Everyone knows that in sports, the box seats at a game are the best choice. In short: box seats are premium, infield-side lower-level seats that offer close, unobstructed views of the core baseball action and often include enhanced amenities. I dare to ask the following. In Hashem's World Arena of Life what are the premium Box Seats that offer one a close unobstructed view of what is truly happening in our day to day experiences and encounters, both short term and long term?
Hashem created a world because He desired a dwelling place to reside in. He chose two teams to compete against each other 24/7 the Good and the Bad inclinations hoping that righteousness will overpower evil. As the referee, Hashem created a world of nature and hid Himself behind it watching closely at every move the players make. Those who possess box seats tickets have unobstructed perceptions of the world that allow one to see Hashem behind nature pulling and sustaining all the strings. Those without the box seats are the individuals who are distracted by nature and cannot see the referee enforcing those who break the rules. Unfortunately, they erroneously think that the World Arena is absent from any order, reckoning, accountability, goal and intervention of a Creator. One just has to know how to play his chess pieces, outsmart and deceive his opponent, and come out a winner.
Am Yisrael were given Box Seats in the World Arena by gifting us with a neshama and Torah our GPS. With them we can create for ourselves an unobstructed view of Hashem's intervention in the world that He created. Through these two mediums we bring to ourselves to a closer relationship with the Source of all Life – Hashem. The purpose of mitzvos is to bond with the Source which possesses the wellspring of the arena in which we were placed. The closer one comes to the source, the greater he is impacted by it and its pure revealing quality, and the less he is distracted by nature's concealment of its creator.
The Mishkan was the supernatural dwelling place of Hashem. It was constructed by the same letters with which Hashem created the heavens and the earth. It was a manifestation of the life source to which we were enabled to connect ourselves, thereby realizing how nature serves only as a background to the reality of all pseudo realties in the World Arena. The Mishkan served as our Box Seats to witness Hashem's constant intervention in creation without any outside interference or static. As the Sfas Emes impressively writes that any Yid who entered the Mikdash received automatically a neshamah yesairah, a spiritual infusion from the Shechinah.
The Torah describes how the women of Yisrael spun goat's hair while still being attached on the goat. It wasn't merely to make a better quality sheet as a covering for the Mishkan. It was rather their deep understanding that this was a divinely designated place where an individual could contact and bond with the Source of All Sources without any hindrances. The woman who possessed the בינה יתירה in their hearts, fashioned the sheets on their very source in order to align the construction to the reality and nature of the dwelling place in which Hashem resides.
It is interesting to note that the word source and sorcery are very similar. This is because their meanings are opposites. Sorcery is the use of power gained from controlling supernatural beings or forces, often for divination, harm, or magic. It involves rituals, spells, and the invocation of evil spirits. It was created as an antagonist to deny and contradict that Hashem is the source of all sources. In Parshas Pekudai the Baal Haturim brings that the Torah writes כאשר צוה ה' את משה eighteen times corresponding to the 18 items that were built for the Mishkan. The Baal Haturim writes that it correlates to the berachos of the eighteen berachos of the Shemoneh Esrai. This conveys to us that davening to Hashem is tantamount to building a Mishkan and contacting the Source of all Sources. The halacha of סמיכות גאולה לתפלה of connecting Kerias Yam Suf to Shemoneh Esrai is to be able to point to Hashem and say זה אלי ואנוהו (part of the Shirah sung at Kerias Yam Suf) which is gematriah 12 which corresponds to the twelve Middle berachos of Shemoneh Esrai, are our requests to Hashem to fulfill. When one realizes that there is only singular source from where life emanates it will be easier to daven with kavanah and subjugation and make tefillah an uplifting and inspiring experience.
Shabbos is also the time to access the Source of Sources as we say in Lechah Dodi .כי היא מקור הברכה The entire week is impacted by the quality of one's Shabbos. If one thinks that by merely drinking spirits from a bottle on Shabbos will bring him a high of Shabbos, well think again. He is bottling his time and efforts for he is not starting from a place that will lead him to the source. However the neshama yesairah of Shabbos already in you, all one has to do is to discipline himself to focus on his tachlis in life and why Hashem is giving you this special gift called the neshama of Shabbos. Then the spirit of the neshama itself that lies inside of you will do the rest.
Did you ever wonder why all Mesechtos in Shas begin with a word in a box. Don't laugh too loud. Every year that word in the box sends a different message to Yidden living and learning gemarah at that time. For תשפו it sends the message that toiling in Torah gives one a box seat to the Shechinah and the Source of all sources. As far as box seat amenities, Torah has the promise of amen ities, אמן the acronym of אל מלך נאמן Hashem is faithful in fulfilling His promises to be the source of one's reward in this world and the next.