Introduction: LeDavid Mizmor - A Psalm of the Shechinah
Psalm 24 opens with the words "LeDavid mizmor" ("A psalm of David") rather than "Mizmor leDavid". As Rashi noted earlier, there is a fundamental difference between these two phrasings: "Mizmor leDavid" indicates that he played music and then the Shechinah rested upon him, whereas "LeDavid mizmor" indicates that the Shechinah was already resting upon him, and from within that state of divine inspiration, he began to sing.
Our Sages teach that King David composed this psalm regarding the time when the Ark would be brought into the Holy of Holies. Although David had already passed away by that time, when King Solomon sought to bring the Ark inside, the gates would not open, as will be seen later in the psalm. Only when he invoked, "Remember the lovingkindnesses of Your servant David" - mentioning his father's merits - did the gates open. At that moment, the faces of David's enemies turned black like the bottom of a pot, for they witnessed firsthand that the Ark entered solely in David's merit. All those who had spoken ill of David, sought faults in him, and leveled false accusations against him were thoroughly humiliated, as his greatness was made plain and Heaven itself bore witness to his righteousness.
"To Hashem Belongs the Earth and Its Fullness" - The Purpose of Creation: A Dwelling Place Below
לְדָוִד מִזְמוֹר לַה' הָאָרֶץ וּמְלוֹאָהּ תֵּבֵל וְיֹשְׁבֵי בָהּ׃ - Of David, a psalm: To Hashem belongs the earth and its fullness, the inhabited world and those who dwell therein.
The Malbim explains: when we observe that Hashem singles out His providence over the earth, having established it and made it a fitting habitation for mankind, reason dictates that He did so out of love and attachment to the Jewish people and to this earthly reality - Hashem desires us. For our Sages taught that from the very day the Holy One, blessed be He, created His world, He yearned to have a dwelling place among the lower realms. In other words, Hashem desires to bring His Shechinah down here. He did not create the world in vain; He desires closeness with us, and for this purpose He wishes to have a dwelling place here, to rest His Shechinah in the Beit HaMikdash.
The Malbim notes that this was indeed the foundational plan of creation, which is why Adam was initially placed in the most sublime setting - in Gan Eden, where the Holy One, blessed be He, was present with him and spoke with him. However, the sins of subsequent generations caused distance. Twenty-six generations lived purely by Hashem's kindness, corresponding to the twenty-six times David mentions "For His lovingkindness endures forever" in Tehillim - twenty-six generations that were sustained through unearned kindness without being worthy in their own right. As a result, the deep attachment through which Hashem would rest His Shechinah among us was nullified.
This continued until the Patriarchs arose and began ascending the mountain of Hashem, drawing the Shechinah and divine providence back down to this earth to restore the state where the Holy One, blessed be He, dwells among us. And so it progressed until an entire generation arrived - the generation of knowledge (Dor De'ah), a generation whose members collectively attained profound spiritual levels and perceptions. This generation merited to bring this rectification to its completion: they built the Mishkan, received the Torah, and Hashem descended to dwell once again down below, until the Shechinah resided in glorious intimacy between the wings of the Keruvim.
The Parable of the King Who Sought to Marry a Woman from Syria
Our Sages share a parable in the Midrash: A king decreed that the inhabitants of Rome should not go down to Syria, nor should the inhabitants of Syria go up to Rome - neither group was to travel to the domain of the other, and each had to remain in their place. In time, the king, who resided in Rome, desired to take a wife from Syria. He immediately abolished the decree, declaring: "From this day forward, anyone may go wherever they wish, and the king himself is free to descend to Syria or bring someone from there."
What is the lesson? Originally, it was written, "The heavens are the heavens of Hashem, but the earth He gave to the children of man" - a clear separation of domains: heaven for Hashem, and earth for man. When the time came to give the Torah to His people Israel, the Holy One, blessed be He, said: The separation of domains has come to an end. From now on, those below may ascend to the higher realms, and those above may descend to the lower realms. And with whom does it begin? I shall descend first, as it says, "And Hashem descended upon Mount Sinai," and to Moshe He said, "Ascend to Hashem." Thus, because Hashem desired to unite with us - like that king who wished to take a bride and consequently annulled the decree - Hashem revoked the restriction of "heaven for Hashem and earth for mankind." From then on, it became possible to descend from heaven to earth, and likewise to ascend on high.
