The Cave is Filled by the Sea, yet the Sea is not Diminished
by tillerofthesoil
And the cloud covered the Tent of Meeting and the glory of YHWH filled the Tabernacle (Exodus 40:34).
“Rabbi Yehoshu’a of Sikhnin said in the name of Rabbi Levi: Why was the Tent of Meeting compared to a cave on the seashore? When the sea rises and floods it, the cave is filled by the sea, yet the sea is not diminished. So too, the Tent of Meeting was filled with the splendor of the Shekhinah, as is said, on [Israel’s] יוֹם כַּלֹּת (yom kallot), bridal day, Moses [set up the Tabernacle] (Numbers 7:1)” (Pesiqta de-Rav Kahana 1:2, cf. Tanḥuma, Vayakhel, 7; Pirqei de-Rabbi Eli’ezer 19a).
“As I beheld the living beings, behold, one wheel on the earth alongside the living beings (Ezekiel 1:15). Rabbi El’azar said, ‘This is a certain angel who stands on earth and whose head extends close to the living beings.’ In a matnita [tannaitic tradition] it is taught: His name is Sandalfon, who is taller than his companion by a journeying distance of five hundred years. He stands behind the Chariot, binding crowns for his Maker. But is it so? Behold it is written: Blessed be the glory of YHWH from His place (Ezekiel 3:12) accordingly, none knows His place!—he pronounces the Name over the crown, and it goes and rests on His head.
Rava said: All that Ezekiel saw Isaiah saw. What does Ezekiel resemble? A villager who saw the king [and prophesied from afar, i.e., exile]. And what does Isaiah [who said: The fullness of all the land is His glory (Isaiah 6:3)] resemble? A townsman who saw the king [and prophesied from within the land of Israel]” (BT Ḥagigah 13b).
“Rabbi Dosa says: Behold, it says, You shall not be able to see My face, for no human can see Me and live (Exodus 33:20). While they are living, they do not see, but in the hour of their death, they do see. Thus it says, Before Him will kneel all who go down to the dust whose life is undone (Psalms 22:30). Rabbi Akiva says: For no human can see Me and live—even the living beings that carry the Throne cannot see the Glory! Son of Azzai said: I do not mean to repudiate my master’s words, but to add to his words: For no human can see Me and live—even the ministering angels, whose life is the life of eternity, do not see the Glory!” (Sifra, Vayiqra, dibbura dindavah 2:12, 4a).
“What is From His place (Ezekiel 3:12)? Because no one knows His place. This is like a king’s daughter who came from afar, and nobody knew where she came from. When they saw that she was אֵשֶׁת חַיִל (eshet ḥayil), a worthy woman, lovely and refined in all that she did, they said: ‘She undoubtedly was taken from the side of the light, for her deeds give light to the world.’ They then asked her: ‘Where are you from?’ She replied: ‘From my place.’ They said: ‘If so, the people of your place must be great! Blessed are you and blessed is your place!’” (Bahir §132).
“His disciples said to him: From above to below we know. But from below to above we do not know. He replied: Is it not all one—below to above and above to below? They said: Our Rabbi, ascending is not like descending. One can run while descending, but it is not so while ascending. He replied: Go out and see.
He sat and expounded for them: ‘Shekhinah is below just as Shekhinah is above’ (Seder Rabba de-Vereshit) [see Wertheimer, Battey Midrashot 1:30]. And what is Shekhinah? Say that this is the light emanated from the primordial light, Ḥokhmah. It also surrounds everything, as is written: The fullness of all the land is His glory (Isaiah 6:3). What is its function here? A parable: A king had seven sons, and he assigned each one his place. He said to them, ‘Sit, this one on the back of that one.’ The lowest one said, ‘I will not dwell below! I will not be so far from you!’ He said to them, ‘I will hereby turn and see you all day long.’ This is The fullness of all the land is His glory. Why is He in their midst? To stand them up and make them endure” (Bahir §171).
“All beings above and below cannot grasp, till finally they declare: Blessed be the glory of YHWH from His place! (Ezekiel 3:12). Those below proclaim that He is above, as is written: Your glory is above the heavens (Psalms 113:4). Those above proclaim that He is below, as is written: Your glory is over all the earth (ibid. 57:12). Finally all of them, above and below, declare: Blessed be the glory of YHWH from His place! For He is unknowable; no one has ever been able to comprehend Him” (Zohar 1:103a).
