HOSHANOT

COMMENTARY 

BY 

RAV AVIGES

on 

First & Second day

of the HOCHANOT

TISHRI 5778 - SEPT 2017



About Rav Aviges:

In addition to being Rav 
and Dayan, he wrote 
and published numerous 
books in Hebrew, the most 

famous being Nahala Bli 
Metsarim (commentary on 
the Haggadah and halahot 
of Pesach) and Imrei Ech.

He studied at Gateshead in 
England, Slabodka in Israel, 
Lakewood in the United 
States and now at Mesivta 
Tiferes Yerushalayim (MTJ) 
in Manhattan (Yeshiva led 
by Rabbi David Feinstein).

He was also a rabbi in 
Venice in the 1990s.

He is also currently the Rav of the 

Long Island Sephardic 
Center in Great Neck.

www.liscenter.org 

Rav Aviges also gives weekly 
classes in French at the 

Magen David Synagogue in 
Manhattan every Tuesday night 
liloui nishmat Thierry Saada zÕl. 

Class starts at 7:30 pm.

To know more connect to:

https://www.facebook.
com/groups/ravaviges or

https://sites.google.
com/site/chiouraviges/



6 for after the destruction of the Temple, the 
Torah brings atonement as the altar once did.

7 Since each stanza of the prayer is 
accompanied by the word hoshana, these 
prayers are referred to as Hoshanot.

About Hoshanot:

When: We do Hoshanot every day of Sukkot 
as part of the morning services (see below 
for Shabbat). Many, including Chabad, 
do the Hoshanot right after the Hallel 
prayers; others do it either after the reading 
of the Torah or after the Musaf prayer.

How: First, a Torah scroll is taken from 
the ark, which remains open during the 
Hoshanot prayers. The Torah scroll is 
brought to the bimah so that the chazan 
(cantor) and the congregation can 
make a circuit around the bimah and 
the Torah while carrying the Four Kinds.

We hold the lulav and etrog together and 
press them against our heart. (If you donÕt 
have a set of your own, the best thing to do 
is to borrow from someone who has already 
circled the bimah, since there is a difference 
of opinion whether you may circle without a 
lulav and etrog in hand 8 But regardless of 
whether or not you circle around the bimah 
(make sure to at least borrow a set of Four 
Kinds to recite the blessing over them.)

INTRODUCTION ON HOSHANOT

Hoshanot (derived from the words 
hosha naÑÒbring us salvation, pleaseÓ) 
1: the special prayers recited each day 
of Sukkot while holding the lulav and 
etrog. 2: the willow branches customarily 
used to beat the ground on the seventh 
day of Sukkot, Hoshana Rabbah.

How did these unique customs develop?

In Temple times, in addition to the mitzvah 
of dwelling in a sukkah and taking the Four 
Kinds each day of Sukkot, the priests would 
Òplace willow branches alongside the altar, 
with the heads of the willow branches bent 
over the altarÓ to add joy to the holiday. 1 
The priests would then sound the shofar, 
circle the altar once, and say, Ana Hashem 
hoshiah na. Anah Hashem hatzlichah na 
(ÒPlease, G d, bring us salvation. Please, 
G d, bring us successÓ). 2 On the last day 
of Sukkot, known as Hoshana Rabbah, Òthe 
Great Hoshana,Ó the priests would circle 
the altar seven times. 3 The practice of 
this ceremony in the actual Temple is part of 
the oral law that was transmitted to Moses 
at Mount Sinai. 4 The later prophets 
instituted that the Hoshanot ceremony 
should be observed elsewhere as well, and 
this is done until this very day. 5 Instead 
of circling the altar, Jews in synagogues 
around the world circle a Torah scroll held 
near the bimah (Torah reading table),



SAVE NOWÕ. (me and you save now) BUT 
ON The seventh THEY WENT ROUND 
THE ALTAR SEVEN TIMES. WHEN13 THEY 
DEPARTED, WHAT DID THEY SAY? THINE, 
O ALTAR, IS THE BEAUTY!

R. ELIEZER SAID, [THEY WERE SAYING, TO 
THE LORD AND TO THEE, O ALTAR, TO THE 
LORD AND TO THEE, O ALTARÕ.Ó 

According to Rabbi Yehudah opinion, during 
the Hoshanot, we shoul say Òani vahoÕÕ save 
now!, which mean Òme and he save nowÓ. 
The vocable Òani vahoÓ is composed of 2 of 
the 72 names of God, namely, the first one 
and the 36th, the first and the middle. (Rashi)

Today, we follow the opinion of Rabbi Yehudah 
and we say each day of the hoshanot Òani 
vaho hoshaanaÓ, Òme and he save nowÓ. We 
ask hashem to save us for his own sake. 

This prayer is based the idea that 
the shechina suffers when Jews 
or humans suffer. The verse says :

................. .............. ........ ................ ............. . ............

When he calls on Me, I will answer him; I 
will be with him in distress; I will rescue him 
and make him honored; Ò (Tehilim 91 15) or

............ ........ ........... .... ]....[ .. . ................ 
. ........ ..... .............. .............

INTRODUCTION ON HOSHANOT

The chazan says the following four lines 
out loud, and the congregation repeats 
after him:

Please save, for Your sake, our G d, 
please save!

