Several months ago, I discussed the “other” Mishkan, Moshe’s expanded tent that operated not only as a Beis Midrash where Moshe taught the nation the laws that God commanded him, but also where God communicated with him. Bamidbar Rabba (51:2) and Tanchuma (2/5) tell us that Moshe asked God what he should do with the extra material collected for the Mishkan, with God telling him to use it to make a second Mishkan. Midrash HaGadol (Shemos 38:21) refers to the regular Mishkan as the “משכן שכינה” and the second Mishkan as the “משכן לבית מדרשו של משה.” Other Midrashim (e.g. Sifre Zuta 18:4) refer to the regular Mishkan as “אהל העבודה” (since that’s where the offerings were brought) and the second Mishkan as either “אהל הדברות” or “אהל העדות.”

In order to deal with the issues a second Mishkan raises, including God communicating with Moshe in two separate structures, I suggested that any communication only relevant for that generation (e.g. the census taken at the beginning of Sefer Bamidbar) took place in Moshe’s tent (the second Mishkan), whereas commandments that were relevant for all generations were communicated to Moshe “between the two Keruvim that covered the ark” (Shemos 25:22) in the regular Mishkan.

Yalkut Shimoni (737) says this second Mishkan was the same size as the regular Mishkan; I suggested that this allowed the communications only relevant for that generation to be taken as seriously as those that applied to all generations. Both structures are referred to as “אהל מועד” (see Shemos 33:7), but since the “other” Mishkan wasn’t as relevant for us, it’s only hinted at in the Torah (but expounded upon in the Midrashim).

It’s usually relatively easy to figure out in which Mishkan each communication occurred; if it’s relevant for every generation, the communication occurred in the regular Mishkan’s קדש הקדשים; whereas if it was only relevant for that generation, it occurred in the other Mishkan. However, in Parshas Vayelech, there’s a communication whose location isn’t so obvious. This communication (Devarim 31:14-21) involved Yehoshua as well and included instructions only relevant for that time and place. For example, it includes Moshe writing down “this שירה” (i.e. adding it to the Torah) and teaching it to the Children of Israel (31:19). But it also includes the nation referring to the שירה when they suffer the consequences of not keeping God’s covenant (31:20-21), which applies to many generations after Moshe died. The Chinuch’s 613th commandment (which is also Rambam’s 18th positive commandment and Semag’s 24th)—to write a Sefer Torah (or buy a new one if unable to write it)—is based on words in this communication, making it relevant for all generations. So, in which Mishkan did this communication occur?

There are strong indications that this communication did not take place in the regular Mishkan’s קדש הקדשים (where the communications intended for all generations took place). First of all, it wasn’t just Moshe who went into the אהל מועד for this communication; Yehoshua did too (31:14), and he wasn’t allowed to enter the קדש הקדשים. He wasn’t a כהן גדול, and even though he replaced Moshe, his prophecy did not reach the level of Moshe’s. As I was reminded by Dr. David Luchins, only Moshe experienced prophecy “face-to-face,” so God didn’t communicate with Yehoshua “between the two Keruvim.” Additionally, God appeared in a “cloud pillar,” which wasn’t only inside the אהל מועד, but also by its entrance (31:15) so that the nation could see that the leadership was transitioning from Moshe to Yehoshua. Since the nation wouldn’t be able to see this if it happened in the regular Mishkan, but could get close to Moshe’s tent (the “other” Mishkan), it must have occurred there. Which leaves us wondering how one of the 613 mitzvos could have been commanded in the other Mishkan.

There are several aspects of this commandment that set it apart. For one thing, the most straightforward way to read these instructions is to consider them having been directed just to Moshe and Yehoshua, not the nation (see Ramban), telling them to write down the שירה and teach it to the nation. Secondly, the שירה refers to the song in Parshas Haazinu (see Rashi, Ramban and Rashbam), not the תורה. [When Rambam codifies the requirement to write a Sefer Torah (Hilchos STaM 7:1), he acknowledges that “שירה” doesn’t mean the whole Torah; the entire Torah must be written because the שירה can’t be written by itself.] Why was the requirement to write a Torah worded as if only the שירה had to be written?

There’s another factor that separates this biblical commandment from the others—when it became a possibility. The Talmud (Nedarim 38a, which also says the שירה refers specifically to the song in Parshas Haazinu) says that originally the Torah was only given to Moshe and his descendants, but Moshe was gracious and shared it with the entire nation. Similarly, Rashi (Devarim 29:3) tells us that when Moshe gave a copy of the Torah to the Tribe of Levi, the other tribes wanted copies too, indicating that the Torah wasn’t originally intended to be referenced by everyone. How could there be a biblical commandment for each person to write (or own) a Sefer Torah if access was originally limited to only a select few?

It, therefore, seems that this commandment was only instituted shortly before Moshe’s death, after the nation insisted that they also have copies of the Torah. When the Talmud (Sanhedrin 21b) says that the instructions to Moshe and Yehoshua to write the שירה include a commandment for the entire nation to write a Sefer Torah, it isn’t saying that the word “שירה” refers to the whole Torah, but that embedded in the same words as the instructions to Moshe and Yehoshua to include the שירה in the Torah (and teach it to the nation) is the recently applicable commandment for everyone to write their own Torah. It was taught this way (as an embedded second layer) because it wasn’t originally included in the commandments meant for all generations—which is also why it wasn’t taught in the regular Mishkan, but in the “other” Mishkan, Moshe’s (expanded) tent.

Rabbi Dov Kramer wrote a weekly dvar Torah from 5764-5776, most of which are archived at RabbiDMK.wordpress.com and AishDas.org/ta. His piece on the “other” Mishkan is available at https://jewishlink.news/the-other-mishkan.