Chasidut su Levitico 26:12
וְהִתְהַלַּכְתִּי֙ בְּת֣וֹכְכֶ֔ם וְהָיִ֥יתִי לָכֶ֖ם לֵֽאלֹהִ֑ים וְאַתֶּ֖ם תִּהְיוּ־לִ֥י לְעָֽם׃
E camminerò in mezzo a voi, e sarò il vostro Dio, e sarete il mio popolo.
Kedushat Levi
Moses prefaces his remarks with the word: ועתה, “and now,” to hint that just as G’d in His capacity of Hashem has imposed upon Himself restrictions in as much as He treats you as if you deserved that He consults you before acting, i.e. שואל, much as a student who seeks clarification from his teacher, this very characteristic of not acting high-handedly but consulting higher authority first, is a characteristic that G’d expects of you to be practiced unreservedly, i.e. you will prove this in the manner in which you revere Him. This is also what Rashi (Leviticus 26,12) where the Torah writes of G’d saying: והתהלכתי בתוככם, “I will be walking amongst you,” had in mind, when he paraphrased Moses by saying: אטייל עמכם, “I shall go for a walk with you,” i.e. although you will feel so familiar with Me, you must not forget for one moment that in spite of this I must be related to with utmost reverence, יראה.
A third interpretation of our verse, is one that portrays Moses as making maximal demands on the Jewish people, instead of minimal ones, as a superficial reading of our verse would imply.
The axiom that the Creator is אין סוף, “a Being the extent of whose multifaceted attributes knows no limits,” [my translation, Ed.] includes the inability of His angels to fully comprehend Him also. This is already alluded to in the commentary of Vayikra rabbah Leviticus 24,9 where the author, in trying to explain the line:קדושים תהיו כי קדוש אני , commonly translated as “strive to be holy for I am holy,” states “you will never be able to be as holy as I am, as My holiness will progressively appear to you as just beyond reach, the closer you have come to Me.” Not only that, but as you attain greater insights, you will realise how far beyond I am. At the same time, the more you endeavour to become holy, the more of My holiness will become part of you.
A third interpretation of our verse, is one that portrays Moses as making maximal demands on the Jewish people, instead of minimal ones, as a superficial reading of our verse would imply.
The axiom that the Creator is אין סוף, “a Being the extent of whose multifaceted attributes knows no limits,” [my translation, Ed.] includes the inability of His angels to fully comprehend Him also. This is already alluded to in the commentary of Vayikra rabbah Leviticus 24,9 where the author, in trying to explain the line:קדושים תהיו כי קדוש אני , commonly translated as “strive to be holy for I am holy,” states “you will never be able to be as holy as I am, as My holiness will progressively appear to you as just beyond reach, the closer you have come to Me.” Not only that, but as you attain greater insights, you will realise how far beyond I am. At the same time, the more you endeavour to become holy, the more of My holiness will become part of you.
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