Pekudei – The power of Teshuva

We close ספר שמות this week. The ups and downs, יציאת מצרים, קבלת התורה, the עגל, עמלק, and the מן. Among all these great events, there are two times that Moshe encounters a cloud which holds the Presence of God. The first is by מתן תורה, the Pasuk says ויעל משה אל ההר ויכס הענן את ההר, that Hashem’s presence had manifested as a cloud at the top of the mountain, and Moshe had gone up to receive the לוחות and the Torah. The second is in this week’s פרשה, upon completion of the Mishkan, the פסוק says ולא יכול משה לבוא אל אהל מועד כי שכן עליו הענן וכבוד יהוה מלא את המשכן, Moshe was not able to come into the Mishkan since the cloud was there. But this was the same Moshe and the same Hashem in the cloud as הר סיני, why would Moshe not be able to go in?

The answer is this: Moshe had a direct relationship with Hashem and was able to interact with Hashem even Hashem is an אש אכלת, a consuming fire. The cloud and smoke were not a threat to Moshe. However, we learnt in the 13 מידות from last week’s פרשה that the double usage of the name יה-וה יה-וה teaches us that the Creator of the universe was telling us that He is the Ultimate Dynamic being, and that he is accessible and loving both before an עבירה and after an עבירה. This week’s פרשה takes that a step further and tells us that not only is Hashem accessible to us and accepting of us, but that our relationship with Him is even stronger after we do an עבירה and return to him, than it had been prior to the עבירה. The cloud in this week’s פרשה is what came down into the Mishkan which was the atonement for the עגל. One would think that after such an egregious sin, and after Moshe successfully convinced Hashem not to destroy us, that when Hashem comes down again after that sin, that His Presence would be lessened or of a lower quality, yet, we see the opposite. Moshe attempts to enter the Mishkan and is unable, Hashem’s presence is too powerful! Our loving Creator has come down with more intensity than even at הר סיני! How can this be??

I once heard that each time a Jew sins, when he does teshuva on that עבירה he effectively proved that Hashem was accessible from an avenue that we otherwise would not have thought He was. A good example is a skiing mountain. The many open and used trails are the מצוות and the ways that we are all familiar with of how to reach Hashem. But a higher-level skiing is when you get lifted by helicopter to the top of a mountain that there are no trails on. You jump out and start blazing your own trails. Areas which seemed inaccessible and treacherous now exhilaratingly become artistically windy trails. These trails represent the path to Hashem through a channel which we would never have thought would get you there. Most people think the Heli-skiers are crazy and that they will never make it to the bottom of the mountain alive. Yet, they can do so and create a whole new trail in the process.

Jews are always moving toward Hashem, that is a given, the question is are we on the open trails or are we stuck in the glades and uncharted territory struggling to make new trails. While it is obviously not recommended to intentionally find Hashem through an עבירה, but if one finds himself stuck in a forest on skis, where they struggle to ski down and successfully make a new trail, that trail is much more valuable and exciting than the plain trails that everyone knows about.

This could be why Hashem’s presence was too intense even for Moshe after the Jews had successfully found their way back from the עבירה of the עגל. Our relationship had just taken a dive to a whole new depth. We now saw that Hashem will take us back even after an עבירה, and that this newfound power within to always find our way back to Hashem ensured that we would eternally survive as a nation.

16 Replies to “Pekudei – The power of Teshuva”

  2. I have been exploring for a little for any high-quality articles
    or blog posts in this kind of house . Exploring in Yahoo
    I ultimately stumbled upon this site. Studying this info So i’m glad to show that
    I’ve a very good uncanny feeling I came upon exactly what I needed.
    I so much no doubt will make sure to don?t overlook this site and give it a
    glance on a relentless basis.

  6. You are so interesting! I don’t suppose I have read anything
    like this before. So good to find somebody with some original thoughts
    on this issue. Really.. many thanks for starting this
    up. This web site is one thing that is required on the internet, someone with a little originality!

  8. Hello There. I discovered your weblog the usage of msn. That is an extremely well written article.
    I will make sure to bookmark it and return to learn more of
    your helpful info. Thank you for the post. I’ll certainly comeback.

  13. Wonderful goods from you, man. I’ve keep in mind your
    stuff previous to and you are simply extremely magnificent.
    I actually like what you’ve obtained right here, really like what you are saying and the best
    way by which you are saying it. You’re making it enjoyable and you still care for
    to stay it wise. I can not wait to learn far more from
    you. This is really a terrific web site.

  15. I think that everything posted was actually very logical.
    However, think on this, what if you were to create a awesome post title?
    I ain’t suggesting your information is not solid., however suppose you added a title to maybe
    get people’s attention? I mean Pekudei – The
    power of Teshuva – Stones uncut is a little boring.

    You ought to glance at Yahoo’s home page and watch how they create
    post headlines to get people to click. You might add a related video or a pic or two to grab readers
    interested about everything’ve written. In my opinion, it could make your
    website a little livelier.

Leave a Reply