Introduction
Mishkan
Note: משׁכן — Mishkan, generally translated as the Tabernacle, means a dwelling place. It is meant to be a resting place for G-d’s Presence amongst us. Where and how could we manifest such a space today?
Actually, the idea that such a place could exist is revolutionary in its own right. Most of the pagan beliefs contained a place (like Asgard, or Mount Olympus) where their gods resided. Upon occasion they would decide to descend and mess with humans, but they had no dwelling place here on earth, especially not the “king of the gods”.
The statute to build the משׁכן (Mishkan) speaks to the principle that we must first manifest something in our reality, make an effort of some sort, before G-d will respond.
* * * * *
Note: We focus on our mistakes, on our sins—first the Sin of Adam, then the Sin of the Golden Calf. But let us spend a moment on what the people did that was right—or do we think of the mob as beasts that need to led?
While Moses was receiving the instructions for the building of the Mishkan, His people were building their own version of the “dwelling place” of G-d in the only way they knew. Even if it was meant to be a statue to Moses (then why a calf?), it was still an attempt to maintain a connection with HaShem, because through Moses we had a relationship, however rocky, with HaShem that had freed us from bondage and sustained us to this point.
#ymba
The need to build this representation (the Mishkan), as already mentioned, is based on the principle that we must first manifest something in our reality — in other words, we need to exercises our gift of free will and choose something — before G-d will do His thing. It is comparable to the body, which has an autonomous system, and a voluntary system. The one you have little control over, like the healing of a cut, or the digestion of food, whereas the other, like moving one’s head, is voluntary. So it is with the world we live in. Just as you must first cut yourself in order to be healed, so you must first do something that is pleasing to the Divine, before you will receive your response.
The impulse from below causes a response from above.
Be sure to find a place of stillness if you wish to hear the Lord’s response. And listen, listen carefully for it comes from Wisdom, and we are not wise.
N: On the design of the temple, it is interesting to note that it is made up of mostly straight lines…
Chapter 25
v25:2] Terumah - Uplifting
Note: A terumah means an offering in this context, but also has the meaning of “uplifting”. Thus, in common parlance, one might say, something like: “Speak to the children of Israel, that they should bring to Me something that will lift me up, i.e., honour me — and through honouring me, will be ‘uplifted’.”
The only way for a child to learn honour and respect for his fellow man is to honour someone. If he is never exposed to it in his environment, and is never shown what it means to honour someone, or even something, he will never be able to honour anything. And the only thing we have no doubt about needing to honour and respect is our Creator, the One who gave birth to this world and us included.
The verse does not say "and I will dwell within it," but "and I will dwell within them" — within each and every one of them.
Terumah, a donation, to the Mishkan, the container in which the Ark of the Covenant was kept. This parasha consists of detailed instructions on the building of the Mishkan for the Jewish people. This is a call to build a place for G-d’s presence on this plane of existence. It is the same call that we hear today. For that is what we still need to do.
This mishkan is not made from brick and mortar, but from specific materials, and defined by cloth. It can be carried around - thus saying that G-d is not necessarily in need of a static place. That is, its location is not the criterion for His residence on earth, but its qualities - the manner in which it is built and the manner in which the ceremonies of sacrifice and attendance are carried out.
Thus, in the desert it was a tent. In Jerusalem, it was a temple, from which it morphed into synagogues - allowing Jews in exile to continue our special relationship with G-d. Perhaps there is another iteration that is possible.
There is much to point to this in the writings regarding the temple of the Messianic age. For that is the time when the Upper Temple will be manifest in the lower worlds.
There are many projections of an upper (4th) dimensional object into the present (3rd) dimension we experience our lives in. This is how it will be, defined by spirit, and not by material. For that is the shift.
We need to build a temple for G-d to reside in. We need to make/create space in our lives where the Divine resides.
Every created entity has a spark of G‑dliness within it, a pinpoint of divinity that constitutes its "soul," its spiritual function and design. When we utilize something to serve the Creator, we penetrate its shell of mundanity, revealing and realizing its divine essence. Thus we elevate these "sparks," reuniting them with their Source.
List of offerings:
- gold, silver & copper;
- turqoise, purple & scarlet linen & goat hair;
- red-dyed ram skins & wool;
- tachash skins & acacia wood;
- oil for illumination, spices for the oil & aromatic incense;
- shocham stones; stones for the ephod & breastplate of the High Priest;
Note: Quite a shopping list!
v25:8] Sanctuary
v25:10-21] Form of the Ark and its cover
At this stage, we receive a detailed description of the tabernacle and the various vessels and implements needed.
One point that is brought up, that I think is important, is that we must remember that the Temple was build for the Tabernacle — which came first — rather than the other way around.
v25:22] Meetings here
Note: This is in stark contrast to the modern day. Now we have Neil Walsh’s “Conversations with God”, where it is a conversation between him and G-d, whereas here it is the place where G-d will, through Moses, let the people of Israel know what his commandments are.
Note: What do they cherubim really look like? In fact, what are they really?
Note: If the cherubs are angels, is not one of the commandments just given to us by G-d for us not to make such representations, especially not in the Holy Temple?
v25:23-40] Form of the vessels
v25:23-30] שׁולחן (shulchan) - Table
Note: This was the workbench/altar with sacred objects on it, different from the altar where the sacrifices took place. The first is a “static” altar, a place in time, whereas the second is moving/dynamic/functional altar, where sacrifices occur.
v25:30] Showbread: לֶחֶם פָּנִים, lit., bread of faces.
