A thought on פרשת בחקתי
"...v'ha'aretz ezkor...""...and I will remember the land..." (26:42)
HaShem assures us that each covenant which He forged with each of our three Patriarchs will be remembered always, even when we gone astray into exile. We find comfort in that Divine promise to uphold these covenants made on our behalf with our Avos.
What about the land? The verse says nothing about a covenant with the land, yet closes with this fourth reassurance that HaShem will remember the land. What will He "remember" with regard to the land? How is the land on par with the three Avos? Our patriarchs, at least, modeled great virtues through their lives of kindness, of justice and of truth. What has the land modeled? The land is inanimate, and not a person who can be party to a covenant. The land was worked when we inhabited Israel, and it lay fallow when we were exiled. What is this mysterious remembrance about, that seems to rank along with the deeds of the Avos?The Recanati introduces a thought from the holy Zohar: when the verses refer to the three Avos, the reference is not to the people (Avraham, Yitzchak and Yakov), but to the three covenants. A bris, or covenant, means that a form of partnership is created. On earth below, because the Avos modeled great and essential virtues, HaShem commits to showing their descendants, our nation, the same attributes from Above. This is the meaning of the somewhat familiar image we have of the Avos being the "chariot" through which the Divine Presence is known in our world.
A chariot needs four wheels. Three patriarchs means only three wheels. Who was the bearer of the fourth wheel? Dovid HaMelech is the fourth wheel, for through his life of avoda, of conquest and intervention, the land could be transformed into the place where the Holy Mikdash could arise and both contain that sense of the Presence, and also help launch heavenward the prayers and offerings of our people.
Dovid HaMelech modeled the virtue of receiving Sacred Presence, and resonating with sacred praise and devotion. He was the final wheel of the "chariot," and with his essential role, the Heavens above could now be viewed as a "land" or a realm about which there could be a sense of consistency, attachment and belonging. Dovid HaMelech helped forge a Divine parallel not of an attribute but of a more attainable sense of a Heavenly reality.
Therefore, HaShem promises that He will adhere to the covenants of kindness, of justice, of truth and of accessibility, even when we are estranged from His Presence in exile. "The Land" is an allusion to the role which King Dovid would take in our later history in galvanizing the bond between the earth below and the heavens above. And this, says the Recanati, is the deeper message in our daily recitation in Boruch Sh'Amar when we praise HaShem as "Boruch Merachem al Ha'Aretz" - blessed is He who still has mercy over the land.
This is being sent out early as I depart for another land tomorrow. Good Shabbos. D Fox
HaShem assures us that each covenant which He forged with each of our three Patriarchs will be remembered always, even when we gone astray into exile. We find comfort in that Divine promise to uphold these covenants made on our behalf with our Avos.
What about the land? The verse says nothing about a covenant with the land, yet closes with this fourth reassurance that HaShem will remember the land. What will He "remember" with regard to the land? How is the land on par with the three Avos? Our patriarchs, at least, modeled great virtues through their lives of kindness, of justice and of truth. What has the land modeled? The land is inanimate, and not a person who can be party to a covenant. The land was worked when we inhabited Israel, and it lay fallow when we were exiled. What is this mysterious remembrance about, that seems to rank along with the deeds of the Avos?The Recanati introduces a thought from the holy Zohar: when the verses refer to the three Avos, the reference is not to the people (Avraham, Yitzchak and Yakov), but to the three covenants. A bris, or covenant, means that a form of partnership is created. On earth below, because the Avos modeled great and essential virtues, HaShem commits to showing their descendants, our nation, the same attributes from Above. This is the meaning of the somewhat familiar image we have of the Avos being the "chariot" through which the Divine Presence is known in our world.
A chariot needs four wheels. Three patriarchs means only three wheels. Who was the bearer of the fourth wheel? Dovid HaMelech is the fourth wheel, for through his life of avoda, of conquest and intervention, the land could be transformed into the place where the Holy Mikdash could arise and both contain that sense of the Presence, and also help launch heavenward the prayers and offerings of our people.
Dovid HaMelech modeled the virtue of receiving Sacred Presence, and resonating with sacred praise and devotion. He was the final wheel of the "chariot," and with his essential role, the Heavens above could now be viewed as a "land" or a realm about which there could be a sense of consistency, attachment and belonging. Dovid HaMelech helped forge a Divine parallel not of an attribute but of a more attainable sense of a Heavenly reality.
Therefore, HaShem promises that He will adhere to the covenants of kindness, of justice, of truth and of accessibility, even when we are estranged from His Presence in exile. "The Land" is an allusion to the role which King Dovid would take in our later history in galvanizing the bond between the earth below and the heavens above. And this, says the Recanati, is the deeper message in our daily recitation in Boruch Sh'Amar when we praise HaShem as "Boruch Merachem al Ha'Aretz" - blessed is He who still has mercy over the land.
This is being sent out early as I depart for another land tomorrow. Good Shabbos. D Fox
posted by Rabbi Dr. Fox at 11:15 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home