The core of the idea, explains the Malbim, is that the holy Patriarchs, through their divine service through the time of Moshe, were continually climbing, ascending, and drawing nearer to Him until they reached fruition. Through the Torah, there arose that generation known as "the generation of those who seek Him" - an entire generation worthy of this connection. Then "Moshe and Aharon ascended to Hashem," followed by the elders of Israel, and subsequently the entire generation attained a level of refinement and crowns from Hashem. At that point, Hashem descended to dwell among them at Mount Sinai, and later in the Mishkan in the wilderness.
And this is what is written: "The earth and its fullness are Hashem's" - the entire globe; "the world and those who dwell in it" - the inhabited part where human beings live.
"For He founded it upon seas" - How the Earth Was Prepared for Habitation
כִּי הוּא עַל יַמִּים יְסָדָהּ וְעַל נְהָרוֹת יְכוֹנְנֶהָ׃ - For He founded it upon the seas, and established it upon the rivers.
Corresponding to "The earth and its fullness are Hashem's," he says, "For He founded it upon seas": originally, the entire earth was covered with water, and Hashem commanded that the waters gather into seas so that dry land would appear. And corresponding to "the world and those who dwell in it," he says, "and established it upon the rivers": Hashem, as it were, completed the preparation of the tevel - the area suitable for human habitation. Seas alone are not sufficient, since their waters are salty; to make life possible, Hashem established the world upon rivers. As is well known, in ancient times people settled wherever there was a freshwater source, and avoided places without water - to this day the Sahara Desert remains uninhabited, because life cannot be sustained without a water source. And Rashi explains: seven seas surround Eretz Yisrael, along with four rivers - the Yarden, the Yarmuk, the Kermion, and the Pugah.
"Who may ascend the mountain of Hashem" - The Request Must Come from Below
מִי יַעֲלֶה בְהַר ה' וּמִי יָקוּם בִּמְקוֹם קׇדְשׁוֹ׃ - Who may ascend the mountain of Hashem, and who may stand in His holy place?
The Malbim explains: Dovid Hamelech explains that Hashem's individual providence (hashgachah pratit) over the earth stems from the fact that "the earth and its fullness are Hashem's" - everything belongs to Him, and He desired to have His Shechinah reside here and be joined with us. But for this to occur, someone here must ask for it; someone below must yearn for it. Regarding this it is said, "Who may ascend the mountain of Hashem" - who are the ones who will come and seek this connection, for whose sake the King will say: I annul the decree; there is no longer a separation of domains; from now on the upper realms may descend below, and the lower realms may ascend above. It must come from us - in the parable, that the king would desire to marry a woman from Syria; and in the moral, that we must be those who seek Hashem, whereupon Hashem will desire our closeness and restore the situation to what it was in the original plan, to make for Himself a dwelling place in the lower realms.
And why are two expressions used - "ascend" and "stand"? The holy books explain: these are two distinct levels. "To ascend the mountain of Hashem" means to climb, to strive, to attain a spiritual achievement. "And who may stand in His holy place" is another level entirely, for most people, even if they have climbed and reached some attainment, subsequently fall back and decline. "To stand" means to remain standing, established and enduring. Many ascend; but who will merit to remain standing there over the years at that high level they attained?
"On the Day of 'Mi' (Fifty)" - A Wonderful Allusion to the Giving of the Torah
A wonderful explanation appears in the sefer Nachalat Yaakov by the Boyaner Rebbe. The word Mi has the numerical value of fifty. "Who [Mi] may ascend the mountain of Hashem" - on the day of Mi, Moshe ascended the mountain of Hashem. When did Moshe ascend to receive the Torah? On the fiftieth day following the Exodus from Egypt, as it is written, "and you shall go up in the morning to Mount Sinai." This is also alluded to in the verse, "Who [mi] shall ascend to heaven for us" - on the day of Mi, Moshe ascended to heaven for us to receive the Torah, "and make us hear it, that we may do it." And what is "and who may stand in His holy place"? On what date of the month was the Giving of the Torah? On the sixth of Sivan. And that is the letter vav of u-mi - on the sixth day of the month, which is the festival of Shavuot, the Giving of the Torah, and on the fiftieth day, he already "stands in His holy place," having merited to stand on Hashem's mountain.
And how does one merit this? This is the continuation of the verse: "He who has clean hands and a pure heart." When did the Jewish people face difficulty? When they journeyed from Rephidim - an allusion to rifyon yadayim, slackened hands. One must have clean hands, meaning hands that are clean and not slackened. "And a pure heart" - when did they merit receiving the Torah? When their heart was pure and united, all of them "as one person with one heart" - that is a pure heart.
