"Seventy souls"

Synopsis

In reference to "Seventy souls," Rabbi Chiya asks Rabbi Shimon to explain the significance of the number seventy, and why the Torah first enumerates the sons of Jacob as twelve, and then as seventy. Rabbi Shimon's explanation is that seventy corresponds to the seventy nations of the world, and the nation of Israel was equal to all of them. Furthermore, we learn that just as the world cannot exist without the four winds, the other nations of the world cannot exist without Israel, as the twelve tribes illuminate the seventy nations.

Relevance

As the heart furnishes blood to all the organs of the body, Yisrael furnishes spiritual energy to all the nations of the world. This nourishment can only take place through the spiritual secrets of the Torah - the sacred Zohar - which arouses the soul of a man, connecting the soul to the Tree of Life, the source of all joy, wisdom and peace. When there is a deficiency of Light in our world, darkness becomes a naturally occurring phenomenon. Yisrael creates the Light for the seventy Nations through the Central Column - which is the free will to RESIST all reactive and self-serving impulses in favor of receiving the treasures of this world for the sake of sharing with others. Each of us is a child of Yisrael. Each time we resist our reactive desires, we nurture the souls of our fellow man with sweetness and Light. Hatred is then banished from the human heart.

Reading these verses nourishes all nations and all mankind with spiritual sustenance. Global conflicts peacefully end and hatred is abolished forever from the human heart.

Egypt Jacob Soul, The Torah Twelve

65. ר' חִיָּיא הֲוָה יָתִיב קָמֵיהּ דר"ש, א"ל, מַה חָמָת אוֹרַיְיתָא לְמִמְנֵי בְּנוֹי דְּיַעֲקֹב, דְּאִינּוּן תְּרֵיסָר בְּקַדְמֵיתָא, וּלְבָתַר כֵּן שִׁבְעִים דִּכְתִּיב כָּל הַנֶּפֶשׁ לְבֵית יַעֲקֹב הַבָּאָה מִצְרַיְמָה שִׁבְעִים. ומ"ט שִׁבְעִים וְלָא יַתִּיר. א"ל, לָקֳבֵיל ע' אוּמִין, דְּאִינּוּן בְּעָלְמָא, וְאִינּוּן הֲווֹ אוּמָה יְחִידָאָה לְקָבֵל כֻּלְּהוֹן.

Directions Heavens Key Seventy Twelve Twelve Tribes of Israel Wind

66. And he also said to him, Come and behold. Let us consider the keys that illuminate. THEIR branches are set in their travels, MEANING WHEN THEY ARE ILLUMINATING IN THE JOURNEYS OF THE THREE COLUMNS AND ARE APPOINTED OVER THE SEVENTY NATIONS, that emanate from twelve engravings and knots that surround them in their travels IN THE ORDER OF THE THREE COLUMNS, striking against the four directions of the world, THAT IS, CHESED, GVURAH, TIFERET AND MALCHUT. This is what is written, "He set the bounds of the people according to the number of the children of Yisrael" (Devarim 32:8), MEANING THAT THE NUMBER TWELVE THAT IS IN THE CHILDREN OF YISRAEL ILLUMINATES TO THE SEVENTY NATIONS. And this is what is written, "As the four winds of the heavens have I spread you abroad" (Zecharyah 2:10), so THAT THE THREE COLUMNS ILLUMINATE IN ALL THE FOUR DIRECTIONS - CHESED AND GVURAH, TIFERET AND MALCHUT - to show that they exist for the sake of Yisrael, WHO ARE THE TWELVE TRIBES, AS MENTIONED EARLIER. It does not say, 'In the four,' but rather, "As the four," because as it is impossible for the world to exist without the four winds, so it is impossible for the world to exist without Yisrael.

66. וְתוּ א"ל, תָּא חֲזֵי, קַלְדִּיטִין דְּנָהֲרִין עַנְפִּין יַתְבִין בְּמַטַּלְנֵיהוֹן, מְמָנָן עַל שִׁבְעִין עַמָמִין, נָפְקִין מִתְּרֵיסָר גְּלִיפִין קְטוּרִין דְּאִסְתַּחֲרָן בְּמַטַּלְנֵיהוֹן, לְמִתְקְלָן לְאַרְבַּע רוּחֵי עָלְמָא, הה"ד, יַצֵּב גְּבוּלוֹת עַמִּים לְמִסְפַּר בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל. וְהַיְינוּ דִּכְתִּיב, כִּי כְּאַרְבַּע רוּחוֹת הַשָּׁמַיִם פֵּרַשְׁתִּי אֶתְכֶם, לְאַחֲזָאָה דְּאִינּוּן קַיְימִין בְּגִין יִשְׂרָאֵל. בְּאַרְבַּע לָא נֶאֱמַר, אֶלָּא כְּאַרְבַּע. כְּמָה דְּאִי אֶפְשָׁר לְעָלְמָא בְּלֹא אַרְבַּע רוּחוֹת כַּךְ אִי אֶפְשָׁר לְעָלְמָא בְּלֹא יִשְׂרָאֵל.