Tzvi Moshe Kantor: Divine Light Refraction

This week’s Parsha explains and lists in great detail the building and design of the Mishkan. We know that the Torah is not merely a storybook and that everything contained in it is a lesson in Avodas Hashem that is relevant today. Let’s try to explore the concepts that relate to Mishkan and how they relate to way that I approach my relationship with HaKadosh Baruch Hu.
The Ramban explains in the introduction to the Parsha that the Mishkan is the way that we keep the ball rolling from Har Sinai. At Ma’amad Har Sinai a fantastic spiritual potential blasts forth. The public revelation of God and all the accompanying miracles release an unbelievable light. He goes onto explain that now that this light has entered the physical reality, there has to be a setting for it to rest amongst the Jews; hence we build a ‘house for God,’ a resting place for the Shechina - the Mishkan, so that this light can be concretized among us.

To take things a step further, we need to introduce a concept from Jewish esoteric thought called Oros and Keilim - Lights and Vessels. Lights are the spiritual energies that enter the world based on Hashem’s will, and the Vessels are the setting through which the Lights are able to manifest and be accepted into the physical plane.

The Mishkan, and the Keilim of the Mishkan (the Menorah, the Aron, the different Mizbachos etc) are the Keilim that accept the Oros, the lights that reflect the Retzon Hashem that is revealed at Har Sinai.

We can approach this like stained glass. A beam of light passes through the various filters of stained glass and results in different colored beams emerging on the other side. The light of Har Sinai, the huge spiritual potential that enters, filters through the various Keilim of the Mishkan to display different facets of the one, unified light of Retzon Hashem. The Menorah achieves something that the Aron does not. The Aron posses qualities that the Mizbeach HaZahav does not and so on. Each of the Keilim is a different concretization of the Or of Ratzon Hashem.
The Passuk says, “V’Asu Li Mikdash V’Shachanti B’Socham” ‘They shall make me a Mishkan, and I will dwell in them.’ What is ‘them’ - the people? Surely ‘in it’ would be better. Chazal famously explain that that the Passuk makes perfect sense. Through the building of the Mishkan, Hashem rests in the individual, “B’Chol Echad V’Echad” thus the Passuk says “In them” and not “In it.” We need to explain how this is so.

Let’s put these ideas on the hold momentarily, digress, and then tie everything together at the end.

The Gemara in Masseches Yoma (69b) tells over the following: Moshe Rabbeinu in Parshas Eikev (10:17) declares Hashem to be Gadol, Gibor and Nora, Great, Powerful and Awesome. With the full perspective of all that Moshe witnessed in Egypt, and in the desert – all the open miracles, he gives Hashem these titles.

The Jews continued to praise God in this way for a long time. The conquering of Eretz Yisrael and the building of the first Beis HaMikdash are all replete with open miracles, and thus the titles that Moshe instituted remained in place.

But things turned downhill towards the end of First Temple era. As the First Temple era came to a close, the Prophets of the time no longer saw these outward miracles, they no longer saw the obvious and blatant control of Hashem and they stripped away the usage of these terms. No longer were they used in Tefilah or in reference to God.

But then, at the beginning of Bayis Sheini, the Second Temple era, the Anshei Knesses HaGedolah, the Great Assembly, instituted the Shmoneh Esrei and brought back the titles of Gadol, Gibor and Nora. The Gemara says that this is the greatness of the Anshei Knesses HaGedolah. So where is the switch in perspective that allowed them to see Gadol, Gibor and Nora in a way that the Prophets at the end of the First Temple era did not? The Maharsha brings the answer. The change in perspective was:
Purim.