Please save, for Your sake, our Creator, 
please save!

Please save, for Your sake, our Redeemer, 
please save!

Please save, for Your sake, our Attender, 
please save!

We then circle the bimah counterclockwise 
9 and recite the specific Hoshanot liturgy 
for the respective day of the festival, found 
in the siddur.

The general meaning of the Hoshanot

The Mishnah in the tractate of sukkah 45a 
states ÒEVERY DAY THEY WENT ROUND 
THE ALTAR ONCE, SAYING, ÔWE BESEECH 
you, O LORD, SAVE NOW, WE BESEECH you 
O LORD, MAKE US NOW TO PROSPERÕ.9 R. 
JUDAH SAID, [THEY WERE SAYING],10 ÔANI 
WAHO,11 THINE, O ALTAR, IS THE BEAUTY!Õ 
R. ELIEZER SAID, [THEY WERE SAYING,] 
ÔTO THE LORD AND TO THEE, O ALTAR, TO 
THE LORD AND TO THEE, O ALTARÕ.Ó



INTRODUCTION ON HOSHANOT

ÒIn all their troubles He was troubled, 
And the angel of His Presence 
delivered them.Ó Isaiah (63, 9).

However, according to Jewish tradition, it 
is not conceivable to believe that God has 
feeling like humans or animals, therefore, 
the Maharal of Prague (Beer Hagolah Beer 
4, chapter 7), explains this concept as follow: 

Hashem connect to this world through two 
different channels. The first one, is through 
the nature and the angels, God reveals his 
majesty through the creation of the universe. 
The second way God reveals his majesty in 
this world, is through human actions; when 
a human performs a Mitswah, gives charity, 
or helps his friend or his family members, 
he is also revealing the glory of God in the 
world. The verses previously cited teach us, 
that there is a connection between the two 
paths. If the Jews are rich and powerful, 
Hashem will show his glory through nature 
in a glorious and powerful way, if the jews 
are behaving on a high spiritual level 
hashem will show his glory through nature 
in a way that tends to uplift even more the 
spirituality of the mankind. But if the jews 
are poors or weak physically, God will 
reveal himself in the world through nature 
in a weak or hidden way, and if the jews are 
spiritually low, Hashem will reveals himself 
through the universe in a way that his 
spirituality is hidden and hard to apprehend.

The spiritual and physical level of the jews 
are directly connected to the spiritual and 
physical level that Hashem reveals himself 
through nature. The first time God revealed 
himself to moses it was through a small 
bush where a fire was not burning anything 
because the Jews were low spiritally and 
physically at the time. But on the second 
occurence he revealed himself on a 
montain through a huge fire because the 
Jews were strong physically and spiritually.

The main purpose of Sukkot is to connect 
the spiritual and physical blessings that 
the jews got during Roch Hachana and 
Yom Kippur so Hashem can reveals 
himself through nature. It is for this reason 
that on Sukkot we pray for all the nations 
of the world, and we shake the loulav 
and go into the soukah, trying to bound 
spiritually with the wild and vegetal world.

The Hoshanot have a key role in this purpose.

In the Torah, the number seven is always 
mentioned in relation with the Earth. There 
are seven years in the Shemitah, there 
are seven Chemitot in a Jubilee. Even 
the counting of the 49 days of the Omer 
is connected with the Earth: the first day 
of the Omer was the beginning of the 
harvest, (it was forbiden to begin harvesting 
before this day,) and Shavouot, is the first 
day the Jews were allowed to bring an 
offering from the new crops. The Shabbat, 
the seventh day is also connected to the 



INTRODUCTION ON HOSHANOT

earth, because all of the forbidden works 
are connected to the way we transform or 
manipulate minerals or vegetals. The verse 
says ÒSix days you shall work, but on the 
seventh day you shall cease from labor; 
you shall cease from labor even at plowing 
time and harvest timeÕÕ . (Exodus 34) 

The meaning of this connection is 
obvious, the world was created in 
seven days, so the spiritual connection 
the jews can establish with nature is 
always channeled by the number 7.

On a deeper level, the Torah believe 
that there is no natural unity in time. 
Each day, each hour, has a different 
Mazal, and a different nature. .

There is only unity in space, all the place of 
the Universe are interconnected and united. 
The discontinuity of time, is contradictory 
to the unity of god. If time elapses, it 
means that time has a beginning and a 
end, meaning that whatever happened 
in the past happened and does not exist 
anymore, this is contradictory to GodÕs 
Eternity. Time can find unity only when 
it connects to space and when we are 
connecting time to space through the 
number seven then time finds his unity by 
becoming a cycle. That is what we are 
trying to accomplish during the Hoshanot.

In this booklet, I will try explain how the text of 
the sefaradic Hoshanot relates to this idea.

¥¥¥



Chapter 1

The first day of Sukkot

The spiritual Sunday.