N: I was wondering about the name showbread, thinking that it was just for show, and could not be eaten. However, bread of faces, might be even more interesting. Especially, since I am not satisfied with Rashi’s explanation that it was known by this appellation because of the two “walls” that were baked on either side.
The bread was made in the shape of a type of box without a cover. It had a flat bottom (Men. 94b) and it would be bent upward on both sides [forming something] similar to walls. Therefore, it is called לֶחֶם הַפָּנִים, literally, the bread of faces, because it has faces looking in both directions – toward the sides of the house (Mishkan) from here [in one direction] and from there [in the other direction]. A golden form and an iron form were made for it. It was baked [on Fridays] in the iron form, and when it was taken out of the oven, it would be placed in the golden form until the next day, which was the Sabbath, when it would be arranged on the table. That form is called קְעָרָה
v25:31-40] מנורה (menora) - Candelabra
It calls to the upper light to illuminate the darkness for us.
Note: Enlighten me if I am wrong, but the Menorah is associated with Hanukkah in the popular mind.
Chapter 26
We continue with the various ornaments, and structures, etc. that are to be in the Tabernacle. Like the covers of the Ark (v1-14), the walls of the Tabernacle (v15-30) and the Parochet (הַפָּרֹ֨כֶת֙), the curtain that separates the Holy of Holies from the rest (v31-33).
v26:33] Parochet (הַפָּרֹ֨כֶת֙) - Curtain
Chapter 27
v1-8] ארון (aron) - Altar
The altar is empty, unless HaShem fills it. It is where the blood services and sacrifices take place.
v9-19] The Courtyard
Haftorah: (Kings I 5:26 - 6:13)
The haftorah is, appropriately, about Solomon building the “House” of the Lord. What stands out for me is first Solomon builds the brick and mortar version of the House. Whereupon the “Word of the Lord” comes to Solomon, in which He says: “If you walk in my statutes, execute my ordinances and keep all My commandments… then I will dwell amongst My people.”
Even as late as the time of Solomon, whether G-d dwelt amongst us or not was dependent on our behaviour and the keeping His Ordinances. It was a not a done deal. It is a dynamic relationship. Just as a marriage can be broken by people not keeping their vows, so this relationship is dependent on OUR behaviour.
Notes
Listening, speaking, and acting
The Gemara (Megillah 18a) says, "A word is worth one sela (coin). Silence is worth two." Perhaps the Gemara alludes to the speak-half-as-much-as-you-know rule: for every word you speak, make sure it is accompanied by two measures of silence. Only half of what we think in our heads, should actually be articulated.
Sometimes we must be called upon to ring clearly, and make our views known, like a bell. But other times, silence must reign. We must hold back the thoughts that could be potentially hurtful or unhelpful. There is tremendous power in silence.
From the tension of speaking and silence, emerges action. From the tension of sound and silence comes music.
This triad of speaking, silence and action is a methodology that we must each employ when advocating for change. For righting wrongs, and bringing justice to our world. When we try to better our world, and continue God's creative work, we must know when to speak out. We must know when not to talk, to remain silent, and control the anger, and frustration within us. And then, we must know when to act. To turn the sounds and silences into action.
There is a time to talk out; a time to remain silent; a time to act.
The Name
You can find G-d in everything that is NOT man-made. This includes nature, from which the so-called “Laws of Science” are derived which are actually G-d’s laws that science has discovered. Or, more accurately, a language, which we call science, that expresses the “natural/empirical” laws, making them accessible to anyone who is willing to learn the language that deals with that particulate, making them accessible to a far larger segment of the population
אַמָּה (Ammah) “a cubit”
Note:
Derived from אם - mother.
This word we have rendered as a cubit has a strange derivation. I realise it would be bending the accepted meaning, but what if it did mean something else? Perhaps there is other information we can receive from this word - not just that it measures about 17.5 inches long…
If it derives from mother, as in a parent, as well as in something like a mother-city. The word can mean nation as well. It is almost always used in the singular, as in 15 cubit long, though there is a plural. There is also one rendition in (is it Job?) that no one knows its meaning. It is used once to refer to the foundation of the tent. What if it is not a linear measurement? Perhaps it referred to a portion, which might even have been part of the whole – 15 cubit long, meaning having 15 portions to it. As in most written mystical texts, certain critical information is not included so as to ensure that only the initiated can perform the necessary procedure properly.
Practical Man
Note:
Many times have I struggled over these parochial pieces in the Torah. Lists of names, countless counting, and here, the exact measurements of the Mishkan — an extremely detailed description of every piece that was to be in it, its materials and its form. This will appeal to the literal man’s mind. The man of action, a builder, not a dreamer.
Here is the classic divide between the “simple” man, the man who lives his life according to what is in front of him, and the “dreamer”, the mystic whose focus is on the other world. The split between Halacha and Kabbalah, between Confucianism and Taoism. This is the part of the Torah that he can relate to, and thus engage in discussion about. Though if we try to fit this literal version into reality, it soon begins to show strain. For instance, how could the whole nation come together in such a small space, if there were two-million or so souls in the desert? How could one sacrifice that amount of animals during the festival on an alter that was only X-cubits long by Y-cubits wide? How long would this take? Also an immense amount of blood must have been shed. So, in order for it to be acceptable, there are all sorts of miracles, or stretching of natural laws, that need to take place. This brings us to intimate that it could have taken place on a slightly different plane of existence, where the physics is not the same, or a form of physical interaction was possible that we no longer are aware of. This would imply that that ability or technology is still possible. We just have to rediscover it.