Chukas 5632 Third Ma'amar

Understanding Mitzvos that Have No Apparent Reason

The first part of our parsha describes the mitzvah of the red heifer.  The ashes of a red heifer are mixed with water and sprinkled on one who is spiritually impure through contact with a corpse. Because this mitzvah seems to have no apparent logic, Rashi[1] quotes a Midrash that states that this is one of the mitzvos about which the nations of the world and the satan chide the nation of Israel.  Our answer to them is that this mitzvah is a divine decree which we must adhere to even though it has no apparent reason.  For this reason, the pasuk introduces the mitzvah with, “זֹאת חֻקַּת הַתּוֹרָה .../This is the decree of the Torah …” (Bamidbar 19:2)

The Sfas Emes asks that this answer does not seem to be an answer at all.  The nations of the world tell us that our religion contains elements of illogic and we answer that our religion contains elements of illogic!

In order to understand this, we must know that every decree in the Torah is based on a good, valid reason.  There is no such thing as a decree for its own sake.  What then is the meaning of the Midrash?  The Midrash is teaching us that decrees represent a category of mitzvos whose underlying reasons cannot be attained directly.  The only way to attain an understanding of the decrees in the Torah is by embracing them even without understanding.

This is so because the reasons for these mitzvos are spiritual in nature.  They can only be approached by distancing ourselves from the physical.  A mitzvah, like the entire Creation, has a physical component – the act of the mitzvah – and a spiritual component.  The performance of a mitzvah creates spiritual effects.  The mitzvah’s reason is part of its spiritual component.  

By living spiritual lives, we prepare ourselves to understand even the decrees of the Torah.  This concept is borne out by Chazal[2] who teach us that during the time of David HaMelech, the children who had not yet tasted sin, were able to understand the reasons behind even the most esoteric laws of purity and impurity.

In the poem that the Arizal composed for recital before Kiddush on Shabbos morning we find, “יְגַלֵּה לָן טַעֲמֵי דְבִתְרֵיסַר נַהֲמֵי/reveal to us the reasons behind the twelve loaves (of showbread).  There are reasons even though they are not apparent to us.  We ask God to reveal them to us.

In fact, the Sfas Emes teaches that our purpose is to reveal the reasons.  By revealing the spiritual, we reveal the reasons as well.

As the Sfas Emes states in many ma’amarim, the spiritual component of the Creation is more revealed on Shabbos than during the week.  As such, on Shabbos we are closer to understanding the reasons underlying the existence of the entire Creation.  We find a hint to this idea in the musaf of Shabbos, “טוֹעֲמֶיהָ חַיִּים זָכוּ/Those who savor it will merit life.”  The Hebrew word for “savor” is the same as for “reason”.  So, this can be understood as, “Those who receive the reasons (having prepared themselves) merit life.  In fact, our work during the days of the week should be geared towards preparing ourselves so that we can reach higher levels of spirituality on Shabbos.

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[1]              Rashi on Bamidbar 19:2

[2]              Tanchuma Chukas 4

Chukas 5632 Second Ma'amar

In this week’s parsha the nation sings tribute to the well which miraculously followed them during their forty year sojourn in the desert. “בְּאֵר חֲפָרוּהָ שָׂרִים כָּרוּהָ נְדִיבֵי הָעָם בִּמְחֹקֵק בְּמִשְׁעֲנֹתָם וּמִמִּדְבָּר מַתָּנָה/The well carved by princes, dug out by the generous of the people, by the lawgiver, with their staff.  From the desert, it was a gift.” (Bemidbar 21:18)

The Chiddushei HaRim explains that digging a well in search of water is a metaphor for the search to uncover the Godliness hidden in the physical world.[1]  This Godliness, or spirituality is the light of the Torah that is in every component of the Creation.  The Chiddushei HaRim says that the well represents specifically Torah Shebe’al Peh (lit. the Oral Law).  This is because the essence of Torah Shebe’al Peh is our ability to create and produce חִידוּשׁ/novelty through our Torah learning. 

