출애굽기 24:1의 Chasidut
וְאֶל־מֹשֶׁ֨ה אָמַ֜ר עֲלֵ֣ה אֶל־יְהוָ֗ה אַתָּה֙ וְאַהֲרֹן֙ נָדָ֣ב וַאֲבִיה֔וּא וְשִׁבְעִ֖ים מִזִּקְנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל וְהִשְׁתַּחֲוִיתֶ֖ם מֵרָחֹֽק׃
또 모세에게 이르시되 너는 아론과 나답과 아비후와 이스라엘 장로 칠십 인과 함께 여호와에게로 올라와 멀리서 경배하고
Kedushat Levi
Leviticus 1,1. “He called out to Moses;” the fact that the letter א in this verse is written in smaller script is explained by something we had discussed in Exodus 24,1 on the line: ואל משה אמר עלה אל ה', “and to Moses He had said: ‘ascend towards Hashem.’” When a person performs one of G’d’s commandments this makes an impression in the celestial spheres and helps to awaken in him the desire to perform additional commandments so that he will constantly be occupied with doing G’d’s will. It had been Moses’ will to continuously perform G’d’s will and to thereby continue to ascend ever higher and come closer to Hashem as stated by the Zohar when explaining the line: ומשה עלה אל האלוקים, “and Moses had ascended towards G’d,” (Exodus 19,3). G’d’s invitation recorded in Exodus 24 to ascend (once again) was the result of his having done so in Exodus 19,3 when he had commenced to do so before an invitation had been issued to do so. The Zohar II,69 ascribes the invitation to Moses in our verse to ascend to Hashem as a reward for Moses’ initiative in Exodus 19,3. This is reflected here by the letter א being written in small script. It acknowledges the humility of Moses which exceeded anyone else’s humility, i.e. the “small” א.
We have a rule when offering a sacrifice to G’d that this offering is to reflect the largesse that G’d has seen fit to bestow upon us, without us in the lower regions of the universe having performed any good deeds to deserve this. This is the reason that the animal sacrifice must be dedicated and consecrated while still alive, as the ultimate gift G’d can bestow us is life itself. Life can only be bestowed by G’d Himself.
Libations, i.e. offerings consisting of oil or wine (with additives) are a form of “mini-offering,” but they represent an input by the residents in this lower part of the universe, man having had to seed and plant the earth before eventually producing the product from which oil and wine is made. These libations also reflect G’d’s largesse, i.e. the largesse bestowed upon us as a direct result of our constructive activities on earth. In other words, the Israelites were allowed (only after the affair of the spies) to present such libations in recognition of their good deeds.
While the Israelites were in the desert they were in the position of receiving G’d’s largesse without having made an input of their own as they could not seed or plant orchards or grow grain in the desert. In recognition of their inability to do so, G’d provided heavenly bread, i.e. the manna for them. In lieu of their offering libations to Him, G’d provided them with a travelling well which took care of their daily needs for fresh water.
All this has been alluded to in Numbers 15,2 when the Torah begins to describe how the people’s lives will change once they will come to the land of their inheritance, i.e.כי תבאו אל ארץ מושבתיכם וגו', “when you will come to the land in which you will reside permanently, etc.” The Torah there continues with listing the various kinds of offerings (first animal) and then libations, in that order. The reason why these sacrificial offerings are linked to the people being in possession of their permanent homes in the Holy Land is because the sacrifices are reflections, i.e. acts of acknowledgment and gratitude for G’d’s largesse by giving them an ancestral heritage. This also explains why the sages have decreed אין אומרים שירה אלא על היין, “when intoning songs of thanksgiving to G’d one must only do so while saying a blessing over wine (and drinking it) as an acknowledgment of the most precious product that the earth (lower part for the universe) has to offer us by the grace of G’d.” (Compare Rashi on Erchin 11)
We have a rule when offering a sacrifice to G’d that this offering is to reflect the largesse that G’d has seen fit to bestow upon us, without us in the lower regions of the universe having performed any good deeds to deserve this. This is the reason that the animal sacrifice must be dedicated and consecrated while still alive, as the ultimate gift G’d can bestow us is life itself. Life can only be bestowed by G’d Himself.
Libations, i.e. offerings consisting of oil or wine (with additives) are a form of “mini-offering,” but they represent an input by the residents in this lower part of the universe, man having had to seed and plant the earth before eventually producing the product from which oil and wine is made. These libations also reflect G’d’s largesse, i.e. the largesse bestowed upon us as a direct result of our constructive activities on earth. In other words, the Israelites were allowed (only after the affair of the spies) to present such libations in recognition of their good deeds.
While the Israelites were in the desert they were in the position of receiving G’d’s largesse without having made an input of their own as they could not seed or plant orchards or grow grain in the desert. In recognition of their inability to do so, G’d provided heavenly bread, i.e. the manna for them. In lieu of their offering libations to Him, G’d provided them with a travelling well which took care of their daily needs for fresh water.
