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me’at), a microcosm of the Holy Temple; and the study hall (beit
midrash), the house of learning, embodies a special sanctity as well.
Every Jewish home can potentially be transformed into a “holy
space” if it is treated properly. When filled with holy books, Jewish
art, and ritual articles, a spiritual ambience is created. Words of
Torah and the observance of mitzvot raise the level of holiness even
further. Finally, when shalom bayit (peace in the home) saturates the
home, it becomes a fitting place for the Divine Presence to dwell.
Parenthetically, just as the home can lack spiritual content or fail
to be a fitting vessel for God’s Presence, the body, which is the soul’s
home, may also turn into a distant and cold host. The soul itself is a
“actual part of God Above,” yet it may either choose to minimize or
maximize the spark of God animating it: keeping the spark small and
insignificant or fanning the flame until it bursts into a fiery torch.
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Regarding holiness in time, Shabbat is transformed from “ordinary”
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time into holy time when a person plugs into the inherent holiness
that the Shabbat was imbued with by God during the seven days
of creation. This holiness exists independently of human action and
unless we tune into this dimension it may go completely unnoticed.
All of time in potential can reveal the holiness of God’s presence
within it, yet Shabbat has been chosen by God as the most auspicious
day to feel the holiness in time.
The fourth level of understanding the juxtaposition of Shabbat
and the Tabernacle lies in sod, the mystical realm. On this level,
the juxtaposition of the realms of holy time and space reveal their
ultimate unity, as discovered on a scientific level only a hundred years
ago by Albert Einstein. Until Einstein’s discovery, scientists assumed
that time and space were unrelated; science now understands that
they are intrinsically interwoven. Sefer Yetzirah actually revealed
long ago that all reality consists of “world” (the three dimensions
of space), “year” or “time” (the dimension of time), and “soul” or
“consciousness.” Einstein united the dimensions of time and space,
yet science is still only beginning to comprehend the impact of
consciousness on reality. (See the portions of Re’eh and Ki Tavo in
Deuteronomy for a lengthier elucidation of this idea).
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God’s ideal vision for His world. Ultimately, no evil comes directly
from God, yet He allows the possibility of evil to exist in order to
allow human beings to choose. Why does He do this? Because without
this ability to choose, human beings could not actualize their full
potential – living as beings created in “the image of God.” And yet,
ironically, the choices made by human beings often seem to prevent
God’s ultimate will from coming to fruition.
Herein rests the even greater paradox of how human free will can
exist simultaneously with God’s Omniscience and Divine Providence.
If God possesses foreknowledge of all things and nothing occurs in this
world beyond the purview of his overarching Providence, how can
human being’s truly possess free will? At the heart of Moses’ question
about God’s goodness and the existence of evil lies an even deeper
existential paradox concerning the seeming contradiction between
human free will and God’s Omniscience and Divine Providence.
As the Midrash states, Moses “is the first redeemer and he [his soul
reincarnated as Mashiach] will be the last redeemer” (Shemot Rabbah
4:2). This statement links the souls of Moses and Mashiach together.
The connection between Moses and Mashiach is further stressed by
both their Hebrew names beginning with the letters mem and shin. In
the future Moses’ unease and worry will be transformed and uplifted
by Mashiach who will usher in a new level of human consciousness.
The worry Moses carried in his heart was in a sense a reflection of
God’s own discomfort, as it were, with the way human history has
evolved. Moses had tapped into the very essence of his Creator and
into the intrinsic state of paradox inherent in any understanding of
God’s fundamental nature and of the purpose of creation. Only in
the future will God reveal His face. At that time all the secrets of
human history will be revealed and humanity will then be able to
fully comprehend what at this time is still concealed.
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