Tractate Shabbat 156

ÒIT WAS RECORDED IN R. JOSHUA B. 
LEVIÕS NOTEBOOK: HE WHO [IS BORN] ON 
THE FIRST DAY OF THE SHALL BE A MAN 
WITHOUT ONE [THING] IN HIM Ñ WHAT 
DOES ÔWITHOUT ONE [THING] IN HIMÕ 
MEAN? SHALL WE SAY, WITHOUT ONE 
VIRTUE?16 SURELY R. ASHI SAID: I WAS 
BORN ON THE FIRST DAY OF THE WEEK! 
HENCE IT MUST SURELY MEAN, ONE VICE. 
BUT SURELY R. ASHI SAID: I AND DIMI B. 
KAKUZTA WERE BORN ON THE FIRST DAY 
OF THE WEEK: I AM A KING17 AND HE IS 
THE CAPTAIN OF THIEVES!18 Ñ RATHER 
IT MEANS EITHER COMPLETELY VIRTUOUS 
OR COMPLETELY WICKED.19 [WHAT IS THE 
REASON? BECAUSE LIGHT AND DARKNESS 
WERE CREATED ON THAT DAY.]Ó

HE WHO IS BORN UNDER THE 
CONSTELLATION OF THE SUN27 WILL BE A 
DISTINGUISHED28 MAN: HE WILL EAT AND 
DRINK OF HIS OWN AND HIS SECRETS WILL 
LIE UNCOVERED; IF A THIEF, HE WILL HAVE 
NO SUCCESS.

The first day of the creation is associated 
with Abraham and the Sun.

Those who are born on the first day are 
the leaders, the ones who begin or end 
an era. Rav Ashi is the one who ended 
the compilation of the Talmud. With him 
an old era end, and a new one begin. It is 
the same with Avraham Avinou. But in the 
Talmud we just quoted, there is an apparent 
contradiction, the Talmud says that one who 

the ÒSun MazalÓ, will have no success on 
stealing, but the Talmud states earlier that 
Dimi Ben Kakuza the captain of the thieves 
was born on Sunday? The answer is that 
even if Dimi Ben Kakuza was a thief, he 
did not brake the rules, he made the rules. 
The mere fact that he was a Chief and a 
captain, shows, that even when he was 
stealing he was following rules, even if they 
were his own rules, he still considered as 
he would be eating and drinking on his own. 

The nature of the first day, is to end a 
previous state and planting the seeds 
and the rules for the birth of a new one. 

The Talmud states that the ones who 
are born on the first day are either 
completely virtuous or completely wicked.

The first day is a time to begin something 
new and if by doing so someone breaks 
completely the connection with the past, he 
is completely wicked, like the chief of the 
thieves, Ben Kakuza that began a new era 
erasing completely the past, but if someone 
is able to begin something new by staying 
connected to the past then he is completely 
righteous like Rav Ashi, who ended the 
Talmud, beginning the era of the Savuraim. 
(the Savuraim had a different approach 
on Halacha than the Talmudists, but they 
stayed connected to their tradition.).



HOCHANOT FIRST DAY

Source: Mahzor Soucot



Commentary on first chapter.

I will now try to comment on the text of the 
Hoshaanot.

... .. ...

ÒPlease unique godÓ

This stanza is borrowed from a verse in 
Malakhi (chapter 2 verse 10), the complete 
verse states ÒHave we not all one Father? 
Did not one God create us? Why do we 
break faith with one another, profaning the 
covenant of our ancestors?Ó. In this verse 
the Prophet is rebuking the Jews who 
would get married to non-Jewish women. 
He condemned their behavior, not because 
they transgressed God commandment, 
but because they were betraying their own 
family, and their ancestors. To build his 
own family, is starting something new, but it 
has to be connected to the past and to the 
tradition in order to be right.

... ....

ÒAnd his name is uniqueÓ

This stanza refers to a verse in Zeharia 14:9 
ÒAnd the LORD shall be king over all the 
earth; in that day there shall be one LORD 
with one name. Ò this verse speak about the 
Messiah. When the messiah will come the 
name of God will change, he will have only 
one name, until it happens he will bear two 
names. The Talmud explains (Pesahim 50)

Ò AND HIS NAME ONEÕ: WHAT DOES ÔONEÕ 
MEAN? IS THEN NOW HIS NAME NOT ONE? 
Ñ SAID R. NAHMAN B. ISAAC; NOT LIKE 
THIS WORLD IS THE FUTURE WORLD. [IN] 
THIS WORLD [HIS NAME] IS WRITTEN WITH 
A YOD HE25 AND READ AS ALEF DALETH;26 
BUT IN THE FUTURE WORLD IT SHALL 
ALL BE ONE: IT SHALL BE WRITTEN WITH 
YOD HE AND READ AS YOD HE.Ó Until the 
Messiah come we will pronounce the 
name of God a certain way, and at his 
coming we will pronounce it an other way. 
This is a massive change! but even if the 
Messiah will start a new era, he will still be 
connected to previous one, because, even 
today we pronounce the name the same 
way it will be pronounced in the future.

.... ... ...... ...

And who can answer him anything since 
he is one?

This stanza refers to a verse in Job (23 
13): ÒHe is one; who can dissuade Him? 
Whatever He desires, He doesÓ. In this 
verse job is trying to explain that making 
Teshuvah and changing his behavior 
cannot remove the decrees of God, if 
God is unique and immutable, he cannot 
change his mind, even if Man does 
Teshuvah!, Job is mistaking, because even 
if Hashem is eternal; his decrees are not, 
the decrees of God have to be renewed 
every year, or in some case every day, so 
a change for the better is always possible. 



Chapter 1

Even on an immutable perspective there 
is always room for renewal and new 
beginnings.

