Daf Ditty 4: Access to the Divine, the Paradox

Life … is a tale told by an idiot,

full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.

William Shakespeare, Macbeth

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§ And a was taught in accordance with the opinion of Reish Lakish that sequestering is derived from Sinai: Moses ascended in the cloud, and was covered in the cloud, and was sanctified in the cloud, in order to receive the for the Jewish people in sanctity, as it is stated: “And the glory of the Lord abode upon Mount Sinai and the cloud covered him six days, and He called to Moses on the seventh day from the midst of the cloud” (Exodus 24:16). This was an incident that occurred after the revelation of the Ten Commandments to the Jewish people, and these six days were the beginning of the forty days that Moses was on the mountain (see Exodus 24:18); this is the statement of Rabbi Yosei HaGelili. The opinion of Rabbi Yosei HaGelili corresponds to that of Reish Lakish; Moses withdrew for six days before receiving permission to stand in the presence of God.

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Rabbi Akiva says: This incident occurred before the revelation of the Ten Commandments to the Jewish people, and when the Torah says: “And the glory of the Lord abode upon Mount Sinai,” it is referring to the revelation of the Divine Presence that began on the New Moon of Sivan, which was six days before the revelation of the Ten Commandments.

And that which is written: “And the cloud covered him,” means the cloud covered it, the mountain, and not him, Moses. “And He called to Moses”; Moses and all of the Jewish people were standing at the foot of the mountain and listening, and if God did not mean that Moses was to climb the mountain, why did He call him? The verse comes only to accord deference to Moses, as the entire nation heard God address him. Rabbi Natan says: Moses was in fact called to enter the cloud; however, his entrance was not for the purpose of sequestering and purifying

6 him, rather, the verse comes only to cleanse the food and drink that was in his intestines, to render him like the ministering angels who require neither food nor drink.

Rabbi Matya ben Ḥarash says: The verse calling Moses into the cloud comes only to intimidate Moses, to instill in him a sense of awe of the Creator, so that the Torah would be delivered with reverence, with quaking and with trembling, as it is stated: “Serve the Lord with awe, and rejoice with trembling” (Psalms 2:11). Apropos the end of the verse, the Gemara asks: What is the meaning of “and rejoice with trembling”? Joy and trembling seem contradictory. Adda bar Mattana said that Rav said: Where there is the joy of fulfilling a mitzva, there will be the trembling of the awe of Heaven there.

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§ Apropos the interpretation of the verse with regard to revelation, the Gemara asks: With regard to what do Rabbi Yosei HaGelili and disagree? The Gemara explains that their dispute is parallel to the dispute between these other tanna’im, as it was taught in a baraita: On the sixth day of the month of Sivan, the Torah, the Ten Commandments, was given to the Jewish people.

Rabbi Yosei says: It was on the seventh day of the month. According to the one who said that it was on the sixth, the Torah was given on the sixth, which is the day of the revelation of the Ten Commandments, and on the seventh day of the month Moses ascended the mountain, as it is written:

8 ,And the glory of the LORD abode upon mount Sinai 16 זט יַּו ִ ןֹכְּשׁ דוֹבְכּ - הָוהְי לַﬠ - רַה ,יַניִס ,יַניִס רַה and the cloud covered it six days; and the seventh day וּהֵסַּכְיַו ןָנָﬠֶה תֶשֵׁשׁ ;םיִמָי יַּו ִ אָרְק לֶא - .He called unto Moses out of the midst of the cloud ֹמ הֶשׁ יַּבּ םוֹ בְשַּׁ ה ﬠיִ ,יִ וֹתִּ מ נָﬠֶ ה ָ .ן ֶָהתּ י י ְַהם Ex 24:16 “And He called to Moses on the seventh day”

According to the one who said that the Torah was given on the seventh of the month, it was given on the seventh and Moses ascended on the seventh, as it is written: “And he called to Moses on the seventh day.”

The Gemara proceeds to link the two disputes. Rabbi Yosei HaGelili holds in accordance with the opinion of the first tanna in the baraita, who said that it was on the sixth of the month that

9 the Torah was given; therefore, this incident occurred after the revelation of the Ten Commandments. That is why he explains the verse “And the glory of the Lord abode on Mount Sinai and the cloud covered him for six days” to mean that the cloud covered Moses, and He called to Moses on the seventh day to receive the rest of the Torah. As, should it enter your mind to interpret the verse as follows: “And the glory of the Lord abode” from the New Moon of Sivan; “And the cloud covered it,” the mountain; “And He called to Moses on the seventh day,” to receive only the Ten Commandments; didn’t they already receive the Ten Commandments on the sixth of the month, and the cloud that was on the mountain already departed on the sixth of the month?

And Rabbi Akiva holds in accordance with the opinion of Rabbi Yosei, who said that on the seventh of the month the Torah was given to the Jewish people. That is why Moses was summoned on the seventh of the month immediately after the revelation of the Ten Commandments. The Gemara asks: Granted, according to the opinion of Rabbi Akiva that the Torah was given on the seventh of Sivan and Moses then proceeded to climb the mountain and remain there for forty days, that explains the calculation that you find: On the seventeenth of Tammuz the tablets were shattered, according to the standard tradition. How so? Calculate twenty-four days until the end of Sivan and sixteen days of Tammuz; they total the forty days that he was on the mountain. On the seventeenth of Tammuz he descended from the mountain and came and shattered the tablets.

However, according to Rabbi Yosei HaGelili, who said: There were six days of sequestering after the Torah was given and an additional forty days that Moses was on the mountain, the tablets were not shattered until the twenty-third of Tammuz, contrary to the standard tradition. Rabbi Yosei HaGelili could have said to you: The forty days that Moses was on the mountain include the six days of sequestering.

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§ The Master said in that baraita cited above that when the Torah says: “And He called to Moses,” it means that Moses and all of the Jewish people were standing and listening. The Gemara suggests that this supports the opinion of Rabbi Elazar, as Rabbi Elazar said that when the Torah says: “And He called to Moses,” it means that Moses and all of the Jewish people were standing and listening and the verse comes only to accord deference to Moses. From Rabbi Elazar’s statement it is clear that all of Israel heard the voice of God.

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The Gemara raises an objection: The Torah states:

And when Moses went into the tent of meeting that He 89 טפ בוּ בְ ֹ א שֹׁ מ הֶ ֶ א ל - לֶהֹא ,דֵﬠוֹמ רֵבַּדְל רֵבַּדְל ,דֵﬠוֹמ לֶהֹא might speak with him, then he heard the Voice speaking unto ,וֹתִּא יַּו ִ עַמְשׁ תֶא - לוֹקַּה רֵבַּדִּמ ויָלֵא לַﬠֵמ לַﬠֵמ ויָלֵא רֵבַּדִּמ לוֹקַּה him from above the ark-cover that was upon the ark of the תֶרֹפַּכַּה רֶשֲׁא לַﬠ - ןֹרֲא ,תֻדֵﬠָה ןיֵבִּמ יֵנְשׁ יֵנְשׁ ןיֵבִּמ ,תֻדֵﬠָה ןֹרֲא testimony, from between the two cherubim; and He spoke ;םיִבֻרְכַּה יַו ,רֵבַּדְ .ויָלֵא }פ{ unto him. Num 7:89

“And when Moses went into the Tent of Meeting that He might speak with him, then he heard the voice speaking unto him from above the Ark cover that was upon the Ark of the Testimony, from between the two cherubs; and He spoke unto him”

The Torah could have said: He heard the voice speaking to him; however, instead the verse said: He heard the voice speaking unto him, indicating that the voice reached him alone.

Moses alone heard God’s voice and all of the Jewish people did not hear it. The Gemara answers: This is not difficult.

This case, where everyone heard God’s voice, was at Sinai. That case, where Moses alone heard God’s voice, was at the Tent of Meeting. Or if you wish, say instead an alternative resolution.

This is not difficult; when God addressed Moses by calling to him, everyone heard; that which God subsequently communicated by speaking, Moses alone heard.

13 Rabbi raised a contradiction between verses before Rabbi Elazar, and some say that Rabbi Zerika said that Rabbi Elazar raised a contradiction: It is written in one place:

And Moses was not able to enter into the tent of 35 הל אֹלְו - לֹכָי ,הֶשֹׁמ אוֹבָל לֶא - לֶהֹא לֶהֹא meeting, because the cloud abode thereon, and the glory of ﬠוֹמ ֵ ד -- יִכּ - ןַכָשׁ ,ויָלָﬠ נָﬠֶה ;ןָ דוֹבְכוּ דוֹבְכוּ ;ןָ נָﬠֶה ,ויָלָﬠ ןַכָשׁ --.the LORD filled the tabernacle ,הָוהְי אֵלָמ תֶא - .ןָכְּשִׁמַּה Ex 40:35

“And Moses was not able to enter into the Tent of Meeting because the cloud dwelt on it” as Moses was unable to enter the cloud. And it is written elsewhere:

And Moses entered into the midst of the cloud, and 18 חי אֹבָיַּו הֶשֹׁמ וֹתְבּ ,ןָנָﬠֶה לַﬠַיַּו לֶא - ;רָהָה ;רָהָה went up into the mount; and Moses was in the mount יִהְיַו ,הֶשֹׁמ ,רָהָבּ םיִﬠָבְּרַא ,םוֹי םיִﬠָבְּרַאְו םיִﬠָבְּרַאְו ,םוֹי םיִﬠָבְּרַא ,רָהָבּ ,הֶשֹׁמ יִהְיַו {forty days and forty nights. {P יָל .הָלְ }פ{

Ex 24:18 “And Moses came into the cloud”

This teaches that the Holy One, Blessed be He, grabbed Moses and brought him into the cloud since he could not enter on his own.

Steinzaltz

14 Summary

Two scholars who were the disciples of Moshe transmitted the laws of the service to the Gadol.

A Braisa states regarding the miluim service that Aharon was sequestered for seven days and then he served for one day. Moshe transmitted the laws of the miluim service to Aharon all seven days in order that he be familiar with the service. Similarly, for future generations the Kohen Gadol was sequestered for seven days before Yom Kippur and then he served for one day, and two Torah scholars who were disciples of Moshe would transmit the laws of the Yom Kippur service to him all seven days so he would be familiar with the service. These scholars were not from the group of Sadducees, because we will learn later (53a) that the Sadducees would teach that the Kohen Gadol should place the Ketores on the burning coals in the shovel before entering the Holy of Holies. This was in contradiction to the Chachamim who maintained that first the Kohen Gadol would enter the Holy of Holies and then place the Ketores on the coals.

Both the Kohen Gadol performing the Yom Kippur service and the Kohen burning the Parah Adumah were sprinkled from all of the ashes that were there. The Braisa continues by stating that from here they said in the that seven days before Yom Kippur they would sequester the Kohen Gadol from his house to the Parhedrin Chamber. Just like they would sequester the Kohen Gadol before the Yom Kippur service, they would also sequester the Kohen who burned the Parah Adumah from his house to the chamber before the birah in the northeast corner of the Courtyard of the Bais HaMikdash. Both the Kohen Gadol who would be performing the Yom Kippur service and the Kohen who would be burning the Parah Adumah were sprinkled upon all seven days that they were sequestered from all of the purification ashes that were there.

There is a dispute regarding the reason for the sequestration of Moshe at Sinai. Rabbi Yose HaGlili maintains that Moshe went up into a cloud, was covered by a cloud and was sanctified in a cloud so that he could receive the Torah on behalf of the Jewish People in sanctity. This is derived from the verse that states and the glory of HaShem rested upon Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered him [Moshe] for six days. This occurred after the Jewish People received the Ten Commandments and the six days referred to in the verse were the beginning of the forty-day period after the Ten Commandments were given and when Moshe went up the mountain to receive the Tablets. Rabbi Akiva, however, interprets the verse as follows: and the glory of HaShem rested refers to Sivan, as there were six days from Rosh Chodesh Sivan until the Ten Commandments were given to the Jewish People.

When it is said and the cloud covered it, the suffix it (from the word vayechaseihu, and [the cloud] covered it) does not refer to Moshe, because during the six days prior to the giving of the Ten Commandments, Moshe was busy ascending and descending the mountain to inform the Jewish People how to prepare for the Revelation. Thus, the suffix it must refer to the mountain. When it is said and he called to Moshe on the seventh day, it means HaShem called to Moshe on the seventh of Sivan to tell him the Ten Commandments. When HaShem spoke the Ten Commandments, Moshe and the entire Jewish People heard, and Scripture singles out Moshe from all of Israel to show him honor.

15 Rabbi Nassan aggress with Rabbi Yose HaGlili that it was Moshe who was covered by a cloud, but Rabbi Nassan maintains that we cannot derive from this verse that anyone else entering the camp of the Divine Presence required sequestration, because the verse is merely teaching us that Moshe was transformed into an angel by having his intestines cleansed of food and drink. Rabbi Masya ben Charash maintains that the verse merely was instilling fear into Moshe, so that the Torah should be given with fear, trembling and quaking, as it is said serve HaShem with awe, and rejoice with trepidation.

There is a dispute whether the Torah was given on the sixth of Sivan or on the seventh of Sivan. The Tanna Kamma maintains that the Torah was given on the sixth of Sivan, whereas Rabbi Yose maintains that the Torah was given on the seventh of Sivan. The Tanna Kamma maintains that the Torah was given on the sixth of Sivan and Moshe went up on Mount Sinai on the seventh of Sivan. Rabbi Yose maintains that the Torah was given on the seventh of Sivan and Moshe went up Mount Sinai on the seventh of Sivan. Rabbi Yose HaGlili follows the opinion of the Tanna Kamma who maintains that the Torah was given on the sixth of Sivan.

According to Rabbi Yose HaGlili the verse must be interpreted as follows: and the glory of HaShem rested on Mount Sinai was the day after the giving of the Ten Commandments. And the cloud covered him i.e. Moshe, for six days. And He called to Moshe on the seventh day from when he was sequestered in the cloud, which was the thirteenth of Sivan, and that was to receive the Tablets and the rest of the Torah. If you would say that the verse that states and the glory of HaShem rested occurred on Rosh Chodesh and the suffix it in the verse and the cloud covered it refers to the mountain, and when it is said He called to Moshe on the seventh day, it means that HaShem called Moshe on the seventh day to receive the Ten Commandments, this cannot be, because the Ten Commandments were already given on the sixth of Sivan, and the cloud left on the sixth of Sivan. Rabbi Akiva, however, follows the opinion of Rabbi Yose who maintains that the Torah was given to the Jewish People on the seventh of Sivan. The verse thus refers to the time before the giving of the Ten Commandments and Hashem called Moshe on the seventh of Sivan to hear the Ten Commandments.

