In 1990, the Dalai Lama, who had lived in Exile from Tibet since
1951, began to realize that he and his followers would likely have to spend
many years in exile from their home country, and he had a concern: How does a nation maintain its identity,
sustain its way of life, when they are so far from home? He knew there was one group that had
expertise in this area. So, he called on
a group of Jewish leaders to offer him some advice.
Why did Hashem tell us to build a mishkan? I’m not asking why build a house for Gd. That I can understand. We needed a place to direct our Avodas
Hashem. But the Jewish People were supposed to make their way through the
desert in a matter of months. If it wasn’t for the chet hameraglim, Am Yisrael
would have entered Eretz Yisrael relatively quickly, and they could have
immediately built the Beis HaMikdash. Why bother with all of the details
of a temporary, moveable version before we would build the permanent one?
As we conclude Parshas Pekudei, we’re finally done. After 5 weeks, 5 parshiot describing every
single detail, every single item, every single raw material which was necessary
for its building, Am Yisrael had finally completed the Mishkan. And so, the
last three pesukim, the last three verses, tell us how the Mishkan would
function now that it was built.
And says the Torah as follows:
(לו)
וּבְהֵעָלוֹת הֶעָנָן מֵעַל הַמִּשְׁכָּן יִסְעוּ בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל בְּכֹל
מַסְעֵיהֶם:
When the cloud would rise up from on top of the Mishkan, the Jewish
People would travel.
(לז)
וְאִם לֹא יֵעָלֶה הֶעָנָן וְלֹא יִסְעוּ עַד יוֹם הֵעָלֹתוֹ:
And as long as the cloud did not rise up, but rather rested on the
Mishkan, they would NOT travel.
Seems straightforward. But
then the Torah adds one last pasuk:
(לח)
כִּי עֲנַן יְקֹוָק עַל הַמִּשְׁכָּן יוֹמָם וְאֵשׁ תִּהְיֶה לַיְלָה בּוֹ
לְעֵינֵי כָל בֵּית יִשְׂרָאֵל בְּכָל מַסְעֵיהֶם:
Because the cloud would remain on the Mishkan during the day, and
the fire at night, during all their journeys!
Rashi notes that this last pasuk seems to
subtly contradict that which was just stated previously. Originally, we are told that when the cloud is
on the mishkan they would remain camped.
But now it says that the cloud is on the mishkan “B’Chol Maseihem! During all their travels!?” And answers Rashi: It’s not a contradiction. The final pasuk is simply explaining that in
general, through ALL the journeys and all the encampments the cloud would be present.
But still, notes Rashi, that the literal meaning of the text is
still problematic. Because the cloud did
NOT rest on the mishkan when they were journeying!?
And so he adds one more line:
מקום חנייתן אף הוא קרוי מסע
When it comes to the Jewish People, even our encampments, even when
we have come to a rest, it is still called a MASA, a journey.
Rabbi Jonathan Sacks zt”l points out that
these six words in Rashi are not only answering a textual anomaly. They are describing the secret to the
longevity of our people. Because
to be a Jew outside Eretz Yisrael, a Jew in galus, means to realize that even Makom
Chaniyateinu, the places where we camp, where we settle, are mere “resting
places” on our long journey home. A Jew is defined not by where we are now, but
by the knowledge that even if we are here now, at some point we will be ready
to pick up and move along in the next stage of our journey.
And why is the Jew defined by our ability to travel, to move, to be
portable?
Because the gods of the ancient world were all gods of a particular
place. The god of Moav, Edom, Egypt. In fact, this explains Pharaoh’s response to
Moshe when he speaks of the God of Israel:
(ב)
וַיֹּאמֶר פַּרְעֹה מִי יְקֹוָק אֲשֶׁר אֶשְׁמַע בְּקֹלוֹ לְשַׁלַּח אֶת
יִשְׂרָאֵל לֹא יָדַעְתִּי אֶת יְקֹוָק וְגַם אֶת יִשְׂרָאֵל לֹא אֲשַׁלֵּחַ:
Who is this HASHEM, that I should listen to Him to send Israel to
serve Him!?
Says the Rashbam:
What stake could this Gd possibly have in these people while they are in
MY LAND! Pharaoh doesn’t dispute the EXISTENCE of Hashem. He argues that he was already the
god in this land. In which case, there’s
no place for another one.
To this point, people viewed gods as specific to localities. The
novelty that Am Yisrael brought to the world was that there could be ONE Gd
who has no geographic boundaries. And, of course, if God can be
anywhere, He can be accessed EVERYWHERE.
And this idea is not only represented by the Mishkan as a whole,
but by the most important feature of the Mishkan, the Aron. All of the different
keilim in the Mishkan had poles along each of their sides so they could be transported
as the appropriate time. The poles would
be removed when the people would camp and placed back on when it was time to
go.
This was true for every kli in the mishkan, except for one: The Aron.
טו) בְּטַבְּעֹת הָאָרֹן יִהְיוּ הַבַּדִּים לֹא יָסֻרוּ מִמֶּנּוּ:
The poles would remain in the rings alongside the Aron. They are NEVER to be removed.
Why not? Explains Rav
Samson Raphael Hirsch: To show that the Torah would never be limited to any
one place. Wherever Am Yisrael would go, the Torah would go with us. And so, it
was. After we were exiled from Eretz
Yisrael, wherever we would go as a people, as long as we took the Torah with us,
we would survive and we would thrive. A Jewish People who would know how to
travel and to be ready to take the Torah with them wherever they would go would
never be lost.
Why did Hashem command Am Yisrael to build a Mishkan first, even
with the prospects of a more permanent Beis HaMikdash in theory right on the
horizon? Because the lesson of the mishkan
and the Aron within it, the lesson that we will always be a people who are able
to journey, would be the secret to our survival and to our success for our
entire history.
And if this is the lesson Rashi is teaching us on a National Level,
I believe there is also a lesson here on a personal level. Because there is
another vital lesson from the words of Rashi:
מקום חנייתן אף הוא קרוי מסע
Even when we have arrived, we must remember that we are ALWAYS on a
journey. In the long journey that is our
Avodas Hashem, or path towards self-improvement and connection with Hashem, we are
never done.
We should never feel down if we haven’t yet reached our “destination”
and we should also never feel we have arrived and have nothing left to accomplish. Because the goal of life is not to reach the
destination but to always be willing to journey on.