Showing posts with label Torah of Shem. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Torah of Shem. Show all posts
Tuesday, November 17, 2015
Wednesday, July 16, 2014
Monday, March 24, 2014
Wednesday, March 5, 2014
The Master Craftsman
Parashas Pekudei
In The Tents of Shem
Rabbi David Katz
In
Parashas Pekudei, the Mishkan is finalized, and is now ready for the mantle of
being the official "Tent of Meeting" - a title and status that until
now was in full possession of Moses. The Mishkan of course is the first fruits
of the known command in the Torah, "Make for me a temple [to dwell in],"
and now with Sinai over, and the entire people ready to move on with the Golden
Calf behind them, the [mobile] Mishkan satisfies the wishes of God. They are now
able to be fully mobile, holy, and potentially ready to enter the Land when the
Lord beckons as such. What may come as a surprise however is that the blueprint
concept/prototype is in fact not new or first introduced now; the original idea
dates back at least as far as Shem, and his work on the Ark. All through
history man has been making a vessel of the Divine or supernatural; from Adam in
the Garden, we find the Tower of Bavel [Tower of Babylon], the Ark, the
Mishkan, the Temples, etc. The aspect that we take away from this knowledge is
that Craftsmanship is perhaps the most Messianic aspect of the entire Torah,
such that Shem is listed as the Righteous Priest – straight from his work on
the Ark. The further we delve into the Mishkan, and add the element of Shem on
every level we are Blessed to find a tradition that literally is the bond [pun
intended] between Gerim and Jews; this being the model [pun intended] for all
of time.
There
are a certain number of raw materials [OK – I am going to use constructive
words intentionally, thus no longer being a pun, but reinforcing the project]
that we must identify and set aside in order to erect the structure that allows
us to further understand the spirituality in Torah craftsmanship, as epitomized
by the Mishkan. The tools we need with the intention of connecting the dots are
as follows: Moses, Shem, Mishkan, Gerim bringing Melacha [Creative product],
Ger women and the Laver, House of Study, the concept of being a vessel [personal
Mishkan – as it was originally intended to be] of the Divine, Moses' tent – and
calling it in the "Ohel Moed" [Tent of Meeting], Tents of Shem,
Noah's Blessing, The Golden Calf, The lost "jewelry" of their fall in
sin, Messiah and the Mishkan, Torah and Prayer, Noah and his ark, the Ark and
Shem, The Four Craftsmen of Redemption, The Book of Raziel [given to Adam], Solomon
and his Temple, The Prophet Ezekiel – and his Temple, "learning about the
Temple is building it, the Zohar as a "Noah's Ark", The Ger Code,
Torah of Faith [Rebbe Nachman philosophy that through living we become
"it"], Angelic attainment as Man, and the Primordial Temple/Dwelling.
These are the tools and components that we need to draw a picture that will
fully explain the peripheral world of our newly completed Mishkan in Parashas
Pekudei.
The
subject matter right out of the gate becomes a bit complex [yet we must realize
that it is still ultimately simple] when we simultaneously draw upon several
key matters, namely Shem and Moses, the Mishkan and the Ark, the builders then
and now, the tents of Shem and Moses, and construction that comes from learning
– for all of times as a principle. In essence once we consolidate our parts, we
have created tangible devices to depict the story of just what this Mishkan
represents.
In
a simple over-view of things, the rambling story would sound like this: 1) Adam
sinned and received the Book of Raziel; a Book of Torah inspiration 2) The Book
inspired many, all the way to Noah 3) Noah gave it to Shem, and they learned
how to detail the Ark from this inspiration 4) Shem becomes the master
craftsman, and the embodiment of the Man/Chariot 'Kruv" [angelic man]; the
Ark is actually vested in his wisdom more than Noah 5) Shem and his "Tents
of Torah" [prophesied by Noah] are the antithesis of the Tower of Bavel 6)
Shem's wisdom is contained in the Ark design by perfect engineering of action
and learning 7) Shem is aimed only at Sinai 8) Sinai grafts Shem into Moses'
Torah – through common inspiration and absolute unity in their souls and every
other matter 9) Parashas Noah contains the wisdom of Shem in the Ark, thus the
graft is accomplished 10) Moses grabs the "jewelry" [angelic levels]
and the work from the Gerim, thus making a study hall for learning Torah,
praying, Mishkan – study, etc. 11) Moses' tent is synonymous with Shem's Tent
[an inheritance] and is the precursor to the Mishkan 12) dwelling in Moses'
tent is the mastery of the original inspiration contained in the Book of
Raziel, the Ark, Ezekiel's Temple, the Ger Code that spiritually reveals/builds
the Temple, etc. 13) Moses' tent becomes the Mishkan, which becomes the
inspiration of the Anointed [Messiah] symbolized by the Mishkan's anointed status
14) the anointed status is symbolic of
Messiah, Elijah, the Gerim, and Malki Tzedek – the essence of the Four
Craftsmen of Redemption [Targum Yonaton on the Mishkan, Mizbeach, and the Laver].
