Adapted by Channie Koplowitz Stein
"Let them make for Me a sanctuary that I may dwell among them." What a beautiful gift the Ribbono shel olam wants to present us with. He wants to come down from His lofty abode to be closer to the human creatures He created. But before He assigns this purpose, Hashem asks Bnei Yisroel to donate all sorts of materials without telling them why He wants the donations. Has Hashem reversed the logical order? One usually forms a picture of the structure and then orders the materials to fit the blueprint. Is there a message in this reverse order?
Let us begin our dialogue with a discussion of sanctity itself. Rav Tzadok Hakohen explains that everything exists on one or more of three planes: in place, in time, and within the person. Sanctity too exists is each of these planes.
The first reference to sanctity appears in the Torah at the end of creation. Hashem completed His work and rested on the seventh day, when He blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, thus creating sanctity of time. The second reference occurs millennia later. Next came sanctity of place, when, at the burning bush, Hashem told Moshe to remove his shoes, because the ground Moshe was standing on was sacred ground. Finally, Hashem invested sanctity in a nation, telling Bnei Yisroel that we would be to Him a sacred nation.
While the Mishkan and the Beit Hamikdosh were destroyed, erasing the sanctity of place, and the sin of the golden calf diminished the sanctity of the people, limiting it to only the priests and the Levites, the sanctity of time, of Shabbat, still transcends its time and space, and continues uninterrupted and undiminished. Thus, every Jew can continue to enter this sanctuary every week on Shabbat.
Rabbi Moshe Feinstein zt"l offers an amazing insight into our question. He suggests that although Hashem's presence infuses the sanctuary with tremendous holiness, it is the people who are initially creating the sacredness of the space. How can they accomplish this? When Bnei Yisroel donated all these materials without knowing its purpose, they were acknowledging that everything belonged to Hashem. They were only the trustees of this wealth until Hashem requested it back, much like a bank does not ask you why you need the money you are withdrawing. With this understanding, Bnei Yisroel invested sanctity into the materials that would then be used to build the Sanctuary.
Expanding on this idea, Rabbi Mintzberg z”l in Ben Melech explains that the true builder of the Sanctuary was Hashem, and Bnei Yisroel are merely sub contractors. Therefore, Bnei Yisroel had to donate the money so that the true builder and "Homeowner" could designate each item according to His vision. By donating with a generous heart, we created the space within ourselves that would be the true site of the Sanctuary. Later in our history, when King Solomon would build the Beit Hamikdosh, he collected monies from all of Bnei Yisroel to purchase the land for the structure. Thus, every Jew would have a stake in its construction and maintenance. [While the Mishkan itself was disassembled and rebuilt multiple times. the Sanctuary the resided "within them" was never disassembled. CKS]
It is the generosity of the heart that opens one to receive Hashem's presence, writes Rabbi Shemulevitz z”l in Sichot Mussar. After all, a closed container is incapable of receiving anything, no matter how precious.
The main artisans of the Mishkan are proof of this idea. Bezalal and Oholiav were chosen as the main architects of the Mishkan not because they had advanced fine arts degrees, but because their hearts and minds were open and capable of receiving the wisdom Hashem imparted to them. Rabbi Mintzberg notes that once the Mishkan was complete, this special knowledge left them, attesting to the fact that it was actually Hashem Who built the Mishkan, using Bezalal and Oholiav as His agents.
We need all the details of the structure and its utensils because the Mishkan [and Beit Hamikdosh] here on earth are meant to parallel the Sanctuary in Heaven, each Hashem's "abode." Therefore, Moshe could not erect the Mishkan on his own. It was Hashem Who erected the Mishkan. As the verse states, "Hukam haMishkan/ the Mishkan was erected," in the passive voice, by Hakodosh Boruch Hu.
Although we don't understand the reasons behind the exact dimensions, every dimension still needed to be precise. In Yalkut Yosef, Rabbi Beyfus points out that we must observe our mitzvah performance in the same way -- although we do not understand the mitzvah, whether it is how we hold the Four Species on Sukkot, how we wash our hands in the morning, or how we put on our shoes and socks, we must still perform it precisely, thereby bringing God's presence down.
In fact, continues Rabbi Beyfus citing Rav Shteinman z”l, Everything we do is enabled by Hakodosh Boruch Hu. Yet, even when I do mitzvoth and He is enabling me, Hashem gives me credit for its performance.
