Parshat Terumah
Rabbi Avrohom Gordimer

The relationship of the command to build the Mishkan and the narrative of its actual construction is quite puzzling. That is to say, in Parshas Terumah, we find that God commanded Moshe first to build the holiest kelim - the Aron (Ark) and Keruvim (Cherubs) - followed by objects of lesser holiness - namely, the Shulchan (Table) and Menorah - while the actual Mishkan structure and perimeter were commanded last. On the other hand, when it came time to construct the Mishkan, Bezalel reversed the order, first establishing the outer chambers and sections, and constructing and installing the holy furnishings (Aron, Shulchan, Menorah) last. (Shmos 38:22). In fact, Rashi (ibid.) quotes the Tamlud which explains that Moshe Rabbeinu agreed to this order. Why, then, was the command to build the Mishkan in reverse?

On a simpler level, one can question why the narrative of the Mishkan's construction details every facet of the work, for all details of the Mishkan were already presented in the command to build it. Could the Torah not have simply told us that all that Moshe was commaded was carried out by Bezalel and his workers, without repeating each elaborate step?

I believe that both of the above questions share one answer. According to the Ramban, who posits that the Mishkan was commanded to be built before the Chet Ha-Egel (Sin of the Calf) and that the construction commenced subsequent to the Chet Ha-Egel, we must understand that the Mishkan's role changed as a result of the Sin and was redefined thereafter. Prior to the Chet, the Jews were treated as deserving to be experience God's holiness and goodness almost effortlessly. The radiant tablets were gifted without human toil, and - so too - the Mishkan was to be a place of God's lofty Presence in our midst, and we were not expected to do anything to merit this state other than build the Mishkan. It is for this reason that the most holy kelim (vessels) were commanded first, as the idea of the Mishkan was for us to experience God's holiness in all of its intensity, to the greatest extent humanly possible. The exterior of the Mishkan was a mere container for the holy kelim.

With the Chet Ha-Egel, all changed. We took God's Presence for granted and no longer deserved automatic exposure to manifestations of His holiness, just as we no longer merited to have the first set of tablets, which were a supernatural object of absulute, unfathomable kedusha. Henceforth, the Jews needed to appreciate God's Presence, and they had to work for His closeness. This is why Moshe had to personally carve the new tablets, and why Hashem said that He would not personally accompany Bnei Yisroel after the Chet. He was teaching us that we need to put forth effort and show a desire to be close to Him. So, too, the Mishkan now took on a new identity. It was to be a place for Bnei Yisroel to approach Hashem and seek Him. Thus, the structure, being a place of prayer and a venue to approach God was primary, and the keilm were secondary. This explains the reverse order of the Mishkan and vessels at the time of its construction.

Thus, there were really two Mishkans. One was a container for kedusha, as depicted prior to the Chet. Another was a place for getting close to Hashem, as narrated in the post-Egel parshiyos of the Mishkan's construction. The Mishkan is thus presented twice, as it was truly a dual or two-function structure. This idea is borne out in Rashi (from Torah Kohanim) in Shmos 40:35, in which he explains that there seems to be a contracdiction in how Hashem spoke to Moshe in the Mishkan. On the one hand, the Torah states that God's voice came to Moshe, while another pasum explains that Moshe came to the Mishkan to God. Both of these ideas reflect the dual nature of the Mishkan.

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