The Shamash Inside
The Sefirot of Netzach and Hod are associated with revelation and prophecy. They also correspond to our two legs, the place where we stand, our personal perspective.
Not just any personal perspective though; they represent our holiest perspectives, the point where our views meet those of The Divine. The place where the two sides meet (or superimpose) and become one.
This concept is clearly expressed in this week’s Torah reading (פרשת מקץ).
Pharaoh has two dreams, and none of the Egyptian wise men can interpret them for him. Pharaoh calls for Yosef to be brought before him, and tells Yosef:
ואני שמעתי עליך לאמר תשמע חלום לפתר אתו
“I heard that when you hear a dream you can explain it.”
To which Yosef replies:
״בלעדי אלהים יענה את שלום פרעה״
“It is not by my own power; but God will provide an answer concerning Pharaoh's fortune.”
Yosef clearly says that God will interpret the dream, and yet a second later he explains it himself.
So what exactly does he mean? Which one is it? Is God explaining it or is he??
Yosef is referring to the divine spark within each and every one of us; he is referring to the ״חלק אלוה ממעל ממש״.
Just as the dream itself is a creation of the mind and yet can simultaneously be a message from heaven, the interpretation can also simultaneously be both.
Even when someone speaks to us, we are the ones doing the hearing. We never hear exactly what the other person says, although hopefully we hear and understand enough to figure out what they mean.
Obviously, this cannot be done perfectly, for each of us has our own understanding of words. No two people understand language exactly the same way, and as a result there is always a bit lost in the transmission of information. This is the concept of ירידת הדורות. It is the reason that prophecy and revelation emanate from נצח והוד.
Because even when we hear the voice of God it is still only from our own perspective, within our own understanding. That is why almost all the prophets say ״כה אמר יהוה״ “Like this, says Hashem”. This is the secret of the name צבאות, the idea of us seeing and hearing from our personal perspective, and yet still somehow seeing Hashem.
The only exception is the prophecy of משה רבינו, the father of all prophets, the אספקלריה מאירה. Moshe manages to completely divest himself of any impurity of self — even his shoes are removed.
So pure and transparent is the mind of Moshe that he doesn’t merely know what he heard, he knows what is being said.
In this lucid state, he has the ability to bring down תורה מן השמים, and even once it touches the ground it is still considered ״מן השמים״.
This is the concept of כתר, the secret of קליפת נוגה, the shamash candle that we use to light the Menorah.
The shamash is not part of the Menorah count and yet it is also not not part of the Menorah.
It is the flame that lights everything, and yet it is not the original source of fire; rather the pure transmission of one to the other.
It is the moment that אין becomes יש, that nothingness becomes something, that the Torah comes down to earth.
It is the place where the self and The Divine meet, the whisper of ברוך שם כבוד מלכותו לעולם ועד.
May we all be זוכה this year to incorporate all the lights of our Menorah; even the shamash!
