(בראשית רבה יט ז) א"ר אבא בר כהנא מהלך אין כתיב כאן אלא מתהלך מקפץ ועולה עיקר שכינה בתחתונים היתה כיון שחטא אדם הראשון נסתלקה שכינה לרקיע הראשון חטא קין נסתלקה לרקיע השני דור אנוש לג' דור המבול לד' דור הפלגה לה' סדומיים לו' ומצרים בימי אברהם לז' וכנגדן עמדו ז' צדיקים ואלו הן אברהם יצחק ויעקב לוי קהת עמרם משה עמד אברהם והורידה לו' עמד יצחק והורידה מן ו' לה' עמד יעקב והורידה מן הה' לד' עמד לוי והורידה מן הד' לג' עמד קהת והורידה מן הג' לב' עמד עמרם והורידה מן הב' לא' עמד משה והורידה מלמעלה למטה אר"י כתיב (תהלים לז) צדיקים יירשו ארץ וגו' ורשעים מה יעשו פורחים באויר אלא הרשעים לא השכינו שכינה בארץ:

Hashem desired a dwelling place on earth and therefore created Man who through his moral choices would build that residence for Him. life for man began in Gan Eden where he was placed together with the Shechina. However, the sly Nachash took advantage of Adam and Chava and seduced them to eat from the forbidden fruit. By doing so, the Shechina left Gan Eden and ascended to the first heaven. Because of Man's pursuit to follow his bodily cravings that oppossed Hashem's doctrine, Man chased Hashem further away from him and the world. When Kayin killed Hevel Hashem ascended to the second heaven. In the generation of Enosh when they worshipped avodah zarah, Hashem brought upon Mankind a Flood and distanced Himself even further by His Shechina residing in the third heaven. When the generation of the Flood rebelled against Him, not only did He punish humanity with a greater Flood than before but once again Hashem went up further, this time to the fourth heaven.

It seems that humanity doesn't learn its history lessons very well, and the generation of Haflagah attempted to build a tower in order to make battle with Hashem. Subsequent Hashem's interruption of their construction, the Shechinah rose to the fifth heaven. Then came the city of Sodom who were cruel, selfish and hedonistic and Hashem destroyed them and their city. Hashem's presence in the world became even more distant and it went to the sixth heaven. The last heaven which merited to have the presence of the Shechinah to dwell in it, was because of the decadence and perversion of Mitzrayim's culture.

This was not Hashem's plan at all and yet from the first day of Adam's existence on earth, Hashem's intentions to benefit him was thwarted by the very recipient of His bestowal. The one common denominator in all seven fallings was the role of the culprit and instigator the Nachash. Once the Nachash's poison ideology entered Adam and Chavah and became part of their being, the road to attain sheleimus and the goal for Man to construct a dwelling place for Hashem, took a sharp and long detour leaving a path of these seven cataclysmic fallouts along the journey.

To see the allusion of the Nachash's participating role in all seven calamities one does not have to look further than to take the first letters of the seven failures of Man and look at the gematriah. אדם קין אנוש מבול הפלגה סדום מצרים and you will arrive at זמר which means to sever and cut off such as pruning a tree. Included in this definition is the Nachash enticing Chavah to separate the fruit from the Aitz Hadaas. The letters next to זמר are נחש for after the zayin comes a ches, after the mem comes a nun and after the raish comes a shin. The Nachash's ambition is to cut Man off from Hashem in order that he will be permanently separated, and both Hashem and Man will lose out. His sinister objective is alluded to in his name נחש as the Medrash says חטא אדם נסתלקה שכינה חטא קין נסתלקה שכינה the acronym is חטא נסתלקה שכינה.

All of these seven generations of evil perpetrators add up (with the kollel) to the gematria חמר which translates as physical matter. The human body is formed in the רחם womb. There it develops its רמח 248 limbs. This exact number corresponds to the 248 mitzvos with which our limbs are designated to fulfill them. By doing the mitzvos we have a רומח a spear in our hands to ward off the yetzer harah and the Nachash who relentlessly attempt to entice us to transgress Hashem's ratzon. We have the choice to use our רמח limbs to service the will of our neshama or to use them to facilitate the desires of חומר the cravings of the body. The Nachash and these seven generations of sin and depravity, seek from man to enjoy the "now" with instant gratification. Those who follow in their ways will perish leaving no מחר - tomorrow in Olam Habah. They have chosen for themselves to celebrate and invest into being a חמור a donkey in this world of "today" (Bereishis 21,23). It is more rewarding to listen to your neshmah and have רחמים on yourself because otherwise you are bartering eternity for a fleeting trinket pleasure that disappears in a flash and leaves one only with emptiness.

