Tav 400
Tav 400
Tav 400
TAV 400
• מצרעNumerical value Metzora (70= ע,200= ר,90= צ,40=)מ
• Amount of silver shekels paid by Avrohom to Efron
• Number of soldiers with Esav to go fight Yaacov
METZORA
The Gemara (Erchin 16a) says that one of the causes of “tzora’as” is being stingy “ra ayin”.
The numerical value of Metzora and of “ra ayin” ( )רע עיןis 400. The goal of “tzora’as” is not cause
pain but to motivate the person to do Teshuva recognizing and fixing a severe error.
AVROHOM AND EFRON
The Midrash Rabbah states: (Mishlei 28:22), "A person who has an evil eye ("ra ayin") chases
after wealth, and does not realize that it will be his loss." What was Efron's loss? The first time Efron
is mentioned it is spelled with the letter "vav" עפרוןand the second time without it עפרן
What is the significance of Efron's losing his "vav"? The Ba'al Haturim explains that the
gematria of Efron without the letter "vav" is 400, equal to the gematria of "ra ayin"/"evil eye." Efron
had a choice to cooperate with Avrohom and made an error and went after money, evidenced by the
loss of the vav and becoming a name of 400.
ESAV & HIS 400 MEN
"Then Yaakov sent angels before him to Esav his brother . . ." (32:4) R' Elyah Lopian z"l (1872-
1970; Rosh Yeshiva,Yeshiva Etz Chaim, London) asks what is added by the words, "before him."
"One who does a mitzvah acquires one advocate; one who commits a sin acquires one
prosecutor." In other words, from every mitzvah that a person does, a "good" angel is created. The
good angels, created by a person's mitzvos, go before the Divine Throne and lobby on the person's
behalf. On the other hand, from every sin that a person commits, an impure angel is created who
attempts to harm the person.
This sheds light on the meaning of the words "before him." Yaakov chose his own angels, who
were "before him" as a result of the mitzvos that he had performed.
Esav, too, had angels that were created as a result of his bad deeds. It was from these that he
chose the 400 "men" who were traveling with him to meet Yaakov. Yaakov countered by sending gifts
to Esav with his “men”. Why? "In order to satisfy the eyes of that rasha." The result of Yaacov’s good
efforts was that the 400 “men” of Esav slipped away and that Esav hugged Yaacov.
From each of the above, a person should realize that one’s fate is in one’s own hands.
A person has the ability to create good angels to assist in one’s spiritual and material endeavors
and one has the ability to create impure, harmful angels. Each person makes their own choice.
2 1 1 down: Place of first Exile of 400 years
מ (5 letters)
1 across: Parsha’s name with numeric value 400
(4 letters)
2 down: King Dovid took 400 men to
defeat this nation (4 letters)
3 3 across: Hebrew word for straw, numerical value
ק 400
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PARSHA MATH
(2 letters)
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