Shutting Down the Sammy and Lilly Radio Station

Why Yehoshua Told the Sun to be Quiet

In last week’s study entitled Be Quiet, Sun!, we learned that Yehoshua bin Nun merited to silence the Sun in the Valley of Ayalon and defeat the army of the five kings because he had remained silent in the face of the insults and accusations that were hurled at him in direct response to the way in which the prophecies of Eldad and Meidad were received by many in the nation. Those prophecies included the following, potentially provocative, words (Sanhedrin 17a): משה מת יהושע מכניס את ישראל לארץ (Moshe will die and Yehoshua will bring Yisrael into the land). As a result of Yehoshua’s silence, he was likened to the Sun, as taught in Yoma 23a: הַנֶּעֱלָבִין וְאֵינָן עוֹלְבִין, שׁוֹמְעִין חֶרְפָּתָן וְאֵינָן מְשִׁיבִין, עוֹשִׂין מֵאַהֲבָה וּשְׂמֵחִין בְּיִסּוּרִין, עֲלֵיהֶן הַכָּתוּב אוֹמֵר: ״וְאוֹהֲבָיו כְּצֵאת הַשֶּׁמֶשׁ בִּגְבוּרָתוֹ״ (Those who are insulted but don’t insult, who hear their disgrace but don’t respond, who act out of love and are happy in their sufferings, about them the verse says [Shofetim 5:31], ‘Those who love Him are like the going forth of the Sun in its might’). Therefore, middah k’neged middah, the man who became likened to the Sun through his silence in the face of insults, merited to silence the Sun.

But why did Yehoshua feel compelled to silence the Sun? The Zohar Chadash teaches (Bereshit 19b): וְלָא הֲוָה בַּר נָשׁ דִּשְׁמַע לֵיהּ בַּר מִמּשֶׁה דְּהֲוָה מְהֵימָן מַלְכָּא וִיהוֹשֻׁעַ דִּמְשַׁמֵּשׁ לֵיהּ. וְכַד אִיצְטְרִיךְ לֵיהּ יְהוֹשֻׁעַ לַאֲגָחָא קְרָבָא, וַהֲוָה שְׁמַע קָל נְעִימוּתָא וּנְהִימוּתָא דְּשִׁמְשָׁא, לָא יָכֵיל לֵיהּ לְמִיסְבַּל. מַה כְּתִיב? וַיֹּאמֶר לְעֵינֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל שֶׁמֶשׁ בְּגִבְעוֹן דּוֹם. מַאי דּוֹם? דּוֹם מִלּוֹמַר שִׁירָה (And no human could heard this [Song of the Sun] except Moshe, for he was faithful to the King, and Yehoshua, who served him. And when Yehoshua needed to make war [against the Canaanites], and he heard the pleasant and roaring voice of the Sun, he couldn’t stand it. What is written [Yehoshua 10:12]? ‘And he said in the presence of Yisrael, Sun, in Givon, be silent [dom]. What is the meaning of dom? Dom from singing song). What was it about the Song of the Sun that he couldn’t stand?

Shlomo ha-Melech revealed to us an important principle of creation (Kohelet 7:14): גַּם אֶת־זֶה לְעֻמַּת־זֶה עָשָׂה הָאֱלֹקִים (Also, G-d made ‘this’ versus ‘that’). What does this mean? In the pasuk itself, the example is given of a good day versus an evil day, one set against the other, but in its broadest application, it means that for every aspect of kedushah or ‘good’ there exists a corresponding aspect of tumah or ‘evil’. For example, the 50 gates of Binah that exist on the side of kedushah stand opposite the 50 gates of tumah that exist on the side of the klipot. It also means that Ha-Kadosh, baruch Hu and His female counterpart, the Shechinah are on the side of kedushah, while the Samech-Mem [סמא”ל] and his female consort Lilit [לילי”ת] are on the side of tumah.