The Sfas Emes broadens this idea.  According to the Sfas Emes the essence of Torah shebe’al Peh includes not only the novelty we produce through our Torah learning, but any novelty that we produce that involves a revelation of the hidden spiritual light that permeates the Creation.  Torah shebe’al Peh, then, represents our effective action in this world.  Bringing the Torah’s light into the physical world and uncovering the Godliness in the Creation is one and the same thing.  It is the reason we exist.

How do we produce such novelty?  How do we reveal the hidden spiritual light inherent in every part of the Creation?  Following the metaphor through the pasuk, we can learn how to reveal the hidden light of the Torah. 

“חֲפָרוּהָ שָׂרִים/carved by princes” – The princes in the metaphor are those who have succeeded in ruling over their natural inclinations. 

“כָּרוּהָ נְדִיבֵי הָעָם/dug out by the generous of the people” – The generous of the nation are those who direct their generosity and desires towards the service of God alone.  Because they align their own will with God’s so that all their activities are an expression of God’s will, they reveal God’s will – the hidden light – in everything they do and with everything that they come into contact.

“בִּמְחֹקֵק/by the lawgiver” – The lawgiver represents the boundaries that are built into the Creation.  God is infinite and His bounty is infinite.  We finite beings and by extension the entire Creation cannot receive God’s infinite revelation.  So God restricts His revelation, as it were.  He reveals Himself to us in measured doses so that we can experience Him.  Everything in the Creation is governed by boundaries.  We too, by working within the boundaries that God built in to the world, moderating our actions and practicing balance, can draw out the[2] light of the Torah in the measured doses that we can receive. 

“בְּמִשְׁעֲנֹתָם/with their staff” – Even though Torah sheBe’al Peh represents our ability to create and produce novelty, the ultimate effectiveness of our actions is completely dependent on God.  The staff alludes to our reliance on God for all things.

“וּמִמִּדְבָּר מַתָּנָה/and from the desert it was a gift” – When we realize that we do not merit anything as a result of our own efforts, rather it is God who helps us in everything we do, we experience His revelation as a gift.

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[1]                      See Sfas Emes Toldos 5631 for more detail on this concept from the Chiddushei HaRim.

[2]                     See Sfas Emes Elul 5631 for more detail on this.

Chukas 5632 First Ma'amar

Note:  This week marks the 8th anniversay of the Sfas Emes blog.  Here is a link to the first post: First Post Chukas 5631 First Ma'amar.  It is so appropriate for this is also the first Shabbos that my mentor Chayim Daskal zt"l is no longer with us.  He was the inspiration for this blog.  Throughout the years he encouraged me to continue and spread the blog to others as well.  Before his passing he asked that people do mitzvos and chassadim l'iluy nishmaso. I wish to dedicate the Sfas Emes blog l'iluy nishmaso.  חבל על דאבדין ולא משתכחין.

This week’s parsha begins with the laws of the red heifer.  The ashes of a red heifer are required as part of the procedure to purify one who has had contact with a corpse.  Impurity is an actual spiritual state.  How do the ashes of the red heifer wipe it away?  Chazal were bothered by this question in the first Midrash[1] of our parsha.  The following pasuk forms the question, “מִי־יִתֵּן טָהוֹר מִטָּמֵא לֹא אֶחָד/Who produces purity from impurity?  No one!” (Iyov 14:4)  The Midrash answers that God can produce purity from impurity and they translate the pasuk slightly differently, “Who produces purity from impurity?  Is it not the One?!”  The Midrash Tanchuma quotes Rabban Yochanan ben Zakai who says explicitly that the red heifer does not purify.[2]  There is no physical process in place through which the ashes of the red heifer purify.  Rather God decreed that the corpse should produce impurity and that the red heifer should purify.

