I was ten when I went to sleepaway camp in Vermont. There were many Jews there, but it was certainly not a Jewish camp. (This was decades before we began to live a Jewish life.) I was in Bunk Three and Dale Rowe was our counselor. He was a tough but very friendly outdoor guy, and he used to read stories to us before we went to bed. One story stayed with me until today, and it caused me many a sleepless night!
It seemed that the Martians had invaded Planet Earth. They were evil, scary and planned a complete takeover. The scariest thing was that they looked exactly like humans, but with one difference: they had a third eye in the back of their head!
You couldn’t tell who your enemy was!
There was only one person on earth who understood the danger. He was frantically trying to alert the authorities! His whole life became a crusade to warn the world. Finally, his efforts paid off and he was ushered into the Oval Office for a meeting with the President of the United States.
The President was shocked. “This is so dangerous! I am grateful to you for alerting us. I am immediately going to contact the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.” The President then turned around in his swivel chair to reach for the yellow phone, which had a direct connection to the Pentagon, and that is when the visitor noticed the third eye in the back of the President’s head!
OY! I didn’t sleep the entire summer! The story still gives me goose bumps!
That is the nature of a fearsome enemy. As in Soviet Russia, you didn’t know who was your friend and who was your enemy. Your own children could inform on you! Chazal warn us that, if we don’t do teshuva in the days before Moshiach, Hashem will “appoint a ruler over [us] whose decrees will be as harsh as those Haman.” (Sanhedrin 97b). I have stated my opinion lately that Artificial Intelligence is our new “ruler,” an invisible power with no heart who is infiltrating itself into every aspect of our lives. Just as Paro was worshipped in Mitzraim and Stalin was worshipped in Soviet Russia, so Artificial Intelligence is now being worshipped as the source of all knowledge and guidance.
In this dark and heartless world there is only one Source of hope, one Power which can save us, the King of all Kings Who oversees every atom in the universe. This Power resides at the “Zenith of the universe” (Morning Prayers), but the amazing thing is that He allows His Presence to dwell on earth as well! “High above all nations is Hashem, above the heavens is His glory. Who is like Hashem, our G-d, Who is enthroned on high, yet deigns to look upon the heaven and earth! He raises the needy from the dust, from the trash heaps He lifts the destitute….” (Tehillim 113)
This is amazing! The other nations, lehavdil, all fail to relate to Hashem because they want to pretend there is no Power Who enforces His Torah of morality and proper behavior in this world. If they even acknowledge His Existence, they say that perhaps He created the world, but then “went on vacation.” But that is not the nature of Hashem. He has given a Torah of Life to this world in order that His Children should live by it!
In this week’s Parsha we begin to learn about Hashem’s home in this world, the Mishkan, later to become the Bais Hamikdosh when it reaches its final resting place on Har Habayis. This is an utter chiddush! The very idea that Hashem allows His Presence to rest among us in this world is a huge concept that we have to try to appreciate.
The bracha “Retzai” in Shemoneh Esreh ends with the words, “Blessed are You, Hashem, Who restores His Shechina to Tzion.” The idea that Hashem permits His Presence to rest among us is what differentiates us from all other nations. The Master of the Universe actually wants to establish a dwelling in our midst!
Let’s focus on the Aron, which is to contain the “aidos,” the testimony that Hashem gave us. This is the center of our life. All Am Yisroel is encamped around this Torah. It is from above this Aron that the voice of Hashem came directly to Moshe Rabbeinu and guided His People in everything we did.
We see now the stark contrast between the world of avoda zara and lehavdil the world which Hashem created. Please recall the words of the rabbi in Soviet Russia who faced down the KGB’s guns, “You can put down your toys. They do not frighten me. I have One G-d and two worlds. You have many gods and one world. I have nothing to fear.”
Just as Hashem resides at the “zenith of the universe” but deigns to come down to earth, so our primary residence is also in Shomayim, even though we may come down to earth for a period of time! This is what the Mishkan tells us.
“Hashem is with me. I have no fear. How can man affect me?” (Tehillim 118) With the Torah in our midst, we are immune to the fear generated by human rulers. We are beyond the control of the evil dictators, whether they be human beings or computers.
May we soon merit to elevate ourselves to the madreiga where the Shechina will once
more reside within our midst and the world will be healed from all its pain!
GLOSSARY
Aron: the ark in the Holy Temple
Avoda zara: idol worship
Bais Hamikdosh: the Holy Temple
Bracha: blessing
Chazal: the rabbis of the Mishna and Gemora
Chiddush: new thought
Levahdil: used to separate one subject from a completely different subject
Mishkan: the “Tabernacle,” the forerunner of the Holy Temple
Paro: Pharaoh
Shechinah: the Presence of G-d
Shomayim: the spiritual world
Tehillim: Psalms