In
real time the story would sound like this: Adam sinned and got the Book, then
Shem and Noah made the boat, and passed its secrets onwards into Moses' lap,
and then Moses wrote the Torah and included all previous inspiration; this
serves as Parashas Noah, then Moses made a tent that became the source of
Messianic wisdom known as the Soul of Moses, then the Mishkan was erected
[through the special help of the Gerim], and it contains the code, wisdom, and
knowledge – tradition to build the actual Temple, and finally we will be
redeemed by means of this wisdom, through Jews and Gerim working together,
specifically through these agencies of Wisdom and Torah. In one breath, that is
the flow of events, with all of the elements provided above available to be
inserted for context, such as the Tower of Bavel, and the other characters and
vessels, etc. In essence, life can be looked at as one big art project that we
are trying to figure out just what it is that we are supposed to build. The
Mishkan is where we got a clear description of what it is, and combined with
past and future events, we can begin to conceive this design and how it is to
function. For all intents and purposes, this is the secret of the Third Temple.
Thus
here we are and the Mishkan is completed, it is called the Tent of Meeting – a title
previously held by Moses' Tent. Yet Moses retains his study tent, and it is
synonymous with the prophesied Tents of Shem. Targum Yonaton Commentary states
that Moses' tent contains the spiritual power that can return Man to the state
of angelic being before any type of sin through the calf or Tree of Knowledge;
this being by "sitting" in this tent, an d mastering the "Soul
of Moses" – which uniquely termed the Tree of Life, the same Tree that Shem
ate of and became his Torah. Thus this Torah of Shem [that was inspired by the
Book of Raziel] became the basis of the Ark and Parashas Noah [as included by
Moses by God's command]. Furthermore, with all of the momentum of wisdom from
ancient texts, and craftsmanship in the Ark, and onwards into the Mishkan, Soloman's
Temple, and the Third Temple, Jews and Gerim became destined to study and draw
down priestly revelation that is promised to bring floor plans of the Third
Temple, and even be the very anointing oil that will crown the Messiah and
redemption team.
Making
matters simple to understand, over topics like Ger code, ancient wisdom,
Temples, Gerim and Jews, Shem, etc. is to look to the Zohar; for what it
accomplishes is the consolidation of this entire mission in one comprehensive
study work. For that, the Zohar rightfully terms itself as a Noah's Ark. For all intents and purposes, it is a
reflection of Moses' tent, a Tent of Meeting, and the hidden scenes from the
Mishkan. The Zohar within this context becomes the level of the Torah as
described in the Midrash Rabbah's opening words, that the Torah is a
Craftsman's tool.
The
Torah began well before the World ever knew of Shem, and history will finish in
a time that we will all have forgotten about Shem. The Torah was given, and
through it we will always know Shem and his wisdom, and the Zohar is able to be
written once the Torah of Moses is delivered at Sinai; encapsulating the
builder's manual in supernatural fashion. Yet here we are in Pekudei, the
Mishkan is finished, and it is now the official Tent of Meeting, one that is
fully equipped with a study hall. Yet when we get to the soul of its functionality,
we can really only turn to Noah and words of wisdom that he spoke, such that
the Gerim carry this message all the way into the Third Temple. For Noah said,
"Baruch Hashem, the God Shem…for they will dwell in the Tents of
Shem." And as much as this is true, and indoctrinated into THE [One] Torah,
we look forward to the building of the Third Temple, one that can only be built
by the sons of Shem, and to be built only by a King. There are Four Craftsman
of Redemption, of which Shem is the Righteous Priest - the master craftsman; one
that anoints all three in their Craft… And among them [Shem is also dubbed] is
Malki Tzedek…for from him is the wisdom that anoints the Messiah, from the
place of Supernal Wisdom [Otzros Ramchal, Ramchal]. Amen Amen.
Don't miss the Video Class covering the Parasha In-Depth - Tonight at 11 P.M. Tzfat Time!
