A Thought on Parshas Mishpatim

"...ka'ma'aseh livnas ha'safir..." "...in the form of sapphire brickwork..." (24:10) This verse is an overtly fascinating one, for it describes in mystical terms a vision of Divine "imagery." That in itself, visions and images of Divinity being described in concrete terms, is spellbinding. The particular words here are even more alluring! What is this reference to "the form of sapphire brickwork"? For that matter, what in the world (or beyond this world) are sapphire bricks? Many great commentaries take different views of the image, and of the words themselves. Some do away with the "brick" image and change it into "clear", "pure", "white" or "lucid", in view of the root letters lamed bais nun implying those qualities. This makes the image more celestial, and heaven-like, in that we are merely being given a description of the blue-white transparency of the cosmic void, the prophetic medium or the ethereal hue of the sky and beyond. The Panae'ach Raza, true to form, draws on very different midrashic interpretations in clarifying the words and their intended meanings. Given the context of our verse relating how Moshe and those near him gazed above in prophetic contemplation of the greatest Mystery, we infer that whatever they envisioned was both the lowest discernable quality of the Divine realm yet also the highest manifestation of the mortal realm. The "place" in time and space which represented the "point of contact" between Heaven and earth was where, or how, transcendent human endeavor reaches its outer limits and nears the descending Supernal emanations which illumine the physical world in a numinous embrace. So, what is so precious to HaShem that He, in a mystical manner, created a "place" Above for this thing from below, so close to His sense-able Presence? The Panae'ach Raza writes that the word ma'aseh does not refer to a form (in the way which would imply a'asia, which is that which is formed) but rather it refers to exactly what it says - a maa'seh (my-sa in Yeshivish Hebrew) which is an event. What was the ma'aseh of "the brick"? While you hold your breath in suspense, the Panae'ach Raza now adds that "sapir" does not actually mean a sapphire. Check this out in your scholar's dictionary. Why is that translucent blue gemstone called a sapphire? Its not because it is a sapphire, but because the word sapphire means the same thing as "superior". The cognate Hebrew words abound, if you seek them. So now, what was "The Event, or Story, of the Superior Brick"? Consider this midrashic account: the Torah tells us how Egyptian task masters enslaved the Jewish men, particularly in demanding that they make, transport and build with bricks. There was a good Jewish woman, pregnant, who worried about her husband. She saw him laboring as a slave, wearying and weakening, and ran to try assisting him. Her own efforts overwhelmed her and she miscarried, losing her embryo which splattered onto one of those bricks. This bloodied brick was bourne aloft to the Heavenly zone where HaShem ka'va'yachol contemplated it constantly as a vivid reminder of our suffering and bondage, and considered this brick a symbol of the highest level of self-sacrifice in serving Him. So, our verse says that when Moshe and his close ones pondered the relationship between Heaven and earth, between Divine and mortal, between this mundane realm and the superior realm, they too envisioned that spendorous "Superior Brick" which represented Above the self-sacrifice which is the highest splendor (tiferes) of the Jewish people, and which is the symbol in Shomayim how much we will give up in order to fulfill His commandments and ways. The Panae'ach Raza closes with the painful thought that, alas, we can tragically forfeit having the representation of that superior brick. He suggests that at our nadir, our lowest point, when we lost the Bais HaMikdash, HaShem eventually rejected that ma'aseh. This is captured in the words of Aicha (2:1) which read "He cast down from Heaven to earth that tiferes of Yisroel and no longer remembered His base on that day of wrath." But each time any of us are moser nefesh for the sake of Toras HaShem, we offer up a mortal brick in contributing to the rebuilding of the Mikdash. Have you done anything today to help out in the building campaign? Good Shabbos D Fox