Shemot: Chapter 37

"While the king was reclining at his board"

Synopsis

Rabbi Yitzchak opens with the first of three interpretations of "While the king was reclining at his board."Rabbi Tanchum concludes this section by explaining that every nation has a minister above, and the rise of one minister coincides with the fall of another. Thus, when God gave dominion to the minister of Egypt, he gained dominion only because of Yisrael.

Relevance

The ultimate intent behind the giving of the Torah on Mount Sinai to Moses is accomplished for each reader, and the world, through the power of these heavenly verses.

The Torah, viewed through the lens of Kabbalah, is an awesome instrument of power designed to uproot and banish every one of our negative desires and reactive traits that are embedded in our nature. In truth, a man does not possess the power to accomplish this profound task on his own. Rather, our accountability and acknowledgment of the various wicked aspects of our character is the effort we must exert. Once we identify and accept responsibility for these reprehensible characteristics, the Light of the Torah is free to cleanse them from our being.

As we connect to this particular passage, the reader should self-reflect on all of his nefarious qualities. Recall moments of intolerance, envy, anger, insensitivity, narrow-mindedness, jealousy, rage, impatience, selfishness, and self-indulgence. The more difficult and painful it is to admit these misdeeds, the more powerful is the result you will achieve. This action will allow the Zohar to purge the underlying traits that caused these reactive moments in the first place. The foul fragrances and darkness that arise from such behavior dissipate forever. The heavenly fragrances of the Torah now permeate our entire existence.