Rabbi Yose HaGlili maintains that the forty days of the mountain include the six days of sequestration. According to Rabbi Akiva, who maintains that Moshe went up the mountain on the seventh of Sivan, we can understand how it is a fact that the Tablets were broken on the seventeenth of Tammuz, because the remaining twenty-four days of Sivan and the first sixteen days of Tammuz together equal the forty days that Moshe was on the mountain. Moshe came down from the mountain on the seventeenth of Tammuz and broke the Tablets. According to Rabbi Yose HaGlili, however, who maintains that Moshe was sequestered for six days following the giving of the Ten Commandments and then Moshe spent forty days on the mountain, since Moshe was not called to receive the Torah until the thirteenth of Sivan, the Tablets were not broken until the twenty-third of Tammuz. The Gemara answers that Rabbi Yose HaGlili maintains that the forty days that Moshe was on the mountain includes the six days of sequestration, even though Moshe was not called until the thirteenth.

Everyone heard HaShem speaking at Sinai. The Braisa states that it is said and He called to Moshe, and this means that Moshe and all of Israel were standing etc. This is a proof to Rabbi Elazar who maintains that when it is said and He called to Moshe, it means that HaShem spoke to the entire

16 Jewish People because Moshe and the entire Jewish People were standing and hearing the Ten Commandments, and the verse merely comes to honor Moshe by singling him out from amongst the Jewish People.

This statement is challenged because a Braisa states that the verse states he heard the Voice speaking to him and instead of stating kol eilav, which means speaking to him, it could have said kol lo. This teaches us that only Moshe heard the Voice of HaShem and the Jewish People did not hear the Voice. The Gemara answers that at Sinai, everyone heard the Voice of HaShem, but in the Mishkan, only Moshe heard the Voice of HaShem. Alternatively, the call to Moshe was heard by the entire Jewish People but the message HaShem imparted was only heard by Moshe.

There are two interpretations of the verse that states and Moshe came into the midst of the cloud. There is a contradiction in two verses. In one verse it is said, and Moshe was unable to enter the Tent of meeting, for the cloud rested upon it. This implies that the cloud of the Divine Presence prevented Moshe from entering. Yet regarding the giving of the Torah at Sinai it is said, and Moshe came into the midst of the cloud. We see that Moshe was not prevented by the cloud from entering. This teaches us that HaShem grabbed Moshe and brought him inside the cloud. Thus, Moshe could not enter the cloud on his own, but at Sinai, HaShem pulled Moshe inside the cloud. The academy of Rabbi Yishmael taught a Braisa as follows: regarding Sinai it is said in the midst and regarding the splitting of the sea it is said, and the Children of Israel came into the midst of the sea. Just like by the sea it means that there was a path cut through the water, because it is said there and the water was for them a wall on their right side and on their left, so too by Sinai it means that a path was cut for Moshe through the cloud.

One should not say something to his friend until he first calls him. It is said and He called to Moshe, and He spoke. The reason that HaShem prefaced speaking with calling is to teach us that it is proper that one should not say something to his friend until he first calls him. This means that he should first tell the person that he wishes to speak to him before beginning to speak to him.

One cannot repeat something that he heard from his friend unless he receives permission form the one who told him. One who hears something from his friend cannot repeat it to anyone else unless his friend tells him to repeat it. This is derived from the verse that states and HaShem spoke to him from the Tent of Meeting saying. The word for saying is leimor, which can be interpreted as a contraction of the words lo emor, do not repeat.

When was the Torah given?

In our masechta, we are introduced to a machlokes between R’ Yossi and the Chachomim as to when the Torah was given. According to R’ Yossi, Bnei Yisroel separated from their families three days before Kabbalas HaTorah, in order to sanctify and purify themselves for this momentous event. According to the Chachomim, they separated for only two days. Thus, R’ Yossi and the Chachomim argue as to when the Torah was given: on the seventh of Sivan after three days of preparation, or on the sixth after two days of preparation. The Magen Avraham asks by observing Shavuos on the sixth of Sivan, we seem to follow the view of the Chachomim. Yet in the laws of family purity discussed in Yoreh Dei’ah, the accepted halacha is based on R’ Yossi’s opinion,

17 which would require three days of separation (see Y.D. 196:11). The Magen Avraham therefore concludes that we follow R’ Yossi only as a chumra (extra stringency). Strictly speaking, the halacha follows the Chachomim.

Therefore, we refer to Shavuos which occurs on the sixth, as the festival of receiving the Torah. Shavuos on the fifth of Sivan: There is another perplexing difficulty as to the correct date of Kabbalas HaTorah. Today, we make use of a standardized lunar calendar that was established thousands of years ago. However, it used to be that each new month was declared by Beis Din upon sighting the new moon. Today, Iyar is always twenty-nine days. Then, Iyar could quite possibly last for thirty days, depending upon when the moon was sighted. In such a case, we would complete our counting of fifty days after Pesach, to celebrate Shavuos on the fifth of Sivan (see Rosh Hashana 6b). Shavuos has no set date: Some Poskim accept this conclusion and explain that indeed, Shavuos has no set date. Whereas other Yomim Tovim were established on the first or the fifteenth of the month, Shavuos was set as fifty days after Pesach, regardless of whether that occurs on the fifth or the sixth of the month. However, the Magen Avraham presents a further problem with this conclusion. He cites proofs from the Gemara that Bnei Yisroel left Egypt on a Thursday and received the Torah on Shabbos.

A simple calculation of four weeks plus three days brings us to the conclusion that the Torah was given on the fifty-first day after Pesach. Accordingly, the Rama of Panno held that the second day of Shavuos celebrated outside of Eretz Yisrael is in fact the correct date of Kabbalas HaTorah. However, many reject this conclusion, and the implication that in Eretz Yisrael, the correct date of Kabbalas HaTorah is not celebrated at all (see Chok Yaakov). The Oneg Yom Tov (42) offers a different explanation to the Magen Avraham’s calculation. After leaving Egypt, Bnei Yisroel required fifty days to purify themselves until they were spiritually prepared to receive the Torah. During that period, they ascended from the forty ninth gate of impurity up to the forty ninth gate of holiness. On that first year, they required an extra day of purification, since they did not leave Egypt at the beginning of the first night of Pesach, but rather in the morning. Therefore, the counting could not begin until the following day. Thus, Kabbalas HaTorah occurred on the fifty- first day. Today, we begin counting from the first day of Pesach, and celebrate Shavuos fifty days later.

Rejoice with trepidation

The Gemara explains the verse that states and rejoice with trepidation to mean that in the place of rejoicing i.e., receiving the Torah, there should be trepidation. What does this mean? How can one rejoice with trepidation? The Kedushas Levi in Parashas Breishis writes that this is analogous to a king who reveals all his treasures to his beloved servant. The initial reaction of the servant is one of joy, as he is overwhelmed by the vast wealth of the king. This feeling is followed by trepidation, because the servant wonders to himself how it is even possible to serve such a great king, and certainly if he has violated the king’s commandments. The same is true, writes the Kedushas Levi, regarding our perspective of HaShem. When a person is aware that all of the celestial beings praise HaShem with fear and awe, he feels a great sense of joy that he can serve the Almighty G-d. When he contemplates the greatness of HaShem, however, he will be seized with awe and trepidation, knowing that he will be speaking and sitting before HaShem. This feeling will cause him to speak and pray before HaShem with awe and shame

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Preparing to Enter God’s Presence

Steinzaltz (OBM) writes:1

As we learned previously, the Sages of the derived the need for a seven-day preparation for the Yom Kippur service from the Torah’s description of the Tabernacle in the desert. An alternative source is suggested by Reish Lakish, who proposes that this rule is derived from the story of Moshe receiving the commandments on Mount Sinai. The Torah describes Moshe as being enveloped by a cloud for six days and entering God’s presence on the seventh day (see Shemot 24:16). This teaches that someone who is about to enter mahaneh shekhinah – the “encampment of God” – needs a week of preparation to do so.

The Gemara quotes a baraita that includes at least one tanna who supports Reish Lakish. Several opinions are presented about the six days that Moshe was in the cloud:

• Rabbi Yosei HaGelili – These days were the first six of the forty days that Moshe was on the mountain, after he received the ten commandments. • Rabbi Akiva – These days began on Rosh Hodesh Sivan, when Moshe was still with the people of Israel. During this time the mountain (not Moshe) was surrounded by a cloud covering. • Rabbi Natan – He agrees that they were days of preparation, but only so that the food could be removed from Moshe’s system, bringing him to the level of one of the heavenly angels. • Rabbi Matya ben Harash – He also agrees that they were days of preparation, whose purpose was to raise Moshe to a sense of awe and trembling prior to receiving the Torah. The source for this idea is Tehillim 2:11, “serve the Lord with awe, and rejoice with trembling.”

Although Rashi and Tosafot on our daf interpret Rabbi Matya ben Harash’s statement as referring specifically to the experience of the giving of the Torah on Mount Sinai, others (see the Tosafot R”i ha-Lavan) apply it to in general, which is supposed to combine the elements of joy and celebration with trembling and trepidation.

The Ritva points out that according to the Gemara in Berakhot it appears that this is a general principle – at every occasion of joy it is important to keep a sense of trepidation, as well.

1 https://steinsaltz.org/daf/yoma4/

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Ben Ish Chai zt”l explains the deeper significance of the cloud in which Moshe Rabbeinu “rose, was covered, and was sanctified.”2

or cloud. It is well known נע ן spell the word ( הלע , הסכתנ , שדקתנ ) The first letters of the three stages that everything in holiness consists of three basic components: the beginning, the middle, and the end.

These represent three levels of the soul, the nefesh, , and neshamah. Each of these levels descends from different worlds: Nefesh is from the world of Asiyah, Ruach is from Beriyah, and Neshamah is from Yetzirah. Moshe Rabbeinu ascended from our world of Asiyah, was “covered” in the world of Yetzirah where the angels tried to obstruct his way, and he received the Torah from the spiritual realm of Beriyah.

In what merit did Moshe Rabbeinu enter the cloud to receive the Torah? His great humility made we נע ו By extending the letter “vav” of נע ו him worthy, as the Torah itself attests by calling him an . נע ן come to the level of the cloud

The Maharal states that humility is the primary prerequisite for the acquisition of Torah. Although Moshe Rabbeinu was graced with every quality, he received the Torah by virtue of his humility.

The Chida, zt”l, writes that he received a tradition that goes back to the time of the Arizal that sheds light on the relationship between humility and Torah.

The Arizal confided to elders of his generation: “In our time it was decreed that a great Sage compose a work that explains all the difficult laws that apply today with complete accuracy and clarity. There are three Gedolai Yisrael who could have been chosen to write it.” The Arizal concluded, “The sole reason that Rav Yosef Karo was chosen for the task is on account of his great humility. How can you see it? It isn’t his way to write anything negative about those he rules against!

Ben Harris writes:3

Today’s daf finds the rabbis continuing to debate a question they have been batting back and forth almost since the very beginning of this tractate — namely, what is the source of the practice of sequestering the high priest for a week prior to the Yom Kippur Temple service?

After first considering that the practice derived from Aaron and his sons performing the service in the tabernacle in the desert, yesterday’s daf introduced us to a teaching from

2 https://dafdigest.org/masechtos/Yoma%20004.pdf 3 myjewishlearning.com

20 Reish Lakish that the sequestration derives from the revelation at Sinai, about which the Torah tells us that God’s presence enveloped Mount Sinai (or Moses himself) in a cloud for six days prior to the revelation. Today’s daf probes deeper into the particulars of this prelude to revelation.

Among the teachings we discover are two opposing views about whether it was the mountain that was covered in a cloud or Moses himself. According to Rabbi Natan, it was Moses himself, and for a very specific reason:

Moses was in fact called to enter the cloud; however, his entrance was not for the purpose of sequestering and purifying him, rather, the verse comes only to cleanse the food and drink that was in his intestines, to render him like the ministering angels who require neither food nor drink.

According to Rabbi Natan, Moses had to enter the cloud prior to revelation because his stomach was full. To encounter God, Moses had to become like the angels, who require no food or drink. This teaching actually accords nicely with our modern practice of Yom Kippur fasting, where the closeness with God we achieve on that day comes in part through relinquishing our attachment to physicality, abstaining not only from food, but from sex and washing too. Some people also have the practice of wearing a white shroud, or kittel, on Yom Kippur, which is also associated with the purity of angels.

Moving on, Rabbi Zerika raises a concern that the verse describing Moses entering the cloud after six days is contradicted by another verse from Exodus 40:35: “And Moses was not able to enter into the Tent of Meeting because the cloud dwelt on it.” If Moses couldn’t enter the tent because the cloud of God was there in the 40th chapter of Exodus, how could he enter the cloud on Mount Sinai in the 24th?

The dispute is resolved by means of verbal analogy around the Hebrew word b’toch — - meaning “inside.” The Bible’s account of the Israelites passing through the sea on their way out of Egypt also uses the word b’toch to describe their safe passage through the water. Since the Israelites couldn’t have actually passed “inside” the water, but rather — per the Bible’s account — took a pathway through the water, we can assume that Moses didn’t actually enter the cloud either, but only seemed to because he walked a path through the cloud.

Finally, a bit of practical wisdom in all this talk of divine clouds and miraculously cleared intestines. The Gemara wants to know why, in Leviticus 1:1 (“The Lord called to Moses and spoke to him from the Tent of Meeting, saying”), when God calls to Moses from inside the tabernacle, the verse says both that God “called” to Moses and that God “spoke” to him. The answer? Simple etiquette: It’s improper to say anything to anyone unless calling first. Think of it as the biblical version of phoning someone before you pop over.

21 But in fact, the Talmud goes even further. The final word of that verse — lemor, generally translated as “saying” — is fancifully understood as a contraction that means just about the opposite: lo emor, meaning “do not say.” The upshot? Don’t pass on what someone tells you without getting permission first. If you do, you might need to find a properly sequestered high priest to secure atonement.

