Harboring the Infinite: Unraveling the Paradox of the Divine Presence in a Finite World

Even the never-ending universe isn't large enough to host the glory of Akkadosh Baruch, akkadosh, akkadosh, akkadosh, hashem, tzvokos, melochola, oritz, kevodo. God's Glory, it fills everything until the angels they question. They exclaim that Ayyem Kvodah is the place of your honor, your glory, your omnipresent, you are larger than life, you are infinite, so it should bother you that. How could it be that we were commanded at the same time to make a brick and mortar home, a holy hut, to have the entire heavenly Shchina come over for Shabbos, the infinite Shchina that there isn't enough room in the universe to host it, but for a short while? Hashem's going to come visit in a small little couple-cupid feet hut Doesn't make any sense. Moshe Rabbenu asked this Hashem, how can we do it? And although we can never make any comparisons to the infinite, but just imagine trying to create a new Yeshiva building that you made at the size of a shoe box and you're trying to stuff the entire mere Yeshiva inside of the shoe box, it's just frankly impossible. So how are we to do? V'osuly Miktas, v'shokhanti, besokhan and Rab'Oven he tells us an unbelievable muscle in the Medrish rabah of Shamos. Rab'oven tells us that Hashem's answer to Moshe Rabbenu's question of how is this possible, says Rab'Oven, that Hashem responded that Atah besamom nechah, you with your paint, ba'ani b'khvodi, you pull out the smock, you pull out the painter's palette and you begin to design, erect and construct the Miktash Like a beautiful painting. And let me take care of the rest. It feels like it could become, and should become, the model of our lives, because we're constantly trying to connect with the divine, trying to accomplish the impossible. But for us, all we need to do, says Hashem, is Atah besamom nechah, you with your paint, you do what you can do. But all the rest the actual making of a Shiddakh, the actual getting married, having a child, the actual miracles of learning, doing Mitzvos, making money, being successful, anything, perhaps they're really above us. That's all blessed and brought about by God. We don't have to do any of that. All we need to do is Atah besamom nechah. Go through their motions of trying to build the Mishkan exactly as God commanded it. And when you will make the Aron one and a half, two and a half with the poles and you do it the right way and you follow instructions, you do you to the best of your abilities, well then you sit back and the shakhanty besochim is done by Hashem T'ho besamom nechah Ani bechvodi. You do, you do what you can, and let Hashem do the rest.