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Orchard of Delights 13 Kedoshim
£Pushing Aside the Veil of LiesPushing Aside the Veil of LiesPushing Aside the Veil of Lies £The Soul Connection Between the The Soul Connection Between the The Soul Connection Between the
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Jewish People and the Land of IsraelJewish People and the Land of IsraelJewish People and the Land of Israel
The word the Torah uses to describe the physical blemish that would
disqualify a cohen is “moom.” This word appears exactly five times in
the Torah section discussed in the previous section. This is significant Near the end of Kedoshim the innate connection between the Jewish
because according to Kabbalah and Chassidut there are five levels of people, their actions, and the Land of Israel is delineated:
the soul and five worlds. Furthermore, the numerical value of the You shall observe all My decrees and all My ordinances and
word “moom” is eighty-six, the same as Elokim, God’s name, which perform them; then the land to which I bring you to dwell will not
connotes judgment. Eighty-six is also the numerical value of the all- vomit you out. Do not follow the traditions of the nation that I expel
inclusive Hebrew word for nature (hateva). from before you, for they did all of these and I was disgusted with
them. So I said to you: “You shall inherit their land, and I will give it
The web of association spun between “blemish,” the name
“Elokim,” and “nature,” reveals a deep insight into the world we live to you to inherit it, a land flowing with milk and honey.” (Leviticus
in. In relation to the world above it, each of the five worlds described 20:22-24)
by Kabbalah is “blemished,” for it is more material, farther away The second paragraph of the Shema, recited twice daily, imparts
from its pristine Divine source. The soul as well experiences this sense a similar message. If we love God with all our hearts and all our
of being flawed when it descends from its pristine heavenly abode via souls then the rain will fall in its proper time, enabling bountiful
the five worlds and enters a body in this, the lowest world, the world crops to grow, and we will prolong our days and our children’s days
referred to by the Sages as a “world of lies.” in the Land that God has promised us. However, if we stray after
other gods and serve them, then the rains will stop and eventually
The blemished nature of the physical world we live in is a result of
our being exposed to a confusing bombardment of multiple stimuli, we will be driven out of the Land into exile (Deuteronomy 11:13-21).
the conflicting pull of emotions, and the overwhelming sense of The rain mentioned in these verses is both physical and spiritual; its
multiplicity, contradiction, and paradox infusing creation. Only by falling depends directly on our actions.
breaking through the illusory material shells of this world can we The “soul connection” between the Land of Israel and the Jewish
reveal the unity underlying all of reality. people, has kept us innately tied to our inheritance in the Land
through countless exiles, as we return again and again. When the
Although the name “Elokim” connotes judgment, the inner force
animating it is God’s four-letter name, which connotes mercy. This Jewish people were in exile, the Land of Israel lay barren, refusing to
is the profound meaning of the statement: “Hashem [God’s four- produce its fruits. This process is actually prophesied in the Torah:
letter name] He is Elokim.” As we saw in the last section, a complex The whole Land is brimstone and salt and burning, that
dynamic comes into play between God’s qualities of strict judgment it is not sown, nor bears, nor does any grass grow on it
and hidden mercy in those with a physical disability. … then all the nations shall say: “For what reason did
In the Song of Songs (4:7), a profound allegory describing the God do this to the Land? What means the heat of this
passionate love between God and Israel, the male protagonist describes great anger?” Then men shall say, “Because they have
his beloved as unblemished. Since the male protagonist in the song is forsaken the covenant of the God of their fathers.” (Deut.
God and His beloved is Israel this statement is puzzling. Who knows 29:22-24).
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