BS’D
The Shechinah is the female manifestation of Hashem. The word Shechinah is derived from the word Shochen, to dwell within. The Shechinah is the presence of Hashem that lives amidst the Jewish people. To better understand the concept of how She ‘constricts Herself’ to dwell with us and the idea behind the Shechinah’s exile according to the Torah’s mystical teachings, we must go a bit back, way back to the start of creation.
Before the world as we know it was created a state of Tohu, was shaped. This formation is the source of every passion that has the potential to destroy; and so it did. The state of Tohu brought about the shattering of the vessels which initially held the Divine light. As a result these ‘holy sparks’ as they are called were scattered to all corners of our world; the highest sparks fell to the lowliest places, namely our world.
Our task is to redeem these holy sparks and return them back to their source through Torah study, mitzvot and tefillah. The Shechinah descends within this world to help us rescue these holy sparks from their shells of darkness. This is undoubtedly a most complex and intriguing topic which cannot be explained in its full depth. Yet it is important to delve into the fundamental learning of this teaching in order to better understand the idea of the exile of the Shechinah and its tremendous impact on our lives. It is here where we can capture and feed ourselves with continuous emuna strength.
Thus the upcoming daily doses will help strengthen our emuna by familiarizing ourselves with the teaching in the Babylonian Talmud, Ta’anit 16a, where the Sages point out “B’chol Tzaratan Lo Tzar (In all of their sorrows, He is troubled).”
