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Learning & Values Kabbalah, Chassidism and Jewish Mysticism Chassidic Thought Essays
The Monkey and the Elephant
Insights into the month of laughter
By Yitzchak Ginsburgh
The Book of Formation is an ancient Kabbalistic text attributed to Abraham and compiled in its final form by the Tannaic sage, Rabbi Akiva. It enumerates the twelve months of the Jewish calendar and explains that each corresponds to a Hebrew letter and a particular sense, or talent, which is controlled by a particular organ of the body.
The month of Adar corresponds to the Hebrew letter ק (kof), its talent is laughter, and the organ that controls this talent is the spleen. Because the Jewish reckoning of months begins with the month of Nisan, in the Jewish year, Adar is considered the twelfth and final month. This means that laughter is the last of all human traits implying a well-known verse from the chapter on the woman of valor (Proverbs 31): "She laughs, awaiting the final days." After all the ups and downs of the entire year, we enter a month of healthy and cathartic laughter.
Indeed, laughter has the power to turn all of the pain, misery, and difficulty of the past year into goodness and joy. At the end of the year, we find ourselves still standing, thank G‑d, and all of the fears that we harbored in our souls (lest so and so happen…) are transformed and sweetened by our laughter. This transformation is alluded to in one of G‑d's connotations: pachad yitzchak, "the Fear of Isaac," which literally means "fear will laugh!" This is the theme of Purim, the holiday that we celebrate in Adar. On Purim we celebrate how all the fears of Haman and his planned genocide of the Jewish people were overturned. The fear turned into laughter. This is why the motto of the month of Adar is "abound with joy." When there is but a little amount of joy, it tends to remain concealed in the heart. But when there is an abundance of joy, it overflows and is expressed as booming laughter.
A Sense of Humor
Because laughter is linked with the ability to turn things around, it is indeed the best medicine —an important ingredient for health. In fact, its healing potential is so great that it can cure even the most difficult of maladies. This link has been recognized since ancient times. In those times, medicine recognized four fluids or "humors" as conducting the various energies—psychological and physical—that determine the body's health: white phlegm was identified with the conduction of joy and spirited behavior, black humor was identified with melancholy and lethargic behavior, green humor was identified with cravings and obsessive behavior, and red humor (or blood) was identified with anger and energetic behavior.
Each of the four humors was believed to have a particular controlling organ in the body. The organ controlling the melancholy and lethargic influence of the black humor was considered the spleen. Yet, as was noted above, in Kabbalah, the spleen is considered the controller of the sense of laughter, indicating that laughter has the power to not only modulate melancholy but, as is revealed in the month of Adar, to completely transform it into joy. In Hebrew, there is a beautiful allusion to this transformative quality of laughter, because the words שחורה מרה ("black humor") have the same exact letters as שמח הרהור ("happy thought").
Seven times every nineteen years, we have two months of Adar on our calendar (this year, the Jewish year 5768, is such a year). The second Adar is in many respects like a second copy of the first Adar as it shares much of the same spiritual essence. Thus, laughter is not only transformative, it is indeed overflowing. Laughter is the only one of the 12 senses that can last an entire 60 days! So on years like the present, we have 60 days of laughter at the end of the year.
What is the significance of the number 60? With respect to many laws regarding quantities (particularly dietary laws), the Torah prescribes that a 60:1 ratio is a nullifying ratio. Likewise, 60 days of laughter have the power to nullify and sweeten any bitter taste leftover in our mouths from the preceding year.
Of Monkeys and Elephants
The letter with which the month of Adar was created is ק, pronounced kof.
First the elephant's trunk is threaded through the eyelet, then his head, followed by his entire huge body. What a strange thing to imagine!
The literal meaning of the word kof in Hebrew is "monkey." This presents us with another beautiful connection between the month of Adar and laughter. The monkey is without a doubt one of the most entertaining animals and one of the few animals capable of actually smiling and laughing. The Baal Shem Tov once related that the snake strikes fear because it was created from the essence of fear. Likewise, based on this relationship between the monkey and the month of Adar, we can say that the monkey makes us laugh because it was created from the essence of laughter. Chassidic teachings make use of a parable describing a king whose melancholy spirit is lifted by the novelty of a speaking bird. We may surmise that what is uplifting about the bird is its novelty, but as soon as the novelty wears off, so does the birds ability to lift the king's spirit. But a monkey is able to amuse again and again because its essence is one of laughter.
But, the word kof in Hebrew has a second meaning: "the eye of a needle." This second meaning ties our monkey with another wonderful and strange animal: the elephant. In their lengthy discussion of dreams in the ninth chapter of the Talmudic tractate Berachot, the sages provide us with what seems like a very strange example of something that a person cannot spontaneously see in a dream: an elephant being threaded through the eye of a needle. First the elephant's trunk is threaded through the eyelet, then his head, followed by his entire huge body. What a strange thing to imagine. How strange it would be to have such a dream! But, it is entirely possible that if a person concentrates on this strange image during the day, he may come to dream about it at night.
All Things Great...
How can we understand such an absurd image? Everything that the sages say has some meaning though this meaning is not always easy to understand. In this particular case we first have to know what the elephant represents.
There is a beautiful midrash called Perek Shirah (usually translated as "The Song of Creation"). This midrash was written by King David after he finished writing Psalms and documents the various songs continually sung in praise of the Creator by parts of nature like the sky, the earth, the ocean, rivers, etc., and different animals. The song of each creature describes its essence. Perek Shirah also describes the song of the elephant, which is: "How great Your actions are, G‑d!" (Psalms 92:6). The elephant is the biggest (or greatest) animal (on land) and this is a very fitting verse for it.