His majesty covers the heavens, and His splendor fills the earth (Habakkuk 3:3).
“What is the difference between them [ס (samekh) and ם (mem)]? Well, when enclosed and hidden within itself, within the supernal point above, She [Binah] assumes the form of the letter ס (samekh), enclosed within and hidden, ascending above. And when She returns and sits רְבִיעָא (revi’a), crouching, over children below to suckle them, She assumes the form of the letter ם (mem) [which is] רְבִיעָא (revi’a), quadrilateral, enclosed in four directions of the world [the first appearance of the letter ס (samekh) in the Torah is in the word הַסֹּבֵב (ha-sovev), surrounds (Genesis 2:11), and its second appearance is in the word וַיִּסְגֹּר (va-yisggor), closed (ibid., 21), see Bereshit Rabbah 17:6]” (Zohar 2:127a, cf. BT Shabbat 104a).
“He surrounds all the worlds, and none but He surrounds them in any direction, up or down or to the four corners of the compass, and no one has escaped outside His realm, for He fills all the worlds and there is no other that fills them [cf. BT Berakhot 10a]. He grants life, and there is no other god above Him to give Him life, as is said: You enliven them all (Nehemiah 9:6), and for Him Daniel said: And all earth’s dwellers are counted as naught, and as He chooses He does with the array of the heavens and the earth’s dwellers, [and there is none who can protest against Him and say to Him, ‘What have You done?’] (Daniel 4:32). He binds and unites kind to its kind above and below, and the four elements would have no proximity except with the blessed Holy One in their midst” (Zohar 3:225a, Ra’aya Meheimna Pineḥas).
“What prompted David to praise the blessed Holy One with his soul? Well, he said, ‘The soul fills the body, and the blessed Holy One fills His world, as is said: Do not I מָלֵא (male), fill, the heavens and earth? (Jeremiah 23:24); let the soul, which fills the body, come and praise the blessed Holy One, who fills all the world. The soul carries the body, and the blessed Holy One carries His world, as is said, I have made it and I will carry, I will bear it [and I will rescue] (Isaiah 46:4); let the soul, which carries the body, come and praise the blessed Holy One, who carries His world” (Vayiqrah Rabbah 4:8).
ס (Samekh) alludes to סוֹבֶב כָּל עָלְמִין (sovev kal almin), surrounding all worlds. ם (Mem) alludes to מְמַלֵא כָּל עָלְמִין (memale kal almin), filling all worlds.
“Before anything emanated, there was only Ein Sof. Ein Sof was all that existed. Similarly, after It brought into being that which exists, there is nothing but It. You cannot find anything that exists apart from It. There is nothing that is not pervaded by the power of divinity. If there were, Ein Sof would be limited, subject to duality, God forbid! Rather, God is everything that exists, though everything that exists is not God. It is present in everything, and everything comes into being from It. Nothing is devoid of Its divinity. Everything is within It; It is within everything and outside of everything. There is nothing but It” (Rabbi Moshe Cordovero, Elimah Rabbati, 24d–25a, translated in Matt, The Essential Kabbalah, p. 24).
“Know שֶׁהַכֹּל הוּא הַשֵּׁם (she-ha-kol hu ha-Shem), that all is God, blessed be He, and your thought and speech and all your vitality is אֱלָהוּת (elahut), divinity. And this is, ‘There shall be בְךָ (vekha), among you [lit., in you], no strange god (Psalms 81:10)—now what is the strange god which is in man’s body? Say this is the evil impulse’ (BT Shabbat 105b). Do not think it strange that the Divine is within you…. Know that all is divine” (Rabbi Menaḥem Naḥum of Chernobil, Me’or Einayim, Qedoshim, 47a).
“Blessed be the glory of YHWH from His place! (Ezekiel 3:12). What is the glory of YHWH? A parable. To what can this be compared? To a king who had a matron in his chamber, with whom all his soldiers delighted. She had children who came each day to see the king and praise him. They asked him, ‘where is our mother? He replied, ‘You cannot see her now.’ They said, ‘May she be blessed wherever she is!” (Bahir §90).
