(כז) וַיְהִ֖י בְּעֵ֣ת לִדְתָּ֑הּ וְהִנֵּ֥ה תְאוֹמִ֖ים בְּבִטְנָֽהּ׃
(כח) וַיְהִ֥י בְלִדְתָּ֖הּ וַיִּתֶּן־יָ֑ד וַתִּקַּ֣ח הַמְיַלֶּ֗דֶת וַתִּקְשֹׁ֨ר עַל־יָד֤וֹ שָׁנִי֙ לֵאמֹ֔ר זֶ֖ה יָצָ֥א רִאשֹׁנָֽה׃
(כט) וַיְהִ֣י ׀ כְּמֵשִׁ֣יב יָד֗וֹ וְהִנֵּה֙ יָצָ֣א אָחִ֔יו וַתֹּ֕אמֶר מַה־פָּרַ֖צְתָּ עָלֶ֣יךָ פָּ֑רֶץ וַיִּקְרָ֥א שְׁמ֖וֹ פָּֽרֶץ׃
(ל) וְאַחַר֙ יָצָ֣א אָחִ֔יו אֲשֶׁ֥ר עַל־יָד֖וֹ הַשָּׁנִ֑י וַיִּקְרָ֥א שְׁמ֖וֹ זָֽרַח׃ {ס}
(27) When the time came for her to give birth, there were twins in her womb! (28) While she was in labor, one of them put out his hand, and the midwife tied a crimson thread on that hand, to signify: This one came out first. (29) But just then he drew back his hand, and out came his brother; and she said, “What a breach you have made for yourself!” So he was named Perez.
(30) Afterward his brother came out, on whose hand was the crimson thread; he was named Zerah.
ובמדרשו של רבי נחוניא בן הקנה (ספר הבהיר קצו) יזכיר סוד בשם אלה הילודים
אמרו איקרי זרח על שם החמה שהיא זורחת תמיד ופרץ על שם הלבנה הנפרצת לעתים ונבנית לעתים
והרי פרץ הוא הבכור וחמה גדולה מן הלבנה לא קשיא דהא כתיב ויתן יד וכתיב ואחר יצא אחיו
והנה לדעתם היה שם הלבנה לפרץ מפני מלכות בית דוד
והיו תאומים כי הלבנה מותאמת בחמה והנה פרץ תאום לזרח הנותן יד והוא בכור בכח עליון
כמו שאמר (תהלים פט כח) אף אני בכור אתנהו
וזהו מאמרם (ר"ה כה) בקדוש החודש דוד מלך ישראל חי וקיים והמשכיל יבין:
In the Midrash of Rabbi Nechunya ben Hakaneh there is mentioned a mystic principle in connection with the name of these children, Peretz and Zerach.
Thus they said: “He was called Zerach (shining) on account of the sun which always shines, and Peretz (breaking) on account of the moon which is sometimes dismantled and sometimes whole.
Now was not Peretz the firstborn, and yet the sun is greater than the moon? This presents no difficulty, for it does indeed say, And he [Zerach] put out his hand, and it is further written, And afterwards came out his brother.” Now according to their opinion, the moon is associated with the name Peretz on account of the kingdom of the House of David.
Peretz and Zerach were born twins since the moon functions by means of the sun.
Thus Peretz is the twin of Zerach who gives forth the hand, while he is the firstborn by virtue of the power of the Supreme One, as is said, I also appoint him first-born.
This is the purport of the saying of the Sages with respect to the Sanctification of the Moon: “David King of Israel lives and exists.” The man learned [in the mystic teachings of the Cabala] will understand.
(טז) יָמִין וּשמאל תִּפְרוצִי. וְאֶת ה' תַּעֲרִיצִי.
עַל יַד אִיש בֶּן פַּרְצִי. וְנִשמְחָה וְנָגִילָה.
...Rightward and leftward, you shall spread out mightily, and you shall extol the might of Hashem,
Through the man descended from Peretz, then we shall be glad and joyous.
(1) ויקרא שמו זרח, “he called his name Zerach.” The name Zerach (shines) symbolised the sun, whereas the name Peretz (interruption) symbolised the moon. (the sun shines uninterruptedly, daily, whereas the moon is ineffective towards the end of the month and at its beginning). The kingdom of David stemmed from Peretz whose dynasty symbolised the moon and its ups and downs.