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Tuesday, February 11, 2014
Chronicles of a Chasid in Exile
Parashas Tetzaveh
The Third Temple and The
Urim V' Tumim: Traditions of The Ger
Rabbi David Katz
Parashas
Trumah laid the down the eternal blueprint design of the Third Temple, by
following in the footsteps of King Solomon who by upon meditating on the
Mishkan, was able to reach the Messianic level of greatness necessary to
construct a proper House of God. The Third Temple is existentially different
from however from King Solomon's Temple; this being achieved by its destiny of
being an eternal structure, and of course, in that the very DNA is straight
from Olam HaBah – Wisdom from the [Torah
of] Ger. The Torah concludes that the story of six thousand years of Creation
can quite simply be told over as a tale of the Jew and the Ger – encapsulated
by twenty-four books of scripture along with the entire era of Oral Torah;
essentially, this all boils down to into a recipe that not only explains our
reality, but actually constructs the Third Temple to its completion. Yet what remains
a mystery to this elaborate scheme, is the proverbial, "how does this ever
get achieved"; and to that tune, one would need to get well acquainted to
the ancient fringe of authentic Torah's past. I welcome you all, to meet Ezekiel;
he is the star of the Haftorah [very apropos to the Parsha and its proximity] and
the father of [proverbial] time as it plays out – by
turning heads throughout the ages! In my best Sean Connery introduction that
could narrate a documentary film to the Temple [stay tuned for the audio
shiur], "This is the Temple. It is built by the Divine Ger Code in the
Torah. Let us take a journey into Ezekiel's mysterious Prophecy, and [finally] appropriately
LEARN [hint] about the Temple."
In
all seriousness, the Temple is no light matter, and it truly is built by the
Ger – Jewish cooperation in shared Torah endeavors. This partnership is one in
acute Torah study, covering every element and facet of the Torah and Torah
history that spans the spectrum of time. We have mentioned that the union
produces a sublime Ger / Messianic code that explains the deepest secrets of
the Torah; now in the very next Parasha [Tetzaveh] and Haftorah [Ezekiel] the
program that we must "run" is there staring us in the eye, once we
find the sensation to appreciate the task at hand and recognize it. The premise
is brought down in two distinct ways in the Parasha and Haftorah: a) How the
partnership works, rallying around a mutual priestly aspect b) and the learning
from the mouth that commences. King David describes in Psalms that this is the
prescription of building the spiritual foundation for the Temple, one that is
sure to quickly inspire and manifest a physical counterpart. The implication
from the Prophet is that once achieved and the people have locked down the
initial task, Temple – fever will erupt with supreme Hedva [profound joy] and
an awakening on Earth will take place. This is the proverbial arena for Gog
Magog [to contend these matters through false religion and immorality] in the
future; the victory is to gain excitement in a tangible new light coming to the
World. This is NOT the Tower of Babylon…for this is the game plan for God's Eternal
Temple, and it will succeed. All that is needed to do is to follow the golden
recipe, and the path to Zion will illuminate before our dreamy eyes.
The
Parasha [28:29-30] covers the High Priest's Breastplate that he wears on his
chest as remembrance for the Children of Israel in times of Judgment. This
formula appears quite simple: Priest, of the Nation of Priests [Jews] names of
the twelve tribes on his chest…this is a nice and simple Jewish story. The only
problem is, is that the story doesn't stop here, quite the contrary really. He
is to add a piece into the Breastplate, the mysterious "Urim V'
Tumim" – a sacred set of holy names [of God and such]; altogether this
produces the desired effect for the High Priest when he is to inquire of the
Breastplate what the nation should do in times of distress. It should be noted
that this dimension was missing in the Second Temple, due to Israel's lower
spiritual state, thus there was no Urim V' Tumim nor the Shechinah. There was
however one other BIG piece missing from the Second Temple and it ties all of
these factors together quite well; this is none other than the Ger. If one pays
attention to the language of the Parasha, noticing the difference in language
and context between the Breastplate and the Urim V' Tumim, we have yet again an
exquisite example of Ger Tzedek code, as elaborated in the previous article.
[Children of Israel compared to a general "they"…shall be on his
heart, as if to say in contrast – Jews and Gerim.] The Talmud makes clear
mention of the Ger who learns Torah is compared to the High Priest, and perhaps
now, more than ever there is light shed on this enigmatic statement.
The
Sforno in various places makes mention that the desire of God was not to have a
Temple, Mishkan, or even vessels in these structures [such as the Ark; sorry Sean
Connery], but that Mankind would become the Chariot to which God interfaces in
the World. The template to such a concept was Malki Tzedek, a Priest to God
Above; Man would be prophetic by nature, and Earth would serve God in the
highest order. Yet in the end it did not work out this way, and the Torah we
have is Absolute Truth; however we can still emulate these very concepts in our
service to God [aside from the fact that there is a strong belief that the Ark
still will NOT come back, and that we are to function as the receiver of God's
prophetic word in the times to come. A Temple, we are promised though, will
stand, and has served to this day as the ultimate sign of redemption.], and
even allegorically transform spiritually into spiritual technology. This is
called [as rabbi Nachman puts it in Likutei Moharan] the Torah of Faith, and is
the quintessential level of Chasidut Torah; it should be noted for this reason
the Gerim are often called "Chisidei Umot Ha-Olam" from their innate
spiritual abilities, along with their ability to break the laws of [their]
nature to become [reveal] something new.