What is the nature of this decree?  Another pasuk the Midrash[3] quotes from Tehillim (12:7) gives us a clue, “אִמְרוֹת ה' אֲמָרוֹת טְהֹרוֹת .../God’s sayings are pure sayings…”  What is this pasuk teaching us?  It obviously cannot be taken literally because “God is pure and His servants are pure.” (Nidah 31a)  There is no need for a pasuk to teach us that His sayings are pure as well!

The Sfas Emes explains that “אִמְרָה/Saying” in this pasuk alludes to the ten מַאֲמָרוֹת/sayings with which God created the world.  The Sfas Emes explains that the saying is more than just the words God used to create.  The saying itself is a spiritual power that gives existence to the Creation.  The creating power of God, through the saying, is hidden within every part of the Creation.  It follows that the source of purity is hidden within every part of the Creation.  Every part of the physical world, then, has at least the potential for purity because of the spiritual Godly creation force inherent in it.  This is the meaning of the pasuk in Tehillim.  God’s sayings – His presence within the Creation – are pure and therefore purify.

How can we actualize the potential for purity that is hidden within ourselves and the physical world?  The Sfas Emes explains that the purity is revealed and affects us and our surroundings when we contemplate and acknowledge that it is there.  Chazal tell us that Avraham Avinu first recognized that God must be in the world.[4]  God then revealed Himself to Avraham Avinu.

Regarding producing purity from impurity the Midrash says, “Who commanded thus?  Who decreed thus?  Is it not the One?!”  The Sfas Emes explains the redundancy.  The existence of the physical world contains two wonders.  As we’ve said, God’s creative power is constantly working and is hidden within the Creation.  Without it, the world would cease to exist.  The first wonder is that God gives existence and strength to evil to resist the very “sayings” that are the source of its existence.  Relative to this the Midrash says, “Who decreed thus?”

The second wonder is that God gave us the ability to draw His “sayings” into the physical world, to reveal spirituality and ultimately to experience God Himself even as we live in the physical world.  Through the commandments we elevate ourselves and our surroundings to God.  Regarding this the Midrash says, “Who commanded thus?”  The Sfas Emes explains that when we perform the mitzvos, and contemplate that the physical act has a spiritual source, we “connect” the physical to that source.  The physical is affected by its spiritual source.  The physical becomes pure.

Purity and impurity, and in fact, the entire Creation works according to the laws that are familiar to us because God decreed that it should be so.  The same way that God decreed that the ashes of the red heifer change a person’s spiritual status, He decreed every aspect of the Creation.

We find this in the pasuk in Tehillim (148:6) regarding the Creation, “... חָק־נָתַן וְלֹא יַעֲבוֹר/… He issued a decree that will not change.”  The word חוֹק/decree has the same root as the word for engrave – חָקַק.  This decree is engraved, as it were, within the Creation.  It is the underlying force that is the source of the Creation’s existence.

 

In the same vein Chazal[5] tell us that חָק suggests sustenance as we find in the pasuk, “... וְאָכְלוּ אֶת־חֻקָּם .../… they ate their allowance …” (Breishis 47:22)  The underlying spiritual force sustains the entire Creation.  It is constantly imbuing the Creation with life and abundance.  The Sfas Emes teaches that the reason we were created is to reveal this spiritual life force in everything by contemplating that it exists within everything.  May we merit it!

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[1] Bamidbar R. 19:1

[2] Tanchuma Chukas 8

[3] Bamidbar R. 19:2

[4] Breishis R. 39:1

[5] Beitza 16a

Chukas 5631 Second Ma'amar

Note: Parshas Chukas is the anniversary of the weekly Sfas Emes blog.  With the help of the One above, I published the first blog six years ago in 5766, exactly 135 years after the Sfas Emes said the ma'amar.  Here's a link: First Post, Chukas, 5631, First Ma'amar.  Please share.  Thanks.

