SHEMINI - SPIRITUAL LIGHT

January 14, 1994

"These are they which are unclean to you among all that swarm; whosever touches them, when they are dead, shall be unclean until the evening.  And upon whatsoever any of them, when they are dead, does fall, it shall be unclean." Leviticus 11:31

There are people who claim that organized religion is not for them, that 'tuning in' on sprituality is enough for them.  There is a Gemorrah in Chulin 123a that alludes to an idea that there is a certain danger inherent in their path.

The Gemorah there discusses the status of skin from a dead animal whose flesh is considered a source of 'tumah', spiritual impurity.  The Gemorah says that thin skin from certain parts of the animal's body is considered 'tomay', spiritually impure, until one of two things occurs.  One can begin the tanning process by spreading the skin on the ground and walking on it the equivalent of 4 'mil', a process that takes about 72 minutes.  This process of walking on the skin is called 'holech', or walking. The second process is that someone can cut a piece of the skin and use it for something productive and purposeful, such as making a patch for a basket.  These two actions indicates that the skin is no longer merely regarded like 'flesh', but is wanted for its productive uses.  If either of these two actions are done to the skin, it is no longer regarded as 'tomay', and becomes 'tahor', or spiritually pure.

The word for skin in Hebrew is 'ohr'.  Coincidentally the word for light is also 'ohr', exchanging the 'eyen' for an 'aleph', two letters that are sometimes regarded as interchangeable.  The word for light, 'ohr', is one of the first words found in the Bible, where God says 'let there be light'.  A question often asked is what light is this referring to, if God created the sun and the stars on a later day. The answer usually given is that this primal light refers to a spiritual light.  This primal light is the spiritual energy that enlivens our mind and spirit, that intangible and non-material force rooted in our soul and consciousness. 

If we look at the above law regarding skin, and by means of 'drosh', metaphor, apply it to spiritual light, an interesting idea emerges.  We see that skin in its native state is a source of tumah, spiritual impurity, and it is only by 'holech' (preparing it for productive use) or actual productive use does it lose its ability to generate 'tumah'.  By analogy, this would imply that the spiritual light that God created on the first day can be a source of 'tumah', spiritual impurity, unless it is either prepared for productive use or actually used productively.  It is interesting that the word 'holech', the process of preparing the skin for productive use, is very similar to the word for Jewish law, 'hollochah'.  The analogy implies that the pure spiritual energy we have within us can actually have a negative effect on us unless we use it productively, specifically as called for by 'hollochah' and mitzvahs, the activities that channel that spiritual energy for productive use.  Just 'grooving' and 'feeling' the spiritual energy in its native, amorphous, primal state could be a source of 'tumah' and spiritual impurity unless structured and used in a productive way, as called for by 'hollochah' and mitzvahs. 

We can see support for this interpretation in the two brochas we say before the morning Shema in the morning prayers.  In the first of the brochas we thank God for creating 'ohr', light.  In the second brocha we thank God for teaching us the laws of how to conduct our lives, how to channel that light.

The Gemorah in Yuma describes that happened when the Jews returned to the land of Israel to build the second Temple after the destruction of the first Temple and the 70 year exile in Babylonia.  They knew that one of the causes of the destruction of the first Temple, as described so vividly in Tanach, was the desire on the part of the Jews to worship idols.  So the Rabbis entered into the new (second) Temple, and prayed that the desire for idol worship would be destroyed.  The Gemorah says that this desire - in the form of a fierce lion - emerged from the inner sanctuary of the Temple, and the Rabbis killed it.  From then on the desire for idol worship substantially decreased, but the side effect was that prophesy was also substantially decreased.  It seems that there is a common spiritual energy that is the source of both prophesy and the desire to worship idols.  Perhaps this common spiritual energy is that 'light' (ohr) that God created on the first day.  Perhaps the spiritual energy, if left in its primal state, can make a person 'tomay' and induce him to worship idols, and if channeled and used productively with hollochah and mitzvahs, it can elevate a person to great spritual levels. 

The life force that pulses through us is a wonderful and miraculous gift of God, and includes the spiritual light that God created on the first day.  If left in its primal and unchanneled form, that life force and spiritual energy can actually be a source of 'tumah' and spritual impurity.  Feeling the spiritually is not only not enough, it can actually be a dangerous source of 'tumah'.  That life force and spiritual energy must be channelled and used productively with 'hollochah' and mitzvahs, so we can use its energy to rise to spritual heights.