Chasidut su Esodo 28:78
Mevo HaShearim
Regarding the Talmudic sages about whom the Talmud says ‘even though prophecy ceased from the prophets it did not cease from the Sages,’296Talmud Bava Batra, ibid. and the Kabbalistic masters about whose grasp we cited R. Shimon b. Yokhai’s words above—revelatory images were revealed to their intellectual faculty, to the soul’s capacity which perceive that which is above the capacity of figurement with which the prophets perceived. With this faculty, they did not receive prophecy through imaginations of this-worldly things, but rather with the intellect of the Torah [as expressed] in Talmud, Kabbalah, and the sefirot. Indeed, it is difficult for us to understand how the intellectual faculty and prophetic revelation work together; yet then again, and in truth, it is difficult for us to understand how prophecy was revealed in the imagination of the prophet in the sense of “through the prophets I will be imagined [adameh].”297Hosea 12:11. We have become accustomed to this notion since our childhood. Yet we are astounded when we hear that the sages of the Talmud and Kabbalah received prophecy through their intellectual faculties, wondering, what connection could there be between the intellect and prophecy?! And yet—why are we astounded? Are not all matters of the intellect and its revelations beyond human comprehension? Just as we do not comprehend how the prophets envisioned prophecy through their imaginations, we cannot intellectually comprehend how revelation was revealed in their words. Yet, we can surmise just a tiny bit of how every student of the Torah experiences something of prophecy, though it is really different from the grasping of the prophets.298R. Shapiro hedges here between wishing to correlate the Torah student’s experience with prophecy and wishing to distinguish the former from the latter. Sometimes, when a person is deeply analyzing something in the Torah, and is unsure of a specific meaning or intent, and there are indications to various possibilities—then suddenly, as he is sitting silently, all at once he says “This is its meaning! My heart tells me such…!”299A rabbinic idiom; see, for example, Rashi to Exodus 28:4. What is this utterance of the heart? It is his soul sparking forth to be revealed in his intellect, gazing at the Torah from a [vantage point] above proofs and demonstrations. More than this, it is brought in the holy books [ I believe in the Meor Enayim300Meor Enayim of Rabbi Menahem Nohum Twersky of Chernobyl.] that when a person is learning and a feeling comes to him that he has something new to say regarding a given verse or a piece of Talmud, yet he intellectually has nothing yet to say, and it is only when he thereafter analyzes it that the new ideas comes to his mind—the previous feeling was a spark of the Holy Spirit. That is, a spark of the Holy Spirit was revealed to his intellect, and had he not thereafter employed his intellect in thought, the Holy Spirit would not be revealed through his intellect.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
Kedushat Levi
It is this thought that Moses expressed in our verse when he said: “and Hashem has guaranteed you this day that this nation be a precious nation for Him, etc.”.
If you were to ask that if G’d, Who is all knowing, obviously knew all this in advance, why did He bother to create the gentile nations altogether? The answer is that G’d created the other nations לשם ולתפארת ולתהלה, “for His name, glory and splendour,” so that He would be able to glory in Israel’s accomplishments by comparison. If there were no inferior people who had started out with the same attributes as the Israelites, Israel’s accomplishments would not be appreciated as outstanding. The word: תפארת, “splendour,” is an alternate adjective used in connection with the garments of the High Priest, (Exodus 28,2) a garment worn externally, meant to reflect the inner beauty of the wearer. When the prophet Micah 7,19 speaks of G’d יכבוש עונותינו ותשליך במצולות ים, “squeezing out our sins and throwing them into the depths of the ocean,” the image before the mental eye of the prophet was that of the person laundering dirty linen, and seeing that not only the dirt has disappeared but the result being something splendid, תפארת. Showing someone how a person thoroughly soiled by his sins, has become rehabilitated is surely reason for the owner of that “garment” to boast about the “reincarnation” that has occurred, especially when it was spontaneous. This is also the meaning of Rosh Hashanah 17 where the process of removing sins is described as occurring מעביר ראשון ראשון, usually translated as “removing the sins in the order in which they have been committed starting with the first.” Our author understands this to mean that G’d had used the first sin committed by the repentant sinners as something to decorate Himself with as His first garment. It is appropriate therefore that once the sinner turns penitent, that not the last, but the original sin he has committed should be “turned inside out,” by being converted into a merit.
