ביום החודש הראשון באחד לחודש תקים את משכן אהל מועד, “on the first day of the first month you shall erect the Tabernacle, the Tent of Meeting.” According to a view cited in Tanchuma Pekudey 11 Moses had been putting up and taking apart the Tabernacle three times daily as we have been told three expressions in the Torah concerning the erection of the Tabernacle, i.e. הוקם ,תקים,and ויקם, “it was erected, erect it!, and “he erected.” The first expression occurred in connection with the offering of the daily public morning burnt-offering. The second expression occurred in connection with the days of consecration and the rites performed during those days. The third and final time applied to the Tabernacle being erected in time for offering the daily public burnt-offeing of the evening. You will find all these three occasions on which the Tabernacle was erected alluded to in our portion (compare verse 17, verse 18).

A Midrashic approach (Tanchuma 11): Betzalel, Oholiov, and all the artisans were endeavouring to erect the Tabernacle but were unable to do do so. This is the meaning of the words in 39,33: “they brought the Tabernacle to Moses.” The reason they brought it to Moses was their inability to erect it so that it would remain standing. Moses felt very badly about all this, seeing he had not had a personal share in working on the Tabernacle. G’d consoled him telling him that no other human being would be able to put up the Tabernacle, whereas as soon as Moses would begin to busy himself with erecting it, it would erect itself. This would teach the Jewish people that if Moses would be unable to erect the Tabernacle it would never become functional. G’d told him that He would record in the Torah that the Tabernacle had been erected by Moses personally, unassisted. This is the meaning of our verse in which Moses is instructed to erect the Tabernacle on the date mentioned. After hearing this, Moses said to G’d: “I do not know how to put it up.” G’d answered him: “you begin to busy yourself with it, and seeing that you have been shown it when it stood, it will stand by itself corresponding to the vision you have had.” This is the meaning of the words הוקם המשכן, “the Tabernacle was erected” (verse 17). G’d added further that He would write that the erection of the Tabernacle was credited to Moses. This is why the Torah also wrote: “Moses put up the Tabernacle” (verse 18). This is also what Psalms 45,15 may have had in mind when the sons of Korach wrote “the princess wearing an embroidered dress is led inside to the king;” this is a reference to the Tabernacle which contained many colours as we know from Exodus 35,35: “and embroider it with blue wool, purple wool and red wool.” The words תובל למלך in our verse from Psalms are a reference to Moses of whom the Torah says in Deut. 33,5 “he was king in Yeshurun.” The words בתולות אחריה “maidens in her train” in the same verse, refer to the Jewish people who are referred to as maidens in Song of Songs 4,12, seeing they are also defined as companions to the Lord, based on Psalms 122,8 where they are described: “for the sake of my kin and friends;” in each instance the Hebrew word for “my friends” being ריע. Finally, the last words in that verse in Psalms 45,15 are מובאות לך “brought to you,” a reference to Moses to whom the Tabernacle was brought in order for him to erect it.

כן עשה, “so he did.” This is the final reference to any items constructed in connection with the Tabernacle. The instructions to build and erect the Tabernacle began in Exodus 25,8 with the words: “they shall make a Sanctuary for Me.” Our verse concludes the re`port about carrying out of these instructions. You will find that the whole subject of the Tabernacle mentions the term עשה in one form or another 248 times, the same number of times as the number of positive commandments in the Torah. This number is alluded to in Kohelet 7,27 where Solomon speaks of אחת לאחת למצוא חשבון, “one corresponding one to the other.” In arriving at that number, the commandment not to make idols, i.e. the use of the word עשה in connection with the making of the golden calf, must be ignored. In practice this means that every time the word עשה appears in any shape or form between Exodus 32,1 and 33,5 ואדעה מה אעשה לך, it is to be ignored for the purpose of our calculation. When you count the number of times the root עשה occurs from chapter 25 to here you will find that it is exactly 248 times. Seeing that the Israelites had said at Mount Sinai נעשה ונשמע, and by making the golden calf they had reneged on the נעשה part of their promise, all the times the root עשה occurs in connection with the golden calf, this word cannot be part of their atonement for that sin. There cannot be idolatry in an environment of יחוד, the unique and exclusive divinity of Hashem. The 248 appearances of the term עשה in the chapters mentioned (excluding the report of the golden calf) are also a symbol for the 248 limbs of man. Just as the Tabernacle was equal in importance to the work of the creation, being a microcosm of the universe, so it symbolized the entire Torah which contains 248 positive commandments. This was also the reason why G’d made man with 248 limbs. It is to bring home the point that man was the object of the entire creation of the universe. [If man were to perish, there would be no point in G’d allowing the universe to continue to exist. Ed.]