"Before Whom You Are Cleansed"
Based on this, the Da'as Moshe of Boyan explains the rabbinic saying: "Before Whom do you purify yourselves, and Who purifies you? Your Father in Heaven." Our share of the labor spans the forty-nine days of Sefiras HaOmer - days of elevation, divine service, and closeness to God. This is alluded to in the words: "Before Mi (spelled Mem-Yud, numerically fifty) do you purify yourselves" - before you reach the Mi, which is the fiftieth day, you purify yourself through exertion across the forty-nine days of work. "And Mi purifies you" - when Shavuos arrives, the fiftieth day itself, you merit that Hashem bestows His divine influence upon you, and then "your Father in Heaven purifies you." On the day of Mi, one rises and stands in His holy place, meriting to receive purity and holiness directly from Him, blessed be He.
An additional explanation can be offered for this same teaching. Our Sages state that if a person reaches the fiftieth gate of impurity (the Nun Sha'arei Tumah), he can no longer purify himself through his own strength; only Hashem can draw him out, for Hashem is all-powerful. Within the forty-nine gates, a person still has the capacity to rise on his own. This, too, is hinted at in "Before Mi do you purify yourselves" - before reaching the fiftieth gate (the Nun, equal to the numerical value of Mi) of impurity, you can purify yourselves; but "and Mi" - if you have already fallen into the fiftieth gate, then "your Father in Heaven purifies you." Only the Holy One, blessed be He, can extract you from there; only He has the power to purify a person even from the lowest depths.
"Clean of Hands and Pure of Heart" - A Soul Not Borne in Vain
נְקִי כַפַּיִם וּבַר לֵבָב אֲשֶׁר לֹא נָשָׂא לַשָּׁוְא נַפְשִׁי וְלֹא נִשְׁבַּע לְמִרְמָה׃ - "One who has clean hands and a pure heart, who has not lifted up My soul in vain, and has not sworn deceitfully."
Who is it that merits to ascend the mountain of Hashem? "Clean of hands" - whose actions are untainted; this is always an idiom denoting that no stolen property adheres to him and that he engages in no improper deed. "And pure of heart" - whose thoughts and beliefs are refined and pure.
"Who has not lifted up My soul in vain" - the Malbim explains: The Holy One, blessed be He, fashioned deep spiritual faculties within man designed to draw him close to God, inner foundations meant to help him cleave to Him, blessed be He. Foremost among them is the divine soul He implanted within us, and this is called "My soul" - the divine soul that originates from Me. And this person "has not lifted up My soul in vain": what does it mean to lift it up in vain? It means employing this divine soul for vanity and trivial pursuits - chasing another dollar here, pulling off a scheme there, profiting somewhere else. To take a divine power and lift it up in vain is to squander it for nothing. Hashem says: The individual of whom I speak, who is clean of hands and pure of heart, has not lifted up the soul I placed within him in vain, and does not degrade it for vanity and futility.
The Candle Above His Head and the Oath Administered to Him
The Malbim adds a further insight: Most of the inner forces Hashem planted in man naturally incline toward the good - the faculties of wisdom, understanding, and conscience, which represents the moral compass within a person. All of these tether a person, binding and linking him to goodness. This corresponds to the teaching of Chazal that while a child is formed in the womb, a candle burns above his head, and as he emerges into the air of the world, an oath is administered to him: "Be righteous and do not be wicked." What is the candle? It is the divine soul, the supreme godly light planted within him - "The candle of God is the soul of man." And what is the oath? These are the moral faculties ingrained within his nature, which tell him: This is unfair, this is not upright, this is unseemly. The understanding, wisdom, and intellect embedded within the human soul - these are the bonds that commit him to do good.
It is often observed that regarding the basic commandments - do not steal, do not murder, do not commit adultery - there is no nation in the world whose established law prescribes "steal," "murder," or "commit adultery." There are societies rife with immorality, societies rife with bloodshed, and societies rife with theft, but for the law itself to mandate "steal" - such a reality does not exist. If such a nation ever existed, the upheaval of Sodom eradicated it, for it cannot endure in this world. There is universal consensus on the foundations of morality; all agree that theft, murder, and adultery are wrongful.
