SHELACH: AGENTS OF THE EXILE; THE SECRETS OF THE TALLIT AND TEFILLIN
by Rabbi Baruch Binyamin Hakohen Melman
Exile can be a state of mind. But it can also be very real. The Nation of Israel was on track to be united with the Land of Israel, when the sin of the spies caused a deep rupture, thus delaying the reunion until the passing of the generation that was accustomed to a negative slave mindset. Thus the exile of the mind led to an exile of the body. Our thoughts determine who we are to become, what our destiny will be.
The Torah identifies two agents of the exile. One agent leading us to sin was the organ of vision, viz. the eyes. Whereas in Eden man saw himself as larger than G*d, and thus his eyes caused him to disobey, leading to the first exile, the exile from Eden, this new exile similarly was caused by the eyes. This time the sin was that man saw himself as being too small, just the opposite of Eden.
"..We were IN OUR EYES like tiny grasshoppers, that's all that we were IN THEIR EYES(vanhi v'eyneynu kachagavim v'chen hayinu b'eyneyhem - NUM 13:33).
The use of eyes attributed to both the Canaanites and Israel is possibly indicative that this smallness of vision was a universal pathology. The fixing or corrective for the sin of Eden was not that man should think of himself as being small, G*d forbid, but rather that he should see his own greatness and become a partner with G*d to fix the world. Obeying G*d is essentially forming a partnership with the Divine.
The corrective for the sin of the eyes are the phylacteries which are worn during morning prayers. As they are placed as "frontlets between the eyes," they have the power to lift us up to a higher vision of ourselves. ayin is the Hebrew word for eye, but it also means wellspring, as in maayan. Thus what we focus on becomes the source of our inspiration for achieving our own greatness. We should be blessed to focus only on the positive.
Exile can be a state of mind. But it can also be very real. The Nation of Israel was on track to be united with the Land of Israel, when the sin of the spies caused a deep rupture, thus delaying the reunion until the passing of the generation that was accustomed to a negative slave mindset. Thus the exile of the mind led to an exile of the body. Our thoughts determine who we are to become, what our destiny will be.
The Torah identifies two agents of the exile. One agent leading us to sin was the organ of vision, viz. the eyes. Whereas in Eden man saw himself as larger than G*d, and thus his eyes caused him to disobey, leading to the first exile, the exile from Eden, this new exile similarly was caused by the eyes. This time the sin was that man saw himself as being too small, just the opposite of Eden.
"..We were IN OUR EYES like tiny grasshoppers, that's all that we were IN THEIR EYES(vanhi v'eyneynu kachagavim v'chen hayinu b'eyneyhem - NUM 13:33).
The use of eyes attributed to both the Canaanites and Israel is possibly indicative that this smallness of vision was a universal pathology. The fixing or corrective for the sin of Eden was not that man should think of himself as being small, G*d forbid, but rather that he should see his own greatness and become a partner with G*d to fix the world. Obeying G*d is essentially forming a partnership with the Divine.
The corrective for the sin of the eyes are the phylacteries which are worn during morning prayers. As they are placed as "frontlets between the eyes," they have the power to lift us up to a higher vision of ourselves. ayin is the Hebrew word for eye, but it also means wellspring, as in maayan. Thus what we focus on becomes the source of our inspiration for achieving our own greatness. We should be blessed to focus only on the positive.
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Sefer Chabibi Deepest Torah: SHELACH: AGENTS OF THE EXILE; THE SECRETS OF THE TALLIT AND TEFILLIN
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