הוקם המשכן, “the Tabernacle was erected.” Bamidbar Rabbah 14 states that another Tabernacle was erected at the same time as the Tabernacle Betzalel had constructed. This is a reference to the “Tabernacle” of the נער, the angel Mattatron, whose task it is to act as “general manager” of the Lord, running the universe, and particularly earth, on His behalf. The name of this angel is the same as that of his Master. Thus far the Midrash.

We find further remarks about this subject in Bamidbar Rabbah 12,12 on the verse (Numbers 7,1) ויהי ביום כלות משה להקים את המשכן, “it was on the day when Moses completed erecting the Tabernacle, etc.” The wording there is that at the time G’d told Moses to erect the Tabernacle, He told the angels to construct a similar structure in the celestial regions. Both were erected at one and the same time. We also read about this phenomenon in Chagigah 12 where the wording is a little different, the Talmud speaking about an altar in heaven paralleling the making of the altar on earth. On that altar the souls of the righteous would be “sacrificed” to the Lord by the archangel Michael to atone for the sins committed by the Israelites while they are in exile. All of this is based on the expression את המשכן in Numbers 7,1 instead of merely המשכן. [The author has explained many times that the word את is always an allusion to something additional but unspecified in the verse. Ed.]

ויקם משה את המשכן, “Moses erected the Tabernacle, etc.” Our sages in Menachot 99 taught that one increases or adds to levels of holiness and never decreases them. They derive the first half of their statement from the censers of the people who had supported the rebellion of Korach and offered incense in them. G’d commanded that theses censers of the 250 men who had paid with their lives for their mistake be subsequently used to make a copper cover for the main altar in the courtyard of the Tabernacle (compare Numbers 17,3). The rule that levels of sanctity are not to be reduced is derived from our verse here. The Torah writes the following sequence: “Moses erected the Tabernacle; he put down its sockets and emplaced its boards and inserted its bars and erected its pillars. The wording indicates that Moses repeated this procedure many times over; the Torah carefully refrains from mentioning that he “dismantled” any part of the Tabernacle in the process. Only actions which resulted in additional sanctity are spelled out.

ויקטר עליו קטורת סמים, “he burned aromatic incense on it.” Moses personally was the one who performed this service. It was Moses who kept offering this incense during all the seven days of the consecration of the Tabernacle. G’d had commanded him to do so in verse 4 (which is part of G’d’s address to Moses beginning with verse 1 of our chapter) where we read וערכת את ערכו והעלית את נורותיה, “you shall prepare its setting and light its lamps.”

Clearly, G’d instructed Moses to act as the first High Priest during the seven days of the consecration. Aaron only took over on the eighth’s day. The fact that Moses was actually called כהן, “priest,” is confirmed in Psalms 99,6 quoted to this effect in Zevachim 102; “Moses and Aaron among His priests.”

