ב"ה
THEMES of Featured Mystical Classics Articles
By donating a half-shekel, we could once again hold our heads high.
"When you take a census..." translates literally, "When you lift up the head...".
If we manage to become the "head", then we can achieve spiritual elevation. The "head" also contains the mystical element of the Shabbat within it, since it alludes to the completion of the creative process in the Celestial Regions. |
Kabbalah explains that the washing of our hands elevates the supernal worlds.
The ministers of the One on High [i.e. the kohanim] were commanded to wash their hands and feet before their service in the Temple for the sake of holiness. When the hands are upraised they are higher than the rest of the body, and the feet are the lowest point. Together they allude to the Ten sefirot, with the whole body between them.
|
Intermediate
By the age of 20, one is considered fully equipped to cope with temptation.
A person is not yet mature enough emotionally and intellectually to successfully battle the evil urge and to appreciate G-d's message to man until age 20. Therefore, teenagers were not required to pay the half-shekel ransom, although they also participated in the Golden Calf episode.
|
|
Every expression of nofesh/rest
is an expression of nefesh/soul,
for one regains one’s soul and one’s breath when one rests from the toil of
work.
|