This week’s parsha begins with the laws of the red heifer.  The ashes of a red heifer are required as part of the procedure to purify one who has had contact with a corpse.  Together with the red heifer are burnt the wood of a cedar tree, hyssop and scarlet thread.  Why are these burnt, too?  Rashi[1] cites a Midrash explaining that metaphorically the entire procedure of the red heifer is a purification and atonement for the sin of the golden calf.  In this context the cedar tree which is very tall represents one whose haughtiness causes him to sin.  The hyssop grows low to the ground and the scarlet thread in Hebrew is synonymous with the Hebrew word for worm.  These represent humility.  The Midrash states that a haughty person who sinned should humble himself like a hyssop and a worm.  He will then be atoned. 

But isn’t repentance needed for atonement?  How does humbling oneself – ridding the haughtiness – atone for sin?  The Sfas Emes explains.  The primary source of sin is arrogance.  If we knew clearly that we continue to live each moment at God’s pleasure and that in reality, we are no more than “an axe in the hands of a mason,” we would not sin.  The only way we can come to sin is by removing the yoke of Heaven from upon us.  At the moment of sin, we are not aware of God.  This is why Chazal teach us that haughtiness is akin to idol worship.[2]  To prevent sin, then, it is crucial to monitor our arrogance level and replace it with humility.  The Sfas Emes teaches that the path to humility is paved with repentance.  Humility atones for sin because repentance is a part of the process of humbling ourselves before God.  Humility is only possible with proper repentance.

Humbling ourselves before God and submitting to Him leads directly to awe of Him.  We find in Maseches Shabbos (31a), that although a person’s actions may be judged favorably on the Day of Judgment, this is not enough.  He must also be found to have had awe of God as Yeshaya (33:6) said, “... יִרְאַת ה' הִיא אוֹצָרוֹ/Fear of God is his treasure.”  Awe of God is the vessel which holds all of our service to God.  It is the framework upon which everything hinges.  Elaborating this point, Chazal compare the relationship between serving God and fearing Him to filling a storehouse with wheat without adding a certain preservative.  Without the preservative the wheat will rot.  In fact, the halachah dictates that one may sell wheat with the preservative included at the price of wheat.  The buyer is paying for preservative as if he is buying wheat because without it the wheat is worthless.  It will rot.  So too, mitzvos without awe of God are not sustainable.   

Contemplating awe of God while doing a mitzvah, then, is a way of recognizing that this mitzvah that I am now doing  has God’s life-force in it.  This thought will help me to properly perform the mitzvah.  Contemplating awe of God, though, while performing a mitzvah, takes away from concentration on the mitzvah itself.  Would it not be better to concentrate fully on the mitzvah itself?  The Sfas Emes explains that this is the point of the analogy to the sale of wheat with preservatives included.  Even though the buyer is receiving less wheat, he willingly pays for the preservative because without it the wheat is worthless.  Chazal hint to this concept when they say that whether one does less or more, the main thing is to do it for the God.[3]  Chazal are teaching us that it is better to contemplate doing for the sake of Heaven even if this results in doing a little less.

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[1] Rashi on Bamidbar 19:22, Eitz Erez

[2] Sotah 4b

[3] Brachos 5b

Chukas 5631 First Ma'amar

“זֹאת חֻקַּת הַתּוֹרָה .../This is the law of the Torah …” (Bamidbar 19:2)  The Zohar[1] at the beginning of this week’s parsha cites a similar pasuk, “וְזֹאת הַתּוֹרָה .../And this is the Torah …” (Devarim 4:44)  What is the difference between these p’sukim?  Why does the first add the word “חֻקַּת/law of”?  Based on the Zohar the Sfas Emes explains that “וְזֹאת הַתּוֹרָה .../And this is the Torah …” alludes to the essence of the Torah whereas “חֻקַּת הַתּוֹרָה/the law of the Torah” is a reference to Torah shebe’al peh/the oral law. 

Chazal tell us that God created the world with the Torah.[2]  The essence of the Torah is inherent in the world.  It is that force which radiates out of the Torah and into every part of the Creation.  It is through the Torah that the Creation continues to exist. 

