In this final parsha dealing with the Mishkan, we are almost ironically, and quite poignantly reminded that Judaism is not a religion based only in Temple service and public ritual, but it is a religion that is primarily established and maintained in the home. In this way, we are reminded that even in the absence of the Mishkan, we can accomplish the goal of the redemption to feel Hashem into our lives. In the conclusion of the parsha, the Torah tells us:
And the cloud covered the Tent of Meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the Mishkan (Ex. 40:34)
The Mishkan was not the first structure in Jewish history to be described as having the shechina resting upon it. The Midrash Rabbah tells us that so long as Sara Imeinu was alive a cloud miraculously rested upon the tent, indicating the presence of the shechina in this home. The Shem MiShmuel points out that two other miracles were sustained in the tent of Sarah Imeinu that also parallel structures in the Mishkan: the ever-expanding bread that never ran out corresponds with the show-bread found on the table in the heichal of the Mishkan, and the light that wondrously burned from erev Shabbat to erev Shabbat parallels the ner tamid of the Menorah also found in the central part of the Mishkan.
There is a fundamental lesson to be learned from the link between the first established Jewish home and the first established Jewish temple. The three miracles that link the tent of our ancestors to the Mishkan signify continuity—the ever-presence of the cloud, the ever-expanding dough, and the ever-lasting light. The true foundation of Judaism is in this consistency and stability, which can essentially only be established in the home.
It is often hard for us to imagine how to relate to Hashem on a level that is comparable to the Jewish people at the time that they had the medium of the Mishkan to uplift and inspire them on a constant basis. And yet, the fact that the Mishkan was modeled in some way after the home of the avot and imahot reminds us that the ideal is not only to bring down the shechina through public service and offerings, but it can and should be done on a more constant basis in the more private space of our own homes.
The connection between the service of the Mishkan with the avot and imahot is expounded upon in Ramban’s introduction to Sefer Shemot:
The Exile is not completed until the day that they return to their place and to the elevated level of their forefathers…And when they arrived at Mt. Sinai, and made the Mishkan…then they returned to the elevated level of their Forefathers.
The Mishkan served to bring us back to the level of the avot and imahot—to be at such a level that the shechina could dwell among them every moment, every day. While the Mishkan serves to elevate the Jewish people to a level we were once on, it is the home environment that is responsible for the continuity of Jewish faith and practice on both a personal and national level - it is the home in which the pervasiveness of Jewish values into Jewish life in all that we will do and in all places we will go.
The Kotzer Rebbe once said that the only actions we can be certain are for Hashem are those that are done in private. It is such mitzvot done in the privacy of our own space that best bolster our connection and relationship with Hashem--in this way, too, functioning as a foundation and springboard for the ceremonial customs of Judaism. We cannot rely alone on the weekly or yearly customs that bring us together to the modern-day temple-like structures--if we do so we will not grow as much or as high as we can in our spiritual potentials.
The importance of the home in the continuity of Jewish value is highlighted elsewhere in our parsha. One of the main sections of our parsha provides details of the choshen worn by the kohen that held 12 stones, each corresponding to one of the tribes of Israel. Chazal tell us that in addition to each name of the tribe, the choshen bore the names of the Avot as well – their names were spread across the 12 stones.
Rabbi Rosner suggests that the reason that the names of the avot had to be spread across the tribal stones is to show that the avot had an influence on each of the sons. The level of piousness that the sons displayed in their lifetimes, and that they then passed down to their children, must be attributed on some level to the righteousness of the avot who imprinted upon them Jewish values and modeled for them a Jewish lifestyle. It is no coincidence, as Rav Golvicht notes, that the word even (stone), upon which the tribal names were etched, is formed from the words av and ben (father and son). Again, we see that the kedusha of Klal Yisrael begins in the home.
This Shabbat that precedes Rosh Chodesh Adar Bet, in which we celebrate the Holiday of Purim. On this special shabbat, we read Parshat Shekalim that tells of the donations of silver that the Jews offered for the sake of the Mishkan. Rashi tells us that this first set of offerings was used for the adanim, the sockets that served as the foundation for the entire structure of the Mishkan. The foundation must be set before anything else can be established.As we conclude the chapter of the Mishkan this week let us remember that the true foundation of Judaism comes from the home – where one learns that our value system can and must pervade all realms and all domains of life - from private to public and all that falls in between. Let us remember that the foundation of the Jewish nation as we know it was first established and continues to be maintained by the lessons learned, taught and passed on inside the home that future generations can carry forth to continue to create space for Hashem to dwell amongst us - so that we too can return to the level of our avot and imahot.
Shabbat Shalom, Taly
