Letters Flying Through the Air: Hassidic Readings of the Torah

(Rabbi Yaakov Yosef of Polnoye, Ukraine, 1710-1784)

Make me a Sanctuary, that I may dwell amongst them. (Exodus 25:8)

As for the commandment, “make me a Sanctuary, that I may dwell amongst them,” behold, a person is like a small world, in which there is Sanctuary and a Tabernacle…

If so, then a person is the pattern of the Tabernacle. That is why it is called a Mishkan - that is, a dwelling - bec within a person there is a dwelling of one part of the soul in the heart, and a dwelling of another part of the soul in the mind. So every person must make themselves into a seat for the dwelling of the Divine Presence, in their heart and in their mind.

(Rabbi Kalonymus Kalman HaLevi Epstein, Poland, 1753-1825)

The Eternal said to Moses, "Behold, I will come to you in a thick cloud, in order that the people will hear when I speak with you [and so they will then trust you.] And Moses reported the words of the people to the Eternal." (Exodus 19:9)

Rashi, of blessed memory, explains that what, "Moses reported," was their response. He said: "I heard from them that what they want is to hear from You directly. For one who hears from a messenger is not like one who hears from the mouth of the King. We want to see our King!"

[Later we read] "And all the people saw the sounds... And they said to Moses, you speak to us, and we will hear, but do not let God speak to us." (Exodus 20:15-16)

And so, when the Blessed One said to Moses, may he rest in peace, "Behold, I will come to you i-n a t-h-i-c-k c-l-o-u-d," this is the numerical value of: 'i-n a h-i-n-t.'

"...in order that the people will hear," meaning that there is the level of 'Hearing,' and then there is a higher level, which is 'Seeing.' And see how the Blessed One said to Moses that God would come at the level of H-e-a-r-i-n-g, which was enough for them, given that their stage of development had only gotten them to the level of Hearing.

"I will come to you i-n a t-h-i-c-k c-l-o-u-d", which has the numerical value of

'i-n a h-i-n-t.' That is, in all the hints of the Torah. But they replied, "We want to see our King!" That is, to come to the level of seeing.

And then, when they did see - as it is written, "and all the people saw the sounds" - Rashi explains that "they saw what is normally heard."

And then, "when the people saw, they fell back," and they asked Our Teacher Moses, "You speak with us, and we will hear [but do not let God speak to us, lest we die.]" For they had only reached the level of Hearing, which is why it had been put to them from the start: "Behold, I will come to you in a thick cloud, in order that the people will hear when I speak with you."

(Rabbi Shlomo Hakohen Rabinowicz, 1801-1866, Poland)

And Jacob awoke from his sleep, and said, “Behold - God is in this place! And I, I did not know.” (Genesis 28:16)

This “I, I did not know,” means I did not know myself at all. I was not aware of myself at all, but only of the unity of the Holy Blessed One and the Shekhinah, and the glory of the Blessed God. Only in this way can one draw down the Presence of God.

(Rabbi Moshe Chaim Ephraim of Sudilkov 1748-1800)

In the book, "Degel Machaneh Ephraim," in the additional section on Deuteronomy, we find this comment:

This teaching is brought in the name of my Master and Grandfather - May His Memory be a Blessing in the Life of the World to Come:

[It says in the Talmud (Ketubot 110b)]: "Anyone who lives in the Land of Israel, is like (domeh) one who has a God. [And anyone who lives outside of the Land of Israel is like one who has no God.]"

That is, when it seems (domeh) to someone that they dwell in the Higher Land, that they are especially close to the Holy Blessed One, it seems (domeh) to them that they have a God. But the truth is, they do not.

Whereas one who lives outside of the Land of Israel - that is, it seems (domeh) to them that they still have not entered the Higher Land. And in this way, it seems to them that they are someone who has no God. But the truth is, they do.