by Yehoshua November
2AM, and the rabbinical students stand in their bathrobes
at the edge of the yeshiva parking lot, watching
the practiced motions of muscular firemen disembarking
from their engine. Soon, it will be determined
the youngest student in the building
pulled the basement alarm
after learning, over the dormitory pay phone,
his parents, back in Baltimore, intend to end
their nineteen year marriage before Passover.
The only one the rabbis have not accounted for
crouches in his closet behind a row of black sports coats.
And because the yeshiva caters to souls
but also bodies,
the early morning mysticism class
on why the Divine Presence cannot dwell
amongst those plagued by sadness
has been cancelled.
https://onbeing.org/programs/yehoshua-november-2am-and-the-rabbinical-students-stand-in-their-bathrobes/
(ח) וְעָ֥שׂוּ לִ֖י מִקְדָּ֑שׁ וְשָׁכַנְתִּ֖י בְּתוֹכָֽם
(8) And let them make Me a sanctuary, that I may dwell [shakhanti] among them.
וטעם אבוא. כדרך בן אדם. והטעם תמצאני שם במקום שאזכיר את שמי עליו. והוא מקום הכבוד. כאילו באתי אליך שידעתי שתבא ובעבורך באתי. ובעבור שבאת לכבודי אבוא אליך וברכתיך ולא תהיה צריך לאחר כי תמצאני בכל עת ששם כבודי
"I will come," meaning as a person does; i.e. You will find me there in the place upon which I have instructed you to mention my name. It is the Place of Presence. It is as if I will have come to you--because I knew that you would come and so on your behalf I have come. Since you came to my Presence, I will "come to you" and I will bless you. You won't need to linger because you will find me at every moment that my Presence is manifest.
(ב) . רַבִּי חנניא בֶּן תְּרַדְיוֹן אוֹמֵר...
שְׁנַיִם שֶׁיּוֹשְׁבִין וְיֵשׁ בֵּינֵיהֶם דִּבְרֵי תוֹרָה, שְׁכִינָה שְׁרוּיָה בֵינֵיהֶם, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (מלאכי ג, טז), "אָז נִדְבְּרוּ יִרְאֵי יהוה אִישׁ אֶל רֵעֵהוּ וַיַּקִשֵׁב יהוה וַיִּשְׁמָע וַיִּכָּתֵב סֵפֶר זִכָּרוֹן לְפָנָיו, לְיִרְאֵי יהוה וּלְחֹשְׁבֵי שְׁמוֹ.
(2) Rabbi Chananya ben Teradyon says: ...Two who are sitting together and there are words of Torah [spoken] between them, the shekhinah rests with them, as it is said (Malachi 3:16): “Then those who feared the Lord spoke one with another, and the Lord hearkened and heard, and a book of remembrance was written before Him, for those who feared the Lord and for those who thought upon His Name.”
How do these sources define God's presence?
What do they tell you about where God's presence is located?
ללמדך שאין שכינה שורה לא מתוך עצבות ולא מתוך עצלות ולא מתוך שחוק ולא מתוך קלות ראש ולא מתוך שיחה ולא מתוך דברים בטלים אלא מתוך דבר שמחה של מצוה שנאמר (מלכים ב ג, טו) ועתה קחו לי מנגן והיה כנגן המנגן ותהי עליו יד ה'.
This teaches you that the shekhinah rests [upon] man] neither through sadness, nor through sloth, nor through frivolity, nor through levity, nor through talk, nor through idle chatter, save through a matter of joy in connection with a mitzvah, as it is said: "But now bring me a minstrel. And it came to pass, when the minstrel played, that the hand of the Lord came upon him" (II Kings 3:15)
have mercy on me, answer me. (8) In Your behalf-b my heart says:
“Seek My face!”
O LORD, I seek Your face. (9) Do not hide Your face from me;
do not thrust aside Your servant in anger;
You have ever been my help.
Do not forsake me, do not abandon me,
O God, my deliverer. (10) Though my father and mother abandon me,
the LORD will take me in.
and saves them from all their troubles. (19) The LORD is close to the brokenhearted;
those crushed in spirit He delivers. (20) Though the misfortunes of the righteous be many,
the LORD will save him from them all,
The Zohar teaches that the human heart is the Ark. And it is known that in the Ark were stored both the Tablets and the Broken Tablets. Similarly, a person’s heart must be full of Torah… and similarly, a person’s heart must be a broken heart, a beaten heart, so that it can serve as a home for the Shekhina. For the Shekhina [divine presence] only dwells in broken vessels, which are the poor, whose heart is a broken and beaten heart. And whoever has a haughty heart propels the Shekhina from him, as it says “God detests those of haughty hearts”.
הָ֭רֹפֵא לִשְׁב֣וּרֵי לֵ֑ב
וּ֝מְחַבֵּ֗שׁ לְעַצְּבוֹתָֽם׃
מוֹנֶ֣ה מִ֭סְפָּר לַכּוֹכָבִ֑ים
לְ֝כֻלָּ֗ם שֵׁמ֥וֹת יִקְרָֽא׃
Healer of the broken-hearted
Binder of our wounds
Counter of uncountable stars
You know who we are
אָמַר רַבִּי אֲלֶכְּסַנְדְּרִי הַהֶדְיוֹט הַזֶּה אִם מְשַׁמֵּשׁ הוּא בְּכֵלִים שְׁבוּרִים גְּנַאי הוּא לוֹ, אֲבָל הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא כְּלֵי תַּשְׁמִישׁוֹ שְׁבוּרִים, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (תהלים לד, יט): קָרוֹב ה' לְנִשְׁבְּרֵי לֵב, (תהלים קמז, ג): הָרוֹפֵא לִשְׁבוּרֵי לֵב, (ישעיה נז, טו): וְאֶת דַּכָּא וּשְׁפַל רוּחַ.
Rabbi Alexandri teaches, “If the simpleton keeps trying to use broken vessels, it's shameful, but the Holy Blessed One’s vessels are [all] broken ones [and it's not shameful], as it is written ‘Healer of the broken-hearted’ and ‘[Present] with the lowly and suffering...”.”
(and nothing more upright than a tilted ladder.)
–Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Kotzk (1827–1859)
From “Anthem” by Leonard Cohen
Ring the bells that still can ring
Forget your perfect offering
There is a crack in everything
That's how the light gets in.