This week’s parasha, Parashat Terumah introduces the laws related to building the mishkan – the Tabernacle. The Torah precisely defines the size, shape and materials of each vessel that is placed in the mishkan – including the shulchan (table), the menorah (candelabra), the aron (ark) and the mizbe’ach (altar). The length, width and height of each item are explicated and the particulars of the construction of each item is defined and delimited by the halacha – G-d’s command.
The level of precision that the Torah describes in reference to the mishkan is noteworthy. Even a synagogue, a mikdash me’at – a miniature Temple – does not require such precision. What message can we glean from the Torah’s rich description of the parameters of the mishkan?
Let us consider this question in relation to a dispute among our Sages.
Although the Torah places the command to build the mishkan prior to the incident of the Golden Calf, there is dispute between our chachamim regarding when Hashem actually gave the direction to b'nei yisrael to build the mishkan. One opinion is that Hashem gave the command prior to the sin of the Golden Calf and the other opinion is that He gave the command after the sin.
Imagine that we were living in the generation of the Exodus. What impact would Hashem’s precise description of the construction of the mishkan have on us? Let us consider this impact from the two perspectives regarding when the command was given. If the command was given before the episode of the Golden Calf, the halachic detail would serve to establish a relationship between Hashem and b'nei yisrael in its infancy – a relationship built on adherence to law. Halacha serves to define b'nei yisrael as a nation committed to the word of Hashem and to guide us in His path. Hashem demands that His people adhere not only to general principles of morality but obedience to precise strictures of law, as well.
If, however, the command to build the mishkan was given after the Golden Calf, the mishkan would serve primarily to restore the relationship with Hashem after the breach of the sin of the Golden Calf. Precise actions based on precise direction serves to re-calibrate us and repair our relationship with Hashem. Through our adherence to the strictures of halacha we demonstrate that we have turned away from the sin of the Golden Calf and that we are now looking to a source of law outside of ourselves.
The lesson for us is that the halachic system – the system of law that Hashem revealed to us in the Torah – guides us and shapes our relationship with Hashem in two distinct ways. In one way, observance of halacha ennobles us by committing us – through our actions – to the word of Hashem. Having precisely followed Hashem’s will, we leave the experience of performing a mitzvah with a closer relationship with Hashem. For example,many leave the Pesach seder experience with this awareness. Having meticulously adhered to each of the mitzvot of the night – eating proper amounts of matzah and maror, telling the story, leaning, saying berachot and hallel with intent, drinking wine as prescribed by our chachamim – one walks away from the seder ennobled by a his or her closer relationship with the One Who commanded these mitzvot. Similarly, the Jewish People who experienced the precision of the Divinely-commanded mishkan were also ennobled.
The level of precision that the Torah describes in reference to the mishkan is noteworthy. Even a synagogue, a mikdash me’at – a miniature Temple – does not require such precision. What message can we glean from the Torah’s rich description of the parameters of the mishkan?
Let us consider this question in relation to a dispute among our Sages.
Although the Torah places the command to build the mishkan prior to the incident of the Golden Calf, there is dispute between our chachamim regarding when Hashem actually gave the direction to b'nei yisrael to build the mishkan. One opinion is that Hashem gave the command prior to the sin of the Golden Calf and the other opinion is that He gave the command after the sin.
Imagine that we were living in the generation of the Exodus. What impact would Hashem’s precise description of the construction of the mishkan have on us? Let us consider this impact from the two perspectives regarding when the command was given. If the command was given before the episode of the Golden Calf, the halachic detail would serve to establish a relationship between Hashem and b'nei yisrael in its infancy – a relationship built on adherence to law. Halacha serves to define b'nei yisrael as a nation committed to the word of Hashem and to guide us in His path. Hashem demands that His people adhere not only to general principles of morality but obedience to precise strictures of law, as well.
If, however, the command to build the mishkan was given after the Golden Calf, the mishkan would serve primarily to restore the relationship with Hashem after the breach of the sin of the Golden Calf. Precise actions based on precise direction serves to re-calibrate us and repair our relationship with Hashem. Through our adherence to the strictures of halacha we demonstrate that we have turned away from the sin of the Golden Calf and that we are now looking to a source of law outside of ourselves.
The lesson for us is that the halachic system – the system of law that Hashem revealed to us in the Torah – guides us and shapes our relationship with Hashem in two distinct ways. In one way, observance of halacha ennobles us by committing us – through our actions – to the word of Hashem. Having precisely followed Hashem’s will, we leave the experience of performing a mitzvah with a closer relationship with Hashem. For example,many leave the Pesach seder experience with this awareness. Having meticulously adhered to each of the mitzvot of the night – eating proper amounts of matzah and maror, telling the story, leaning, saying berachot and hallel with intent, drinking wine as prescribed by our chachamim – one walks away from the seder ennobled by a his or her closer relationship with the One Who commanded these mitzvot. Similarly, the Jewish People who experienced the precision of the Divinely-commanded mishkan were also ennobled.
Observance of halacha also ennobles us by reinforcing in us the idea that law is rooted in an objective source – Hashem – and that our actions should not simply be the product of our temporal feelings and wishes. Indeed, our actions should be guided by what is truly correct. Detailed halachic acts remind one who performs a mitzvah of this concept, particularly during times when feelings or emotions are aroused. For example, one of the most therapeutic aspects of the Jewish mourning process – particularly shiva – is that a bereaved family member is reminded, through his or her adherence to halacha at this time when one’s feelings and emotions are running wild, that Hashem is the source of law and the source of good. True consolation comes not from denial of the loss or the introduction of artificial salves but rather through confronting the loss through the lens of Hashem’s plan for the world and His relationship with the world. Through adherence to halacha, what might have been a purely emotional experience is transformed into a grounded emotional experience. Similarly, the Jewish People who experienced the precision of the Divinely-commanded mishkan were ennobled by the reinforcement of the idea that Hashem is Who He is and that He is not created in our image, chas veShalom. Halacha, as an expression of Hashem’s Will, reorients and redirects us away from pure subjectivity and towards an enlightened relationship with the Other – Hashem Who is One.
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