Rabbi Johnny Solomon writes:4

Today’s daf (Yoma 4b) makes reference to the events surrounding Matan Torah, and it is here – as well as elsewhere in the Talmud – where we are told that the experience of Matan Torah was both one of profound joy, and profound trepidation. In fact, as an attempt to capture the emotions וּדְבִﬠ תֶא 'ה הָאְרִיְבּ וּליִגְו הָדָﬠְרִבּ of that event, the Gemara quotes the words of Tehillim 2:11 which state םוֹקְמִבּ הָליִגּ ,Serve the Lord with awe, and rejoice with trembling” which Rav explained to mean“ – .wherever there is a cause for rejoicing, there should also be trepidation – םָשׁ אֵהְתּ הָדָﬠְר אֵהְתּ

Today is Yom Ha’atzmaut – a day which is, for me and so many others, a day that is a cause for great rejoicing. It is a day that celebrates the establishment of Medinat Yisrael – a vibrant country where are protected, where is flourishing, and which every Jew can call home. To quote Rabbi Sacks, ‘Israel has taken a barren land and made it bloom again. It has taken an ancient language, the Hebrew of the Bible, and made it speak again. It has taken the West’s oldest faith and made it young again. It has taken a shattered nation and made it live again.’

At the same time, even when my heart overflows with appreciation of Medinat Yisrael - and especially for the merit of living in the - I also have a sense of trepidation because I worry whether we – as individuals and as a country – fully appreciate the unique chapter of history in which we are living, and whether we are doing all we can to improve Israeli society, to promote Torah values in a positive spirit, and to be a shining light to the rest of the world.

This morning, after a festive , I delivered a short shiur to my community on the concept of promoting Torah values in a positive spirit based on the introduction of Rabbi Shaul Yisraeli’s masterful ‘Eretz Hemda’ (nb. a translation of this introduction can be found in Koren’s wonderful Mahzor for Yom Haatzmaut and Yom Yerushalayim), where Rabbi Yisraeli offers a brilliant Grant me Yavne and‘ – ןת יל הנבי הימכחו insight on the request by Rabbi Yochanan Ben Zakkai of its Sages’ (Gittin 56b).

As he explains: ‘Yavne was not chosen at random. As the Talmud reports, a favourite saying of the rabbis of Yavne was, ‘I am God’s creature and my fellow is God’s creature. My work is in the town and his work is in the country… Will you say that I do much and he does little? We have learned: One may accomplish much, or one may accomplish little, but what matters is that one direct his heart to heaven’ (Brachot 17a).

Given this, Rav Yisraeli observes that, ‘according to this approach, the whole nation is a single entity…no one can be relinquished, nor is there anyone who is entitled’, and ‘more than ever, the

4 www.rabbijohnnysolomon.com

22 nation requires those… who can make sweet, sages [who are comparable to those] of Yavne’.

On Yom Ha’atzmaut there is a cause for great rejoicing. It is a festive day, and one that causes me sing and to leap for joy. Still, we must also tremble with trepidation - because when a precious gift is given it must be handled with care, and while there is so so much to be thankful for in terms of what Israel is, there is still much work to be done in terms of improving Israeli society, promoting Torah values in a positive spirit, and being a shining light to the rest of the world.

(I would add that we need a serious historical self critique as to injustices done in the name of Zionism to other minorities living in the land and to what extent we bought into a 19th century European notion of colonialism and lad grabbing. The gut wrenching societal self examination, including reparations for slavery, going on in North America, should be seen as a model for this kind of self examination. The ongoing treatment of Jewish minorities socially and economically left behind by the amazing technological miracle going on but affecting white Ashkenzai upwardly mobile middle class citizens needs this kind of examination and the poverty levels remaining in the lower classes reflect the myopia of Rabbi Solomon’s bright eyed selective vision. I was brought up on this dose of modern Orthodox Zionism, but critical historical sensibility needs justice and ethics that applies to all. Surely the twentieth century’s legacy of genocide and ethnic cleansing teaches us that to become a “light unto the nations” is a high bar if we continue to ignore within, injustices to women, minorities and foreign workers, Arabs and the poor. If our Torah learning does not make us more acute of this, then what good is it?)

Jeremy Brown writes: In the days before Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, the Cohen Gadol (High Priest) had to be sequestrated. The sages of the Talmud learn this requirement from Moses himself.

קש ל י ם ד,א

הֶשֹׁמ הָלָﬠ ןָנָﬠֶבּ , הָסַּכְּתִנְו ןָנָﬠֶבּ , שֵׁדַּקְתִנְו ןָנָﬠֶבּ , יֵדְכּ לֵבַּקְל רוֹתּ הָ יְל לֵאָרְשִׂ הָשּׁוּדְקִבּ , נֶּשׁ רַמֱאֶ : יַּו״ ִ ןוֹכְּשׁ דוֹבְכּ ׳ה לַﬠ רַה ״יַניִס

Moses ascended in the cloud, and was covered in the cloud, and was sanctified in the cloud, in order to receive the Torah for the Jewish people in sanctity, as it is stated: “And the glory of the Lord abode upon Mount Sinai and the cloud covered him six days, and He called to Moses on the seventh day from the midst of the cloud” (Exodus 24:16).

This verse was interpreted by Rabbi Yossi HaGelili as refering to a period of six days following the verbal giving of the Ten Commandments, during which time Moses prepared himself to receive the Tablets. He was covered by a cloud and sequestrated. It was in memory of that period that all future High Priests would sequestrate themselves in preparation for Yom Kippur.

23 While agreeing with this interpretation that Moses was sequestered, Rabbi Natan maintained that this verse is not the origin of the model that those who are to enter into the Holiest of Holies and speak with the Divine must be sequestrated. It was a unique requirement that Moses do so, in order that he undergo a rather awkward medical procedure that today is called colonic purging.

קש ל י ם ד,ב

יִבַּר ןָתָנ מוֹא ֵ ר : ֹל א אָבּ בוּתָכַּה אָלֶּא קֵרָמְל הָליִכֲא שׁוּ ְ ִ ת ָיּ ה ויָﬠֵמְבֶּשׁ , וֹמוּשְׂל יֵכֲאְלַמְכּ תֵרָשַּׁה

Rabbi Natan says: the verse comes only to purge the food and drink that was in his intestines, to render him like the ministering angels [who require neither food nor drink].

A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE “DANGEROUS” COLON The idea that our bowels are full of dangerous matter that must be evacuated by means other than the body’s own natural rhythm have been around for a long time. The Egyptians believed that a noxious agent associated with feces was the cause of all disease, and purgatives were prescribed to rid the body of them.

The ancient Greek Cnidian School of Medicine owed much to the Egyptians, and taught that disease was caused by food residues that were not properly digested. According to Euryphon who was among those who founded that medical school, “when the belly does not discharge the nutrient that has been taken, residues are produced, which then rise to the regions about the head and cause disease.”

In their 1989 paper on the history of the concept of intestinal autointoxiation, the authors5 note that the second century Greek physician Galen extended the concept of putrefaction to involve not only the residues of food, but also those of bile, phlegm, and blood, incorporating them into their humoral theory of disease.

5 https://static1.squarespace.com/static/54694fa6e4b0eaec4530f99d/t/60734e489542b97e73c3766d/1618169417800/Intestinal+Aut ointoxication+-+A+Leitmotif.pdf

24 Among the modern contributors to the idea that a normally functioning colon needs our help was a Ukrainian Jewish immunologist named Élie Metchnikoff (1845-1916.) In 1908 Metchikoff won the Nobel Prize in Medicine for his work on innate immunity, and the discovery that some white blood cells could ingest and destroy harmful pathogens. Along with this, Metchikoff believed that the colon was the source of many of our microbial misfortunes. In his 1906 work The Nature of Man: Studies in Optimistic Philosophy.

25

26

27 But the Nobel Prize winner was not correct. The presence of the large intestine in the human body is not the cause of a series of misfortunes, any more than the presence of the lungs causes pneumonia or the presence of the brain causes strokes. 6

"For the Cloud Rested Upon It"

Rav Shimon Klein writes:7

"And the cloud covered the Tent of Meeting"

And he put up the courtyard round about the Mishkan and the altar, and he set up the screen of the court gate. So, Moshe finished the work.

And the cloud covered the Tent of Meeting, and the glory of God filled the Mishkan. And Moshe could not enter the Tent of Meeting, for the cloud rested upon it, and the glory of God filled the Mishkan. And when the cloud was lifted from over the Mishkan, Bnei Yisrael proceeded in all their journeys. But if the cloud was not lifted, then they did not journey until it was lifted. For the cloud of God was upon the Mishkan by day, and fire was on it by night, in the sight of all of Bnei Yisrael throughout their journeys. (Shemot 40:33- 38)

6 A personal anecdote: my maternal grandfather Eliis Abraham Sargon lived in Bombay and was stricken with malaria in the 1930’s. He was an autodidact and had read about Metchnikoff’s work on the bacillus and claimed he cured his disease by consuming yogurt! When I was teaching at Harvard Medical School I assigned the project to find me the writings of Metchnikoff to one of my students who happily found the papers and confirmed my childhood memories as accurate! 7 https://www.etzion.org.il/en/cloud-rested-upon-it

28 The closing verses of Sefer Shemot constitutes a climax. Over the course of many chapters, we have read about the construction of the Mishkan, and now the work is completed: "So Moshe finished the work." A cloud covers the Tent of Meeting and God's glory fills the Mishkan.

This description of the Divine Presence – in the form of cloud, fire, and the glory of God – is familiar to the people from previous events, but now it happens in a new place, the recently- completed Tent of Meeting. In this shiur, we will conduct a sort of review of the various appearances of the Divine Presence: Which place is involved in each appearance?[1] What function does His revelation fill in each instance? How powerful is His Presence in each case?

It should be noted at the outset that Divine revelation to human beings through speech and prophetic visions – without fire or cloud – is a phenomenon that exists throughout Tanakh. The addition of fire and cloud introduces something further. God announces, as it were, to His people: “I am here; I present Myself as a player on the field of life, within space, time, and context.” There is interaction between God and His people, such that His Presence is transformed from an abstract idea into a real, living, dynamic reality.[2]

God guides and illuminates

The first appearance of the pillar of fire and pillar of cloud is immediately after the nation's stopover in :[3]

They journeyed from Sukkot and encamped in Etam, at the edge of the wilderness. And God went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead them the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, that they might go by day and by night. He did not take away the pillar of cloud by day, nor the pillar of fire by night, from before the people. (Shemot 13:20-22)

Bnei Yisrael leave Sukkot, their first stop on the journey, and the Presence accompanies them, travelling before them in a pillar of cloud and a pillar of fire by day and by night. The Presence in this instance is of relatively minor intensity and power. The journey from Sukkot to Etam is described in one single verse, and the next verse repeats for emphasis, as it were: “Know, student of the Torah, that during the journey described here, God went before them." This "follow-up" description presents the pillar of fire and of cloud as something that "facilitates,” rather than as a subject in its own right.

The pillar of cloud is "to lead them the way" by day; the pillar of cloud is there in order "to give them light." The difference between these two functions allows us a glimpse into the nature of these two phenomena. The pillar of cloud relates to the essence – the journey – while the pillar of fire gives light. More broadly, the cloud, which blurs vision, is conducive to an encounter with God; fire, on the other hand, symbolizes His actions and manifestations.[4]

As noted, in both ways – as guide or as light – God's revelation serves an auxiliary, facilitating role, going "before the camp."[5] This is the situation at this initial stage. As the journey progresses, however, the situation changes.

29 God wages war on their behalf against Egypt

And the angel of God, who went before the camp of Israel, moved and went behind them, and the pillar of cloud went from before them and stood behind them, and it came between the camp of Egypt and the camp of Israel, and it was a cloud and darkness [to the former], but it gave light by night [to the latter], and one did not approach the other all night long. (Shemot 14:19-20)

These verses describe what happened while the Egyptians pursued Bnei Yisrael, just before the splitting of the Red Sea. God's angel leaves his position and moves alongside the pillar of cloud, in between the two camps. This serves to create a barrier between the two camps, such that "one did not approach the other all night long." In this description, God protects through His very Presence, separating the camps and guarding the camp of Israel. In addition, He brings darkness to the Egyptians while giving light by night to Israel.

Then comes the venturing into the Red Sea:

And Bnei Yisrael went into the midst of the sea on dry ground, and the water was a wall for them on their right and on their left. And the Egyptians pursued and went in after them to the midst of the sea – all of Pharaoh's horses, his chariots, and his horsemen. And it was that in the morning watch that God looked to the camp of Egypt through the pillar of fire and of cloud, and He brought confusion into the Egyptian camp. And He removed the wheels of their chariots, so that they drove heavily, and the Egyptians said, “Let us flee from before Israel, for God is fighting for them against Egypt.”

And God said to Moshe, “Stretch out your hand over the sea so that the water may come back upon the Egyptians – upon their chariots and upon their horsemen." (Shemot 14:22- 26)

The Egyptians chase Bnei Yisrael into the midst of the sea. God looks out towards the Egyptian camp, revealing Himself in the pillar of fire and cloud. The result is chaos, and the recognition on the part of the Egyptians that God is fighting on behalf of Bnei Yisrael against them. In contrast to the minor function of the fire and cloud thus far, they now become more dominant, sparing Bnei Yisrael a physical confrontation with Egypt and carrying it out in their stead. This is another stage in the manifestation of God's Presence, leading to the next appearance, where He becomes involved in what is happening amongst the nation itself.

Cloud, fire, and encounter

Moshe said to Aharon, “Say to all the congregation of Bnei Yisrael: Come near before God, for He has heard your murmurings.” And it was, as Aharon spoke to the whole congregation of Bnei Yisrael, that they looked towards the wilderness, and behold – the glory of God appeared in the cloud. (Shemot 16:9-10)

30 This description follows the crisis of trust between the people and Moshe and Aharon. Bnei Yisrael journey from Eilim; they leave their station and venture into the wilderness, where there begins a confrontation that includes complaints about Moshe and Aharon.[6]

Moshe addresses the people, "Come near before God, for He has heard your murmurings," thereby inviting God to appear and have His say. God acquiesces, the people turn towards the wilderness, and "behold, the glory of God appeared in the cloud." Through His Presence, God supports Moshe and Aharon and hears the people's complaints, a form of involvement in what is happening amongst the people. It is interesting that at this stage, God still refrains from coming into the midst of the camp of Israel.

The next episode in which there is involvement of God's Presence is at the Revelation on Mount Sinai:

All the people answered together and they said, “All that God has spoken we will do.” And Moshe reported the words of the people to God. And God said to Moshe, “Behold, I come to you in a thick cloud, that the people may hear when I speak with you and believe you forever.” And Moshe told the words of the people to God. (Shemot 19:8-9)

The people hear the Ten Commandments and accept them, and this is the appropriate time to deepen their trust in Moshe: "God said to Moshe, ‘Behold, I come to you in a thick cloud, that the people may hear when I speak with you and believe you forever.’" God is going to come to Moshe in a thick cloud and the nation will hear when He speaks to him; Moshe's part and role in God's Torah with thus be made clear, and the people will then believe in him forever.

