ונתתי משכני בתוככם
ולא תגעל נפשי אתכם
I will establish My mishkan, My dwelling place, inside of you,
And My soul will not reject you. (Leviticus 16:11)
Among the blessings that come to us if we walk in God’s ways, is this one – that God will dwell inside us; inside each one of us, there is a place where God dwells, where the shekhinah, the divine Presence, comes to rest.
How do we learn to recognize and know this Presence inside us? What does it actually feel like? God tells us here one tell-tale sign that you are not feeling the divine indwelling inside you — divine Presence does not feel rejecting.
Lo tigal nafshi etkhem. The verb here, tigal, means reject, abhor, spurn, cast away, or find vile, disgusting or nauseating. God says – lo tigal nafshi etkhem. My soul will not do any of these to you – it will not reject or abhor you or find any part of you disgusting. There is no turning away motion in divine presence. Divine presence is steady and accepting and loving.
Many of us do have tendencies to self-disgust or self-rejection. We have internal parts that judge us and find us wanting and repulsive, that seek to cast away other parts of us and ask us to turn away from ourselves. What this verse teaches us so clearly is this: these internal voices of judgment and rejection – they are not God. Do not elevate these voices by confusing them with the divine; don’t ascribe them to divine judgment. The feeling of God inside you is not one of rejection, never one of rejection. Lo tigal nafshi etkhem. No. If it’s rejection you’re feeling, then you know it is not divine Presence. The God inside you rejects not.
This is a powerful notion of Divine Presence, a presence inside each of us that is fully accepting of all parts of us. No judgment or shaming or resistance or exiling. Rest in that Presence and see how it brings you peace, and not just peace, but also wholeness, how it helps you grow more fully into your best self. It isn’t judgment that helps us grow; it’s this divine indwelling which holds us so gently and unconditionally.
Photo by Steve Johnson at Pexels
Just what I needed to hear today. A divine message. Thank you.