BS”D

 

Vayakhel – Dwelling in Unreal Estate

Dr M Bank

 

A Guten Erev Shabbos Everyone. Parshas Vayakhel. I would like to call this week’s parsha, “Dwelling in Unreal Estate”. There is real estate, Israel and estate that is kemo shamayim al ha’aretz – heaven on earth. The second half of Shemos is all about the Mishcan. All about the keilim, bigdei kehuna, the offerings, the assembling of the Mishcan. The question is what is the point of learning something from 3,300 years ago, going down to the minutest detail of the silver, copper, turquoise, linen, goats hair, red-dyed rams skin, tachash skin, acacia wood, oil, the spices, incense, the stones, the coverings, hooks, planks, bars, pillars, sockets, staves, curtains, tables, utensils. What can something from 3,300 years come to tell us today?

 

If we could design, if a person had an open account, we would chose the most beautiful, most exotic dwelling place that you could contemplate. Something bigger than Buckingham Palace, a thousand rooms maybe. Made of marble and gold with all the most exotic, the best things a person could see in the world. Imagine if that was the dwelling place of a King of Basar veDam. You would want something even greater, on a grandiose scale. The King, not just of one country, not just of one continent. The King not just of planet earth. The King, not just of Kings. The King of hosts. The King of eternity, what was, what is and what will be. The King of all that there will ever be. And H’shem tells us that as long as there is heaven and earth, there will be Am Yisrael. What is the source of saying what is real, Israel and unreal? What is beyond the imagination. As it says in the posuk, “make me a dwelling place and I will dwell in your midst”.  

 

If a person had a bank account with unlimited resources and he asks his children to build him a dwelling place. How lavish, beautiful and magnificent would this dwelling place be. The whole world would know that this is the greatest dwelling place that ever existed. Imagine the tragedy of it being destroyed. We have a remez that the tefilling shell rosh is comparable to the tefillin shel maala. The Beis Hamikdash represents unity not just of one person’s mind and actions but the unity of Klal Yisrael, beLev Ehad uBeGuf Ehad. When the world sees this nation, they will be filled with respect and say, surely this is a blessed nation. This nation is the transmission of Torah and a light unto the nations. There is no nation in the world as blessed as this nation.

 

Imagine a person is looking for a home. How much effort would he put into all the details. If he had the privilege of designing it himself, down to the last tack, you could make the shower a certain way, the jacuzi a certain way, a work out centre with the latest technologies, an electronic treadmill, full screen communications, all the latest technologies and creature comforts, it would be just so, down to the last tack. So, when we go through this weeks parsha, we see with crystalline intensity the foundations of the Mishcan. We see how we can build something for H’shem. How to take an aveira and turn it into a mitzvah. If a person builds His home on Shabbos he is going against the will of H’shem and what he is making is corrupted. If a person had intention to eat a korban a minute after its time, what he offers is called pigul – rotten. The persons’ intention in his heart of hearts was not exactly what H’shem wanted. So, we can imagine the idea of a little boy coming home with a bouquet of flowers. He gives it to his parents who are very pleased until they find out that he stole them from the flower shop. What about if they find out that he bought the, from his savings. He saved up for days and weeks. He worked hard to get that money. Then he brought home a magnificent bouquet of flowers. How special is that offering? That was what happened with the Beis HamIkdash.

 

The posuk says, “Take a portion, everyone whose heart motivates him, shall bring it as a gift for H’shem, gold, silver, copper, turquoise, purple and scarlet wool, linen, goats hair.” This is what the owner of everything that will ever exist. These offerings got to the point where Moshe Rabbeinu had to say ‘diy’ (enough). The  tefillin have the shape of the letters daled and yud, as do the Mezuzas. We have 6 days to complete the work, uvayom hashevii Shabbos vayinafash. Shabbos is to recharge our emuna, to recharge our faith, and to celebrate in the palace of the King. To celebrate the gifts of the King and another week well done. The world is a better place because of the week, because of what we did. Or did you become weaker, did the week take it out of you? You have to contemplate on Shabbos where the world is and what you can contribute in the coming week to add to the praises of H’shem.  The praises are ad bli dei, without any limit. If we thanked him according to the gifts that He gives us, mida keneged mida, we would never stop thanking Him.  Every moment should be a celebration of His goodness which is ad bli dei – without limit.

