In Parashat Terumah we find a description of the Mishkan – the Tabernacle – its structure and its utensils. From all the details that are offered in this parasha and throughout the Torah, we can conclude that the mishkan served a number of different purposes.
One of them appears at the very beginning of the parasha: “And let them make Me a sanctuary that I may dwell among them” (Shemot 25:8). God desires to bring His Presence down and have a place among the people of Israel. To accomplish this, He must create a place of holiness in the world. The holiness of this place exists beyond human comprehension, and a person cannot enter it freely, whensoever he or she desires.
Another goal of the mishkan is the ability to bring sacrifices. Concentrating Jewish ritual practice in one designated location offers the possibility of atonement and forgiveness and creates a place for thanksgiving and prayer. In contrast with the idea that we must try and pull holy sparks from “higher worlds” by creating a space of holiness, the goal of sacrifice works in the opposite direction. The people of Israel need a place where they can express their belief in He Who makes everything happen.
There is yet an additional element to building the mishkan. God says to Moshe: “There I will meet with you, and I will impart to you from above the cover” (Shemot 25:22). The mishkan serves as a meeting place between God and Moshe. As its name – Ohel Mo’ed – indicates, it is the “Tent of Meeting.” We can understand this meeting-place in a number of different ways. On its simplest level, the mishkan serves as the conference room for the cabinet. In contrast with the view that the mishkan is the place that the people come to receive atonement before God, or the place where God has established His place in this world, this is a place for encounters and for summit meetings. The Ohel Mo’ed is the closed room where weighty decisions are made about the future direction of the people. This does not relate so much to the idea of holiness from a spiritual perspective; the purpose of meeting in this place is to house the participants who are invited to the conversation.
Alternatively, we can view this as the first “Bet Midrash” where Hevruta study will be taking place by means of discussion and dialogue – between Man and God. The midrashim describe the procedure by which these conversations took place:
For Moshe would enter and stand in Ohel Mo’ed,
A Voice would descend from the Heavens and rest between the Keruvim,
And he would hear the Voice speaking to him from inside
Sifrei, Bemidbar
The voice emanated from an outside source, but it sounded as if it was being spoken from between the keruvim. The experience of dialogue is expressed in that there is a physical space from which the voice emanates, even as the voice itself is disembodied and its source is beyond time and space. This is reminiscent of the experience of Torah study – the spiritual, heavenly idea settles in a defined place, just as in Torah study it is fixed in words, verses and commentaries – in conversation with the individual who is learning, until it ultimately become his own, internal voice. In this case, Veno’adeti – And I will meet with you – expresses a very special type of meeting.
The Sifrei explains that the conversation with Moshe “from above the cover” emphasizes how Aharon is specifically excluded from the experience of these conversations –
R. Yehuda ben Beteira said:
We find thirteen times in the Torah that Aharon is specifically excluded from conversation:
- When Moshe went into the Tent of Meeting to speak with Him, he would hear the Voice addressing him from above the cover … thus He spoke to him (Bemidbar 7:89)
- There I will meet with you, and I will impart to you (Shemot 25:22)
- Where I will meet with you (Shemot 30:6)
- For there I will meet with you, and there I will speak with you (Shemot 29:42)
- Which the LORD charged Moses on Mount Sinai (Vayikra 7:38)
- What he had been commanded (Shemot 34:34)
- All that I will command you concerning the Israelite people (Shemot 25:22)
In addition to one in Egypt, one at Sinai and one in Ohel Mo’ed
All told, these are thirteen times that Aharon is specifically excluded.
(Sifrei Bemidbar, Parashat Naso, Chapter 58)
According to this midrash, Aharon does not merit being included in the limited conversations that Moshe had with God. Aharon goes in and out of Ohel Mo’ed, yet he neither sees nor hears what is taking place between God and Moshe. All of the discussions that have taken place between God and Moshe up until this point are now directed to the inner sanctum. The point being made by this midrash is the intimacy that existed in the relationship between Moshe and God, and the decision to build a structure where this would be housed. The Mishkan, which appears to be built to serve the needs of the Israelite community, in its essence serves as the foundation for this special relationship – much as a school is an excuse for teacher discussions and a university campus with its students are a springboard for research. Veno’adeti – God designates Himself to a special relationship with Moshe.
The connection with God, as it is expressed in the various purposes of the Mishkan, is a multifaceted connection that also has daily expressions today, in the absence of a Mishkan – involvement from Above together with expectation from below; an ongoing dialogue that expresses itself in the changing sensitivities in a person’s soul at a moment in time when he contemplates his future, when he is unsure and turns to his Creator, even as he imagines the constant companionship and support that he derives from God, much like the relationship of a married couple.
The physical Mishkan is a prototype for the conceptual, private dwelling place – let them make Me a sanctuary that I may dwell among them.