The NaTure of GrowTh

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It is in the nature of a human being, as created by G‑d, that anything encountered on a regular basis – or even not so frequently but in conjunction with other things and not as the centerpiece – will not command special attention, however important the thing is in itself.

When, on the other hand, something stands out as something of primary importance and, in addition, is presented with appropriate emphasis, then one’s attitude and response are altogether on a different level.

One important subject that has been spoken of in the past, but perhaps without emphasizing its significance in day to day life, is the following:

To make and upgrade every Jewish home as a mini Temple or small sanctuary, to reflect fully the inner purpose of G‑d’s command and promise: “Let them make Me a Sanctuary that I may dwell in the midst of them.” Our Sages explain that the text does not say, “in the midst of it” (singular, referring to the Sanctuary), but “in the midst of them,” (plural), meaning, in the midst of the makers of the Sanctuary, i.e. in the heart and soul of every Jew, man and woman, and within every Jewish home.

Plainly stated: This is to urge all Jews most earnestly to make G‑d’s request to dwell in their midst the primary concern in their everyday life, with total dedication, in thought, speech, and deed, to realize its fullest potential.

More precisely and specifically: The small sanctuary in the heart and in the home of every Jew should in all respects reflect, as it were, the Holy Temple, which comprised within itself the source and reality of the Three Pillars on which the entire world is based: Torah, Avodah (prayer), and Gemilus Chassodim (good deeds).

Torah is emphatically represented in the first of the specified details of “Make Me a Sanctuary,” namely the Ark in which the Tablets of Testimony (with the Ten Commandments) were to be kept in the Holy of Holies. It was further underscored when, immediately after the Written Torah was completed, the Torah Scroll was placed beside the Ark in the Holy of Holies. Avodah—in the function of the Holy

Temple as “My house shall be called a House of Prayer,” and the “Gate of Heaven,” since all prayers are directed toward the Holy of Holies, and “ascend” to Heaven through it.

As the Rambam explains it, the Holy Temple was a House consecrated as the place where the offerings were offered to G‑d; and the inner content of an offering was to enable a Jew to come closest to G‑d through the vicarious experience of total “surrender” and self sacrifice to G‑d, the equivalent of which, in prayer is the surrender of one’s will to G‑d, with all one’s heart and soul.

Gemilus Chassodim is symbolically represented in the second specified item of the sacred furnishings of the Sanctuary, immediately following the Ark (with its details), namely, the Table of the Showbread, since the Holy Temple was the place from which G‑d dispensed all His acts of kindness “from His full, open, holy and ample Hand” for the entire world, and for Jews in particular.

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Inasmuch as G‑d demands of humans no more than it is humanly possible to achieve, it clearly follows that what He demands of a Jew, man and woman, is well within their capacity to carry out. G‑d does expect, however, that everyone should utilize one’s capacities in the fullest measure. Especially, in light of the well known Rabbinic saying that G‑d has not created anything in vain; hence He expects that the capacities—which He bestows —should be fully utilized.

These include also the capacities which a Jew receives from G‑d to carry out His imperative “to upgrade all things of holiness,” i.e. never to be satisfied with the present state, however satisfactory it be, but to proceed from strength to strength, rising ever higher and higher from time to time and from day to day, in all aspects of goodness and holiness.

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Herein also lies the connection with the New Year For Trees, with its message in light of the Torah stating that a “human being is like a tree in the field.” The proof of a living tree is in its continuous growth, and the purpose of a tree is to produce good fruit, and the fruit of fruit, of the highest possible quality and quantity. This is what G‑d demands of an individual: that he should strive to grow steadily in all areas of the good, which come under the heading of, and are connected with, the Three Pillars, Torah, Prayer, and good deeds.

And inasmuch as all these matters are connected with G‑d, the Infinite One blessed be He, they, too, are infinite, so that there is always room to do more and better. Here again, as mentioned, above, G‑d provides all the necessary capacities to add and improve; and, moreover, to act and achieve all these objectives with joy and gladness of heart. EM

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