The Weekly Dvar Torah
Volume 2 Issue #17
[W]Holy Physical
Yisro
Adapted from the wisdom of Rav Meir Simcha HaCohen of Dvinsk from the Meshech Chochmoh and Rav Tzadok HaCohen from Pri Tzadik and other works.
By Rav Yitzchak Schwartz Rosh Yeshiva Orchos Chaim Jerusalem
yschwartz@orchos.org.
This publication, Zichron Yehoshua, is in memory of Yehoshua Yakov ben Moshe-Jeffrey Nussbaum through a generous grant from Dr. Eric Nussbaum and family.
This issue is dedicated to David Freedman and his dear family, may Hashem forever bless them with abundance in ruchnius and gashmius.
The ancient Greek philosophers believed that the highest state if perfection that a human can attain comes through development of a superior intellect. Once perfected, a person would be able to connect himself with the intellect of the Supreme Being and achieve blissful eternity. The problem with this approach is obvious. How many people can ever hope to attain a sufficient level of intellectual accomplishment that would deem them worthy of unification with the Supreme intellect? Furthermore, the philosophical approach completely overlooks the purposefulness of the physical aspect of creation. If the only purpose of man’s creation was to gain intellectual perfection, why did Hashem burden him with a physical body that presents him with so many distractions and challenges? It would have been better to create him as a disembodied intellect similar to an angel.
In the Meshech Chochma, Rav Meir Simcha of Dvinsk explains that the Torah teaches us that not only is the philosophical approach intellectually problematic, but the exact opposite is true. Hashem created man to perfect his body and the material facets of creation. The perfection of man is accomplished through exercising freewill in a way that conforms to the will of the Creator. Every interaction within the realm of the physical world presents man with an opportunity to choose whether to act upon personal desires or take action in a way that is in fulfillment of the Divine will as expressed in the Torah. In this way, every person, even one who is preoccupied with the demands of work and material existence, can successfully achieve the purpose of his creation. Every time man exercises his freewill in making a choice to elevate his conduct beyond impulsive behavior, while overcoming the natural and instinctive drives of physicality, he transforms himself and his material surroundings into something more refined and sacred.
The Meshech Chochma gives several illustrations of this concept. Our sages teach us that every year on the festival of Succot there was a great celebration in the Beit Hamikdash (Holy Temple). This mitzvah was incumbent upon the entire Jewish people. During the annual Succot festivities the city of Jerusalem exploded with the most jubilant revelry of the entire year including festive meals, music, singing, dancing and spectacular merriment. Despite the ostensibly physical nature of these events, they were the source of unparalleled spiritual elevation. The sages revealed that those who participated in the celebrations attained the faculty of ruach hakodesh, a level of minor prophecy. Through fulfillment of the mitzvah to rejoice on Succot, they succeeded to transform merely physical pleasures of partying into the highest level of spiritual accomplishment.
Over the course of an entire lifetime, the manifold opportunities in which man chooses to conduct himself in accordance with the mitzvot and laws of the Torah over natural inclinations, transform his physical body into a sacred reality that has the capacity to glow with holiness. This is what happened to Moshe our great teacher. Before he received the Torah, in Hashem’s initial revelation in the bush, Hashem instructed Moshe to remove his shoes because the land where the revelation occurred was sacred. The shoes are a metaphor for the physical body that often stands between man and spiritual accomplishment. Prior to receiving the Torah [even] Moshe’s body was not yet sufficiently sanctified to stand in the service of Hashem. Hashem instructed him to remove his “shoes†i.e. to detach himself from the physical if he wanted to connect with and serve the Creator. In contrast to this, when Hashem instructed Moshe to ascend to the summit of Mt. Sinai to receive the Torah He did not instruct him to remove his shoes. The Torah, through fulfillment of its mitzvoth, would itself transform Moshe’s body into a spiritual entity. There was no longer a need to separate from his body. Ultimately, Moshe’s body glowed with the sanctity of the Shechinah “And it came to pass, when Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tables of the testimony in Moses' hand, when he came down from the mount, Moses knew not that the skin of his face sent forth beams while He talked with him.†(Shemot 34:29)
In light of this we can understand the deeper meaning of the scripture in Tehilim “You have ascended on high, You have captured captives; You have received gifts among men...†(Tehilim 68:19) Our sages revealed that this verse refers to Moshe when he ascended to the heavens to receive the Torah. Hashem’s ministering angels initially objected to Moshe’s presence because he was physical and therefore unworthy to stand in their sacred place. After delivering a convincing agreement, Moshe succeeded in winning the angels over to his side, he captured them with his arguments and they in turn gave him gifts, the gift of a glowing countenance. The angels bestowed upon him “gifts among men†i.e. they acknowledged that man, despite his physicality, had the capacity to be elevated to something sacred. Moshe’s glowing face was manifestation of this gift.