 

So we explore the incredible nature of the Mishcan, this most humble dwelling place. As we see from Bilam, Mnah Tovu Ohaleha Yaakov, how good are your dwelling places, Yaakov, Mishkenosecha Yisrael, and your Mishcan, Yisrael. This humble tent, you  elevate to something of value to H’shem, something infinite and beyond the boundaries of this world. The reward for a generation that can take from its own possessions and acquire a dwelling place for H’shem. It is not a dwelling place out there. It is a dwelling place in the final frontier of the universe. Space travel, intercontinental travel, underwater travel, communicating at the speed of light across the world in a split second, all these boundaries and barriers have been broken, the sound barrier, the light barrier, the smallest sub-atomic particle and the boundaries of outer space. All those boundaries have been conquered. There is one final frontier. That is not outer space. It is inner space. It is the last frontier that man has to explore. What it is to be. What it is to serve a purposeful life. What is the meaning of life? What is a meaningful life?

 

Moshe addresses the entire nation and charges them with the task of building the Mishcan. Much of Sefer Shemos is dedicated just to the Mishcan. Just 2 sentences are given to the nighttime military campaign of Avraham Avinu, 1 man and his household against the 7 nations. The 10 generations from Noah to Avraham are counted in almost one breath. Then we see the finest details of exactly how the Mishcan was built. This is an incredible statement of how important the Mishcan was to H’shem. Do we desire it? Much of the text of Vayakhel is a virtual repetition of Truma, Tetzave and Ki Sisa which we have explored the last few weeks. Parshas Vayakhel and Pekudei are devoted to the nuts and bolts of the Mishcan. Israel’s ability to create a dwelling place for H’shem is a measure of the greatness of H’shem’s love for Israel. Israel’s very existence and future revolves around its worthiness to have a Temple in its midst. When, leavonoseinu harabim, we fell H’shem’s presence left the Temple. Then it becomes an empty shell, devoid of any meaning. Once this happened, destruction, catastrophe and national exile were quick on the heels of H’shem leaving, so to speak, His home in this world. We were exiled to nations who desire one thing – the destruction of this nation, the chosen nation. The message for Israel to return to its former glory, the real estate and unreal estate and thereby bring about the Moshiach, and the Third Temple. This longing is expressed in our prayers three times a day. Vetehezeinu eineinu beshuvcha letzion berachamim. H’shem returns us to Jerusalem and to the Temple, May it be rebuilt speedily in our days.

 

The Torah’s frequent repetition of he Mishcan mentions the nation’s role in the construction and the nations awesome role. The value of Israel’s loyalty is shown by the attention and appreciation the Torah gives to it. In a similar way, the research and effort of Eliezer to find a wife and bayis neeman fo Yitzhak Avinu is given great attention in Bereishis (Rashi to 24, 22).

 

The Navi Yehezkel explores the Mishcan, the Third Beis Hamikdash which the commentators say is almost impossible to fathom.  Sefer Yehezkel is dedicated to the prophetic vision of the Messianic Era describing the peace and harmony which will reign between man and this entire world, between man and his fellow man and finally, between man and his Creator. The blueprint is given to society and it rises before the prophet’s eyes at a time when the idea of such a society seems so impossible (Baba Basra 14b). Yehezkel ends on a note of comfort. We could hardly conceive of a more exquisitely designed observation, than the final chapters of Yechezkel’s prophecy, which contains so much more than prophecies of a bright future, endured everyone from every generation of the exile, not to view themselves as a hopeless generation and a hopeless nation, with Has VeShalom no hope for the future. The prophecies seemed abandoned, cut off from the source of their holiness, H’shem. On the contrary, they had no other greater hope than to look into this week’s parsha or H’shem’s promise that He will return to the midst of Israel and to all of Israel.