The next source speaks of Moshe ascending the mountain in order to receive the tablets of stone:

And it was on the third day in the morning that there was thunder and lightning and a thick cloud upon the mountain and the sound of a exceedingly loud, and all the people in the camp trembled. And Moshe led the people out of the camp to meet with God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain. And Mount Sinai smoked in every part because God descended upon it in fire, and the smoke of it ascended like the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mountain quaked greatly. And then the voice of the shofar sounded louder and louder: Moshe speaks, and God answered him with a voice. And God came down upon Mount Sinai, on the top of the mountain, and God called Moshe up to the top of the mountain, and Moshe went up. And God said to Moshe, “Go down; charge the people, lest they break through to God to gaze and many of them perish. And let the kohanim also, who come near to God, sanctify themselves, lest God break forth upon them." (Shemot 19:15- 25)

Moshe ascends the mountain, which is covered in cloud. On the third day, the event becomes more intense. A heavy cloud rests there, and there is a multi-sensory experience: thunder and lightning, a very loud sounding of the shofar, and smoke as from a furnace. The response on the part of the nation is terror. The sound of the shofar continues to grow stronger. At the same time, Moshe leads

31 the people, standing at the foot of the mountain, towards God, drawing them into this awesome event. When God descends on the mountain, He calls Moshe to the summit.

Now there is no more "pillar" of cloud or fire, defined and limited in space and in function. Instead, there is an intensive, powerful, multi-dimensional Presence of God upon the mountain, and the people are afraid. At the same time, a new inner movement has been born – a great thirst for closeness to God. Moshe is sent back to the people to warn them against breaking through to gaze upon God.

Another encounter comes with Moshe's subsequent ascent:

Moshe ascended the mountain, and the cloud covered the mountain. And the glory of God rested upon Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it for six days; He called to Moshe on the seventh day from the midst of the cloud. And the sight of the glory of God was like a devouring fire at the top of the mountain in the eyes of Bnei Yisrael. And Moshe went into the midst of the cloud, and went up the mountain, and Moshe was on the mountain for forty days and forty nights. (Shemot 24:15-18)

At the end of the Revelation of the Ten Commandments and after all the commandments of Parashat have been conveyed to Moshe, he ascends the mountain, having been summoned by God from amidst the cloud. He spends six days upon the mountain, and then on the seventh day, he enters the cloud. These days point to a process of rapprochement and sanctification in the encounter between Moshe and God. The forty days spent atop the mountain are a continuation of this ascent.

In the Tent of Meeting outside of the camp

And Moshe would take the Tent and pitch it outside the camp, far away from the camp, and he called it the Tent of Meeting. And it came to pass that everyone who sought God went out to the Tent of Meeting, which was outside the camp. And it was, when Moshe went out to the Tent, that all the people rose and stood every man at the entrance to his tent and looked after Moshe until he had gone into the Tent. And it was, as Moshe entered the Tent, the pillar of cloud descended and stood at the entrance of the Tent, and [God] spoke with Moshe. And all the people saw the pillar of cloud stand at the entrance to the Tent, and all the people rose and worshipped, every man at the entrance to his tent. And God spoke to Moshe face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. And he turned back to the camp, but his

32 servant, Yehoshua bin Nun, a young man, did not depart from inside the Tent. (Shemot 33:7-11)

In the midst of the "argument" between Moshe and God following the sin of the golden calf as to whether God Himself will accompany the people in their midst or whether He will send an angel in His stead, Moshe pitches his tent outside of the camp and calls it the Tent of Meeting. From this point onwards, distance will be replaced with closeness – perhaps the greatest closeness ever experienced between man and God. Moshe comes to the Tent, the pillar of cloud descends and stands at the entrance to the Tent, and immediately "God spoke to Moshe face to face, as a man speaks to his friend."

The removal of the tent outside of the camp and the intimate dialogue with Moshe tell several different stories. First, the people witness this intimate encounter between God and a human (as emphasized in the verses). In contrast to the giving of the first Tablets, where the encounter was accessible to all ("and all the people saw the thunder…"), now the equation is different: the encounter with God is a function of the individual's spiritual status. The nation as a whole is not worthy, and therefore the Tent of Meeting is pitched outside of the camp. Moshe himself is worthy, and therefore he merits a tremendous closeness to God. Moshe exemplifies and embodies the lesson that if the people will follow his example, they too will merit God's closeness.[7]

God comes to the camp

Parashat represents a turning point. In contrast to the Divine Presence that has appeared so far outside of the camp, in constant movement (the pillar of fire and of cloud take up positions in different places; the Tent that Moshe pitches outside of the camp) or only for a temporary time (upon the mountain), a Mishkan has now been built to be a permanent part of the camp, and God comes to invest it with His Presence:

So Moshe finished the work. And the cloud covered the Tent of Meeting, and the glory of God filled the Mishkan. And Moshe could not enter the Tent of Meeting, for the cloud rested upon it, and the glory of God filled the Mishkan. And when the cloud was lifted from over the Mishkan, Bnei Yisrael proceeded in all their journeys. But if the cloud was not lifted, then they did not journey, until the day it was lifted. For the cloud of God was upon the Mishkan by day, and fire was on it by night, in the sight of all of Bnei Yisrael throughout their journeys. (Shemot 40:33-38)

This is a most dramatic and radical change. God is no longer "there;" He is now "here,” present within the Israelite camp and part of it. As a first stage, His Presence fills the space, not allowing Moshe to enter;[8] later, the Tent of Meeting will serve as the place of encounter between God and man.

Interestingly, Sefer Vayikra ignores the pillar of cloud and the pillar of fire altogether. The obvious reason for this is that Sefer Vayikra reflects the perspective of the "Higher authority."[9] The pillar of cloud and pillar of fire embody the inverse movement, whereby God

33 comes to dwell within the human domain, within the camp itself. This is a reality that does not exist in Sefer Vayikra.[10]

Sefer Bamidbar describes the camp and what goes on within it, and in this context, the pillar of cloud and of fire take up their positions once again:

And on the day that the Mishkan was set up, the cloud covered the Mishkan – the Tent of Testimony – and at evening there was upon the Mishkan an appearance as of fire until morning. So, it was always: the cloud covered it by day, and the appearance of fire by night. And when the cloud was lifted from the Mishkan, then afterwards Bnei Yisrael journeyed, and in the place where the cloud rested, there Bnei Yisrael encamped. At God's command Bnei Yisrael journeyed, and at God's command they encamped; so long as the cloud rested upon the Mishkan, they remained encamped. And when the cloud tarried for many days upon the Mishkan, then Bnei Yisrael kept God's charge and did not journey. And at times the cloud was just a few days upon the Mishkan – at God's command they remained encamped, and at God's command they journeyed. And at times the cloud was only from evening until morning, and in the morning the cloud was lifted – then they journeyed; whether it was by day or by night that the cloud was lifted, they journeyed. Or whether it was two days, or a month, or a year, that the cloud tarried upon the Mishkan, resting upon it – Bnei Yisrael remained encamped and did not journey, but when it was lifted, they journeyed. At God's command they remained encamped, and at God's command they journeyed; they kept God's charge, at God's command by the hand of Moshe. (Bamidbar 9:15-23)

These verses describe God's Presence in the Mishkan. Following the many chapters describing the structure of the camp, the location of each tribe, and the Mishkan at the center, the description of the cloud resting upon the camp may be understood as an indication of God's Presence having moved to the heart of the Israelite camp. "At God's word Bnei Yisrael journeyed, and at God's word they encamped" – this is not a reference to a pillar of cloud or a pillar of fire proceeding before the camp. Now their movement is dependent on the behavior of the pillar that dwells in the very heart of the camp itself, in the innermost center of their national life. The detailed description in the verses illustrates the complete dependence of the people on the guidance of God, who is present within the camp. To illustrate: a journey might conclude in the evening, and the people have no way of knowing what will happen the next morning. Even if they remain at this station for weeks or months, the question arises each day anew: are we traveling or remaining encamped? This situation entails a certain psychological and spiritual position, somewhat like that of a young child whose parents determine his daily agenda, thereby creating "parental presence" in his awareness, his decision-making, and his system of values.

The climax of God's Presence in the heart of the camp would seem to be found in the following description:

They journeyed from the mountain of God three days' journey, with the Ark of God's Covenant journeying before them in the three days' journey, to search out a resting place for them. And God's cloud was upon them by day when they went out of the camp. And it was, when the Ark moved on, that Moshe said, “Rise up, O God, and let Your enemies be

34 scattered, and let those who hate You flee before You.” And when it rested, he said, “Return, O God, to the ten thousand thousand of Israel." (Bamidbar 10:33-36)

These verses conclude a long series of chapters (starting at the beginning of Sefer Bamidbar) that describe the Israelite camp and all its parts. Now, following all the preparations, the nation sets out on its journey in the wilderness. Along with the description of the journeying nation, the text also describes the "Ark of God's Covenant journeying,” locating it, as it were, in the midst of the camp. The journey is accompanied by God's cloud: "And God's cloud was upon them by day, when they went out of the camp." This centrality of God's Presence and of holiness is the result of a lengthy process, over the course of which, step by step, the Divine Presence has become an inner, significant aspect of the life of the nation.[11]

In times of crisis

Another axis that we find in Sefer Bamidbar is God's appearance and His repeated intervention in times of crisis. This occurs in the episode of the "complainers,” when God's fire burns amongst the people (Bamidbar 11:1); in the wake of the desire for meat, when God descends in a cloud and in His Presence some of the spirit that Moshe possesses is conveyed to the seventy elders (11:24-25); in the wake of Miriam's speaking about Moshe (12:4-9); following the sin of the spies (14:10-12); in the episode of Korach and his company (16:19-21) and afterwards (17:6- 10); and at Mei Meriva (20:6-8). In each instance, God's glory appears, in some cases in a cloud, and He has His say.

The earlier crises take place during the second year after the Exodus, while the last takes place in the fortieth year. In the earlier crises, God reveals Himself to the entire nation or to the people involved in the situation. In the last instance, at Mei Meriva, He is revealed to Moshe and Aharon, but not the rest of the people, who pursue them to the Tent of Meeting. From this point onwards, no further mention is made of the cloud and the fire, even in contexts where we would expect to find them.[12] They are almost altogether absent from Sefer Devarim, as well,[13] and they do not appear again until Shlomo completes the building of the Temple:

And it was, when the kohanim came out of the Kodesh, that the cloud filled God's House, so that the kohanim could not stand to minister because of the cloud, for the glory of God had filled God's House.

Then Shlomo said, “God said that He would dwell in the thick darkness. I have surely built You a House to dwell in, a settled place for You to abide in forever." (Melakhim I 8:10- 13).

There is no further mention of the cloud and fire throughout the First Temple Period, but we encounter them once more in the descriptions of the Destruction.[14]

What is the meaning of this?

There seem to be two parallel processes. The first is one of creating connection. The Divine Presence signifies, for the people, God's existence – first outside of the camp, and then gradually

35 drawing closer and more intensive. Interaction is created, the intensity grows, and in the course of a process whose essence is the creation of trust, God comes from the mountain into the midst of the camp, into the Mishkan. Correspondingly, God is first perceived as outside of man, and slowly He draws closer and becomes part of his life. The Mishkan is located at the heart of the camp, and the Presence settles in this innermost place as though conveying a message to the people about its own essence and depth. This is the situation during the early period following the Exodus from Egypt.

Then the nation matures, and slowly there develops another inner movement – one of independent existence and essence. "At God's word they journeyed and at God's word they encamped" is a very lofty situation, a very strong "parental Presence" on God's part, bringing the nation to great spiritual heights. At the same time, however, there is a noticeable lack of choice, planning, assumption of responsibility, and other values arising from one's personal world and adaptation to it.

Sefer Shemot concludes with a description of Moshe, who is unable to enter the Tent of Meeting: "And Moshe could not come into the Tent of Meeting for the cloud rested upon it." To a considerable extent, this represents the tension between the two poles: it serves as a point of climax for a sefer that starts off with Am Yisrael leaving Egypt, continues with the Revelation at Mount Sinai, and then describes the process of building a dwelling for God in the midst of the camp. At the other pole, there is the cloud that rests in the Mishkan, not allowing Moshe to enter.[15] In such a situation, no encounter between God and man will take place.

In order for an encounter to happen, there must appear another inner movement – that of making space. This movement finds expression in a verse close by: "And when the cloud was lifted from over the Mishkan, Bnei Yisrael proceeded in all their journeys." When the cloud lifts, making space, Bnei Yisrael set out on their journeys in a movement from one place to another. At the same time, "But if the cloud was not lifted, then they did not journey, until the day it was lifted." They are dependent on its presence, projected from it.

The idea of "making space" represents the core of the great process, the larger picture, over the course of which the pillar of fire and pillar of cloud are gradually removed.

Within the heart of the Kodesh , there remains the fire, as well as the cloud. When the Temple is destroyed, they emerge from their concealment. When it is rebuilt, they will be remembered and will live on, representing a whole world.

36 [1] The biblical language refers to a "shokhen" (literally, "dweller"), in the masculine, rather than "shekhina" – the feminine term more familiar to us in this context, but one that appears for the first time only during the Period. This transition from the masculine term to the feminine counterpart reflects a fundamental change in the world – from prophecy that perceives the word of a transcendent God to an Oral Law that embodies, to a considerable extent, the encounter with God in the depths of the reality of life.

[2] In contrast to worldviews whose adherence to abstraction distanced any possibility of a living encounter between man and God, the biblical solution to this paradox draws a distinction between the aspect of God as Creator of the world and the aspect of God as immanent in the world. A division of this sort lies at the foundation of the first two chapters of Sefer Bereishit. In the first chapter, we encounter God Who brings the world into existence through His speech; this is a transcendental God. In this chapter, the verbs accompanying God's action are "va-yomer" ([God] said), "va-yivra" ([God] created), "va-yavdel" ([God] separated), etc. – actions that require no involvement or presence. In chapter 2, God is depicted as immanent in the world, as dwelling within it and acting through worldly vessels: "And no plant of the field was yet in the earth, and no herb of the field had yet grown, for the Lord God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was not a man to till the ground… And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul. And the Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden, and there He put the man whom He had formed. And out of the ground the Lord God caused to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil" (Bereishit 2). God is depicted as being present in the Garden of Eden, as waiting to bring down rain, as breathing life into man, and as planting trees in the Garden.

