(31) You shall faithfully observe My commandments: I am the LORD. (32) You shall not profane My holy name, that I may be sanctified in the midst of the Israelite people—I the LORD who sanctify you, (33) I who brought you out of the land of Egypt to be your God, I the LORD.
כְּתִיב (דְּבָרִים כג, טו): "וְהָיָה מַחֲנֶיךָ קָדוֹשׁ", כְּשֵׁם שֶׁיֵּשׁ גְּבוּל בְּכִתּוֹת וּמַחֲנוֹת הַשְּׁכִינָה, שֶׁנִּקְרָאִים קְדוֹשִׁים — כֵּן נָמֵי בְּגוּף הָאָדָם וְאֵבָרָיו, הֵם נִקְרָאִים מַחֲנֶה, בְּעִנְיָן אִם הָאָדָם מְקַדֵּשׁ אֶת גּוּפוֹ וְאֵבָרָיו בְּעִנְיְנֵי הַקְּדֻשָּׁה, אָז אֵבָרָיו שֶׁלּוֹ נִקְרָאִים מַחֲנֵה שְׁכִינָה מַמָּשׁ, וַעֲלֵיהֶם נֶאֱמַר: "וְנִקְדַּשְׁתִּי בְּתוֹךְ בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל וְשָׁכַנְתִּי בְּתוֹכָם". וּכְשֶׁהוֹלֵךְ הָאָדָם בְּדֶרֶךְ לֹא טוֹב, אֲזַי הוּא מַכְנִיס עַצְמוֹ לִהְיוֹת מַחֲנֶה לְסִטְרָא אָחֳרָא. עַל כֵּן יִהְיֶה שָׁגוּר בְּפִי הָאָדָם לוֹמַר תְּפִלָּה קְצָרָה: רִבּוֹנוֹ שֶׁל עוֹלָם, זַכֵּנִי לִהְיוֹת כִּסֵּא לַשְּׁכִינָה! כִּי כְּשֶׁהַגּוּף הוּא בִּקְדֻשָּׁה, נַעֲשָׂה כִּסֵּא לַשְּׁכִינָה, כִּי זֶהוּ חֵשֶׁק וְתַאֲוָה לַשְּׁכִינָה לִשְׁרוֹת עַל גּוּפוֹת הַצַּדִּיקִים. מַה שֶּׁאֵין כֵּן כְּשֶׁיְּסַלֵּף אָדָם אֶת דַּרְכּוֹ, הוּא לְהִפּוּךְ, חַס וְשָׁלוֹם. כִּדְאִיתָא בַּזֹּהַר פָּרָשַׁת נֹחַ בַּפָּסוּק: וַיִּשְׂאוּ אֶת הַתֵּבָה, וְתָרֹם מֵעַל הָאָרֶץ — בְּגִין דְּחוֹטְאִין בְּעָלְמָא, שְׁכִינְתָּא מִסְתַּלֶּקֶת מִן אַרְעָא. וְהַשְּׁכִינָה נִקְרֵאת תֵּבָה, כִּי תֵּבָה הוּא אוֹת בֵּי"ת — הֵ"א בְּהִפּוּך אָתוֹן. וְשָׁם בַּזֹּהַר מְבֹאָר דְּבָרִים הַשַּׁיָּכִים אֶל קְדֻשַּׁת הַגּוּף וְאֵבָרָיו. וְעִקַּר מָקוֹם לְכָל הַקְּדֻשּׁוֹת — לְקַדֵּשׁ גּוּפוֹ בְּלִמּוּד הַתּוֹרָה מַאי דְּאֶפְשָׁר.
It is written, “And let your camp be holy” (Deut. 23:15). Just as there is a border surrounding the various hosts and camps of the Shechinah, all of whom are called “holy,” so too the body and limbs of a human being comprise a “camp,” which if sanctified is also called the “camp of the Shechinah.” Thus it is written, “And I will be sanctified in the midst of (or “within”) the children of Israel” (Lev. 22:32), and “I will dwell among (or within) them” (Ex. 25:8).
But if a person heads in a bad direction he brings into himself the camp of the Sitra Achara [The Other Side]. Therefore one should develop the habit of reciting this brief prayer: “Master of the Universe! Cause me to merit becoming a throne for the Shechinah!” For when the body is sanctified it becomes the throne of the Shechinah, which has a tremendous longing to settle upon the bodies of the righteous, whereas if a person perverts his ways the opposite occurs, Heaven forbid.
Textual key: תיבה - בית ה. Letter scramble.
This is concept is mentioned in the Zohar (Parshat Noach 68b) in connection with the verse, “And the [water] bore up the ark and it was raised from upon the earth” (Genesis 7:17): “That is, when there are sinners in the world the Shechinah abandons the earth” (Zohar Parshat Noah 68b) The Shechinah is called an “ark” — teivah — because if one changes the order of the letters of the word teivah (תיבה) it spells out the words Beit H[ashem] (בית ה') — the “House of Hashem.” The same passage elaborates on some of the ways in one can sanctify the body, the primary one being through studying Torah as much as possible.
Textual keys: A) With (the beginning) The prefix bet in the first word of the Torah can be translated as “with,” “in,”, “by means of,” etc. B) “Beginning” and “wisdom” are synonyms for “Torah” in rabbinic literature. (See Schechter, Aspects of Rabbinic Theology).