.... ...... .... .... ...

He called the sky and the earth and they 
stood like one

This refers to a verse in Isaiah 48 Ò My 
own hand founded the earth, My right hand 
spread out the skies. I call unto them, let 
them stand upÓ. The Rav David Kimhi zaÓl 
explains that even when Hashem was done 
creating Heaven and Earth, he had to call 
on them constantly to force them to stay 
together, without this constant calling, the 
Earth would go under and heaven would fly 
away, separating one from each other. This 
shows the same idea that even if the world 
is constantly following the same rules, it 
still need to be renewed at every moment. 
Every moment can be a day one of some 
sort. 

... ... ...... .......

ÔÔSave us through the festivity of day oneÕÕ

... .... .... .. ... .. .... ...

ÔÔ Please remember the father who inherited 
the land and become one.ÕÕ

This refers to a verse in Isaiah 51 ÒLook 
back to Abraham your father And to Sarah 
who brought you forth. For he was only one 
when I called him, But I blessed him and

made him many.Ó This verse is problematic 
because it states towards the end that 
Avraham was by himself, ÔÔhe was oneÕÕ, but 
how come the verse starts by saying that 
he was with Sarah? and if at the beginning 
Avraham was with Sarah, he was not one! 
The talmud (Yebamot 64), explains, that 
in the beginning Avraham and Sarah were 
one, Sarah had her vagina covered and 
Avraham had his penis covered to use 
the Talmud terms. They where like twin 
brothers or twin sisters, that is why they 
were not able to conceive Children. To be 
able to have children Avraham and Sarah 
had to separate from each other, that 
happened when Avraham married Hagar. 
By this separation Avraham and Sarah 
became less depending on each other, they 
became autonomous, each of them became 
a ÒOneÓ. Only after that they were able to 
conceive children. There is no renewal 
possible, without some breaking from the 
past or some kind of loneliness.

... .... ... .. ....... ....

ÔÔ He prepared for the rebellious one hart 
and one way.ÕÕ

This refers to two verses, one in Jeremy 
32 ÒI will give them a single heart and a 
single nature to revere Me for all time, and 
it shall be well with them and their children 
after them.Ó And Ezekiel 11 ÒI will give them 
one heart and put a new spirit in them; I 
will remove the heart of stone from their



Chapter 1

bodies and give them a heart of flesh,Ó 
those two verses speak about Messianic 
times, when Hashem himself will recreate 
the heart of the Jews. The Author here 
compares Abraham to Hashem himself. 
When someone is able to recreate oneself 
and starts a new era, like Avraham did, 
he can be compared to Hashem himself.

... ... ...... ,... ... ... ....

ÔÔFor everyone to call in the name of 
god and serve him under one accordÕÕ

This refers to a verse in Zephaniah (9) 
ÒFor then I will make the peoples pure of 
speech, So that they all invoke the LORD 
by name And serve Him with one accord.Ó. 
The Author here compares Abraham 
to Hashem himself. He is also showing 
that at the end of the day Avraham will 
be successful in his endeavors. Avraham 
wanted all humanity to believe in one God, 
during his lifetime he had a lot of folllowers, 
but after his death, the Midrash says that 
they all returned to idol worshiping. At a first 
glance the life of Avraham could have been 
considered a failure. But as the prophets 
tell us, at the end, the message of Avraham 
will be understood, and all humanity will 
be redeemed, not only the Jews. A real 
renewal is starting a project which is bigger 
than ourself, the realization of a such 
project is often delayed till after our death.

 

..... ,... .... .... ... .... .. .... ... 
... ... ..... ... ... .... .... ......

ÔÔPlease remember the unique son that 
was in the eyes of his father ÒoneÓ, both 
went into thetrial like one, you gave a 
redemption for him one goat.ÕÕ 

In fact, Itzhak was the only legal son of 
Avraham, Ishmael was the son of a slave, 
so technically Ishmael was a slave. But 
Avraham favored Ishmael to itzhak, for him 
itzhak was just ÒoneÓ, like the other one. The 
midrash explain the reason Avraham did 
not like Itzhak very much is partly because 
he foresaw by prophecy that Itshak will 
have a bad son (Essav). At the time of the 
ÒAkeidahÓ, Hashem told Avraham to kill a 
goat instead of his son. The goat always 
symbolizes Essav. Hashem was telling to 
Avraham to focus his hatred towards his 
grand son Essav and not on his son Itzhak, 
who was a Tzadick. Itzhak knew that he will 
give birth to a Racha, that is why he was 
ready to be killed by his father. That why 
the author says Òboth went into the trial like 
oneÓ. Because Itzhak was able to honestly 
foresaw that he had a bad potential in 
himself, and he was ready to accept death 
for it, he was rewarded by giving birth to 
a son who was a pure tzadick (Yaacov). 
Sometimes, renewal consists also on 
understanding something is wrong in us, 
and in being ready to sacrifice this part of us.





Chapter 1

... ... ... ... ..... .. .... ... 
..... .... .... ... .... ..... ...... 
... .. ....