[3]For the present, we will ignore the appearance of the cloud and fire in Sefer Bereishit at the revelation of the Covenant Between the Parts: "And it happened that when the sun went down and it was dark, behold – a smoking furnace and a burning torch that passed between those pieces" (Bereishit 15:17). Another early appearance is at the burning bush, where there is a fire that burns within a thorn bush. No special imagination is necessary to recognize the connection between the nature of this revelation and the weak bond that Am Yisrael, groaning under the burden of Egyptian slavery, feels towards God. express this in different ways in the midrashim: "R. Eliezer said: For what reason did the Holy One, blessed be He, emerge from the highest heavens and speak with Moshe from the bush? To teach that just as this bush is lower than any type of tree in the world, so Bnei Yisrael had sunk to the lowest level. God descended with them and redeemed them, as it is written: 'I shall go down and save them from the hand of Egypt.' R. Yehoshua said: Why did the Holy One, blessed be He, emerge from the highest heavens and speak with Moshe from the bush? To teach that when Bnei Yisrael went down to Egypt, the Divine Presence went down together with them, as it is written: 'I shall go down with you…' (Bereishit 46:4)" (Mekhilta de-Rabbi 3:7-8).

[4]Ramban (on Shemot 13:21): "'And God went before them by day' – Our Sages already taught (Bereishit Rabba 51:2) that wherever the Torah says 'And God,' it means 'He and His heavenly court.’ The Holy One, blessed be He, was with them by day,

37 and His heavenly court was with them by night. This being so, what the verse means is that God dwells within the cloud and He

Himself goes before them by day in the pillar of cloud, while at night His heavenly court dwells within the pillar of fire to give them light. This in turn explains the verse, 'You, Lord, are seen with their own eyes, and Your cloud stands over them, and You go before them by day in a pillar of cloud and in a pillar of fire by night’ (Bamidbar 14:14)."

[5] An interesting view is offered by R. Yosef in the gemara (Kiddushin 32a): "R. Matena said in the name of R. Chisda: If a father foregoes his honor, his honor is foregone; if a teacher foregoes his honor, his honor is not foregone. But R. Yosef said: Even a teacher – if he foregoes his honor, his honor is foregone, as it is written, 'And God went before them by day' (Shemot 13:21)." The point of departure for the discussion is that a teacher cannot forego the honor due to him because the honor due to him is honor of the Torah, and the honor of Torah is the honor of God. R. Yosef agrees with this premise, but he argues that just as God Himself foregoes His own honor, a human teacher may similarly forego the same honor. As proof of God foregoing His honor, he cites our verse – "And God went before them by day” – which he understands as depicting God humbly serving His people.

[6] See our shiur of this year on Parashat .

[7] The location of the pillar of cloud at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting seems to indicate a complexity: On the one hand, there is the encounter that takes place within the Tent, within the private domain where Moshe is. On the other hand, God's Presence remains, as it were, at the entrance to the Tent, not entering it, and thereby drawing Moshe to the world that lies beyond what happens within his own domain. In this sense, the contrast with Yehoshua, who is also mentioned here, has two elements to it:

Yehoshua is inside the Tent, and not part of the encounter with God Who is present at its entrance. At the same time, Yehoshua does not leave the Tent – in contrast to Moshe, who comes and goes from the camp of Israel.

[8] A similar phenomenon occurs when the Ark is brought to the Kodesh Kodashim in the Temple built by King Shlomo: "And the kohanim brought the Ark of God's Covenant into its place, into the Sanctuary of the House, to the kodesh kodashim, beneath the wings of the keruvim… And it was, when the kohanim came out of the Kodesh, that the cloud filled God's House, so that the kohanim could not stand to minister because of the cloud, for the glory of God had filled God's House" (Melakhim I 8:6, 10-

11).

[9] See our shiur on Parashat Vayakhel, n. 6. There are other expressions of the same idea: The service in the Mishkan is described as presence before God: "The elders of the congregation shall lay their hands upon the head of the bullock before God, and the bullock shall be killed before God" (Vayikra 4:15). In this space, any service that has not been commanded is defined as foreign:

"And Aharon's sons, Nadav and Avihu, took each man his censer, and put fire in it, and put incense on it, and offered strange fire before God, which He had not commanded them. And a fire emerged from before God and consumed them, and they died before

God" (Vayikra 10:1-2). This also explains Aharon's words, indicating the space as being "before God": "And Aharon said to Moshe,

38 Behold, today they have offered their sin offering and their before God, but such things have befallen me that if I had eaten the sin offering today, would it have been accepted in the sight of God?" (Vayikra 10:19).

[10]There is no mention of the fire or the cloud in Sefer Vayikra, but at the same time, God is perceived as being present in the

Tent of Meeting, which itself is regarded as a Higher domain: "God called to Moshe and spoke to him from the Tent of Meeting, saying" (Vayikra 1:1). It is interesting to note the distinction between this first call, in which the syntax of the verse avoids God as the subject (literally, the verse reads, "He called to Moshe, and God spoke to him…"), and the speech is attributed to God by Name thereafter ("God spoke to him from the Tent of Meeting"). We might explain this as follows: Moshe is outside of the Tent of

Meeting, and from this position, the encounter with God is "external". Only after he answers God's call can the encounter become a more internal one, in which God is mentioned by Name.

It is also interesting to note the expression "for I appear in the cloud above the covering", as we find in Sefer Vayikra: "God said to

Moshe: Speak to Aharon, your brother, that he should not come at all times into the Kodesh within the veil, before the covering which is upon the Ark, so that he will not die, for I appear in the cloud upon the covering… And he shall take a censer full of burning coals of fire from off the altar before God, and his hands full of sweet incense beaten fine, and bring it inside the veil. And he shall place the incense upon the fire before God, so that the cloud of incense may cover the covering that is upon the Testimony, so that he does not die" (Vayikra 16:2-13). Following the death of Aharon's two sons, the Kohen Gadol's service of Yom Kippur is set forth, and it is stated explicitly that God "appears in the cloud." This time, His Presence comes in the form of the cloud of incense – the product of human action, resulting in the cloud over the covering, rather than the cloud in which God dwells.

[11]The intimacy of God's Presence in the pillar of cloud and the pillar of fire is evidenced in Moshe's words, when he argues in defense of the people after the sin of the spies and mentions the pillar of cloud and of smoke, which are perceived as expressions of God's connection with and concern for His nation: "Moshe said to God, ‘But the Egyptians will hear (for You brought up this people in Your might from their midst), and they will tell it to the inhabitants of this land, who have heard that You, God, are among this people, that you, God, are seen face to face, and that Your cloud stands over them, and that You go before them in a pillar of cloud by day, and in a pillar of fire by night. Now if You kill this entire people as one man, then the nations which have heard Your fame will speak, saying, ‘It is because God was not able to bring this people into the land which He swore to them, that

He has slain them in the wilderness’" (Bamidbar 14:13-16). With these words, Moshe tries to persuade God not to annihilate His people. His argument is that the Egyptians and the inhabitants of the land have heard about God's closeness to His people, in the form of the pillar of cloud and the pillar of fire. Now, if they hear that the nation has been wiped out, they will claim that it was because God was unable to bring them into the land that He had promised to them. The noting of the pillar of fire and of cloud is tantamount to mentioning God's closeness and concern for His people.

39 [12] For instance, in the episode involving the women of Moav (Bamidbar 25:1-4) and in the episode concerning Zimri and Kozbi bat Tzur (25:5-9).

[13] They are mentioned as part of Moshe's historical review, but they make only one new appearance – when it comes time for

Moshe to die and God speaks to him about what will happen: "God said to Moshe, ‘Behold, your days approach to die; call

Yehoshua and present yourselves at the Tent of Meting, that I may command him.’ So Moshe went with Yehoshua, and they presented themselves at the Tent of Meeting. And God appeared in the Tent in the pillar of cloud, and the pillar of cloud stood over the entrance to the Tent. And God said to Moshe, ‘Behold, you will sleep with your fathers, and this people will rise up and go astray after the gods of the strangers of the land, into the midst of which they will be going, and they will abandon Me and violate

My covenant which I forged with them’" (Devarim 31:14-16). The return of the pillar of cloud would seem to express the special connection that this sort of revelation had with the period of Moshe's leadership of the people; it is as though they have come to accompany him prior to his death.

[14] A description of their departure is to be found in Sefer Yechezkel: "And He spoke to the man clothed in linen, and said, ‘Go in between the wheelwork, under the keruv, and fill your hands with coals of fire from between the keruvim, and scatter them over the city.’ And he went in in my sight. Now the keruvim stood on the right side of the House when the man went in, and the cloud filled the inner court. Then God's glory went up from the keruv and stood above the threshold of the House, and the House was filled with the cloud, and the court was full of the brightness of God's glory" (Yechezkel 10:2-4). The coals of fire are taken from between the keruvim – as though alluding to the fire that had been concealed there all along. The cloud, too, fills the House once more, as it did when God's Presence first entered it.

[15] A fascinating presents these two contrasting poles: "R. Zerika asked a question concerning the contradiction of biblical verses in the presence of R. Elazar; according to another version, he asked the question in the name of R. Eliezer. One passage reads: 'And Moshe was not able to enter the Tent of Meeting because the cloud rested upon it,' while a different verse reads, 'And Moshe came into the midst of [betokh] the cloud'. [How is this so?] This teaches us that the Holy One, blessed be He, took hold of Moshe and brought him into the cloud. The school of R. Yishmael taught: Here we find the word betokh [in the midst] and elsewhere, too, we find it: 'And Bnei Yisrael went into the midst of [betokh] the sea'. Just as in the latter instance [the word betokh] implies a path, as it is written, 'And the waters were a wall for them', so here too there was a path, [for Moses through the cloud]." (Yoma 4b) our daf .R. Zerika (or R. Elazar) notes that the verse at the end of Sefer Shemot describes Moshe as unable to enter the Tent of Meeting because of the cloud, while elsewhere, in chapter 24, Moshe was described as entering into the midst of the cloud after the cloud had covered Mount Sinai. How is this possible? A first possible answer suggests that Moshe was unable to enter the cloud on Mount Sinai on his own, but he could do so with God's help ("This teaches us that the Holy One, blessed be

He, took hold of Moshe and brought him into the cloud"). A second answer depicts a path paved for Moshe, as it were, allowing him to enter the cloud.

40

Why is Moses Kept Out of the Tabernacle?

RABBI MENACHEM CREDITOR writes:8

The closing portion of the Book of Exodus focuses on the construction of the portable desert Tabernacle or the Tent of Meeting, the Mishkan. The final verses read:

…When Moses had finished the work, the cloud covered the Tent of Meeting, and the Presence of God filled the Tabernacle. Moses could not enter the Tent of Meeting, because the cloud had settled upon it and the Presence of the God filled the Tabernacle… over the Tabernacle the cloud of God rested by day, and fire would appear in it by night, in the view of all the house of Israel throughout their journeys. ( Exodus 40:33-38 ) So strange that Moses, after dedicating years to connecting the Israelites to God, can’t enter into the very structure he has helped create for that same purpose. And why? Because there isn’t room. God’s presence is so filling that there just isn’t room for anyone. Even Moses. What must it have felt like to be Moses, closed out of the very place he could have received the ultimate validation, the deepest comfort in the face of ongoing hardship and a stiff-necked nation?

Consider, for a moment, the Jewish mystical notion of Tzimtzum, contraction. Jewish mysticism teaches that, in order to create the world, God needed to not be everywhere and everything. After all, how could anything independent exist if God were everywhere and everything? And so, God pulled back some of God’s self in order to provide physical space and spiritual independence. The Infinite had to contract to made room for the finite. Tzimtzum helps address questions regarding free will, suffering and existence.

The same model holds true for human relationships. I think of my precious children. If I hadn’t acknowledged the need for parental Tzimtzum, restraining myself enough to give them the room to make their own decisions — decisions that I might not make nor approve of — I wouldn’t have been prepared to have a child. Similarly, when we do not practice Tzimtzum and acknowledge the independence of others to act and think on their own, we miss the opportunity to model sacred relationship. A healthy relationship includes Tzimtzum and is infused with the obligation to grant each other the right to inhabit their own place in the world. (In truth, your space isn’t mine to grant in the first place. It is yours regardless of my acknowledgment.)

What do we learn from the end of Exodus? That the act of losing oneself in a rapturous, sacred moment holds the potential to exclude others. That even the holiest of intentions can disrupt a relationship when mishandled.

8 https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/why-is-moses-kept-out-of-the-tabernacle/

41 A brief glimpse ahead to the next book of the Torah might help illuminate the path forward. The very first verse of Leviticus reads: “God VaYikra/Called to Moses and spoke to him from the Tent of Meeting…” ( Leviticus 1:1 ) There is a peculiarity to the way scribes calligraph the word “VaYikra/called.” The letter aleph (the final letter in the biblical Hebrew word “Vayikra”) is traditionally written much smaller than the other letters. One of the explanations of the small aleph is that, originally, the Torah was written without spaces between the words. The aleph became lost between the words. Our small aleph is the result of scribal Tzimtzum. The scribes found room to allow a letter to exist.

READ: The Making of a Torah Scroll

And so, perhaps we might imagine that the tenor of God’s call to Moses in Leviticus is the result of God witnessing Moses’ inability to connect at the end of Exodus. Perhaps the small aleph is a physical representation of God contracting just a bit, consciously making room for a sacred partner.

Tzimtzum is the heart of a mindful, relational Jewish practice. When I recognize the power of someone close to self-determine, my life changes. I become freer. As we read in Psalms: “Please God, for I am your servant, the child of your servant. You have freed me from my chains.” ( Psalms 116:16 )

The end of Exodus describes God as an inaccessible partner. The beginning of Leviticus describes God’s space-giving call. We can glean from this juxtaposition of verses that the deepest intimacy can be simultaneously binding and freeing, that we can learn from each experience to nurture that deepest of connections. Whereas the Exodus journey ends this week with no room for Moses, the small aleph of Leviticus re-invites Moses — and each of us too — into a gift of deepening sacred intimacy.

Rav Avraham Rivlin writes:9

At the center of our Haftorah, which describes the grand dedication of the First Temple, there are three verses that speak of a cloud (Melachim I 8:10-12): [1]

It was as the Kohanim left the Sanctuary, that the cloud filled the Temple of Hashem. The Kohanim could not stand and minister because of the cloud, for the glory of Hashem filled the Temple of Hashem. Then Shlomo said, "Hashem said to dwell in the thick cloud."

The fact that Shlomo chooses to open his prayer, which is very long,[2] specifically with the idea of the cloud, emphasizes the importance of the message of the cloud in regards to the Temple.