Even though the light of the Torah inheres in every part of the Creation, it is not apparent.  It is hidden.  Our mission is to draw out the Torah’s light, to make it apparent.  This task, the Sfas Emes explains, is represented by Torah shebe’al peh/oral law.  The Torah shebe’al peh/oral law is much more than an explanation of the written Torah.  It represents our work.  It is the avenue through which we can add chidush/novelty whether in deeper understanding of the Torah or by acting according to God’s will. 

As opposed to the Torah shebe’al peh/oral law, the essence of the Torah is beyond our comprehension.  This is why, “וְזֹאת הַתּוֹרָה .../And this is the Torah …”, representing the essence of the Torah, is followed by, “... אֲשֶׁר־שָׂם מֹשֶׁה לִפְנֵי בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל/… that Moshe placed before the children of Israel.” (Devarim 4:44)  When the Torah was given, we were all connected to the essence of the Torah through Moshe Rabbeinu.  This is not a level we could attain on our own, through our own labors.

The Torah shebe’al peh/oral law, on the other hand, represents the Torah we attain and reveal through our labor in this world.  This Torah becomes a part of us.  In the words of the Chiddushei HaRim it becomes engraved in us.  “חֻקַּת/The law of” in fact, has the same root as the Hebrew word for engrave - חַקָק.  Later in the parsha the Torah refers to Moshe Rabbeinu as מְחוֹקֵק/lawgiver.  Here too, it suggests the Torah being engraved in us.   

What must we do for the Torah to become engraved in us, to become a part of us?  How do we draw out the light of the Torah inherent in everything?  The Sfas Emes explains according to the following Chazal.  Chazal tell us that we must make our Torah our primary occupation.[3]  Chazal say that earlier generations made their Torah their main occupation and their labor transient.[4]  They saw success in both.  What do Chazal mean when they say that the Torah should be our primary occupation?  We’ve said that the light of the Torah is hidden in everything.  Making the Torah our primary occupation means, in addition to studying it, looking for the light of the Torah in everything that we do.  The spiritual aspect of our actions becomes our primary occupation.  The physical activity is only a means to reveal the light of the Torah.  In this sense our labor, our physical activity, is transient whereas Torah becomes our main occupation.  In order to succeed, though, it is crucial that we take a thoughtful approach to every activity.  A person who does everything for the sake of God will realize God’s will in everything he does.  God’s will is already in everything.  Lack of recognition conceals it.  Recognizing this fact, reveals it.

When we do this, the Torah that we reveal becomes a part of us.  It becomes engraved in us.  This is why Chazal call it “their Torah.”  It became theirs when they made it their primary occupation.  We find this idea clearly in Rashi’s explanation of the second pasuk in Tehillim (1:2), “... בְּתוֹרַת ה' חֶפְצוֹ וּבְתוֹרָתוֹ יֶהְגֶּה יוֹמָם וָלָיְלָה/… He wants God’s Torah and in his Torah he will meditate day and night …”  Why is the Torah first referred to as God’s and then referred to as belonging to the one who studies it?  Rashi explains that by working at it he makes it his.  It becomes a part of him.

We find this concept in the pasuk in Koheles (2:14), “הֶחָכָם עֵינָיו בְּרֹאשׁוֹ .../The wise person’s eyes are in his head …”  The word for head has the same Hebrew root as the word for first - רִאשׁוֹן.  The wise person always connects to the root, the source, the beginning of every action and thing.  The source is of course the life force of God.  By attempting to do God’s will in all of our daily activities, we are connecting to the source of our actions.

We find this idea also in Yeshaya (40:26), “שְׂאוּ־מָרוֹם עֵינֵיכֶם וּרְאוּ מִי־בָרָא אֵלֶּה .../Lift up your eyes and see Who created these …”  The life force of God is not apparent in the physical world.  In fact a lot of what happens in the physical world is antithetical to Godliness, to holiness.  Yeshaya points out that this is only a concealment of God.  In reality God is in everything. 