ÔÔ Please remember the father who added a 
portion, he hoped to save the camp ÒoneÓ, 
he assembled his children to accept the 
yoke of heaven with one mouth.ÕÕ

There are two obvious questions on this 
stanza. Jacob gave an extra portion to 
Joseph, by doing so Jacob made the 
brothers jealous of him. So this act was not 
a good dead at a first glance, so why are we 
asking Hashem to remember it? The second 
question is that when Jacob was scared 
of Essav he separated his children in two 
groups, his intent was to save the second 
group, the children of Rachel. The verse 
says ÒJacob was greatly frightened; in his 
anxiety, he divided the people with him, and 
the flocks and herds and camels, into two 
camps, thinking, ÒIf Esau comes to the one 
camp and attacks it, the other camp may 
yet escape.Ó so why does the author say 
that Jacob wanted to save the first group? 
The answer is as follow: Jacob knew that 
joseph was more gifted than his brothers, 
and he knew that the brothers were jealous 
of him already. At this point he could have 
ignored it and continued dealing with all of 
the children the same way, but by doing so 
he will have made the brother even more 
jealous. If you give the same starting point 
to everybody and the same one always 
finishes first, the others will resent it for sure.

 

That is why he decided to make it official 
that josef was the preferred child, like 
that the other brother will accept the 
hierarchy and leave him in peace. People 
are jealous of their coworkers but not 
of the big boss who own the company. 
That is the answer to the first question.

The authors continue by saying that Jacob 
new that the children of Leah were not big 
Tzadikim, so he knew that if Essav will 
try to attack them, there were chances 
that Hashem will not save them. But he 
understood that if he put them in the 
frontline and if they show that they are ready 
to fight and to die to save the other part of 
the family, this merit will save them. And 
that what happened, that what the authors 
says, Òhe hoped to save the first campÓ. 

The Stanza continues Òhe assembled his 
children to accept the yoke of heaven with 
one mouth.Ó With on mouth but not with 
one heart, the brother continued to be 
suspicious of each other until their last day. 
But even so it was a merit for Yaakov that 
even whether his children had resentments 
against each others, there were still able to 
work as a team together. Yaacov is called 
Òthe perfect man,Ó (genesis 25 27) even 
if nothing he accomplished in his life was 
perfect, he was always able to do the most 
of what he had. Someone can renew himself 
by starting a gigantic project, like Avraham 
Avinu, or, like Yaakov just by accepting to 
deal honestly with the situation he is in.

 ¥¥¥



HOCHANOT SECOND DAY

Source: Mahzor Soucot



Chapter 2

The second day of Sukkot 

The second day

The talmud states:

ÔÔHE WHO IS BORN ON THE SECOND DAY OF 
THE WEEK WILL BE BAD-TEMPERED . WHAT 
IS THE REASON? BECAUSE THE WATERS 
WERE DIVIDED THEREON. (DIVISION OR 
DISUNITY IS CAUSED BY BAD TEMPER. . 
RASHI: SO WILL HE BE ESTRANGED FROM 
OTHER PEOPLE (THROUGH HIS TEMPER). 

HE WHO IS BORN UNDER THE MOON WILL 
BE A MAN TO SUFFER EVIL, BUILDING 
AND DEMOLISHING, DEMOLISHING 
AND BUILDING. EATING AND DRINKING 
THAT WHICH IS NOT HIS AND HIS 
SECRETS WILL REMAIN HIDDEN: IF 
A THIEF, HE WILL BE SUCCESSFULÕÕ

The second day is the time of the separation. 
when God created the world he has to 
separate the waters. Part of the waters stayed 
down on Earth and part of the water went 
up in the sky. This separation was difficult, 
because all the waters wanted to go up.

The separation of the waters occurred 
through the creation of Òthe RakiaÓ. The 
Rakia separates the upper waters from the 
lower waters. The Rakia is the frontier who 
separates spirituality from materiality, this 
Rakia is not a clear separation, spirituality 
and materiality are not hermetically 
disconnected. Materiality can become 
spirituality and vice-versa, juste like the lower 
waters evaporate and go up, and the upper 
waters go down through condensation. 
According to Maimonide, the Rakia is 
more a movement than an actual space.

 

The talmud (haguigha 15) recalls ÒOUR 
RABBIS TAUGHT: ONCE R. JOSHUA B. 
HANANIA WAS STANDING ON A STEP ON 
THE TEMPLE MOUNT, AND BEN ZOMA SAW 
HIM AND DID NOT STAND UP BEFORE HIM.4 
SO [R. JOSHUA] SAID TO HIM: WHENCE 
AND WHITHER, BEN ZOMA?5 HE REPLIED: 
I WAS GAZING BETWEEN THE UPPER AND 
THE LOWER WATERS,6 AND THERE IS 
ONLY A BARE THREE FINGERSÕ [BREADTH] 
BETWEEN THEM, FOR IT IS SAID: AND THE 
SPIRIT OF GOD HOVERED OVER THE FACE 
OF THE WATERS7 . LIKE A DOVE WHICH 
HOVERS OVER HER YOUNG WITHOUT 
TOUCHING [THEM].8 THEREUPON R. 
JOSHUA SAID TO HIS DISCIPLES: BEN ZOMA 
IS STILL OUTSIDE.9 SEE NOW, WHEN WAS IT 
THAT ÔTHE SPIRIT OF GOD HOVERED OVER 
THE FACE OF THE WATER? ON THE FIRST 
DAY [OF CREATION]; BUT THE DIVISION 
TOOK PLACE ON THE SECOND DAY, FOR IT 
IS WRITTEN: AND LET IT DIVIDE THE WATERS 
FROM THE WATERS!Õ AND HOW BIG [IS THE 
INTERVAL]? R. AHA B. JACOB SAID, AS A 
HAIRÕS BREADTH; AND THE RABBIS SAID: 
AS [BETWEEN] THE BOARDS OF A LANDING 
BRIDGE. MAR ZUTRA, OR ACCORDING 
TO OTHERS R. ASSI, SAID: AS [BETWEEN] 
TWO CLOAKS SPREAD ONE OVER THE 
OTHER; AND OTHERS SAY, AS [BETWEEN] 
TWO CUPS TILTED ONE OVER THE OTHERÓ

