출애굽기 3:5의 Musar

Exodus 3,5, tells Moses to remove both his sandals, whereas in Joshua 5,15, we find the latter commanded to remove only one of his sandals. Why? There are three differences in the two stories. A) Moses is asked to remove "your sandals," i.e. plural. B) Here we read that the earth Moses stands on is holy, i.e. אדמת קודש. In the book of Joshua the word "soil," אדמה is missing. C) In the book of Joshua, it is reported that Joshua complied, i.e. ויעש כן, he did so. This comment is missing in the case of Moses.

Let us now explain some of the aspects of קדושה, holiness or sanctity. There are three different kinds of holiness, five if we include sub-categories. The three basic categories are: 1) The sanctity of the body as discussed in the earlier portions of the Book of Leviticus concerning which the Torah said – והתקדשתם: 2. The sanctity of space as mentioned in the Torah in Exodus 3,5: כי המקום … קדש הוא (this has to do with התבודדות, physical separation from others; 3) The sanctity of time, such as when the Sabbath is called מקרא קודש, "a holy convocation."

I have already alluded to the Midrash which describes Moses as a טירון, private, in G–d's army of prophets at the beginning of his career when he experienced his first vision of G–d at the Burning Bush. G–d had said to Himself at that time: "If I appear to him with a thunderous voice, I will frighten him. If I approach him in a low voice, he will treat prophecy with scorn. So what did G–d do? He addressed him using the voice of Moses' father Amram. When thus approached, Moses responded by saying: הנני, "I am ready" (what does my father wish of me?) (Exodus 3,5). G–d then told Moses that He was not his father but the G–d of his father, that He had called him in a seductive manner so as not to frighten him. He explained that He was also the G–d of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Thereupon Moses was very happy to hear that his own father was included in the list of patriarchs, and had even been mentioned ahead of the patriarchs. At this point, Moses hid his face, saying that he must surely hide his face in the presence of the G–d of his father.

In commenting on Ruth 4,7: "Now this was formerly done in Israel in cases of redemption or exchange, to validate any transaction, one man would take off his sandal and hand it to the other," the Zohar on פרשת חוקת enlarges on the theme of נעל. I will content myself with copying a synopsis of his comments. [actually the author copied the entire passage of the Zohar. Ed.] "In Exodus 3,5 at the Burning Bush, G–d tells Moses: אל תקרב הלום, של נעלך מעל רגליך, "Do not come close, remove your shoes from your feet." What was the point in involving Moses' shoes in this revelation? The shoes G–d referred to represent Moses' wife. G–d suggested to Moses that in order to qualify for what He had in mind for him, he should divorce his wife and marry another. This alternate "marriage" was to be to a source of greater light, i.e. the שכינה. The true "wife" for Moses would be found in a higher world. The נעל, shoe, Moses removed from his foot – and which is described in Ruth 4,7 as a time-honored medium (symbol) for effecting transfer of ownership of something between two people – is the medium of effecting transfer from one world to another, i.e. death in this world and transfer to the Hereafter. This is why the sages have a tradition that a dream that one is given something by a person who has died is a good sign, whereas a dream that a dead person takes something away from one such as a shoe, is a bad sign (Berachot 57). The taking of one's shoe symbolizes that one will shortly be transferred to another world, i.e. one will die. We have an allusion to this in Song of Songs 7,2: מה יפו פעמיך בנעלים בת נדיב, "How lovely are your feet in sandals, O daughter of nobles!" (The mystical dimension of this allusion is jealously guarded by the initiated). What we have stated above is true when it is the departed person who takes the shoe. This is a symbol of transferring something to the world of the dead. If a living person takes a shoe in order to confirm an acquisition he does so at the behest of Heaven, i.e. to carry out G–d's decree to transfer a certain possession to another. The shoe used in performing the rite of חליצה has a different significance; all has a common mystical denominator. Consider that the husband in question who has died without having children is not welcomed by the בת נדיב (the emanation מלכות) in her world. The spirit is therefore moving about aimlessly, with no place to rest. G–d has taken pity on this spirit and commanded the brother of the departed person to release him from his misery. He is to do this by enabling the spirit to enter another "dust" i.e. body in accordance with Job 34,15: "and mankind would return to dust." If this redeemer is not willing to "revive" his departed brother [through the vicarious means of the levirate marriage and the siring of a male heir. Ed.] the latter has to receive an alternate נעל. This is the נעל which the widow removes from the foot of her brother-in-law to receive it on behalf of her late husband; her receipt of the shoe indicates that her late husband has returned to the world of the living. What happens in this procedure is the exact opposite of what occurs when a person dreams that a departed person has taken his shoe away from him. In the case of חליצה the living is perceived as taking from the dead. This is why the dead is able to return to be among the living by means of this sandal. The widow is seen as the crown of her late husband. The "wife" is understood as a metaphor for the שכינה which now accepts the spirit of the departed in its domain. This sandal has to be thrown to the ground to demonstrate that the widow wishes this body to be revived. G–d will take pity on this spirit either immediately or after a suitable interval and accept it in His domain. Throwing the sandal down on the earth also symbolizes that this departed person will be reconstituted from another source of dust. In the meantime the departed first returns to the earth he originally came from, thus releasing his widow to remarry anyone else suitable for her. Thus far the quote from the Zohar.

In Exodus 3,5 where G–d told Moses to remove his shoes, this was a euphemism for divorcing his wife. When the Torah cites as the reason that Moses had to remove his shoes the fact that he was standing on holy ground, this was a reference to the superior marriage partner G–d had assigned to him.

From all that I have written the significance of Yehudah, Joseph and Benjamin is quite apparent. The Temple, which was built on tribal property belonging to Benjamin, was the site on which the feet of the שכינה rested, as we know from Isaiah 60,13: "To adorn the site of My Sanctuary, to glorify the place where My feet rest." We also have Exodus 3,5 in which Moses is told at the burning bush: "Take off your sandals from your feet for the ground you are standing on is holy ground. It is also significant that the price received by the brothers for the sale of Joseph is described by the prophet Amos 2,6 as the price of a pair of sandals, whereas in 8,6 the prophet described that G–d will not forgive those who buy the needy for the price of a pair of sandals. [In all these examples the sandals symbolize the foundation, basis. Ed.]