It’s a question that's plagued philosophers and theologians for centuries, and it all starts, strangely enough, with a box. A very special box, mind you – the Ark of the Covenant.
The Torah tells us, "They shall craft an Ark of acacia wood: its length shall be two and a half cubits, and its width a cubit and a half, and its height a cubit and a half" (Exodus 25:10). Simple instructions, right? But then Shemot Rabbah (Exodus Rabbah), a classical collection of Rabbinic interpretations on the Book of Exodus, throws a curveball. It connects this verse to another verse from the Book of Job: "The Almighty, we cannot find Him; He is exalted in power" (Job 37:23). What's the link?
The connection, according to Shemot Rabbah, lies in understanding how God reveals Himself in the world. Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi, a key figure in Jewish history and the redactor of the Mishnah, weighs in, emphasizing that we must give credit to Job. Why? Because Job, unlike Elihu, praises God in a clear and unambiguous manner. Elihu's words, while seemingly praising God, can also be interpreted as blasphemy (Etz Yosef's commentary explains this further). Job, on the other hand, acknowledges the limits of human understanding when it comes to God's greatness. As Job himself says to his comrades, "What do you think, that everything you have said is all His praise? Who can relate all the praise and mighty deeds of the Holy One blessed be He. All the statements that you stated “Behold, these are but the tips of His ways”’ (Job 26:14).
Elihu, however, says, "The Almighty, we cannot find Him; He is exalted in power." At first glance, this might sound like a curse, God forbid! But the Rabbis in Shemot Rabbah interpret it differently. Elihu is saying that we haven't fully grasped the extent of God's power and how He interacts with His creation. God doesn't overwhelm us; He engages with us according to our capacity.
Think about the giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai. If God had revealed Himself in all His might, the Israelites wouldn't have been able to withstand it. "If we continue to hear [the voice of the Lord our God, we will die]" (Deuteronomy 5:22). Instead, God revealed Himself in a way that they could handle. "The voice of the Lord is with strength" (Psalms 29:4) – but, importantly, not "with His strength," but "with strength," meaning according to the strength of each individual.
So, what does all this have to do with the Ark of the Covenant? Well, when God instructs Moses to build the Tabernacle, Moses has a similar moment of doubt. "The glory of the Holy One blessed be He fills the upper and the lower worlds, and He says to me: Craft a Tabernacle for Me?" (Shemot Rabbah). Moses even looks ahead prophetically and sees Solomon building the Temple, which is far grander than the Tabernacle, and Solomon himself questioning whether even the vast Temple can contain God (1 Kings 8:27). If Solomon has doubts about the Temple, how much more so should Moses doubt the Tabernacle?
That's why Moses says, "One who dwells in the shelter of the Most High, [who abides in the shadow of the Almighty]" (Psalms 91:1). Rabbi Yehuda bar Rabbi Simon offers a fascinating interpretation here. He says that "in the shadow of the Almighty" isn't just about seeking refuge in God's protection. It's specifically about "the shadow that Betzalel crafted" – the Tabernacle itself! (Etz Yosef explains that the specific term "Almighty" here, rather than a term denoting God's mercy, supports this interpretation).
God, in essence, tells Moses, "You do not think as I think." God can and will minimize His Divine Presence to dwell within the confines of the Tabernacle: "twenty boards in the north, twenty in the south, and eight in the west. Moreover, I will descend and minimize My Divine Presence within one cubit by one cubit.” This alludes to God speaking to Moses from between the two cherubs on the Ark's cover, a space of just one square cubit.
The Ark, then, becomes a symbol of God's ability to contract Himself, to make Himself accessible to humanity. It's a reminder that while we may not be able to fully comprehend the infinite, God chooses to meet us where we are, in the spaces and containers we create, even if those spaces seem impossibly small compared to His vastness.
So, the next time you encounter something that seems too big, too complex, too incomprehensible, remember the Ark. Remember that even the Almighty can dwell in a space of one cubit by one cubit. And maybe, just maybe, that will give you the courage to build your own "ark" – a space where you can connect with the Divine, even in the midst of the overwhelming vastness of the universe.