(4) A kabbalistic approach: Our verse speaks of two births, two new human beings. There is a profound mystical dimension in this, something of great impact on the dynasty of the house of David. I will reveal to you a small part of that mystical dimension and I ask you to concentrate on what I am about to reveal.
(5) We know that the name אלו-הים, with which the Torah describes G’d during the report of the creation of the universe describes Him as the king of the universe. This name is identified with the concept תשובה, another name for the emanation בינה. [In plain English, the attribute with which G’d created the universe is that which is active in the emanation בינה, the third emanation counting from the highest emanation, i.e. כתר, down. Ed.]
We acknowledge this attribute especially on Rosh Hashanah, the “birthday” of the universe, (creation of man) and the days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur when we conclude the third of the blessings in the עמידה prayer by saying המלך הקדוש, “the Holy King,” or המלך המשפט, “the King who dispenses justice,” instead of הא-ל הקדוש, “the Holy G’d,” or מלך אוהב צדקה ומשפט, “the King who loves righteousness and justice.” There is no King without a people or man that He can be King over.
When the Torah reports G’d’s directive (Genesis 1,3) as יהי אור ויהי אור, “let there be light and there was light,” this light came into existence by means of the power of the Kingdom of Heaven and Earth which is also known as אלו-הים. The repetition of the word אור in that directive and the report that it had been carried out, suggests that there were two kinds of light.
You do not find the subject of the directive repeated when the Torah reports what G’d created on the other days. In the Torah’s report of the directives G’d issued concerning the other days you only find the expression ויהי כן to indicate that the universe had responded to G’d’s directive.
You should realise that though the Torah appears to speak of two kinds of light, the meaning is not that there were actually two entirely different kinds of light. What is meant is that this light embodied two sources of power, of energy. One of these forces is essentially male, the other essentially female. The creation of the original light, however, was the product of a single source of energy, one which combines within it both male and female elements.
This original light later on enabled the sun, the moon, and the stars to be derived from it and to be concretized. [The original light was independent of any physical matter, sunlight is not. It requires the sun, i.e. a physical body, in order to dispense it. Ed.]. I have explained this in my commentary on Genesis 1,14. The sun was endowed with the male properties of the original light, whereas the moon was endowed with the female properties of the original light.
(6) Having absorbed this knowledge, you will understand what occurred in the case of Yehudah, Tamar, and these two children born to Tamar and Yehudah respectively. By means of these two individuals, Peretz and Zerach, we can gain a better understanding of the whole process of creation. This is what the sages had in mind in Berachot 55 when they said: מלכותא דארע כעין מלכותא דרקיע, “the kingdom on earth is essentially similar to the kingdom in the celestial regions.”
Yehudah’s name יהודה, gratitude, as we know from Leah’s feelings of gratitude to G’d meant that by having born more children for Yaakov than any of his wives would he would be appreciative of this. [compare Genesis 29,35. Ed.] Seeing that Yehudah was the fourth of the twelve sons who were to make up the tribes of Israel, G’d’s Holy Name is part of his name. His tribe became the leading tribe in Israel and the Kingdom of Israel was ruled over by a king from his tribe, i.e. David and his descendants. It was therefore appropriate that Tamar, herself descended from Royalty, should be married to him.
The name Tamar reflects the fact that the original light contained both male and female properties, seeing that תמר, a date or date-palm, contains both male and female elements, or rather that the name for both a female palm and a male palm is the same. The לולב, palm branch, is indicative of the male element in the palm, whereas the fruit, the product of the female palm tree goes by the same name, i.e. תמר. It is male on the outside whereas its גרעין, its pit, is female.
This is something unique, not found in any other kind of tree. It was therefore appropriate that Peretz and Zerach be mothered by Tamar. Zerach corresponded to the element sun, the male element, the sun which shines without interruption, whereas Peretz corresponded to the element moon, the female element, a light which is uneven, sometimes stronger sometimes waning completely such as the light of the moon.
It was therefore almost a historical must that the dynasty of King David be the product of Peretz rather than Zerach, seeing that he, Peretz — as indicated by his name already — represented the type of light we get from the moon, i.e. light which fluctuates constantly in intensity as does the light of the moon.