This is the meaning of the first Midrash[5] in this week’s parsha explaining a pasuk in Iyov, “מִי־יִתֵּן טָהוֹר מִטָּמֵא לֹא אֶחָד/Who produces purity from impurity?  No one!”  The Midrash translates this pasuk, “Who produces purity from impurity?  Is it not the One?”  Producing purity from impurity seems impossible.  

However, it is only impossible if we believe that impurity has an autonomous existence.  Actually, impurity is simply God’s concealment.  Producing purity from impurity is a matter of removing that which conceals God.  Intent before we act is crucial.  When we subordinate ourselves to the Source of life, God’s concealment is removed.  The impurity is removed.  This is the essence of teshuva/repentance – returning to the Source.

Whether we come close to God through our actions or not, is completely dependent on our intent.  If our intent is to do His will, the Godliness inherent in the action becomes revealed, we come closer to God and we become purified.  This is our main occupation in this world.  It is our Torah shebe’al peh.

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[1] Zohar 3:179b

[2] Zohar 1:5a Introduction

[3] Avos 1:15

[4] Brachos 35b

[5] Bamidbar R. 19:1

Chukas 5632 Third Ma'amar

The first part of our parsha describes the mitzvah of the red heifer.  The ashes of a red heifer are mixed with water and sprinkled on one who is spiritually impure through contact with a corpse.  Because this mitzvah seems to have no apparent logic, Rashi[1] quotes a Midrash that states that this is one of the mitzvos about which the nations of the world and the satan chide the nation of Israel.  Our answer to them is that this mitzvah is a divine decree which we must adhere to even though it has no apparent reason.  For this reason the pasuk introduces the mitzvah with, “זֹאת חֻקַּת הַתּוֹרָה .../This is the decree of the Torah …” (Bamidbar 19:2)

The Sfas Emes asks that this answer does not seem to be an answer at all.  The nations of the world tell us that our religion contains elements of illogic and we answer that our religion contains elements of illogic!

In order to understand this we must know that every decree in the Torah is based on a good, valid reason.  There is no such thing as a decree for its own sake.  What then is the meaning of the Midrash?  The Midrash is teaching us that decrees represent a category of mitzvos whose underlying reasons cannot be attained directly.  The only way to attain an understanding of the decrees in the Torah is by embracing them even without understanding.

This is so because the reasons for these mitzvos are spiritual in nature.  They can only be approached by distancing ourselves from the physical.  A mitzvah, like the entire Creation, has a physical component – the act of the mitzvah – and a spiritual component.  The performance of a mitzvah creates spiritual effects.  The mitzvah’s reason is part of its spiritual component. 

By living spiritual lives, we prepare ourselves to understand even the decrees of the Torah.  This concept is born out by Chazal[2] who teach us that during the time of David HaMelech, the children who had not yet tasted sin, were able to understand the reasons behind even the most esoteric laws of purity and impurity.

In the poem that the Arizal composed for recital before Kiddush on Shabbos morning we find, “יְגַלֵּה לָן טַעֲמֵי דְבִתְרֵיסַר נַהֲמֵי/reveal to us the reasons behind the twelve loaves (of showbread).  There are reasons even though they are not apparent to us.  We ask God to reveal them to us.

In fact, the Sfas Emes teaches that our purpose is to reveal the reasons.  By revealing the spiritual, we reveal the reasons as well.

As the Sfas Emes states in many ma’amarim, the spiritual component of the Creation is more revealed on Shabbos than during the week.  As such, on Shabbos we are closer to understanding the reasons underlying the existence of the entire Creation.  We find a hint to this idea in the musaf of Shabbos, “טוֹעֲמֶיהָ חַיִּים זָכוּ/Those who savor it will merit life.”  The Hebrew for “savor” is the same as for “reason”.  So, this can be understood as, “Those who receive the reasons (having prepared themselves) merit life.  In fact, our work during the days of the week should be geared towards preparing ourselves so that we can reach higher levels of spirituality on Shabbos.

