The mystical text Zohar" target="_blank" rel="noopener" class="source-link">Tikkunei_Zohar" target="_blank" rel="noopener" class="source-link">Tikkunei Zohar, a companion to the Zohar, delves into just that feeling, exploring how even Moses, the great lawgiver, experienced a disconnect between his inner self and his outer presentation.
The Tikkunei Zohar in section 96, uses powerful imagery to describe Moses being "enclothed" – dressed, really – in something not entirely his own. This wasn't a physical garment, but something deeper. It compares this state to Adam "at first," when he recognized Eve as "bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh" (Genesis 2:23). There was a natural, unmediated connection. But Moses...well, things were a little more complicated.
Why was God's first instruction to Moses at the burning bush to "remove your shoes from your feet" (Exodus 3:5)? The Tikkunei Zohar interprets this as a symbolic shedding of the body itself! This body, the text explains, was like a "shoe" for him. Why a shoe? Because it had been touched by the daughter of Pharaoh and had become "enclothed in another" – meaning, it had been influenced, altered, by an external force. It was no longer purely and simply Moses.
Think about it: how often do we allow external influences to shape who we are? The pressures of society, the expectations of others... they can all act like that "shoe," distancing us from our authentic selves.
And what happened when Moses shed that "shoe"? The Shekhinah returned to be upon him. Shekhinah, often translated as "Divine Presence," is the feminine aspect of God, the immanent presence that dwells within creation. When Moses stripped away the external layers, he became a vessel for the Divine.
But God didn't stop there. To further illustrate this point, God showed Moses a series of signs. Remember when God told Moses to put his hand in his bosom? (Exodus 4:6). The Tikkunei Zohar sees a deeper meaning here, alluding to the verse from Micah (7:5): "...from the one lying in your breast, guard the openings of your mouth." The bosom, the innermost part of oneself, is a place of vulnerability and intimacy.
And what happened when Moses withdrew his hand? "And behold his hand was leprous like snow" (Exodus 4:6). A stark, shocking image. The Tikkunei Zohar doesn't explicitly say what this means, but one can infer that the hand, representing action and influence, was corrupted by its proximity to the impure or the inauthentic. It became something other than what it should be.
What are we meant to take away from all this? Perhaps it's a call to examine the "shoes" we're wearing. What external influences are shaping our identities? What are we holding close to our hearts that might be causing us to stray from our true selves?
It's a powerful reminder that true connection with the Divine, and with ourselves, requires a shedding of the inauthentic, a stripping away of the layers that obscure our inner light. A journey, it seems, that even Moses himself had to undertake.