to be stubborn,
to be worthy of the name stiff-necked,
let this endear me to you.
to be broken,
beaten down,
crushed,
to look the darkest darkness in the eye,
and to say, i am like God.
i am unchanged.
you cannot changed me.
i come from a line of stiff-necked people,
mothers and fathers and sisters and brothers,
who refused to be broken, beaten, crushed.
we are unchanged,
you cannot change us.
surely, God, that merits your presence?
won't you, please, walk beside us?
won't you dwell in my heart?
parshat noah, eish kodesh
november 2, 1940 we have learned that an angel who is sent down to this world needs seven days of purification before it can return to its previous exalted state. for jews this is not so. on the contrary, the jew is actually capable of worshipping and bringing God's dwelling place down into this very world, as was clearly the case with our patriarchs, and again at mount sinai, and in the tabernacle, and in jerusalem's holy temple. indeed, the heart and body of every jew is the most fitting place for the dwelling of God. this means that while angels are altered by contact with the world, the jew remains unaffected; he resists change. the jew who worships God with obstinacy is acting out of the consequence of our connection to God -- of whom the prophet spoke and said (malachi 3:6), "I am God; I have not changed."
...
not only are we able to withstand any and all challenges, we are always, no matter what the external circumstances, capable of bringing God into this world. this is what it means to be stiff-necked and obstinate at the level of "I am God; I have not changed."
כי המלאך כשבא לעוה"ז צריך טהרה ז' ימים עד שיהי' מוכשר לשוב אל מצבו הקודם משא"כ ישראל גם בעהה"ז עובדים את ד' ופועלים השראת השכינה כגון האבות הר סיני משכן בית המקדש וכל לב איש ישראל עם גופו מקום להשראת השכינה הם. זאת אומרת שהמלאכים משתנים ע"י עוה"ז משא"כ ישראל העובד את ד' אינו משתנה רק קשה עורף בעבדותו והיא המשכה מבחי' אני ד' לא שניתי ...לכן ישראל הנאחזים בגופא דמלכא יש להם מן בחי' עמודה זו שלא להשתנות על ידי העולם לעמוד בנסיונות ולא עוד אלא שגם בעוה"ז יעשו השראת השכינה והיא הבחינת קשה עורף המשכה מן הבחי' אני ד' לא שניתי
note: there are no entries in the eish kodesh for lech lecha and vayera; next post will be on chayei sara.
