This week in our Tanach class, we learned about King David's spiritual connection to the Aron (Ark of the Covenant), and about King Saul's converse connection to the Mishkan (Tabernacle). As we know, the Aron held within it the two Tablets of the Covenant which were given by G-d to Moses on Mount Sinai, and thus came to represent the revealing of Gd's light in the world. The Mishkan, which was the portable structure designed to house the Aron itself and to be a place for sacrifices during Am Yisrael's extensive journeys inside and outside the Land of Israel, came to represent the concealing of G-d's light in the world; essentially, the Aron was G-d's Light, and the Mishkan was the Vessel built to contain that light.
In the second book of Samuel, we find King David passionately whooping-it-up as the Aron triumphantly proceeds towards its permanent resting place in Jerusalem. The Midrash Bamidbar Rabbah tells us that although the local townsfolk, particularly the women, gawked at David's freewheeling, somersaulting, tunic-raising display of joyousness at seeing the Aron finally reach its home at the center of the world, he continued his merrymaking regardless of their stares, much to the dismay of his wife Michal, whose deceased father, King Saul himself, objected violently to such impassioned displays and was, in fact, extraordinarily reserved when it came to such matters. King Saul, in the first book of Samuel, was so concerned with modesty and self-containment that, when he needed to "relieve himself" in the heat of a battle, he immediately diverted his path to search for a proper cave, crawled to the deepest place inside it, built several sets of walls and partitions all around himself, and stationed guards outside to make sure no one would see him. Moreover, during his lifetime, King Saul concerned himself solely with the plight of the Mishkan, and never seemed to care whether the Aron resided within it or not.
We see that each king's approach to his own kingship affected his connection to each of the holy vessels; David's extroverted, impassioned character connected to him to the Aron, to the revealed aspect of G-d in the world, whereas Saul's more private, reserved character connected him to the Mishkan, to the concealed aspect of G-d in the world. According to the Midrash, Michal impetuously chastises King David after his jolly 'exhibition,' accusing him of immodesty and impropriety, while asserting the sanctity and integrity of her deceased father's modest approach to ruling Israel. David's counter-argument, according to the Midrash, sounded something quite like this: "Yeah, well… if your dad was such a tzaddik, how come he ain't the king right now, sweetie? If Saul was so much more fit to rule Israel, then why did G-d choose ME to do it?!?"
This story tells us something about the nature of teshuva (returning to G-d) that Rav Kook agrees with in his Orot HaTeshuva. He tells us about two kinds of teshuva: the kind that results from a revelation of G-d that instantaneously pierces into the core of your soul like a bolt of lightning, and the kind that results from slow, steady, incremental work on coming close to G-d. In short, he mentions that the lightning-bolt teshuva is ultimately higher, because the "lightning" represents a "flinging aside" of this world's illusory veil, allowing for a clear perception of G-d's infinite transcendence. David's response to Michal indicates that G-d must favor the lightning-like connection that David brings into the world by "flinging aside" his inhibitions before G-d much more than He favors the slow, self-possessed connection that Saul brings to the world through his modesty before G-d.
Of course, the Torah tells us that we should walk modestly before G-d. That modesty, however, must be a vessel that contains our fiery excitement and love that we have for Him. G-d doesn't want us to build vessels without the intention of channeling His light into them; in fact, our mere awareness of the existence of His light must precede the building of any vessels at all! A vessel built without the intention of putting G-d's light into it ultimately fails to acknowledge the power and beauty of that light. Hashem should bless us all with awareness of Him in every moment, so that our entire lives can become vessels to contain and channel His light! Good Shabbes!!!
Jerry Silverman
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Jerry Silverman is a former student of Yeshivat Bat Ayin. He is working in new media, designing and managing media projects. He lives in Riverdale, NY with his wife Sarah and their two children. |