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Orchard of Delights 10 Ki Tisa
When the Temple stood, these three dimensions reached their in thought.” Rebbe Nachman explains that God was informing
ultimate union on Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the year, when the Moses that in order to understand the profound existential matters at
High Priest, the image of the holiest person, would enter the Holy hand, he needed to be quiet and enter a deep state of meditation and
of Holies, the holiest space. Indeed, Yom Kippur is described in the contemplation that would enable him to elevate himself in thought,
Torah as “Shabbat Shabbaton” (the Shabbat of Shabbats; Leviticus so that he could grasp the profound meaning of his vision. (For more
16:31), as it embodies Shabbat’s very essence. In our day and age, on the deep soul connection between Rabbi Akiba and Moses, see
the Divine unity animating all three aspects of reality, as manifest Return Again: The Dynamics of Reincarnation, pp. 164-171.)
on Yom Kippur, is especially tangible on Shabbat – a day when the We now return to the question of why Moses was chosen to receive
home is mystically transformed into holy space and the extended the Torah instead of Rabbi Akiba. Even though Rabbi Akiba’s
time spent in the synagogue creates the sense of being in the Holy spiritual level appears to be higher than Moses’, Moses’ continual
Temple; a day when time is transformed into a stream of holiness and discomfort with the existential question of evil and God’s acquiescence
the soul experiences its Divine source. Furthermore, since with the to this reality seems to make him the better choice. In fact the Sages
destruction of the Temple every Jew has become the embodiment of allude to this when they state that the secrets of the Torah are only
the High Priest, a Jew in his or her home or synagogue on Shabbat can given to one who is “worried in his heart” (Chagigah 13a). Moses fits
and should strive to achieve the same levels of spiritual unification as this description perfectly and even though this particular mystery
the High Priest strove for in the Temple on Yom Kippur.
could not be fully revealed to him, he did merit being the vehicle
through which the entire Torah and its profound mysteries were
revealed to humanity.

But, why is this discomfort so important? Since Moses by his very
£Moses Gathers the PeopleMoses Gathers the People nature was not satisfied with accepting the paradox, he was forced to
££Moses Gathers the People
probe even deeper than Rabbi Akiba into the secrets of the Torah, and
this allowed him, when necessary, to confront God. His willingness
We will now continue to employ the PaRDeS system to probe the to defend his people knew no bounds. Even though he understood on
meaning and context of Vayakhel’s first Hebrew word, “and he some level evil’s role in God’s plan for the world, he sought a rectified
gathered” (vayakhel). From a straightforward, historical perspective world that would not require evil to enable humanity to actualize its
(the peshat), Moses assembled all the people because, according to full potential. The absence of a rectified world bothered Moses, and it
Rashi, he had descended from Mount Sinai with the second tablets was something he could not entirely come to terms with.
on that day. Moses had spent three forty-day periods on Mount Sinai, Indeed, just as Moses worried about this paradox, God Himself
totaling 120 days, with almost no breaks in between, and this was his in some deeply mysterious way is also existentially worried about
first opportunity to gather all the people, reassert his presence and the state of the world. This very deep idea is deduced from various
authority, and inform them of God’s commandments. sources in the Torah and from rabbinic utterances; for instance, at the
Commentators throughout the ages have noted that the word time of the flood the Torah records that God was “deeply saddened
vayakhel (“and he gathered”) is the same word (the letters and in His heart” that man had become so corrupt (Genesis 6:6). Many
meaning are identical although the vowels are slightly different) Talmudic and Midrashic statements express God’s empathy, pain,
used when the people gathered to demand that Aaron make for them and sadness, as it were, at the destruction of the Temple and the
what would ultimately turn out to be the Golden Calf. Since they exile of the Jewish people. For example, Rashi cites the Midrash

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