“First mystery: י (yod) primordial point, standing upon nine pedestals supporting it. These are stationed in four directions of the world, just as End of Thought, final point, is stationed in four directions of the world—except that this is male and that is female. This one stands without a body; and when clothed in a garment, it stands upon nine pedestals in mystery of the letter ם (mem), not circular. Although the letter ס (samekh) is circular, assuming a circle, in the mystery of letters engraved in dazzling points above they are square, while below circular…” (Zohar 2:180a, cf. Bahir §114-§116, cf. BT Eruvin 76b).
On the relation between רְבִיעָא (revi’a), sit, crouch, and אַרְבָּעָה (arba’ah), four, quadrilateral, cf. Ibn Ezra on Leviticus 18:23.
Each letter of יהוה (YHWH) squared is numerically equivalent to מָקוֹם (maqom), Omnipresent.
“And they shall make an ark of acacia wood (Exodus 25:10). Thus it is written, Shaddai, whom we find not, is lofty in power (Job 37:23). Our great teacher [Rabbi Yehudah ha-Nasi] said: We are indebted to Job, because he added to everything Elihu said. Job said to his companions: ‘Do you imagine that even all you have said exhausts all His praise? Who can declare all the praises and mighty deeds of the blessed Holy One? All the things you have said, Why, these are but the least of His ways [the tag-end of the word that is heard of Him] (ibid. 26:14). Elihu said: שַׁדַּי לֹא-מְצָאנֻהוּ שַׂגִּיא כֹחַ (Shaddai lo metsanuhu sagi-khoaḥ), Shaddai, we cannot find Him lofty in power (Job 37:23). He that hears this verse may exclaim: ‘Perhaps, perish the thought, this is blasphemy!’ [since Elihu expressed it so ambiguously as to make it possible to think that he was actually blaspheming]. But this is what Elihu meant: We will never find the blessed Holy One’s strength [fully] displayed towards any of His creatures, for He does not visit His creatures with burdensome laws, but comes to each one according to his strength. For know that if blessed Holy One had come upon Israel with the full might of His strength when He gave them the Torah, they would not have been able to withstand it, as it says, If we hear again the voice of YHWH our God, we shall die (Deuteronomy 5:22). However, He came upon them according to their individual strength, for it says, YHWH’s voice in power (Psalms 29:4). It does not say in His power but in power, that is, according to the power of each individual. Another explanation of Shaddai, whom we find not, is lofty in power. When the blessed Holy One said to Moses, [And they shall] make Me a Tabernacle, [that I may abide in their midst] (Exodus 25:8), he exclaimed in amazement, ‘The Glory of the blessed Holy One fills the heavens and earth, and yet He commands: ‘Make Me a tabernacle for Me’! Moreover, he saw prophetically that Solomon would one day build a Temple, much larger than the tabernacle, and yet would say before the blessed Holy One: But can אֱלֹהִים (Elohim), God, really dwell on earth? Look, the heavens and the heavens beyond the heavens cannot contain You. How much less this house that I have built (1 Kings 8:27). If Solomon said this of the Temple which was so much greater than the tabernacle, then how much more could this be said of the tabernacle? For this reason Moses said: He who dwells in the Most High’s shelter (Psalms 91:1), which Rabbi Yehudah son of Rabbi shim’on explained: He who dwells in the shelter is Most High above all His creatures; and what does it mean by בְּצֵל (be-tsel), in the shadow of, Shaddai (ibid.)?—בְּצַלְ אֵל (be-tsal El), in the shadow of God [i.e., בְּצַלְאֵל (Betsalel), Bezalel, who constructed the Tabernacle]. It does not say here In the shadow of the Compassionate, or In the shadow of the Gracious, but In the shadow of Shaddai; that means, in the shadow which Bezalel constructed; and for this reason does it say, In the shadow of Shaddai lies at nigth. The blessed Holy One said, ‘Not as you think do I think; twenty boards on the north, twenty on the south and eight in the west [suffices Me]; moreover, I will descend וַאֲצַמְצֵם (va-atsamtsem), and will [even] confine, My Shekhinah within one square cubit” (Shemot Rabbah 34:1).