[When a sinner persists in sinning, the “garments” in which G’d wraps Himself, far from becoming something splendid, become symbols of His progressive distancing His essence from such a sinner, of course. Ed.]
If you were to ask that if G’d, Who is all knowing, obviously knew all this in advance, why did He bother to create the gentile nations altogether? The answer is that G’d created the other nations לשם ולתפארת ולתהלה, “for His name, glory and splendour,” so that He would be able to glory in Israel’s accomplishments by comparison. If there were no inferior people who had started out with the same attributes as the Israelites, Israel’s accomplishments would not be appreciated as outstanding. The word: תפארת, “splendour,” is an alternate adjective used in connection with the garments of the High Priest, (Exodus 28,2) a garment worn externally, meant to reflect the inner beauty of the wearer. When the prophet Micah 7,19 speaks of G’d יכבוש עונותינו ותשליך במצולות ים, “squeezing out our sins and throwing them into the depths of the ocean,” the image before the mental eye of the prophet was that of the person laundering dirty linen, and seeing that not only the dirt has disappeared but the result being something splendid, תפארת. Showing someone how a person thoroughly soiled by his sins, has become rehabilitated is surely reason for the owner of that “garment” to boast about the “reincarnation” that has occurred, especially when it was spontaneous. This is also the meaning of Rosh Hashanah 17 where the process of removing sins is described as occurring מעביר ראשון ראשון, usually translated as “removing the sins in the order in which they have been committed starting with the first.” Our author understands this to mean that G’d had used the first sin committed by the repentant sinners as something to decorate Himself with as His first garment. It is appropriate therefore that once the sinner turns penitent, that not the last, but the original sin he has committed should be “turned inside out,” by being converted into a merit.
[When a sinner persists in sinning, the “garments” in which G’d wraps Himself, far from becoming something splendid, become symbols of His progressive distancing His essence from such a sinner, of course. Ed.]
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
Kedushat Levi
Exodus 28,2. “you are to make sacred garments for your brother Aaron , for dignity and adornment. Next you shall instruct all who are skilful and whom I have endowed with the gift of skill, to make Aaron’s vestments to sanctify him, etc.” Judging from the apparent repetition in these two verses, i.e. Moses was commanded to sanctify his brother Aaron, and then the craftsmen were commanded by Moses, that Aaron was to be attired in these vestments to be made in honour of G’d; apparently Aaron was to serve as a vestment for G’d, Who, when on earth, must garb Himself in a manner that prevents harm coming to the people among whom He “dwells.” We have a concept according to which the souls of the righteous serve as vessels harboring celestial attributes. This is the meaning of: ועשית בגדי קודש לאהרן אחיך, that Aaron’s soul was to serve as sacred vestments for celestial attributes. The words: לכבוד ולתפארת, refer to these celestial attributes of G’d. However, the people described as חכמי לב, “endowed with wisdom,” were employed to construct garments for Aaron’s body. This is why in this connection (verse 3) we have the word אהרן, whereas previously in verse 2 the Torah spoke of לאהרן, “for something that was part of Aaron,” referring to Aaron’s soul rather than to his body.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
Kedushat Levi
Exouds 28,5. “whereas they will take (receive) the gold, the blue wool, the purple wool, the crimson yarns and the fine linen.” Compare Rashi according to whom the subject of the word: והם, are the חכמי לב, people endowed with skill, who received the materials required from the Israelites who had donated it. Keeping all this in mind, even the reversal of the letters דג to read גד does not need to indicate something negative as it does elsewhere, but is an allusion to the well known concept of G’d sending the cure before He activates the disease, or expressed differently: גומל דלים “He renders good to the poor.” (in that order).
We need to understand why the priestly vestments should have been constructed from public funds, seeing that although the priest would perform the service in the Tabernacle, presenting the offerings on behalf of the people, unless he “dressed himself” personally, indicating that he loved the people on behalf of whom he performed these services, he was not considered as having performed his duties. [According to the Zohar in Parshat Nasso, even nowadays when the priests have pronounced the blessing on the people, and the members of the congregation thank them for this, they do not thank the priests for the blessing, but for the love with which this blessing had been dispensed. This is why the benediction preceding the blessing mentions that it is to be performed with love, something that is unique in all such benedictions preceding fulfillment of a commandment. Ed.]
