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Sh'lah on the Torah |
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Parshat Shemini The following translation by Mr. Eliyahu Munk is an excerpt from the book Shney Luchot HaBrit -- the Sh'lah On the day the
terrestrial tabernacle was erected a parallel Sanctuary was established in the
Celestial Regions. This is the reason that the word mishkan is repeated in
Exodus 38,21: Mishkan, Mishkan, Ha-eydut.
G-d displayed as much desire for that which is in hidden regions as for
what is revealed in our world. (Rabbi
Shimon (ben Gamliel) stated in the Midrash Nasso 16 that at the time G-d
created the universe, He wished to have a residence in the terrestrial world
similar to His residence in the Celestial Regions.) Man is the ultimate purpose of the universe. This is something that all our commentators have been at pains to prove. It is the reason we say in our prayers on Rosh Hashanah, “This day (the date on which Adam was created) is the beginning of Your works.” The author of Kley Chemdah says that this is the meaning of Psalms 66,3:, “Say to G-d how awesome are Your deeds.” Significantly, the Psalmist does not speak about G-d’s works in the plural, but sums them all up as a single deed, although the word “Your deeds” is in the plural. What the Psalmist means is that all of G-d’s deeds had but one aim, Man. This is why Man is a combination of terrestrial and celestial elements. Rashi explains this in his commentary on Genesis 2,7. This established a permanent linkage between terrestrial and Celestial creatures. It helped remove jealousy between the creatures of the “upper” world and the creatures of the “lower” world (Rashi ibid.). There remains a complaint [by the Celestial Forces] inasmuch as only man is at home on earth. This subject bears further investigation. Man is composed of body and soul, a visible as well as an invisible part. This is the deeper meaning of Exodus 25,8:, “They shall make for Me a Sanctuary and I shall dwell amongst them.” The difficulty here is that the verse speaks about the Tabernacle. Our Rabbis in Shavuot 16 tell us that the expression Tabernacle (mishkan) and Sanctuary (mekadesh) may be used interchangeable. This was not the only difficulty in the verse. Why, if the Sanctuary is a single unit, does the Torah report G-d saying that He will dwell amongst them (plural)? The Torah should have written that he will dwell ‘within it’! We have here an allusion to the fact that the cause is fond of the effect,i.e. the hidden longs for the revealed. Our sages (Pessachim 112) articulated this thought when they said that more than the calf desires to suckle on the teats of its mother, the cow is anxious to nurse its calf. In Parsha Vayakhel 36, 1 the Torah writes: “to whom G-d had given wisdom and insight – to them.”; there is a play on words here – the word Ba-heymah in hebrew can mean ‘to them’ or can mean ‘animal’. Shemot Rabbah 48,3 states that the word Ba-heymah (animal) in the above verse is to teach us that it was not only man whom G-d imbued with wisdom but also the animals. Betzalel was the only one who was privy to the wisdom possessed by the animals. Perhaps the Torah wants to hint at the proverb we quoted earlier that the mother cow is more anxious to nurse its calf than the calf is anxious to be nursed. It is all an allusion to the close connection between cause and effect. We are taught a lesson in reciprocal attachment and unity, i.e. that nothing exists outside of G-d Himself, that He is inextricably involved with all that He has created. It is this lesson the Rabbis wanted to teach us when they said that mekadesh and mishkan can be used interchangeable; the exterior, visible part, is called Mishkan, whereas the interior, invisible part, is called mekadesh. I have already written about Man being the essential part of the universe. This premise of the Zohar has been quoted in treatise at the beginning of chapter seven. It is stipulated there that Man is a microcosm, and that there are allusions to compare Man to both the universe and to the Sanctuary. The author says that the heart corresponds to the Inner Sanctuary, the Kedosh Kedoshim. Maimonides, in a letter to his son Rabbi Abraham, quoted out the beginning of the above named book, compares the Tabernacle and its furnishings to a distinguished body. When G-d said “I will dwell amongst them,” He meant inside their essence, something more essential than the mere interior of the Tabernacle, the part called also the Miskan Ha-dout, the Tent of Testimony i.e. the Torah. This is the source of everlasting life. The Misbeach Haolah, the altar for the burnt-offering, is the site whence one achieves closeness with G-d. The expression (koraban to Hashem) which we invariably find when the offerings to be presented on this altar are mentioned, reflect the purpose of these offerings to achieve closeness with G-d. The Torah constantly repeats the expression in connection with these karbones in order to stress the profound value of this spiritual rapprochement and unification with the Celestial Regions by means of these offerings. All this is explained by the Zohar. |
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Ascent of Safed
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