Torah, Deuteronomy 25:07 – 25:10: But if the man does not wish to take his brother’s wife, the brother’s wife shall go up to the gate, to the elders, and say, “My husband’s brother has refused to perpetuate his brother’s name in Israel he does not wish to perform the obligation of a husband’s brother with me.” Then the elders of his city shall call him and speak to him, and he shall stand up and say, “I do not wish to take her.” Then his brother’s wife shall approach him before the eyes of the elders and remove his shoe from his foot. And she shall spit before his face and answer [him] and say, “Thus shall be done to the man who will not build up his brother’s household!” And that family shall be called in Israel, “The family of the one whose shoe was removed.”

“‘My husband’s brother has refused to perpetuate his brother’s name in Israel’” means that he doesn’t have the ability to reestablish the name of his brother into the system of the collective soul. He is not able to do this because he feels that his screen is not adequate to correct his brother’s wife.

And that is why he refuses; he has to carry out a correction of a different sort. It has to do with the fact that this woman goes to the elders, that is, rises to the next level, connects with the elders, and they vouch for her. She removes his shoes – naal (from the word “nael,” which means closed or locked), which symbolizes completion of this level.

Question: Why were the Jews required to wear footwear?

Answer: All parts of a person’s body always have to be covered; this speaks to the fact that a person exists within a system of ten Sefirot. This is how we are created in the image and likeness of the upper system and that is why this is the manner in which we must keep ourselves in our world.

There is nothing excessive here, no “pros” or “cons.” A person must be clothed continuously, even during sleep. There is nothing here that can be interpreted in any other way. That is why Jews, as a rule, went about in shoes, which practically did not exist in other nations until modern times. Only in the last 200-300 years did wearing footwear become widespread, but at that time, everyone walked barefoot and felt no discomfort.

By the way, a person’s feet are so peculiar that by constantly walking barefoot, they develop such rough skin that a person does not even feel when he is standing on sharp stones. He can run in a field and stumble across sharp objects and not feel it, as if he were wearing shoes.

But Jews in ancient Israel and throughout the millennia walked in shoes, which symbolizes a person’s detachment from the earth (from the will to receive).
[207349]
From KabTV’s “Secrets of the Eternal Book,” 11/2/16

Related Material:
Marry The Brother’s Widow
Spiritual Anatomy
“You Shall Not Take A Widow’s Garment As Security”

Filed under: Spiritual Work, Torah | Add Comment →