However זה לעומת זה עשה אלקים and just as we had people who turned Hashem away from keeping His presence on earth, so too there were seven tzadkim whose avodah was to once again fulfill Hashem's wish and bring HIm back to earth in order to reside together with Am Yisrael. They were אברהם יצחק יעקב לוי קהת עמרם משה. They were individuals who through Torah and teachings prepared the earth and Am Yisrael for the Torah to be given at Har Sinai. Their light dispelled the darkness of evil and falsehood and they aroused in the world an awareness of Hashem Echad and Malchus Shamayim. They played the role of creating a nation whose purpose was (Yeshaya 42,6) to be a light unto the nations.

אֲנִ֧י ה' קְרָאתִ֥יךָֽ בְצֶ֖דֶק וְאַחְזֵ֣ק בְּיָדֶ֑ךָ וְאֶצָּרְךָ֗ וְאֶתֶּנְךָ֛ לִבְרִ֥ית עָ֖ם לְא֥וֹר

We suggest that this holy mission of theirs is hinted in the passuk Bereishis 2,10

ונהר יוצא מעדן להשקות את הגן ומשם יפרד והיה לארבעה ראשים

A river shall flow from Aiden to water the Gan and from there it will separate into four river heads.

The word נהר can also mean נהורא which means light. This spiritual light is referring to the Seven Tzadikim who through their intense avodah and devotion to Hashem, lived to rebuild His dwelling place once again on earth. This is hinted in the gematriah of the acronyms of their names which all add up to ונהר 261 as follows אברהם יצחק יעקב לוי קהת עמרם משה. Their dedicated lives that helped fulfill and complete Hashem's mission, brought to Yisrael the reality of Hashem giving the Torah to Am Yisrael. It was because of these Seven tzadikim, that Yisrael were able to stand at Sinai and finish the detour of reconstructing the tzuarh of Adam Harishon. This is hinted in the words להשקות את הגן to water the Gan. The word גן is gematria 53 corresponding to the 53 parshiyos in the Torah. These seven tzadikim through their beaming lights of spiritual and divine energy, enabled the Torah to be given to Am Yisrael.

This passuk continues ומשם יפרד לארבעה ראשים that these waters from the נהר separate into four river heads. They correspond to the four elements from which all the middos stem from, אש רוח מים עפר fire wind water and earth. The Torah has the ability to elevate these elements to be channeled into serving a higher cause than merely the mundane and the earthly. The body and the middos are to be sanctified and hallowed for spiritual avodah. This is why we find at Matan Torah that all four elements were present on this monumental occasion. As the Medrash says (Bamidbar Rabba 1,6) that Hashem came down in a fire (Shmos19,18), clouds brought water (Shoftim 5,4), they were given the Torah in the desert, and we will add that Hashem brought wind to remove the scent of spices that filled the air after each one of the Aseres Hadibros (Shabbos 88b).

The Menorah was formed with seven branches. Chazal ask why did Hashem demand that the Menorah should be lit every day in the Mishkan. Does Hashem need light if He Himself created the universe and all its luminaries? Chazal answer that the purpose of the Menorah is to manifest that the Shechinah dwells in Yisrael. The Ner Maaravi was a daily miracle in that its flame lasted much longer than the oil supply given to it. The Menorah symbolizes Torah הרוצה להחכים ידרים one who desires to become learned he should turn to the south for the Menorah is situated in the south. The seven branches of the Menorah symbolize the Seven Tzaddikim that radiated the holy lights throughout their lives and brought about Matan Torah and Hashem's dwelling amongst Yisrael especially in the Mishkan. They were the ones who fought against the seven generations of tumah that strove to squash any fulfillment of Hashem's presence in the world. The Menorah is testimony to their life's work against the oppositional destructive forces.

This can be seen in the gematria of אל מול פני המנורה יאירו שבעת הנרות. For we must understand that even though there were seven tzadikim who brought the Shechinah onto earth, nevertheless the battle continues until today between the Dark Side and and the side of Light. The last four Tzadikkim's acronym spell עמלק - לוי קהת עמרם משה. We are still in galus Edom. This conveys that we today are still trying to subdue the opposition who will do anything to chase Hashem back into shamayim. It is the Menorah which symbolizes the learning of Torah and the tikkun of the seven middos that these seven tzadikim excelled in that will take down the forces that pushed Hashem away from our intimate experiences with Him. אל מול פני המנורה. The פני המנורה are the seven tzaddikim and we of Klal Yisrael who continue their mission. אל מול means to our opposition the evil forces against the פני המנורה. The gematriah of אל מול פני is 247 the acronym of the names of the seven evil forces of destruction originating in the Nachash. יאירו שבעת הנרות that our seven middos should model the פני המנורה the seven tzadikkim that brought the Shechinah ever so closer to us and block from our hearts and minds the מול the energy of tumah and sheker in the world.