“Rabbi Yehoshu’a opened Happy the people who know the blast. O YHWH, they walk in the light of Your presence (Psalms 89:16). Rabbi Abbahu interpreted the verse as referring to the five elders who enter for the purpose of prolonging the year [by intercalculating a month]. What does the blessed Holy One do? He leaves His senate on high, descending, וּמְצַמְצֵם (u-metsamtsem), and confines, His Shekhinah [to a narrow space] among those below. The ministering angels exclaim: ‘This Mighty One, this Mighty One! This God, this God! He of whom it is written אֵל (El), God, held in awe in the council of the holy ones (ibid., 8) leaves His senators וּמְצַמְצֵם (u-metsamtsem), and confines, His Shekhinah [to a narrow space] among those below! Why all this?’ So that if they err in a matter of Halakhah, the blessed Holy One enlightens their countenance. Hence, it is written, they walk in the light of Your presence [lit., countenance]” (Vayiqra Rabbah 29:4).
“And it happened on the day Moses כַּלּוֹת (kallot), finished, setting up the Tabernacle (Numbers 7:1)…. Rabbi Yitsḥaq said, ‘It is written, The just will inherit the earth (Psalms 37:29). Where will the wicked be? Will they fly in the air? Rather, [the sense is] וְיִשְׁכְּנוּ (ve-yishkenu), and abide, forever upon it (ibid.)—let שְׁכִינָה (Shekhinah), Divine Presence, יִשְׁכְּנוּ (yishkenu), abide, on earth.’
The עִקַּר (iqqar), essence, of Shekhinah had been among the lower creatures, but when אָדָם רִאשׁוֹן (adam rishon), first man, sinned, She נִסְתַּלְּקָה (nistalqah), withdrew, to the first firmament. The generation of Enosh arose and sinned—She withdrew from the first to the second. The generation of the flood sinned—She withdrew from the second to the third. The generation of the dispersion sinned—She withdrew from the third to the fourth. The Egyptians in the days of our father Abraham sinned—She withdrew from the fourth to the fifth. The Sodomites sinned—She withdrew from the fifth to the sixth. The Egyptians in the days of Moses—from the sixth to the seventh. And opposite them arose seven righteous ones וְהוֹרִידוּ אוֹתָהּ (ve-horidu otah), and brought Her down, to earth. Our father Abraham arose, acquired merit and brought Her down from the seventh to the sixth. Isaac arouse, acquired merit and brought Her down from the sixth to the fifth. Jacob arose, acquired merit and brought Her down from the fifth to the fourth. Levi arose, acquired merit and brought Her down from the fourth to the third. Kohath arose, acquired merit and brought Her down from the third to the second. Amram arose, acquired merit and brought Her down from the second to the first. Moses arose, acquired merit and brought Her down to earth. Therefore it is said, וַיְהִי בְּיוֹם כַּלֹּת מֹשֶׁה (Va-yehi be-yom kallot Moshe), And it happened on the bridal day Moses [set up the Tabernacle—and married the Shekhinah on earth] (Numbers 7:1)” (Pesiqta de-Rav Kahana 1:5–6, cf. Bereshit Rabbah 19:7; Zohar 2:146a).
“Rabbi Yehudah son of Il’ai told the parable of a king who had a daughter. Before she was old enough to show the signs of puberty, he felt free to talk to her wherever he saw her—whether in the market, in alleys or in lanes, he felt free to talk to her. But after she came of age and showed the signs of puberty, he said: it does not suit the honor owed to my daughter that I speak to her in public. Make a pavilion for her, and I will speak to her in privacy within the pavilion. So [it was between the blessed Holy One and Israel]. At the beginning when Israel was a child in Egypt, then in My love of him, I used to cry out [wherever I saw him], ‘O son of Mine’ (Hosea 11:1). Thus it came about that the Children of Israel saw Me in Egypt when I said I will go through the land of Egypt (Exodus 12:12); they saw Me at the Reed Sea, when Israel saw the great hand (Exodus 14:31); they saw Me at Sinai when, YHWH spoke with you face to face (Deuteronomy 5:4). But once they accepted Torah and hence were regarded by Me as a people, come of age, I said, it no longer suits the honor owed to My children that I speak to them in public. Make the Tabernacle for Me, and then I shall speak to them from within the Tabernacle. Thus: And when Moses went into the Tent of Meeting that He might speak with him (Numbers 7:89)” (Pesiqta de-Rav Kahana 1).
