CHOCHMAS NASHIM: MAN, THE BRIDGE
By: Suri Davis
The apex of the Book of Jonah we read on Yom Kippur eve, is G-d’s lesson to Jonah. Jonah is tired after all he has gone through with the storm ridden ship, being swallowed by a whale, and providing warnings to the citizens of Ninveh that G-d wanted to kill them for their sins.
G-d creates a kikayon plant which provides Jonah with shade…for a day. When the kikayon dies, and Jonah once again is subject to the heat, he mourns the loss of the kikayon, whereupon G-d teaches him the moral of the story. G-d: You, Jonah, mourn the loss of a plant that you had but a day, and which you had no hand in creating, did you think I, G-d, would permit the many inhabitants to perish, when I had created them and nourished them and had an interest in keeping them on Earth. The prophet as a bridge between G-d and Earth.
Today’s Tanya yomi discusses the Epistle 20, which is very kabbalistic and one point, which is repeated from prior chapters of Tanya is that G-d imbued in all He created an energy or spirit, even inanimate objects are imbued with G-d’s energy and spirit. G-d gave dominion over all creations to Adam, even telling Adam to name each creation. According to the Baal Hatanya, it was up to man to take every object that G-d created and elevate it in spirituality. I haven’t yet learned how we are to elevate these objects, in my mind it appears that if we are dedicated to the service of G-d, then the homes and shuls and Torah study halls made of stone and trees and steel, are taking these inanimate objects and elevating them to a higher spiritual use. So too, animals, dairy, grains which we use to nourish ourselves, for without bread, there can be no Torah, we couldn’t suvive.
We are about to start the holiday of Sukkoth. It appears to me that the Torah portion of Haazinu brings all these concepts together. In modern days, we live in insulated homes, away from nature, trees, water springs and animals, we are very separated from them. On Sukkoth, we return to the outdoors, we fold ourselves into nature once again, using natural materials to make our Sukkah, our temporary home, making ourselves subject to cold, heat, bugs, rain, birds, bees, squirrels, racoons, cats etc. We return to the state where we are a bridge between G-d’s creations and G-d, elevating all for the service of our holiday. So that when Moses states Listen heaven, I want to talk, listen earth, what my mouth speaks, we hold dominion over heaven and earth once again, folding them into our use so we may elevate them in our dedication to G-d, during this holiday of Sukkoth, as it was supposed to be in the Garden of Eden and beyond.
But, as we see with G-d and Jonah, when man acts in discord with G-d’s wishes, G-d reclaims the privilege of dominion, G-d dried up the kikayon, so Jonah could learn the lesson, that we might have dominion, but is a G-d-given privilege, which G-d gives and takes as He sees fit.
We are a bridge between all creation, materiality, and heaven, spirituality. This week’s torah portion reveals the dominion by Moses commanding heaven and earth to listen to him, we will go out in the Sukkah and acknowledge and live up to the mandate G-d gave us during creation, which is to take all that G-d physically create it, and elevate it.
Gut Shabbos, Gut Yom tov. V’hayita ACH sameach!!!
A gut kvitel.
-Suri