Drawing Down the Shechinah in a World Without Filters
Parashat Terumah introduces us to the quintessential project of creation, the Mishkan (Shemot 25:2): דַּבֵּר אֶל־בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל וְיִקְחוּ־לִי תְּרוּמָה מֵאֵת כׇּל־אִישׁ אֲשֶׁר יִדְּבֶנּוּ לִבּוֹ תִּקְחוּ אֶת־תְּרוּמָתִי (Speak to B'nei Yisrael and they shall take for Me a contribution; from every person whose heart moves him, you shall take My contribution).
Since Hashem says וְיִקְחוּ־לִי (and they shall take for Me) when we might have expected וְיִתְּנוּ־לִי (and they shall give to Me), the natural question is: What does it mean to take for Hashem? If the pasuk was only about gold and silver, the wording would be curious. But the Mishkan is about Hashem dwelling among His people. The language is exact. Taking is not about giving Hashem something He lacks; it is about drawing down the Divine Presence into the world.
In a lesson which discusses the power of chiddushei Torah – how Torah drawn into the mind is not neutral information but Divine shefa which can either elevate an individual when the vessel is prepared or damage him when it is not – R' Nachman gives us a deep insight regarding the two words וְיִקְחוּ־לִי (Likutei Moharan II:60): כִּי עַל־יְדֵי חִדּוּשֵׁי־תוֹרָה שֶׁמְּגַלִּין, עַל־יְדֵי־זֶה נִמְשָׁךְ אֱלֹקוּת, כִּבְיָכוֹל, כְּמוֹ שֶׁכָּתוּב (שמות כ"ה:ב'): וְיִקְחוּ לִי תְּרוּמָה, הַיְנוּ כְּשֶׁתִּרְצוּ לִקַּח וּלְהַמְשִׁיךְ אוֹתִי, אִי אֶפְשָׁר כִּי־אִם עַל־יְדֵי הַתּוֹרָה, כִּי עַל־יְדֵי הַתּוֹרָה מַמְשִׁיכִין אוֹתוֹ, כִּבְיָכוֹל. וּלְהֵיכָן נִמְשָׁךְ הָאֱלֹקוּת, לְתוֹךְ מֹחַ הַשּׁוֹמֵעַ (For through the novel Torah insights [chiddushei Torah] that are revealed, through this, G‑dliness [Elokut, Divine Presence] is drawn down, so to speak, as it is written (Shemot 25:2): And they shall take for Me a contribution – meaning, when you desire to take and draw Me down, it is impossible except through the Torah, for through the Torah one draws Him down, so to speak. And to where is the G‑dliness drawn? Into the mind [mo'ach] of the one who is listening). In other words, when Torah is 'taken' לִשְׁמָהּ [lishmah, for its sake] – for Hashem, not for us – it brings Hashem, specifically the Divine Presence, into the mind.
R' Nachman calls this drawing down [הַמְשָׁכָה, hamshachah] of the Divine Presence, i.e. the Shechinah, as a type of תְּפִיסָה [tefisah]. The word tefisah carries multiple meanings. For someone who is properly prepared – having worked on himself by purifying his heart – tefisah is understood in the positive sense of being held or contained. However, if the person is ill-prepared, then tefisah is understood in a negative light – entrapment, capture, confinement, or even imprisonment. The chiddush is that Torah always enters. It doesn't matter who the listener is or what kind of k'li [כְּלִי, vessel] he has made for himself. Torah – especially chiddushei Torah – enters. Same Torah. Same entry.
However, that's where the similarity ends. Although it's the same Torah, its effects depend on the k'li that the listener has prepared for himself. When the Torah enters the mo'ach of a properly prepared individual, R' Nachman calls this תְּפִיסָה כִּבְיָכוֹל – tefisah so to speak. It's not really a tefisah in the normal use of the term. It's a way of speaking, a signal that a metaphor is being employed. It is similar to how we describe something as being grasped, not literally, only conceptually or symbolically. However, when the listener is not properly prepared, the process is called תְּפִיסָה מַמָּשׁ – a literal tefisah. This is not just a metaphor. It's an actual entrapment, a real capture, a real imprisonment.
When does tefisah as 'holding' become tefisah as 'imprisonment' – same word but a totally different reality? A worthy individual 'holds' Hashem, so to speak, in his mo'ach. You might say, Hashem is, so to speak, at home dwelling in the mind of that individual. In the words of R' Nachman: הוּא נַיְחָא לְהַשֵּׁם יִתְבָּרַךְ, שֶׁיִּהְיֶה נִמְשָׁךְ, כִּבְיָכוֹל, עַל־יְדֵי הַתּוֹרָה (It is pleasing to Hashem, may He be blessed, that He is drawn down, so to speak, through the Torah). This is the deeper idea of the Mishkan – a dwelling for the Shechinah in this lower world. However, when Torah enters the mind of an unworthy individual, the Shechinah is trapped there. It is an imprisonment of the Divine Presence. Although the Shechinah has been drawn down – because the Torah was heard – it is not at home there.
