י”ב בשבט תשס”ז
The final two foodstuffs associated with Tu B’Shevat in Devarim 8:8 are olive oil and date-honey. The phrase is written this way – “a land of olive oil and date-honey.”
ארץ-זית שמן ודבש
Aretz (a land) pertains to Malchut, the final letter hey (ה) of the tetragrammaton (יהוה). The gematria of the entire phrase of 4 words is 1410. This value has a digit sum of 6. Six is the value of the letter vav (ו) of the tetragrammaton. Thus, what we have here in this phrase is a land (hey) of vav. In other words, we have a unification of the hey and the vav of the tetragrammaton. Importantly, tradition teaches that these two letters of the tetragrammaton pertain to the messianic aspect of the soul [1].
It is also worth noting that the two letters vav-hey have a combined gematria of 11, the number of the incense spices of the universe of Tohu. Elevating Tohu (via the mystery of the incense spices [2] as traditionally taught) likewise elevates the Divine Name.
Now, we have completed the list of foodstuffs of Devarim 8:8. Having begun in galut with wheat, the pasuk (verse) ends with the arrival of messianic consciousness and restoration of the Divine Name.
Footnotes:
[1] Studies In Ecstatic Kabbalah, Moshe Idel (p. 52)
[2] Inner Space, Aryeh Kaplan (p. 86)
