THE THREE TACHINS
One of the institutions in the Land of Israel mentioned in the Torah several times is the Cities of Refuge. These cities were intended as refuges for one who committed criminally negligent homicide. In such cases, the victim’s relatives had the right to avenge the death by killing the murderer. To prevent these follow-on killings, the murderer was provided with six Cities of Refuge where he would be safe.
In this week’s parsha, the third time the Cities of Refuge are mentioned in the Torah, there is an added requirement:
“Prepare for yourselves the route.”
Rashi explains that this meant that there should be signs posted at the crossroads.
The simple understanding of this requirement is that the Torah wanted to make sure that the fleeing murderer could find his way to these cities. The requirement for signs was added to the requirement that the roads themselves be wide to facilitate easy access.
The expression used here, “prepare-tachin,” commentators say can also be found in two other Biblical verses:
In Psalm 10:17, King David says:
“You heard the wish of the humble, O G-d; guide-tachin their heart, lend a listening ear.”
The other occurrence of the word tachin is in Psalm 65:10, in which the Psalmist praises G-d for the earth and its produce:
“You attend to the earth and irrigate it; You enrich it greatly with G-d’s streams full of water. You prepare-tachin their grain…”
Whenever a word is found several times in Biblical literature it suggests that there is a deeper thematic connection among those verses.
On the surface, how can we see a connection between preparing the roads to the Cities of Refuge and G-d’s guiding our hearts and providing our grain?
CITIES OF REFUGE OF THE FUTURE
To discover the deeper message we must focus on the connection of the Cities of Refuge with the future Redemption.
In this week’s parsha, the Torah says that in the Messianic Age we will add three more cities to the six that were designated before.
In fact, Maimonides cites this Mitzva, of building the three cities in the future, as one of the primary Biblical sources establishing that there will be a Messianic Age.
The Rebbe explains that these new cities will be for those who, prior to the Final Redemption, may have committed unintentional murder. In the era of Redemption itself, when the world will be rid of envy and conflict, there will no longer be any need for a City of Refuge in its most literal sense.
However, there will still be a spiritual parallel to these Cities.
To understand their significance we must begin our analysis with the commentary of the Tzemach Tzedek (third leader of Chabad) in his Or HaTorah (BaMidbar p. 1015):
The three cities that Moshe commanded to designate in Israel proper correspond to the Torah, which is divided into three parts, Torah, N’viim-Prophets and K’suvim-Writings, which together are known by the acronym “Tanach.” The six cities (three in Israel proper and three on the east bank of the Jordan) correspond to the six orders of the Mishna.
The Talmud concludes from this that Torah study has the capacity to be a refuge for a person who has sinned. The Tzemach Tzedek explains that Torah totally envelops one who studies it even as it becomes totally absorbed within the mind. This unity with Torah, Tanya states, is unparalleled. Torah, therefore, has the capacity to rectify sins and imperfections, metaphorically referred to as bloodshed. One who commits a sin causes the energy of the G-dly soul to be diverted into the “other side.” This means that our sins upset the balance of goodness and evil. Torah study, which completely envelops and is absorbed within us, reverses the “bloodletting” by restoring the Divine energy to the realm of holiness.
However, not all vestiges of evil can be erased by Torah study in the present day and age.
The very first sin, the eating of the Tree of Knowledge, cannot be rectified until the Final Redemption, through Moshiach.
In order to affect the total erasure of every trace of evil, conventional levels of Torah study will not suffice. For this we need access to a new, higher dimension of Torah.
This, the Tzemach Tzedek says, refers to the cloaked teachings of the Torah that will be revealed in the future.
THE THREE INTELLECTUAL POWERS
According to the Mitteler Rebbe (Rabbi Dovber, son and successor of Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi, founder of the Chabad movement), these three cities will be constructed in the expanded territory of Keini, K’nizi and Kadmoni (the three lands promised to Avraham that were never conquered). They allude to three Divine intellectual powers that have never before been manifested in our world.