In Shir Hashirim, the allegorical love song between Hakodosh Boruch Hu and Bnei Yisroel, The verse tells the Daughters of Zion to go observe the King of Peace on the day of His betrothal [to Bnei Yisroel] and on the day of the joy of His heart. The Mishneh homiletically interprets the "betrothal" as the moment Bnei Yisroel accepted the Torah at Sinai, and "the day of the joy of his heart" as the day of the dedication of the Beit Hamikdosh. The essence of each of these times is that Bnei Yisroel understood that Hashem wanted the fullness of the heart from us. But the reverse is also true. The betrothal and joy come because we also desire that the love be reciprocated. One of the questions we will be asked when our souls return to their Maker is, "Where was your heart, your passion, when you observed the mitzvoth?"
This is the month of Adar, the month when the Aleph [Commander of the world] dar, wants to reside here, in the lower world. That is why when the month of Adar begins, we increase our joy. As Rebbetzin Smiles explains, When we infuse our mitzvoth with joy, we bring Hashem closer to us, increasing the blessings He showers upon us and further increasing our joy.
The Slonimer Rebbe brings a psychological approach to our discussion. The Mishkan and the Beit Hamikdosh were comprised of three distinct areas. There was the outer courtyard, the inner hall, and the Holy of Holies. They correspond to the aspects of a person. The heart that beats within each person is represented by the courtyard and includes the deep yearnings within one's heart. The outer altar represents one's physical desires. Finally, we should direct all our mental faculties and perspectives toward Hashem's service, in the holiest way possible. Then we can truly request to dwell in Hashem's house all the days of our lives.
Let us approach our question from yet another angle. Rabbi Druck reminds us that the Torah provides an earlier example of Hashem's command without an end goal. When Hashem commanded Avraham Avinu to go to a land He would show him, Hashem didn't reveal the final destination to Avraham. Rashi explains that Hashem wanted to reward Avraham for each step he would take. Knowing the final destination would mean that Avraham would be rewarded only upon finishing the task. Instead, Hashem just told Avraham to go, and thus each step was fulfilling that command. For the same reason did Hashem request Bnei Yisroel to bring donations without telling them the purpose, so that Bnei Yisroel would receive merit for each donation, irrespective of the final purpose.
To earn Hashem's presence descending to dwell among us required tremendous merit. How could we earn that gift? Rabbi Birnbaum z”l in Bekorei Shemo points out that people are very attached to their money and are loath to part with it. However, if they see some personal benefit, especially in honor and recognition, they more readily donate. It is therefore easier to get donations for a building project where you can at least see the results [even if your name does not appear over a room] than for the regular upkeep and maintenance of the completed building. Hashem wants people to give without knowing the ultimate purpose. This was the additional, greater mitzvah.
We are told that building the Mishkan was an atonement for the sin of the golden calf. How are the two connected? In Neos Deshe, Rabbi Shneur explains that since that sin was a result of a lapse in faith, the way to rectify it would be to perform acts of total and simple faith. Therefore Hashem asked Bnei Yisroel to donate their gold and other materials simply because Hashem asked them to, not for any specific purpose, thereby exhibiting their complete faith in whatever Hashem commanded. The giving was a mitzvah, and the building of the Mishkan became an extension of that first mitzvah. As Rabbi Shneur explains, this echoed Bnei Yisroel's initial response at Sinai, first accepting "We will do," before hearing the details. With these donations, they could return to their spiritual state before the sin. And the Clouds of Glory that had departed with the sin now returned, before the Mishkan was completed.
It is this doing without looking for recognition that has the greatest merit. This explains why Yehoshua was chosen to lead Bnei Yisroel after Moshe's death, for he served Moshe in the most mundane matters, preparing the "benches," and cleaning up after each Torah session. Hashem desires our faith and trust first. When we left Egypt and the Egyptians pursued us, we needed to first enter the waters of the Red Sea up to our necks, with full faith but without understanding, and only then Hashem split the Sea.
Hashem wants us to plant the Mishkan in our hearts. How can we do that? Only through pure faith. Rabbi Sutton introduces us to a level of faith we are generally not aware of. When we accept that everything that happens to me is something Hashem has orchestrated for our benefit, we are exhibiting true, full faith. This is beyond just accepting something negative, perhaps as an atonement, but believing that whatever happened to me was truly for my benefit a priori, that I needed to fall over the crack, to have my refrigerator break erev yom tov, for example, even if I do not know why.
If we want to bring Hashem's presence down, writes Rabbi Apfel in Mesameach Zion, we need to search out any small action that will bring pleasure to Hakodosh Boruch Hu. These are our donation of gold and silver. Our actions for Hashem done out of fear represent the golden donations, while those out of love, out of kisuf/desire represent donations of kesef/silver.
Hashem wants from us emunah peshutah/simple faith that demands no rationalization. The purpose of the Beit Hamikdosh was to bring light to the world. We need to counter the hatred with our faith and with love for others. That's how we build the Mishkan not only for ourselves, but for the whole world. Let us build a world where Hashem's presence can reside among us.