Essays for Elul: Fourth Essay — Space and Time
Saturday Night, Parshat Ki Teitzei
Part I: The Sanctuary of Space
"And he encountered the place" (Genesis 28:11). Rabbi Huna said in the name of Rabbi Ammi: "Why do we use a substitute name for the Holy One, blessed be He, and call Him 'Makom' (Place)? Because He is the place of the world, and His world is not His place—as it is written, 'Behold, there is a place with Me' (Exodus 33:21). Thus, the Holy One, blessed be He, is the place of the world, but His world is not His place" (Genesis Rabbah 68:10).
In most instances where the Torah recounts a revelation of the Divine Presence (Shechinah), it takes care to specify the location: "And God ascended from upon him in the place where He had spoken with him" (Genesis 35:13). This suggests that the location of revelation is not a trivial detail, but rather an essential requirement for it to occur. We must therefore understand: What is the relationship between physical space and Divine revelation?
Furthermore, there are distinct hierarchies of holiness: outside the Land of Israel versus inside it, the rest of Israel versus Jerusalem, the Temple Mount, the Temple Courtyard, and ultimately the Holy of Holies. Why does location matter regarding holiness if "the entire earth is full of His glory"? How do spatial distinctions apply here?
Our Sages excluded the physical world from being "His place"—meaning the physical world does not sustain or necessitate the manifestation of His Divinity. If space holds no inherently positive value for Divine revelation, what is the meaning behind the ascending levels of the Ten Degrees of Holiness?
It appears that all physical creation acts as a double-edged sword: on one hand, it serves as evidence of Divinity; on the other, it acts as a barrier between us and Him. Physicality and matter obscure our ability to perceive a holy, spiritual Essence. Within physical locations, there are varying capacities for these barriers to dissolve, allowing for Divine perception:
Refined Locations: Spaces where physical matter is finer and more easily annulled.
Coarse Locations: Spaces of dense materiality where dissolving the barrier is nearly impossible.
In a place where this self-nullification (bitul) occurs, physical matter loses its prominence and becomes as nothing. As these barriers fall away, the true "Place of the World" is revealed. It becomes clear that the physical location holds no independent reality; it is entirely secondary to the true Makom.
This is the deeper meaning of the "holiness of a place": a setting where the barriers separating us from Him are removed. The more these barriers dissolve, the more Divinity is revealed.
"Remove your shoes from your feet, for the place upon which you stand is holy ground" (Exodus 3:5). "Remove your shoes" means to remove the barrier separating the individual from the "holy ground." Notice the Hebrew phrasing: it does not say admas kodesh hi (a holy ground), but admas kodesh hu—meaning the place itself is the holy ground, for it touches the true Place of the World. When Moshe stood before the Burning Bush, all physical barriers dissolved, opening a direct manifestation of the Place of the World upon which he stood.
This accounts for the varying degrees of holiness, culminating in the Holy of Holies—the ultimate point where all world barriers vanish. When the High Priest entered the innermost sanctuary, the physical stones, beams, wood, and earth ceased to act as an obscuring screen. Everything was entirely annulled, enabling him to hear "the Voice speaking to him from above the ark-cover... from between the two cherubim" (Numbers 7:89).
Part II: The Degrees of Nullification
A person's spiritual stature determines their ability to look past physical barriers and perceive the Holy One as the true Place of the World:
Yisro: Acknowledged God above idols, saying, "Now I know that the Lord is greater than all gods" (Exodus 18:11).
Naaman: Granted a partial recognition, saying, "There is no God in all the earth except in Israel" (2 Kings 5:15).
Rachav: Excluded the heavens and earth, saying, "For the Lord your God, He is God in heaven above and on earth below" (Joshua 2:11)—yet she left the empty expanse of space (chalalo shel olam) as a entity.
Moshe: Recognized that "the Lord is God in heaven above and on the earth below; there is no other" (Deuteronomy 4:39)—not even in the empty expanse of space.
Rachav dissolved the barriers of heaven and earth but treated space itself as a neutral background. Moshe realized that even empty space is a physical creation, not an independent reality, and he looked through even the thinnest physical barriers to perceive God clearly.
Space and time are created entities. When Albert Einstein was asked to summarize his theory of relativity, he explained that people previously believed if all stars and matter were removed, space and time would remain. His insight was that if all matter were removed, space and time would vanish as well. Space and time are fundamentally created, not eternal.
"In the beginning God created" (Genesis 1:1)—Sforno explains this marks the creation of time itself. Time is a creation parallel to space. Just as space contains varied levels of holiness, time contains distinct realms of the sacred and the mundane. The Sabbath and Festivals are holy times, prompting the blessing, "Who sanctifies Israel and the festive seasons."
Part III: The Sanctity of Time
Just as holy places possess a unique capacity for dissolving spatial barriers, holy times possess a capacity for dissolving temporal barriers. Time, too, contains distractions that hinder our closeness to God. When those barriers fall, the Divine Presence is revealed.
"Six days you shall labor... but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God" (Exodus 20:9-10). The six workdays are filled with mundane labors and livelihoods, whereas the Sabbath is "to the Lord"—entirely dedicated and humbled before Him. When a person guards the sanctity of time by refraining from labor, they actively remove time's barriers and elevate themselves in holiness.
Maimonides highlights this dynamic when discussing the shofar:
"Even though the sounding of the shofar on Rosh Hashanah is a Scriptural decree, it contains a hint: 'Awake, you sleepers, from your sleep, and you slumberers, arise from your slumber... those who forget the truth through the vanities of time and stray all their years in vanity and emptiness that cannot yield benefit or salvation—look to your souls!'" (Laws of Repentance 3:4)
"Forgetting the truth through the vanities of time"—at first glance, "truth" and "time" seem to be unrelated concepts. How can time's trivialities cause one to forget truth? Time generates mundane distractions that push truth out of a person's life, turning time itself into a thick wall between man and truth. The shofar's role is to break through this temporal barrier and awaken us from our year-long slumber.
This reveals a profound lesson: We often assume the primary goal is simply intellectual comprehension of truth, regardless of how we arrive there. Yet here we see that the master key is not abstract thought, but our relationship with time. One who strips away temporal vanities and nullifies time's barriers before God automatically stands beside eternity and accesses truth.
Part IV: Space vs. Time — The Inner Dimension
Which form of spiritual work reaches deeper: space or time? Time touches a deeper internal dimension:
| Domain | Talmudic Source | Case | Spiritual Verdict | Significance |
| Space | Pirkei Avot 3:3 | Three who eat together without Torah words | "As if they ate from sacrifices to the dead" | Lacks spatial sanctity (Bli Makom); missing the vitality of Torah. |
| Time | Pirkei Avot 3:4 | One who awakens at night or walks alone and turns their heart to idleness | "Forfeits his life" (Mischayev be-Nafsho) | Wastes an opportunity in time; forfeits their very soul. |
