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The Daily Chizuk – Yael Hid Sisera Under the Blanket

Monday, 5th of Iyar 5784

"And Yael... covered him with a blanket" (Judges 4:18), but the word semichah (blanket) does not appear anywhere else in the Tanach (Hebrew Bible). One opinion says (Vayikra Rabbah 23:10) that it was a paila—a paila is a large tub. Who says it was a blanket like the ones we know today?

There were no blankets then, so she covered him; Yael put him under the table and placed a large paila (tub) over him.

What is a semichah? The Gemara asks, what is a semichah?

Reish Lakish says it was a paila (Vayikra Rabbah 23:10); a paila is a tub, a giant tub. Yael covered Sisera with a tub, hiding him under the tub.

So semichah is a paila, says the Megaleh Amukos (Opan 87): "The word SeMiChah (שמיכה) has the same Gematria (numerical value) as Tzipporah (צפרה)," because Yael was a reincarnation of Tzipporah.

Why is it written as semichah? Semichah is: Shin (numerical value 300), Mem (40), Yud (10), Kaf (20) which equals 70, plus the Heh (5)—together it equals Tzipporah, as Tzipporah is written without the letter Vav.

The Megaleh Amukos writes in Opan 87 that Tzipporah is the Gematria of semichah. He further adds that Deborah the Prophetess was a spark of Moses, Yael was a spark of Tzipporah, and Shamgar ben Anath was Gershom (the son of Moses).

Deborah is Moses, which is why Esther is also Moses. Shamgar ben Anath was Gershom. Together they were the father, mother, and their son Gershom—"For he said, 'I have been a stranger (ger) in a foreign land'" (Exodus 18:3).

After that, the verse appears: "And the name of the other was Eliezer, for 'the God of my father was my help (be'ezri), and He delivered me from the sword of Pharaoh'" (ibid. 18:4). However, Eliezer should have come before Gershom! After all, Moses was first on the gallows, where they raised the sword against him, and the sword turned against the executioner.

From here we see that he should have been named Eliezer first, because first "I was a stranger," and only after that did he arrive in Midian. It took Moses another week to reach Midian; he walked on foot from Egypt to Midian, which took another week.

First was Eliezer—"And He delivered me from the sword of Pharaoh" (Exodus 18:4). Rather, Moses said - "Until I see the salvation of the Jewish people, I will not give the name Eliezer."

Eliezer is already the salvation! It already means - My God helps (Eli ozer)! Hashem helps! We defeat everyone! We defeat all the enemies!

May the complete Geulah (Redemption) come speedily in our days, Amen.