Showing posts with label Vayiqra. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Vayiqra. Show all posts

Saturday, October 11, 2014

Midrash Rabbah Vayiqra on the Eight Character Traits of Moses

"Any Torah scholar who lacks knowledge (Da'at), an animal carcass is better than he. Know that this is so. Go forth and learn from Moses, the father of wisdom, the father of the prophets, who took Israel out of Egypt, and through whom numerous miracles were performed in Egypt, and awe-inspiring deeds at the Sea of Reeds, who ascended to the heavens above and brought down the Torah from heaven, and who was the one who concerned himself with the work of constructing the Tabernacle. Yet, he did not enter the innermost chamber of the Tabernacle until God called him, as it is stated, 'He called to Moses and God spoke to him' (Leviticus 1:1)."

-- Midrash Rabbah, Leviticus 1.15


FATHER OF WISDOM : Chesed
FATHER OF PROPHETS : Hod
OUT OF EGYPT : Malkhut
NUMEROUS MIRACLES : Gevurah
AWE-INSPIRING DEEDS: Netzach
ASCENDED TO THE HEAVENS : Yesod
TORAH FROM HEAVEN : Tif'eret
TABERNACLE : Keter, Chokhmah, Binah

Thursday, July 24, 2014

Midrash Rabbah Vayiqra on Moses Entering the Tabernacle

When the Holy One, blessed is He, said to Moses, 'Make for Me a Tabernacle (Mishkan)', on every single thing Moses would write, 'as YHVH commanded Moses'. The Holy One, blessed is He, said, 'Moses arranged all this honor (kavod) for Me, yet I am inside it and he is still outside'. He called him to enter the innermost chamber of the Tabernacle. Therefore it is stated, 'He called to Moses and YHVH spoke to him from the Tent of Meeting' (Leviticus 1:1)."

-- Midrash Rabbah Vayiqra, 1.7


This is somewhat of a puzzle. Did Moses actually write these words on all the holy vessels, with a marker or something? The Midrash is revealing that the letters of the Holy Language have the power to transform the vibration (which the Midrash calls 'kavod') when written on objects. The vibrational resonances of the holy vessels were not complete upon their building ─ it was only when Moses came through and declared them to be 'as YHVH commanded', in other words, a vibrational witness that they were not just physical objects, but pure patterns and blueprints in the mind of God, and impressed this vibrational signification on each object, that they lit up with the vibrational resonance of divinity, so that then Shekhinah could dwell in the Tabernacle.

Still, this interpretation implies that the actual writing took place. Another interpretation: The holy vessels and furnishings of the Tabernacle were not primarily physical objects, but patterns and blueprints within the divine mind. They existed first as blueprints, and then later as physical objects. But before they even existed as blueprints, they primordially existed as the verbal descriptions as they are written in the Torah. When writing these designs into the Torah, Moses concluded them with the phrase 'as YHVH commanded', thereby serving as a written signification that they were not just paragraphs that Moses came up with on his own, but that they were patterns of thought in the mind of God.