A thought on פרשת ראה

"...asher Anochi metzaveh eschem ha'yom..."
"...that I command you (this) day..." (11:27)

In a recent Parsha Thoughts email (Devarim 1:10), we learned about how Moshe identifies us as "days". We are, in the Divine system, the earthly counterpart of the angels above, who serve the celestial function of filling the seven facets of the cosmos with praise of HaShem. The world below also has its empty space void of spirituality and consciousness of the Divine. Each one of us Jews can fill some of that void through our own spiritual efforts. In that sense, we are "days". In one of seven ways we can bring "daylight" to earth and to humanity. This was the Recanati's interpretation of that verse in parshas Devarim.

Now, you will remember a consistent theme of the Recanati. He has taught us how this world below parallels the higher realm. What we do here is reflected back to us from Above. What takes place above is, in turn, intended for us to resonate. This week the Recanati takes us higher, further and deeper into this theme.

As we have learned before, the Holy Tongue must be understood multidimensionally. When we look at the verse cited above from this week's parsha, we can translate it as I have done, leaving the word "this" in parentheses. There is no "this" in the Hebrew phrase, but we understand it to mean "that I command you this day." A literal translation, however, is "that I command you the day." Now, we might think that this is just another reference or allusion to the thought from Devarim, that once again HaShem is calling us His "days." We could interpret or even translate the phrase as "that I command you days." It is a bit hard to do that, however, since the word eschem is you-plural, and the word ha'yom is singular. That would force us to translate the phrase as "all of you day" which is not grammatical.

This is where the Recanati takes us a step above.

We call HaShem by a number of names, but what does He "call" Himself? The Recanati observes from our verse that HaShem who commands us is also a "Day." The phrase is meant to be understood as "that I, the Day, command you." We know that in our limited dualistic minds, we are wired to perceive things in polarities. We label things as good, and we therefore label other things as bad. We label things as light and thus others as dark. We capture this duality with the celestial illusion of daytime and nighttime. It is the lighting and darkening of the sky which helps us, or forces us, to envision the entire cosmos from an anthrocentric perspective. This leads us to experience Divine acts as either "good" or "bad" and gives us our human attributional concepts of rachamaim and din, compassion and justice. That is our perception and that is our experience.

The Recanati has taught us over and again that the Divine reality Above is Oneness. HaShem above is One and that One is entirely Kindness and Compassion. All of the midos which we attribute to HaShem are in reality the single essence of Rachamim.

This is what Moshe tells us in our verse. Anochi HaYom - I am HaShem the Day. All that which I command you is "daylight." It is from a source of brightness and light and good, all of those things which we associate with "day" as compared with that which is symbolized by "night" and darkness and din. Bracha, Klalla, both of which are described in the parsha, are from the "Day", not from the night. In HaShem's world, surpassing the solar system and the celestial energies, there is no night. It is always day. This is why the Torah refers to Him as "I am the Day."

So now, when we learned earlier of our mission and identity as the seven Pious Days of the mortal world, and we understood these as paralleling the angelic "day" functions, we now see that there is a third strata in the parallel. We are meant to be "days", the angels serve as "days" and HaShem is understood as the Supreme and singular "Day." In that sense, we are following in His way at a more profound level. Just as He is compared to a day, we are meant to serve as His this-worldly "days."

As a postscript, the Recanati ponders how HaShem "refers" to Himself as a "Day" yet we do not seem to call Him by that reference. If this is an attribute or a frame of reference, how is it that we do not call Him by this "name?"

The answer, the Recanati discovers for us, is that we do! Look at the verse in Tehillim 5:4. Dovid HaMelech proclaims, "...HaShem boker Tishma koli..." - HaShem, in the morning You will hear my voice. Now, that is one way to translate the words. The Recanati suggests that the deeper message given us by this phrase is "HaShem Boker... "It is HaShem Who is "Morning" who hears my voice!" King Dovid captured the sod, the secret here, and exulted in the vision that HaShem "is" the Day and when we acknowledge Him with our fullest consciousness, He is the beginning of days, the daybreak, the purest and fullest sign that even from "darkness" there is an emerging light. Dovid envisioned HaShem's "Day" attribute as "daylight piercing the dark," which is what boker signifies in Hebrew.

By now, you are probably in a daze, but what a Day for a daydream...