ויכס הענן את אהל מועד, “the cloud enveloped the Tent of Meeting.” At the revelation at Mount Sinai the Torah also reported that the mountain was enveloped in a cloud. Concerning the Tabernacle, the Torah writes that the attribute of Hashem called כבוד filled the Tabernacle, i.e. that this attribute was within the cloud which in turn was within the Tabernacle. When reporting on what happened at Mount Sinai, the Torah had written (Exodus 20,21) that Moses approached the dark cloud within which G’d (Elohim) was present. In our verse (35) the Torah explains Moses’ inability to enter the Tabernacle because the cloud rested upon it and the attribute of כבוד filled the Tabernacle. This means that unless G’d called to Moses inviting him to enter he could not do so. As soon as he would be called the fact that the cloud enveloped the Tabernacle was no impediment preventing Moses from entering. This is the meaning of the verse in Leviticus 1,1 where G’d called to Moses, and Exodus 24,18 where Moses entered the cloud because he had been called (24,12). The call: “Moses, Moses,” did not mean that Moses was to share the “space” with G’d’s attribute of כבוד; rather it was an indication to him that this attribute had departed from the Tabernacle or the mountain (as the case might be) so that Moses could now enter. The only part of G’d’s Shechinah which remained when Moses was called was the part which filled the space between the expanded wings of the cherubs on top of the Ark. Although the experience at Mount Sinai and the experience at the completion of the erection of the Tabernacle were almost nine months apart in time, you could view what happened here as “history repeating itself.” [This had become necessary due to the sin of the golden calf after which the Presence of G’d had left the vicinity of the encampment of the Israelites. Ed.]

Nachmanides writes that it is quite possible that the second verse which speaks about the attribute כבוד filling the Tabernacle (compare verses 34 and 35) alludes to His glory which resides within that attribute. Thus far Nachmanides.

I believe I should draw your attention to the fact that we are dealing with five verses (34-38) in each of which the ענן, “cloud” is mentioned. I believe these five are allusions to the five emanations, i.e. references to the five times the Torah speaks of קולות, sounds, thunder, at the time G’d revealed Himself at Mount Sinai (compare Berachot 6).The Talmud there stated that the Torah was given by means of five קולות, “sounds, voices.” Even though we have pointed out in that connection that Moses achieved an understanding of seven emanations, i.e. seven קולות, as I explained on my commentary on Exodus 20,1, the sages in the Talmud meant the five “hidden” קולות whose identities the Torah did not reveal at the time. The other two emanations which were spelled out, i.e. תפארת and כבוד, were not mentioned by the Talmud, as they have been mentioned in our verses, i.e. in Exodus 20,2 as ה' אלוקיך in connection with the revelation at Sinai, and as the words וכבוד ה' twice here in connection with the Tabernacle, in order to hint at the presence of the attribute תפארת which resides within the attribute כבוד. This is what Nachmanides had in mind when he wrote that the Torah repeated the words וכבוד ה' another time. We find something very similar in connection with the Temple where we are told in Chronicles II 7,1-2: “it was when Solomon had completed to pray (during the consecration ceremonies) that the fire descended from the heavens and consumed the burnt-offering and the meat-offerings, and the attribute כבוד of the Lord filled the House; as a result the priests were unable to enter the House of the Lord as the attribute כבוד had filled the House of the Lord.” You have learned from all this that in our instance seven emanations, attributes, are referred to; the five times the Torah mentions the word ענן and the two occasions when the Torah speaks of the כבוד ה'. Just as seven emanations were part of the Sinai experience of the Jewish people, so seven emanations were part of what the people experienced during the inauguration of the Tabernacle. In both instances mention of these seven emanations is testimony to Moses’ spiritual attainments.

כי ענן ה' על המשכן יומם ואש תהיה לילה בו, “for the cloud of the Lord would be over the Tabernacle by day, whereas by night fire would be above it.” We would have expected the Torah to write: ענן ה' ביום ואש (ה') תהיה בלילה. Why did the Torah mention the word “fire” in front of the word “night” when describing the presence of heavenly attributes as manifest in connection with the Tabernacle? The reason is that the Torah wanted to use both “day” and “night” as divine attributes, respectively. (The word “day” is an alternate name for the attribute of Mercy, whereas the word “night” is an alternate name for the attribute of Justice). It is well known that the name of the attribute of Mercy often appears with the letter מ being repeated, such as in the word יומם, [usually translated as “by day.” Ed.] The basic letters in the word לילה are ליל, the letter ה at the end being the allusion to the attribute of Justice which is most active at night.

