Divine Design:
A Penetrating Look at the Foundations of Judaism and the Festivals
through Betzalel's Names
By Rabbi Moshe Shlomo Emanuel

Betzalel and the Facial Features

Chazal tell us that the universe is shaped in the image of a giant man. All of its components are as limbs of a huge body, each with its function within the wider picture of the cosmos. The Mishkan, which is a microcosm of the universe, is a reflection of this. When we perform the Divine service in the Mishkan, we exert a profound influence on the “giant man” of the universe.¹

In-depth analysis reveals that Betzalel’s names correspond to the brain and the principal facial features: the eyes, nose, and mouth.² This correlation spans the levels we have seen previously and proceeds in exact order. Furthermore, the locations of these organs on the head correspond to the principal vessels in the Mishkan and in turn to those components

BETZALEL’S NAMES AND THE FACE

The features of the face correspond to Betzalel’s names in ascending order. “Chur lemateh Yehudah” corresponds to the mouth, “Uri” to the nose and eyes (this double correspondence will be discussed below), and “Betzalel” to the brain. Finally, “besheim” corresponds to the neshamah, which is above the body. We therefore have:

DIAGRAM 30
5) Soul - Besheim
4) Brain - Betzalel
3) Eyes - Uri
2) Nose - Uri
1) Mouth - Chur lemateh Yehudah

This can be explained as follows: We have seen (Chapter 5) that Betzalel’s names correspond to the vessels of the Mishkan, thus indicating that he embodied their significance within himself. This was needed so that he could imbue them with the proper intent, from his own personality, as the more one internalises spirituality, the more one can influence that which is outside of himself with it (see Rabbeinu Yonah, Mishlei 3:22).

Let us now delve further into this idea and see how it correlates with the facial features.

“Ben Chur Lemateh Yehudah,” the Mouth, and the Shulchan

The Shulchan had bread on it, which is eaten with the mouth. Pesach is the festival of the mouth. Therefore the word ôñç can be divided into the words ôä-ñç , which means “the mouth that speaks.”³ The mouth is integral to fulfilling many of the mitzvos on this festival: eating the korban pesach, matzah, and maror; drinking the four cups; and reciting the Haggadah.

Similarly, on Purim there is an obligation to eat and drink and to recite the megillah. These mitzvos are all expressions of freedom and thus relate to the name Chur.

As for lemateh Yehudah, we find that the name Yehudah derives from the expression of hoda’ah, thanks, that Leah gave to Hashem at her son Yehudah’s birth (Bereishis 29:35).⁴ Thus, the fact that Purim is associated with the words “lemateh Yehudah,” which hint at Leah’s thanks for the hidden miracle of Yehudah’s birth, fits in with the Purim story, which relates the hidden miracles that Hashem wrought for us at the time of the Purim story. Thanksgiving, of course, is expressed with the mouth. Moreover, the mouth eats the bread of the Shulchan, which has on it the zer, crown, that represents kesser malchus, the crown of kingship. The mouth itself symbolises the realm of malchus (Tikunei Zohar 13a). Mateh Yehudah is the tribe of both malchus and of hoda’ah, thanks, as its very name indicates.

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1. Shelah, Parashas Shemini, p. 57, in the name of the Zohar and the Rambam. See also Malbim, Parashas Terumah, Rimzei HaMishkan.
2. Even though the ears are also major organs, they are not at the front of the face and are therefore not part of this picture. within the universe which relate the face of the “giant man.”
3. Sha’ar HaKavanos 85b, Sha’ar Chag HaMatzos 1. See also Batei Nefesh of the Chida.
4. This thanksgiving at Yehudah’s birth is associated with the level of hidden miracles commemorated by Purim (see above, p. 115). We see this from the words of the Kesav Sofer (Parashas Vayeitzei), who raises a difficulty with Chazal’s assertion: “Until Leah came there was no one who thanked Hashem” (Berachos 7b). Questions the Kesav Sofer, surely the avos gave thanks prior to Leah? He answers that while it is true that they gave thanks to Hashem, they did so for the miraculous salvations that Hashem wrought on their behalf. Leah, however, was the first to offer thanks for the birth of a child. Moreover, even though she was giving thanks for begetting one more child than her apparent allotted portion (see Rashi, Berachos 7b), this birth was still a hidden miracle. One could not see an open miracle whereby the course of nature was drastically changed.

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