A well-known story is told of Ceausescu, the Romanian dictator who was a notorious thief and plundered his entire country. When he wished to project an image of righteousness, he erected a statue of Diogenes, the Greek philosopher who sought justice and walked about with a lantern in broad daylight. Someone quipped: In Greece, Diogenes walked with a lantern in search of justice; when he arrived in Romania, he began searching for his lantern - someone had stolen it from him! Thus, while theft may be rampant in certain societies, no nation makes theft its law. We see that Hashem implanted within man and his soul the innate desire for good, the aspiration toward the good, and the knowledge of what is good and what is not - and this is the oath administered to him in his mother's womb: "Be righteous and do not be wicked."
Regarding this, the verse proclaims: "Who has not lifted up My soul in vain" - this person has not carried the soul I gave him in vain; he does not expend it on vanity and nonsense, but uses My holy soul to draw near to God. "And has not sworn deceitfully" - that very oath administered to him in the womb, which embodies the soul's natural drive for the good, was not taken deceitfully; his genuine yearning and will are solely to perform good, and his conscience continually guides him, compelling him, as it were, to do what is right and upright. He is sworn to fulfill the word of Hashem, as it says, "I have sworn and I will fulfill it, to observe Your righteous judgments," and that is precisely what he lives and fulfills.
"He Shall Receive a Blessing" - Blessing and Righteousness
יִשָּׂא בְרָכָה מֵאֵת ה' וּצְדָקָה מֵאֱלֹהֵי יִשְׁעוֹ׃ - "He shall receive a blessing from Hashem, and righteousness from the God of his salvation."
When a person merits to ascend the mountain of Hashem and draw close to Him, blessed be He, he receives a blessing from Hashem. A blessing is always an expression of increase and abundance - "Blessed are You, Hashem," meaning You are the source of all abundance; that blessing may rest upon the work of his hands, bringing increase to whatever he occupies himself with. He receives a blessing from Hashem, for Hashem assists him and grants him the strength to attain a higher perfection, that he may merit ascending further upon the mountain of Hashem to an even loftier level.
Not only this, but also "and righteousness from the God of his salvation" - Hashem emanates upon him from the supreme benevolence (tzedakah). A blessing corresponds to what is earned, according to one's effort; but tzedakah (charity / unearned benevolence) is given to someone who is not inherently entitled to it - "I am not obligated to give you, yet I grant it to you out of kindness." There is an abundance that comes in the form of tzedakah from the God of his salvation, and this tzedakah does not examine whether one is worthy or unworthy, fit or unfit, but is bestowed solely through Hashem's kindness upon him. As it is written, "I have known you by name, and you have also found favor in My eyes" - not according to deeds alone, but out of finding unearned favor.
"This is the generation of those who seek Him" - The Generation of the Exodus and the Level of Yaakov
זֶה דּוֹר דֹּרְשָׁו מְבַקְשֵׁי פָנֶיךָ יַעֲקֹב סֶלָה׃ - "This is the generation of those who seek Him, who search for Your face, [like] Yaakov, Selah."
Even though this may seem distant to us - "Who shall ascend the mountain of Hashem, and who shall stand in His holy place," since for long days, years, and many generations people did not reach this level - David says: behold, look, this generation has arrived, "the generation of those who seek Him." And who was this? This was the generation of the Exodus, who over forty-nine days underwent refinement after refinement, following all the purification they endured in Egypt, and now they all ascend the mountain of Hashem.
And what is the relevance of Yaakov here? The Malbim explains: that entire generation stood, as it were, at the spiritual level of Yaakov. What did Yaakov see on the ladder? "Angels of God ascending and descending" - Yaakov attained the realization that there is a connection, an ascent from below to above and a descent from above to below, which is the ultimate purpose of Creation mentioned earlier: that Hashem descend and dwell among the lower realms. Yaakov achieved this level and perceived this reality, and here, the entire generation attained it: "This is the generation of those who seek Him, who search for Your face" - like Yaakov, in the same dimension of ascending the ladder to the upper realms and meriting to draw down abundance from Him, blessed be He. Hashem descended upon Mount Sinai and revealed Himself to that generation, because they were a generation of seekers of Hashem.
"Lift up your heads, O gates" - The Opening of the Temple Doors
שְׂאוּ שְׁעָרִים רָאשֵׁיכֶם וְהִנָּשְׂאוּ פִּתְחֵי עוֹלָם וְיָבוֹא מֶלֶךְ הַכָּבוֹד׃ - "Lift up your heads, O gates, and be lifted up, everlasting doors, so that the King of Glory may enter."
