This week’s portion – Te’tza’veh (literally, “you shall order them”) – is a direct continuation of last week’s portion, namely the extremely detailed instructions on how to build the Tabernacle (or Mishkan) and to serve God therein. Accordingly, my own notes this week would also continue – and elaborate upon – those of last week’s. In light of several comments I received – (please feel free to comment on the Blog) – I think such elaboration is warranted.
I. God’s Place in This World
Last week we read the extremely accurate verse, which succinctly summarizes God's place in the world: “And they [the People of Israel] would build me a sanctuary and I will dwell among them” [and not, as one may think “and I will dwell in there.”] (Ex. 25:8) God does not reside in one place, be it a traveling sanctuary or a permanent shrine. God, as we all know well, is everywhere all the time (omnipresent). It is we, the limited humans, who need a constant reminder that God is still among us. It is we who require an actualization of the transcendence of God. It is we who need to see, in our own eyes, what our minds at time refuse to acknowledge.
This week’s portion elaborate on this important point: “And there [by the Tent of Meeting] I will conference with the People of Israel, and it shall be sanctified by my honor; and I have sanctified the Tent of Meeting . . . And I have dwelled among the People of Israel and I shall be their God; And they shall know that I am the Lord their God who brought them from the Land of Egypt to dwell among them, I am the Lord your God.” (Ex. 29:41-46).
This is a remarkable passage. First, it seems that not only readers of this blog, but also much earlier readers – and perhaps the divine author of the text itself – felt the need to further explain this extremely crucial point. Second, what we have here is a direct connection between the First Commandment – “I am the Lord your God who brought you from the Land of Egypt” – and notion of residing in places other than the so-called “sanctified” placed. Indeed, in the deepest (religious) sense, these “sanctified” places are merely symbols; the truly religious person doesn’t need them – he has God in his (or her) heart at all times, wherever he goes (compare the first verses of the “Sh’ma”). And while this point may sound somewhat trivial to American ears, rest assured that many a war would have been prevented, and thousands of lives would have been spared, if only some middle-eastern leaders (yes, Israeli leaders too) could have internalize this point: again, it is not the place that is holly; it is God; He does not reside in that place, He is everywhere. The question, then, should the Israeli Government hold on to this or that place (which, presumably, are “holy” for some reason) becomes almost irrelevant once this seemingly trivial point is properly understood. Holiness exists in the hearts and minds of the people; it does not attach to a singular place.
Professor Yeshayahu Leibovitz, who, more than anyone else, advocated this point ad nauseam, had once dared to call Israel’s most holly place – the Western Wall (known in Israel as the “The Ko’tel”) – a “Disco Kotel.” He explained that there’s nothing “holy” about that particular wall, and that it was definitely not worth the life of even one person, let alone the hundreds of soldiers and civilians who were killed and injured over the years in the effort to “liberate” it. But, as is often the case, his words were taken out of context, and all people could remember was that he called this place a “Disco.” But all Leibovitz was trying to do is remake the argument that God Himself was making in the last two portions.
II. God’s Place in Your Heart
For those who seek a more current angle – which is true for most of my readers, I guess – let me offer a quote from one of my favorite movies - A Few Good Men (1992). At the end of the film, after the two Marines were acquitted of the more serious charges (murder and a conspiracy to commit murder) but convicted of the lesser charge (conduct unbecoming a Marine Core soldier), one of them wonders aloud what would they do now that they have no more unit, no core, and no honor. Lieutenant Kaffee, played by Tom Cruise, turns to him and confidently reassures: “You don't need a patch on your arm to have honor.”
I think the same is true for God. The relationship between you and God should not be directed by a “patch on the arm,” a “Yamukah or the head,” or the amount of time you spend in the nearest synagogue. While all those are important, they are, at the end of the day, merely symbols of your relationship with God, not “the thing in itself” (to borrow, for a short moment, from the greatest philosopher of all times). Those relationship, however, are determined by the degree to which you allow God to reside in your heart. If you are content with that degree, don’t let anyone ever tell you otherwise; and if you are not happy with that degree, all the hours you will ever spend in shul, wearing Talit, Tefilin, and Yamukah combined, would be of no help to you at all. Such determination may only be made between you and God.
Shabbat Shalom,
Doron
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