Tuesday, November 6, 2012

Transforming Everything Into Holiness

Insight into the mitzva of שנים מקרא ואחד תרגום and why the angels don't understand Aramaic [as the gemara says in Shabbos]:

There are two ways to serve Hashem. One is to spend one's time ensconced in the Beis Medrash, learning Torah and davening all day. The other is not to be involved in what are strictly speaking considered mitzvos but in matters of רשות that are done לשם שמים. A person who works in order to support his family and build a Torah home is serving Hashem in a less direct manner than the full time learner but is also serving Hashem.

The language of the first person is לשון הקודש, pure holiness. The language of the second is Aramaic which is comprised of two languages - it mixes Hebrew with non-Hebrew. This language of Aramaic is used as Targum and symbolizes all of those matters that appear as nature but really conceal holy, spiritual matters. It is like the union of the physical and visible body and invisible, celestial soul [does my English get too fancy sometimes? Believe me, I TRY!!:-)].

Angels are שייך [how on earth do you say שייך in English?? Shayich??] to the realm of the purely spiritual. They are non-corporeal [meaning non tangible, without a physical form] beings who relate only to an existence of unadulterated Avodas Hashem, as the first type of person we described earlier. That is why they don't understand Aramiac which symbolizes the fusion of the holy and secular. Only man can translate the holy Torah into the less holy Aramaic and thus elevate it. 

That is also why we must read the Torah every week with the Targum, symbolizing our desire to transform all of what is not purely holy into Torah. Now we also understand the depth of the opinion that first we read the chumash, then Targum and then Chumash again. Meaning, the tachlis of the Targum is to transform it into the pure holiness of לשון הקודש.  

Is that not SOMETHING???

עפ"י דברי מרן הרב הוטנר זצ"ל בס' עולת יצחק עמ' שכז