The spiritual world and the material 
world are separated but also intertwined. 
The separation between them is not 
stable. That is why the second days is 
connected to the moon, which is also



Chapter 2 

unstable. it is hard to say if the moon has 
his own light or if it is just reflecting the 
light of the sun. The moon represents 
the blurred space where the law become 
unclear or inapplicable, or meaningless.

The moon is connected to itzhak and to 
king david. The second day represent 
the connection an the separation 
between spirituality and materiality, 
between feelings and intellect.

.... ...... ..... ... .. ...

ÔÔPlease, the one god who embarrass the 
one who says twoÕÕ

This refere to the story of Eliesha Ben 
Avouyah. The talmud relates: ÒAHER 
MUTILATED THE SHOOTS.11 OF HIM 
SCRIPTURE SAYS: SUFFER NOT THY 
MOUTH TO BRING THY FLESH INTO 
GUILT.12 WHAT DOES IT REFER TO? . HE 
SAW THAT PERMISSION WAS GRANTED TO 
METATRON13 TO SIT AND WRITE DOWN14 
THE MERITS OF ISRAEL. SAID HE: IT IS 
TAUGHT AS A TRADITION THAT ON HIGH15 
THERE IS NO SITTING16 AND NO EMULATION, 
AND NO BACK,17 AND NO WEARINESS.18 
PERHAPS, . GOD FORFEND! . THERE 
ARE TWO DIVINITIES! [THEREUPON] THEY 
LED METATRON FORTH, AND PUNISHED 
HIM WITH SIXTY FIERY LASHES,19 SAYING 
TO HIM: WHY DIDST THOU NOT RISE 
BEFORE HIM WHEN THOU DIDST SEE 
HIM? PERMISSION WAS [THEN] GIVEN

 

TO HIM TO STRIKE OUT THE MERITS 
OF AHER. A BATH KOL20 WENT FORTH 
AND SAID: RETURN, YE BACKSLIDING 
CHILDREN21 . EXCEPT AHER.Ó

If God is unique and almighty, it implies 
that there is no absolute good or bad.

Because by the end of the day even the 
bad comes from God. Good or bad are just 
human values. When Elisha Ben Avoyah 
saw the power of Metatron, who is the 
angel that reveals the spiritual presence 
of God through the commandments of the 
Torah, he thought, that was proving that 
there were two Gods, one God of justice 
who punishes the one who does bad or 
rewards the one who does good: Metatron. 
And another God who is completely 
spiritual, that is full of magnanimity and 
merciful, which is above good and evil.

The mistake of Elisha ben avoyah came 
from the fact that he did not comprehend the 
notion of Rakia. There is a lower material 
world, in which good and bad are absolute 
values, and there is a upper world were those 
values do not exist. But you cannot separate 
them, because the realm of spirituality and 
the realm of materiality are intermingled 
and constantly penetrating each other.

That was rabi Akivah sait to him before he 
entered the paradise Ò Four men entered the 
ÔGardenÕ,24 namely, Ben ÔAzzai25 and Ben 
Zoma,26 Aher, and R. Akiba. R. Akiba said



Chapter 2

to them: When ye arrive at the stones 
of pure marble, say not, water, water!Ó. 
To apprehend reality humans need 
imagination, reality and fiction cannot be 
separated from each other.

.... ....... ...... ... ... ....

ÔÔWho created worlds with half of his name, 
with two letters.ÕÕ

In this stanza the authors refers to the 
talmud menahot 29b ÒFOR R. JUDAH THE 
PATRIARCH ASKED R. AMMI, WHAT IS THE 
MEANING OF THE VERSE, TRUST YE IN THE 
LORD FOR EVER; FOR IN YAH THE LORD IS 
AN EVERLASTING ROCK?3 HE REPLIED, IT 
IMPLIES THAT IF ONE PUTS HIS TRUST IN 
THE HOLY ONE, BLESSED BE HE, BEHOLD 
HE IS UNTO HIM AS A REFUGE IN THIS 
WORLD AND IN THE WORLD TO COME. 
THIS, RETORTED THE OTHER, WAS MY 
DIFFICULTY: WHY DOES THE VERSE SAY IN 
YAH AND NOT YAH? THE REASON IS AS WAS 
EXPOUNDED BY R. JUDAH B. R. ILAÕI. [YAH, 
HE SAID,] REFERS TO THE TWO WORLDS 
WHICH THE HOLY ONE, BLESSED BE HE, 
CREATED, ONE WITH THE LETTER HE AND 
THE OTHER WITH THE LETTER YOD. YET 
I DO NOT KNOW WHETHER THE FUTURE 
WORLD WAS CREATED WITH THE YOD 
AND THIS WORLD WITH THE HE OR THIS 
WORLD WITH THE YOD AND THE FUTURE 
WORLD WITH THE HE; BUT SINCE IT IS 
WRITTEN, THESE ARE THE GENERATIONS 
OF THE HEAVEN AND OF THE EARTH 
WHEN THEY WERE CREATED:14 READ 
NOT BE-HIBAREÕAM,15 WHEN THEY WERE 
CREATED, BUT BE-HE BERAÕAM,16 HE 
CREATED THEM WITH THE HE; HENCE 
I MAY SAY THAT THIS WORLD WAS 