Ultimately, Moshe accomplished the greatest level of perfection possible. When it came time for him to leave this world his body was so spiritually elevated that it was no longer bound by the limitations of space – “And [Moshe] was buried in the valley in the land of Moab over against Beit-peor; and no man knows of his place of burial unto this day.†(Devarim 34:6) After toiling his entire life in carrying out the will of Hashem, Moshe’s body became transcendental. It could not be contained by the limitations of the physical earth.
“You [Hashem] delivered law to be heard from heaven; the earth feared, and was [then] still,†(Tehilim 76:9) Our sages teach us that this verse refers to the day of the giving of the Torah at Mt. Sinai. Initially, the “earth feared†that the Jewish people may not be willing to accept the Torah because if not for the fulfillment of Torah the physical world would remain just that – purely physical. The grandeur and holiness of Hashem would remain restricted within the realm of the angels in the heavens. The earth would be hopelessly confined to lowly physicality. However, following their acceptance of the Torah the world was “still†because now the Jewish people would fulfill the will of Hashem in all of their ways. Notwithstanding its earthiness, the world would be elevated, rising beyond the sanctity of even the heavens. G-d’s holiness and glory would break through the darkness of the material and sanctify the physical. The Shechina would dwell in our midst as the light of Hashem illuminates all of creation.
By Rav Yitzchak Schwartz Rosh Yeshiva Orchos Chaim Jerusalem
yschwartz@orchos.org.
This publication, Zichron Yehoshua, is in memory of Yehoshua Yakov ben Moshe-Jeffrey Nussbaum through a generous grant from Dr. Eric Nussbaum and family.
This issue is dedicated to David Freedman and his dear family, may Hashem forever bless them with abundance in ruchnius and gashmius.
The ancient Greek philosophers believed that the highest state if perfection that a human can attain comes through development of a superior intellect. Once perfected, a person would be able to connect himself with the intellect of the Supreme Being and achieve blissful eternity. The problem with this approach is obvious. How many people can ever hope to attain a sufficient level of intellectual accomplishment that would deem them worthy of unification with the Supreme intellect? Furthermore, the philosophical approach completely overlooks the purposefulness of the physical aspect of creation. If the only purpose of man’s creation was to gain intellectual perfection, why did Hashem burden him with a physical body that presents him with so many distractions and challenges? It would have been better to create him as a disembodied intellect similar to an angel.
In the Meshech Chochma, Rav Meir Simcha of Dvinsk explains that the Torah teaches us that not only is the philosophical approach intellectually problematic, but the exact opposite is true. Hashem created man to perfect his body and the material facets of creation. The perfection of man is accomplished through exercising freewill in a way that conforms to the will of the Creator. Every interaction within the realm of the physical world presents man with an opportunity to choose whether to act upon personal desires or take action in a way that is in fulfillment of the Divine will as expressed in the Torah. In this way, every person, even one who is preoccupied with the demands of work and material existence, can successfully achieve the purpose of his creation. Every time man exercises his freewill in making a choice to elevate his conduct beyond impulsive behavior, while overcoming the natural and instinctive drives of physicality, he transforms himself and his material surroundings into something more refined and sacred.
