Please learn in zekhut of refua shelema for Shahin Shemuel Chai Ben Hadassah, Sarah Bat Morvarid and all the Holim in Am Yisrael. Tizku Lemissvot!
Parashat Beha’alotkha opens with the instruction to Aharon HaKohen to ‘elevate himself’ in order to light the Menorah, arguably one of the most important facets of the Mikdash. The Torah HaKedosha continues to describe the dimensions of the Menorah stating that it should be composed of one solid unit ‘from its base to its flowers’. If HaKadosh Barukh Hu gave us an instruction as specific as this one, we must surely look into it and glean a lesson that we may apply to our lives. When HaShem Yitbarakh commands us that the Menorah should exist as a unified entity, so too our body and neshama (our soul) must be unified as one. Our thoughts/intentions, desires and actions must replicate each other; they must be constituted of one solid piece of gold. Only when the base and the flowers are made of the same unit of gold, only when our body and our neshama are in sync with each other can we become ‘elevated’ in order to illuminate the Mikdash we live in. The Ben Ish Hai HaKadosh (Baghdad 1832-1909) explains that the mind (moah) and the heart (lev) are the only two organs that are constantly awake even if the rest of the body is sleeping. Considering that they supersede any form of slumber, these two organs become the constant receptacle for HaShem’s presence and thus must always operate in unison. In fact, the sum of the numerical values of ‘moah’ and ‘lev’ equal 86, the exact numerical value of HaShem’s name ‘Elokim’! Our lev (our intentions) must always operate in accordance with our moah (our thoughts and actions) and both must exist as one entity just as the Menorah did. Only when the base of the Menorah was stable could the flowers blossom, so to speak. Likewise, when our base (our body) is stable, can our neshamot blossom into flowers and bear fruit. When we purify our thoughts (moah), we can purify out intentions and thus our actions, our lev. In order to do so, the Ben Ish Hai offers the following solution. In order to make our neshamot pure, we must first make our bodies pure. This is done by the missva of netillat yadayim (ritual washing of the hands) every day with the proper thoughts and intention; with the proper moah and lev. Be’ezrat HaShem in zekhut of doing netillat yadayim with the proper intention and thoughts, we can develop our lev and moah into a single vessel whereby HaKadosh Barukh Hu can reside in just has He did in the Mikdash and whereby we can kindle the lives around us, from the base to even the smallest flowers.
Wishing everybody a Shabbat Shalom u’mevorakh!
Ariella Samimi
Parashat Beha’alotkha opens with the instruction to Aharon HaKohen to ‘elevate himself’ in order to light the Menorah, arguably one of the most important facets of the Mikdash. The Torah HaKedosha continues to describe the dimensions of the Menorah stating that it should be composed of one solid unit ‘from its base to its flowers’. If HaKadosh Barukh Hu gave us an instruction as specific as this one, we must surely look into it and glean a lesson that we may apply to our lives. When HaShem Yitbarakh commands us that the Menorah should exist as a unified entity, so too our body and neshama (our soul) must be unified as one. Our thoughts/intentions, desires and actions must replicate each other; they must be constituted of one solid piece of gold. Only when the base and the flowers are made of the same unit of gold, only when our body and our neshama are in sync with each other can we become ‘elevated’ in order to illuminate the Mikdash we live in. The Ben Ish Hai HaKadosh (Baghdad 1832-1909) explains that the mind (moah) and the heart (lev) are the only two organs that are constantly awake even if the rest of the body is sleeping. Considering that they supersede any form of slumber, these two organs become the constant receptacle for HaShem’s presence and thus must always operate in unison. In fact, the sum of the numerical values of ‘moah’ and ‘lev’ equal 86, the exact numerical value of HaShem’s name ‘Elokim’! Our lev (our intentions) must always operate in accordance with our moah (our thoughts and actions) and both must exist as one entity just as the Menorah did. Only when the base of the Menorah was stable could the flowers blossom, so to speak. Likewise, when our base (our body) is stable, can our neshamot blossom into flowers and bear fruit. When we purify our thoughts (moah), we can purify out intentions and thus our actions, our lev. In order to do so, the Ben Ish Hai offers the following solution. In order to make our neshamot pure, we must first make our bodies pure. This is done by the missva of netillat yadayim (ritual washing of the hands) every day with the proper thoughts and intention; with the proper moah and lev. Be’ezrat HaShem in zekhut of doing netillat yadayim with the proper intention and thoughts, we can develop our lev and moah into a single vessel whereby HaKadosh Barukh Hu can reside in just has He did in the Mikdash and whereby we can kindle the lives around us, from the base to even the smallest flowers.
Wishing everybody a Shabbat Shalom u’mevorakh!
Ariella Samimi
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