But, the elephant's song reflects something deeper. In I Chronicles 29:11, the verse the sages explain to be enumerating the seven divine attributes (sefirot), the word "great" refers to the act of Creation itself. Thus, G‑d's greatness—G‑d's great acts that are the essence of what the elephant represents—is identified as His infinite capacity for creation that turns the nothingness into somethingness.
...and Small
Now let us go back and reinterpret the image of an elephant being threaded through the eye of a needle. Now that we know that the elephant represents G‑d's infinity revealed in His power of creation, it follows that the tiny eye of the needle represents G‑d's finite aspect. Threading the elephant through the eyelet therefore represents the embodiment of G‑d's infinity within His finite aspect. This is exactly what our world is: the enclothed reality of G‑d's infinity within finite physical objects.
That people do not see such images in their dreams indicates that realizing this about our reality is so beyond the normal capacity of our minds that even when dreaming the impossible, this does not appear. Indeed, Chassidic teachings maintain that were a person to fully grasp how he is being created at this very moment something from nothing, that person would immediately return to nothingness. Nonetheless, by meditating on the image of the elephant being threaded through the eye of the needle, we can certainly come to the verge of grasping the reality of G‑d's infinity embodying into the limited reality of our physical world—eventually the image may even appear in our dreams.
In modern physics, many elementary particles are considered to fluctuate into and out of reality at every moment
The notion of the needle's eye representing a miniscule, infinitely small passageway, through which reality is infused, is not foreign to modern physics. Indeed, in modern physics, many elementary particles are considered to fluctuate into and out of reality at every moment. Elementary particles are formed from the vacuum of space and then return into it a fleeting moment later. One has only to imagine that the same is true not only at the microscopic level but at the macroscopic level as well.
This is the major tenet of Jewish mystical thought about creation: everything, from the smallest sub-atomic particle to the biggest elephant, is continually moving back and forth from existence to non-existence. In this sense, the eye of the needle is not only the passageway but the essential residue which is always left over and from which everything returns into reality. The essential residue of a human being from which he or she will be recreated in the resurrection of the dead is called the "bone of luez." Amazingly, in Hebrew the words "bone of luez" (עצם הלוז) have the exact same numerical value (248) as "the eye of the needle" (המחט קוף), which is also the numerical value of Abraham (אברהם). Indeed all of reality is considered to have been created through this number 248, which is hinted in Genesis 2:4, the verse beginning the second account of creation.
"Who can dictate to Him what He should do?"
Chassidic philosophy speaks a great deal about the infinite and finite aspects of the Almighty and the interplay between them. One of the most important conclusions is that the finite aspect of G‑d, including our own limited physical reality, are dependent on G‑d's infinite aspect. How so? G‑d's infinite aspect is what makes it possible for Him to reveal His finite aspect in the first place, for thanks to G‑d's omnipotence He is capable of carrying the paradox of a reality that is at one and the same time "outside of Him" yet "part of Him." The most famous phrasing of this paradox is in the form of a question: "Can G‑d create a stone that He cannot lift?" The answer is a paradoxical "yes!" Paradoxical to us, but consistent within G‑d's infinite aspect where the two sides of a paradoxical statement can co-exist simultaneously without nullifying each other.
On our side of the cosmic needle's eye, the "elephant" of infinity does not appear
Carrying this conclusion over to the elephant and the eye of the needle, it follows that the very existence of the eye of the needle, which represents G‑d's finite aspect, originates in the elephant, which represents His infinite aspect. It is as if the elephant creates the eye of the needle and then jumps through it! But the elephant does not emerge from the other side. In other words, on our side of the cosmic needle's eye, we are not openly aware of G‑d's infinite aspect. Everything on our side of the needle's eye seems very limited and very well behaved, fitting within the confines of nature's laws (no elephants jumping through the eyes of a needle on this end!). This is so because the moment that the infinite aspect enters within the finite realm, it is concealed by the limited capacity of the finite realm.1
Still, this is why the image of the elephant threaded through the eye of the needle (and not emerging on the other side) is so powerful. If one cannot come to dream this image, one can at least understand what it means and imagine it in the mind's eye. Imagining such images and their symbolic meaning facilitates the heart's being able to grasp that though G‑d's infinite aspect cannot be seen in a revealed manner in our physical realm, it is nonetheless present and not only present, but continually recreating our space. The heart then begins to experience G‑d's true and total omnipresence within and around everything.
A good sense of humor and a lot of laughter are needed to discuss these topics using such seemingly absurd imagery, yet this is exactly the gift that the month of Adar gives us. The month of Adar's joy originates in our ability to transcend the contraction (or, the concealment) of G‑d's infinite presence and to see that everything is indeed within His total providence.
In Chassidism, this is called the "source entering the space of the light," the source being G‑d's absolute infinite aspect (the ultimate source of His finite aspect) and the space of the light being the finite realm, represented by the eye of the needle.
Rabbi Yitzchak Ginsburgh is founder and director of the Gal Einai Institute and has written more than forty books exploring topics like psychology, education, medicine, politics, mathematics and relationships, through the prism of Kabbalah and numerology.
Artwork by David Brook. David lives in Sydney, Australia, and has been selling his art since he was in high school. He is currently painting and doing web illustrations.
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Anonymous May 8, 2016
Thank you! I can always find exactly what I'm looking for here! Reply
Cheryl Pomer Oak Ridges, ON/Canada November 20, 2011
The Monkey and the Elephant My daughter presented me with a necklace - a string with a little elephant. I became interested in the significance of the elephant in Judaism and came across your story. It comes at a time when I am developing a signature process to help guide oneself in matters of health. This article has provided me with an abundance of information and insight. Having recently returned from a conference where your story and the research presented actually gave clarity to understand and visualize the nature of threading the elephant through the eye of the needle. Thank you it is an article I will keep. Additionally, thank you for the artists contact info. Reply
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