Today and tomorrow
are Rosh Chodesh Adar I. The root of the
name of the new month, Adar, means, “dwell.”
The Chiddushei HaRim relates the word, “Adar”, to a Midrash which
explains a pasuk in the beginning of this week’s parasha, “ועשו לי מקדש ושכנתי בתוכם/Make
for me a sanctuary so that I will dwell in your midst.” (Shmos 25:8) The
Midrash[1]
explains that God wanted to give us the Torah but did not want to leave it, as
it were. So He asked us to build for Him
a sanctuary so that He could dwell – אדור בתוכו – in it and thus be close
to the Torah and to us, so to speak.
This is quite an
enigmatic Midrash! God is infinite and
everywhere at once. God certainly has no
need for a dwelling place. What is this
Midrash teaching us? The Chiddushei
HaRim explains that the concept of God dwelling among us makes sense only from
our perspective and our relationship to God.
God dwelling among us is revelation to us.
But God will only
reveal Himself to us to the extent that we realize that everything comes from
Him. This requires humility from
us. When we humble ourselves to internalize
the idea that everything is from God, God can dwell among us and we merit
revelation. Chazal[2]
allude to this idea. They teach us that
of an arrogant person God says, “He and I cannot dwell – לדור –
together in the world.” Arrogance can
only happen when there is a lack of belief that everything is from God. Arrogance is the opposite of this
belief. Arrogance implies an autonomous
existence outside of God. Obviously,
there can be no revelation in the presence of arrogance.
The Sfas Emes teaches
that this idea is alluded to in the name of this month. אדר/Adar
is an acronym for א – the One, דל – inadequate, רש –
poor. When we realize our own inadequacy
vis a vis God, when we understand that everything we have, see around us and do
come from God, we can connect to Him and experience Him in our lives.
Chazal[3]
allude to this concept when they say that God is the “place” of the world. He contains the world, not the other way
around. Chazal[4] also
teach us that there is nothing that has no place. To the extent that we understand that
everything that exists only exists because it is from God, the Godliness is
revealed. In the words of Chazal, God is
the place of the world.
It really cannot be
any other way. The world is simply a screen
that hides God. It is not autonomous and
can only exist because of the Godliness within. As the prophet Yeshayah teaches us, “אשכון את דכא/I
will dwell with the downtrodden.” (Yeshayah 57:15) The world exists only because God dwells with
it.
1 comment:
the moon at creation had been arrogant, & as such was shrunk
from the sun;
but when now, 7 times every 19 years, it admits its inadequacy &
poverty, its need to catch up to
the sun, the moon reveals doubly
that the Maker of all the world
would dwell with us!
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