Thank you
– The Midrash (Rabba) says: “In the beginning, the essence of the Shechinah was apparent in this lowly world. However, in the wake of the [cosmic] sin of the Tree of Knowledge, the Shechinah departed from the earth and rose into the heavens.
Later, on account of the sin of Cain and then of Enosh, the Shechinah withdrew even further from this world, rising from the nearest heaven to the second, and then to the third. Later yet, the sins of the generation of the Deluge caused it to recede from the third heaven to the fourth, and so on…
The Midrash proceeds to explain that [after the sins of seven generations had caused the Divine Presence to withdraw seven spiritual levels from its initial manifestation in this world], seven tzaddikim arose whose divine service drew the Divine Presence down once more into this world below.
Through the merit of Avraham the Shechinah was brought down from the seventh heaven to the sixth, through the merit of Yitzchak the Shechinah was brought down from the sixth heaven to the fifth, and so on – until Moshe, the seventh of these tzaddikim (and “all those who are seventh are cherished”), drew the revelation of the Shechinah down once again into this world below… (from the Rebbe’s discourse ‘Bati Legani’, 5710)
The left column: generations, whose sins caused the Divine Presence to withdraw from reality. To the right: generations, which brought the Divine Presence back to the earth.
Moshe was the seventh leader in the chain of Jewish leaders running back to Abraham. It was Moses’ generation that received the Torah at Mount Sinai and built the Mishkan – the unique place where haShem’s revelation could be experienced by everyone.
Our generation is the seventh generation as well. We are the seventh generation of spreading the Torah’s inner dimension, leading to a dissemination of the Torah in an unprecedented fashion. Like the generation of Moshe Rabbeinu which awaited the redemption and Exodus from the first exile in Egypt, we too stand today in the last moments of the final exile and on the threshold of the ultimate redemption – an everlasting redemption that will not be followed by another exile.
