The 'gematria' of 'TEARS' and the end of death

The Jerusalem Talmud concludes Seder Moed with Tractate Moed Katan. And the last Mishna there ends with the verse from Isaiah: “God shall wipe the tears from every face.” The commentaries explain that the Mishna wants to end on a positive note – “God shall wipe the tears from every face” – and therefore the Talmud, as well, ends on a positive note: “Flutes may be brought to the house of feasting and rejoicing” – even during Chol Hamoed, when ordinary mundane activities are limited, one is permitted to bring flutes to a joyous occasion and play them – even though on the Three Holy Festivals it is prohibited – because, as the commentaries explain, it is the rejoicing of a Mitzva. Regarding this promise to “wipe the tears from every face” – the Talmud rules in the laws of acquisitions: “A reversible change is not considered a change.” One cannot establish ownership of an object by making a change in it, if that change can be reversed. So too, even though there are tears in the world God will eventually wipe them all away, because at the outset of creation, death was not a natural state of existence, until man sinned. And even after the sin, first one has life, long life, and at its conclusion, temporarily, there are, God forbid, tears… The Mishna therefore concludes, for all to know, that the world will one day return to its natural state of eternal life, to a state of joy and light – because, “God shall wipe away the tears from every face.” There is a profound allusion to this in the teachings of Rabbi Isaac Luria, that the numerical value of ‘<em>Dimah</em>–Tears’ is 120, which in Torah signifies <em>full</em> <em>life</em>. But the individual letters only add up to119, so the word ‘<em>Dimah</em>’ as a whole is counted as an additional 1, to reach 120. Asks the Shomer Emunim: What kind of game is this? The numbers must be exact! What do you gain by factoring in the word as a whole? If you’re interested in the real numerical value, it’s only 119. And he explains: For certain concepts the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Focusing on all the details will not enable you to grasp it. In such a case, the calculation requires you to also factor in the word as a whole to indicate that there is a higher purpose that brings meaning to all the details. So too here, the Arizal states that ‘Tears’ equals 120, <em>full life</em>. The explanation: Tears have no true purpose on their own. And the proof is: They are temporary – because “God shall wipe away all tears.” So when we try to understand the meaning of tears, we must look to the wider purpose which they serve. What is the wider purpose of tears? Since it is sin that brought death and tears to the world, so the purpose of tears is to wash away sin. Tears were brought into this world temporarily, to rectify sin, in order to bring man to complete repentance. Therefore, when the Mishna concludes, “God shall wipe away all tears,” Tosafos explains that this is a positive ending. Why is it so positive? Because it indicates the <em>purpose</em> of tears. What commandment do tears fulfill? Tears are not a Mitzva on their own. Maimonides explains in his <em>Laws of Mourning</em> that the purpose of mourning and tears is <em>repentance</em> – that “The living will take it to heart” and return to God. Maimonides rules in his code of Jewish Law, that all the tears associated with the <em>Laws of Mourning</em> – which are the subject of the preceding chapter of Tractate Moed Katan – are in order to move one to repentance, through which “The living will take it to heart” – while they are still alive. When remorse for past sins spurs one to unconditional repentance in this world, then his past sins are forgiven, and more so – they become considered “like merits,” and then, in the Alter Rebbe’s words, they transform into “actual merits.” It is this transformation that elevates the Baal Teshuva above the Tzaddik. This, then, is the common theme of the Mishna and the Talmud. The Mishna concludes that tears are in fact a Mitzva – which is why Torah law delineates the various stages of mourning: the first day, the first three days, seven days, thirty days, eleven months, Yahrzeit, and so forth… But it is a Mitzvah which is an “incomplete service.” In the Holy Temple, there were two types of rituals: One was called an “incomplete service” because it required a subsequent ritual to complete it – even though the first ritual was certainly holy. It was a service in the Holy Temple – but not a “complete service.” A “complete service” is one which requires no subsequent action. “<em>Dima</em> – Tears” without repentance are an incomplete service, equaling only 119. But when repentance is added, it becomes complete – 120 – and that is what the Talmud is coming to add. The Talmud’s function is to take the succinct wording of the Mishna, and reveal all its hidden width, depth and breadth. And that is why the Talmud here ends off with bringing the flutes to rejoice in the Mitzva – because the true Mitzva is the result of the tears of true repentance: “God shall wipe away the tears from every face,” and then, as Maimonides concludes in his <em>Laws of Fasts</em>, “These days of mourning will be transformed into days of rejoicing, into days of good <em>Moed</em>” – just like the term “Chol <em>Hamoed.</em>” “<em>Dimah</em> – Tears” plus 1, equals 120, which is the exact numerical value of “<em>Moed,</em>” for after all the tears are complete, will come the ultimate rejoicing.