You know that this attribute had been particularly active at night when it was applied to the firstborn of Egypt (Exodus 12,29). This is part of the mystical dimension of the words used in Scripture. When we read in Joshua 1,8 that G’d told Joshua to be busy with Torah both by day and by night, the wording is והגית בו יומם ולילה instead of והגית בו ביום ובלילה.

The message is that the Torah, the subject of the instruction is composed of both the attribute of Mercy and the attribute of Justice. The Torah is divided between the written and the oral Torah, the former symbolizing the attribute of Mercy whereas the latter symbolizes the attribute of Justice.

This gives you an idea of the Shechinah cleaving to the Jewish people. Both the Shechinah and the people dwelled in tents while the people were in the desert. This is part of what is meant in 33,8 ונצבו איש פתח אהלו, “they each stood at the entrance to his respective tent.” Bileam already praised the tents of the Jewish people in the desert as being something out of the ordinary when he said (Numbers 24,8) “how goodly are your tents O Yaakov.” In verse 36 in our chapter here the Torah speaks of the Children of Israel adjusting their journeys in the desert to the movements of the cloud representing the Shechinah. This is only one more example of what we called the דבקות, the cleaving to one another of the Jewish people and the Shechinah. Here in our verse (38), the cloud is associated with כל בית ישראל לכל מסעיהם, “the entire house of Israel in all their journeys.” The Children of Israel were again mentioned twice in close succession seeing that the Torah had mentioned both the cloud and the fire. How beautiful were the flags of the people of Israel in the desert, drawing attention to holy encampments equal to camps of holy angels in the celestial regions which surround the manifestation of the Shechinah in their domain. The very fact that this manifestation of G’d’s presence was visible equally to men and women testifies to the purity and sanctity of the whole people at that time. When discussing Psalms 85,10: “His help is very near those who fear Him, to make His glory (attribute כבוד) dwell in our land,” our sages (Tanchuma, end of our portion) write that G’d said that whereas in this world He manifested His Presence amongst the Jewish people in the Holy Temple, a Presence which had to be withdrawn due to the sins of the people, in the world to come the manifestation of G’d’s presence would never again be withdrawn. This is based on Leviticus 26,11: “I will establish My abode in your midst; and My spirit will not reject you. I will remain as your G’d.” The meaning of these words is that in the future prophecy will be restored to the people of Israel as in former times, and the Shechinah will once more be in its regular place. All the people will learn intimate information about G’d in those days. The verse of the prophets Isaiah and Ezekiel promising both the elimination of war (Isaiah 2,4) and the gift of a new heart from G’d (Ezekiel 36,26) will then be realised. The “heart of stone” attributed to the Jewish people by Ezekiel will be replaced by a heart of flesh (ibid.). There will neither be a Satan nor an evil urge (the view of Nachmanides that man will be naturally good in those days, compare Rabbi Chavell). These words have to serve as our solace and comfort during these long days of our exile. Hopefully, we shall all return to our former glory in the near future. Isaiah promised all this in the concluding chapters of his book (chapters 60-66) If, during the period after the Exodus we loved G’d and appreciated that His goodness was superior to the heady feeling one experiences after having drunk wine (Song of Songs 1,2), how much more intimate will our relationship with the Lord be after we experience the last and ultimate redemption! At that time G’d will extend His personal supervision of our fate to an even greater degree than had been the case in the past. We will then be able to see that attribute of כבוד with our own eyes, i.e. עין בעין נראה אתה ה' (Numbers 14,14), “You Hashem appeared eye to eye, etc.” The meaning of these words is this that there will no longer be an artificial barrier to our obtaining deep insights into the workings of G’d’s providence. Isaiah 52,8: proclaims: “Hark! Your watchmen raise their voices, as one they shout for joy; for every eye shall behold the Lord’s return to Zion,” will then finally be realized.