Good Shabbos. D Fox

A thought on פרשת עקב

"...u'bo tidbak..." "...u'l'dovka bo...""...and cling to Him..." (10:20) "...and to cling to Him..." (11:22)

The Torah employs an impossible image here. Contrary to all of our theology, we are commanded to cleave, to cling to...HaShem, or to whatever ideal is symbolized in the verse. Indeed, Chazal offer a number of important thoughts about "what" we cling to in our efforts to actualize this concept of Who we "cling" to.

For the Recanati, however, the verses present no difficulty. Since the Name of HaShem which is most known to us is that of His Presence (see last week's parsha thought), we recall how the Torah here depicts the Shechina as "a consuming fire." This attribute in understanding something of the Divine is used elsewhere in the Torah, too. Now, we know that a mortal cannot cling to anything that burns with fire. Yet, within our mortal selves is a certain "spark", the pure neshama which is known as "the flame of HaShem." Flickering within each of us is that flame which naturally yearns to draw close to the Source. Our soul, the heavenly essence within, can cling to the sacred. It struggles to cling and constantly pushes on and in us for ascent and for transcendence. This is the commandment of the first verse, then. "Seek purity, seek affiliation with the Divine!" A flame naturally clings to fire.

The second verse takes it further. How do we put this struggle to cling and connect into practical terms? The second verse orders us "to walk in all His ways and to cling to Him." The instruction of "walking" is the way in which we implement the clinging. The Recanati spells this out: "do not disconnect yourselves from the Creator when you walk, or rest, or rise or speak. People who work at this become "receptors for the Divine", for the Presence accompanies them at all times."

The clinging which the Torah has us aspire to is for fulfillment of the soul, and is developed through turning our thoughts, feelings and energies to knowing the ways of HaShem.

Good Shabbos. D Fox

A thought on פרשת ואתחנן

"...Shema Yisroel...""...Hear, Israel..." (6:4)

Our tradition relates that far before Moshe wrote this verse in the Torah, the words were declared by the twelve sons of our Patriarch Yaakov as they assembled before him. The Talmud records that he echoed their words with the response, "Boruch Shem Kavod Malchuso L'Olam Va'ed" : Blessed is the Name of His glorious kingdom forever.

Moshe did not write those words here, yet Yaakov asserted them. Our practice is to recite them silently after the opening line of Shema. That way, we preserve the words of Yaakov yet do not veer from the instruction of Moshe. Of course, on Yom Kippur we say them loudly.

The Recanati excavates the depths of this practice. If these words were introduced and valued by Yaakov Avinu, why did Moshe omit them? If they are not intended as a facet of the Torah commandment here, why would we include them?The Recanati contrasts the missions represented by each of these two great leaders. Yaakov was the father of a family who would one day evolve into the Kingdom of HaShem. Moshe was the shepherd of a nation who had become the prototype of that Kingdom. The descendants of those twelve brothers became a great nation, and forever would serve the role of being HaShem's Kingdom on earth. We received the Torah and by living by it, and living up to its standards, we serve as the vanguard of all that is sacred and heavenly.

HaShem is One and His Name is One (Zecharia 14:9). Every, and any, of those qualities which we attribute to G-d, even when they appear mutually exclusive (such as the middos of rachamim and din) are not a contradiction to His Oneness. This is why, the Recanati says, our very declaration of that Oneness in the Shema refers to Him as HaShem Elokeinu, HaShem Echad - that which we associate with His Compassion (HaShem) and that which we associate with His Justice (Elokeinu) are One G-d - HaShem Echad.

In the fading light of exile, when Jews enter or exist in galus, we do not apprehend HaShem with the clarity and the awe which is possible during times of revelation and the sanctity which can be part of ge'ula. Yaakov was poised, near death, on the frontier of exile and his twelve sons had begun that descent. When they declared HaShem's Oneness, he made known that the Presence of HaShem during exile is a different Presence, while nonetheless a facet of Oneness. Yaakov proclaimed that in exile, HaShem is known only through the efforts of His people, when they live by His laws. This is the meaning of the Boruch Shem ---Blessed is that Name of HaShem which is made glorious through His Kingdom, the Jewish nation.

However, Moshe Rabbeinu knew HaShem in a fuller and intimate manifestation. For Moshe, there was only that sense of Oneness. The words of Shema declare that He is One. That is the ideal and loftiest apprehending of the Divine. After the giving of the Torah, there was no exile, hence no diminished consciousness of the Presence. This is why Moshe did not reference the golus-linked Name of HaShem. He does not mention that Boruch Shem.

