- We are taught that parents receive a portion of prophecy at the time of naming the child
- I was wondering what about a scenario, like mine, when the name is clearly known, as in this case and most cases where we are naming after someone.
- Regarding my name, Tzvi Yoel, a random combination of two names, not named after anyone, I found two very random places in the Torah that contains my full name, and one of them happened to be found within the Parsha my new son was born on, Re'eh.
וַיּ֥וֹאֶל מֹשֶׁ֖ה לָשֶׁ֣בֶת אֶת־הָאִ֑ישׁ וַיִּתֵּ֛ן אֶת־צִפֹּרָ֥ה בִתּ֖וֹ לְמֹשֶֽׁה׃
וּצְבִי משֶׁה לְמִיתַב עִם גַבְרָא וִיהַב יָת צִפּוֹרָה בְרַתֵּהּ לְמשֶׁה:
אַיָּ֥ל וּצְבִ֖י וְיַחְמ֑וּר וְאַקּ֥וֹ וְדִישֹׁ֖ן וּתְא֥וֹ וָזָֽמֶר׃
The woman bore a son, and she named him Samson. The boy grew up, and the LORD blessed him.
And the LORD sent Jerubbaal and Bedan and Jephthah and Samuel, and delivered you from the enemies around you; and you dwelt in security.
ותלד האשה בן ותקרא את שמו שמשון ויגדל הנער ויברכהו ה'. אפשר לרמוז בס"ד מה שקראתו שמשון ע"ד שכתב רבינו מהרח"ו זלה"ה זיע"א בשם רבינו האר"י זלה"ה זיע"א כש"ה וז"ל גם בענין שמשון א"ל מורי זלה"ה כי ז"ס פסוק וישלח ה' את ירובעל ואת בדן וכו' ואמרו רז"ל בדן זה שמשון דאתי מדן והענין הוא כי שמשון הוא גלגול נדב בן אהרן הכהן ולכן נקרא בד"ן שהם אותיות נד"ב בהיפוך ולפי שנדב מת ולא רצה לקחת אשה שהיו אומרים אין בבנות ישראל הגונה לנו כמ"ש רז"ל לכן נענש שמשון בהיותו טוחן בבית האסורים עם נשי הפלשתים האסורות ויען בני אהרן נכנסו שתויי יין לכן היה שמשון נזיר מן הבטן לתקן המעוות עכ"ל לשון קדוש זלה"ה זיע"א ע"ש. ובזה אפשר לרמוז מה שנקרא שמשון כי שמשון גי' תי"קן נד"ב הכ"הן בדקדוק גם אותיות שמשון הוא שמ"ש נ"ו כי נדב גי' נ"ו:
It is taught in the name of the Arizal, regarding Shimshon.. as we see from the Pasuk in I Samuel 12:11 where there is a man referred to as B'Dan, our sages come and teach us that this is Shimshon who came from the region of Dan.. but the depth here is that Shimshon is a reincarnation of Nadav, son of Aharon. Why did Nadav need to be reincarnated? Nadav who died, did not want to take a wife, because he said there is no woman in Israel fitting for me.. and so as the sages say, Shimshon was locked up in the palace of the Plishtim with Plishtim women who were not permitted to him and he would lay with them.. and furthermore the sons of Aaron had drunk wine in the Tabernacle which was forbidden, so Shimshon became a Nazir from the womb to fix these matters in a later generation.. So he was called Shimshon which is the Gematria of Tikkun Nadav HaCohen.. also the word Shimshon has the same letters as Shemesh Nun Vav - and Nun Rav is the gematria of Nadav.. [teaching that he was his rectification.]
So now to your question.. why name my child such a dangerous name involved in people being taken from us early.. As we see, each Shimshon's soul that came had to fix a personality trait of the prior ones, while at the same time somehow atoning for the people of Israel.. my father, Shimshon, was a fully righteous man, he had no flaws.. There was no man like him, and no man to be like him.. My father fixed whatever remaining traits needing fixing, and this new Shimshon is being brought into a fresh world, with no fixing to do anymore, just enjoying the days of redemption that we hope are upon us.. and if I had to guess when the last time this new soul would want to come down before the great redemption of Israel, it would be days and hours before the final Shmita year, which is now, and we know from the Talmud that The Moshiach will come immediately following a Shmita year.
