From All Four Sides

1 Sivan 5782

“The children of Israel shall encamp each man by his division with the flag staffs of their fathers’ house; some distance from the Tent of Meeting they shall encamp.” (Bamidbar 2:2)

“The people’s encampment on all four sides of the Tabernacle symbolized how they protected the holy edifice and the Torah that resided in its innermost sanctum. Certainly, the Torah does not need our protection – on the contrary, the Torah and its commandments protect us. However, G‑d chose to entrust us with the noble mission of protecting the Torah.” (Daily Wisdom, Lubavitcher Rebbe)

“Only this is because it (supernal wisdom and the Torah) has descended by means of obscuring gradations, from a higher grade to a lower grade, with the descent of the Worlds, until it (the Torah) has clothed itself in material things, namely, the 613 commandments of the Torah.” (Lessons in Tanya, Likutei Amarim, middle of Chapter 52)

The Torah doesn’t need us, we need the Torah. It is only that Hashem chose to enclothe His will and wisdom in material things, in the form of the 613 commandments, and give them to us for safekeeping. These can only be physically carried out by human beings. As such it is our greatest responsibility to fulfill them constantly and protect them from all forces that seek to take them away from us.

“I do not fear the myriads of people that have aligned themselves all around me.” (Tehillim 3:7)

We must actively protect ourselves, not fear, the enemies of our avodas Hashem that exist all around us. As the Rebbe continues from above, “Similarly, we must guard our personal, inner sanctuary – within our hearts and within our homes – from all four sides: from cool spiritual indifference on the cold north; from hot, lustful passions on the warm south; from self-gratification over brilliant accomplishments on the morning east; and from dark despair on the evening west.” (Daily Wisdom, continued from above)