OU Torah Insights

By Rabbi Avraham Fischer. A publication of the Orthodox Union in cooperation with the Seymour J. Abrams Orthodox Union Jerusalem World Center

Parshat Terumah
February 27, 2004

Hashem gives detailed instructions for the building of the Mishkan, the portable Sanctuary:
And they shall make for Me a Sanctuary (MIKDASH) -- and I will dwell (V’SHACHANTI) in their midst – according to all that I show you, the design of the Abode (HA’MISHKAN) and the design of all its vessels; and so shall you do (Shemot 25:8-9).

Rashi (based on Sanhedrin 16b and Shavuot 14a-15a) says and so shall you do refers to the future:
[This is a command] for all generations. If one of the vessels is lost, or when you will make Me the vessels of the permanent Temple, such as the tables and candelabra and lavers and stands that Shlomo made, then you must make them according to the designs of these.
Note, however, that Rashi does not interpret this as a commandment to build the Temples, but rather to follow these instructions in fashioning future vessels. [Rashi may follow Sanhedrin 20b, where the mitzvah to build the future Temples is derived from Devarim 12:5, 9-11.]

The Mishkan is the first of a series of Abodes for the Divine Presence. After 40 years in the desert, the Mishkan was set up in Gilgal, where it stood for 14 years. Then, a stone roofless structure, which had the curtains of the Mishkan over it, was erected in Shilo, where it stood for 369 years. Afterwards, a sanctuary was established in Nov, followed by Giv’on, for a total of 57 years. Then, Shlomo built the first Beit Hamikdash (Rambam, Laws of the Temple 1:2, based on Zevachim 112b, 115b-119b). The second Beit Hamikdash was built by the returning exiles from Babylon, and the future Beit Hamikdash will be built in the Messianic era.

Although the successive Abodes differ in certain details, there are elements common to all:
We make in it a holy place, and holy of holies, and before the holy place there should be another place called the Ulam, and the three together are called Heichal. And we make another partition around the Heichal at a distance from it, similar to the curtains of the courtyard that was in the desert, and all that is surrounded by this partition which is like the courtyard of the Tent of Meeting is called Azara. All together they are called Mikdash. . .
Everyone — men and women — is obligated to build and to support, by themselves and by their funds, as with the Sanctuary in the desert (Rambam, Laws of the Temple 1:5, 12).

What is the relationship between the Mishkan and these later Abodes? Are they responses to separate Divine commands? Does each Abode supersede the previous one?

We will answer, based on Rambam and Aruch HaShulchan He-Atid (Dinei Kodashim, Laws of the Temple, 1:1, 3, 8, 9, 15, 16; 2:1) by R. Yechiel Michel Epstein (1829-1908).

The terms MISHKAN and MIKDASH are both applicable to all Abodes (Eiruvin 2a). However, they highlight different qualities: MIKDASH means the place of sanctity (K-D-Sh), while MISHKAN means the place where the Divine Presence dwells.

Another difference is that MISHKAN connotes impermanence; it is thus frequently called “tent” and is made of curtains. But MIKDASH, which is also called “house,” indicates permanence. The Abode of Hashem began as a moveable place, which teaches:
Behold, the Holy Shechinah is with us in every place . . . And this is the true meaning of “and I will dwell in the midst of the Children of Israel”, that is to say, in every place they will be.
The subsequent establishment of the Beit Hamikdash sanctified the site in Jerusalem permanently.

According to Rambam (Laws of the Temple 1:1), “And they shall make for Me a Sanctuary” is the source of the mitzvah to build a Sanctuary to Hashem; this was realized first through the Mishkan. In Laws of Kings 1:1, however, he cites:
His habitation shall you seek and come there. . . . For you have not yet come to the rest and the inheritance that Hashem, your G-d, gives you. But, you will cross the Jordan and live in the land that Hashem your G-d gives you to inherit. He will give you rest from all your enemies all around, so that you live in safety. Then it shall be the place which Hashem, your G-d, shall choose to cause His Name to dwell there . . . (Devarim 12:5, 9-11).
But that text teaches a detail about the building, namely to make the transition from “tent” to “house” only after achieving national stability. This process occurred in stages: settling the land, appointing a king, destroying Amalek and removing all threats to the kingdom, both from within and without. Correspondingly, the Abode was first a tent (the Mishkan of the desert and Gilgal), then half-tent half-house (Shilo, Nov and Giv’on), then house. It was not until Shlomo secured the realm that the permanent Beit Hamikdash could be built.

Each transition needed to be made in obedience to Divine inspiration (ruach Hakodesh), as David says when he gives Shlomo the specifications for the Temple
It is all in writing by the Hand of Hashem which He gave me understanding to know all the works of this design (Divrei HaYamim I 28:19).

Chatam Sofer, in a responsum to his father-in-law, R. Akiva Eger (Yoreh Deah, 236), explains that this requirement is implicit in our text:
According to all that I show you now, so shall you do for future generations in accordance with what I show: for each structure I will show how to make one different from the other. So, the Holy One Blessed be He affirmed at the outset that He would make understood in writing by His Hand to His prophets. There is nothing here that His prophets innovated in contravention of the law of the Torah.

Many years of evolving security, as well as explicit prophecy were necessary before the First and Second Temples could be built. We hope to see the building of the Third Temple in our days. But, we must be patient and worthy.

"Ain Torah K'Torat Eretz Yisrael!"- Torah from Aloh Na'aleh*
Terumah

Parshat Terumah opens a series of five parshiot that deal with the construction of the Mishkan. This was the structure in which Divine service was performed on a daily basis in the desert, and which was the forerunner of the Beit Hamikdash. Since the Mishkan was to last less than forty years, it seems out of all proportion for the Torah, where every word is measured, to devote so much space to teaching and repeating the details of its construction.

The Midrash teaches us that when God created the world He yearned to have a dwelling place in man's material world, to complement the one He has in the spiritual world. To that end, God commanded "And make for me a mikdash and I will dwell among them (Shemot, 25:8)." The commentators are bothered by the deviation from the expected "and I will dwell in it," referring to the mishkan. They explain that God's intention was that every Jew should create an environment in the material world that would be conducive to housing the Divine Presence. The Mishkan, and after it the Beit Hamikdash, housed this presence on an ongoing basis. The environment that is conducive to housing the Divine Presence is one where material possessions and mundane activities are sanctified by their focus on the service of God.

This sanctification can be replicated both in time and place. Shabbat Kodesh is the time when physical activities and pleasures can be transformed into holy acts. Eretz Yisrael is the place where every Jew has the ability to sanctify worldly activities. The exile has deprived us of the Beit Hamikdash. But God is now providing us with the opportunity to sanctify our daily activities, by doing them in Eretz Yisrael. The Torah teaches us that every Jew is called upon to satisfy God's desire for a dwelling place in the physical world. This can be done most effectively in Eretz Yisrael.


*D’var Torah from Aloh Na'aleh: an initiative of former North American Rabbis and laymen who successfully made Aliyah, aimed at highlighting the centrality of Israel and promoting Aliyah. They send emissaries – Rabbis, academicians, and others – on speaking-tours throughout the U.S. and Canada.

Contact information:

Tel: 972-2-566-1181 ext. 320
Fax: 972-2-566-1186
Email: aloh-naaleh@aaci.org.il


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