Practical Application

The Sfas Emes elsewhere explains how to prepare for Shabbos.  He teaches that during the week we must strengthen our faith that there in fact is a spiritual component to the world around us, even though it is difficult to actually experience for a variety of reasons.  On the simplest level, during the week we are distracted.  Experiencing the spiritual requires a certain peace of mind that is difficult to attain during the week.  Also, as we’ve seen, metaphysically, Shabbos is more conducive to experiencing the spiritual than the weekdays.  However, if we cultivate our belief in the spiritual component during the week, then we will merit experiencing it on Shabbos.

The Sfas Emes teaches that the way to cultivate this belief is by contemplating it before any activity.  Saying to ourselves that the activity of work contains an underlying spiritual component that is a representation of God’s will, changes our approach to work in a very significant way.  We become conscious agents of God’s will.  Doing this before every activity will completely change the way we experience Shabbos.

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[1] Rashi on Bamidbar 19:2

[2] Tanchuma Chukas 4

Chukas 5632 Second Ma'amar

In this week’s parsha the nation sings tribute to the well which miraculously followed them during the forty year sojourn in the desert. “בְּאֵר חֲפָרוּהָ שָׂרִים כָּרוּהָ נְדִיבֵי הָעָם בִּמְחֹקֵק בְּמִשְׁעֲנֹתָם וּמִמִּדְבָּר מַתָּנָה/The well carved by princes, dug out by the generous of the people, by their lawgiver, with their staff. From the desert, it was a gift.”

The Chiddushei HaRim explains that digging a well in search of water is a metaphor for the search to uncover the Godliness hidden in the physical world. The Chiddushei HaRim says that the well represents Torah Shebe’al Peh (lit. the Oral Law). This is because the essence of Torah Shebe’al Peh is our ability to create and produce חִידוּשׁ/novelty through our Torah learning. According to the Sfas Emes the essence of Torah shebe’al Peh includes not only the novelty we produce through our Torah learning, but any novelty that we produce that involves a revelation of the hidden spiritual light that permeates the Creation. Torah shebe’al Peh, then, represents our effective action in this world. Bringing the Torah’s light into the physical world and uncovering the Godliness in the Creation is one and the same thing. It is the reason we exist.

Following the metaphor through the pasuk, we can learn how to reveal the hidden light of the Torah.

“חֲפָרוּהָ שָׂרִים/carved by princes” – The princes in the metaphor are those who have succeeded in ruling over their natural inclinations.

“כָּרוּהָ נְדִיבֵי הָעָם/dug out by the generous of the people” – The generous of the nation are those who direct their generosity and desires towards the service of God alone. Because they align their own will with God’s so that all their activities are an expression of God’s will, they reveal God’s will – the hidden light – in everything they do and with everything that they come into contact.

“בִּמְחֹקֵק/by the lawgiver” – The lawgiver represents the boundaries that are built into the Creation. God is infinite and His bounty is infinite. We finite beings and by extension the entire Creation cannot receive God’s infinite revelation. So God restricts His revelation, as it were. He reveals Himself to us in measured doses so that we can experience Him. Everything in the Creation is governed by boundaries. We too, by working within the boundaries that God built in to the world, moderating our actions and practicing balance, can draw out the light of the Torah in the measured doses that we can receive.

“בְּמִשְׁעֲנֹתָם/with their staff” – Even though Torah shebe’al Peh represents our ability to create and produce novelty, the ultimate effectiveness of our actions is completely dependent on God. The staff alludes to our reliance on God for all things.

“וּמִמִּדְבָּר מַתָּנָה/and from the desert it was a gift – When we realize that we do not merit anything because of our own efforts, rather it is God who helps us in everything we do, we experience His revelation as a gift.