuf is the birth and burial place of Shmuel HaNavi, the prophet who anointed the Mashiach ben David. Our prophets are also called tzofim. They spread before us a roadmap – the way history is going to play out. They also pinpointed for us the turning point at which this will occur – when we reconnect with Hashem.
Our parsha ends with the inauguration of the Mishkan and the reestablishment of our direct link with Hashem. This is the roadmap.
Parshat HaShavua Trivia Question: How long after the Exodus do the events in Parshat Bamidbar take place?
Answer to Last Week’s Trivia Question: What color was the extra covering on the Shulchan only and not on the other vessels? Tola’at Shani – red (Bamidbar 4:8).
