Yom Kippur's Amazing Paradoxes

There is a hint as to the secret of the Shem haMefurash (the Explicit Name) as mentioned in the Jerusalem Talmud (Yoma, Chapter 3, Halakha 7), “The High Priest would pronounce the name ten times during the course of the day of Atonement. Those who were close would fall on their faces, and those who were far would say, ‘Baruch Shem Kavod Malkhuto Leolam Va’ed,’ – ‘Blessed is the name of His glorious Sovereignty forever and ever.’ Both the High Priest and the people would not move from their places until it was hidden from them.” At the moment when the people heard the Shem haMefurash, they possessed a knowledge and understanding that is beyond time, space, and the laws of nature, as explained in the previous chapter. Then, when the name was hidden from them, this level of consciousness was also hidden from them, and they returned to the normal level of human understanding, based upon the laws of nature. However, a residue of the experience remained, as they remembered how they once understood. This is akin to the way the Torah says, after the experience of receiving the Torah at Mount Sinai, “now everyone shall go back to their tents.” Similarly, when the High Priest on the Day of Atonement would enter into the Holy of Holies, in a state of sanctity and purity, and with preparation of the heart, he would clearly understand how the Holy Ark did not take up any space. He would perceive this through human eyes. Since his very body reached such a level of purity, he could clearly see and understand that there is no logical contradiction in that the Holy Ark existed and yet did not take up any physical space. The Midrash and the Yalkut both interpret the verse (Vayikra, 16:17), “And no man shall be in the Tent of Appointed Meeting when he shall go in to the holy place to make atonement,” as meaning that a man did not go into the Holy of Holies, but rather an angel of the Lord of Hosts. It was said of Pinchas, the grandson of Aharon HaKohen, that when the Holy Spirit would rest upon him, his face appeared to be burning in flames. It is recorded in the Zohar Hadash (Midrash Ne’elam, page 18), “When the High Priest would enter the Holy of Holies… It is taught, Rabbi Abba said in the name of Rabbi in the name of Rav, the innermost chamber (the Holy of Holies) is just like the Garden of Eden, and when the Cohen would enter, he would enter with his soul and not with his body.” This explains the passage in the Zohar (Parshat Pinhas, 117b-118a), which says that when God was called by his various names and attributes before the world was created, He was called with a view to the future and for the sake of the creation that was yet to be created. For with the creation of the world, the will of created beings would be limited, as explained above.

The Talmud records (Megillah, 10b) the tradition received from our forefathers that it was impossible to measure the space in the Holy of Holies, as from the measurements given, the Holy Ark would not have taken up any space. Similarly, the Mishnah records that, “on the Day of Atonement the crowd in Holy Temple was so packed together that it would normally have been impossible to move, yet when it came time to fall prostrate on the ground, everyone had enough room.” This is a physical impossibility. One body cannot enter the space of anther body without one of them being negated. Yet indeed, for one who believes in God and believes that even understanding and the power of the intellect are also created entities that God can renew and arrange according to His desire, then there is no problem in understanding and believing the words of the Sages as they are written. Of the place of the Holy Temple it is written (Divrei HaYamim 2, 7:16), “My eyes and heart shall be there at all times.” God illuminated the place of the Holy Temple with an illumination that is above all orders of the natural world, and above the ability of the human mind to comprehend. All who entered the Holy Temple in a holy and pure state would perceive this even through human eyes. He would understand with his mind and intellectual power on a level which is beyond the capacity of perception for someone anywhere else in the world. The Holy Temple was a place where God revealed miracles and made them perceptible to the mortal mind. When the Israelites fell prostrate in the Holy Temple, which was the moment when they heard the Name of God being pronounced by the High Priest in a state of sanctity and purity, God sent them an awesome illumination, and they understood on a level beyond all orders of creation and the capacity of human understanding. At this moment they understood that there is no contradiction between standing jam-packed in a crowd unable to move anywhere, and being able to freely fall to the ground with arms and legs spread out, yet not coming into contact with the people around you. The space of the courtyard of the Holy Temple was not miraculously expanded, for we have many sources in the Talmud which teach us that it was not permitted to expand the area of the Azara. This is based on the verse (Divrei HaYamim 1, 28:19), “And this, said David, is written by the hand of God who instructed me, even all the works of this pattern.” With this miracle, where two contradictory opposites could join together in one place without negating each other, two opposites could truly join together in one subject. At the moment when they fell prostrate, they knew this with complete and certain knowledge. Just as we understand according to normative human knowledge that two contradictory opposites cannot exist at the same time, so did they understand at that moment that they were not opposites at all.