The lesson
Naturally, spirituality and physicality are two opposites. The physical cannot absorb the spiritual and the spiritual cannot permeate the physical.
The reason that at the Giving of the Torah the spiritual voice indeed permeated the physicality of the world, was because the voice was “a great voice.” Since the voice was from a higher level, which transcended both the physical and the spiritual, it was therefore not bound by the natural order of the world.
This is the lesson that we are to learn for our personal service of G-d.
When a person learns Torah, the Torah should not only enter his mind but should permeate every orifice of his body. This is the quality that the verse describes in regard to Avraham:
Text 11
And I will multiply your seed like the stars of the heavens, and I will give your seed all these lands, and all the nations of the earth will bless themselves by your seed, because (eikev) Avraham hearkened to My voice, and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My instructions."
Bereishis 26:4-5
While the usual translation of the verse is that Avraham was rewarded because he hearkened to G-d’s voice, Chassidus explains a further layer of understanding. The word that the verse employs is “eikev,” which means heel.
From this one can learn that G-d rewarded Avraham not only because his mind and heart were permeated by G-dliness, but because even his heel was permeated by G-dliness and expressed the will of the Almighty.
The same is true with every Jew who studies Torah. This G-dly wisdom should not only be felt in his mind, but the Torah that he learns should be recognized in every crevice of his body.
Just as at the time of the Giving the Torah, the Torah permeated the physical because the voice was a “great voice” which transcended the natural order of creation, so too, for the Torah to be felt in every facet of the individual, he must as well learn Torah in a way that transcends the natural order and connects to the essence of G-d.
When a person does learn Torah in such a manner, his Torah learning will be evident not only when he learns Torah, but even when he is involved in his own mundane matters. Even during such times, it will be recognizable that all his actions are those of a Jew who is permeated with Torah. When he lives in such a way, it is then that he can transform the world into the dwelling place for G-d.
(Based on Likutei Sichos 4, Va’eschanan, reworked by Rabbi Dovid Markel. To see other projects and to partner in our work, see: www.Neirot.com.)
