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From the Rabbi:
Parashat Vayechi contains within it a brief interaction between Yaakov and Yosef which, although perhaps confusing at first reading, has been seen by our mystical tradition as an encoded message that has been a cherished and celebrated cornerstone of spiritual experiences for thousands of years. Yet sadly, those of us not familiar with Kabbalah or Chassidut may have never even encountered this fundamental principle. So let’s remedy that.
When Yosef brings his two sons, Menashe and Efraim to receive a blessing from their grandfather Yaakov, Yosef puts his firstborn, Menashe, on his left and Efraim the younger on his right. Normally, the elder would be on the right, just like Hebrew being read from right to left. So why did Yosef put Menashe on the left? Because he was presenting them to his father whom he stood facing. When I’m facing a second-person, my right is your left. What did Yaakov do? (Genesis 48:14) Yisra᾽el stretched out his right hand, and laid it upon Efrayim’s head, who was the younger, and his left hand upon Menashshe’s head, crossing his hands; for Menashe was the first-born. Yosef was displeased and tried to switch his father's hands, as if Yaakov didn’t know the children had been positioned according to his own point of view rather than Yosef's. Yaakov however responds, (44:19) “I know, my son, I know.” The Zohar, and many Kabbalistic and Chassidic sources thereafter have understood that Yaakov was doing far more than just giving the right of the firstborn to the younger just as he himself had taken it from his older brother. It’s about something much deeper. In crossing his hands while blessing them, Yaakov was initiating Yosef and his sons into a different spiritual dynamic in their relationship with Hashem. And now I'm initiating you.
Yosef and his sons approached Yaakov for blessing in the second-person. Encoded in Yaakov’s response is that there is also a possibility of knowing God in the first-person. “I know”. In this dynamic, as we approach Hashem, we don’t have our right aligned with His left as if facing one another. We’re stepping into the Divine presence as if into a cockpit. His right is our right. His left is our left. He is in us. We are Identifying with God. Becoming the "Divine Chariot" rather than a passive and separate audience. We can then know God through self experience. This first-person awareness of God within us fuels the language of the Tanya, for example, that our soul “is a manifest spark of God from above”. Our deepest self is a manifestation of God as it says numerous times in Parshat Kedoshim, “I am Hashem”. Being 'Holy' means we can all say those very words truthfully. This is also expressed as us being 'children of God' rather than only servants. Like a parent's presence being always within a child in their very DNA. So too Yaakov says, "I know, my son, I know".
This first-person knowing of God doesn’t negate the transcendence or ineffability of the Divine. Quite the contrary. The conscious mind cannot grasp the Divine essence even as we cannot fully grasp ourselves. We dis-cover more and more every day, yet it always remains a mystery. That's part of the symbolism of covering the bride at a wedding - as if saying 'I will spend the rest of my life dis-covering you'. So too with ourselves and of course with Hashem. This dynamic also does not negate the second-person relationship with God. Only now, that essential 'You' is also within us, not outside of us. We can still say, “You are within me”. Or perhaps hear it coming from Hashem. He is afterall known as "HaMakom - The Place". So who is in whom? “I AM with you”. My “AM-ing” - my experience of self - even if mysterious - is something I am sharing with you. It works both ways.
When I first came to interview for this position I mentioned at one point that this dynamic of first-person encounter with Hashem is something very precious to me that I want to share with the community.
I know that for some people, switching the sides of the shul has been disorienting and perhaps uncomfortable. The corresponding theological shift may also be difficult at first. However, this first-person spiritual dynamic presented by Yaakov crossing his hands was part of my inspiration for wanting to make this switch in our seating arrangement. The first-person alignment with Hashem is explicitly echoed in God telling Moshe (20:23) "You will see My back, but My face may not be seen". It's then enshrined in the commandment to make a Temple, and by extension a shul as (Ex. 25:8) "They shall make for me a sanctuary and I shall dwell within them." Not speak to them as an "other" from without, but speak to them and make my presence felt from within. This is also behind why the mitzvah is not to learn Torah but rather to teach it, even to yourself.
With Hebrew flowing from right to left, the Right has always been identified as the 'male' side and Left 'female'. While the seating arrangement is only an outer manifestation of an inner dynamic, my hope is that with an understanding of the underlying dynamic of first-person alignment we can all experience the Divine Indwelling in our prayers, our Torah and in our community. Try it on in your Davening. See if you can open yourself, like Yaakov to experience Hashem's presence as inward, not just outward like Yosef. Then look at your neighbor too! Remember it says "Love your neighbor as yourself, I am Hashem."
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Shlomo
Classes This Week
NOTE: The Thursday evening class is paused until further notice.
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