The central point is this: Torah is not neutral information, or even brilliance or mastery. It is the mind of Hashem. Therefore, when someone reveals chiddushei Torah, something real happens. A conscious awareness of Hashem – or more accurately, of the Divine Presence, Elokut, the Shechinah – is drawn into people's minds. And without having learned what we just learned, you might have asked, "What's wrong with that? What's the downside?" But now we know better. There is a real downside. People can be damaged. Although light can illuminate, it can also blind. Fire can provide warmth and comfort, but it can also destroy. So the question becomes for us today, Who is responsible for making sure that people don't get hurt by the fire of Torah?
Never before in history has there been a platform capable of drawing so much Torah into so many minds, so quickly, with so little friction. That platform is the internet. The internet allows unprecedented hamshachah specifically because it removes barriers. For the vast majority of human history, Torah was transmitted from teacher to student, face to face. Human interaction was practically impossible to avoid. But today? Human interaction has become almost entirely avoidable. Although face to face transmission of Torah hasn't disappeared completely, it has become secondary in many contexts – even among well-meaning, Torah-observant Jews. Think about it. Websites, blogs, YouTube, Zoom meetings – nobody can deny that there's an unprecedented amount of Torah that's being disseminated. Yet equally, nobody should deny that there's an unprecedented level of Torah transmission without contact, without human interaction. The internet is just a tool, and it multiplies possibilities – the good and as well as the bad. A single teaching can elevate thousands or confuse thousands. It can refine vessels or shatter vessels. And that is the real danger of the internet – even for those who have been very careful to install software to protect themselves and their families from the tumah that is pervasive throughout the internet.
From Rabbeinu’s framework, it is safe to say that he would consider the internet as the most extreme case imaginable of Torah being poured into vessels that have not been spiritually evaluated, refined, or prepared before receiving a teaching. No face to face. No discernment. No teacher-student relationship. Minds that are distracted, wounded, cynical, hostile, bored, or even mocking, all receive the same words. And by the internal logic of Rabbeinu's Torah, that is objectively dangerous. Not because Torah is bad, but because Torah works. It does what it is supposed to – it draws down. It binds. It enters minds. And many of those minds are not holy vessels; they are leaks, distortions, or worse – weapons. So, is this a risk? Absolutely. But we don't believe Rabbeinu would say, "Therefore, be silent. Do not use it." The question is not whether to use the internet. The question is, What kind of Torah are we drawing down, and from where does it come?
So who has the responsibility to ensure that the ill-prepared listener does not get damaged by the Torah that he hears on the internet? The answer is: both teacher and listener.
If you are a teacher, then you need to think about what you are doing and why you are doing it. Are you speaking from pressure or from quiet obligation? Are you trying to convince or to clarify? Are you producing certainty or responsibility? Does your Torah leave room for silence in the listener, or does it crowd their minds? True, you cannot control who hears, but you can control whether your Torah inflames or steadies, overwhelms or orients, creates an illusion of certainty or invites true inner avodah. Since the internet removes external filters, you must become the filter.
And what about the listener? We must do what we can to make ourselves into a k'li to receive Hashem's Presence. We cannot absolve ourselves of the responsibility by saying that it's the teacher's responsibility. Beyond purifying our hearts, building emunah, and strengthening our inner avodah, we must ask what the Torah that we are listening to is doing to us. Does it place me in a state of excitement and constant expectation, or does it give me grounding? Further, we should evaluate our own inner motives. Am I seeking Torah that stimulates me or that deepens me? Am I looking for intensity or for clarity? Do I find myself being drawn to what makes me feel charged or to what steadies my avodah?
Keep one thing in mind: Torah is not content – the teacher is not a content provider and we are not a content consumer. Torah is hamshachah. Something is entering our mind. If we rush from shiur to shiur, from idea to idea, without silence, without integration, without preparation, then we are not receiving – we are accumulating. And accumulation is not the same as growth. Therefore, the listener, no less than the teacher, must become the filter. In practice, it means that we must make space before listening and after listening. We must allow the Torah to settle – to process it, to think about it – to assess whether it's appropriate for us at this stage of our life. And finally, we must not treat chiddushim like entertainment. The danger is Torah that makes us feel bigger without making us more accountable.
Where does this leave us? It leaves us where we began: וְיִקְחוּ־לִי – and you shall take Torah. But we must take it for Hashem, not for ourselves. We must not take it as content or consumption. Rather, we should always keep in mind that we are literally drawing down Hashem's Presence, the Shechinah, into our minds. And the responsibility is to make sure that the light illuminates our way and the fire provides warmth.
Although the internet has removed barriers of access, it has not removed the need for well-prepared vessels.