 

I would like to explore the focus of the New Jerusalem, the Third Beis Hamikdash and the master plan for H’shem’s eternal dwelling in this world. The city is going to be called, H’shem yishma, H’shem is there, according to Yehezkel Hanavi (48, 35). The resting of the Divine presence in the Beis Hamikdash implies that H’shem seeks a place to dwell. This is parallel with the Divine master plan that the Mishcan is a replica of the Universe. In a way, the Universe is a replica of man. The level of detail about the Mishcan in the Chumash is repeated in relation to the Temple Shlomo HaMelekh built, set out in Malachim Alef, out of love for H’shem.

 

The Third Temple, the throne and footstool of the Divine Presence, in contrast to the preceding ones, which became defiled and consequently destroyed through the aveiras of Am Yisrael, will stand forever.  H’shem will dwell in our midst and never depart. The basic components of the Third Temple are essentially the same as for the previous ones. Nevertheless, there are significant differences. At the beginning of Yechezkel’s nevuah, it says that the City of Jerusalem fell on the very day that the vision came upon him. H’shem brought him there, to Israel, set him down on a high mountain and there he saw the vision of the City in the south. He brought him there and behold, a man with the appearance of copper, glowing with a linen cord in his hand and a measuring rod, stood by the gate. The man, who was an angel, said “ben adam, son of man, look with your eyes and with your ears, listen and apply yourself to all that I show you, for in order to show you, you were brought here. Behold there was an outside wall surrounding it. In the man’s hand there was a measuring rod, 6 cubits. The width of the building one rod and the height, one rod…”. It goes on in tremendous detail, how the Mishcan is going to be built. It seems impossible physically.

 

Yechezkel’s Temple is so different to the previous ones that it creates halachic problems. The design for David’s Temple was given to him by the Navi Shmuel, according to Yerushalmi Megilla, Gad the Seer and Nassan the Prophet (Succah 50a). The Medrash says that these instructions had already  been given to Moshe Rabbeinu by H’shem and were handed don as part of the oral law through the generations. The Second Temple was significantly different to the one built by Shlomo. Yechezkel’s Third Temple is to be different from both of those and from the Mishcan. The Hassam Sofer suggests that the verse “according to all that I show you” (Shemos 25, 9), allows for future emendations in the form that H’shem’s dwelling on earth will take. There are aspects that are unclear regarding how the Temple will be built according to Yechezkel’s directions. It has to be built according to the plan’s of Shlomo’s Temple,  but included are modifications based on the book of Yechezkel. The details were withheld from the exiles because the design is meant only for the ultimate Beis Hamikdash, which will never be destroyed. The Second Temple was, from the beginning designed so that it couldn’t stand. The paroches was curtain rather than stone and the Kodesh Kedoshim did not have the Aron, the Menora was absent and most importantly, the Shechina. The Schechina did not dwell in the second Temple. Therefore, it could not be built according to the specifications in Sefer Yechezkel. The Second Temple would have been built according to these plans if they had been worthy, if the Babylonian community had really risen to the challenge of the exile. Had they marked out the path of true teshuva, the path to Zion could have ushered in the Messianic Era. They fell short of the idea. The opportunity was lost. The Temple which they were allowed to build was one that was not yet perfect. It was not to last forever. It was built under the domination of the Goyim. The First Temple was built on taxes. Shlomo had a rotation of 10,000 people at a time, working at leveling, hewing the wood, bringing them and the stones to the Temple and building it. It seems even in Shlomo HaMelech’s time it was destined not to stand forever, in spite of the desire to build a permanent resting place for the Divine Presence. They incorporated details in the Second Beis Hamikdash from Yechezkel’s design to do what they could.