G’d has demonstrated His love for the Jewish people when He chose them from among all the other nations to be His “firstborn” son. (Exodus 4,22) Seeing that G’d loves us, He must hate those who hate us. When He chose the priests for special status among the Israelites He did not thereby remove them from the people at large, but was at pains that this elevation was only within the beloved Jewish people, i.e. מתוך בני ישראל, as is clear from Exodus 28,1 as well as regarding the Levites themselves in Numbers 3,12. It is because He loved us collectively, that He appointed the priests to act as means to achieve atonement for our sins.
We need to understand why the priestly vestments should have been constructed from public funds, seeing that although the priest would perform the service in the Tabernacle, presenting the offerings on behalf of the people, unless he “dressed himself” personally, indicating that he loved the people on behalf of whom he performed these services, he was not considered as having performed his duties. [According to the Zohar in Parshat Nasso, even nowadays when the priests have pronounced the blessing on the people, and the members of the congregation thank them for this, they do not thank the priests for the blessing, but for the love with which this blessing had been dispensed. This is why the benediction preceding the blessing mentions that it is to be performed with love, something that is unique in all such benedictions preceding fulfillment of a commandment. Ed.]
G’d has demonstrated His love for the Jewish people when He chose them from among all the other nations to be His “firstborn” son. (Exodus 4,22) Seeing that G’d loves us, He must hate those who hate us. When He chose the priests for special status among the Israelites He did not thereby remove them from the people at large, but was at pains that this elevation was only within the beloved Jewish people, i.e. מתוך בני ישראל, as is clear from Exodus 28,1 as well as regarding the Levites themselves in Numbers 3,12. It is because He loved us collectively, that He appointed the priests to act as means to achieve atonement for our sins.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
Kedushat Levi
Exouds 28,5. “whereas they will take (receive) the gold, the blue wool, the purple wool, the crimson yarns and the fine linen.” Compare Rashi according to whom the subject of the word: והם, are the חכמי לב, people endowed with skill, who received the materials required from the Israelites who had donated it. Keeping all this in mind, even the reversal of the letters דג to read גד does not need to indicate something negative as it does elsewhere, but is an allusion to the well known concept of G’d sending the cure before He activates the disease, or expressed differently: גומל דלים “He renders good to the poor.” (in that order).
We need to understand why the priestly vestments should have been constructed from public funds, seeing that although the priest would perform the service in the Tabernacle, presenting the offerings on behalf of the people, unless he “dressed himself” personally, indicating that he loved the people on behalf of whom he performed these services, he was not considered as having performed his duties. [According to the Zohar in Parshat Nasso, even nowadays when the priests have pronounced the blessing on the people, and the members of the congregation thank them for this, they do not thank the priests for the blessing, but for the love with which this blessing had been dispensed. This is why the benediction preceding the blessing mentions that it is to be performed with love, something that is unique in all such benedictions preceding fulfillment of a commandment. Ed.]
G’d has demonstrated His love for the Jewish people when He chose them from among all the other nations to be His “firstborn” son. (Exodus 4,22) Seeing that G’d loves us, He must hate those who hate us. When He chose the priests for special status among the Israelites He did not thereby remove them from the people at large, but was at pains that this elevation was only within the beloved Jewish people, i.e. מתוך בני ישראל, as is clear from Exodus 28,1 as well as regarding the Levites themselves in Numbers 3,12. It is because He loved us collectively, that He appointed the priests to act as means to achieve atonement for our sins.
We need to understand why the priestly vestments should have been constructed from public funds, seeing that although the priest would perform the service in the Tabernacle, presenting the offerings on behalf of the people, unless he “dressed himself” personally, indicating that he loved the people on behalf of whom he performed these services, he was not considered as having performed his duties. [According to the Zohar in Parshat Nasso, even nowadays when the priests have pronounced the blessing on the people, and the members of the congregation thank them for this, they do not thank the priests for the blessing, but for the love with which this blessing had been dispensed. This is why the benediction preceding the blessing mentions that it is to be performed with love, something that is unique in all such benedictions preceding fulfillment of a commandment. Ed.]
