High and Low
The higher we climb the greater the pressure to go down. Don’t let success deter you from continuing to climb and weather the winds that try to force you down. PARSHAS YISRO PARSHAS YISRO
No Stairs; Just a Ramp
At the end of this week’s parsha, the Torah discusses the manner in which the Altar in the Temple should be constructed. The Torah states: “[When you build a ramp] to My Altar do not [make it] ascend with steps, so that it will not [look as if] your nakedness is exposed upon it.”
Simply put, the Torah was concerned with the modesty of the Kohain. Rather than climb stairs, the Kohain would alight onto the Altar by way of a ramp. This would make it possible for him to take small steps instead of wide strides.
This commandment is mentioned at the end of this week’s parsha, which stands out as the PARSHAS YISRO one that describes Jewish history’s most momentous and defining event—the giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai.
The question arises, why would the Torah include such an apparently minor detail concerning the construction of the Altar in the Temple in a section that touches on the most important event ever?
Indeed, there is an entire section of the Torah that is devoted to the construction of the Mishkan. The Torah could have mentioned the detail about the ramp of the Altar there. Why did the Torah have to include these details here?
Don’t Exaggerate!
To appreciate the importance of this law concerning the Altar and its ramp, we ought to refer to a commentary of the great Chassidic Master, Rabbi Elimelech of Lizensk, in his classic work Noam Elimelech.
The word for steps in Hebrew ma’alot can also be rendered virtues or qualities. When PARSHAS YISRO we focus inordinately on our own qualities in our service of G-d, it can lead to the exposure of our faults as well. While we must not be ignorant of our own qualities, overemphasis of them can be detrimental.
Even, nay, especially, when we ascend to the greatest heights and realize how high we’ve climbed as we alight onto the Altar of G-d, we must maintain a spirit of humility. Otherwise, our “nakedness” will be exposed; everyone will see how low we really are.
We can now appreciate why this admonition is placed at the end of the parsha that deals with the most significant event of the giving of the Torah.
When the Jews experienced this event, they had climbed to the highest plane of spiritual experience. To forestall the danger that this would lead to their feeling smug and arrogant upon realizing how high they’ve climbed, the Torah therefore admonishes them—and anyone who likewise soars to the spiritual stratosphere—do not let this get to their/our heads, lest it will expose their/our glaring PARSHAS YISRO faults. For when the spotlight of G-dly light shines on an individual, one can see through them and discover their faults as well.
Revealing the Sub-Conscious
One can take this a step further. Each one of us possesses revealed as well as hidden qualities and faults. Most of the time we function at a level where our hidden talents and shortcomings remain dormant. However in times of crisis, or when we are filled with inspiration because of an unusual event that we’ve lived through, we discover that we possess far more power than we had ever imagined we had. These hidden qualities begin to surface in a way that surprises not only other people but even ourselves.
In particular, the book of Daniel predicts that prior to the coming of Moshiach all the hidden matters will become revealed and all obscure matters clarified. This refers, among other applications, to the actualization of our hidden qualities that will become manifest in the pre-Messianic Age.
PARSHAS YISRO
But, at precisely these times, when our hidden talents and virtues are revealed, we may discover that we also possess certain negative qualities that we were never aware of. We could not fathom that we were that flawed just as we could not predict our possession of the hidden positive energies. Once we realize these heretofore hidden faults, we can deal with them and transform them into forces for good.
Surprise!
We can now understand how it was possible for the Jewish people, just weeks after they had received the Torah at Sinai directly from G-d, to have constructed and worshipped a Golden Calf. How could people who were so high fall so low?
In truth, it may be suggested, that their precipitous fall was not in spite of their meteoric rise, but rather because of it. When a person is in a heightened state of consciousness there is always the possibility that the most dangerously negative energies PARSHAS YISRO that were deeply embedded in our psyche may be actualized together with the most powerful positive energies. We should not be surprised or demoralized when these flaws surface. On the contrary, this knowledge itself will assist us in dealing with these negative energies.
In recent times we’ve witnessed a tremendous surge of both positive as well as negative energy in the world at large. They are not contradictory phenomena. As stated, when the deepest spiritual energies are released there is a concomitant release of negative energy as well. This suggests that we are standing on the very threshold of the Messianic Age and every Mitzvah we do will “bring us over the top,“ to prepare us for the time when the negative will be transformed into positive.
From the book Light from the Future: Parshas Yisro by Rabbi Heschel Greenberg, published by the Jewish Discovery Center.
