Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Seeing God's presence on the festivals

At the end of the laws in Parashath Mishpatim, we are told some final laws about the three annual Pilgrimage Festivals. Here's Exodus 23:17:
שָׁלֹ֥שׁ פְּעָמִ֖ים בַּשָּׁנָ֑ה יֵֽרָאֶה֙ כָּל־זְכ֣וּרְךָ֔ אֶל־פְּנֵ֖י הָֽאָדֹ֥ן ׀ יְהוָֽה׃
Three times in the yeere all thy males ſhall appeare before the Lord God.
(Why only males? Let's leave that difficulty aside for now.)

Our commentator writes:

י'ראה כ'ל ז'כורך. זכ"י: מי שזכאי וראוי לכך.
כל זכורך: כל זכרונך
אל פני האדן יי. רמז לעתיד לבא יבואו אל פניו וכת' כי עין בעין יראו וכת' הנה אלהינו זה קוינו. ועוד אל פניו יהיו ניזונין מזיו שכינתו. ולכך פני משונה תיבה זו אותן הפנים הנעלמים מזה העולם אז ייראו לפניו ויראו זיו השכינה וזהו פני

All thy males shall appear. The initials of the words yera'e kol zekhurkha, [reversed] spell zakkai, "worthy" -- whoever is worthy.
All thy males (zekhurkha). [This means] zikhronkha, thy memorial/mention/memory.
Before the presence of the Lord, the LORD. This is an allusion to the eschatological future, when they will come to His presence. And it is written (Isaiah 52:8): for they shall see each other eye to eye and it is written (Isaiah 25:9): This is our God, for whom we have waited. And, moreover, in His presence they will be fed by the sheen of His presence (shekhina). And therefore, [the letter pé] in the word פני is different, for it refers to the face
which is hidden from this world, which will be revealed [in the future], and they will see the sheen of the Shekhina.




Relevance for writing Nakh:

Too bad there's no pé in Isaiah 25:9. There is one in 52:8 (in the word צפיך); it's earlier in the sentence, before this phrase, but still might be close enough to cheat. Ah, well.

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