The Meshech Chochma gives several illustrations of this concept. Our sages teach us that every year on the festival of Succot there was a great celebration in the Beit Hamikdash (Holy Temple). This mitzvah was incumbent upon the entire Jewish people. During the annual Succot festivities the city of Jerusalem exploded with the most jubilant revelry of the entire year including festive meals, music, singing, dancing and spectacular merriment. Despite the ostensibly physical nature of these events, they were the source of unparalleled spiritual elevation. The sages revealed that those who participated in the celebrations attained the faculty of ruach hakodesh, a level of minor prophecy. Through fulfillment of the mitzvah to rejoice on Succot, they succeeded to transform merely physical pleasures of partying into the highest level of spiritual accomplishment.
Over the course of an entire lifetime, the manifold opportunities in which man chooses to conduct himself in accordance with the mitzvot and laws of the Torah over natural inclinations, transform his physical body into a sacred reality that has the capacity to glow with holiness. This is what happened to Moshe our great teacher. Before he received the Torah, in Hashem’s initial revelation in the bush, Hashem instructed Moshe to remove his shoes because the land where the revelation occurred was sacred. The shoes are a metaphor for the physical body that often stands between man and spiritual accomplishment. Prior to receiving the Torah [even] Moshe’s body was not yet sufficiently sanctified to stand in the service of Hashem. Hashem instructed him to remove his “shoes†i.e. to detach himself from the physical if he wanted to connect with and serve the Creator. In contrast to this, when Hashem instructed Moshe to ascend to the summit of Mt. Sinai to receive the Torah He did not instruct him to remove his shoes. The Torah, through fulfillment of its mitzvoth, would itself transform Moshe’s body into a spiritual entity. There was no longer a need to separate from his body. Ultimately, Moshe’s body glowed with the sanctity of the Shechinah “And it came to pass, when Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tables of the testimony in Moses' hand, when he came down from the mount, Moses knew not that the skin of his face sent forth beams while He talked with him.†(Shemot 34:29)
In light of this we can understand the deeper meaning of the scripture in Tehilim “You have ascended on high, You have captured captives; You have received gifts among men...†(Tehilim 68:19) Our sages revealed that this verse refers to Moshe when he ascended to the heavens to receive the Torah. Hashem’s ministering angels initially objected to Moshe’s presence because he was physical and therefore unworthy to stand in their sacred place. After delivering a convincing agreement, Moshe succeeded in winning the angels over to his side, he captured them with his arguments and they in turn gave him gifts, the gift of a glowing countenance. The angels bestowed upon him “gifts among men†i.e. they acknowledged that man, despite his physicality, had the capacity to be elevated to something sacred. Moshe’s glowing face was manifestation of this gift.
Ultimately, Moshe accomplished the greatest level of perfection possible. When it came time for him to leave this world his body was so spiritually elevated that it was no longer bound by the limitations of space – “And [Moshe] was buried in the valley in the land of Moab over against Beit-peor; and no man knows of his place of burial unto this day.†(Devarim 34:6) After toiling his entire life in carrying out the will of Hashem, Moshe’s body became transcendental. It could not be contained by the limitations of the physical earth.
“You [Hashem] delivered law to be heard from heaven; the earth feared, and was [then] still,†(Tehilim 76:9) Our sages teach us that this verse refers to the day of the giving of the Torah at Mt. Sinai. Initially, the “earth feared†that the Jewish people may not be willing to accept the Torah because if not for the fulfillment of Torah the physical world would remain just that – purely physical. The grandeur and holiness of Hashem would remain restricted within the realm of the angels in the heavens. The earth would be hopelessly confined to lowly physicality. However, following their acceptance of the Torah the world was “still†because now the Jewish people would fulfill the will of Hashem in all of their ways. Notwithstanding its earthiness, the world would be elevated, rising beyond the sanctity of even the heavens. G-d’s holiness and glory would break through the darkness of the material and sanctify the physical. The Shechina would dwell in our midst as the light of Hashem illuminates all of creation.