We note that the cloud accompanies and conceals every special Revelation of the Shechina (Divine Presence). Even before Matan Torah we find: "Hashem said to Moshe, Behold! I come to you in the thickness of the cloud." (Shemot 19:9) At Matan Torah it says, "On the third day when it was morning, there was thunder and lightening and a heavy cloud on the mountain." (19:16) At the

9 https://www.kby.org/english/torat-yavneh/view.asp?id=3716

42 conclusion of the assemblage, when Moshe goes up the mountain, it says: "Moshe ascended the mountain, and the cloud covered the mountain. The glory of Hashem rested upon Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it for a six-day period ... Moshe arrived in the midst of the cloud and ascended the mountain." (2:15-18)

The Revelation of Shechina in the Mishkan is also covered with a cloud. In the last five verses of Sefer Shemot, after, "Moshe completed the work," it says (Shemot 40:34-38):

The cloud covered the Tent of Meeting, and the glory of Hashem filled the Mishkan. Moshe could not enter the Tent of Meeting, for the cloud rested upon it, and the glory of Hashem filled the Mishkan. When the cloud was raised up from upon the Mishkan, Bnei Yisrael would embark on all their journeys. If the cloud did not rise up, they would not embark, until the day it rose up. For the cloud of Hashem would be on the Mishkan by day and fire would be on it at night, before the eyes of all the House of Israel throughout their journeys.

In the assembly of Kabalat HaTorah, the fire is described along with the cloud: "All of Mount Sinai was smoking because Hashem had descended upon it in the fire; its smoke ascended like the smoke of the furnace." (Shemot 19:18) Elsewhere, the fire is associated with the cloud: "These words Hashem spoke to your entire congregation on the mountain from the midst of the fire, the cloud, and the thick cloud." (Devarim 5:19) In our Haftorah in Melachim, fire is not mentioned. However, in the narrative of the building of the Temple in Divrei Hayamim (II 7:1-3), fire is mentioned:[3]

When Shlomo finished praying, the fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt-offering and the feast-offerings, and the glory of Hashem filled the Temple. The Kohanim could not enter the Temple of Hashem, for the glory of Hashem filled the Temple of Hashem. All Bnei Yisrael were watching when the fire and the glory of Hashem descended upon the Temple.[4]

The same will be in the future: "Hashem will create over every structure of Mount Zion and over those who assemble in it a cloud by day, and smoke and a glow of flaming fire by night, for this will be a canopy over all the honor." (Yeshaya 4:5)

What is the nature and purpose of the fire and the cloud that are associated with the appearance of Hashem's glory?

The fire symbolizes the Revelation of G-d's glory itself, "For Hashem, your G-d, is a consuming fire" (Devarim 4:24; 9:3) In many verses G-d speaks from within the fire,[5] and the nation fears the fire, which is the Revelation of the Divine Presence – "for you were afraid of the fire." (Devarim 5:5) Fire provides light, warms, and grants life, and therefore the Divine Revelation is alluded to by it. However, the Divine Revelation blinds the mortal eye. The great and strong light does not allow man the opportunity to contemplate and to receive the blessing of the Revelation in its full strength. Therefore, there is a need for a covering, a shield – the thickness of the cloud. Rav S.R. Hirsch explains: "I come to you in the thickness of the cloud – in a manner appropriate to the receptive abilities of the nation." (Shemot 19:9)

43 The Kli Yakar similarly writes (Shemot 40:38):

"The cloud covered the Tent of Meeting, and the glory of Hashem filled the Mishkan." – It seems from this that "the glory of Hashem" is not the cloud, but rather the fire and the light, which is the glory of Hashem, was visible from within the cloud. Because without the cloud, it would be impossible to look at it, since a person cannot look at the light of the sun, and certainly at the shining light of His Presence. Therefore, that holy light was always seen from within the cloud.

Perhaps we can add an important point about the cloud. We discussed earlier[6] Shlomo's wonder: "Would G-d truly dwell on earth? Behold, the heavens and the highest heavens cannot contain you, and surely not this Temple that I have built!" (Melachim I 8:27) Indeed, the building of a physical Temple at the order of a Creator, who is completely spiritual, raises a difficult theological question. The standard answer is that the Mishkan and the Temple are only means for the Divine Presence to dwell in the nation and in man: "It does not say, 'I will dwell in it,' but rather, "I will dwell among them.'" Without addressing the question, what is the need for a grand means, if it is only a means,[7] there is a need to dull the awesome impression that the grand and spectacular structure makes, so that the entire world and its inhabitants will sense His glory. Thus, all the nations of the world will sense that G-d's glory fills the world, and the Temple is not His place, nor is the world His place, but rather He is the place of the world.

"G-d said to dwell in the thick cloud." The cloud comes to hide the beauty of the Temple; to prevent the erroneous thought that only the Mikdash itself is the House of G-d, since every person and the entire world is the House of G-d.

[1] If we do not count the first pasuk of the Haftorah, which deals with the conclusion of the Temple work, there are nine verses before the three central verses of the Haftorah, and nine verses after them.

[2] The prayer contains fifty verses, and it is the longest prayer found in Tanach. The shortest prayer is five words: "Please, G-d, heal her now." (Bamidbar 12:13)

[3] See Malbim on Divrei Hayamim. "The words of Torah are poor in one place, and rich in another," and "What this [source] closes – this opens."

[4] The function of this fire is not to consume the offerings, as we find elsewhere: At the time of the dedication of the Mishkan, "A fire went forth from before Hashem and consumed upon the Altar" (Vayikra 9:24); in the story of the angel and Manoach and his wife, "It happened that as the flame rose up from atop the altar to the heavens" (Shoftim 13:20); with David, "[Hashem] responded to him with fire from heaven upon the Altar of the burnt-offering" (Divrei Hayamim I 21:26); and with Eliyahu: "A fire of Hashem descended and consumed the burnt-offering" (Melachim I 18:38).

[5] Devarim 4:12,15,33,36; 5:4,9,10; and elsewhere.

[6] Primarily in the third analysis of Parshat Teruma, in the article, "Haftorot Hamishkan" (Belechtecha Baderech, Winter 5763, p. 117).

44 [7] This issue is disputed in the Midrash and the ; see N. Leibovitz, Iyunim Chadashim B'sefer Shemot, p. 337

45

Moshe Entered the Mist Likutey Moharan I, 115

Rabbi Moshe Mykoff writes:10

“Vaya’amod Ha’am Meirachok (The people kept their distance) and Moshe entered the mist where God was.” (Exodus 20-18)

The verse quoted from Exodus refers to the Revelation at Mount Sinai. The Israelites heeded God’s command and kept their distance from the mountain while Moshe ascended and entered the mist to receive the Torah. This lesson speaks about ascending and entering into God’s service, symbolized by receiving the Torah.

When a person who has spent all his days in materialism afterwards becomes inspired and wants go in the ways of God, the attribute of judgment then denounces him and prevents

10 http://breslovcenter.blogspot.com/2012/02/moshe-entered-mist.html

46 him from going in God’s ways. It also arranges obstacles for him.

Attribute of judgement … obstacles: “Taste and see that God is good” (Psalms 34:9). That is, all that is good can be found wherever one finds God and comes close to Him. When a person has lived a materialistic life and then wishes to return to God, the attribute of judgment contests his benefiting from any good. “After all, he has not been good! Why should he be allowed to taste and enjoy anything good (God/spirituality)?” This is why even when people want to serve God, they encounter obstacles.

Yet, God “is one who desires kindness” (Micah 7:18), and He hides Himself, as it were, in this obstacle {see below}. Thus, someone who is wise will look at the obstacle and discover the Creator there. As we find in the Yerushalmi (Ta’anit 1:1): If anyone should ask you, “Where is your God?” answer him, “In the great city of Rome.” As is said, “One calls to Me from Seir’’ (Isaiah 21:11) . But someone who is not wise, when he sees the obstacle, he immediately retreats.’

“Seir” is the domain of Esav, under whose descendants, Edom/Rome, the Jewish people are exiled. God says that the prophet calls out to Him from the darkness of exile in Seir/Rome, asking when the Final Redemption is to begin. God’s answer appears in the next verse (v. 12): The time is at hand, provided the people of Israel repent (see Rashi). The Talmud Yerushalmi (loc. cit.) learns from here that even in Rome—the darkest exile, in which it seems that holiness and spirituality can never be found—even there, God is present. When a person asks, “Where is God?” answer him, “He is right next to you. No matter how dark it is where you are, God is there, waiting for you to return to Him.” This is the meaning of what Nachman says, that because of His desire to do kindness, the Creator hides Himself in the very obstacles which He places before anyone seeking to come close to Him. All a person has to do is persevere and truly look for God in wherever he is at that moment!

Rebbe Nachman discusses this passage from Ta’anit in a number of lessons. See Likutey Moharan I, 33, and II, 12.

Now, an obstacle corresponds to cloud and mist. This is because a cloud and a mist are darkness, [and] ChoSheKh (darkness) connotes an obstacle. As is written (Genesis 22:16), “and you did not ChaSaKh (hold back).”

ChoSheKh ... ChaSaKh: God’s angel called out to Avraham and praised him that he “did not chasakh (hold back)” Yitzchak from being sacrificed to God. The word chasakh connotes holding back, much as an obstacle holds a person back from serving God. Its root is the same as the word choshekh, the darkness or obstacles to vision created by clouds and mist. These are the dark and confusing moments of life, when a person feels that God is hidden from him.

Reb Noson explains often that, in reality, the main obstacles to spiritual development are obstacles of the mind, mental blocks. A person has awesome inner strength, he says, but his mind becomes “cloudy,” confused and distraught because of his many problems. These obstacles of the mind are always the greatest opposition one finds to fulfilling his desire to serve God (Likutey Halakhot, Birkhat HaPeirot 4:4). Reb Noson writes that in his attempts to visit the Holy

47 Land, he encountered awesome and numerous obstacles. Yet, the greatest of these obstacles were those of his own making—i.e., his own doubts and confusion (Yemey Moharnat II, 25).

This is the explanation of the verse:

The people kept their distance—For when they see the mist, the obstacle, they keep their distance. This is because most people lack the da’at (holy knowledge) to realize that God is in the obstacle. Rather than seeing past the mist, they keep their distance. and Moshe—He corresponds to the da’at (holy knowledge) of all Israel. The Ari teaches that Moshe Rabeinu was the personification of da’at (Eytz Chaim 32:1). Because he possessed holy knowledge, he knew to continue searching for God despite the obstacles. entered the mist where God was—In other words, into the obstacle, which is precisely where God is hidden.

Reb Noson appends the following:

We heard more on this from [Rebbe Nachman’s] holy lips. He added an explanation of the earlier point, that God Himself hides Himself within the obstacle. He said:

God “loves justice” (Isaiah 61:8), and He also loves Israel. Yet, his love of Israel is greater than His love of justice (Zohar Ill, 99b).

The passage from the Zohar quoted in the text discusses as a day of judgment. It teaches that even though justice demands a properly adjudicated judgment, and “God loves justice,” nevertheless, God’s love of Israel is greater than His love of justice. Therefore, He commanded the Jews to sound the shofar on Rosh Hashanah using a ram’s horn. This recalls how Avraham, at God’s bidding, selflessly offered Yitzchak on the altar, and then, again at God’s bidding, replaced him with the ram that had become caught in the nearby thicket (Genesis 22). Sounding the shofar thus arouses God’s mercy so that He overrides justice and invalidates the prosecutor’s arguments.

We can see from this that when a person overcomes obstacles to his spiritual development, he draws mercy into the world. Thus, overcoming obstacles not only brings him knowledge and enables him to draw closer to God, but also mitigates decrees as a result of his good deeds (Rabbi Nachman of Tcherin, Tefilot v’Tachanunim I, 11).

Therefore, when the attribute of judgment denounces someone who is not worthy of drawing closer to God and prevents him from entering the path of life, so as to draw closer to the true tzaddik and the true path; and [what is more,] God Himself loves justice—when this occurs, God is obliged, as it were, to agree to arrange obstacles for him so as to keep him from the path of life. [These obstacles are] commensurate with what he deserves based on his evil deeds, in accordance with judgment and justice. For the Holy One cannot disregard the judgment, because God loves justice, as mentioned above.

48

However, since in truth God loves Israel, and that love for Israel is greater than the love for justice, what is the Holy One to do? For He is obliged, as it were, to agree to the obstacles which keep the person from the truth, because of the judgment and the justice that is upon him—for He loves justice. This notwithstanding, the ultimate truth is that God's will and desire is that this man nevertheless draw closer to Him. This is because, as mentioned, He loves Israel more than justice.

Therefore, God grants permission for obstacles to be arranged for him. But He Himself hides Himself, as it were, within the obstacles. And one who is wise will be able to find God within the obstacles themselves. For the truth is that there are no obstacles whatsoever in the world.

How can Rebbe Nachman say that there are no obstacles, when there is hardly a Jew alive incapable of personally attesting to their existence? The person who wants to purchase Tefillin but finds himself without money to do so, he knows about obstacles to spirituality. So does the person who works to comprehend some difficult Torah insight, but for whatever reason finds it beyond him. Or what about the obstacles to our spiritual development which we create for ourselves through laziness, anger, hard-heartedness and the like; not to mention those from parents, children, friends, etc., of which the Rebbe himself often spoke (see Likutey Moharan II, Foreword)? When Rebbe Nachman says that “there are no obstacles in the world,” he means the following: Consider the purpose of these obstacles. Seemingly, they are intended to distance the person from God. But if God hides Himself in the obstacle, expecting the person to find Him there, they do not accomplish their purpose. Only a person who backs off when he encounters the obstacle will be defeated. The person who truly seeks will no doubt say to himself, “Can this be an obstacle to drawing close to God if God Himself is right next to me?” Therefore, in truth—for those seeking God—there are no such things as obstacles.

In the very force of the obstacles themselves, God is hidden. Thus, specifically through the obstacles themselves one is able to draw closer to the Holy One, for God is hidden there, as mentioned above.