 

CREATED WITH THE HE AND THE 
FUTURE WORLD WITH THE YOD. AND 
WHEREFOREWAS THIS WORLD CREATED 
WITH THE HE? - BECAUSE IT IS LIKE AN 
EXEDRA17 AND WHOSOEVER WISHES 
TO GO ASTRAY18 MAY DO SO. AND 
WHEREFORE IS THE [LEFT] LEG [OF THE 
HE] SUSPENDED? - TO INDICATE THAT 
WHOSOEVER REPENTS IS PERMITTED TO 
RE-ENTERÓ. This world was created with the 
letter ÒHehÓ, which indicates a movement 
of rotation going up and down. The Heh 
has two opening, one on the bottom, 
and on the top. In this world people fall, 
but they rise again, and are able to get to 
higher levels, even if after they fall again.

It is through this movement of continuous 
Teshuvah that the Rakia is created and 
that spirituality and materiality connect. 
Good and Evil are not absolute values, 
they depend more on the past of the 
individual.The same action could be a good 
deed for someone and a sin for another 
depending of their background and from 
where they come from. Aher was not 
capable to make teshuvah because he 
wanted to erase his past completely. The 
Yod symbolizes the world to come, it is a 
stable world, that only very few can join.

.... ..... ... ..... ... ...

ÔÔHe created everything for the man and his 
helper, two.ÕÕ

In Hebrew man is spelled ÒichÓ, alef yod 
chin, and woman ÒichaÓ, Alef Chin Heh. 
Basically, both name are composed of 
Alef Chin, the fire, and the letter Yod Heh, 
which are the letters in which Hachem 





.... ..... .. ... ......

ÔÔ He went to a trial with two youngs.ÕÕ

Avraham went to the Akeida with Ishmael 
and Eliezer. According to the Midrash 
Ishmael and Eliezer were righteous 
people at the time, but later themself or 
their descendants became enemies of the 
Jewish people. According to the Midrash, 
Eliezer, was Og the king of Bashan who 
fought against Moshe in Jordan to stop 
him from entering the land of Israel. And 
throughout history the sons of Ishmael 
have slaughtered a tremendous number of 
Jews.The reason of this heatred is jealousy; 
when Abraham went to the Moriah mount, 
he asked them if they saw a light on the 
montain as they did not see anything, they 
were therefore rejected from the Akeida.
from this time, they began to be jealous of 
Itzhak and his descendants. To escape this 
hate throughout history a lot of Jews went 
off the pass of Judaism to assimilate to 
non-jews, but because of this jealousy a lot 
of non-jews tried to convert to Judaism. This 
movement of Jews becoming non-Jews, 
and non- Jews becoming Jews is a sign of 
the circular movement of the Rakia. Rabi 
Akiva was the only human able to go through 
the Rakia and come back, and he was the 
son of converts. Avraham was conscious 
of this phenomenon when he decided 
to bring with him Ishmael and Eliezer.

Chapter 2

created this World and the World to come. 
The man has the Yod, because he is more 
related to the next world, and the woman the 
Heh, the letter of this world, symbolizing the 
cycle, and instability. The same movement 
described in the Rakia, is the movement 
that rhythm the relationship between man 
and woman. This relationship was the 
purpose of the creation of the two worlds, 
because it is through this relationship that 
the spirituality and materiality can connect.

.... .... ...... .......

ÒSave us through the festivity of the two 
daysÕÕ. 

Here we are praying to hashem to save us 
and give us a way to relate to the instability 
of the movement of life. 

.... ...... .. .... ... .. .... ...

ÔÔPlease remember the father who built two 
altars in Beth-El.ÕÕ 

Avraham built two altars in Beth El, the first 
one before he went out from Eretz Israel, to 
Egypt, and the second one when he came 
back from Egypt. When Abraham went to 
Egypt the verse says Ò There was a famine 
in the land, and Abram went down to EgyptÓ, 
when Abraham came back from Egypt the 
verse states Ò From Egypt, Abram went up 
into the NegevÓ. We find here the same 
circular movement, of going down and 
then going up which animates the Rakia.



Chapter 2

.... ..... ..... .. ......

