42 Revisited
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Several years ago, I wrote the blog 42-and-masay in which I noted that there were 42 designated cities of refuge in all and 42 encampment in the desert. Subsequently, when reviewing Parshas Shmos, I noticed that the gematria of eheye is 21, so the original version of the name that Hashem imparts to Moshe that includes eheye twice is 42. I wrote: "That may be an allusion to the number of encampments they ended up with that Moshe considered too discouraging to hear about from the outset."
It took until July 2026 for me to see that others have declared that gematria to be canonical -- and that it relates to the Divine Name of 42 --rather than just my guess in a parsha piece by Rav Baruch Rosenblum. He wrote:
"As is known, Bnei
Yisrael traveled through forty-two journeys in the wilderness,
and corresponding to them there are forty-two lines in a Sefer
Torah, and the Aseret Hadibrot on the Luchot contained
forty-two lines. The forty-two journeys correspond to the
Shem Mem-Bet – the Name of Forty-Two, meaning, a forty-
two lettered name of Hakadosh Baruch Hu. That is also why
there are forty-two designated Levite cities, aside from the six
Arei Miklat (cities of refuge). In the first parsha of Shema, from
ָ until וְאָ הַ בְ תָּ word the
,letters two-forty are there ,וּבִ שׁ ְ עָרֶֽ יך
corresponding to this Shem Mem-Bet."
He cites the Meshech Chochma who says that the doubled Eheye is indeed meant to amount to 42, an allusion to the Divine Name of 42 letters. That Name corresponds to the number of Names in the Tefillin: 21 in the box wrapped on the arm and another 21 in the one wrapped on the head. Tefillin signals the connection between Hashem and Yisrael and the experience of open miracles:
וְהִ נֵּה בַּ מֶּ ה מָ צִ ינוּ שׁ ֶ נִּתְ גַּלָּה לוֹ? בַּ שׁ ּ ֵ ם "אֶ הְ יֶה אֲשׁ ֶ ר אֶ הְ יֶה", שׁ ֶ זֶּה סוֹד שׁ ֵ ם
מ"ב, שׁ ְ תֵּ י פְּ עָמִ ים כ"א כְּ מִ נְיַן 'אֶ הְ יֶה'. הֵ ן כְּ נֶגֶד כ"א שׁ ֵ מוֹת שׁ ֶ בִּ תְ פִ לִּ ין
שׁ ֶ ל יָד, וְכֵן הֵ ן בִּ תְ פִ לִּ ין שׁ ֶ ל רֹאשׁ , וּבְ צֵרוּפָן יֵשׁ מ"ב – הוּא הַ שׁ ּ ֵ ם הַ נּוֹרָ א...
תְּ פִ לִּ ין דְּ מָ רֵ י עָלְ מָ א שׁ ֶ כָּתוּב בָּ הֶ ן אַ הֲבַ ת יִשְׂ רָ אֵ ל וּמַ עֲלָתו,ֹ אִ ם כְּ בוֹד הַ שׁ ּ ֵ ם
ָ
ְ ּ הוּא בְ גִלּוּי, וּמְ קֻ יָם "וְרָ אוּ כָּל עַמֵּ י הָ אָ רֶ ץ כִּ י שׁ ֵ ם ה' נִקְ רָ א עָלֶיך
יִתְ בָּ רַ ך
וְיָרְ אוּ מִ מֶּ ךּ – וְזֶה תְּ פִ לִּ ין שׁ ֶ בָּ רֹאשׁ , שׁ ֶ אָ ז שׁ ֵ ם מ"ב בְּ שׁ ַ לְ מוּת. אֲבָ ל ָ"
כְּ שׁ ֶ הַ הַ שׁ ְ גָּחָ ה הִ יא בְּ הֶ סְ תֵּ ר פּ ָנִים, אָ ז נִתְ גַּלָּה רַ ק תְּ פִ לִּ ין שׁ ֶ ל יָד, שׁ ֶ אֵ ינוֹ
נִרְ אֶ ה לָרַ בִּ ים...
Where do we find that the Name of forty-two was revealed to
Moshe? In the Name "Ehyeh Asher Ehyeh" – which conceals the
secret of the Name of forty-two. "Ehyeh" has the numerical value
of twenty-one, and "Ehyeh Asher Ehyeh" contains it twice – two
times twenty-one equals forty-two. These correspond to the
twenty-one Names in the Tefillin shel yad and the twenty-one in
the Tefillin shel rosh – combined, they form the awesome Name
of forty-two. The Tefillin of the Master of the World express
Hashem's love for Yisrael and their greatness – when the honor
of Hashem is openly revealed, fulfilling the verse: "And all the
peoples of the earth shall see that the Name of Hashem is called
upon you, and they shall fear you" – this corresponds to the
Tefillin shel rosh, when the Name of forty-two is complete. But
when Divine providence operates through concealment, only
the Tefillin shel yad is revealed – the one not visible to others,
as it says: "and it shall be to you a sign" – and not to others a
sign (Menachot 37b). At such times Yisrael is in the state of
"your children placed like a weasel dwelling in the crevices of
your own house." This is the meaning of "Ehyeh Asher Ehyeh" –
"this is My Name" – in an era of open miraculous Divine
conduct, when "all the peoples of the earth shall see that the
Name of Hashem is called upon you." But when it is not openly
revealed, only "Ehyeh has sent me to you" applies – when only
the Tefillin shel yad is visible.
R' Rosenblum expounds on this in a praphrase:
"The Meshech Chochma continues. The Shem Mem-Bet is a
the in miracles about brings that – שׁ ֶ מְּ חוֹלֵל נִסִּ ים בָּ עוֹלָם Name
world – and instills fear amongst the nations. But it is present
in its fullness only when Hakadosh Baruch Hu watches over
us b'galui, when His hashgachah is open and revealed. When
it is in nistar (concealed) and appears as Hester Panim, you
do not have the full Shem Mem-Bet. You have only הֶי ְה ֶא – half
of it, a Name of twenty-one.
"This is precisely what happened at the burning bush.
Hakadosh Baruch Hu revealed to Moshe Rabbeinu the Shem
Mem-Bet, but Moshe was then to relay only half of it to Bnei
Because? Why .כּ ֹה תֹאמַ ר לִבְ נֵי יִשְׂ רָ אֵ ל אֶ הְ יֶה שׁ ְ לָחַ נִי אֲלֵיכֶם :Yisrael
Pharaoh was not yet ready to release them, and their slavery
was about to intensify still further. Moshe was speaking to
them at a time of Hester Panim, and so only half the Name
was presented.."
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