What did they see? They had the eyes to perceive the miracles of Purim even though they were not supernatural or flashy. They were able to see God’s hand operating within the constraints of the world. Contrary to the viewpoint of the Prophets, the Anshei Knesses HaGedolah were able to see Gadol, Gibor and Nora, within a natural context. This is their greatness.
(As a side point: it is interesting to note that the tune used to read Eicha, [the lamentations over the destruction of the First Temple], and Megilas Esther are strikingly similar. There are a few minor differences in the tune that can only be described as saying that Megilas Esther has a slightly more “goofy” melody. It could be that the connection lies in what we just established – what makes the viewpoint of the Anshei Knesses HaGedolah so great is the tiny shift from the perspective of Eicha to the headspace of Megilas Esther.)

It’s spoken about a lot that Purim is Kabalas HaTorah Round Two. The Gemara in two places (Shabbos 88a and Shevuos 39b) explains, Kiymu Mah SheKiblu Kvar. Because of the Purim story, the Jews stood up and confirmed what they previously accepted. The Jews reaccepted the Torah. The energies of Har Sinai re-entered the world. But they did so in the way we explained above when talking about the Anshei Knesses HaGedola All the miracles that were present and felt at Ma’amad Har Sinai Round One, were re-experienced, albeit within the context of the physical, mundane reality during Kabalas HaTorah Round Two.

The Maor Va’Shemesh explains based on the AriZal that the light of Purim, its spiritual potential, is the highest. It’s higher than Yom Kippur, it’s higher that Shabbos Kodesh. Hashem shines down an Or more powerful than at any other point in the year. And this is the reason that we dress up in ridiculous costumes. What’s the connection? He explains that on Shabbos Kodesh we dress up to transform ourselves into fitting receptacles so we can grab onto the Oros that Shabbos Kodesh has to offer. But the light of Purim has a greater scale of influence. The Oros of Purim shine from a place that is even higher and more potent and powerful, and thus can penetrate deeper to fix even the lowliest spiritual places. Because of this we dress up as punks, as Spider Man, as clowns, sports stars, as whatever, because in our doing this, on a spiritual level we allow the Oros of Purim to penetrate an add holiness into even more mundane things. We add spirituality to the lowest levels of the world. On Purim, out of the most physical of things, we are able to stimulate the highest spirituality.

As we have established, there is a parallel between the experience of Har Sinai and Purim – it is the acceptance and the re-acceptance of the Torah. Thus on some level the structure of the two should also parallel. We explained above based on the Ramban that the way that we concretize the Oros of Har Sinai is through the Keilim of the Mishkan. In the same way that the Oros of Har Sinai become solidified in the Mishkan, the Oros of Purim come down and enter into us when we don our ridiculous costumes. It all comes back to the Purim/Har Sinai connection. Now we can understand what we said all the way at the beginning. What does is mean that the presence of Hashem will rest ”B’Chol Echad V’Echad” – in each individual? The answer could be, that in the same way that Retzon Hashem manifests in the various Keilim of the Mishkan, so too with our costumes, we our facilitating ourselves in becoming those same vessels in which Ratzon Hashem can come down in a way it only does once a year. And thus it is V’Shachanti B’Socham, Hashem mammash sends His presence into us. We become the Keilim.

What a wonderful gift Hashem has sent me! I am afforded the ability to transform myself into a vessel that directly accepts Hashem’s highest spiritual gifts. Baruch Hashem! We say T'shuasam Hayisa LaNetzach. Purim is all about eternity. The internal change I can make on Purim, can stay with me forever… if I do it right. I have to focus myself to see how at everystep I am, to the best of my ability, channeling Retzon Hashem through myself. I need to constantly ask myself: "What does Hashem want from me at this moment? How can I be the best Kli to accept Hashem’s Oros? What can I transform myself into? How high can I go?" Do we ask ourselves these questions often enough? I don’t know, but at this time of the year where we are learning about how to concretize Hashem’s will is a moment where we need to introspect and seriously think: “Have I been a good Kli lately?" B'Ezras Hashem we should all be Zoche to realize the potential we have in us. Hashem should grant us the gift to see the potential in ourselves. We can become creations of the highest order – Hashem will dwell in the world through us. If we can do this, there is no doubt we will live lives of meaning, moving closer to the Creator and thereby closer to the Redemption!