Introduction to Parashat Hashavua
Yeshivat Har Etzion

PARASHAT PEKUDEI

The Meaning of the Mishkan

By Rav Michael Hattin

INTRODUCTION

Parashat Pekudei constitutes the final reading of the Book of Shemot. It opens with a tally of the various materials contributed by the people of Israel towards the construction of the Mishkan, placing emphasis upon the precious metals. Of special note is the calculation of the contribution of the silver, for each adult male offered a half shekel for the fashioning of the base sockets of the boards, and thus provided a mechanism for a census of the people to be simultaneously undertaken. The Parasha then goes on to describe the fashioning of the priestly garments, now repeating material first relayed in Parashat Tetzave, before concluding with an account of the Mishkan's final fabrication as its external envelope was erected and then its sacred vessels were placed in their correct locations. Exultantly, the Parasha ends with the descent of God's glory, manifest by the cloud, as His presence filled the space of the Mishkan and temporarily prevented even Moshe from entering its super-charged atmosphere. Proleptically, the text then informs us that all of the future peregrinations of the people of Israel through the wilderness were conditioned by the movements of this Divine cloud, for

A FITTING CONCLUSION

What a fitting finale to the parashiyot of the book that had so painstakingly as well as painfully narrated the account of the birth of the Israelite nation! Recall that Sefer Shemot had ominously opened with the onset of the oppression in Egypt as the descendents of Ya'acov, earlier welcomed by their erstwhile Pharaonic hosts, were soon pressed into national service and then reduced to abject slavery. The Exodus eventually did follow, after a mighty display of God's plagues and the first tentative spiritual steps of the people towards freedom, but not in time to prevent centuries of servitude from leaving their harmful mark on the crushed Israelite psyche. Though they marched forth with a euphoric external display of confidence, the collective scars of their experience that had been devastatingly accumulated under the Egyptian yoke – the spiritual lassitude, self-loathing and terrible fear of embracing their destiny – would remain with them for decades.

Nevertheless, the people persevered, crossing Yam Suf and then entering the foreboding wilderness, all the while prodded by a Divine imperative that was determined to bring them to Mount Sinai. There, they received the Torah, as God revealed His guiding laws and the people enthusiastically but anxiously pledged their fealty. At Sinai's arid and windswept base they remained, the extent of God's lofty expectations slowly becoming more clear, and after the debacle of the golden calf had been overcome, the people began the project of constructing the Mishkan. The work continued apace for some six months , and finally "on the first day of the first month" (40:17), exactly one year to the day after God had announced to the people while yet in Egypt their impending liberation and had bidden them to prepare the Paschal sacrifice (12:1-3), the dedication of the complex began.

What had therefore started with abject adversity was thus startlingly concluded with triumph, for exile and oppression were changed into exodus and redemption, and awful self-alienation and estrangement from God were transformed into budding self-awareness and sincere devotion to His word. Considering the conclusion of Sefer Shemot from this perspective, a book whose closing sections are so utterly preoccupied with things of space, yields a remarkable analog to the world of time. The spirit of fateful and unexpected change that colors the onset of the Purim/Pesach season, echoed in nature by the last wet winds of interminable winter that now bow out before the warmer breezes of hopeful spring, is paralleled exactly by this larger textual theme of astonishing transformation!

As readers of the Torah we of course know that many challenges await the people of Israel just over the horizon of Sefer Shemot, many setbacks and disappointments that will delay the process of peoplehood and postpone the realization of the national mission. But the fundamental trajectory of Israel's course will not be altered. The guidance of the Divine cloud, first introduced here as the conclusion to the Mishkan narratives, will remain as an ever-present force in the people's lives, even as their childlike exhilaration dissipates and the task of nation building is engaged in earnest.

COMPARISONS TO CREATION

In many respects, the account of the Mishkan's fabrication is reminiscent of the Torah's narrative concerning the creation of the world. In both instances, raw materials were transformed into finished products of utility, beauty and purpose, through the exercise of intelligence and will and by the spark of a creative spirit. In both instances, the process took time and unfolded according to a hierarchical ordering principle that saved the most precious elements for the end. And in both instances, the tangible matter, inanimate and unresponsive of itself, was inspired with a Divine breath that conferred life and sensation. That a similar process was at work is particularly evident with respect to the fashioning of the first human being, for there the text made it abundantly clear that his limp and lifeless body, formed of elemental clay, remained inert until God blew into its nostrils "the breath of life, so that the human became a living creature" (2:7). As the Ramban (13^th century, Spain) insightfully comments there:

In a similar way, Moshe erects the building envelope of the Mishkan, now placing the sockets, the boards and the bars (40:18). He raises up the pillars and arranges the tent-like curtains as well as their protective covering (40:19). He places the vessels in their exact location – the ark, table, menorah, and golden altar (40:20-27). Moshe then hangs the dividing curtain, before setting up the altar of bronze in the courtyard (40:28). The laver is positioned between the Mishkan and the altar (40:30) and finally the perimeter curtains of the courtyard are set up (40:33). In other words, all of the tangible things – the external protective structures shielding within the precious vessels – are placed in their correct location so that the "organism" of the building is finished. But like the lifeless body of the first human – externally perfect, internally ordered according to a necessarily exacting plan – the Mishkan lacks the animating spirit that God's descending cloud must then convey:

THE ANALOG OF THE IBN EZRA

The analog first boldly drawn by the Ibn Ezra (12^th century, Spain) in his commentary to Bereishit 1:26 now returns with unusual force:

For Ibn Ezra, there was a parallel to be drawn between God the Creator and the soul of the human being. Absolute God is utterly without body or form, but His eternal spirit of "glory" fills the material cosmos and inspires it with life and meaning. Similarly, though we must regard Ibn Ezra's words with caution as a provocative analog that can convey only part of the matter, the human soul – ethereal and eternal – grants life to the human body, filling it with potential and purpose after the manner of the Creator. And the Mishkan as well, representing the proverbial link between heaven and earth, is thus constructed according to a similar dynamic. We return once again to the laden words of the Ibn Ezra, this time in his discussion of the meaning of the Mishkan, where he advances the explanation of Rav Sa'adia Gaon (10^th century, Babylon):

While the Gaon goes on to draw specific comparisons between heavenly elements, the items of the Mishkan, and the organs of the human body, occasionally introducing readings that are overly contrived or forced, who could deny the overall persuasiveness of his linkage? As the text of our Parasha makes so eminently clear, it is only at the moment of descent of the Divine cloud – itself only a symbolic and intentionally amorphous manifestation of His overwhelming presence – that the material Mishkan and its tangible vessels come to "life".

THE PROFOUND IMPLICATIONS

We must of course ask ourselves what might be the implications of the Ibn Ezra's and Gaon's daring theory. Why would the text invite us to compare Omnipotent, Omniscient and Omnipresent God with the Mishkan, and then with the human being himself? Of course, one important conclusion to be drawn would relate to the infinite worth and ultimate value of the individual human being, who is now recast as not only possessing God-like qualities but as a miniature creator in his own right. But this message, while certainly critical in a world that tends to commercialize even the most sacred things and often tramples with impunity – in thought and in deed – upon the inviolability of the human being, could have been conveyed without recourse to such bold metaphors. Had the Torah not already indicated that the human being was the crown of the cosmos, fashioned at the end of the creative process in "the image of God"? Why the necessity of drawing challenging parallels that could just as easily be misconstrued as sanctioning hubris and self-deification? The necessary Mishkan linkage also remains unexplained by this approach.

Ibn Ezra's intent is perhaps something else entirely. Often we make the mistake of believing (or do we convince ourselves?) that a relationship with God is impossible. How can I relate to Being that is Absolute and Unfathomable? How can I come to terms with unending space and eternity in time? What common ground do I share with the Creator of heaven and earth whose "glory fills the cosmos"? And what could be the meaning of His seeming preoccupation with individual human lives and their pettiness, with detailed ritual and minutiae, with laws that strike us as overly exhaustive and small-minded?

The answer, according to the Ibn Ezra, is that we share a natural affinity with the Creator, for the very makeup of our being somehow parallels His. We therefore need not resort to contrivance and artificiality in forging a relationship with God. A cohesive connection between us and the Deity, though sometimes difficult to believe, is actually innate to our own existence. Our soul longs for a profound bond with God and nothing could be as straightforward. And as for His laws, the proverbial Mishkan and its precious Ark of the Covenant that is the location in space from whence His commands emanate, they constitute the natural link between us. The divide between heaven and earth, though perhaps in light of Ibn Ezra's words more apparent than real, can be effectively bridged by the word of God that stands in between. The laws that are focused upon even the small and seemingly insignificant parallel Absolute God's own involvement with the material universe at large, as well as our own preoccupation with the mundane needs of our bodies. All of them point to a similar overwhelming reality. The Mishkan is the intermediate world, the link between finite man and Infinite God, and by its service and the instruction communicated from within its holy precincts, we can yet stand in the presence of God.

Shabbat Shalom