טוב ויפה

In honor of 9 and 10 Kislav.  We say every day in davening after shema, ויציב וכו' טוב ויפה הדבר הזה.  What is the difference between the words טוב ויפה? A few English translations I looked at translate as good and beautiful.  What it means that the words of shema are beautiful?  I believe that the difference is similar to what this blog write here as to the difference between hod and hadar.  Hod is the external reflection of an inner purity and pristine character.  Hadar is an external beauty but under the nice exterior may lie a malfunctioned engine.  The same kind of idea may be the difference between tov and yaffe.  The word tov indicates that there is a potential inside to the matter.  There is a goodness inside that can be brought out if handled properly.  Yaffe is an external, appealing look to the matter but it may be rotten inside.  [Yaffe is the same word as יפת, they had an emphasis on external beauty.]  Based upon this we can understand what Yehosua and Caleb said טובה הארץ מאד מאד (Shelach 14:7.)  How was this a response to what the meraglim said that its ארץ אוכלת יושביה?  They were saying that yes, externally it may appear difficult to conquer Eretz Yisroel but you have to be able to see the inner goodness inside the land and that goodness is not something to be passed up.  The words of shema are indeed טוב, there is an inner light to them but it is also יפה, one who keeps Torah properly has an external 'beauty', a חן that radiates upon their face.

[There are five times in Tanach that woman are described as טובת מראה, Rivka, Batsheva, Vashti, Ester and Achasvarosh gathered all the woman that where טובת מראה.  The one that bothers me a little according to the above explanation of טובה is Vashti.  I believe the only man described as טוב is דוד, it says he was טוב ראי (Shmuel 2 16:12.) ]
 
This meaning of טוב is hinted to us in the first letter of it, ט where the edge of the ט sticks into the letter to hint to the fact that the food is inside.  As the Zohar (into. 3a) says: עָאלַת אָת ט (תרומה קנ''ב ע''א) אָמְרָה קַמֵּיהּ רִבּוֹן עָלְמָא נִיחָא קַמָּךְ לְמִבְרֵי בִּי עָלְמָא דְּאַנְתְּ בִּי אִתְקְרִיאַת טוֹב וְיָשָׁר. אָמַר לָהּ לָא אִבְרֵי בָּךְ עָלְמָא דְּהָא טוּבָךְ סָתִים בְּגַוָּוךְ, וְצָפוּן בְּגַוָּוךְ, הֲדָא הוּא דִכְתִיב, (תהלים לא) מָה רַב טוּבְךָ אֲשֶׁר צָפַנְתָּ לִירֵאֶיךָ הוֹאִיל וְגָנִיז בְּגַוָּוךְ לֵית בֵּיהּ חוּלָקָא לְעָלְמָא דָא דְּאֲנָא בָּעֵי לְמִבְרֵי, אֶלָּא בְּעָלְמָא (שמות קנ''ב א) דְּאֲתֵי.  In English: The letter Tet entered and said: “Maker of the world, it would be good to create the world with me, for it is by me that You are called Tov.” The Creator replied: “I will not create the world by you, for your goodness is concealed within you and is invisible. Therefore, it cannot take any part in the world that I wish to create, and will only be revealed in the world to come (from Sefaria.)  This is why a pregnancy is 9 months for the potential of the fetus takes 9 months to develop as a  whole, complete baby.

[The Ketones Pasim in Behaloscha brings from the Baal Shem Tov says the ט inside the word חטא is the hidden good that exists in the חטא.  What teshuva does is that it removes the outer klipah of the sin and the hidden good is revealed.  Its also noteworthy that the word טוב and the word חטא have the same numerical value if you add the כולל.]

That is why the Sefer Yitzirah says that the letter of the month of Av is ט.  The month of Av currently is seen as a month of great destruction but that is only the outer appearance.  Underneath that cover there is a tremendous spiritual light and potential.  That is alluded to in the letter ט, hence it is the letter of the month.  And of course the day that will be the greatest holiday, the day that contains the greatest light, is the 9 ^th day of the month.

Based upon this Zohar the Bnei Yissaschar (Kislav maamer 2 #22) answers the question of the Rishonim (Abudraham Chanukah,) why is there no ספיקא דיומא for Chanukah?  He cites from numerous sources that Chanukah is the holiday where there is a revelation of the hidden light that was stored away in creation.  [As Rav Eliyahu Ovadyeh explains, that doesn't mean that one will see all the mysteries of creation; its not about fixing others, the light is for a person to be in tune with their inner self, to see the depths of their own soul.]  Based upon this the Bnei Yissaschar explains if there would be 9 days of Chanukah for ספיקא דיומא, then the holiday would be 9 days representing a hidden good.  However, since the essence of the holiday is about the revelation of the hidden light, not its concealment, then it would be inappropriate for the holiday to be 9 days.

9 has the potential for good but it itself is incomplete.  The good isn't realized yet. The first 9 sefirot contain all the power to create the world but it can't come into actualize without the 10 ^th sefira of malchus to flow into.  That is the power of the 10 ^th sefirah.  It is the conduit for the hidden good of the first 9 sefirot to be actualized.  That is the שלימות of 10 for the power of 9 to come to fruition.
(Many of the ideas advanced here are inspired by the writings of Rav Yitzchak Ginzburg. The links for the articles are here, and here.)