וַיַּ֥עַל מֹשֶׁ֖ה וְאַהֲרֹ֑ן נָדָב֙ וַאֲבִיה֔וּא וְשִׁבְעִ֖ים מִזִּקְנֵ֥י יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃
Então subiram Moshe e Aharon, Nadav e Avihu, e setenta dos anciãos de Yisrael,
Mevo HaShearim
Even in these days, everyone, even one who does not merit God speaking with him prophetically, should still perform the avodah of prophecy. Then God’s light and holiness will merge in everyone’s hearts and bodies alike. This is why, when it came to the receiving of the Torah, God did not merely command them with signs that the commandments issued from God (as He did in Egypt, where He gave them the first sign and then the second sign so that the people should believe that God appeared to Moses). Rather He spread forth His light until “and God descended unto Mount Sinai before the eyes of the entire nation...and they saw the God of Israel...and they envisioned God...and the glory of God (appeared) before all of Israel...”207See Exodus 24: 9-11, 16-17.and afterwards till “and they shall make for Me a sanctuary and I will dwell in their midst,” as the Sages expounded “it does not say in it but rather in them (b’tokhom),” that the Holy One resides in the heart of each Israelite.208See Exodus 25:8. The interpretation, that God promises here to dwell within the people Israel themselves (rather than merely among them), is common in hasidic exegesis.
Mevo HaShearim
The holy talmudic sages saw that the prophets had ceased and the world and nation ‘descended appallingly’. 267Lamentations 1:9. The Torah remained closed in Asiyah to the people, and they were as distant from the soul of the Torah as one can be from his own soul, though it indeed is in him, because his body encases it. Though the Torah and commandments descended with them, and in this world, they fulfill the commandments—of the festival booths [sukkah] and fringes [tzitzit] etc. —but the prophecy, that is the revelation that all is holy including Asiyah, was no longer. Thus, these holy ones worked mightily and held fast unto God, and drew the light of prophecy inhering in the Torah to the world and the nation which had descended. Though they were unable to reveal the divine light in the depths of Asiyah, so that this light would be apparent in even a bush and other physical entities, and so that one might even with his depths, his senses and eyes see an angel of God—‘behold the God of Israel sitting, sapphire beneath His feet’268See Exodus 24:9-11.—hearing the voice of God with his [very] ears—nonetheless, he would now be able to receive and grasp the light of God with the Yetzirah and Beriyah within him.
Kedushat Levi
Exodus 3,2. “An angel of Hashem appeared to him within the flame of fire, etc.;” whereupon Moses said to himself: “I will turn away to investigate why this bush is not consumed by the fire;” when G’d noticed that Moses had, after all, turned to investigate the phenomenon, He called out to him, warning him not to approach closer while wearing his sandals as the location was holy soil.
There is a strange story in Pessachim 57 according to which one of the Kings of the Hasmoneans and his queen had an argument during their meal as to whether meat from a lamb is tastier than meat from a fully grown sheep. When they could not agree, they asked the High Priest to settle the argument, as he had experience from eating the sacrificial meat of both many times. The High Priest upon being consulted, waved with his hand pointing heavenwards: saying: “if the meat of a lamb would be tastier surely the Torah would have commanded that the daily communal offering should consist of a lamb?”
The Talmud relating this incident must not be taken at face value, of course, but the argument described concerned the question if the fate of the Jews is influenced by astrological considerations, or if the Jewish people are quite independent of the configurations of the stars. When the High Priest pointed heavenward, he implied that the “Mazzal” of the Jewish people is אין, the word describing the essence of G’d. This also explained the statement in the Talmud Shabbat 156 that אין מזל לישראל, commonly translated as “the Jewish people’s fate is not determined or influenced by constellation of the zodiac.” The true meaning of the statement is that the celestial force determining the fate of the Jewish people is none other than אין, “the essence of G’d Himself.” Moreover, the word מזל is closely related to יזל as in יזל מים מדליו, ”water flows out of its buckets,” (numbers 24,7). This verse alludes to what the queen in above parable had in mind when she said that a lamb tastes better, i.e. she was referring to people who depend on nature, water, etc., for their sustenance, a largesse from G’d which originates in a celestial domain known as האותיות עולם.
[Heaven, not unlike the physical universe, consists of several layers, one of which is known as עולם האותיות, another, ”lower” layer is better known as עולם האצילות, to which the Torah referred when the highest echelon of the Jewish people accompanied Moses immediately prior to his ascending Mount Sinai to receive the Tablets (Exodus 24,9-11) where these people are called for short אצילי בני ישראל .Ed]
When G’d warned Moses not to approach the “domain” הלום this refers to the domain of מלכות, “Royalty,” a domain which Moses wished to attain. It was not granted to him, i.e. he functioned as Royalty only during the generation of the Israelites who had participated in the Exodus, but did not found a dynasty. The function of a king is to dispatch “spiritual sparks” for them to attach themselves to the Creator, and this is what is meant when the Torah describes the function of a king to wage war. When he succeeds in doing this he is perceived as having been victorious in “war”. Within the parameter of his task, a king sometimes of necessity has to elevate some people’s status, whereas at the same time he will demote others. The king, in order to be successful, has to surround himself with advisers, i.e. he must be part of the people. The function of a prophet is the reverse, he must isolate himself.
We have already explained on a previous occasion that when the righteous engages in dispatching “spiritual sparks” ניצוצות, heavenward, he may himself “dress up” in these holy thoughts in order that his “holy clothes” carry him with the sparks on their “wings.”
There is a strange story in Pessachim 57 according to which one of the Kings of the Hasmoneans and his queen had an argument during their meal as to whether meat from a lamb is tastier than meat from a fully grown sheep. When they could not agree, they asked the High Priest to settle the argument, as he had experience from eating the sacrificial meat of both many times. The High Priest upon being consulted, waved with his hand pointing heavenwards: saying: “if the meat of a lamb would be tastier surely the Torah would have commanded that the daily communal offering should consist of a lamb?”
The Talmud relating this incident must not be taken at face value, of course, but the argument described concerned the question if the fate of the Jews is influenced by astrological considerations, or if the Jewish people are quite independent of the configurations of the stars. When the High Priest pointed heavenward, he implied that the “Mazzal” of the Jewish people is אין, the word describing the essence of G’d. This also explained the statement in the Talmud Shabbat 156 that אין מזל לישראל, commonly translated as “the Jewish people’s fate is not determined or influenced by constellation of the zodiac.” The true meaning of the statement is that the celestial force determining the fate of the Jewish people is none other than אין, “the essence of G’d Himself.” Moreover, the word מזל is closely related to יזל as in יזל מים מדליו, ”water flows out of its buckets,” (numbers 24,7). This verse alludes to what the queen in above parable had in mind when she said that a lamb tastes better, i.e. she was referring to people who depend on nature, water, etc., for their sustenance, a largesse from G’d which originates in a celestial domain known as האותיות עולם.
[Heaven, not unlike the physical universe, consists of several layers, one of which is known as עולם האותיות, another, ”lower” layer is better known as עולם האצילות, to which the Torah referred when the highest echelon of the Jewish people accompanied Moses immediately prior to his ascending Mount Sinai to receive the Tablets (Exodus 24,9-11) where these people are called for short אצילי בני ישראל .Ed]
When G’d warned Moses not to approach the “domain” הלום this refers to the domain of מלכות, “Royalty,” a domain which Moses wished to attain. It was not granted to him, i.e. he functioned as Royalty only during the generation of the Israelites who had participated in the Exodus, but did not found a dynasty. The function of a king is to dispatch “spiritual sparks” for them to attach themselves to the Creator, and this is what is meant when the Torah describes the function of a king to wage war. When he succeeds in doing this he is perceived as having been victorious in “war”. Within the parameter of his task, a king sometimes of necessity has to elevate some people’s status, whereas at the same time he will demote others. The king, in order to be successful, has to surround himself with advisers, i.e. he must be part of the people. The function of a prophet is the reverse, he must isolate himself.
We have already explained on a previous occasion that when the righteous engages in dispatching “spiritual sparks” ניצוצות, heavenward, he may himself “dress up” in these holy thoughts in order that his “holy clothes” carry him with the sparks on their “wings.”