The diminshment of Exile created a situation in which people could no longer envision the service of God that existed in the Temple, and to fully comprehend the Torah in all its greatness. There was a huge gulf between the earlier form of divine service and that station of life in exile. The Torah had to climb down from its lofty height and constrain itself to a small grain, the four cubits of Halacha which reflect the life of Exile. Had the Torah remained in all its glory it would be impossible to grasp in all its facets during Exile because of the distance between the level of the people and the level of the Torah. The people would have remained without any spiritual sustenance.
The secrets of the Torah, the light of prophecy, the reasons behind the Torah and the wisdom of its secrets were hidden away. These are only relevant to the Jewish Nation living on its own land who have a grasp of what the Schechinah is. The Jew in Exile is left only with the Halacha, the practical application of the Torah which applies to those living with an individual mindset.
This is why our Sages taught that from the day of the Destruction, God only has the four cubits of Halacha. This denotes a limited, individual life of a person living in a plot the size of a grave. "He placed me in darkness, like those eternally dead," is a reference to the Babylonian Talmud.
But even that little bit of air carries a lot of power. It can bring the Nation to their redemption and help them rise at the Resurrection. Jeremiah taught that the Mitzvot are like ציונים. This can be understood to mean grave-markers, but also as signposts along the way through the travels of Exiles, leading us back to a greater past.
The secrets of the Torah, the light of prophecy, the reasons behind the Torah and the wisdom of its secrets were hidden away. These are only relevant to the Jewish Nation living on its own land who have a grasp of what the Schechinah is. The Jew in Exile is left only with the Halacha, the practical application of the Torah which applies to those living with an individual mindset.
This is why our Sages taught that from the day of the Destruction, God only has the four cubits of Halacha. This denotes a limited, individual life of a person living in a plot the size of a grave. "He placed me in darkness, like those eternally dead," is a reference to the Babylonian Talmud.
But even that little bit of air carries a lot of power. It can bring the Nation to their redemption and help them rise at the Resurrection. Jeremiah taught that the Mitzvot are like ציונים. This can be understood to mean grave-markers, but also as signposts along the way through the travels of Exiles, leading us back to a greater past.
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