Shadows: Bezal-El

Only in the moonlight are the shadows revealed

ghostly forms without color

banished in the sunlight of daytime.

Now in the twilight

they appear from nowhere

an intimation of another world

that only makes itself felt

in that in-between time

that is Bein Hashmashos.

These are weird and miraculous items

created at the end of creation [1]

just prior to the the Sabbath

when the Divine was readying for the Holy Shabbat

an after thought

created as an after impulse

before the stage was finally set for physics and nature

to hold reign.

These ten mishnaic occurrences

allow for the miraculous in nature

having been pre-ordained prior to nature

a primordial seed implanted into the very stuff of things

allowing for nature and non nature to coexist

in a paradox, yet allow for rabbinic logic.

A paradoxical time

this twilight

in these spaces between light and dark

shadows are conjured

so fleeting they donʼt even appear as real

yet they haunt me

as I strain to make their visual outline make sense.

No wonder that when Moses is dumbfounded

as to the divine intent

how this or that sacred item should be constructed

what it might look like,

he turned to Bezalel

at the divine insistence

he who lives in the “divine shadow” Bezeil El

he who was filled with wisdom[2] and all manner of craftsmanship

alone conjures the shapes and sounds of the divine furniture.

For there are things that only manifest in shadows

in the twilight

in the murkiness and muddiness

where light kisses darkness

touch each other

for those few minutes each day

as the sun surrenders her watch

allowing for the appearance of such figures

and ghosts.

In our shadow moments

what gets conjured?

what forms appear on the horizon of perception?

what is present that otherwise would have been suppressed

in the sun-filled light of day?

As the day wanes the shadows cast behind us grows

until we can almost see an alternate self in the late afternoon

this darker borderline personality

that we would never parade

in the light of parents,, teachers, role models and spiritual mentors.

Yet we must invite them into the conversation

for they too make demands on us

from the grey twilight unconscious plane

impacting our desires from below.

And maybe this was the genius of Bezal-El

to have courageously invited

these divine shadows of the subterranean places

of the soul

seeing the divine even here

refusing to split off the divine as sun-God

but insisting that here too

in these darker spaces of the mind

the divine was fully present.

Where did this intuition come from?

to work in the space of twilight

Miriam his great grandmother? [3]

The one who chided her father, the high court justice

shaming him to retake his wife!

to reclaim his responsibility

even if this meant

lovemaking in the shadows.[4]

Our task is similarly shadow work

archeological, muddy and smelly

where even Moses is clueless.

Bezal-El teaches us how to conjure fleeting forms and wisps

lost dreams and failed promises

broken hearts and betrayals

where others have long given up

he works his magic by inviting this darker twilight image

to the conversation.

Bezal-El taught us how to accept the Torah

in the darkness and in the shadows (baʼchoshech ubeʼarafel)

only after which Moses was able to enter the cloud

the arafel where God was present.

even though the “people remained from afar”

So surprised to see such ghosts from the past

show up at the party

insisting on their voices be heard

so surprised to see their figures projected onto the silk screen

so vividly

so articulate

figures we had banished

figures we thought had faded

we never thought we really owned

until now.

In this precious time of Bein Hashmashot, between the suns

a holographic image of the alternate soul is fully present.

Despite the Halachaʼs discomfort with such grey times

that defy neat legal forms and demarcations

the black and white of Kafkaʼs The Law

it is precisely in this blurriness

the Divine wishes to be present to.

[1] Mishan Avot 10 items were created in twilight.

[2] The rabbinical tradition relates that when God determined to appoint Bezalel architect of the desert Tabernacle, He asked Moses whether the choice were agreeable to him, and received the reply: "Lord, if he is acceptable to Thee, surely he must be so to me!" At God's command, however, the choice was referred to the people for approval and was endorsed by them. Moses thereupon commanded Bezalel to set about making the Tabernacle, the holy Ark, and the sacred utensils. Bezalel possessed such great wisdom that he could combine those letters of the alphabet with which heaven and earth were created; this being the meaning of the statement (Exodus 31:3): "I have filled him . . .with wisdom and knowledge," which were the implements by means of which God created the world, as stated in Proverbs 3:19, 20 (Berakhot 55a). By virtue of his profound wisdom, Bezalel succeeded in erecting a sanctuary which seemed a fit abiding-place for God, who is so exalted in time and space (Exodus R. 34:1; Numbers R. 12:3; Midrash Teh. 91). The candlestick of the sanctuary was of so complicated a nature that Moses could not comprehend it, although God twice showed him a heavenly model; but when he described it to Bezalel, the latter understood immediately, and made it at once; whereupon Moses expressed his admiration for the quick wisdom of Bezalel, saying again that he must have been "in the shadow of God" (Hebrew, "beẓel El") when the heavenly models were shown him (Numbers R. 15:10; compare Exodus R. 1. 2; Berakhot l.c.). Bezalel is said to have been only thirteen years of age when he accomplished his great work (Sanhedrin 69b); he owed his wisdom to the merits of pious parents; his grandfather being Hur and his grandmother Miriam, he was thus a grandnephew of Moses (Exodus R. 48:3, 4). wikipedia.

[3] Unlike Moshe and Ahron, the Torah never mentions Miriamʼs husband or children. Rather, it is the Midrash that tells us that Miriam married Kalev.“ Kalev, son of Chetzron, fathered children by Azuva, his wife, and Yeriot and these are her children: Yeshe, Shovav, and Ardon. When Azuva died, Kalev married Efrat, who bore him Chor. Chor begot Uri and Uri begot Bezalel.” (Chron. I, 2:18-20) The Midrash establishes a connection between Kalev and Miriam through a long and complicated proof. Moreover, the Midrash ascertains that Miriam and Kalev are the great grandparents of Bezalel, the great artist of the mishkan. Of Bezalel it is written that “Hashem filled him with wisdom and discernment (binah) in everything he did” (Ex: 35:31). Bezalel was able to be creative within the boundaries that G-d gave him. With only simple instructions Bezalel was able to create the mishkan and its pieces exactly the way Hashem intended. By connecting Bezalel to Miriam, the Midrash implies that Miriam is a source of Bezalelʼs intuition. (Ex. R. Parashah Aleph “Vayehi Ki”)

[4] T. B. Sotah 12a