The Jew and the General
A Jew ends up sleeping in the same cabin as a Russian
General of the Czar's army. He tells the conductor to wake him up at 4:00 a.m.
so he can get off at his stop. He is awakened at the proper time, yet due to the
darkness he mistakenly puts on the cloth of the general instead of his own.
"It seems like the conductor
woke up the general instead of me."
When he arrives home, his wife asks him if everything
is all right with him. When he takes a look in the mirror and sees that he is
wearing the general's uniform, he tells his wife, "It seems like the conductor
woke up the general instead of me."
Three Arks
The holiest article in the Tabernacle that the Jewish
people constructed in the desert was the Ark, which housed the Tablets of the
Ten Commandments. In this week's portion (Terumah), the Torah commands the Ark
to be made of acacia wood and to be covered within and without with gold.
To fulfill this stipulation the Jews made three boxes,
tucked into each other. The larger visible box was made of pure gold. Inside it,
they placed a box of acacia wood. Then a second golden box was made and it was
put inside the wooden one. Thus, the middle wooden box was covered with gold
inside and out (Ex. 25:11, Rashi).
But why did they need to build three arks in order to
fulfill this condition? Why could they not build one ark of wood and plate it
inside and out with gold?
Three Layers of the Soul
Gold is an inanimate metal, while wood belongs to the
botanic world of growth and development. On the other hand, wood has nothing of
the brilliant glitter and splendor of gold. And while wood may be developed into
a magnificent structure, it can also -- unlike gold -- deteriorate and rot.
...the psychological
structure of every human being consists of three strata...
Kabbalah and Chassidism teach that the psychological
structure of every human being consists of three strata, one beneath the other:
The deepest, often invisible, stratum is the quintessential level of the soul
that may be unknown even to man himself. Then there is the conscious personality
-- including all of our feelings, moods, instincts and desires. Finally, there
is the layer of behavior -- the active thoughts, words and deeds we express and
carry out during our daily encounters and interactions.
The three arks that the Jewish people constructed
three millennia ago in the Sinai desert represented these three dimensions of
the human structure. The most inner ark, made of pure gold and tucked inside the
other two arks, reflected the most inner dimension of the soul, which can be
defined as "pure gold." This is the Divine, spiritual essence of our identity,
displaying a brilliant luster of sacredness, integrity and love.
Just as gold coming from the inorganic world is not
subject to real change, so too the golden essence of the human soul cannot be
altered. No matter how much we were abused or we abused ourselves, the core of
our consciousness remains a piece of gold.
The middle ark made of wood reflected the more visible
conscious personality of the human soul. Just like wood, our feelings and
attitudes go through many changes during our lives. We may develop and refine
our "wooden" character so that it becomes exquisite and beautiful, or our
personality may grow rotten and putrid.
Our "wooden" self usually vacillates between extremes.
At times we may feel idealistic, virtuous and spiritual, but at other times we
find ourselves consumed by bleak emotions, negative cravings and dark ambitions.
We just feel rotten and decayed inside.
Finally, the third and outer ark, conspicuous for all
to see, was made of pure gold. This reflected the Torah's blueprint for the most
external stratum of the human structure -- man's behavior.
Though we may feel our personalities to be torn inside
and harboring within them dark and gloomy demons, we ought never allow ourselves
to succumb to these forces and grant them permission to dictate our behavior. We
need to remember always that even while our conscious moods may gravitate toward
decadence, our essence remains pure gold.
...how you talk and how you think -- ought to reflect the beauty and
splendor of your innate G-dliness...
This is Judaism's fundamental code of human behavior.
Even while you feel selfish, unholy and obnoxious inside, your behavior -- what
you do, how you talk and how you think -- ought to reflect the beauty and
splendor of your innate G-dliness and holiness.
Unholy People Doing Holy Things
Rabbi Schneur Zalman in the Tanya (chapter 12)
makes an important distinction between instinctive thoughts vs. conscious
thoughts. While instinctive thoughts are beyond the control of man, conscious
thoughts remain under his "jurisdiction." Thus, while our instinctive thoughts
may be rotten or even evil, reflecting the good-evil dichotomy inherent in human
nature, our conscious thoughts may always be made of gold.
Accordingly, there is no need, nor is it even a
possibility for most people, to have all of their three "arks" turned into pure
gold. It is not tragic if our middle "ark" forever remains torn and
dichotomized. Yet, notwithstanding this eternal dichotomy, our behavior, our
active thoughts, words and deeds, ought always to reflect our innate G-dliness
and spirituality. G-d did not desire only holy people doing holy things; He
desired unholy people doing holy things.
Do not make the error of the Jew sleeping on the
train. Do not confuse who you are with what you are wearing. It is a sad error
to allow yourself to be defined by your external rotten mood in lieu of your
inner golden self.
Author's note:
My thanks to Rabbi Tzvi Hirsh Zarchi (Director, Chabad of Harvard University)
for sharing this insight with me, in the name of his father, Rabbi Shlomo
Zarchi, who heard it from elder Chabad Chassidim.
[First posted on //Algemeiner.com]
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