Chasidut su Salmi 27:4
אַחַ֤ת ׀ שָׁאַ֣לְתִּי מֵֽאֵת־יְהוָה֮ אוֹתָ֪הּ אֲבַ֫קֵּ֥שׁ שִׁבְתִּ֣י בְּבֵית־יְ֭הוָה כָּל־יְמֵ֣י חַיַּ֑י לַחֲז֥וֹת בְּנֹֽעַם־יְ֝הוָ֗ה וּלְבַקֵּ֥ר בְּהֵיכָלֽוֹ׃
Una cosa ho chiesto all'Eterno, che cercherò: che io possa dimorare nella casa dell'Eterno tutti i giorni della mia vita, per vedere la grazia dell'Eterno e visitare presto nel Suo tempio.
Mevo HaShearim
Back then, when an individual, an avreikh, would serve God in Torah and avodah, and desired to sanctify himself—yet saw that it was difficult for him, that though he desired and yearned for all of himself that all his desires and thoughts and traits would be sanctified to God yet nonetheless there was much dross in them... He would become anxious and embittered, saying “Do I not see that I am distant from God, God forbid! What will be my life’s purposes hereon in? Shall I remain banished from holiness, God forbid, stuck in filth, Heaven forfend?!” Moved by his great anxiety and bitterness, he would say “I shall travel to my Rebbe! There, on the mountain of God’s house,475R. Shapiro frames the visit to the rebbe in the image of the ancient pilgrimage to the Temple, a common rabbinic and especially hasidic motif. See, for example, Biale et al, 415. the evil inclination has no control. The Rebbe will instruct me in the holy path, and seize me by my sidelocks 476This possibly alludes to a saying of R. Nahman of Bratslav to the effect that he would do all he could to redeem his disciples, even pulling them out of Hell by their sidelocks. See Biale et al, 117. and remove me from my lowliness. I will become connected to him, and he will perforce purify me and elevate me to the One who is pure. Yet, terror will seize him, for the rebbe will recognize all the not-good things he has done; and at the same time, this is his is very desire-to show the rebbe all his blemishes so that he might purify him. And he, the rebbe—in him he puts his life’s hope, both for this world and the next. With a broken heart and with this hope, he goes to the rebbe. The path itself becomes, immediately, one of repentance, for where does he go? To ‘gaze upon the beauty of the Lord, to frequent His temple.’477Psalms 27: 4. Thus, it is to God that he is returning. Whether he feels like Israel of yesteryear, as they traveled to go up to God’s house, to ‘appear478Vocalized in Feldheim printing as lirot, to see, rather than leraot, to be seen or to appear, as per the Masoretic vocalization. before the Sovereign, the Lord’ 479Exodus 23:17. or as a soul Above, released from Hell and being led to Eden, there to derive pleasure from the glow of the Shekhinah, along with the other righteous souls—either way, as he travels, he feels supernal yearning and the joy of Eden.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
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.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
Kedushat Levi
Exodus 3,12. “and this will serve you as a sign (proof) that I have sent you on this mission, etc.” We find in Song of Songs 1,3: לריח שמניך טובים תורק שמך על כן עלמות אהבוך, ”for fragrance your oils are good; your name is ointment poured forth; therefore do young maidens love you.” Seeing that all of Song of Songs can only be understood properly by resorting to the allegories employed by its author to convey his message, we hope to explain this verse with the help of G’d by referring to Moses’ question how he should answer the Israelites when they would ask him about the name of the G’d in whose name he would claim to have been sent to them. We first need to explain how to understand G’d’s answer to Moses, i.e. אהיה אשר אהיה (שלחני אליכם), “the G’d Who says concerning Himself) I shall be who I shall be” (has sent me to you).
The righteous person serving the Creator needs to be conscious at all times, and especially every time he experiences the feeling that he has accomplished something, that there are further challenges to be met and that he cannot rest on his laurels. He must never consider any spiritual accomplishment of his as having attained his target to become perfect. He must remain aware of his relative inadequacy as long as he has not attained the next rung on the ladder to attaining spiritual perfection. This thought is reflected in the words of Eliyahu as quoted in the Pardess Rimonim of Rabbi Moshe Cordovero, that one must be aware of one’s lack of knowledge of G’d, no other detail is important other than that He is the Supreme G’d. The desire to continuously ascend spiritually in order to be able to cleave to the Creator is the principal characteristic of the true servant of G’d.
The author quotes some remarks on this subject that he personally heard from the well known Tzaddik Yechiel Michel. This Tzaddik interpreted psalms 27,4 אחת שאלתי מאת ה' אותה אבקש שבתי בבית ה' כל ימי חיי לחזות בנועם ה' , “one thing I ask of the Lord, only that do I seek; to live in the house of the Lord and to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord, (constantly) etc.” In this psalm David does not aspire to something static, a goal achieved in order to derive the satisfaction of having scaled these spiritual heights. By emphasizing אותה אבקש in the future mode, instead of אותה אני מבקש in the present mode, the petitioner (David) expresses his awareness that there will always be further spiritual heights that beckon to him to be scaled. He expresses confidence that G’d will assist him further in pursuing this path.
The righteous person serving the Creator needs to be conscious at all times, and especially every time he experiences the feeling that he has accomplished something, that there are further challenges to be met and that he cannot rest on his laurels. He must never consider any spiritual accomplishment of his as having attained his target to become perfect. He must remain aware of his relative inadequacy as long as he has not attained the next rung on the ladder to attaining spiritual perfection. This thought is reflected in the words of Eliyahu as quoted in the Pardess Rimonim of Rabbi Moshe Cordovero, that one must be aware of one’s lack of knowledge of G’d, no other detail is important other than that He is the Supreme G’d. The desire to continuously ascend spiritually in order to be able to cleave to the Creator is the principal characteristic of the true servant of G’d.
The author quotes some remarks on this subject that he personally heard from the well known Tzaddik Yechiel Michel. This Tzaddik interpreted psalms 27,4 אחת שאלתי מאת ה' אותה אבקש שבתי בבית ה' כל ימי חיי לחזות בנועם ה' , “one thing I ask of the Lord, only that do I seek; to live in the house of the Lord and to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord, (constantly) etc.” In this psalm David does not aspire to something static, a goal achieved in order to derive the satisfaction of having scaled these spiritual heights. By emphasizing אותה אבקש in the future mode, instead of אותה אני מבקש in the present mode, the petitioner (David) expresses his awareness that there will always be further spiritual heights that beckon to him to be scaled. He expresses confidence that G’d will assist him further in pursuing this path.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy