The bible commands us to build a sanctuary, so “I will dwell
in THEM.” It doesn’t say, so I will dwell in it, but I will dwell in, them.
From these words, our sages tell us, everyone has the potential and the
obligation, of having G-d dwell in “them”, if they only make a sanctuary out of
their lives.
G-d, dwelt like a person who lives in his own home
unrestricted, in a sanctuary, made of physical vessels transformed to His
service. It is in the same way with each and every person. By dedicating our
every day, mundane living for a spiritual G-dly purpose, we make our lives a
vehicle for the presence of G-d in our lives. Where there is G-d, there are
unrestricted blessings and miracles.
You can, expect it.
One of the major elements in building the tabernacle where
the beams, made of acacia wood. In Hebrew, the word for acacia wood, is related
to “foolishness”. In other words, it was out of foolishness that the walls of
the sanctuary where fashioned.
The middle road, away from extremes at either end –
Maimonides tells us, is the one we should travel on for the most part, and for
most people. This middle road, is influenced and directed by logic and rational
thinking. Foolishness, is a turn away from wisdom and rational logic, and there
can be two sorts and types of “foolishness”. Below logic, a place that has
never met the benchmark of rational thinking. This is a very negative kind of
foolishness. Then there is a foolishness where a person acts in a way that is
fueled and exceeds and is superior to accepted logic - Holy and positive
foolishness.
The Talmud tells a story of a great sage who would juggle at
weddings to add joy to the groom and bride, something considered a very noble
and commendable act. Not everyone was happy with what they saw. Some colleagues
of this Rabbi saw this act as minimizing the respect due to people in scholarly
positions.
When this Rabbi passed away, there was a pillar of fire that
separated him from the rest of the people. The sages attributed this separation
from the rest of the people “because of his foolishness” in distinguishing
himself from the crowd for the good, when entertaining at weddings.
Holy foolishness is when a person breaks from the “regular”
“ accepted” ways, and spiritually elevates himself and his influence on others,
in a way that doesn’t necessarily follow a line of logic. He doesn’t serve G-d
limited to the ways that are only influenced by logic. He goes further and is
stronger in his zeal, commitment and dedication.
If there was no such thing as negative foolishness, we would
always be instructed to focus on the middle of the road. However, because every
once in a while there are people, and a person may stumble into doing negative
foolish acts, we must find a remedy to this. Maimonides suggests, that a person
whose pendulum has swung to the negative, must now take the opposite extreme in
the positive direction.
The walls of the G-dly sanctuary in every person’s life is
made of people who stumbled, but realize that through Holy foolishness, one can
redeem themselves and become a dwelling place for G-dliness. By going away from
the middle to the right, we make up and balance the equilibrium.
There is an expression, “in the place where people who
rehabilitated their lives stand, even people who were righteous their entire
lives cannot stand”.
By going the extra mile in being kind, by giving and being
of service to the people around you even when it defies logic, by becoming a
Holy Fool, it is precisely there, the walls of G-ds sanctuary is formed.
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