Because there is no gift more cherished by the Holy One, blessed be He, than the gift of the Shekhinah.
Now, what exactly is the Shekhinah? It's often described as the divine feminine presence, the immanent aspect of God that dwells within creation, within us. It’s the spark of the Divine that is present in the everyday.
Think about that for a moment.
The Zohar" target="_blank" rel="noopener" class="source-link">Tikkunei_Zohar" target="_blank" rel="noopener" class="source-link">Tikkunei Zohar goes on to say something really powerful. It declares that worthy is the limb, the very part of you, that performs a mitzvah. A mitzvah, of course, is a commandment, a good deed. When we do something good, something that aligns with the Divine will, God, in a sense, descends to dwell in each of our limbs. Talk about feeling connected!
And it doesn't stop there. "Upon this person," the text says, "they announce on high: 'Give honour to the image of the King!'" This idea, also found in Midrash Tanhuma, Mishpatim (Ch. 19), suggests that when we act in accordance with God's will, we are honoring the divine image within ourselves and within all of humanity. We are, in essence, walking, talking embodiments of the King's glory.
There's a missing piece in the text here, but thankfully, we can find it in the Tikkunei Zohar Ḥadash. It speaks of the "beginning of the will" – the hurme-nu – of the King. What emerges isn't what we might expect. It's described as "a lamp of darkness," something that isn't white, red, green, or black.
What could that possibly mean?
This "lamp of darkness" is a powerful image. It suggests that the origin of creation, the very source of the Divine will, is beyond our easy categorization. It's a realm of pure potential, unformed and undefined. It's from this place of darkness that all light, all color, all creation ultimately springs.
So, what does all this mean for us today? It means that every action, every mitzvah, matters. It means we have the power to bring the Divine presence into the world through our actions. It means that even in the darkest of times, the potential for light and creation remains.
And perhaps most profoundly, it reminds us that we are all, in our own way, vessels for the Shekhinah, carriers of the Divine spark. What could be a more cherished gift than that?