Specifically through the obstacles themselves: Although it might seem so, this is not at all a superfluous comment. Previously, Rebbe Nachman explained that a person who is wise will find God in the obstacle. He will know that God is hidden there and will look for Him despite the “clouds” and “mist.” What the Rebbe adds and emphasizes here is that precisely because God is hidden there, the obstacle itself becomes a vital key and vehicle for drawing closer to Him. This is similar to the relationship which man's soul has with his body. In order for the soul to develop and reunite with God on a spiritual level higher than the one it had at its origination, it must be challenged and tested. The stage for this testing is this world and the soul's entry into it via the physical body with all its accompanying needs, attachments and desires—all of which seem to present obstacles to spiritual development. “Using the body as a medium, the soul is able to form structures in the physical world that reveal Godliness concealed beneath the surface. These activities bring Godliness into the soul itself, benefiting it when it eventually leaves this world and returns to the higher spiritual realms” (Under the Table, Tsohar Publishing). The same came be said of all the obstacles in which God is hidden, waiting to be found.

49

“Specifically through the obstacles themselves” can also be understood in light of what Reb Noson writes about opposition to the tzaddik (see Lesson #114, note 10). He explains that this opposition conceals the tzaddik’s great light, making it possible for the common person to draw close to the tzaddik without being overwhelmed by a light that is too great for him. As a result, anyone who so desires can benefit from the tzaddik by virtue of this concealment. In the same way, obstacles to spiritual development protect the person who seeks to come close to God, so that he is not suddenly overwhelmed by the great light of the Holy One. Rather, the “clouds” and “mist” help him create vessels with which to gradually absorb and benefit from that light.

Thus, this is the meaning of “and Moshe entered the mist”—the obstacle—“where God was.”

Rebbe Nachman and the paradoxical nature of the cloud11

And Moses said unto the people: 'Fear not; for 16 זט רֶמאֹיַּו הֶשֹׁמ לֶא - ,םָﬠָה לַא - ,וּאָריִתּ יִכּ יִכּ ,וּאָריִתּ God is come to prove you, and that His fear may רוּבֲﬠַבְל תוֹסַּנ ,םֶכְתֶא אָבּ ;םיִהֱאָה בֲﬠַבוּ ,רוּ ר '.be before you, that ye sin not הֶיְהִתּ וֹתָאְרִי לַﬠ - םֶכיֵנְפּ -- יִתְּלִבְל .וּאָטֱחֶת יִתְּלִבְל

And the people stood afar off; but Moses drew 17 זי דֹמֲﬠַיַּו ,םָﬠָה ;קֹחָרֵמ הֶשֹׁמוּ שַׁגִּנ לֶא - רֲﬠָה ,לֶפָ ,לֶפָ רֲﬠָה {near unto the thick darkness where God was. {S רֶשֲׁא - םָשׁ .םיִהֱאָה }ס{

11 https://www.breslov.org/dvar/zmanim/shavuot_5757.htm

50 And the LORD said unto Moses: Thus, thou 18 חי רֶמאֹיַּו הָוהְי לֶא - ,הֶשֹׁמ הֹכּ רַמאֹת לֶא - יֵנְבּ יֵנְבּ shalt say unto the children of Israel: Ye yourselves :לֵאָרְשִׂי םֶתַּא םֶתיִאְר -- יִכּ ןִמ - יַמָשַּׁה ,םִ יִתְּרַבִּדּ יִתְּרַבִּדּ .have seen that I have talked with you from heaven .םֶכָמִּﬠ

Ex 20:16-18

"The people stood afar and Moshe entered the fog where God was."

When a person who has spent all his days in materialism afterwards becomes inspired and wants go in the ways of God, the attribute of judgment then denounces him and prevents him from going in God's ways. It also arranges obstacles for him.12

Yet, God "is one who desires kindness" (Micah 7:18) and He hides Himself, as it were, in this obstacle {see below}. Thus, someone who is wise will look at the obstacle and discover the Creator there. As we find in the Yerushalmi (Ta'anit 1:1): If anyone should ask you, "Where is your God?" answer him, "In the great city of Rome." As is said, "One calls to Me from Seir" (Isaiah 21:11). But someone who is not wise, when he sees the obstacle, he immediately retreats.

Now, an obstacle corresponds to cloud and fog. This is because a cloud and a fog are darkness, [and] ChoSheKh (darkness) connotes an obstacle. As is written (Genesis 22:16), "and you did not ChaSaKh (hold back)."

This is the explanation of the verse:

The people kept their distance - For when they see the fog, the obstacle, they keep their distance. and Moshe - He corresponds to the daat (holy knowledge) of all Israel. entered the fog where God was - In other words, into the obstacle, which is precisely where God is hidden.

We heard more on this from [Rebbe Nachman's] holy lips. He added an explanation of the earlier point, that God Himself hides Himself within the obstacle. He said:

God "loves justice" (Isaiah 61:8), and He also loves Israel. Yet, his love of Israel is greater than His love of justice (Zohar III, 99b). Therefore, when the attribute of judgment denounces someone who is not worthy of drawing closer to God and prevents him from entering the path of life so as

12 Based On Likutey MoHaran I, Lesson #115 and Likutey Halakhot, Tefilat Arvit, 4:23

51 to draw closer to the true tzaddik and the true path; and [what is more,] God Himself loves justice - when this occurs, God is obliged, as it were, to agree to arrange obstacles for him so as to keep him from the path of life. [These obstacles are] commensurate with what he deserves based on his evil deeds, in accordance with judgment and justice. For the Holy One cannot disregard the judgment, because God loves justice, as mentioned above.

However, since in truth God loves Israel, and that love for Israel is greater than the love for justice, what is the Holy One to do? For He is obliged, as it were, to agree to the obstacles which keep the person from the truth, because of the judgment and the justice that is upon him_for He loves justice. This notwithstanding, the ultimate truth is that God's will and desire is that this man nevertheless draw closer to Him. This is because, as mentioned, He loves Israel more than justice.

Therefore, God grants permission for obstacles to be arranged for him. But He Himself hides Himself, as it were, within the obstacles. And one who is wise will be able to find God within the obstacles themselves. For the truth is that there are no obstacles whatsoever in the world. In the very force of the obstacles themselves, God is hidden. Thus, specifically through the obstacles themselves one is able to draw closer to the Holy One, for God is hidden there, as mentioned above.

Thus, this is the meaning of, "and Moshe entered the fog" - the obstacle - "where God was."

This cloud that covered Mount Sinai at the time of the Torah-Giving was to be a regular feature of the revelations that Moshe Rabbeinu (our teacher) received. When Hashem (God) spoke to Moshe Rabbeinu in the Mishkan (Tabernacle) His voice emanated from a cloud atop the Ark (which contained the Tablets). For us as well, the ongoing revelations of life are dependent upon "entering the cloud."

We all want to "ascend Mount Sinai," understand more of the Torah, not only intellectually, but experientially as well. We have this ability due to the daat that we are granted as a gift. It gives us the strength to continue the journey and the struggle of life. But part of us is the am, the ordinary folk, who are frightened of what new understanding may bring, of what it may require. So, we hold back. But if we hold back, God forbid, we have no Torah-Giving, no new perception of how to breathe life into the Judaism we practice.

But, the "cloud" is not negative at all. Rebbe Nachman directs our attention to the contradiction of the cloud. On one hand it keeps us away, because we don't see that God is there. It seems that He is not. It is only when we enter the cloud of unknowing that we realize that not only is Hashem "behind" the cloud, but that the cloud itself is a revelation of His love for us, the cloud itself is Torah. It is specifically the challenges that allow us, that force us, to sharpen our perceptions so as to better understand how to improve our practice of Judaism.

But there is another aspect to the limitation of sight provide by "cloud." Reb Noson points out that clouds and fog have the positive function of forcing us to focus are vision strongly. (If you've ever driven in the fog you know how true this is.) We must keep our eyes on what is in front of us by blocking out what is distracting. The very fact that we "can't see" all the things that make up the periphery allows us to concentrate more fully on our goal. Thus, when Torah is our goal, we will

52 appreciate the "fog" that gift wraps it, because the fog allows us to ignore all those (seemingly) sweet and beautiful distractions, like temptation and jealousy.

Furthermore, because the "cloud and fog" is a call to grow, we have to further refine the Torah knowledge and deeds we already possess in order to use them to correctly perceive the next level, so that our greater knowledge brings us closer to Hashem, rather than the opposite.

Me’or Eynaim Parshat Yisro

העשב ומידקהש לארשי השענ עמשנל האצי תב לוק הרמאו ימ ג הלי זר הז נבל י ושל ן יכאלמש תרשה ישמתשמ ן (א) : וב וכ ׳ו ו

הנה נ עדו יכ יש םלוע נעתה ו ג םלוע יבה הנ רבדמשכו םירובדה הודחב תובהלתהבו הבהאב ו הארי אב ול נעתה ו ג (ב) רחא ךכ כ י הלחתמ ךירצ חירטהל ומצע הדובעב איהש תוררועתה הקושתו ולש ו הז ארקנ םלוע אבה הצר רמול יכ אוה אוה יכ רמול הצר אבה םלוע ארקנ הז ו ולש הקושתו תוררועתה איהש הדובעב ומצע חירטהל ךירצ הלחתמ אב דימת תעשב הדובע םלועו דיתעה ארקנ דיתעל אובל .ארמגב העימשו איה ושלמ ן יב הנ רמאמכ יכ עמוש י ףסו יכ כףוי מש כראכה ב שמאההיש אמבאב יע רנ יע לע הועתש יתא : אלול הז יהש ו םיכירצ חורטל םדוקמ אל היה בשחנ הדובעל יכ היה הואת ראשכ ת וא תוו

והזו ורמאש לארשי השענ עמשנו הצר רמול השענ הדובעה חרטנו רחאו הז אובנ םלועל גונעתה ידכ אהיש בושח (ג) הדובעל האצי תב לוק הרמאו ימ ג הלי זר הז וכ ׳ ושל ן יכאלמש תרשה וכ ׳ תמאב אוה רבד לודג יכ םג םיכאלמ אוה םג םג אוה םיכאלמ םג יכ לודג רבד אוה תמאב ׳ וכ תרשה יכאלמש ן ושל ׳ וכ הז זר הלי ג ימ הרמאו לוק תב האצי הדובעל : ןכ ךכ יכ הליחתמ ךירצ ררועתהל ותקושתב לא השודקה הו יח תו ארובהמ ךרבתי אוה וי

וא רמאי העשב ומידקהש וכ ׳ רמא ימ ג הלי זר הז ינבל וכ ׳ . ךירצו יבהל ן ךיא רשפא תושעל םדוק עמשיש המ (ד) : תושעל םג המ היה נע י ן תוראפתה םשה ךרבתי ראפתהש הזב לכ ךכ המב דקהש ומי השענ עמשנל הע מ קשהב ך כ ז רפה רת םהתרפה ע י מם

ךא תמאה םדאהש אוה יא נ ו לוכי דומעל דימת לע ירדמ הג תחא יכ יחה תו אוצר בושו אבש קלתסמו יהד וני אוהשכ (ה) קובד םשהב ךרבתי אוה גרמ שי יח תו נעתו ו ג רחאו ךכ קלתסמ ו נ לפו ירדמ ותג ו שי הזב זר י ן ירואד אתי םעטב רבדה המל המל רבדה םעטב אתי ירואד ן י זר הזב שי ו ותג ירדמ לפו נ ו קלתסמ ךכ רחאו ג ו נעתו תו יח שי גרמ אוה ךרבתי םשהב קובד ךירצ לופיל ירדממ ותג םעטו דחא אוה ידכ אוביש רחא ךכ ירדמל הג י רתו הלודג לכבש רבד ךירצ יהל תו רדעה םדוק םדוק רדעה תו יהל ךירצ רבד לכבש הלודג רתו י הג ירדמל ךכ רחא אוביש ידכ אוה דחא םעטו ותג ירדממ לופיל ךירצ : הל ו י ה ו ורשכ צ םי היבגהל ירדמל הג י רתו הלודג ךירצ יהל תו רדעה םדוק ןכל ךירצ לופיל ירדממ הג אוהש ישכע ו שעאה גידמלפלךר ןלםו דהת ה יצהוג ת ה רמ יגלם

53 הנהו ךירצ םדאה םגש ולפנב ירדממ ותג ץמאתי תולעל לא ׳ה ותואב ירדמ הג אוהש ישכע ו יכ ךירצ ימאהל ן אלמש (ו) לכ ץראה בכ ו ד ו ו ל תי רתא ונפ י ימ נ הי וליפאו הגירדמב אוהש ישכע ו שי םג ןכ שה ם ךרבתי יכ תיל רחא נפ ו י ימ נ הי קר קר הי נ ימ י ו נפ רחא תיל יכ ךרבתי ם אוהש םצמוצמ דואמ ו והז םילהת( ג״יק , ג ׳ ) חרזממ שמש דע ואובמ וגו ׳ קידצהש ארקנ שמש רמאמכ דע אלש העקש העקש אלש דע רמאמכ שמש ארקנ קידצהש ׳ וגו ואובמ דע שמש חרזממ ) ׳ ג , ג״יק םילהת( והז ו דואמ םצמוצמ אוהש שמש ו לש ע ל י ז ר ח ה שמש ו לש מש ו א ל ו כ ו ׳ ה ר י הש צ ד י ק נ ק ר א שמש ו ז ה ו ממ ז ר ח שמש ד ה י י נ ו הש מ ו ח לש ו ב ה י ר ו ז ך ךזו ריהב ול ש ונייהד שש חרזמ מ ש ירה ׳וכו לאומ ש ושש החרז ילע ל מ קובדו םשהב ךרבתי דע ואובמ יהד וני קלתסמשכ תוריהבה לפנו ותגירדממ םלועלו ךירצ תויהל ללוהמ םש ׳ה ץמאתמלו ץמאתמלו ׳ה םש ללוהמ תויהל ךירצ םלועלו ותגירדממ לפנו תוריהבה קלתסמשכ וני : תולעל לא םשה ךרבתי ותואב ירדמ הג אוהש ישכע ויכ ושה רמ תא רת םהל וע

