The Four Pillars of the World
A Deeper Look into the Weeks of Shovavim:
Shimon ha-Tzaddik, one of the last surviving members of the Anshei Knesset ha-Gedolah – 120 elders of B'nei Yisrael, including a number of prophets, which instituted many of our customary practices in Judaism, such as the wording of the Shemoneh Esreh – used to teach the following (Avot 1:2): עַל שְׁלשָׁה דְבָרִים הָעוֹלָם עוֹמֵד עַל הַתּוֹרָה וְעַל הָעֲבוֹדָה וְעַל גְּמִילוּת חֲסָדִים (The world stands on three things: Torah, service [avodah] and acts of kindness [gemilut chasadim]).
But Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel used to teach the following (Avot 1:18): עַל שְׁלשָׁה דְבָרִים הָעוֹלָם עוֹמֵד עַל הַדִּין וְעַל הָאֱמֶת וְעַל הַשָּׁלוֹם שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (זכריה ח) אֱמֶת וּמִשְׁפַּט שָׁלוֹם שִׁפְטוּ בְּשַׁעֲרֵיכֶם (The world stands on three things: justice [din], truth and peace – as it is written [Zecharyah 8:16]: 'Truth and the justice of peace you shall judge in your gates).
If the world stands on the three pillars of Torah, avodah and gemilut chasadim, how can it stand on three other pillars of justice, truth and peace? Does the world stand on three pillars or on six?
We can compound the problem with a statement that is part of the Yom Kippur liturgy, originally appearing in the Midrash (Bereshit Rabbah 44:12): רַבִּי יוּדָן בְּשֵׁם רַבִּי אֶלְעָזָר אָמַר שְׁלשָׁה דְבָרִים מְבַטְּלִים גְּזֵרוֹת רָעוֹת וְאֵלּוּ הֵם תְּפִלָּה וּצְדָקָה וּתְשׁוּבָה וּשְׁלָשְׁתָּן נֶאֶמְרוּ בְּפָסוּק אֶחָד הֲדָא הוּא דִכְתִיב (דברי הימים ב ז, יד): וְיִכָּנְעוּ עַמִּי אֲשֶׁר נִקְרָא שְׁמִי עֲלֵיהֶם וְיִתְפַּלְּלוּ זוֹ תְּפִלָּה. וִיבַקְּשׁוּ פָנַי הֲרֵי צְדָקָה...וְיָשֻׁבוּ מִדַּרְכֵיהֶם הָרָעִים זוֹ תְּשׁוּבָה וְאַחַר כָּךְ וְאֶסְלַח לְחַטָּאתָם וְאֶרְפָּא אֶת אַרְצָם (R' Yudan said in the name of R' Elazar, Three things cancel out bad decrees: tefillah, tzedakah and teshuvah. And the three of them are each referenced in one pasuk [Divrei ha-Yamim Bet 7:14]: 'If My people, who are called by My name, would humble themselves and pray' – this is tefillah – 'and seek My face' – this is tzedakah...'and return from doing their evil ways' – this is teshuvah – and after that, 'and I will forgive their sins and heal their land'). Clearly, the world also stands on these three pillars – tefillah, tzedakah and teshuvah – for without these pillars, the world could not endure.
So what's going on here? How many pillars are there really? Three, six or nine?
The great mekubal and ba'al mussar, R' Yeshayahu ha-Levi Horowitz, otherwise known as the Shelah ha-Kadosh, a title derived from the rashei teivot of his seminal work Sh'nei Luchot ha-Brit, answers our question in a beautiful way by connecting these three sets of three pillars to the eight weeks known as Shovavim-Tat.
Before we summarize his explanation, we need to understand a little bit about the weeks of Shovavim-Tat. They correspond to the eight weeks in the year when we are reading the first eight parashahs in Sefer Shemot: Shemot, Va'Eira, Bo, Beshalach, Yitro, Mishpatim, Terumah and Tetzaveh. (The letters don't work out exactly when transliterating the names of each parashah into English, but you get the idea). But wait a second. Aren't there only six week of Shovavim? What's this extra Tat stuck on at the end? In a non-leap year, there are only six weeks, the weeks known as Shovavim; however, in a leap year, when we have two months of Adar, then we add two weeks to include Terumah and Tetzaveh. For example, this year, 5785, is not a leap year. Therefore, we only have the six weeks of Shovavim, not the eight weeks of Shovavim-Tat. At the end of this article, we'll get to the practical difference between counting six or eights weeks.
