ALL THE KING'S HORSES
In this week's parsha, the Torah describes the splitting of the Yam Suf (translated either as Red Sea or Sea of Reeds) and the way the Egyptians with their horses drowned in that sea:
"And the Egyptians pursued and came after them, all of Pharaoh's horse[es]."
Rashi makes the observation that the word for horse in this verse is in the singular (Sus), which raises the question, "did Pharaoh have only one horse?" Rashi provides the following explanation:
"This teaches us that they were all as significant before G-d as if they were only one horse."
In truth, Rashi's answer seems only to generate another question. Is this the true greatness of G-d that He was able to defeat all of Pharaoh's horses as easily as one horse?
Another question can be asked. When Rashi refers to G-d in his commentary on this verse he uses the uncommon term "Hamakom," which really means literally "the Space," and figuratively, "the One who fills all of space;" or "the Omnipresent One." Why doesn't Rashi use one of the other names he almost always employs for G-d?
According to the teachings of Kabbalah, the horse, which was then the primary means of transporting one form place to another, is a metaphor for the letters of speech. Just as a horse takes its rider from one location to another so too letters of speech, as well as the written letters, convey a message from a person's mind to the outside.
When G-d created the world, Kabbalah teaches us, He did so by using the letters of the Hebrew alphabet, which are actually divine instruments, or the DNA of creation. These "letters" are forever vested within creation. And if G-d would withdraw them, the world would revert to its original state of nothingness. Hence, these letters are the most essential building blocks of creation.
Metaphorically, then, the reference to the horses of Pharaoh is an allusion to the divine letters that were instrumental in the process of the creation of the universe.
And here the Torah informs us that all of the multifarious horses-letters (read: the infinite number of letter combination that are responsible for every atom and quark of existence) are in relation to G-d as if they were all just one letter.
From G-d's perspective the creation is not a fragmented and discombobulated world the way it frequently appears to us; it is a unified world, where everything expresses the absolute Oneness of its Creator.
Moreover, the name for G-d used here is "Makom," which implies the aspect of G-d that is intimately involved in the process of creation; the aspect of G-d that "fills all the space." Even from this "lower" aspect of G-d there is absolute unity.
It goes without saying that from the vantage point of the infinite and transcendent aspect of G-d, all of the "king's horses" are no more significant than one horse; that there is no real division. The point here is that even from the perspective of the immanent Divine force that relates to the creation, "fills it," and is internalized within it, there is only one "horse."
This thought echoes the discussion in the Talmud (Sanhedrin 39a) between A heretic and Rabbi Gamliel. The Talmud relates that a heretic argued with Rabbi Gamliel: "You say that the Shechinah (Divine presence) rests on every assembly of ten. How many Shechinas have you?"
Rabbi Gamliel replied with an analogy of the sun's light which enters through many windows. Despite the multitude of windows there is but one sun and one light. Even when the light shines through different stain-glassed windows and the light appears to acquire the different colors and hues of the glass; it is obvious that the differences are only in the eyes of the beholder. From the perspective of the light itself there is only one light that can be refracted into many colors or hues, but in essence is one.
This then is the deeper meaning of Rashi's statement that even from the perspective of the Divine presence that pervades our world and is contained within the parameters of space there is total unity?one "horse."
The fact that this realization was made at the time of the splitting of the sea, is because this phenomenon was a prelude to the giving of the Torah at Sinai, at which time the power to bring G-d's presence into this world was to become a reality.
In a landmark discourse issued by the Previous Lubavitcher Rebbe to be studied on the day of his passing (Yud Shevat, the Tenth day of the month of Shevat. The 58th anniversary of his passing and the ascension of the Rebbe to the leadership of the Chabad movement, was observed yesterday) the Rebbe cites a verse in the Song of Songs:
"I have returned to my garden, my sister my bride." The Midrash explains that this is G-d's address to His beloved people at Sinai: "I have returned to my garden-dwelling where I once resided."
When G-d created the world, His presence was manifest within it. The world was therefore a veritable paradise, in both the physical and spiritual sense of the word. However, when Adam sinned, the Divine presence removed itself from creation. Subsequent sins only caused G-d to be further distanced from His creation and more inaccessible.
Seven successive generations from Abraham through Moses reversed that process of G-dly "withdrawal" from His world. He became increasingly more accessible until the revelation at Sinai and the subsequent building of the Sanctuary, whereupon G-d says to His people: "I have finally returned to My garden-dwelling." From that point onward, humanity has the full capacity to make the world into a paradise on earth through its efforts at introducing G-d into the world through the performance of the Mitzvot.
This notion of unity within creation has become increasingly accepted and popular in all segments of society, negating and replacing the anachronistic view of a multifarious and fragmented universe. Science is arriving at the belief that there must be a single theory that explains and unifies all the forces of creation.
The reason the world is coming to this realization is because we are so close to the coming of Moshiach and the final Redemption, which is the end process of the revelation of G-d at Mount Sinai . The potential for the world to perceive the Divine unity in everything that was inaugurated at Sinai will be fully actualized in the Messianic Era. And as we stand on the cusp of a new era we can already detect the emergence of unity within the fragmentation.
For us to take all of the "King's horses" and transform them into one "horse," it behooves us to bring unity into our own lives. Every act of unity in our lives?unity between G-d and His world, unity between one person and another, unity between our bodies and souls? help to generate the final force of unity that will change the world forever.
