While this week we have a long Torah reading I thought it would be best to keep this one short and sweet.
The post-golden-calf-gate stories bring us to the actualization of the detailed sanctuary/Mishkan and conclusion of the Book of Exodus. However, the parsha opens with Moshe gathering everyone together to hear the detailed instructions. Moshe begins his remarks with a reminder of the holiness of the sabbath and then proceeds to give the instruction for construction.
Six days work may be done and the seventh day will be for you holy, a hole say of complete rest to Hashem; whoever does work will be put to death (Shmot 35:2-3).
The Torah Temimah, the commentary of Rabbi B Epstein, makes quick work of the phrase it "will be for you" by stating, "'for you holy, and that place, profane" (quoting a mechilta). This insightful comments rings a familiar bell to those who have read AJ Heschel's The Sabbath. I believe the Torah Temimiah is emphasizing the power of a Jew to make a moment transcend a place a fill it with soulfulness in an unique way. Just as it possible to stand in a secular/profane place and have a feeling of holiness the opposite is true; one can stand in a holy place and feel regular and empty. To explain this phenomenon let's return to the Mishkan, an idealic example of a holy space.
Traditional commentators bring down the fact that the Torah's reminder of the sacredness of the Shabbat preceding the construction of the Mishkan teaches that the Mishkan was commanded not to be built on Shabbat and thus any act preformed in creating the Mishkan would be prohibited on Shabbat. One would think that the goal of a holy building such as the Hashem's home on this earth would demand all of our attention and actions around the clock - no! The Netivot Shalom comments that Shabbat and the Mishkan achieve the same goal, a dwelling place for Hashem in our midst. Thus it would be redundant to work on the building if we already are basking in the glory of the Lrd.
Here we return to the simple words of the Torah Temimah. It is up to the Jew to make something meaningful and dedicated to Hashem, for the Mishkan really is only stones, beams of wood and all of the technical details found in the rest of the double parsha. It could remain that way, or as it was done twice, the Mishkan could be destroyed and taken away from us if we do not see the important responsibility to diligently and constantly imbue it with sacredness and specialness. We can make a regular place uniquely holy the same way we can spoil a holy place and make it mundane. It rests with us - or as the Torah says it "will be for you"?
15 March 2007
01 March 2007
Parshat Ki Tisa
No matter how many times you read Tanach, I find that there is always a beautiful way to see a verse in a new light.
In working to make a new covenant between Hashem and the forlorn Jewish nation of former slaves, Moshe asks, "Show me now Your glory" (Shmot 33:18). This question is a megilla in itself to understand. I want to focus on a new understanding of how to solve a minor contradiction in the Torah and learn a powerful lesson.
Hashem responds, "I shall make My goodness pass before you, and I shall call you with the Name Hashem before you; I shall show favor when I choose to show favor, and I shall show mercy when I choose to show mercy." He said, "You will not be able to see My face, for no human can see My face and live" (Shmot 19-20). Some argue that Hashem refused Moshe's request because he hid his face at the burning bush at the first revelation (Shmot 3:6).
We read latter on, "Never again has there arisen a prophet in Israel like Moshe, whom Hashem had known face to face" (Dvarim 34:10). Pushing aside many of the traditional commentators who explain this contradiction to a satisfactory degree, I would like to boldly push another understanding of Moshe's request for divine face-time.
You might be familiar with a sensitive aggada that is brought down often in parshat Chukat regarding the death of Aaron the Priest, Moshe's older brother. The pshat of the text states, "Moshe stripped Aaron's garments from him and dressed Elazar his son in them; then Aaron dies there on Mt. Hor, and Moshe and and Elazar descended from the mountain" (Bamidbar 20:28). How did Aaron die? According to the aggada he expired from a kiss by Gd. (It is described as painless as taking a hair from a bowl of milk). When the Torah records Moshe's death it states, "So Moshe, servant of Hashem, died there, in the land of Moab, by the mouth of Hashem" (Dvarim 34:5). Rashi writes simply on the words 'by the mouth', "with a kiss." How else does someone kiss, but by revealing one's lips and face.