Is the word shovavim just an acronym composed of the rashei teivot of the six parashahs from Shemot to Mishpatim, or is there something deeper going on here? It is written (Yirmeyah 3:22): שׁוּבוּ בָּנִים שׁוֹבָבִים אֶרְפָּה מְשׁוּבֹתֵיכֶם הִנְנוּ אָתָנוּ לָךְ כִּי אַתָּה יְיָ אֱלֹקֵינוּ (Return, wayward [shovavim] children, and I will heal your waywardness. Here we are! We are coming to You, for You are Hashem our G d). The word shovavim means wayward, backsliding, fickle, rebellious, etc. It's not a term of endearment. It's a term of rebuke. Nevertheless, in this encouraging and heart-warming pasuk, the prophet describes a time when Hashem will call out to His children and they will respond heartily, enthusiastically and without hesitation. Our hope is that we are in those days, but even if we're not, we see that the word shovavim is associated with two main concepts: an initial going astray followed by an eventual return to Hashem.
The fact that the rashei teivot of the first six parashahs of Sefer Shemot 'just so happen' to spell out, in order, the word shovavim is not a coincidence. After all, can anything in our holy Torah be considered a coincidence? Therefore, what are we to learn from this association? These six weeks are mesugal, i.e. conducive, for doing teshuvah and returning to Hashem. Built into the fabric of each of these parashahs are stories and concepts that are mesugal for doing teshuvah.
The Shelah ha-Kadosh explains, in his introduction to Sefer Shemot, how the eight pillars that we mentioned earlier correspond to these eight parashahs. But wait a minute. That doesn't make sense. Earlier, we said that we had three sets of three pillars, for a total of nine, not eight. What's going on? How many pillars are actually holding up the world: three, six, eight or nine? As we hope to explain, the Shelah ha-Kadosh shows that there are actually four sets of two, with one left over. Yes, four. What are the four main pillars? He writes: ונבחרו אלו הפרשיות כי בהם נמצאו עניינים של תשובה תפלה וצדקה ותלמוד תורה כנגד כולם (These parashahs were chosen because they contain the topics of teshuvah, tefillah, tzedakah, and learning Torah corresponds to them all). So, although there are only three pillars, there are really four pillars.
Just as a physical pillar has an outer, visible part to it, and an inner, invisible core, so it is with each of the four pillars – each has an outer dimension and an inner dimension.
The first pillar is teshuvah, but teshuvah itself has two parts: an outer, visible component and an inner, invisible component. The outer part is associated with actions such as verbal confession [vidui devarim], fasting, public prayers, etc. However, without the inner dimension, all we have is an appearance of teshuvah. What's the inner dimension? It is truth. Truth has to do with the heart. We might say that the outward displays of teshuvah corresponds to teshuvah from yirah, whereas the inner dimension corresponds to teshuvah from ahavah. This is because truth is all about being honest with ourselves, i.e. facing the lies that we've cleverly constructed to shield ourselves from who we really are and what we've really done. Therefore, when we join truth, the inner core, to the outward dimension, the observable displays of teshuvah, then we get the first pillar upon which the world stands. Finally, teshuvah and truth correspond to the first two parashahs, i.e. Shemot and Va'eira. The very nature of the stories in these parashahs is facing the truth and being willing to do teshuvah for without these two components the nation would never have been able to leave galut.
