Shoftim and Elul: Within Reach of the Ultimate

Teshuva, Ultimate Teshuva

The Medrash tells us that the structure of the human body is five dimensional—Nefesh, Ruach, Neshama, Chaya, Yechida—and that each of these manifests in a different way in the individual, in life, and in the life of the nation of Israel.

Nefesh and Ruach: The nefesh and ruach are enmeshed in the body. The nefesh is responsible for body functions, which include the character traits of a person, because they are linked to the health and well-being of the body. The ruach is the spirit that draws and guides a person to meaning, and to deeper, spiritual living. The ruach connects the daily life of a person to God via the observance of Torah and mitzvot.

Neshama: Above nefesh and ruach is neshama. Neshama resides in a higher dimension that which fills a person’s existence with the light, the ohr, of Hashem.

Chaya: Higher still, over and above neshama, is chaya. Chaya is that which enables a person to become completely immersed, to the point of being subsumed, in his Godly root, his deepest shoresh and original essence.

Yechida: Yechida is completely hidden, it’s higher than high. Yechida binds together and synthesizes all the other aspects and dimensions of a person into one holistic reality.

A Man Called Israel

The core structure of Am Yisroel corresponds to the structure of a person such that all of the dimensions and levels that are present in an individual, are also present in the nation. In the nation, these dimensions are manifest as Melech-king, Sanhedrin-supreme court, Kohen-priest, and Navi-Prophet. These are the four institutions that appear in our parsha.

Melech: The king corresponds to nefesh and the king is responsible for the physical well-being of the nation. The king is the governing authority that oversees things like taxes and the economy, transportation, defense, and the smooth running of civil society.

Sanhedrin: Above the king, is Sanhedrin. Ruach. The Sanhedrin is responsible for the nation’s understanding and observance of mitzvot. While the laws of the Torah also touch on many nitty-gritty societal functions, their purpose is transcendent; they elevate and connect everyday life to a deeper meaning and higher purpose over and above just utilitarian functions. As an example: The realm of the king might include safe, healthy oversight of the meat industry, while the realm of the Sanhedrin is to make sure that the meat is kosher and thereby serves the spiritual purpose of elevating the people of Israel, and revealing it’s soul.

The Sanhedrin—the great bastion of Torah within the nation—is what dramatically distinguishes Am Yisroel from all the other nations. For the nation of Israel, civil life isn’t just about an orderly, healthy society, it’s about the revelation of the soul and Godliness both within the life of individuals, the functioning of society, and the life of the nation. This is ruach, the infusion of God into every aspect of the Jewish state.

Beit HaMikdosh

The Mikdosh and the Kohanim represent and manifest an entirely different, far higher reality. The Beit HaMikdosh is where the soul of the nation is open and revealed. It’s the portal, the connecting point, where Am Yisroel makes intimate contact with God. The mitzvot outside of the Mikdosh, so to speak—like all the mitzvot and halachot related to what is permissible and what’s forbidden—are all preparing, shaping, and elevating individuals and the nation to a state of readiness for higher Godliness. The light, the ohr, of the Mikdosh is that light; it’s that higher, transcendent Godly radiance filling and elevating our being, our lives, and the life of the nation.

The daily service in the Beit HaMikdosh; the songs of the Levites and the sanctity, kedusha, of the Kohanim, are remarkable, somewhat other-worldly dimensions of Jewish life that fuse together Am Yisroel and Shechina.

It’s no coincidence that in our parsha we learn that the Sanhedrin is to be located within the Temple compound, next to the Mizbeach, the Altar. The inner, hidden soul of every mitzvah in the Torah is manifest openly in the brilliant spiritual Presence in the Beit HaMikdosh.

Prophecy

The fourth great institution in the life of the nation is navua, prophecy.

Prophecy is a level that we really have no way of comprehending. The relation of God’s message directly to and thru a person is something completely foreign to our experience. Prophecy is the submersion and near fusion of the prophets soul with it’s highest root source. This is why, when experiencing prophecy, the prophet fell on the ground in a seizure like state. The soul’s experience was extraordinary, something that virtually left the body behind.

This is chaya. That inner most point of reality where the soul becomes fused to it’s highest source-essence.

Chaya

Chaya is the highest dimension of the soul, it’s the root and seed from which flows all the other aspects and dimensions of the soul. In the the life of the nation there is no apparent corresponding function or institution. However, our sefarim hakedoshim tells us that the soul of Moshiach is bound to the dimension of chaya. Like chaya is a root and a seed, the spirit of Moshiach is that spiritual force that will again renew the full, complete life of the nation in all it’s dimensions.

Exile and Redemption

When we were exiled from our land, the spiritual state of the Jewish nation plummeted. The great levels of spirituality manifest in the nation all but vanished. When we were driven from our homeland the Sanhedrin cease to function, and with it the splendor of Torah was dramatically diminished and dimmed. The Beit HaMikdosh was destroyed—that changed everything—and prophecy vanished from the life of our people.

But now …

Today …

Hashem in His great kindness has remembered His people; the unfolding process of redemption is beating in the heart of the nation, and we are blossoming and moving forward towards: Towards the ultimate.

We see this even in the mundane aspects of life in Israel. The state, and so many aspects of  society, are growing and expanding and excelling in ways that until very recently seemed impossible, the stuff of dreams, not reality. And the remarkable growth in Torah in Israel—the springtime buds of the Sanhedrin—has far surpassed what anyone could have imagined a mere generation or two ago.

And yes: The discerning eye can even detect the stirrings of something far higher than most can even begin to grasp. There is a deep longing for d’veikut, for profound, intimate connection to God; for the Mikdosh. A yearning for creative expression and a new type of singing and music, which is also the first buds of the collective blossoming of the full, healthy, spiritually soaring nation. And so too, there is an intense searching for the deepest levels of Torah—for the secrets of the Torah—which is the beginning of the return of prophecy, for the Kabbalistic, inner dimension of Torah, is the Torah of prophecy.

Elul

The month of teshuva, of returning and restoration. Restoration in it’s greatest, ultimate sense. The restoration of everything, everything that is part of Jewish life and the completely actualized life of the nation of Israel.

Elul in our time, our era of unfolding redemption, is a time to think not just about individual return and restoration, it’s a time to think about the ultimate return and restoration: Of the nation; the nation of the Torah of the Sanhedrin, the melodies of the Leviim, the shining sanctity of the Kohen Gadol, and the ohr, the light, of the nation who’s potential is nothing less than being the source of light, wisdom, and Godlines for all mankind.

Bimhera b’yameinu. Amen.

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Translated and adapted by Shimon Apisdorf     To receive weekly diver Torah from Rabbi Sasson:     uh.deah1@gmail.com  /  Whatsapp: +972536240891