The Spirituality of Physicality

The third principle

Denial of His physicality and that is that we believe that this Unity that we mentioned is not a body and not the power of a body and that actions of a body do not relate to Him, not in His essence and not in His doings. And hence the sages, may their memory be blessed, denied [the possibility of] His composition and dissolution and said (Chagigah 15a), "Above there is no sitting or standing, no backside (aoref) and no weariness (aipui)," which is to say say no dissolution, and that is aoref, and no composition, and that is aipui, as per the usage (Isaiah 11:14), "And they aifu on the shoulder of the Philistines," which is to say they pushed themselves onto [their] shoulder to connect to them. And the prophet said (Isaiah 40:25), "'And to whom do you compare Me and I be equated,' says the Holy."[But] were He a body, He would be comparable to [other] bodies. And everything that comes in the holy Scriptures that describes Him in physical ways, such as walking or standing or sitting or speaking, or similar to it, it is all by way of metaphor. And so did the rabbis say (Berakhot 31b), "The Torah speaks in the language of people." And the sages already spoke much about this matter. And this third principle is indicated by that which is stated (Deuteronomy 4:15), "for you did not see any image" - which is to say, you did not perceive Him as something with an image, because He is - as we mentioned - not a body and not the power of a body.

(2) The LORD is my strength and might; He is become my deliverance. This is my God and I will enshrine Him; The God of my father, and I will exalt Him.

Our Sages of blessed memory have already exhorted us concerning the dignity and dearness of a mitzvah (Shabbat 133b): " 'This is my God and I will beautify Him' (Exodus 15:2) - beautify yourself before Him with mitzvoth - with beautiful tzitzith, beautiful tefillin, a beautiful Torah scroll, a beautiful lulav ..." . . . It is perfectly clear from what our Sages of blessed memory have said that the performance of the mitzvah is not enough; it must be honored and beautified.

"This is my G d, and I will extol Him ("ve'anvehu," lit.: "I will 'host' Him")!" R. Yishmael says: Is it possible to "host" one's Master? Rather, (read "ve'anvehu" as) "I shall beautify myself (from the root "na'eh") before Him with mitzvoth — with a beautiful lulav, beautiful tzitzith, a beautiful shofar, beautiful Teffilah. . . R. Yossi b. Dormaskith says: "I shall make a Temple before Him," "navth" being the Temple, as in (Psalms 79:7) "and they have destroyed navehu" (His Temple)"

(1) If one bought an Esrog which is barely the proper size, e.g. it is barely the size of an egg, then found a larger esrog it is a Mitzvoh to buy the second Esrog if it is up to a third more expensive then the price of the first one. There are those who say that if one finds two Esrogim for sale and one is nicer then the other he should spend up to a third extra for the nicer Esrog. Rema: One is not obligated to spend an exorbinant amount for an Esrog or any other transient Mitzvoh as we are taught "He who wishes to spend shound not spend more then a fifth of his wealth" this is true even though if he misses the oppertunity for the Mitzvoh he will not be able to make it up later. (Rosh and Rabbeinu Yeruchem). This is only true by a positive commandment. To avoid transgressing a negative one must give away all of their money (Rashba and Raavad) See the end of Siman 658 (in the comment of the Rema)

And bring thou near unto thee Aaron thy brother, and his sons with him, from among the children of Israel, that they may minister unto Me in the priest’s office, even Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar, Aaron’s sons. And thou shalt make holy garments for Aaron thy brother, for splendour and for beauty. And thou shalt speak unto all that are wise-hearted, whom I have filled with the spirit of wisdom, that they make Aaron’s garments to sanctify him, that he may minister unto Me in the priest’s office. And these are the garments which they shall make: a breastplate, and an ephod, and a robe, and a tunic of chequer work, a mitre, and a girdle; and they shall make holy garments for Aaron thy brother, and his sons, that he may minister unto Me in the priest’s office. And they shall take the gold, and the blue, and the purple, and the scarlet, and the fine linen. And they shall make the ephod of gold, of blue, and purple, scarlet, and fine twined linen, the work of the skilful workman. It shall have two shoulder-pieces joined to the two ends thereof, that it may be joined together. And the skilfully woven band, which is upon it, wherewith to gird it on, shall be like the work thereof and of the same piece: of gold, of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen. And thou shalt take two onyx stones, and grave on them the names of the children of Israel: six of their names on the one stone, and the names of the six that remain on the other stone, according to their birth. With the work of an engraver in stone, like the engravings of a signet, shalt thou engrave the two stones, according to the names of the children of Israel; thou shalt make them to be inclosed in settings of gold. And thou shalt put the two stones upon the shoulder-pieces of the ephod, to be stones of memorial for the children of Israel; and Aaron shall bear their names before the LORD upon his two shoulders for a memorial. And thou shalt make settings of gold; and two chains of pure gold; of plaited thread shalt thou make them, of wreathen work; and thou shalt put the wreathen chains on the settings. And thou shalt make a breastplate of judgment, the work of the skilful workman; like the work of the ephod thou shalt make it: of gold, of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen, shalt thou make it. Four-square it shall be and double: a span shall be the length thereof, and a span the breadth thereof. And thou shalt set in it settings of stones, four rows of stones: a row of carnelian, topaz, and smaragd shall be the first row; and the second row a carbuncle, a sapphire, and an emerald; and the third row a jacinth, an agate, and an amethyst; and the fourth row a beryl, and an onyx, and a jasper; they shall be inclosed in gold in their settings. And the stones shall be according to the names of the children of Israel, twelve, according to their names; like the engravings of a signet, every one according to his name, they shall be for the twelve tribes.

