The weekly Torah portion “Pekudei (Accounts)”describes who takes part in erecting the Tabernacle (Ithamar son of Aaron, Bezalel son of Hur, Aholiav son of Achisamach), as well as the structure of the Tabernacle, the materials used to furnish it, the specifics of how all its accessories and sacred coverings…. After the work on constructing the Tabernacle is completed, they bring it to Moses, and Moses blesses it….
The Tabernacle is our soul. There is nothing more important than its construction since all our work lies in constructing the integral soul, the oneness of all of us. Each of us is a part of the collective soul that is regarded as “Adam” (man or human), and when we build a correct connection between us, it means that we build the Tabernacle.
Kabbalists pass to us the knowledge and the program we must accomplish in the language of branches. When they tell us about trees and rocks, what textiles and metals we must use, and who specifically must do this work or the other, they speak about the four levels of our desire (the still, vegetative, animate, and speaking) and how these desires have to inter-connect. By unifying, we gradually construct the integral soul where we find the presence of the Creator, the upper Light. Thereby, the Tabernacle becomes the place of our spiritual life.
It is written:“I created the evil inclination, and I created the Torah as a spice.” This means that first, we get to know how much we hate each other. Then, we reform this hate and turn it into love and oneness.
Granted, it is a long path that cannot be described in a few words, but when we achieve interconnection and discover that it is actually the vessel, the receptacle of the Upper Light and spiritual life, we begin to realize what a difficult, delicate work it is. We must, with great accuracy, with a pair of tweezers, assemble this vessel by connecting all people in the world with one another.
We will have to do this, and this work has already started in our generation. We have reached the point when global egoism unfolded in us. Therefore, the method of its correction, the wisdom of Kabbalah, is being revealed as well.
It describes in what way we should be interconnected and how to get to know the upper force, the Light that reforms, which will help us to unify since, as we are, there are no grounds for the connection within us. In the degree of our unification, we will begin to comprehend what the Bible describes because it tells about the degrees of our correction, the establishment of the connection between us.
This description is viewed as a manual on building a house with all its accessories and internal furnishings, but it becomes a sanctuary. Sacred (Kadosh) means separated from our egoism which resides above us. When we unite among us in the union of love, it is regarded as holiness. This is the degree of Bina, the level of bestowal that we acquire by love of others when we unite in mutual guarantee as one man with one heart.
When we gradually arrange such a connection, we merge into one soul yet again and find the Light that fills us, the presence of the Creator. By way of the force that is revealed in the unity between people, you can rise to a higher degree.
This is despite the fact that it takes place in the barren “desert,” meaning a person doesn’t have any more strength, has no place to go, and doesn’t know how to move ahead, yet the upper force is revealed which shows us how to rise higher and higher until we reach the land of Israel, the desire totally aimed toward the Creator. Our egoistic desire becomes fully transformed for bestowal, for the good of others, according to the principle of “love your neighbor as yourself.”
[37860]
From the Lesson on Weekly Torah Portion 3/3/2011
Related Material:
Deposit Your Desire And You Will Receive The Light
The Desire For The Creator Is The Sum Of Common Desires
From The Outskirts Of Creation To Its Center
Filed under: Inner Work, Torah, Zohar - 2 Comments →
Question: What remains unchangeable in a person who develops spiritually and what changes in him?