One Problem: "Mouth to mouth do I speak to him, in a clear vision and not in riddles, at the image of Hashem does he gaze" (Bamidbar 12:8). After the episode of Miriam and Aaron's verbal concern over Moshe marriage, Hashem rushes to defend Moshe's honor and bestows an incredible degree of closeness to their conversations. Two answers to this hurdle. One, that "peh el peh" could also designate the wide breadth of Moshe's experiences in Gd's house (which is eluded to in the previous verse). I prefer a second solution, that in Bamidbar the language is "mouth to mouth" while our discussion has been about faces. Rav Sadia Goan interprets these words as face to face, but I am respectfully disagree with a greater sage to make this following point.
Our new way to understand Moshe's request on top of Mt. Sinai and Hashem's refusal to acknowledge his intimate relationship with his servant is about timing. In the end of his story, Moshe does merit to see the face of Hashem, but only in his final moments, Often we want to hurry a situation to reap the benefits, skip ahead of a long line to finish a transaction, or jump through preliminary questions to get to the heart of a matter. There are situations where the truth that is sought can only be concluded at the final gathering; but this does not preclude our search for the relationship of TRUTH as the parsha continues, "Three times a year all your males shall appear before "penai" the Lrd Hashem, Gd of Israel" (Shmot 34:24).
In working to make a new covenant between Hashem and the forlorn Jewish nation of former slaves, Moshe asks, "Show me now Your glory" (Shmot 33:18). This question is a megilla in itself to understand. I want to focus on a new understanding of how to solve a minor contradiction in the Torah and learn a powerful lesson.
Hashem responds, "I shall make My goodness pass before you, and I shall call you with the Name Hashem before you; I shall show favor when I choose to show favor, and I shall show mercy when I choose to show mercy." He said, "You will not be able to see My face, for no human can see My face and live" (Shmot 19-20). Some argue that Hashem refused Moshe's request because he hid his face at the burning bush at the first revelation (Shmot 3:6).
We read latter on, "Never again has there arisen a prophet in Israel like Moshe, whom Hashem had known face to face" (Dvarim 34:10). Pushing aside many of the traditional commentators who explain this contradiction to a satisfactory degree, I would like to boldly push another understanding of Moshe's request for divine face-time.
You might be familiar with a sensitive aggada that is brought down often in parshat Chukat regarding the death of Aaron the Priest, Moshe's older brother. The pshat of the text states, "Moshe stripped Aaron's garments from him and dressed Elazar his son in them; then Aaron dies there on Mt. Hor, and Moshe and and Elazar descended from the mountain" (Bamidbar 20:28). How did Aaron die? According to the aggada he expired from a kiss by Gd. (It is described as painless as taking a hair from a bowl of milk). When the Torah records Moshe's death it states, "So Moshe, servant of Hashem, died there, in the land of Moab, by the mouth of Hashem" (Dvarim 34:5). Rashi writes simply on the words 'by the mouth', "with a kiss." How else does someone kiss, but by revealing one's lips and face.
One Problem: "Mouth to mouth do I speak to him, in a clear vision and not in riddles, at the image of Hashem does he gaze" (Bamidbar 12:8). After the episode of Miriam and Aaron's verbal concern over Moshe marriage, Hashem rushes to defend Moshe's honor and bestows an incredible degree of closeness to their conversations. Two answers to this hurdle. One, that "peh el peh" could also designate the wide breadth of Moshe's experiences in Gd's house (which is eluded to in the previous verse). I prefer a second solution, that in Bamidbar the language is "mouth to mouth" while our discussion has been about faces. Rav Sadia Goan interprets these words as face to face, but I am respectfully disagree with a greater sage to make this following point.
Our new way to understand Moshe's request on top of Mt. Sinai and Hashem's refusal to acknowledge his intimate relationship with his servant is about timing. In the end of his story, Moshe does merit to see the face of Hashem, but only in his final moments, Often we want to hurry a situation to reap the benefits, skip ahead of a long line to finish a transaction, or jump through preliminary questions to get to the heart of a matter. There are situations where the truth that is sought can only be concluded at the final gathering; but this does not preclude our search for the relationship of TRUTH as the parsha continues, "Three times a year all your males shall appear before "penai" the Lrd Hashem, Gd of Israel" (Shmot 34:24).
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