As Rashi cites here: in the days of Shlomo, when they came to bring the Ark into the Holy of Holies, the gates clung to one another. Shlomo recited twenty-four prayers of song (renanot) and was not answered - and from the beginning of Sefer Tehillim up to this point there are twenty-four such songs - and then he recited this psalm, Psalm 24, adding, "Do not turn away the face of Your anointed; remember the lovingkindness of David Your servant," and said to them, "Lift up your heads, O gates," whereupon the gates opened and he brought in the Ark.
The Malbim explains: the verse comes to describe the state after the decree had already been annulled. "The generation of those who seek Him" was a generation that sought Hashem and merited to ascend His holy mountain, and as a consequence, Hashem brings His Shechinah down here below. Now there exists a holy generation ascending rung after rung, which necessitates that abundance be sent down from above - for when we ascend and seek, Hashem brings it down. Then the King of Glory will come to dwell in His Sanctuary beneath the wings of the keruvim (cherubim), which is the place where the Shechinah rests.
Accordingly, he addresses the gates of the Temple: lift up your heads, and also "be lifted up, everlasting doors" - the portals through which one passes from world to world, from the lower world to the upper world, the portals through which one reaches above, let them open, and the King of Glory shall enter. "The King of Glory" - Hashem is King over all glory, for all glory in the world belongs to His holy Name, as it says, "Everyone who is called by My name, I have created him for My glory; I have formed him, yes, I have made him." All the honor and glory found in Creation is entirely from Him, and His sovereignty rules over all.
Notice the wording: "be lifted up" (vehinas'u) is in the passive nif'al form, rather than the active "lift up" (se'u). This implies that they open out of necessity, as if an external force is being applied to open them. This corresponds to the Holy One, blessed be He, as the Master of sovereignty and governance, Who has the power to reward those who do His will and punish those who disobey His word. The gates open, as it were, out of the dread of Hashem and His mighty power.
"Hashem, Strong and Mighty" - Inherent Might and Mastery in War
מִי זֶה מֶלֶךְ הַכָּבוֹד ה' עִזּוּז וְגִבּוֹר ה' גִּבּוֹר מִלְחָמָה׃ - Who is this King of Glory? Hashem, strong and mighty, Hashem mighty in battle.
Who is this King of Glory for Whose sake the gates must be lifted up - meaning, out of awe and dread of Whom they must open? Because Hashem is strong and mighty, and Hashem is a warrior in battle. The Malbim explains: "mighty" (gibbor) refers to intrinsic, inherent strength; whereas a "warrior in battle" (gibbor milchamah) means not merely possessing raw strength, but mastering military tactics and knowing the rules of combat. Hashem is mighty in and of Himself: when He wills it, He alters the entire order of nature. If by the laws of nature celestial beings do not descend and terrestrial beings do not ascend, He has the power to overturn the order of nature and forge a new reality: Hashem lowers His Shechinah below, the Jewish people ascend on high, and Moshe ascends to receive the Torah. Hashem is also a "warrior in battle" - arranging all the hosts of nature according to His will to wage war as He desires, as it is written, "Hashem shall go forth as a mighty man; He shall stir up jealousy like a man of war." Through this, the eternal portals are lifted up due to His limitless power and might, overturning the laws of nature as He pleases, bringing down the Shechinah when He chooses, and elevating the lower realms upward - even though this seems contrary to nature, for Hashem wages war against nature, as it were, since He Himself created nature.
Radak explains that "Who is this King of Glory?" is a question posed by the gates, and the answer given to them is: "Hashem, strong and mighty, Hashem mighty in battle." And why is warfare mentioned here? Because when they went out to battle, they would take the Aron (Ark) with them - as we saw when the Ark of Hashem was captured after being brought out to battle against the Pelishtim. Therefore, in connection with the Aron, it mentions "Hashem mighty in battle."
The Repetition: "Lift Up, Eternal Portals" - Awe of Exaltation
שְׂאוּ שְׁעָרִים רָאשֵׁיכֶם וּשְׂאוּ פִּתְחֵי עוֹלָם וְיָבֹא מֶלֶךְ הַכָּבוֹד׃ - Lift up your heads, O gates, and lift up, eternal portals, that the King of Glory may enter.
