Five Possessions Did The Holy One, Blessed Be He, Make His Very Own In His World. The Torah Is One Possession; Heaven And Earth Are One Possession; Avraham Is One Possession; The Nation Israel Is One Possession; The Beis Hamikdash Is One Possession.

From Where Do We Know This Concerning The Torah? Since It Is Written: "The L-Rd Made Me [The Torah] His Possession Prior To Creation, Before His Works In Time Of Yore."[57]

From Where Do We Know This Concerning Heaven And Earth? Since It Is Written:[58] "Thus Says The L-Rd: 'The Heaven Is My Throne, And The Earth Is My Footstool; What House [Then] Can You Build For Me And Where Is The Place Of My Rest?' " And It [Also] Says:[59] "How Manifold Are Your Works, O L-Rd! You Have Made Them All With Wisdom; The Earth Is Full Of Your Possessions."

From Where Do We Know This Concerning Avraham? Since It Is Written:[60] "And He Blessed Him And Said: 'Blessed Be Avraham By G-D Most High, Possessor Of Heaven And Earth.' "

From Where Do We Know This Concerning The People Israel? Since It Is Written:[61] "Until Your People Pass Over, O L-Rd, Until This People You Have Acquired Pass Over," And It [Also] Says:[62] "To The Holy People Who Are In The Land, And The Noble Ones In Them, Is All My Desire."

From Where Do We Know This Concerning The Beis Hamikdash? Since It Is Written:[63] "The Place Which You, O L-Rd, Have Made For Your Abode; The Sanctuary Which Your Hands, O L-Rd, Have Established," And It [Also] Says:[64] "And He Brought Them To The Place Of His Holiness, The Mountain Which His Right Hand Has Acquired."

Five

The framework of spiritual existence consists of four different realms. These are limited frameworks of existence which do not reveal G-d entirely. The number five points to an even higher domain, where infinite G-dly light is revealed without definition.[65] G-d desired to make all these realms...

His Very Own

to draw down His essential light within them, revealing how all existence is...

His World

at one with Him. This concept is also indicated by the expression...

Is One Possession

which is used in all five instances, i.e., all these five entities express G-d's oneness.

Although all five entities mentioned by the beraisa express G-d's oneness, in this context the Torah is the most fundamental. (And therefore this beraisa is included in the chapter which focuses on the greatness of Torah.) For the Torah is the medium which, though totally at one with G-d, extends itself into material reality, making it possible that this world can become a dwelling for Him.

(Sichos Shabbos Parshas Re'eh, 5737)

Five Possessions Did The Holy One, Blessed Be He, Make His Very Own

The Hebrew word , translated as "possession" also implies the means of acquisition through which an entity is transferred from one person's ownership to another's. The five things mentioned are all mediums which enable G-d's ownership of all existence to become openly manifest. This concept is also emphasized by the expression "in His world," which highlights the ultimate intent - that it become clear that our world is His world, united with Him. This intent is also reflected in the expression used with regard to each of these five possessions - "one possession" - indicating that the purpose of each is to express G-d's oneness throughout the world.

(Ibid.)

Since It Is Written: "Until Your People Pass Over, O L-Rd, Until This People You Acquired Pass Over;" And It [Also] Says: "To The Holy People Who Are In The Land, And The Noble Ones In Them, Is All My Delight"

The beraisa mentions two prooftexts with regard to the Jewish people. The first explicitly states that the Jews have been acquired by G-d, but describes the Jews when they lived in the desert and were being cared for overtly by G-d's miraculous providence.

Since, as explained above, the purpose of the beraisa is to highlight how each of these possessions establishes oneness in the world at large, a second prooftext is necessary. The latter verse, although it does not emphasize G-d's ownership of the Jews as clearly, describes them as they function "in the land" - within the natural order of day-to-day existence.

(Sichos Shabbos Parshas Balak, 5737)

   

Notes:

57. (Back to text) Mishlei 8:22.

58. (Back to text) Yeshayahu 66:1.

59. (Back to text) Tehillim 104:24.

60. (Back to text) Bereishis 14:19.

61. (Back to text) Shmos 15:126.

62. (Back to text) Tehillim 16:3.

63. (Back to text) Shmos 15:17.

64. (Back to text) Tehillim 78:54.

65. (Back to text) See Or HaTorah, Bamidbar, p. 210. [In other sources, the number five is understood as referring to a level which exists in complete connection to G-d's essence.]