Tanach · Acharonim on Tanach · Or HaChaim · Torah
Or HaChaim on Numbers 26:5/אור החיים על במדבר כ״ו:ה׳
אמִשְׁפַּחַת הַחֲנֹכִי. רַבּוֹתֵינוּ זִכְרוֹנָם לִבְרָכָה (ילקוט שמעוני במדבר תשע״ג) אָמְרוּ, וְזֶה לְשׁוֹנָם: אָמַר רַב אִידִי, הֵ״א בְּרֵישׁ דְּתֵבוֹתָא וְיוֹ״ד בְּסוֹפָהּ – יָ״הּ מֵעִיד עֲלֵיהֶם שֶׁהֵם בְּנֵי אֲבוֹתֵיהֶם, וּמַה טַעַם? ״שִׁבְטֵי יָהּ עֵדוּת״ וְגוֹ׳, עַד כָּאן.
1 משפחת החנכי, the family of Chanoch. Yalkut Shimoni on our verse (item 773) quotes Rav Idi who says that whenever you have the letter ה at the beginning of a name and the letter י at the end this is a sign that the person named was a son of the person who claimed to be his father. The string of such names here proves that the Israelites practiced marital fidelity. [The two letters discussed here together form the name of G'd i.e. י־ה so that what Rav Idi means is that G'd associated His name with the names of these families. Ed.]
בוְרָאִיתִי לָתֵת טַעַם לָמָּה נִקְבַּע בָּהֶם הַשֵּׁם שֶׁלֹּא כְּסִדְרוֹ, הֵ״א בַּתְּחִלָּה וְיוֹ״ד בַּסּוֹף, בְּהַקְדִּים דִּבְרֵיהֶם זַ״ל (תיקונים י׳) כִּי כְּלָלוּת נִשְׁמוֹת יִשְׂרָאֵל הֵם מִכִּסֵּא כְבוֹדוֹ יִתְבָּרַךְ אֲשֶׁר יִקָּרֵא הֵיכַל קָדְשׁוֹ וְיִתְכַּנֶּה בְּשֵׁם אדנ״י, וּכְפִי מַה שֶׁקָּדַם לָנוּ מֵאַנְשֵׁי אֱמֶת (טור שולחן ערוך אורח חיים סימן ה׳) כִּי יִתְחַיֵּב כָּל הַמּוֹצִיא מִפִּיו הַזְכָּרַת הַשֵּׁם לְכַוֵּן לָאוֹתִיּוֹת הַמֻּזְכָּרוֹת בְּפִיו וְהַנֶּעֱלָמוֹת בְּמַחְשָׁבָה, הַמֻּזְכָּרוֹת שֵׁם אדנ״י, וְהַנֶּעֱלָמוֹת שֵׁם הוי״ה, גַּם יְכַוֵּן לְשִׁלּוּב הָאוֹתִיּוֹת שֶׁהוּא סוֹד ״ה׳ בְּהֵיכַל קָדְשׁוֹ״ (תהילים י״א:ד׳), וּמֵעַתָּה בְּהִשְׁתַּלֵּב שְׁנֵי שֵׁמוֹת יַעַמְדוּ יַחַד שְׁתֵּי אוֹתִיּוֹת ה׳ י׳, הֵ״א קוֹדֶם לְיוֹ״ד, וְהֵם הָאוֹתִיּוֹת הַנִּרְשָׁמוֹת בְּמִשְׁפְּחוֹת בֵּית יִשְׂרָאֵל, הַחֲנֹכִי הַפַּלֻּאִי, שֶׁקּוֹדֶמֶת הֵ״א לְיוֹ״ד שֶׁהֵם אוֹתִיּוֹת חוֹתָם ה׳ בְּהֵיכַל קָדְשׁוֹ, וְיִבָּנֶה מִשְּׁנֵיהֶם שֵׁם י״ה הָרָמוּז בְּמַאֲמַר ״שִׁבְטֵי יָהּ״.
2Having read Rav Idi's comment, we need to understand why these two letters appear in the reverse order, i.e. ה־י instead of י־ה. We may understand this with the help of some introductory remarks based on Tikkuney Hazohar 10. We are told there that the overall pool of souls of the Jewish people originates from an area beneath the throne of G'd which is called Heychal Kodsho, the Sanctuary of His Holiness. This aspect of G'd is called in our parlance א־ד־נ־י. Our halachic codifiers such as Tur Shulchan Aruch Or Hachayim 5 have told us that when someone utters the name of G'd during his prayers he must think of each single letter in the name of G'd he utters. When he utters names which we are permitted to utter and which are spelled in the prayerbook with the letters א־ד־נ־י, he must think of G'd in terms of His sovereignty. When he encounters the name of G'd spelled י־ה, he is to think of G'd in terms of His being eternal. When he encounters the Ineffable Name, i.e. י־ה־ו־ה, he is to think of G'd in terms of His being supremely powerful. He should also think of G'd as multifaceted as portrayed by the various ways His name appears in print. We have a verse in Psalms 11,4 where the ineffable name of G'd appears both before and after the words היכל קדשו, "the Sanctuary of His holiness." In that instance you will find that the letter ה at the end of the name of G'd before the expression היכל קדשו and the letter י immediately after the expression היכל קדשו form the reverse of the usual י־ה, i.e. ה־י just as in the sequence of the name החנכי. These two letters then may be viewed as the seal of the היכל קדשו, and together they represent the two letters י־ה which form the name of G'd most often manifest in our lives ever since the destruction of the Temple.