| Introduction
A Microcosm
of the Temple
Sustenance,
Clothing, Shelter
Man in the Aura
of the Tzelem
Reverse Order:
Shelter, Clothing
Sustenance
Five Levels
of the Soul -
Inverted Seal
Food,
Drink, Air
The Secret of the
"Primordial
Atmosphere"
Clouds of Glory,
Miriam's Well,
Manna
The World -
A Home for G-d
Mezuzah |
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Kabbalah and Modern Life - The Jewish Home
Part 1
A Microcosm of the
Temple |
A Jewish home is intended to be a "miniature sanctuary and
Temple" |
When a Jewish family enters a new home, it is customary to have a festive meal to
initiate, or inaugurate the new house. This feast is reminiscent of the inauguration of
the Temple. Every Jewish home is intended to be a mikdash me'at, a
"miniature sanctuary and Temple." As the Lubavitcher Rebbe explains,
the consciousness in every Jewish home should be that of a microcosm of the Temple. |
| Each
Jew, is analogous to a Priest who partakes of the Temple sacrifices. |
Every room in the home corresponds to some different area
and the function that it served in the Holy Temple. The dining room is like the courtyard
where the outer altar stood. Our Sages compare the table on which a Jew eats to the altar
in the Temple. Each Jew, even though not a Priest and not living in the time of the
Temple, is analogous to a Priest who partakes of the Temple sacrifices. The sacrifices
were divided into various components. Some were "burnt offerings" on the altar,
while others were eaten by the Priests. The act of the Priest eating of the offering would
effect atonement for the person who brought the offering. Thus, the apparently mundane act
of eating is actually spiritual and Divine.
(In a certain respect, when a person
eats, he reflects that aspect of the sacrifice that was burnt on the altar. Any act of
consuming is referred to as eating. The Torah refers to a fire as "eating," aish
ochla (Deuteronomy 4:24). To consume and to be burnt are identical concepts. The
Hebrew word aish is an acronym for achila shtiya,
eating and drinking. Fire both eats and drinks. When we eat, this reflects either the
altar eating, or the Priest eating, or the eating of the person who brought the offering.)
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The Holy of Holies is referred to in one place in the Torah (Kings 2, 11:2) as the
"bedroom." This was the home of the Divine Groom and Bride, which is G-d and
Knesset Yisrael, the Shechinah. |
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