Tzav: Serving the Shekhinah in Exile

R. Zev Wolf of Zhitomyr (?-1798)

Or ha-Meir

"By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion" (Psalm 137:1).

We, the children of Israel, are indeed destined and prepared at any moment and any time to restore the configuration of the Shekhinah, by means of all the minutiae of our service of God, both before the time of the Temple and after its destruction. The prayers on our lips take the place of the sacrifices, and our table stands in place of the altar. So states the holy Zohar: It is the purpose of man’s table to purify him from all iniquities. But the study of Torah is a substitute for everything, as the Sages taught on the verse: "This is the law (torah) of the burnt-offering…and of the guilt- offering" (Leviticus 7:37). They arrived at this idea by interpreting the verse “This is the Torah, and if you study it, you will need neither a burnt-offering nor a guilt-offering.” For studying the portions of the Torah that treat the laws of the burnt-offering or the guilt-offering brings atonement just as if there had been an actual sacrifice of a burnt-offering or a guilt-offering. Through the intermediacy of Torah study and prayer, and even of eating food and drinking water in faith, one is able to unify the limbs of the Shekinah that were shattered in galut.

However, there is surely a great difference between one’s deeds inside the Sanctuary and outside i.e., after the destruction of the Temple, for as is well known from kabbalistic works, there is a difference between the unification of the Shekhinah while the Temple was in existence and now, when we are exiled from our Father’s table. “Woe to the children who were driven from their Father’s table!” (Berakhot 3a). For the unifications one can accomplish through good deeds are small. Both in quantity and in quality.

This, then, is the meaning of By the rivers of Babylon: after we were exiled from our Father’s table, our holy Temple, there we sat down, i.e., even there God has granted us laws and statues by means of which we are able to realign the limbs of the Shekhinah, as mentioned. Nothing in the world is diminished from our service of God, and wherever Israel is exiled, the Shekhinah is exiled with them, so that we can restore the Shekhinah’s configuration and repair its structure.

All this is good and kind and beneficial for us, so that even outside the holy Temple nothing is lacking in our service. Nevertheless, we wept when we remembered Zion, the city of our strength, where the unification was perfect, great in quantity and quality, with much greater light and scope than we now have by virtue of our service outside the Land.

From the forgoing we understand that even now, when the Temple is not in existence, if only we fulfill the dictum "In all thy ways acknowledge Him," (Proverbs 3:6), and do no deeds whatsoever other than those that entail some service to the Creator, we can attain spiritual eminence. This applies to all times and occasions, no matter how unalike they are, for there are times to laugh and times to weep. Both seasons pertain to the study of Torah and the service of God. All these seasons and occurrences are nothing in themselves, for their vitality is derived from them by means of the quality of our deeds. One must serve God at every opportunity in accordance with its own value. This will perfect the soul and restore it to its full plenitude, even at "a time to weep."