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Pekudei
Pekudei
Rashi (39;43) relates that Moshe blessed the nation of Israel saying “May the Divine Presence rest in the work of your hands (for the Mishkan).” However, why did Moshe need to bless the nation for Hashem Presence’s to be in Mishkan after it was built if Hashem told them before it was built (25;8) that the whole purpose of building it was so that He could dwell there?
Secondly, Rashi (39;33) relates that Moshe didn’t participate in the construction of the Mishkan (and so Hashem let him erect it). However, why did Moshe feel the need to participate in the producing of the Mishkan after it was already built and not earlier?
Thirdly, why wasn’t Moshe punished for not participating in the Mishkan like the princes were by having the letter “yud” deleted from their name (see: Rashi, 35;27)?!?
Fourthly, why in fact didn’t Moshe participate in the construction of the Mishkan? Surely he must have wanted to be involved!?!
Fifthly, Rashi (39;33) states: “No man was able to erect it because of the weight of the beams as a man does not have the strength to set them upright but Moshe erected it. Moshe said to Hashem: How can the Mishkan’s erection be accomplished by man? Hashem answered: Involve yourself in erecting the Mishkan with your hand and it will appear as if you were setting it up but it will rise upright and stand by itself.” However, how could it be that no one could put it up? If it was too heavy for one person then they could have simply gotten a group of people (up to 600,000 if necessary)!?!
Lastly, Rashi (38;22) states that Moshe told Bezalel: “The common practice of the world is to first make a house and afterwards to put the furnishings in it.” Moshe replied: “Thus, as you said, I heard from the mouth of Hashem.” How could Moshe think so illogically to consider creating the vessels for the Mishkan before the Mishkan itself? That’s common sense!?!
Rabbi Yochanan Zweig explains that the Mishkan is generally understood as being a partnership between us and Hashem. Man put up the building, made all the furniture-and then Hashem descended His Presence into the building. However, Rabbi Zweig explains that the holiness of the Mishkan is actually twofold. There is not only the holiness from Hashem’s Divine Presence which descended into the Mishkan-but there is also a sense of holiness which emanates from the Jewish people. The nation of Israel have a sense of holiness themselves. There was therefore a sense of holiness in the Mishkan from even before Hashem descended His Presence upon it.
This is what Moshe was saying when he blessed the nation: “May the Divine Presence rest in the work of your hands”-he wasn’t saying that Hashem’s Presence should descend into the Mishkan-but that through effort they should be able to make the Mishkan holy themselves.
Rabbi Zweig explains that the holiness of the Mishkan is a function of the sanctity of the nation of Israel. It was the g-dliness within the people which created the Mishkan. Now, the Gemara states that any person with “daas” (knowledge to relate to things outside of oneself) is considered as though the Bais Hamikdash was built in his days. Meaning, every person has the ability to become a Sanctuary themselves. For a person with such knowledge-the Mishkan becomes an expression of the holiness within himself. The entire nation had an obligation to build the Mishkan as a means of creating a labor of love (not just a place where Hashem could descend His Presence). Meaning, the nation gave all their feelings, spirituality and intentions to Hashem when building the Mishkan in order to show Him their love. The process of building the Mishkan was therefore more valuable to Hashem than the actual building itself (similar to how receiving a card for one’s birthday means more to a person than just getting money as a card is a sign of love whereas money is simply a gift).
Similarly, Rabbi Zweig explains that simply trying to build the Mishkan generated a sense of holiness as the nation put everyone into its creation-their love, work, dedication, effort, etc. The simple act of building the Mishkan was therefore a mitzvah in itself.
Further, Rabbi Zweig explains that Moshe was the general contractor of the Mishkan (as Hashem commanded him to be on top of everything) and was responsible to make sure everyone put effort. As a result, were he to have participated in the construction of the Mishkan then he would have been taking away from another Jew’s responsibility and opportunity to show Hashem their love. As a result Moshe didn’t participate in the construction of the Mishkan. However, if he didn’t want to take away from all the other Jews then why did he perform the erecting of the Mishkan? Because he wanted a share in the actual handiwork. Therefore, even though he decided not to participate in the construction of the Mishkan he nevertheless performed the its erection.
Interestingly, Rabbi Zweig explains that the Mishkan wasn’t architecturally strong. And why is that? Because the beams (see: 26;15) were built top heavy and therefore unable to stand-even with the sockets on the bottom. We could now understand why Rashi (39;33) states that the nation were unable to erect the Mishkan. The problem wasn’t that they couldn’t lift it up-as if it was too heavy then they could have simply had all 600,000 men lift it. Rather, the problem was that after they were to lift it up it would have fell down since it was top heavy. Moshe therefore performed the erection as he was the only one with the right level of love, wisdom and motivation to be able to put it up with the help of Hashem.
Furthermore, Rabbi Zweig explains that after Moshe erected the Mishkan he then had a share in its construction as it was only through his personality and essence that the Mishkan was able to stand. He therefore wasn’t punished for not participating in the construction of the Mishkan as not only did he not participate for a good reason (in order to give the nation of Israel an opportunity to show Hashem their love) but after erecting the Mishkan he was actually considered to have participated in its construction (even though he didn’t actually participate).
We could now understand the argument between Moshe and Bezalel (Rashi, 38;22). Moshe knew the Mishkan wasn’t an architecturally sound build and he therefore maintained that the vessels be made first. And why is that? Moshe knew that it was going to take a miracle to put up the Mishkan and so he reasoned that all the vessels should be inside of it when the miracle happens (as otherwise the miraculous building would just be empty). So why did Moshe concede to Bezalel and decide to have the Mishkan built first? Because the actions of the righteous are considered natural. Meaning, what righteous people do is considered normal-even if it is thought to be a miracle by others. The erecting was therefore a natural occurrence-not a miracle and so Moshe said that everything was to be built according to its normal order (the building before the vessels).
In closing, Rabbi Zweig asks: Why did Hashem tell us to build something that wasn’t architecturally sound? Because Hashem wanted us to understand that the Mishkan could only be built through His miracles which He put into us as we are His reflections. When a human being perfects themselves they then join with Hashem and become His partner in the creation of the world. At that point the miraculous then becomes normal and the supernatural becomes natural for such a person. Thus, Hashem purposely told the nation of Israel to build a building which wasn’t architecturally sound in order to show them how they could become a part of Him through perfecting themselves.
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