ÔÔAnd he was called from the heaven two 
timesÕÕ

An angel called Avraham to stop him from 
killing his son. But on his own will Avraham 
decided to kill a goat instead of his son. 
After this offering an Angel called him a 
second time, blessing his offspring. The 
verse says ÒThe angel of the LORD called 
to Abraham a second time from heaven, 
and said, ÒBy Myself I swear, the LORD 
declares: Because you have done this and 
have not withheld your son, your favored 
one, will bestow My blessing upon you 
and make your descendants as numerous 
as the stars of heaven and the sands on 
the seashore; and your descendants shall 
seize the gates of their foes.Ó Why did the 
angel give the blessing to avraham only 
after he slaughtered the goat? because a 
blessing can only come down from Heaven 
only if you give something to Heaven. 
That the movement of the Rakia, as long 
as Avraham did not gave something to the 
spiritual world, the spiritual world could not 
send him something physical in exchange.

.... .... ...... .......

ÔÔSave us through the festivity of the two 
daysÕÕ

... .... .. ..... .... .. ....... ....

ÔÔPlease remember the son who activated 
the pity of the father by two wordsÕÕ

When Itzhak was going to the Akeida, Itzhak 
said to his father two sentences according 
to the author and his life was saved only 
because of this two sentences. Those two 
sentences are: ÒFather!Ó And he answered, 
ÒYes, my son.Ó And he said, ÒHere are 
the firestone and the wood; but where is 
the sheep for the burnt offering?Ó when 
Itzhak is saying ÒfatherÓ it is not clear if he 
is addressing Hashem or Avraham. When 
Itzhak said Òwhere isÓ he use the Hebrew 
word ÒAyehÓ which is the word the angels 
use to address Hashem. On Shabbat and 
on the festivals we use those words to praise 
Hashem during the Kedusha of mussaf. This 
word is composed by three letters, Alef, Yod, 
Heh. The author has already mentioned that 
the letter Yod and Heh, are related to the 
Rakia, because it alludes to the two worlds, 
this world and the world to come. 

This word was created by the Heh, the 
circular movement, and the world to 
come is the Yod, who symbolizes the idea 
that the reminiscence resulting from this 
movement stay up. The Alef, symbolizes 
the unity of Hashem who encompasses 
those two Worlds. Itzhak was saying to 
Hashem, Òif I am killed as an offering, to 
heaven, a spiritual flow has to come down 
in exchange, how will it be possible for this 
spiritual flux to come down in this world, 
there will not be any vessel to receive it?ÕÕ



This blessing was given to Essav too, as 
long as he was ready to take the challenge. 
(Essav got blessed the first time too, when 
he comes back from his hunting party). The 
second blessing, is the one that Yaakov got 
when he was victorious. In this blessing 
Itzhak said to Jacob Òyou should be rich 
and powerful for your brotherÓ. When you 
achieve victory, you should share the result 
of your victory with the looser too. (like the 
United States did with Germany after the 
war, with the Marshal plan). War and fight 
are inevitable, like the Rakia they are a 
necessity for the existence of the World. 
But the behavior of the winner after the war 
is depends on his free will, he can uplift 
the looser, like the Yod who end up to the 
world to come, or he can drag him down.

.... .. .... .... ... .... ...

ÔÔ Please remember the young one who get 
a double portion.ÕÕ

This alludes to Jacob who was the last 
one and became the first one. Showing 
again the instability and uncertainty of life.

.... ..... ...... ....

ÔÔ And he made for his father two delicious 
meals.ÕÕ

The two meals symbolize this world 
and the world to come. Itshak blessed 
yaacov with both, this is possible only

Chapter 2

.... .... .....

ÔÔYou gave him in your pity two nations.ÕÕ

This refers to Essav and Yaacov. Even Essav 
was a gift from God. Jacob needed to fight 
Essav in order to grow up spiritually, that 
the essence of the movement of the Rakia

.... .......

ÔÔAnd two nationsÕÕ

The fight beetween Yaakov and Essav,the 
Jews and the non-Jews, is not only a 
personnal fight, leading to enhance the 
personality, the feelings and the character 
traits. It is also a philosophical fight, leading 
to a better understanding of what is the 
will of God, and what is Human nature.

.... ..... .... ... .....

ÔÔAnd he blessed Ç you should be rich and 
powefull twice ÈÕÕ

Itzhak blessed Yaacov twice, the first time 
he was not sure if he was blessing him or 
Essav, but he gave the blessing anyway. 
and the second time Itshak blessed Yaakov 
knowing for sure who he was. The first 
blessing symbolizes the blessing that 
Yaakov got through the fight with his brother, 
by the fight itself Yaakov was blessed.

Yaakov had to surpass himself to survive 
and to overcome, and that was a blessing 
by itself. 



Chapter 2 

if Yaakov reconnect those two worlds 
together through the movement of the 
Rakia. Offering to spirituality, receiving 
in exchange a material blessing.

... ..... .. ..... .... ...... ....

ÔÔ He passed with his stick the Jordan river 
and he became two camps.Ó

Jacob made a separation between the 
chidren of Rachel and the one of Leah, in 
order to create competition between them, 
he knew that only through that they could 
grow infinitely spiritually and materially. This 
show again the necessity of Rakia, and the 
importance of the number two.

¥¥¥

 



The Long Island Sephardic Center wishes you

a healthy and prosperous year 5778

and would like to thanks everyone

who helped create this booklet.

We are grateful for all the support we received 
in creating this first edition and we hope to 
continue in writing, editing and printing many 
more.

If you want to support the 

Long Island Sephardic Center.

 contact us via email at info@liscenter.org 

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516.654.7266


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