Now, the Sun represents Ha-Kadosh, baruch Hu whereas the Moon represents the Shechinah. Another way to express this is that Ze’ir Anpin (the six sefirot of chesed, gevurah, tiferet, netzach, hod and yesod) are represented by the Sun, the source of light, whereas the one sefirah of Malchut is represented by the Moon, a celestial body that has no light inherent in and of itself. It only reflects light from the Sun. In other words, the Moon, i.e. the sefirah of Malchut, is an ’empty’ sefirah that receives its light only from the Sun, from Ze’ir Anpin. This is explained in Likutei Moharan 1 where Ya’akov, who corresponds to Ze’ir Anpin, is likened to the Sun, the source of Supernal intelligence [שֵּׂכֶל, seichel]. However, just as it is impossible to look directly at the Sun without going blind, the light of the seichel is far too great for one to grasp directly. Rather, it can only be grasped when it is reflected off another body. In the words of R’ Nachman: אַךְ מֵחֲמַת שֶׁאוֹר הַשֵּׂכֶל גָּדוֹל מְאֹד אִי אֶפְשָׁר לִזְכּוֹת אֵלָיו כִּי אִם עַל־יְדֵי בְּחִינַת נוּן שֶׁהוּא בְּחִינַת מַלְכוּת…וְזֶה בְּחִינַת לְבָנָה כִּי הַלְּבָנָה אֵין לָהּ אוֹר מֵעַצְמָהּ כִּי אִם מַה שֶּׁמְּקַבֶּלֶת מֵהַשֶּׁמֶשׁ וְזֶהוּ בְּחִינַת מַלְכוּת (However, because the light of seichel is very great, it is impossible to merit it except through the aspect of nun, which is the aspect of Malchut…and this is the aspect of the Moon, because the Moon has no light of itself except what it receives from the Sun, and this is the aspect of Malchut). The concept of the nun is beyond our scope, but the point is that the light of seichel cannot be grasped because it’s just too intense. The only way for us to grasp it is through Malchut, i.e. the Moon, not from Ze’ir Anpin (directly), i.e. the Sun.

Now that we know this, we should realize that something similar must be operative on the side of tumah. But what exactly is that? The Samech-Mem, representing Ze’ir Anpin of the klipot, is also represented by a Sun, not the Sun of seichel and kedushah, but a Sun of darkness and tumah. Likewise, Lilit, who corresponds to Malchut of the klipot is represented by a Moon. In the words of R’ Nachman: אֲבָל מִי שֶׁאֵינוֹ מְקַשֵּׁר עַצְמוֹ אֶל הַשֵּׂכֶל וְהַחָכְמָה וְהַחִיּוּת שֶׁיֵּשׁ בְּכָל דָּבָר, זֶה בְּחִינַת עֵשָׂו שֶׁבִּזָה אֶת הַבְּכוֹרָה…דְּהַיְנוּ הַשֵּׂכֶל כַּנַּ”ל, בְּחִינַת (משלי י״ח:ב׳): לֹא יַחְפֹּץ כְּסִיל בִּתְבוּנָה כִּי אִם בְּהִתְגַּלּוֹת לִבּוֹ. וְזֶה בְּחִינַת מַלְכוּת הָרְשָׁעָה, בְּחִינַת לְבָנָה דְּסִטְרָא אָחֳרָא, שֶׁעָלֶיהָ נֶאֱמַר (ישעיהו כ״ד:כ״ג): וְחָפְרָה הַלְּבָנָה וְכוּ (However, someone who doesn’t bind himself to the seichel and the wisdom and the life-force that is in everything, this is the aspect of Esav who despised the birthright…i.e. the seichel, in the aspect of [Mishlei 18:2] ‘A fool doesn’t desire understanding, but only to reveal his heart.’ This is the aspect of the Wicked Malchut, the aspect of the Moon of the Sitra Achra, about which it is written [Yeshayah 24:23], ‘The Moon will be humiliated…’).

On the one hand, we have the aspect of Ya’akov, Ze’ir Anpin, Supernal seichel, and the Sun of light together with his counterpart, Malchut, the Moon. On the other hand, we have the aspect of Esav, Ze’ir Anpin of the klipot, foolishness, and the Sun of darkness together with his counterpart, the Wicked Malchut, the Moon of the Sitra Achra. The main point is that there are two kinds of Sun and two kinds of Moon. Therefore, when one is reading pesukim that mention the Sun or the Moon, one needs to know which Sun or Moon is being mentioned.

