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Orchard of Delights
golden boxes surrounding an inner wooden box created a ratio of 2:1,
a whole and a half. Two angel-like cherubim rested upon the ark’s
cover, another instance of a 2:1 ratio, a whole to a half.
This portion provides us with another beautiful instance of “the
medium is the message” (a concept discussed above in “The Medium
is the Message”). The Tabernacle’s blueprints convey deep concepts
with their every detail. Bezalel, as we mentioned in the first section
of this portion, was able to construct the Tabernacle because of his
insight into the Hebrew letters and the Divine process of creation. In
the portion of Bereishit, we discussed the most fundamental principle
guiding the creation of the world and humanity: “One becomes two
in order to become one.” This spiritual equation is, in and of itself,
perhaps the most primordial and archetypal example of a whole and
a half. Therefore, it should come as no surprise that this equation
appears repeatedly in the Tabernacle which was meant to house the
Divine Presence and serve as a microcosm of the Divine process of
creation itself.
Upon further contemplation, we must recognize a great paradox
underlying the concept of a whole and a half. People, in a sense,
never feel more whole than when they feel close to God. Yet precisely
at such moments, human beings simultaneously become aware of
their great distance from God’s Infinite Being. In other words, we
feel most whole when we feel we are a half. This is true between soul
mates as well, each one feeling whole and completed by the other,
yet merely a half of a greater whole. This is also true in the context
of the individual Jew and the nation of Israel. On the one hand, each
person feels like merely one link in a great chain extending through
the generations, but, on the other hand, each person also feels whole
by virtue of being part of such a noble and unique nation.
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9 Terumah
statement that the poor man who receives charity does more for the
rich man than the rich man does for him (Vayikra Rabbah 34).
Many Chassidic rebbes in a play on words (a derash) read the term
“take for Me” as “take Me.” By giving to others, we take, as it were,
God into ourselves. By imitating God whose essence is identified with
love and giving, we experience the Divine attribute of sustaining the
world with goodness. In fact, one of the Torah’s 613 mitzvot is to
imitate God. The Sages explain that to imitate God means to imitate
His attributes: just as God is merciful, so should we be merciful; just
as God is gracious, so should we be gracious (Sifrei, Parashat Eikev).
The concept of God telling man to “take Me” is actually embodied
in the obligation to do mitzvot. A mitzvah is a reflection of God’s will
and goodness, for all the mitzvot were given with humanity’s good
in mind. The last two letters of the word mitzvah, vav-heh (הו) are
identical to the last two letters of God’s essential four-letter name.
In one of the Kabbalistic alphabets (called atbash) wherein letters
are exchanged for each other according to a set pattern, the first
two Hebrew letters of God’s name, yud-heh (ה-י) are exchanged for
the first two Hebrew letters of the word mitzvah, mem-tzaddi (צמ).
This exchange teaches that by performing a mitzvah we grasp an
opportunity to connect and unite with God.
One of God’s name’s – Alef-Heh-Vav-Heh (ה-ו-ה-א) – is embedded in
the Torah’s opening verse: “In the beginning God created the heavens
and the earth,” as an acronym composed of the initial letters of the
Hebrew words “the heavens and the earth” (ץראה תאו םימשה תא). The
numerical value of this Divine name is 17, the same as the numerical
value of the Hebrew word for “good” (tov). God’s goodness is woven
into the very fabric of creation and is manifest in the heavens and
the earth.
The Maggid of Mezerich, the Ba’al Shem Tov’s successor,
interpreted the words recited in the Morning Service, “the world
is full of your possessions,” as “the world is full of ways to possess
God.” By giving we not only help others but we acquire goodness for
ourselves. Even more, by imitating God and His constant attribute
of sustaining the heavens and the earth we “take” God, and as a
result activate the spark of God within us.
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