במוצאי שביעית בן דוד בא
During the year after the conclusion of the Sabbatical Year, the son of David will come.
אמר רבי אסי אין בן דוד בא עד שיכלו כל הנשמות שבגוף
Rabbi Asi said: The Messiah, son of David, will not come until all the souls of the body have been finished, i.e., until all souls that are destined to inhabit physical bodies will do so.
And I will tell you as well, why this self-declaration of our newborn clean slated Shimshon has a power onto itself.
Reish Lakish, as Reish Lakish said: What is the meaning of that which is written: “If it concerns the scorners, He scorns them, and unto the humble He gives grace” (Proverbs 3:34)? One who comes in order to become impure, i.e., to sin, they, in Heaven, provide him with an opening to do so, and he is not prevented from sinning. However, if he comes in order to become purified, not only is he allowed to do so, but they, in Heaven, assist him.
It started from this story below.
וכך היו ישראל נהוגין למול עד שנחלקו לשני ממלכות, ומלכות אפרי' מנעו מהם את המילה, ועמד אליהו זכור לטוב וקנא קנאה גדולה, ונשבע על השמים שלא להוריד טל ומטר על הארץ, ושמעה איזבל ובקשה להרוג אותו, עמד אליהו והיה מתפלל לפני הקב"ה..חייך שאין ישראל עושין ברית מילה עד שאתה רואה בעיניך.
Thus the Israelites were wont to circumcise until they were divided into two kingdoms. The kingdom of Ephraim cast off from themselves the covenant of circumcision. Elijah, may he be remembered for good, arose and was zealous with a mighty passion, and he adjured the heavens to send down neither dew nor rain upon the earth. Jezebel heard (thereof), and sought to slay him. Elijah arose and prayed before the Holy One, blessed be He... They shall not observe the covenant of circumcision until thou seest it (done) with thine eyes.
הנה אנכי שולח לכם את אליה הנביא לפני בוא יום יהוה הגדול והנורא
. חֲלוֹם — אֶחָד מִשִּׁשִּׁים לַנְּבוּאָה
The Gemara says... a dream is one-sixtieth of prophecy.
In a long chain of those transmitting this statement, it is said that Rabbi Bizna bar Zavda said that Rabbi Akiva said that Rabbi Panda said that Rav Naḥum said that Rabbi Birayim said in the name of one elder, and who is he, Rabbi Bena’a: There were twenty-four interpreters of dreams in Jerusalem. One time, I dreamed a dream and went to each of them to interpret it. What one interpreted for me the other did not interpret for me, and, nevertheless, all of the interpretations were realized in me, to fulfill that which is stated: All dreams follow the mouth of the interpreter.
בָּא לִיטַמֵּא — פּוֹתְחִין לוֹ, בָּא לִיטָּהֵר — מְסַיְּיעִים אוֹתוֹ
We have the power to create, and the power to manifest, we are partners in the Creation.. When we want to go a certain path, we are assisted to go that way, when we see a dream meaning a certain thing, it ends up meaning that thing.. We have to remember who we really are, and the powers we truly possess.
So to take advantage of the moment, for those few seconds when the spirit of Prophecy rested on me, as I was naming my child, as it does on all parents while naming their child, I decided to dream a dream for my son like the dreamer King David spoke about thousands of years ago that would one day live in Israel with the remnants of the returnees from the exile..
And lastly, everyone in this room who just got a refresh from Eliyahu HaNavi, use it well.. its a refresh before the great day of Yom Kippur, where our sins are examined, and all we have left is a bunch of weeks to hold the line, keep our clean slate, and start off the Shmita year, the year of rest judged with absolute love and bounty.
And as my fathers and my Rebbe says - We should be zocheh zan mekabel zan pnei Moshiach tzidkenu bimheira v'yamanu amen.