Let’s read the entire pasuk from Yeshayah that was quoted above, because understanding this pasuk is key to understanding what was going on in the Valley of Ayalon with Yehoshua and the Sun and Moon (Yeshayah 24:23): וְחָפְרָה הַלְּבָנָה וּבוֹשָׁה הַחַמָּה כִּי־מָלַךְ יְיָ צְבָקוֹת בְּהַר צִיּוֹן וּבִירוּשָׁלַ͏ִם וְנֶגֶד זְקֵנָיו כָּבוֹד (The Moon will be humiliated and the Sun will be ashamed when Hashem of Hosts will reign in Mount Tzion and in Yerushalayim, and before His elders, Kavod!). As we already saw, R’ Nachman understands the Moon in this pasuk to be a reference to Malchut of the Sitra Achra, i.e. to Lilit, the ‘female consort’ of the Samech-Mem. And since the Moon here is the Moon of the Sitra Achra, it would follow that the Sun must be the Sun of the Sitra Achra, i.e. the Samech-Mem himself. So why are they ashamed? They’re ashamed because did not fear Hashem and destroyed the Beit ha-Mikdadsh (twice!), and now justice has arrived.

All of this is stated explicitly in the Tikkunei Zohar (Tikkun 8, 24a): ואיהו וממנן דיליה לא דחילו מניה וחריבו ביתיה בית ראשון ובית שני ובגין דא וחפרה הלבנה דאיהי נחש אשת זנונים ובושה החמה דאיהי גיהנם דנחש אשת זנונים חריבת ביתא דשכינתא וחמה דאיהי גיהנם סם המות אוקידת היכלא (And he [the Samech-Mem] and his appointees did not fear Him and they destroyed His House, the First Temple and the Second Temple, and because of this [middah k’neged middah], ‘The Moon will be humiliated…’ — this is the Nachash, the whoring wife — ‘and the Sun will be ashamed’ — this is Gehinnom — for the Nachash, the whoring wife, destroyed the House of the Shechinah [the Second Temple], and the Sun, which is Gehinnom, the poison of death, burned the Palace [the First Temple]). Therefore, when Hashem returns to rule in Tzion and rebuilds His House, i.e. the Third Temple, those who destroyed His previous House will be put to shame and disgraced.

Now we can understand why Yehoshua couldn’t bear listening to the Song of the Sun and why he told the Sun and the Moon to be silent. In essence, he was telling them that their song of tumah which held sway over the land and built up the land into a cesspool of debauchery and immoral pollution was now coming to an end. He was putting them on notice that Eretz Canaan would cease to exist, and in its place would be Eretz Yisrael. Think of it as if he was telling the Sammy and Lilly Radio Station, “Cease your broadcasts. The land has new owners now and your station is closed. From this point on, we broadcast only kedushah. You’re out of business!” And the amazing thing about this is that he had the authority and the merit (as we saw in our previous study) to command such a thing!

Notice how this is described by R’ Natan Nata Shapira in his famous work Megaleh Amukot (Va’Etchanan 184): כי הוא יעבור כחות הטומאה מן הארץ והוא ינחיל ישראל בקדושה, שכן יהושע אמר שמש בגבעון דום, שהוא כנגד סמא”ל, שכן גבעו”ן בגימטריא סמא”ל, שעליו נאמר בושה החמה, ועל לילי”ת איתמר וחפרה הלבנה, לכן אמר וירח בעמק אילון, שהוא לקביל כחותיה של לילי”ת (For he [Yehoshua] would cause the forces of tumah to pass from the land and he would instill Yisrael with kedushah; therefore, Yehoshua said, ‘Sun, in Givon, be silent!’, which corresponds to the Samech-Mem for Givon has the same gematria as Samech-Mem, i.e. 131, for regarding him, it is said, ‘the Sun will be ashamed’, and regarding Lilit, it is said, ‘and the Moon will be humiliated’; therefore, it says ‘and the Moon in the Valley of Ayalon’, which corresponds to the forces of Lilit). Essentially, Yehoshua was uprooting the forces of tumah from Eretz Canaan which was built up through Lilit the Wicked, the whoring wife of the Samech-Mem.