At
this point we have a very simple program to work with: The task of the Jewish
"Priest" is to know the Torah – in Hebrew, and be prepared to
decipher code, as the traditional Breastplate operates by the same disciplines
of Pardes as the Ger Code in Torah. The job of the Ger is to function as the
Urim V' Tumim [help with names of God goes a long way, for the Urim V' Tumim
is composed of this, much like Shem's
task as the Priest to God Above; even in the Torah, the initial letters of the
words in the location of the Urim, is a cloaked – code name of God [the name
that is of value 17, same as the code in the first verse of the Torah by
"Heavens and Earth."] and be a vessel – priest that works in tandem with
his priest in partnership. Should they be of proper intent, their harmony in
Torah will produce an ability to draw down Torah revelation, and with the
pre-requisite knowledge and ability, they can decode the secrets of the Torah.
This is not only an amazing truth, but like the proverbial axiom states, "this
is what you [they] were created to do"; this is called "Building the
Temple" and serves as the perfect illustration of not only God's
intentions of creating them both, but just how holy their partnership is, and
precious to God. Remember, God Loves the Ger, and how could anyone not
"just Love" when this is the program were created to run. The
definition of true spirituality [and as we said in the original intent of Man]
is "The power of God in Man through the agency of Divine Providence";
enlightenment is the merit to see this as it happens, and is the purpose of
being Created – to know Him [Zohar].
Now
that we have the tools to harness God's Sanctuary of Light, Ezekiel gives first
shape to our destined Third Temple.
As
it says [43:10-11] "You, son of Man! Tell the House of Israel about the
Temple, and let them be ashamed of their iniquities and calculate the Temple's
design. If they become ashamed of all that they have done, then make known the
form of the Temple and its design, its exits and its entrances, and all its
buildings' forms, all its laws, all its designs and all its teachings, and
write all this down before their eyes, so that they may safeguard its entire
form and all its rules and MAKE/DO THEM!" It is not enough that this
powerful message gives tremendous inspiration and sense of command, yet when we
read Rashi on this verse it is as if the voice of God becomes thunder in our
hearts to run up and build his sacred Temple! Rashi simply explains the verse
to the end; but there at the end is where the profound nature of Rashi shines
brightest and all revealing, "and they will learn/teach the matters of the
design from your mouth – [by doing] THAT [you will gain, hear, understand,
realize the] EXPERTISE to make/do them [the building; by connecting to the
Torah inside, and speaking it, this causes revelation to come out of the mouths
of those involved, and subsequently this is the only way one can know how to
build the Temple – if we all are involved, share, etc. – Jews and Gerim. Like
the Sforno wanted to say, the Temple IS in all of us, and it is the task and
correction of Man to extract from our hearts/souls by Love of God/one
another/Torah and engaging in Tikkun Olam in this fashion prescribed and
inspired by the Torah.] to [awaken, make it] a Time of the End [stamped by the
actions of Man through his accomplishment of fulfilling God's will].
That
is why we are here. That is why we Love the Ger. That is why we are all
Priests. That is why God is awesome. As Sean Connery would say, in his documentary
voice, "This is the Temple. It was built by Jews and Gerim who loved God,
His Torah, and each other. Come with us on a journey, to the Temple Mount…"
for it says in Parashas Jethro, if we go up looking for God in the place that
He has chosen [the Priests] to say His name, he will come to us and bless us.
Amen, and so it is, and thus it shall always be, for God Loves the Ger, and
every second the High Priest dons the garments, it could not be any more
apparent to God what He created; Glorious it is to those with an awakened Heart
to experience the Power of God.
Note the New Schedule:
Tues [of this week] 11 P.M. Parasha In-Depth
Wed 11 P.M. Psalms In-Depth #72
****Starting Next Week****
Psalms In-Depth will be SUNDAY NIGHTS 11 PM
and
Parasha In-Depth will be WEDNESDAY NIGHTS 11 PM
please note the changes, and God Willing this will be the order of events for this current cycle of affairs.
Also, God Willing, our classes will available as an MP3 download [as always] along with a new Video option [posted with link on YouTube]
Tuesday, October 15, 2013