We recite Shema, and express that ideal. We then acknowledge quietly that His Name in exile is a "different" one, a manifestation made known only when we function as His glorious kingdom on Earth. We whisper the Boruch Shem. Those words are relevant to us in exile and were not a part of the broader consciousness known to Moshe and to our nation in those earlier, better times.

Sometimes, I have ended these parsha thoughts with a question to ponder, and this week I pose, based on the Recanati's analysis, why then do we proclaim the Boruch Shem on Yom Kippur? Eager to hear your ideas.

Good Shabbos. D

A thought on פרשת דברים

"...v'hinchem ha'yom ...""...and here you are (on) this day..." (1:10)

Moshe describes to his people their great importance in HaShem's world. "He has built you into a great nation! You are as plentiful as the stars! Here you are this day!"

Moshe's pride in the Jewish nation, and his awe of HaShem, are vivid in this verse. His message of praise for them, and for Him, are apparent.

There is one small feature of the verse which draws attention. Notice that in my translation of the words, I have placed the word "on" in parentheses. This is because the Hebrew word "ha'yom" literally means "the day." There is no "on" in the verse. Even in English, the "to" in our word "today" seems to utilize an alternative meaning of the word "to" which is archaic for "on." So "today" means "on the day." In Hebrew, however, ha'yom means "the day" and if we translate it as "on this day", the word "on" is implied. Or is it?The Recanati presents an alternative for understanding the verse -"v'hinchem ha'yom" can be understood as "and you are (v'hinchem") the day." Now, that is the alternative meaning. What does it mean? How is the Jewish nation like the day?The Recanati elaborates: there are seven days in the week, seven days in the cosmos, each with its function within the Heavens and below. Those Jews who are pious and who live by the word of HaShem fill, correspondingly, a cosmic function in HaShem's universe. Their day is not one of time but one of space. Just as "time" fills a void in the abstract, space occupies a void. There is a "day" measured by the passage of time, and there is a day characterized by an emanation of experience. A Day of the Righteous, in the spiritual realm, fills the universe with light and penetrates the darkness, paralleling the function of a day in time, which is when the sunlight illuminates the physical world.

What are the Seven Days of the Pious in filling the void of cosmic space?

The first day consists of those who exemplify the verse (Psalms 140:14) "Only the righteous will give thanks ...dwelling in your Presence." The cosmic "day" of such a person is to add to the world a consciousness that we serve HaShem with awe and praise.

The second "day" is when a Jew lets it dawn on the world that "...fortunate is the one whom You choose and draw near..." (Psalms 65:5). Such persons bring a consciousness to others that there are those Jews among whom a sense of the Divine is felt.

The third day comes when a Jew enlightens others by living in a manner which signals "they continually praise You..." (84:5). They bring a consciousness of the value of steadfast devotion.

The fourth day comes to the world when (15:1) "...who may dwell in Your Tent?..." is modeled. There are those who contribute that sense of mystery, of a quest driven by question and doubt and struggle. This is also a facet of G-d consciousness.

The fifth day is where the question ascends to "...who may rest on Your Holy Mountain?" One who lives by the quest for enlightenment and knowledge also serves the world.

The six day of the pious emerges when their life is focused on (24:3) "... who may ascend beyond that mountain?" The Jew who serves HaShem in mastering Torah in order to emanate its sacredness also broadens the world's consciousness.

The seventh day comes when the lesson is "...who may stand in the place of His sanctity?"
When a Jew is recognized as more than learned, more than showing sanctity, but as one who is identified as a "godly" person, a holy person, he or she has attained the zenith state of human functioning.

When Moshe tells us that "we are the day", he refers to our functions within this universe, in forming a bridge between the lower world and the higher realm. We have many types of good Jews. We have many types of Jewish leaders. Each one lives by a standard and ideally models one of those lessons. Some demonstrate reverence, some sanctity, some devotion, some faith, some knowledge of HaShem's ways, others knowledge of HaShem k'va'yachol, and others transcendence.

Each of us must discover our day in space as we pass through our allotted days-in-time. We have light to shed and when we live up to the way of life which was meant for us, we bring sacred illumination into the world.


Be a good day and have a good Shabbos. D Fox