All this has been alluded to in Numbers 15,2 when the Torah begins to describe how the people’s lives will change once they will come to the land of their inheritance, i.e.כי תבאו אל ארץ מושבתיכם וגו', “when you will come to the land in which you will reside permanently, etc.” The Torah there continues with listing the various kinds of offerings (first animal) and then libations, in that order. The reason why these sacrificial offerings are linked to the people being in possession of their permanent homes in the Holy Land is because the sacrifices are reflections, i.e. acts of acknowledgment and gratitude for G’d’s largesse by giving them an ancestral heritage. This also explains why the sages have decreed אין אומרים שירה אלא על היין, “when intoning songs of thanksgiving to G’d one must only do so while saying a blessing over wine (and drinking it) as an acknowledgment of the most precious product that the earth (lower part for the universe) has to offer us by the grace of G’d.” (Compare Rashi on Erchin 11)
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Kedushat Levi
Exodus 24,1. ,“you will prostrate yourselves from a distance.” When describing His creatures’ relationship to Him, or His relationship to them, the Creator may use two different terms, i.e. “distant,” רחוק, or “nearby,” קרוב. A “distant” relationship means that we believe in the Existence of the אור, original light emanating from the אין סוף, the essence of the Creator, as having preceded any other phenomenon in the universe, as a result of which no creature/phenomenon can possibly have a true understanding of His nature. Perceptions arrived at by our intelligence, by a מחשבה, “thought,” which is itself a “creature,” cannot possibly reflect a true understanding of the essence of Who has created them. This is also why no category of angel, however “close” it may be to the Creator can possibly have a true understanding of His essence. This inability to comprehend Him objectively, is also described as being רחוק, “distant” for want of a better word, i.e. this “distance” is not measured in terms of miles or kilometers, but in terms of means of perception. In other words, we must never try and measure our relationship to G’d in terms of physical distance.
On the other hand, the term קרוב, “nearby”, or “close,” when used in connection with the Creator, implies that we believe that He is omnipresent, fills the whole universe with His Presence, and that there is no place in all the universes that He has created in which His presence is not somehow felt at all times.
It is incumbent upon us true believers to firmly believe in these two concepts, i.e. G’d’s simultaneous “distance,” as well as His “nearness.” This is the meaning of Isaiah 17,19 שלום לרחוק ולקרוב אמר ה', “welcome to the distant and to the near, says the Lord.” The prophet, speaking in the name of G’d, welcomes those righteous who truly affirm both of these above--mentioned articles of our faith. Due to the belief of these צדיקים in these basic tenets, G’d in His turn supplies His universe with beneficial input to all parts of His universe.
Let us now look at the two categories of faith known as “love for G’d,” אהבה, and being in awe of Him, יראה. The virtue of being in awe (of G’d) is one that can be practiced only vis a vis; phenomena that are “above” us and which due to their superior position evoke fear in the beholder. This awe is therefore something closely related to the phenomenon we defined earlier as רחוק, “distant.” On the other hand, the phenomenon קרוב, nearness, is what inspires love. When the Torah, in the verse we quoted above wrote: והשתחוים , “you are to prostrate yourselves,” it refers to the awe which accompanies our relationship to something that is רחוק “distant.” The addition of the word מרחוק should therefore not be translated as “from a distance (measured physically),” but “due to your perceptual distance, difficulty, in comprehending the phenomenon known as ‘G’d.’” It is this which evokes the fear/awe relationship to G’d.
Alternatively, falling back on words of the Ari’zal, when interpreting the line beginning with the words: ואנחנו כורעים וגו' in the עלינו prayer: the word ומשתחוים in that sentence is understood as our drawing nearer to us all the beneficial outpourings of G’d’s largesse from the celestial regions through this form of worship. It is quite possible that in our verse above the purpose of G’d requesting this “prostration” of the elders and sages was to set in motion the outpourings of G’d’s beneficial largesse.
On the other hand, the term קרוב, “nearby”, or “close,” when used in connection with the Creator, implies that we believe that He is omnipresent, fills the whole universe with His Presence, and that there is no place in all the universes that He has created in which His presence is not somehow felt at all times.
It is incumbent upon us true believers to firmly believe in these two concepts, i.e. G’d’s simultaneous “distance,” as well as His “nearness.” This is the meaning of Isaiah 17,19 שלום לרחוק ולקרוב אמר ה', “welcome to the distant and to the near, says the Lord.” The prophet, speaking in the name of G’d, welcomes those righteous who truly affirm both of these above--mentioned articles of our faith. Due to the belief of these צדיקים in these basic tenets, G’d in His turn supplies His universe with beneficial input to all parts of His universe.
