Sod Torah – Take Off Your Shoes

Sod Torah – Take Off Your Shoes

When Moshe Rabbeinu saw the burning bush and wished to draw near, he heard the voice of the Almighty: “Take off your shoes, for the place on which you stand is holy.” It is written in Pirkei Avot: “Warm yourself by the fire of the sages, but beware lest you be burned by their coals. For their bite is the bite of a fox, and they sting like a scorpion, while their hiss is the hiss of a snake; and all their words are like fiery coals.” In other words, the sages possess three powers—three ways of punishing the guilty: “Bite” – “neshikhah,” “Sting” – “akitzah,” “Hiss” – “lakhash”; The initial letters of these words form the word “na’al” (shoe). When the Almighty allowed Moshe to see the burning bush and thereby called upon him to become the spiritual leader of the nation, He forbade him to use the powers available to sages who have mastered esoteric knowledge against any Jew. (Rebbe Tzvi Elimelech of Dinov, Yaakov Shechter)