Kuf in Bakesh

Over the past few weeks the Torah reading has focused on all of the effort and the details
of building the Mishkan and its vessels and the making of the garments for the Kohanim.
The people who worked on all of these projects are described as being Chachmat Lev,
wise-hearted. One explanation of what wise-hearted means is that the true desires of our
hearts direct our actions and that we have choice about what our true desires are.

What do we really want in our heart of hearts? There are a number of different words in
Hebrew having the connotation of asking for or wanting something. For example, Rotzeh - to want, Tzarich - to need, Sho'el - to ask. However, there is one word that expresses our deepest, heart-felt desire -- Bakesh (Bet-Kuf-Shin). When we see this word, we know that it implies what the person is truly requesting with all of their heart and what their actions are really aimed at getting.

Because the letter Kuf is the letter for the month of Adar, we were looking through Megilat Esther for significant or recurring words that had a Kuf in them. Interestingly, what caught our eye was the root Bakesh (Bet-Kuf-Shin). This word is woven throughout the text of the Megilah and provides insight into the true and deep motivations and desires of Haman, Esther, and Mordechai.

Our questions were: Why does the word Bakesh have a Kuf in it?
What does the Kuf tell us about the concept of desiring something?

The letter Kuf, the only non-final letter that descends "below the line" is often associated with separation, as in the word Kadosh, meaning holy or separated. However, we can also see that the Kuf's connection with separation can also mean that something is separated for the purpose of bringing it close. As we begin the book of Vayikra and read of all of the Korbanot, sacrifices, we will see that animals etc. are separated out for sacrifice with the purpose of bringing the offerer Karov, close, to G-d. We can conclude that the Kuf has both a sense of separation and connection--resolved by understanding that the separation is for the ultimate purpose of unification.

A further example of the double nature of the Kuf is found in the Shmoneh Esrei, when we petition G-d to "gather the Jews together from the four corners of the earth." This implies that the Jewish people although currently separated will be brought together. Therefore we see words that mean bringing together often having a Kuf in them, such as a Kahal (Kuf-Heh-Lamed) a gathering, or a K'vutza (Kuf-Bet-Tzadi-Heh) a group (from which comes the word Kibbutz). We also find the Kuf in the word Shekel (Shin-Kuf-Lamed), the form of money that the Jews were required to use for the pooling of funds for the community offerings in the Beit HaMikdash.

The words Beka, Boker, Bakesh and Bakak

In the past we have looked at "common roots", words that contain two same letters and are distinguished by one different letter as a way to see a pattern of meaning. The Radak (author of the Book of Hebrew root words) lists only 4 words that start with the letters Beit-Kuf. One is the word we are looking into: Bakesh. The others are Beka (Beit-Kuf-Ayin) which means to split open (as in the splitting of Yam Suf-Exodus 14:21), Boker (Beit-Kuf-Reish) which means the morning or to distinguish (to be understood that in the light things can be distinguished and that distinguishing things sheds light on their essence), and the word Bakak (Beit-Kuf-Kuf), which means to empty or a synonym for aloneness (Jeremiah:51:2).

The pattern that develops is that words beginning with Beit-Kuf have in common the notion of separating out in order to reveal. In the word Bakesh-the extra letter is the letter Shin-the letter that characterizes desire (literally, fire). To find one's most inner desire then requires a process of separating, emptying out and clearing.

As we mentioned above, the word Bakesh (in its different grammatical forms) is found throughout the story of Megilat Esther. Out true desires are often hidden and Purim is the time to awaken ourselves to self-discovery. Who are we? What is our truest desire?

To give but one example--an example that serves to contrast the inner desire of Esther and Haman, we look to the climax in Chapter 7 of the Megilah. Finally, Esther reveals to her husband, the King, (7:4) her hearts desire: "Please grant me my life with my "shealati-request" and my people's (lives) with my Bakashati-my deepest desire." Notice that Esther, in keeping with Mordechai's previous rebuke, expresses her desire for her people and only asks for her own life. In contrast, in 7:7, Haman rises to express his "inner desire" and pleads for his own life from Esther. When the charade is over and each one of the players in the play faces their naked truth--their true selves are revealed.