והזו ארקנ השענ םדוק עמשנו ףא וניתליפנב וניתגרידממ קבדהל םשהב ךרבתי התואב הגירדמ ל״נכ רחאו (ז) ךכ עשמנ רקיעש העימשה אוה ושל ן הנבה יהד י נ ו אבש הגירדמל רתוי הלודג ל״נכ הזו אוה רקיע תלבק הרותה הרותה תלבק רקיע אוה ולבקש לארשי ןכלו ראפתה םשה ךרבתי הזב דואמ ולבקש הרותה לדוגב תמאה וגישהו תמאה םלועלש יהי ו ויי לעשתא ויה תא דג רת ובשדא ז רת םהרפה כו אש לק בד ו ק םי םשהב ךרבתי ו אל דרפיי ו ממ נ ו ףא ב נ פ םל דממ ר ג םת והזו רקיע ךוליהה הגהנההו תילארשיה הזבו ךירצ ךירצ הזבו תילארשיה הגהנההו ךוליהה רקיע והזו ךלהל המבו אובי םשהל ךרבתי לפנשכ ירדממ ותג ירהש נ לטי נממ ו יחומה ן תעדהו ףא םשהש ךרבתי אוה אלמ אלמ אוה ךרבתי םשהש ףא תעדהו ן יחומה ו נממ לטי נ ירהש ותג ירדממ לפנשכ ךרבתי םשהל אובי המבו ךלהל לכ ץראה ודובכ יהד י נ ו וליפא םוקמב אוהש לכ ץראה ולוכש יצרא תו אוהש קר רמוח בע ףא לע יפ ןכ אלמ ודובכווכאמ כ פל אב מחק ושת צא לכ רהל ושםקב לפ ונייד דב רהל ךרבתי הנהו םשה ךרבתי קנ אר יח י יחה םי יהד י נ ו לכש יחה םי םלועבש תומהב יח תו תופועו ןימו םדאה יחה תו תו יחה םדאה ןימו תופועו תו יח תומהב םלועבש םי יחה לכש ו נ י יהד םי יחה י יח אר םהלש אוה םשה ךרבתי ו והז יח יחה םי הוהש ךרבתי יחה תו לש לכ יחה םי ו בושחי לפנשכ ותגרדממ אלה יח נא י א חאה תרמ פש וח ם ח כל ויהךבי ושם ח י וזו רת םהאהםל : ימו אוה יחה תו ילש אלה ארובה ךרבתי ו אצמנ שי ןאכ םג ןכ אוה ךרבתי ךא אוהש םצמוצמ דואמ םצמוצמ אוהש ךא ךרבתי אוה ןכ םג ןאכ שי אצמנ ו ךרבתי ארובה אלה ילש תו יחה אוה ימו

הזו ו רמא ה״בקה ימ הלג זר הז ינבל הצר רמול ימ ונייהד םהשכ םיבשוח ימ אוה תויחה םהלש הז הליג םהל זר הז (ח) : םידקהל השענ עמשנל ל״נכ עמשנל השענ םידקהל

והזו םויב הזה ואב רבדמ יניס ושרד ל״זר ויהיש םישדח ךילע םויכ הנתינש ךיאו תורשפא ןינעה אלה הרותה הנתינ (ט) הז ןמז ךורא ךיאו יהי ו םישדח יכ םו .הנתינש לבא יפל ירבד נ ו ל״נה ןבומ בטיה לכבש י םו ו י םו םידקמ השענ עמשנל עמשנל : הזש היה רקיע תלבק הרותה ראובמכ הרותה תלבק רקיע היה הזש

והזו םתאו םיקבדה ׳הב םכיקלא ׳וג ךירצו ןיבהל המל בותכ ינשב תומש ׳הב םכיקלא ויה םירבד( ,׳ד )׳ד רמימל (י) םתאו םיקבדה ׳הב ותו אל יפלו ירבד נ ו ל״נה י ןבו בטיה יכ םיקלא לכב םוקמ אוה יד ן םוצמצו ו והז םתאו םיקבדה ׳הב ה יבהםא ה םצצ דאהםק כ םכיקלא יהד י נ ו וליפא אוהשכ םצמוצמ םכילצא םתלפנשכ ירדממ םכתג ףא לע יפ ןכ םתא םיקבד םשהב ךרבתי ךרבתי םשהב םיקבד םתא ןכ יפ לע ףא םכתג ירדממ םתלפנשכ םכילצא םצמוצמ אוהשכ וליפא ו נ י יהד םכיקלא : תועצמאב יכ אלה יח םי םכלוכ יה םו ימו אוה יחה תו םכלש אלה אוה ךרבתי ומש ו הלעתי ורכז העיו ושךבי ו ל כשת ח ו יו וי כו יי ל י וצא

והזו רמאמ דוד ךלמה ה״ע ש יתיו ׳ה ידגנל דימת םילהת( ,ז״ט )׳ח הצר רמול היהש הוש ולצא ה״יוה ונייהד ינאשכ ( אי ) קובד םשהב ךרבתי יחומב ן םיריהב ידגנלו אוה ושל ן ידגנ תו יהד י נ ו יתלפנשכ ירדממ יתג לכה היה הוש ילצא היהש קובד קובד היהש ילצא הוש היה לכה יתג ירדממ יתלפנשכ ו נ י יהד םשהב ךרבתי םג תעב ולפנ ו והז רמאש המלש ךלמה ה״ע תלהק( ז ׳ , י ׳ ) לא רמאת המ היה הש י מ י ם ה ר שא ו נ י ם ה י ו ארה םימיה םיבוט הלאמ יכ אל המכחמ תלאש לע הז הצר רמול שיש םיטוש נבש םלפו םתגרדממ םיבכוש ל רפעל יאו םנ םילוע םילוע םנ יאו רפעל ל םיבכוש םתגרדממ םלפו נבש םיטוש שיש רמול הצר הז לע תלאש המכחמ אל יכ הלאמ םיבוט בוש לא םשה ךרבתי ו והז לא רמאת םימיהש נושארה םי יה ו םיבוט הלאמ יהד י נ ו זאש יה יתי דבוע םשה ךרבתי ישכעו ו ויכו רת םהדו ייי זש ה למםבט הם ואהםמה מתל וזו רת םהל ו יתלפנ ירדממ יתג לא רמאת ןכ יכ אל המכחמ אש תל לע תאז יכ המכחה היחת יחהו תו אוצר בושו םאו ןכ חרכומ יהל תו תו יהל חרכומ ןכ םאו בושו אוצר תו יחהו היחת המכחה יכ תאז לע תל ךכ ו הז ארקנ זב רהו שודקה יטמ אלו יטמ יהד י נ ו אוהשכ קובד םשהב ךרבתי תוריהבב זא ארקנ יטמ קלתסמשכו ארקנ ארקנ קלתסמשכו יטמ ארקנ זא תוריהבב ךרבתי םשהב קובד אוהשכ ו נ י יהד יטמ אלו יטמ שודקה רהו זב ארקנ הז ו ךכ : אלו יטמ אלו

םעטהו המל ךירצ לופיל ותגרדממ אוה ךכ הנהד שי תומשנ םילופנ שי ולפנש תששמ ימי ישארב ת ו שי נש ו לפ י ם ( בי ) לכב רוד רודו םילגלגתמו םהו ענ ו דנ יאו םנ םילוכי אובל לא םשה ךרבתי יכ יא ן םהל המב אובל יחבש םי יח םתו וקסע קעםוי ייב ולהבםל א כךבי ש אאב יוי ניו נו נ ה םללתו וו ו כ ילבהב םלוע הזה אלו ושע םולכ קידצהשכו נ לפו ירדממ ותג רחאו ךכ םק רמאמכ ילשמ( ,ד״כ )ז״ט עבש לופי קידצ םקו םקו קידצ לופי עבש )ז״ט ,ד״כ ילשמ( רמאמכ םק ךכ רחאו ותג ירדממ לפו נ קידצהשכו םולכ ושע אלו הזה םלוע ילבהב םקשכו הלועו לא םשה ךרבתי הלעמ מע ו םתוא תומשנ ל״נה הנהו וניא לוכי תולעהל אלא ןתוא תומשנ םהש ושרשמ ושרשמ םהש תומשנ ןתוא אלא תולעהל לוכי וניא הנהו ל״נה תומשנ םתוא ו : ןכלו ךירצ לכ םדא לופיל ותגירדממ ידכ תולעהל תומשנ םהש ושרשמ ןבהו ורמםשתמנ ועל ד וגרמ וי ד כךר ןל

Me'or Einayim, Yitro

54 (1) “At the moment when Israel put we will do before we will listen, a heavenly voice came out and said: ‘Who revealed this secret to my children, the language the ministering angels use?’” etc. ( 88a).

(2) Now, it is known that there is a world of pleasure, the world of Understanding; and when one speaks the speaking with joy and passion, with Love and Reverence, the pleasure comes to him afterward. For at the beginning, he must exert himself in Service, which is his arousal and longing; and this is called “the World to Come,” which is to say that it comes always at the time of Service, whereas the future world is called “the Coming Future” in the Talmud. And “listening” connotes understanding as in the verse, that Joseph understood (Gen. 42:23); for without their needing to exert beforehand, it would not be considered Service, but merely a desire like any desire.

(3) And that is [the meaning of] Israel’s saying we will do and we will listen (Ex. 24:7), which is to say we will do the Service and exert [ourselves]; and afterward we will come to the world of pleasure such that it will be considered Service. “A heavenly voice came out and said, ‘Who revealed this secret… the language the ministering angels [use] etc.” – in truth it is a great thing, for it is even so for the angels: first he must arouse his longing for the Holiness and the life-force from the Blessed Creator.

(4) Or you could say, “At the moment when Israel put [we will do before we will listen, a heavenly voice] said: ‘Who revealed this secret to my children?’” (Shabbat 88a). And we must understand how it is possible to do before one hears what to do, as well as the basis for Blessed God’s praise, complimenting [Israel] so much because they put we will do before we will listen.

(5) But the truth is that no person is able to stay at one level always, because the life-force ebbs and flows, it comes and goes, meaning that when he is attached to Blessed God he feels life-force and pleasure; and afterward he moves away and falls from his level. And contained in this are secrets of Torah, the reason why it is necessary to fall from his level; and one reason is so that he can arrive afterward at an even greater level, for in everything there must be Absence before Presence. When we want to rise to an even greater level there must be absence beforehand, therefore one must fall from the level at which one currently stands.

(6) So a person must, even in falling from his level, make an effort to rise up to God in the level at which he now stands; for one must believe that all the earth is full of God’s glory (Isaiah 6:3) and no place is void of Him, and even on the level at which he now stands, Blessed God is also there because no place is void of Him, only He is very contracted. And this is [the meaning of the verse] From the rising of the sun until it goes down [the LORD’s name is to be praised] (Psalm 113:3), for the tzaddik is called “the sun” as in the teaching, “Before Eli’s sun set, the sun of Samuel the Ramatite had risen etc.” (Yoma 38b), thus a tzaddik is called the sun. And this is [the meaning of] From the rising of the sun, which is when one’s mind is clear and pure and attached to Blessed God, until it goes down, which is when the clarity departs and he falls from his level. But one must always live by the LORD’s name is to be praised, and make an effort to rise up to Blessed God in the level at which he now stands.

(7) And this is called we will do before we will listen – even in our falling from our level, to attach to Blessed God in that level as we have explained above; and afterwards we will listen,

55 since the essence of listening is understanding, meaning that one will come to an even greater level as we have explained above. And this is the essence of receiving the Torah that Israel received, and therefore Blessed God greatly praised them for this: that they accepted the Torah in the fullness of Truth and comprehended Truth, that they would forever be attached to Blessed God and would not separate from God even when they fell from their level. This is the essence of the Jewish journey and conduct, and this is how a person must walk. And how can a person come to Blessed God once he has fallen from his level, since his mind-states and Awareness have been taken from him? But Blessed God, all the earth is full of God’s glory, that is, even in a place that is all the earth, which is entirely materialistic, which is only dense matter, nevertheless it is full of God’s Blessed Glory. So it is that Blessed God is called the Life of Living, meaning that all the living things in the world, animals, beasts, and birds, and the human species, their life-force is Blessed God. And this is “Life of Living,” that Blessed God is the life-force of all living things. And one should think when one falls from one’s level, “Do I not live? And who is my life-force? It is the Blessed Creator!” And one will find that Blessed God is also here, even though God is very contracted.

(8) And this is what the Holy Blessed One said: “‘Who’ revealed this secret to My children,” which is to say [the question] “Who.” That is, when they think, “Who is my life-force?” this [question] reveals to them the secret, to put we will do ahead of we will listen, as we have explained above.

(9) And that is [the meaning of the verse] On this day they came into the wilderness of Sinai (Ex. 19:1), which our Sages of Blessed Memory interpreted as “[Torah] should be new for you as on the day when it was given” (, Yitro 13); but how is such a thing possible – was the Torah not given long ago, and how could [Torah] be new like the day it was given? But according to our words above it can be understood well, that in each and every day he puts we will do before we will listen, for this is the essence of receiving the Torah as we have clarified.

(10) And that is [the meaning of the verse] you who are attached to the LORD your God, [you are all alive today] (Deut. 4:4), and we must understand why it is written with both names, to the LORD your God, when it should have said you who are attached to the LORD and no more. And according to our words above we can understand well that God [Elohim] in all contexts connotes judgment and contraction; and that is [the meaning of] you who are attached to the LORD your God, meaning even when He is contracted for you, when you have fallen from your level, nevertheless you are attached to Blessed God by means of [the question], “Is it not the case that you are all alive today? And who is your life-force? It is He, may His Name be Blessed and His Mention Elevated!”

(11) And that is [the meaning of] King David’s statement, peace be upon him, I have set [shiviti] the LORD always opposite me (Psalm 16:8), which is to say that Existence was the same [shaveh] for me. That is, “When I am attached to Blessed God with clear mind-states” – opposite me connoting opposition – “then when I fall from my level it was all the same for me,” that he was attached to Blessed God even in the moment of his falling. And that is [the meaning of] what King Solomon, peace be upon him, said, Do not say, “Why were the former days better than these?” For it is not from wisdom that you ask this (Ecclesiastes 7:10), which is to say that there are fools who in their falling from their level lie in the dust and do not rise again to Blessed God. And that is [the meaning of] Do not say, “Why were the former days better than these,” meaning that then

56 I served Blessed God and now I have fallen from my level – Do not say such a thing, For it is not from wisdom that you ask this. For Wisdom gives life, and the life-force ebbs and flows, in which case it must be so. And in the Holy Zohar this is called “Arriving and not arriving,” meaning that when he is attached to Blessed God in clarity then it is called “arriving;” but when [the attachment] leaves it is called “not arriving.”

(12) And the reason why he must fall from his level is this: because there are fallen souls; those that fell during the six days of Creation and those that fell in each and every generation. And they are reincarnated, and they are fugitive and wanderer (Gen. 4:12) and cannot come to Blessed God because they have nothing through which to come; for in their life of life-force they engaged in this world’s vanities and achieved nothing. But when the tzaddik falls from his level and afterward rises as in the verse, seven times the tzaddik falls and stands (Proverbs 24:16), when he stands and rises up to Blessed God he lifts with him those souls we have mentioned. Now, he can only lift those souls who are from his root; and therefore, every person must fall from his level in order to lift up the souls that are from his root, and understand this.

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