Let us now look at the two categories of faith known as “love for G’d,” אהבה, and being in awe of Him, יראה. The virtue of being in awe (of G’d) is one that can be practiced only vis a vis; phenomena that are “above” us and which due to their superior position evoke fear in the beholder. This awe is therefore something closely related to the phenomenon we defined earlier as רחוק, “distant.” On the other hand, the phenomenon קרוב, nearness, is what inspires love. When the Torah, in the verse we quoted above wrote: והשתחוים , “you are to prostrate yourselves,” it refers to the awe which accompanies our relationship to something that is רחוק “distant.” The addition of the word מרחוק should therefore not be translated as “from a distance (measured physically),” but “due to your perceptual distance, difficulty, in comprehending the phenomenon known as ‘G’d.’” It is this which evokes the fear/awe relationship to G’d.
Alternatively, falling back on words of the Ari’zal, when interpreting the line beginning with the words: ואנחנו כורעים וגו' in the עלינו prayer: the word ומשתחוים in that sentence is understood as our drawing nearer to us all the beneficial outpourings of G’d’s largesse from the celestial regions through this form of worship. It is quite possible that in our verse above the purpose of G’d requesting this “prostration” of the elders and sages was to set in motion the outpourings of G’d’s beneficial largesse.
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Kedushat Levi
Rabbi Yitzchok in Bereshit Rabbah 56,2 comments on this as follows: “the only reason that Avraham was able to keep his promise to the lads that he would return from Mount Moriah (alive), is that he prostrated himself there before the Lord, [something beyond what the Lord had asked of him when He commanded him to offer his son Yitzchok as a burnt offering.” Ed.] This is why hundreds of years later his descendants were redeemed from Egypt, as G’d explained to Moses in Exodus 3,12 and as the Israelites did in Exodus 4,31. This השתחויה, “prostration before the Lord,” symbolized that the person doing so abandoned any claim that he might have had to the material benefits that life on earth offers. This is also what enables G’d to “sweeten” i.e. remove the sting, of any judgments man is subjected to by the attribute of Justice. Avraham’s example of reducing himself to אין or אפס, “nothing,” paved the way for his descendants to emulate him and to be redeemed from the yoke of the Egyptians who had effectively reduced them to a similar state of having to negate the attractions this world offered to others.
The Torah itself was only given to the Jewish people because they voluntarily repeated this השתחויה, prostrating themselves before the Lord, as we know from Exodus 24,1 where all the elite of the Jewish people are reported as having prostrated themselves some distance away from Mount Sinai. [That chapter, though written after the revelation, describes events that occurred before the revelation, Ed.] The elite negating their claims on the material benefits this world has to offer, made it possible for coming so close to G’d during the revelation that He addressed them as if He were speaking to an equal. In psalms 99,9 when Moses (the author of this psalm) says: רוממו ה' אלוקינו והשתחוו להר קדשו, “Exalt the Lord our G’d and prostrate yourselves at the Mountain of His holiness;” similar verses are found in Isaiah 27,13, and Samuel I 1,19 where the wording is almost identical. Rabbi Yitzchok concludes by saying that the resurrection when it will occur, does so only in recognition of these voluntary prostrations of the Jewish people on various occasions when they demonstrated their absolute submission to G’d and His will. If we needed proof of this we find in in Isaiah 27,13 where we read והיה ביום ההוא יתקע בשופר גדול ובאו האובדים בארץ אשור והנדכים בארץ מצרים והשתחוו לה' בהר הקודש בירושלים, “it will be on that Day, when a great ram’s horn will be sounded, and the strayed who are in the land of Assyria, and the expelled who are in the land of Egypt, shall come and prostrate themselves on the holy Mountain in Jerusalem.”
The Torah itself was only given to the Jewish people because they voluntarily repeated this השתחויה, prostrating themselves before the Lord, as we know from Exodus 24,1 where all the elite of the Jewish people are reported as having prostrated themselves some distance away from Mount Sinai. [That chapter, though written after the revelation, describes events that occurred before the revelation, Ed.] The elite negating their claims on the material benefits this world has to offer, made it possible for coming so close to G’d during the revelation that He addressed them as if He were speaking to an equal. In psalms 99,9 when Moses (the author of this psalm) says: רוממו ה' אלוקינו והשתחוו להר קדשו, “Exalt the Lord our G’d and prostrate yourselves at the Mountain of His holiness;” similar verses are found in Isaiah 27,13, and Samuel I 1,19 where the wording is almost identical. Rabbi Yitzchok concludes by saying that the resurrection when it will occur, does so only in recognition of these voluntary prostrations of the Jewish people on various occasions when they demonstrated their absolute submission to G’d and His will. If we needed proof of this we find in in Isaiah 27,13 where we read והיה ביום ההוא יתקע בשופר גדול ובאו האובדים בארץ אשור והנדכים בארץ מצרים והשתחוו לה' בהר הקודש בירושלים, “it will be on that Day, when a great ram’s horn will be sounded, and the strayed who are in the land of Assyria, and the expelled who are in the land of Egypt, shall come and prostrate themselves on the holy Mountain in Jerusalem.”
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