The second pillar according to the Shelah is tefillah. As we saw with teshuvah, so it is with tefillah – tefillah is made up of inner and outer components. What is tefillah? It is written (Devarim 11:13): וְהָיָה אִם־שָׁמֹעַ תִּשְׁמְעוּ אֶל־מִצְוֺתַי אֲשֶׁר אָנֹכִי מְצַוֶּה אֶתְכֶם הַיּוֹם לְאַהֲבָה אֶת־יְיָ אֱלֹקֵיכֶם וּלְעׇבְדוֹ בְּכׇל־לְבַבְכֶם וּבְכׇל־נַפְשְׁכֶם (And if you really listen to My commandments which I command you today, to love Hashem your G d and to serve Him with all your heart and soul...). What does it mean to serve Hashem with one's heart? It is taught in Ta'anit 2a: אֵיזוֹ הִיא עֲבוֹדָה שֶׁהִיא בַּלֵּב הֱוֵי אוֹמֵר זוֹ תְּפִלָּה (What is this service [avodah] that is in the heart? You must say that is tefillah). So tefillah is the avodah of the heart. Tefillah corresponds to the core of the pillar, but what is the outward side of this pillar? What is the dimension that is visible? It is avodah itself. What is avodah? It is a reference to the Temple service – all of those activities associated with bringing and offering up sacrifices to Hashem on the mizbe'ach. And Chazal taught about the connection between these two in Berachot 26a: תְּפִלּוֹת אָבוֹת תִּקְּנוּם וְאַסְמְכִינְהוּ רַבָּנַן אַקׇּרְבָּנוֹת (Tefillot were established by the Patriarchs, and the Sages drew correspondences [between them] and the sacrifices). Finally, which parashahs correspond to this second pillar? According to the Shelah, they are the next two parashahs in Shemot, i.e. Bo and Beshalach. Bo describes the matter of sacrifices, i.e. the korban pesach, while Beshalach teaches us the need for heartfelt tefillah, for example, when crossing the Yam Suf and fighting Amalek.
The third pillar is tzedakah. Here, we also have two components. The outer manifestation of tzedakah is the gemilut chasadim that we do for others. This corresponds to the mitzvot that are bein adam le'chaveiro. But if you think about it, you'll realize that perhaps most of our tzedakah is actually giving money to worthy Torah institutions. This type of tzedakah corresponds to the mitzvot that are bein adam l'Makom. When the Temple stood, this aspect corresponded to physical or monetary gifts for the Temple upkeep. Now, it corresponds to monetary donations for the upkeep of synagogues, yeshivot, etc. But really, it's the same idea just expressing itself differently in time. Finally, this pillar corresponds to the parashahs of Terumah and Tetzaveh. Terumah corresponds to the giving of tzedakah, i.e. everyone donating the necessary items for the building of the Mishkan. Tetzaveh corresponds to gemilut chasadim, i.e. making the bigdei kehunah for Aharon and his sons.
The final pillar according to the Shelah ha-Kadosh is composed of an inner core of Torah and an outward manifestation expressing itself as a righteous system of justice. These two ideas are obviously related, for the very purpose of Torah, it's very essence, is to teach us about true justice and the need to establish a righteous system of jurisprudence. These two ideas are connected to the parashahs of Yitro and Mishpatim, respectively. The first includes Matan Torah, and the second includes Matan Dinim, the giving of laws associated with disputes between claimants and defendants, etc.
We have now explained the four pillars and accounted for eight of the nine things upon which the world stands. What haven't we accounted for yet? Peace. What do we do with peace? It doesn't seem to fit within the scheme. The Shelah ha-Kadosh addresses this and explains that without peace we have nothing, for peace is the vessel that holds everything: נשאר עמוד השלום הוא החותם מכל ד' זוגות האלו, כי אם אין שלום אין כלום (The pillar of peace remains. It is the seal of all these four pairs, for if there is no peace, there's nothing).
So what is the practical difference between a year of Shovavim versus a year of Shovavim-Tat? Many have the custom to fast at least once a week during Shovavim or Shovavim-Tat. Some though, adhere to a higher standard and fast twice a week, on Mondays and Thursdays. Either way, in non-leap years, there are only six weeks for the fasts whereas for leap years, there are eight weeks. What is meant by fasting in this context? It refers to a daytime fast from alot ha-shachar (72 minutes before hanetz) until tzeit ha-kochavim (20 minutes after sh'kiah). Furthermore, some have the custom to observe a ta'anit dibbur, a 'speaking fast', once or twice a week, making every effort to speak only words of Torah and tefillah throughout the day. The reader may wish to accept upon himself some or all of these fasts as he sees fit. Either way, whether one does a little or a lot, may we all merit to reach higher levels of teshuvah during the following weeks, and so fulfill the words of the prophet (Yirmeyah 3:22): שׁוּבוּ בָּנִים שׁוֹבָבִים אֶרְפָּה מְשׁוּבֹתֵיכֶם הִנְנוּ אָתָנוּ לָךְ כִּי אַתָּה יְיָ אֱלֹקֵינוּ (Return, wayward [shovavim] children, and I will heal your waywardness. Here we are! We are coming to You, for You are Hashem our G d).