(8) In order to raise the estimation of the Temple, those who ministered therein received great honour: and the priests and Levites were therefore distinguished from the rest. It was commanded that the priests should be clothed properly with beautiful and good garments, "holy garments for glory and for beauty" (Exod. 28:2). A priest that had a blemish was not allowed to officiate; and not only those that had a blemish were excluded from the service, but also--according to the Talmudic interpretation of this precept--those that had an abnormal appearance; for the multitude does not estimate man by his true form but by the perfection of his bodily limbs and the beauty of his garments, and the temple was to be held in great reverence by all.

R. Shimon b. Menassia says in the name of R. Shimon b. Yochai: Beauty and strength and wealth and honor and wisdom and old age and hoariness and children are becoming to the righteous and becoming to the world, as it is written (Proverbs 16:21): "A crown of glory is hoary (old age); in the way of righteousness will it be found," and (Ibid 14:24): "The crown of the wise is their wealth," and (Ibid. 17:6): "The crown of the old are grandchildren, and the glory of children are their fathers," and (Ibid. 20:29): "The beauty of youth is their strength, and the glory of the old is their hoariness," and (Isaiah 24:23): "Then the moon shall be confounded and the sun put to shame, for the L rd of hosts will reign in the mountain of Zion and in Jerusalem — but before His elders, honor." R. Shimon b. Menassia says: These seven middoth that the sages ascribed to the righteous were all realized in Rebbi and his sons.

(3) ואורך ימיך לשבת על האדמה, during the transient life on earth, during which through study, serious contemplation of your duties, and your performance of them you will qualify for the life awaiting you in the hereafter. Compare Avot 4,16 where we have been told that life on earth is merely to be viewed as a vestibule to the hereafter, a place in which one makes suitable preparations for eternal life in the Palace.

The Gemara continues to address the issue of suffering and affliction: Rabbi Yoḥanan’s student, Rabbi Ḥiyya bar Abba, fell ill. Rabbi Yoḥanan entered to visit him, and said to him: Is your suffering dear to you? Do you desire to be ill and afflicted? Rabbi Ḥiyya said to him: I welcome neither this suffering nor its reward, as one who welcomes this suffering with love is rewarded. Rabbi Yoḥanan said to him: Give me your hand. Rabbi Ḥiyya bar Abba gave him his hand, and Rabbi Yoḥanan stood him up and restored him to health. Similarly, Rabbi Yoḥanan fell ill. Rabbi Ḥanina entered to visit him, and said to him: Is your suffering dear to you? Rabbi Yoḥanan said to him: I welcome neither this suffering nor its reward. Rabbi Ḥanina said to him: Give me your hand. He gave him his hand, and Rabbi Ḥanina stood him up and restored him to health. The Gemara asks: Why did Rabbi Yoḥanan wait for Rabbi Ḥanina to restore him to health? If he was able to heal his student, let Rabbi Yoḥanan stand himself up. The Gemara answers, they say: A prisoner cannot generally free himself from prison, but depends on others to release him from his shackles. The Gemara relates that Rabbi Elazar, another of Rabbi Yoḥanan’s students, fell ill. Rabbi Yoḥanan entered to visit him, and saw that he was lying in a dark room. Rabbi Yoḥanan exposed his arm, and light radiated from his flesh, filling the house. He saw that Rabbi Elazar was crying, and said to him: Why are you crying? Thinking that his crying was over the suffering that he endured throughout his life, Rabbi Yoḥanan attempted to comfort him: If you are weeping because you did not study as much Torah as you would have liked, we learned: One who brings a substantial sacrifice and one who brings a meager sacrifice have equal merit, as long as he directs his heart toward Heaven. If you are weeping because you lack sustenance and are unable to earn a livelihood, as Rabbi Elazar was, indeed, quite poor, not every person merits to eat off of two tables, one of wealth and one of Torah, so you need not bemoan the fact that you are not wealthy. If you are crying over children who have died, this is the bone of my tenth son, and suffering of that kind afflicts great people, and they are afflictions of love. Rabbi Elazar said to I am crying over this beauty that will decompose in the earth, [as Rabbi Yoḥanan’s beauty caused him to consider human mortality.] Rabbi Yoḥanan said to him: Over this, it is certainly appropriate to weep. Both cried [over the fleeting nature of beauty in the world and death that eventually overcomes all.] Meanwhile, Rabbi Yoḥanan said to him: Is your suffering dear to you? Rabbi Elazar said to him: I welcome neither this suffering nor its reward. Upon hearing this, Rabbi Yoḥanan said to him: Give me your hand. Rabbi Elazar gave him his hand, and Rabbi Yoḥanan stood him up and restored him to health.