In this regard, it is worth mentioning that the gematria of ארץ כנען [Eretz Canaan] is 481 and the gematria of לילי”ת [Lilit] is 480. What’s the significance of this?

The Megaleh Amukot explains (Va’Etchanan 221): וכן אר”ץ כנע”ן הם חיילות של לילית הרשעה שרוכבת על ת”פ מחנות כמנין לילי”ת, ונמצא עמה תפ”א מחנות כמנין אר”ץ כנע”ן (Therefore, Eretz Canaan are the soldiers of Lilit the Wicked, who rides [i.e. rules] over 480 ‘camps’, corresponding to the gematria of Lilit, and there are 481 ‘camps’ with her, corresponding to the gematria of Eretz Canaan). To further understand this idea, the Megaleh Amukot (Va’Etchanan 184) also brings down a fascinating Midrash (Midrash Eichah, Petichah 12) that reveals the following: רַבִּי פִּנְחָס בְּשֵׁם רַבִּי הוֹשַׁעְיָא אָמַר אַרְבַּע מֵאוֹת וּשְׁמוֹנִים בָּתֵּי כְנֵסִיּוֹת הָיוּ בִּירוּשָׁלַיִם חוּץ מִבֵּית הַמִּקְדָּשׁ (R’ Pinchas said in the name of R’ Hoshaya, There were 480 synagogues in Yerushalayim besides the Beit ha-Mikdash). Therefore, just as there were 480 synagogues plus 1 (the Beit ha-Mikdash) that ‘ruled’ them all on the side of kedushah, making for a total of 481, so too there were 480 ‘camps’ plus 1 (Lilit herself) that ‘ruled’ them all on the side of tumah making for a total of 481. Of course, the Shechinah, which corresponds to the Beit ha-Mikdash corresponds to the Malchut of kedushah whereas Lilit corresponds to the Malchut of the Sitra Achra.

Not only that, but it says in Va’Etchanan 184: ולכן נצטוו גם כן לבנות המקדש אחר ת”פ שנה מיציאת מצרים, וכן מן מקדש שבנה שלמה עד מקדש שני שבנה זרובבל היה גם כן ת”פ שנה (Therefore, they were commanded to build the Beit ha-Mikdash 480 years from the Exodus from Egypt [Melachim Aleph 6:1], and likewise, from the Beit ha-Mikdash that Shlomo built until the second Beit ha-Mikdash that Zerubavel built was also 480 years). Now we know why it took so long to build the Temples. It took that much time to subdue the impure forces of Lilit.

But the Temples were destroyed and the Sammy and Lilly Radio Station resumed operation. Yet, it is written in Tehillim 121:6: יוֹמָם הַשֶּׁמֶשׁ לֹא־יַכֶּכָּה וְיָרֵחַ בַּלָּיְלָה (May the Sun not strike you during the day nor the Moon during the night). What is this talking about? It is a prayer that no song of tumah will exercise any influence over us, neither the Samech-Mem during the day, nor Lilit during the night. But in order for that prayer to have its intended effect, not just to silence their Radio Station for us personally, but for the nation-as-a-whole, we will need to internalize and actualize the middah of silence in the face of those who hurl insults and accusations at us, just as Yehoshua bin Nun did, as it is taught (Yoma 23a): הַנֶּעֱלָבִין וְאֵינָן עוֹלְבִין שׁוֹמְעִין חֶרְפָּתָן וְאֵינָן מְשִׁיבִין עוֹשִׂין מֵאַהֲבָה וּשְׂמֵחִין בְּיִסּוּרִין עֲלֵיהֶן הַכָּתוּב אוֹמֵר: ״וְאוֹהֲבָיו כְּצֵאת הַשֶּׁמֶשׁ בִּגְבוּרָתוֹ״ (Those who are insulted but don’t insult, who hear their disgrace but don’t respond, who act out of love and are happy in their sufferings, about them the verse says [Shofetim 5:31], ‘Those who love Him are like the going forth of the Sun in its might’).