In this week's Torah portion, Ki tisah (When You Count), the Torah mentions the last of the utensils that were to be made for use in the portable Sanctuary (the Mishkan): the kior. This was a kind of giant samovar filled with water for the Kohanim to wash their hands and feet before beginning their work in the Sanctuary. One could not enter the Temple without permission; there had to be a specific task to perform (for example, an offering), and before doing so, a washing preparation was required.<\/p>\n
Since the Torah is a book that arises from Divine wisdom, and since this wisdom is infinite (because God is infinite), it follows that the Torah is infinite, that is, eternal and valid in all times, without needing modifications to adapt it (God forbid) to any temporal or spatial situation. It follows from this idea that the Kior must have an eternal spiritual counterpart, beyond the material.<\/p>\n
The teaching, in short, is this: all people are confronted by the external world, that is, external to their own divine essence, their soul. Wisdom and rebellion exist, filled with undesirable influences, violence, lack of modesty, lack of values, and so on. In turn, all people are susceptible to acquiring qualities and behaviors from this external world that surrounds them, and in many cases, most of the time. However, one cannot enter the Temple with this "filth" from the outside; one must cleanse oneself beforehand.<\/p>\n
What should be washed? Those parts of the body that have been in contact with the outside world: the hands and the feet. The feet take a person to places. A person's natural place is in the Temple, but the feet, which are in direct contact with the earth, take them to other places. The hands are the interface between the person and the world, the tools through which the person brings things into and takes them out of the world and into their own Temple. It is precisely these two parts of the body that come into contact with the world that should be washed.<\/p>\n
And what do they wash with? Water. Water represents the Torah, and within the Torah itself, the deepest part of the Torah: Hasidic philosophy. Studying Hasidic teachings allows a person to "cleanse" themselves and "remove" undesirable influences from the outside world, preparing them for service in the Temple.<\/p>\n
Now, to conclude, the word Temple in this exegesis of the Kior can be understood in several ways, all valid and true: the house of study (that is, "washing away" foreign influences before entering into study, and the same applies to the other examples), the synagogue, the personal home where one educates one's children, or the person's own heart, when in their thoughts and meditation they try to develop and improve themselves.<\/p>\n
May Hashem open our eyes so that we can distinguish which ideas and feelings are our own in our lives, that is, coming from within and from our essence, and which are imposed and\/or acquired from the environment, and also give us the strength to "cleanse" them and fulfill our reason for being, to make a dwelling place for Him here, in this world.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"En la secci\u00f3n de esta semana, Ki tis\u00e1 (cuando cuentes), la Tor\u00e1 menciona el \u00faltimo de los utensilios que deb\u00edan fabricarse para utilizarlos en el Santuario m\u00f3vil (el mishk\u00e1n): el Kior. Se trataba una especie de samovar gigante con agua para que los cohan\u00edm se laven las manos y pies antes de comenzar el trabajo… Read More \u00bbWash before starting<\/span><\/a>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5057,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"neve_meta_sidebar":"","neve_meta_container":"","neve_meta_enable_content_width":"","neve_meta_content_width":0,"neve_meta_title_alignment":"","neve_meta_author_avatar":"","neve_post_elements_order":"","neve_meta_disable_header":"","neve_meta_disable_footer":"","neve_meta_disable_title":"","episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[9,56],"tags":[972,1024,943,973,942],"series":[],"class_list":["post-2082","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-editoriales","category-ki-tisa","tag-mishkan","tag-ofrenda","tag-rebe","tag-templo","tag-tora"],"episode_featured_image":"https:\/\/tuviaserber.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/Kior.jpg","episode_player_image":"https:\/\/tuviaserber.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/avatar1400.jpeg","download_link":"","player_link":"","audio_player":false,"episode_data":{"playerMode":"light","subscribeUrls":{"castbox":{"key":"castbox","url":"","label":"CastBox","class":"castbox","icon":"castbox.png"},"rss":{"key":"rss","url":"","label":"RSS","class":"rss","icon":"rss.png"},"spotify":{"key":"spotify","url":"","label":"Spotify","class":"spotify","icon":"spotify.png"}},"rssFeedUrl":"https:\/\/tuviaserber.com\/en\/feed\/podcast\/rabino-tuvia-serber","embedCode":"Lavarse antes de empezar<\/a><\/blockquote>