This is what Scripture means when it says:"The Lord with wisdom established the world" (Prov. 3:19). That is, when the Holy One, blessed be He, was about to create this world, He consulted the Torah and created the world. As it is said: "Counsel is mine and sound wisdom; I am understanding, power is mine" (ibid. 8:14).
How was the (primordial) Torah written? It was written with letters of black fire on a surface of white fire, as is said: "His locks are curled and black as a raven" (Song 5:11).
Textual key: The word taltalim (“curls”) is read as tille tillim (“heaps upon heaps”). Each letter in the Torah has numerous strokes upon it which, according to tradition, represent heaps upon heaps of laws. Cf. Leviticus Rabbah 19:2, Song of Songs Rabbah 5:11–12.
What is meant by "His locks are curled"? It means that each crowned stroke on the letters of the Torah contains heaps and heaps of law.
Textual key: יחללו - יהללו
praise - profane
For example, it is written in the Torah: "Profane not My Holy Name" (Lev. 22:2); but if you should change the het (ח) in the word yehallelu (“profane”) into a heh (ה), the word would read “praise,” and you would thereby destroy the world. [By the change of one letter, you can commit to saying, "Praise not my Holy Name"].
Conversely, where it is written "Let everything that hath breath praise the Lord" (Ps. 150:6), if you should alter the heh (ה) in the word tehallel (“praise”) into a het (ח), the word would read “profane,” and you would thereby destroy the world. [By the change of one letter, you can commit to saying, "Let every living thing profane your name"].
In the mind of God, according to a midrash, is a Torah of black fire written on white fire. In the hands of Jews is a Torah written in gall on the skins of dead animals. And the miracle is that the fire of God's Torah flickers through our scroll. I continue to learn the purity texts, hoping for some yet unglimpsed spark, but that is not enough. I must learn what purity can mean in my own world and in the most human world I can envision. For if ours is a Torah of and for human beings, it may be perfected only in the way that we perfect ourselves. We do not become more God-like by becoming less human, but by becoming more deeply, more broadly, more comprehensively human.
We must keep asking the Torah to speak to us in human, this crude jargon studded with constraints and distortions, silences and brutalities, that is our only vessel for holiness and truth and peace. We must keep teaching each other, we and our study partner the Torah, all that it means to be human. Human is not whole. Human is full of holes. Human bleeds. Human births its worlds in agonies of blood and bellyaches. Human owns no perfect, timeless texts because human inhabits no perfect, timeless contexts. Human knows that what it weds need not be perfect to be infinitely dear.
(ד) סוֹף מַעֲשֶּׂה בְּמַחֲשָׁבָה תְּחִלָּה
(4) Made at the end, and planned from the start
Alternative translation 1: "At the end, action. At the beginning, in thought."
Alternative translation 2: "The final action was primary in thought."
(ד) וְתַכְלִית שֶׁל כָּל דָּבָר הוּא מְחֻבָּר לְהַמַּחֲשָׁבָה וְהַשֵּׂכֶל, יוֹתֵר מֵהַדָּבָר שֶׁזֶּה הַתַּכְלִית בָּא מִמֶּנּוּ, וְקָרוֹב הַתַּכְלִית לְהַמַּחֲשָׁבָה בְּקֵרוּב יוֹתֵר מֵהַדָּבָר, כִּי סוֹף מַעֲשֶׂה – בְּמַחֲשָׁבָה תְּחִלָּה. נִמְצָא, שֶׁהַסּוֹף וְהַתַּכְלִית הוּא תְּחִלָּה בַּמַּחֲשָׁבָה וְקָרוֹב לָהּ, וּמֵהַתַּכְלִית נִשְׁתַּלְשֵׁל הַמַּעֲשֶׂה.
(ה) לְמָשָׁל: כְּשֶׁעוֹלֶה בְּמַחֲשָׁבָה לִבְנוֹת לוֹ בַּיִת, בְּוַדַּאי הַבַּיִת אֵינוֹ נִבְנֶה בְּבַת־אַחַת, אֶלָּא צָרִיךְ לְהָכִין עֵצִים, וּלְסַתֵּת וְלִבְנוֹת כָּל עֵץ וָעֵץ לְפִי צָרְכּוֹ, וְאַחַר־כָּךְ נִבְנֶה וְנִשְׁלָם הַבַּיִת. נִמְצָא שְׁלֵמוּת הַבַּיִת, שֶׁהִיא תַּכְלִית הַבִּנְיָן וְסוֹפוֹ, הָיָה בְּמַחֲשָׁבָה תְּחִלָּה. נִמְצָא שֶׁהַתַּכְלִית הוּא קָרוֹב לַמַּחֲשָׁבָה בְּיוֹתֵר מֵהַתְחָלַת הַמַּעֲשֶׂה:
(4) Now, the goal of any thing is more connected to [the original] thought and intellect than the thing [itself] from which the particular goal is derived. The goal is also closer to thought than the thing is; for, “last in deed is first in thought” (Sabbath Evening Liturgy). Thus, the end and the goal is “first in thought” and close to it. And from the goal, the deed evolves.
(5) For example: When the thought occurs to someone to build himself a house, certainly the house is not erected all at once. Rather, wood has to be prepared; each piece of lumber has to be cut and planed as is necessary. Afterwards, the house can be built and completed. Therefore, the completed house, which is the goal of the construction and its conclusion, was “first in thought.” Thus we find that the goal is closer to the thought than the beginning of the deed.