“‘I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob as אֵל שַׁדָּי (El Shaddai)‘ (Exodus 6:3). Why did He change the name here from those before [i.e. אֱלֹהִים (Elohim)]? Well, this can be compared to a king who had an unmarried daughter and also had a beloved friend. When the king wanted to speak with that friend, he would send his daughter to speak with him—speaking with him through his daughter. The time came for his daughter to be married. On her wedding day, the king said, ‘From now on, call my daughter Highness of Wisdom Matronita. Until now, I spoke through her to whomever I spoke. From now on, I will tell her husband, and he will tell whomever is necessary.
Some days later, her husband had words with her in the presence of the king. Before she could answer, the king took up the word, saying to him, ‘Am I not the king, with whom, until this day, no person has spoken except through my daughter—while her name was such and such, when she was still unmarried? And you—I have given you my daughter and spoken with you openly, something I have done for no one else!’
Similarly, ‘I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob as אֵל שַׁדָּי (El Shaddai)‘—when She was in My house, not yet married. They did not speak with Me face-to-face, as I have done with you. Yet you, at the beginning of your words, have spoken to My daughter in My presence words such as these!’ Therefore, ‘I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob as אֵל שַׁדָּי (El Shaddai), but by My name YHWH I was not known to them—speaking with them on the rung I have spoken with you!‘” (Zohar 2:22b, cf. Shemot Rabbah 6:3).
“A Gentile asked Rabbi Yehoshu’a son of Qarḥah: Why did the blessed Holy One speak to Moses from the midst of the bush (Exodus 3:2)? If from the midst of a carob tree or a sycamore tree you would not ask me so. But, to send you away is impossible. Why from the midst of the bush? To teach you there is אֵין מָקוֹם פָּנוּי בְּלֹא שְׁכִינָה (ein maqom panui b’lo Shekhinah), no place empty of Shekhinah, even a [lowly] bush” (Shemot Rabbah 2:5).
“A Gentile asked Rabban Gamaliel: Why did the blessed Holy One reveal Himself to Moses in a bush? He said: Had He revealed Himself above a carob tree or above a fig tree, what would you say [would you not argue that He shunned the lowly bush]? But אֵין מָקוֹם בָּאָרֶץ פָּנוּי מִן הַשְּׁכִינָה (ein maqom ba-arets panui min ha-Shekhinah), there is no place in the land [of Israel] empty of the Shekhinah” (Pesiqta de-Rav Kahana, 1:2).
“לֵית אֲתַר פָּנוּי מִנֵּיהּ (Leit atar panui mineih), there is no place empty of Him” (Tiqqunei ha-Zohar 57, 91b).
“A parable: this can be compared to a king residing within the innermost chambers, thirty-two in all, each with its own path [cf. Sefer Yetsirah §1]. Now is it fitting for this king that everyone enter his chambers by his paths? Certainly not! But is it fitting for him not to display his pearls and hidden treasures, his precious objects and brocades? Certainly not! What did he do? He designated the daughter [Shekhinah] and included all the paths in her and in her garments. Whoever wishes to enter, let him gaze here!” (Bahir §43).
“To whom did David refer in these five verses beginning with ‘בָּרְכִי נַפְשִׁי (Barekhi nafshi), bless, O my being, YHWH‘? [see Psalms 103:1, 2, 22; 104:1, 35]. He was alluding only to the blessed Holy One and to the soul. Just as the blessed Holy One fills the whole world, so the soul fills the body. Just as the blessed Holy One, sees, but is not seen, so the soul sees but is not itself seen. Just as the blessed Holy One feeds the whole world, so the soul feeds the whole body. Just as the blessed Holy One is pure, so the soul is pure. Just as the blessed Holy One abides in the innermost chambers, so the soul abides in the innermost chambers. Let that which has these five things come and praise Him who has these five things” (BT Berakhot 10a, cf. Bereshit Rabbah 14:9; Bahir §§53–54).