 

The Ramban points out that the destrciption has importance beyond its historical interest. When the Beis Hamikdash will be built, speedily in our days, it is incumbent on us to preserve the former design and make it according to the dimensions given in the spirit of prophecy. The future Temple will be similar to the second Temple which had elements of the third Temple, but in accordance with the principle of a permanent, indestructible abode. Changes are referred to by Yechezkel but have remained hidden from all generations. When the time comes, H’shem will reveal to us how to understand the prophecy and all its details. It is very difficult to understand the complexity of Yechezkel’s vision of the Temple. When H’shem showed Yechezkel all the house, H’shem said to Him, “H’shem, we are now in exile in the land of our enemies, in the Land of Babylon, and You tell us the form of the house. Is there anything that they can do about it? Would it not be better to leave to when they return to the land? Then I will share the revelation with them”. H’shem asked Yechezkel, “Is it right that because my children are in Exile, that the building of my Temple should be ignored?” So H’shem said to him, “learning the structures describing the Mishcan is as good as building it. I command you to study the Torah’s description of the Temple Structures. As a reward, I will personally consider it as though they built it, and they are building it in Shamayim”.

 

The commentaries say that the Third and final Beis Hamikdash will be a structure built by human hands, according to the Rambam, Mishne Torah. Commentators explain that it will be built biyemos hamoshiach. However, Rashi (Succah 40a and Rosh Hashana 30a) and Tosefos (Shabbos 50b) write that the Temple will actually be made of fire. The fire of emuna, the fire of Torah. It will descend miraculously from heaven, ready built. According to this opinion, the Temple, according to the directions in Sefer Yehezkel, will never be possible for man to build directly since the Temple will be beyond man’s hands, just like the Menorah and so many things in the Mishcan. They were thrown into fire and through nevua, came out perfect. The command  to build, according to this few, will never again have a practical implication. This commandment is not binding on the future. Maharal Diskin suggests that the building that will descend from heaven will have certain indispensable parts that exist, and other parts that are missing. There will be an obligation to add these components. This will be our way of fulfilling the command the Beis Hamkidash. This theory explains the almost impossible, when we say in the Yom Tov prayers when we ask “Grant that we see it in its rebuilding, and rejoice in its perfection”. The building refers to the building descending from heaven. The perfecting would be the finishing touches which we are allowed to provide ourselves. The builder builds the master plan and prays for it to be put together perfectly. Similarly, the Master Builder, Hakadosh Boruch Hu, designs and builds the Beis Hamikdash in a way that it is impossible for man to build, and when it comes down to his world,  man adds the final touches – where will the Aron Hakodesh be, what will be inside it, where will the Menora be? What will the service of the Beis Hamikdash be? These are te finishing touches that we will make at the end of days. The opinion of Rashi and Tosefos on the one hand and Rambam on the other can now be justified on the basis of the Taludic and Mishnaic sources.

 

Is the building of the Beis Hamikdash binding on us even before the coming of Moshiach? A thorough examination of all the commentaries is necessary to decide this. For the Shechina to dwell in the Kodesh Kedoshim, it is even more important that the foundations be sound, not so much physically, but the ultimate dwelling place of the Shechina is not the Kodesh Kedoshim of stone, but that of the heart of man. If we make an opening the size of a needles’ eye, H’shem will open the door, and we will be zoche or the Shechina to dwell in the KodeshKedoshim of our heart and mind, to serve H’shem bechol levavcha, bechol nafshecha uvechol meodecha. On that day “Yiyhe H’shem echad ushmo echad”, H’shem will be recognised as the only One and His name will be One. Not only will we be zoche to learn about the Beis Hamikdash, but may we be zoche to live it, to feel it in the heart of hearts, in the Kodesh Kedoshim of our own lives, to feel every day what is missing from this world. We have beautiful homes, beautiful possessions, and a beautiful universe, but we cannot exist in this state of agony of being homeless, searching for the riht key to the right door, for the right address so that we finally find an eternal dwelling place. Not for ourselves, but for H’shem.  We cannot rest while Avinu Malkeinu does not have His dwelling place, not just a physical address, but an eternal address in our heart and soul. May that day come soon to kol Am Yisrael, when we will be beLev Ehad veGuf Ehad, building the Beis Hamikdash, the Kodesh Kedoshim in our heart of hearts.

 

May we all experience a United Am Yisrael and the whole world, with Am Yisrael Al Haaretz, with Gan Eden in this world, and my we experience a true, meaningful and purposeful, eternal, Shabbat Shalom in this world and the next. [Amen].