EXODUS XXXV:1-XXXVIII:20

SHABBAT AND THE MISHKAN

Parallel to the instructions concerning the construction of the Mishkan in the desert, a building that will serve as a model for the Beis HaMikdash, the Torah mentions the obligation

to observe Shabbat.

Ramban points out that on many occasions the Torah warns about the dangers of idolatry and the need to observe the laws of Shabbat, and thus places special importance on the fulfillment of these two mitzvot. The chachamim held that their fulfillment is equivalent to the fulfillment of all the other mitzvot. 

Since the Mishkan was dedicated to the one God, it simultaneously represented the denial of idolatry, and so it is fitting that the ordinance concerning Shabbat be recalled in the text specifying the laws of the Mishkan.

Another reason for the inclusion of Shabbat in Mishkan affairs  is that in the process of building the Mishkan, one must not violate the laws of Shabbat: a teaching that points to the principle that the end does not justify the means.

My colleague, Rabbi Shubert Spero, suggests that a different teaching can be found in the inclusion of the laws of Shabbat in the laws of the Mishkan. The fact is that the Torah wishes to strike a balance between certain types of mitzvot beginning with the Ten Commandments, which contain ordinances that should govern man’s relationship with God, and those that refer to man’s relationship with his neighbor. 

The Torah points out that both relationships are important, and therefore one who strives to observe the laws of Shabbat to the letter but is negligent as to the honor of father and mother, is clearly in breach of a mitzvah that cannot be compensated for by greater zeal for another mitzvah. Similarly, it is a mistake to consider  that mitzvot that manifest a high ethical content are morally above those in which only ritual value can be appreciated.

The Torah seeks balance and harmony among all mitzvot, because it must not be forgotten that man is composed of matter and spirit, strength and emotion.

The Hebrew people were ecstatic with emotion with the construction of the Mishkan and were willing to contribute with gold, silver, copper and everything necessary for the elaboration of its different elements. After centuries of slavery in the idolatrous Egyptian environment, they could identify with a building. In this case, it was clearly dedicated to the one God. Shabbat, on the other hand, represents an intangible element, not a material one. While the Mishkan was the sanctification of the place, of a house, the Shabbat aimed at the sanctification of time. Whereas the Mishkan was circumscribed to a place that could not possibly accommodate everyone at the same time, Shabbat has no physical limit: every person, anywhere, can feel the sanctity of the day.

After the destruction of the Beis HaMikdash in 70 AD, the only memory of this building is concentrated in the prayers that commemorate the sacrifices that were offered there

and in the study of the biblical texts and the Talmud, which deal with the details that had to be observed in the offering of each of the different sacrifices. Instead, Shabbat accompanied the Jewish people into exile. In times of abundance and poverty, in freedom, and even under a tyrannical regime, the people strove not to abandon the observance of Shabbat. So the edict was fulfilled: more than the people observing Shabbat, Shabbat took care of the people.

MITZVAH: ORDINANCE OF THE TORAH IN THIS PARSHA

CONTAINS 1 PROHIBITION

114. Exodus 35:3 A court shall not execute capital punishment on Shabbat.

PEKUDEI

EXODUS XXXVIII:21-XL:38

THE MISHKAN CLOUDS OF GLORY

Five weekly readings are related to the building of the Mishkan, the tabernacle that will serve as the “House of God” during the forty-year wilderness journey after the exodus from Egypt. The detailed description comes to an end in our chapters, a text with which the Shemot section of the Pentateuch is also concluded.

The Chachamim had great conceptual difficulty with the notion of an edifice that could contain even a disembodied and indescribable God with categories of human intellect. Therefore, they stressed that God resides within the people. According to the happy Chassidic expression: “God resides in those hearts that open before His Presence.”

Even King Shlomo, the builder of the first Beis HaMikdashthat was built according to the instructions of the Mishkan, expressed a similar idea that we read in Melachim: “I have built you a manor house, a place where you can dwell forever.” But a few verses later they exclaim: “Will God really dwell on the earth? If the heavens, at their farthest limit, cannot contain you, how can the house I have built do it?” Shlomo implores that at least God’s gaze be directed toward the Beis HaMikdash, knowing that God cannot be limited to the physical space of the Temple.

However, we read in the Torah that “Clouds of Glory” descended from the heavens as a sign of the Divine Presence that completely filled the space of the Mishkan, so that no one could enter the enclosure during that period. While Rabbi Akiva is of the opinion that Sukkot is reminiscent of the “booths” that God made for the Hebrews during their journey through the desert, Rabbi Eliezermaintains that the reason for observing this holiday is due to the “Clouds of Glory” that protected and guided the Hebrews during their journey through the desert.

Rabbi Eliezer justifies the date of the celebration of Sukkot. The 15th of Nisan begins with the celebration of Passover, because it coincides with the date of the exodus from Egypt. Shavuot is commemorated 49 days after the first day of Passover, the day that corresponds to the giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai.

Why is Sukkot celebrated beginning with the 15th of Tishreiwhen, in reality, God protected  the Hebrew people with Sukkot for all forty years? When we stick to the opinion of Rabbi Eliezer, who points out that the reason for the celebration of Sukkot is not the physical booths that God built to protect the Hebrews, but because of the “Clouds of Glory,” it should be remembered that these made their appearance with the building of the Mishkan. The construction of the Mishkan actually began in the month of Tishrei, after Yom Kippur, a day that symbolizes divine forgiveness for the sin of the “golden calf” they worshipped when they thought that Moses would not return from Mount Sinai. Therefore, Sukkot is celebrated in Tishrei.

The term “Clouds of Glory” lacks precision and gives rise to various explanations and interpretations. What does “Clouds of Glory” mean when we speak of the “Glory of God.”

God?” Perhaps this lack of definition, which leads to thinking in spiritual categories, can be used as a counterweight to the notion of a Mishkan, a “House” that can give shelter to God. House for the Self that challenges man, whose intellectual and emotional limitations make it difficult for him to conceive of God, a Being totally different from what exists in the physical universe, fully spiritual and immaterial.