Vayyakhel-P’kudei
The portions of the Torah that discuss the construction of the mishkan (tabernacle) seem to take superfluity to an extreme. God communicates to Moses the exact specifications of each element of the mishkan and its accoutrements. Considering the concise formulation consistent with the Torah’s general style, after these instructions we would expect a statement to the effect that Israel did God’s word as relayed to them by Moses. But instead for some reason the Torah repeats, largely verbatim, Moses’ consequent instructions to the people, in equal detail. Then it proceeds to recount the actual construction of each mishkan component and vessel, and its placement in its proper place. This verbosity seems incredibly out of place given the Torah’s usual concise style, yet few, if any, of the classical commentators even give a hint that something anomalous exists here.
The question becomes even stronger in comparison to the narratives of the creation itself. Open up a Torah scroll and count the number of columns devoted to the creation. Depending on the size and format selected by the scribe, the opening passages of Genesis occupy no more than three columns of text. In contrast, the space the Torah devotes to the mishkan dwarfs that number by a factor of at least five. One might expect that the wonders of creation would warrant greater attention than a shrine that from its inception speaks of transience. The mishkan and everything in it was constructed to be disassembled and reassembled repeatedly – not the type of house of worship that comes to mind as deserving of such lavish attention to detail in a Torah designated for eternal relevance.
But the Torah itself gives hints that the mishkan has more than short-lived relevance. The sole item described with its dimensions and construction detail prior to the mishkan was Noah’s ark – no more than a rectangular box, but one that held all of creation in microcosm. The duration of the flood – forty days – becomes the prototype number for all rebirth cycles in Scripture (just as humans require forty weeks of gestation). Indeed, the midrash (Rabbinic commentary) on Noah states that the dove found a place to rest on the Sabbath – in other words, the end of the flood marked the end of recreation itself.
The mishkan’s dimensions echo those of the ark, with the number forty appearing several times. And the categories of activities forbidden on the Sabbath are derived from the construction of the mishkan, based on a juxtaposition of the two concepts at the beginning of this week’s portion.
In other words, the construction of the mishkan is the way in which we, as people, are commanded to emulate God by engaging in creation. The mishkan represents all of our creative efforts in this world. Those efforts constitute the very purpose of creation – “Let there be light” was merely a means to an end. We, as people, are charged with seeing things through to that end. Just as God created the universe as a vehicle for relationship, we, too, must use our world to enhance our relationships. The Torah seems to be telling us that those efforts require greater attention than any contemplation of God’s wonders.
David Swidler
Sulam Yaakov, Israel
