Rabbi Roodyn

ט) הִשְׁתַּחֲווּ לַה’ בְּהַדְרַת קֹדֶשׁ חִילוּ מִפָּנָיו כָּל הָאָרֶץ:

Prostrate yourselves to Hashem in the majestic sanctuary; quake before Him, all the earth.

Rav Hirsch explains that this pasuk is telling mankind to cast themselves down at Hashem’s feet in order to serve Him. Most commentaries translate הדרת קודש as being the Beis HaMikdash where His presence is most felt and whose glory enables man to unfold and bow down.

Rav Hirsch however develops this further and explains that compared to Hashem Himself, the majesty of this הדר, glory in the Beis HaMikdash, is merely a הדרה, reflection of Hashem’s actual glory. He therefore translates the start of the pasuk as ‘Prostrate yourself before the countenance of Hashem in the reflected glory of the sanctuary…’.

Perhaps he is saying this to ensure that we realise that whatever clarity and perception we can ever achieve in this world, even in the Beis HaMikdash, even with His Divine Presence being manifest, it is only ever a reflection. In this physical world of concealment, a reflection is the most we can manage.

Even this, however seems far off. The pasuk ends with the word חיל, which are actually pangs associated with impending birth, מפניו, before His countenance. Let the whole world, without opposition enter into the labour process that is part of its moral and spiritual rebirth.