Leviticus Cycle Four Behar 25:1 to 26:2

Behar

Much of Behar is concealed. The Zohar says that through revealed, one reaches concealed (Matt 359). What does this mean? One could figure from this statement that the purpose of the revealed is to bring us (as if through a tunnel) to the mysterious radiance of Hashem.

Imagine a tunnel going into a mountain, for example. We know we are traveling behar or in the mountain. We know and see the earth and many miracles around us, to each side, above and below, encasing us, being our reality. We also know that soon we will see a pool of light ahead. The more we move through the revealed, the closer we get to this light.

Now, imagine this is a film and we can press slow on our state of the art VCR. This is human time. It feels surreal. Awkward, Awesome, Frightening. That pool of light is before us, getting a tiny bit larger, from one decade to the next, one lifetime to the next. It seems to take forever.

Now, imagine watching us from a place beyond time. In the eyes of Hashem, we are speeding through, soon to be in the light as it expands before us, beyond the tunnel, beyond the revealed to the concealed. In fact, with faith, we are already there.

How long is the tunnel? It’s seven times seven times seven to infinity. Therefore from time to time, every seven days, seven years, and seven times seven years we are to rest, breathe, create a boundary or a cushion. This way (in my opinion) if we need to retreat we can fall back to them if necessary….but not beyond. Shabbat catches us. The Sabbatical catches us even more. The Jubillee catches us big time with the sound of the shofar. And we look forward to these markings in our movement through the mountain-tunnel. If we can’t see the pool of light we can certainly see the next Shabbat or Sabbatical or maybe even the Jubillee.

Who are we? We are any being or living breathing entity that is going out, in the process of exodus. The Zohar (Matt 105) relates the sefirah Binah to both the Exodus and to the Jubilee. Binah, in Kabballah, is the reflection of the quarry of thought, the tiny seed of daber, to speak. Rabbi Isaac in Talmud points out a line in Psalms. He says that those mighty in strength who fulfill his word (Ps 103:20) are those who fulfill the Sabbatical year. These people going out through the tunnel in the mountain are therefore us. But we are more. We are earth growing from earth, sprouts from earth, Hebrew letters from our mouths, human bodies from Mitzrayim, leaving homes, leaving slavery, being redeemed. Mostly though we are God-sparks belonging to God… yearning to join again with God, honoring with strength the idea of rest and renewal. We are going out...moving through...to the absolute radiance.

How do we apply this? Do and then listen. Observe Shabbat, the Sabbatical, the Jubillee.

And in meditation? Go to the mountain. Feel the earth in your body. See a tunnel of light coming from our heart. Set that tunnel. See all things through it. Keep it. Remember it. Hold fast to it as you come down the mountain. Let it be there to guide you from seven to seven.