Making Jokes/Finding Sparks: Kedushat Levi on T'rumah

I found the following passage interesting in terms of some of the pedagogical choices I make. Sometimes I feel a touch concerned that my students think that all we do is share stories and joke but in talking about the construction of the Tabernacle, Rabbi Levi Yitzchak of Berdichev shares the following:

"These skins of 'Tachash' used as the outermost coverings of the 'roof' of the Tabernacle, symbolized the vernacular, secular, which though not valuable by itself, was put to good use as a cover, protection for the sacred content beneath the surface. In the the same way, sometimes people make remarks in a jocular fashion, but it is meant to make the [inner] substance of their remarks...more readily acceptable"

I thought this was beautiful and deep although I, and I think he, disagree with the idea that the exterior covering or the (secular) is not valuable in itself. In fact, later in the same analysis Levi Yitzchak writes:

"It is not permissible for us ever to claim that there exist phenomena in our universe that are totally apart from their holy roots. It is up to us to try and find behind phenomena that appear totally divorced from their holy roots, the point of contact through which such a thread, however slender, still exists...when we love God in this manner, we succeead in helping the 'sparks' return to their original habitat as part of the Shechinah."

So...how interesting! From my nondualist perspective, here is Levi Yitzchak acknowledging that all is One and that the process of tikkun, or repair, is the act of this realization that ALL IS SPARKS. This realization, of course, must come with action; in explaining the necessity of the voluntary gifts of gold, silver, and copper as described in this week's Torah portion, Levi Yitzchak states:

"Every person serving the Lord, must do so also by something tangible in addition to the lofty thoughts that he entertains...allegorically speaking the performance of a tangible mitzvah is considered as if man helps the Shechinah arise from the dust of the earth where it appeared to be buried."

Good shabbos.