In the Messianic Age, these three lands will become part of the Land of Israel. In the figurative sense, this means that the world finally will be exposed to the deepest understanding of Torah; levels that have never before been revealed. These new levels of knowledge will challenge our minds in ways that will transform the way we think.
We can illustrate this by referring to the radical changes in technology that have affected the way we think and live. The revolution in technology and information gives us a limited glimpse, by analogy, into the future.
However, the analogy is hardly complete. Technology is a tool that can be harnessed for good or evil. Advances in scientific knowledge do not guarantee advances in morality and goodness.
The future advances in Torah knowledge will change the way we think, the way we behave, and restore the world to the state of perfection that existed before Adam and Eve partook of the forbidden fruit of the Tree of Knowledge.
It was Knowledge that brought the world to its proverbial knees. It started when Adam and Eve ate of the Tree, which endowed them with a form of sensual knowledge. The Egyptians were the most advanced society in their day and used their sophisticated knowledge to enslave the Jews. Much closer to our own time, intellectuals formulated the twin evils of Nazism and communism, which unleashed havoc on the world and caused the death of tens of millions.
By contrast, knowledge of Torah does not only edify its students. Torah study also refines them, by providing a refuge from the hostile influences of secular society. In addition, Torah exposes to each of us the positive influences of our own Divine soul.
THE TREE OF LIFE
But Torah, as we observed earlier, cannot completely obliterate the vestiges of the sin of the Tree of Knowledge today. For that, we need the total paradigm shift which will come only in the Messianic Age. That is when Moshiach will reveal the most hidden and pristine teachings of Torah. These teachings are metaphorically referred to as the Tree of Life. After Adam’s fall he could no longer eat of that Tree. For us to partake of it, we had to go through thousands of years of refinement, culminating with the Messianic Age. Then we will all be able to enjoy the fruit of the Tree of Life.
However, while total revelation eludes us now, we can and must prepare for it. The Torah we study now – particularly its inner dimension revealed in the teachings of Chassidus – prepares us for that time when G-d will pull out all the stops and reveal that which is now beyond us.
THE THREE PREPARATIONS
This, then, may be the key to understanding the deeper meaning of the word tachin-prepare in the context of the three cities. Not only were the People commanded to provide roads and signs to the Cities of Refuge but the Cities of Refuge themselves were roads to and signs of the future.
The Torah we study today prepares us for the Torah of the future.
This insight may help explain the connection to the two other places in Torah where the word tachin-prepare is used.
The second occurrence, in Psalm 10:17 as mentioned above, is:
“You heard the wish of the humble, O G-d; guide-tachin their heart, lend a listening ear.”
Tachin-prepare is used here in connection with our hearts, i.e., our emotions. The Torah we learn today, while it might not bring about the total transformation of our minds, can and will bring us a change of heart. The Torah guides us, inspires us and refines us.
So, how does Torah affect the heart?
Maimonides explains, and Chassidic thought amplifies, that we can generate proper emotions by reflecting on G-d’s greatness, and saturating our minds with the Torah’s spiritual teachings. This is what the Torah meant when it stated (D’varim 4:39): “Today you shall know and take to your heart that G-d is G-d in the heavens above, and on the earth below; there is no other.” We first have to know before we can take it to our hearts. These spiritual teachings are a sample of the secrets that will be revealed by Moshiach.
The third occurrence of tachin, in Psalm 65:10, is:
“You attend to the earth and irrigate it; You enrich it greatly with G-d’s streams full of water. You prepare-tachin their grain…”
Earth is a metaphor for the physical aspects of our lives. Torah, first and foremost, is intended to instruct us concerning our earthly activities. Grain is a metaphor for Torah, but specifically, the part of Torah that is down-to-earth; the part that involves our actions and everyday life.
There are thus two forms of preparation for the future revelation of the deepest aspects of Torah: the part of Torah that “massages” our heart and the part of Torah that affects behavior.
When we live in a manner consonant with G-d’s will in our daily routine, we are preparing the world for its final destiny. By so doing, we help the world fulfill its ultimate purpose, that of becoming a “dwelling place for G-d.”