(7) When you will examine the verse intelligently you will find that just as the sun is always aligned with the moon just like twins, so Zerach and Peretz were aligned in the womb of their mother, i.e. they were twins. This concept of their being twins was carried so far that even at birth each of them could be taken for the firstborn depending on whether you consider the emergence of the hand or the emergence of the head as determining which one is the firstborn of the two. The Torah describes Zerach as the firstborn seeing that his hand emerged first from Tamar’s womb.
It says “for he emerged first.” On the other hand, the Torah continues with ויהי כמשיב ידו, “it was as he was about to pull back his hand (inside the womb).” You will note that the Torah did not say that he had actually completed the act of pulling back his hand, i.e. וישב ידו. Peretz became the firstborn by reason of forcing his way out of the birth-canal of his mother past his twin brother Zerach. This is why the Torah writes in our verse ואחר יצא אחיו אשר על ידו השני, “after that, his brother, the one who had the red string tied to his hand, emerged.”
In other words, when we consider the emergence from the womb of the entire baby, פטר רחם, as the dominant criterion, Peretz was the firstborn even though Zerach had first put his hand out of his mother’s womb. The Torah determined that for halachic purposes emergence of a whole baby from the mother’s birth canal first determines who is the true firstborn (Bechorot 46).
This is why when the Torah revealed the names of these two twins it first gives us the name of Peretz. You will find an interesting verse in Psalms 89,28 אף אני בכור אתנהו עליון למלכי ארץ, “I will also appoint him firstborn, highest of the kings of the earth.” G’d is on record that He considers David, who biologically was the youngest of his brothers, as a firstborn.
Seeing that the kingdom of the house of David is derived from Peretz, and Peretz in turn has been likened to the moon, the sages formulated the words דוד מלך ישראל חי וקיים, “David King of Israel is alive and endures,” when we recite the monthly benedictions welcoming the arrival of the renewal of the light of the moon.
When we look at the plain meaning of that statement it means simply that the moon is equated with David, (in name), seeing David is descended from Peretz who has been compared to the moon. Furthermore, seeing that the moon has been described in the Torah as the “small luminary” (Genesis 1,16), we find that the adjective “the small one” has also been applied to David (compare Samuel I 17,14). When we say the words חי וקיים, in the recital of קידוש לבנה, the sanctification of the new moon, the thought we entertain is that the moon has become visible again this month.
(8) On a more mystical level, these words are a reference to the latent power of the moon which is also known as דוד מלך ישראל, in that the word ישראל is a reference to כנסת ישראל, the mystical entity called Israel in the celestial regions. This is why this entity is described as חי וקיים, alive and well, enduring forever.
Daniel 7,9 alludes to this when he said עד די כרסון רמיו, “until the thrones were set up.” There were two such thrones. In Chagigah 14 the sages have revealed to us how they understood this verse in Daniel. “Some hold that one of these thrones was reserved for G’d and the other for David.
A second opinion holds that one of these thrones would be used by G’d when He employed the attribute of Justice, whereas he would use the other throne when employing the attribute of Charity.
A third opinion, that of Rabbi Eleazar ben Azaryah, contends that one of the ‘thrones’ was for sitting on, whereas the other served as a footrest.” It appears in that folio as if the sages of the first view disagreed with the view expressed by those who hold that one throne was reserved for David. Actually, the sages do not disagree with the basic concepts underlying all this.
We know this as they derive their opinion from the verse ובקשו את ה' אלו-היהם ואת דוד מלכם, “and they will seek the Lord their G’d and David their king.” The words “and David their King” are a reference to this concept of כנסת ישראל. Concerning the moral/spiritual power represented by כנסת ישראל, our sages expounded (Zohar Terumah 175) that legally speaking the Israelites were not slated for exile from their land ever. The decree to exile them was not decided until they had rejected both the Kingdom of Heaven (G’d) and the Kingdom of David.
It is important to realize that the words “David” and the words “the son of Yishai” are not a repetition referring to one and the same person as those commentators who concentrate on the plain meaning of the text would have us believe. The meaning of the verse is that Sheva ben Bichri and his supporters declared their severance of allegiance to both the kingdom of heaven and the celestial aspect of the kingdom on earth as represented by David in his capacity as the son of Yishai.
These people served idols instead. This is why he said “each one to his god!” [The sages inverted the letters in the word לאהליו, “to their tents,” to read “to their gods,” i.e. לאלהיו].