Everyone confronts the obvious question here: Why the repetition? It was already stated, "Lift up your heads, O gates, and be lifted up, eternal portals." Ibn Ezra writes that the second verse alludes to the return of the Glory and the coming of the Redeemer - that is, to the future, to the Third Temple. And lest one suggest that it refers to the Second Temple, Ibn Ezra explains: the divine Glory was not present in the Second Temple, as one of the things it lacked was the indwelling of the Shechinah. Thus, "Lift up your heads, O gates, and lift up, eternal portals" refers to the Third Temple, which is why the verse repeats itself. Radak notes, following Ibn Ezra, that since "your heads" is omitted after "lift up, eternal portals," the first "your heads" applies to the second clause as well: lift up your heads, O gates, and lift up your heads, eternal portals - open yourselves wide, eternal portals, so that the King of Glory may enter.
The Malbim explains: Notice that earlier it said "and be lifted up" (vehinas'u), which we explained happens not of their own volition, but through an external force acting upon them; whereas here it says that the gates ought to lift their heads on their own - "and lift up (use'u), eternal portals," without anyone compelling them. This is not out of fear, which is fear of punishment, but out of awe of His exaltation (yir'at haromemut), the greatness of Hashem, which evokes a natural submission before the Holy One, blessed be He - and this is a far higher level.
"Hashem of Hosts, He is the King of Glory, Selah"
מִי הוּא זֶה מֶלֶךְ הַכָּבוֹד ה' צְבָאוֹת הוּא מֶלֶךְ הַכָּבוֹד סֶלָה׃ - Who is this King of Glory? Hashem of Hosts, He is the King of Glory, Selah.
Ibn Ezra explains the addition found here: Why did the first verse say only "Hashem, strong and mighty, Hashem mighty in battle," whereas here it adds "Hashem of Hosts, He is the King of Glory, Selah"? Because the first verse spoke of the Temple of Shelomo, which was not eternal but temporary - it stood for four hundred and ten years and was destroyed - and therefore it did not mention "the King of Glory, Selah" there, but it did mention "mighty in battle," since warfare still existed in that era. In the Third Temple, by contrast, there will no longer be wars, for in the future to come, "they shall beat their swords into plowshares," and therefore "mighty in battle" is not mentioned here.
Someone once remarked that in our time we see an echo of "and they shall beat their swords into plowshares": when the Cold War with Syria ended, and under the weapons agreement material was cleared from missiles, they manufactured expensive titanium pens from that same material. From missiles they made pens. In any case, in that future era there will be no need for wars, and the earth will rest from war. Then it will be said, "Hashem Tzeva'ot" (Hashem of Hosts), because all the people of that generation will be like Hashem's angels, like part of the host of the Holy One, blessed be He.
And the Malbim explains: "Who is this King of glory?" - Who is the King of glory for whom the gates already lift up their heads of their own accord to receive Him, out of awe of His exaltedness rather than fear of punishment? The answer: "Hashem Tzeva'ot." It is well known that "Tzeva'ot" means that all hosts are His, that everything in creation belongs to Him, and by virtue of this He is the King of glory. He is unlike a flesh-and-blood king, whose honor is not intrinsic but depends on others honoring him; the moment they cease honoring him, he has no honor. But Hashem reigned before any creature was created, and with Him honor is intrinsic, not dependent on whether He is honored or not. And since all hosts are His, He possesses honor intrinsically, which is why He is called "the King of glory, Selah" - the King of glory eternally; or according to the Malbim's approach, "Selah" means that with this the matter concludes.
In Summary:
The psalm opens with the declaration that to Hashem belongs the earth and its fullness, and that He founded it upon the seas and established it upon the rivers so that it would be fit for habitation - all because the Holy One, blessed be He, desired to have a dwelling place in the lower realms. The sin of the early generations drove the Shechinah away, the Patriarchs began the ascent upon the mountain of Hashem, and the generation of the wilderness - "the generation of those who seek Him" - completed the rectification, until the decree of "the heavens are the heavens of Hashem" was annulled, and Hashem descended upon Mount Sinai while Moshe ascended to Him. Who merits this? "One of clean hands and a pure heart" - one whose actions are clean and whose thoughts are pure, who does not bear in vain the divine soul that his Creator planted within him, and does not violate the oath made in his mother's womb; he receives a blessing from Hashem and righteousness from the God of his salvation. And from here to the gates: at first, "be lifted up" through the awe of Hashem, strong and mighty, and ultimately, "lift up" on your own accord, out of awe of His exaltedness, to receive Hashem Tzeva'ot, who is the King of glory - whose glory is intrinsic and eternal, and who in the future will return and be revealed in the Third Beit HaMikdash, speedily in our days.