G’d has demonstrated His love for the Jewish people when He chose them from among all the other nations to be His “firstborn” son. (Exodus 4,22) Seeing that G’d loves us, He must hate those who hate us. When He chose the priests for special status among the Israelites He did not thereby remove them from the people at large, but was at pains that this elevation was only within the beloved Jewish people, i.e. מתוך בני ישראל, as is clear from Exodus 28,1 as well as regarding the Levites themselves in Numbers 3,12. It is because He loved us collectively, that He appointed the priests to act as means to achieve atonement for our sins.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
Kedushat Levi
Exodus 28,29. “and Aaron will carry the names of the tribes of the Israelites on his heart.”
We need to examine why in this instance the names of the tribes of Israel were so important, when elsewhere it was always the names of the patriarchs Avraham, Yitzchok, and Yaakov that were important to be remembered.
Although our sages point out that the letters of the names of the patriarchs were also represented on the breast plate, (compare Bamidbar rabbah 2,7 and Sh’mot rabbah 38,11) we do not find this spelled out in the text. The text only tells us that the letters of the names of the 12 tribes were engraved on the 12 jewels making up the breastplate.
We have explained that Aaron was chosen as priest from amongst the Children of Israel, (28,10). We must assume that the selection of one out of many refers to the selection of an individual, seeing that he was especially beloved, and this implies normally that by comparison the community at large was relatively despised; in order to counter such an assumption, the Torah commanded that the names of all the tribes be inscribed on the breast plate to show clearly that G’d loved all of them.
We need to examine why in this instance the names of the tribes of Israel were so important, when elsewhere it was always the names of the patriarchs Avraham, Yitzchok, and Yaakov that were important to be remembered.
Although our sages point out that the letters of the names of the patriarchs were also represented on the breast plate, (compare Bamidbar rabbah 2,7 and Sh’mot rabbah 38,11) we do not find this spelled out in the text. The text only tells us that the letters of the names of the 12 tribes were engraved on the 12 jewels making up the breastplate.
We have explained that Aaron was chosen as priest from amongst the Children of Israel, (28,10). We must assume that the selection of one out of many refers to the selection of an individual, seeing that he was especially beloved, and this implies normally that by comparison the community at large was relatively despised; in order to counter such an assumption, the Torah commanded that the names of all the tribes be inscribed on the breast plate to show clearly that G’d loved all of them.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
Mareh Yechezkel on Torah
And in a different way, [we can explain it] according to that which is written (Bava Batra 98a), “One who is haughty is not accepted even by the members of his household.” And Rashi explains, “The members of his household, [means] his wife.” And the reason for the thing is that the Divine Presence dwells between a man and his wife, as is well known. But anyone who is haughty pushes away the feet of the Divine Presence, so he does not have a harmonious domestic life. Rather there is a voice of claims, strife and dissension between them. And that is the meaning of that which is written, “When you build a new house” – his house is his wife (Yoma 2a) – then “you shall make a parapet for your roof,” [understood] as mentioned above, that he should not become haughty. For otherwise, “you shall not place damim in your house” – which is an expression of quiet – there will [instead] be yelling, strife and disagreement. And so Adam first called her, Adam, as they were perfectly united – before being split. But when she was separated from him, he called her, woman – since God was still dwelling between them. But then after the sin, when there was no longer peace between them, he called her, Chava – which is an expression of speech, as in, “expresses (yechaveh) knowledge” (Psalms 19:3). And this is as it is written in the Midrash (Bereshit Rabbah 18:4), “’This time (paam)’ (Genesis 2:23), as it says (Exodus 28:34), ‘A golden bell (paamon),’ etc. – that will yell out in the future, etc.” And this is especially with a second marriage, which the Sages, may their memory be blessed, said (Sotah 2a) is [determined] according to his actions. And that is because it is impossible for a first marriage to be according to his actions – for what he will be like is not known before conception (which is when the match is determined). As [while many things are determined before conception,] whether he will be righteous or an evildoer is not (Niddah 16b). But with the second marriage, he is matched according to his deeds. And hence he must improve all of his traits for the sake of Heaven, so that his match will go well.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy