קבלה אויף שמות 25:22

Ten SEFIROT BELIMAH—The count of ten fingers, five against five, with the Covenant of the Unique One established in the center,¹³On the image of the Covenant in the empty space between 'hands' or 'wings', cf. perhaps [Exodus 25:22] describing communion with God emanating out of the space between the winged cherubs of the Ark in the Tabernacle. like a word of the tongue and circumcision of the genitals.¹⁴This is a pun in Hebrew, drawing upon the similarity (in many dialects homophony) of מִלַּת millat ‘word’ and מִילַת milat ‘circumcision’. Both items refer to anatomical hiddenness: the word emerging from the tongue, hidden in the mouth, and circumcision of the genitals, the concealed lower organs revealed during circumcision. A connection is thus made between the act of speech and the act of circumcision, being two forms of creation and transformation according to the SY’s thought. Another association between language, mouth, and genitals, though the connection (if any) with the SY is unclear, is found in the idiom עָרְלַת שְׂפָתַיִם ʽorlat sefatayim ‘uncircumcised of lips’, probably meaning one who is unskilled in speech, e.g. [Exodus 6:12]. There is also a spatial-anatomical parallelism between the terms employed by the SY: the tongue concealed above, the genitals concealed below. Elsewhere in the SY, the ‘tongue’ (or ‘wedge’) appears as the symbol of a central balance between two extremities, e.g. SY 2:1, 3:1, so it is interesting that in this verse the tongue is rather portrayed as one of two binary poles. See also SY 6:3 where the tongue is one of the שְׁלֹשָׁה שׂוֹנְאִים Sheloshah Sonʼim ‘Three Foes’, probably a reference to לָשׁוֹן הָרָע Lashon Haraʽ ‘the Evil Tongue’, the vice of gossip or slander.

I will hint at the explanation of the matter, as follows: The verse states,¹³¹Daniel 9:17 “Let Your face shine upon Your desolate Sanctuary, for the sake of the Lord-Adona”y-אדנ״י.” In his words, “Let Your face shine upon Your desolate Sanctuary,” it is as though Daniel said, “I am only asking a small thing of You.” For, when Adam, the first man, sinned, he caused the complete withdrawal of the Indwelling Presence of HaShem-יהו״ה (the Shechinah). However, our forefather Avraham came and accepted Her upon his shoulders, and became a seat for the Supernal Chariot (Merkavah), as it states,¹³²Genesis 17:22 “God-Elohi”m-אלהי״ם ascended from upon Avraham.” Then our teacher Moshe came and established a place for the Shechinah in the Tabernacle (Mishkan), as it states,¹³³Exodus 25:22 “There I will set My meetings with you.” Then, King Solomon came and established a permanent meeting place, as it states,¹³⁴Kings I 8:13 “I have surely built a house of habitation for You, the foundation of your dwelling forever.” When the Jewish people sinned and traveled ten journeys,¹³⁵See Talmud Bavli, Rosh HaShanah 31a; Also see before in Gate Five. Daniel came and said, “These journeys are unlike the journeys caused by Adam, the first man. For, in the time of Adam, the first man, the Indwelling Presence of HaShem-יהו״ה, the Shechinah, had no fixed place at all, being that when Adam sinned, he caused the complete withdrawal of the Indwelling Presence of HaShem-יהו״ה, the Shechinah.”

Likewise, it states,¹³¹Numbers 35:34 “You shall not contaminate the Land in which you dwell, in whose midst I rest, for I am HaShem-יהו״ה who dwells within the children of Israel.” Now, throughout all of Torah this Divine quality is called The Meeting Tent-Ohel Mo’ed-אהל מועד. The general reason is because it is the house of HaShem-יהו״ה and He dwells (Shochen-שוכן) within it. The verse thus states,¹³²Leviticus 1:1 “He called to Moshe, and HaShem-יהו״ה spoke to him from the Meeting Tent-Ohel Mo’ed-אהל מועד, saying.” That is, to whomever HaShem-יהו"ה speaks, He speaks to him through this Meeting Tent-Ohel Mo’ed-אהל מועד.” In regard to Moshe, peace be upon him, the difference is that he would enter into the Tent and speak to HaShem-יהו״ה face to face,¹³³Numbers 12:7-8; as it states,¹³⁴Numbers 7:89 “When Moshe arrived at the Tent of Meeting to speak with Him,” in which Targum translates the term “Tent-Ohel-אהל” as “Dwelling-Mishkena-משכנא,” which is a reference to the mystery of the Shechinah, the Indwelling Presence of HaShem-יהו״ה. The term “Meeting-Mo’ed-מועד” means “a house of meeting and readiness-Beit Va’ad-בית וועד,”¹³⁵See Rashi to Exodus 33:7 meaning that HaShem-יהו״ה is always readily found there. It is specifically His meeting place, as it states,¹³⁶Exodus 25:22 “It is there that I will set My meetings with you.”