The joyous day of the construction of the Mishkan had at last arrived. With it the redemption from Egypt was complete for the Divine Presence would now dwell among the Jewish people. But as the moment to erect the Mishkan drew near, there was no one, not even Moshe Rabbeinu, who knew how it could be assembled and constructed.
At that moment, Hashem revealed to Moshe that he would be the one to erect the Mishkan by himself since he had not helped to construct it. Why wasn’t Moshe’s role as the intermediary, relating all Hashem’s commands sufficient that he had to have a part in the physical construction of the Mishkan? And what was the point of making it appear that he had lifted the beams when, in fact, he was incapable of doing so?
Meshech Chochma explains in Parshas Yisro that no object has intrinsic holiness. Only God Himself is intrinsically holy. It is the Divine will alone which imbues certain times, objects, ceremonies and persons with importance. That Divine will is the Torah. The significance and holiness of any object is only because the Torah designates it as such, and its significance can only be understood within the framework of the entire Torah. Neither the Beis HaMikdash, Eretz Yisroel, nor the Kohanim have intrinsic kedusha. Their kedusha is derived from the Torah and wholly defined by the Torah’s parameters. For this reason, the Mishkan was erected by Moshe because he represented the Torah, and only the authority of Torah could invest the Mishkan with the sanctity to serve as the dwelling place of Hashem. Though the Torah itself emanates from Hashem, Hashem entrusts the Torah leaders of each generation with His Torah, and it is through them that its directives are given.
After the initial construction of the Mishkan, Moshe proceeded to dismantle the Mishkan and reconstruct it before its dedication and consecration. There could have been no more dramatic example of Chazal’s statement, “Binyan n’earim stira ustiras zekanim binyan — the building of the young (i.e., uninitiated in Torah wisdom) is in fact demolishing, and the demolishing of the aged (those filled with Torah wisdom) is in fact building” (Megillah 31b). Or as the Tosefta (Avodah Zarah, Chapter 1) puts it: “If children or fools, tell you to build the Beis HaMikdash, do not listen to them, and if the Sages tell you to demolish the Beis HaMikdash, listen to them.”
The power of our Torah sages to create the environment necessary to bring God’s Presence to Klal Yisrael sometimes necessitates that they do what appears to untutored eyes to be counterproductive and destructive. But we learn from Moshe that even dismantling the Mishkan, when done by the Torah authorities, is ultimately the only protection of its sanctity. It was done to instill in Klal Yisroel the quality of Emunas Chachamim (faith in the Torah Sages). Emunas Chachamim is the very foundation of Torah, for without it the authentic transmission of Torah from generation to generation is impossible.
Hashem’s plans are unfathomable, and what He transmits to us through His prophets, or in later generations through the recognized Torah authorities of the generation, is His will, whether we understand it or not. “Many are the thoughts in the hearts of man, but Hashem’s plan will be established.” “My thoughts are not your thoughts.”
The events occurring in Eretz Yisroel and their worldwide effect need to be seen through the eyes of our Torah Sages to be understood properly and not only through the eyes of politicians and the military. We pray Hashem will shine a new light on Zion with the Geulah Shlayma soon in our days.
Rabbi Zev Leff is the rabbi of Moshav Matityahu, and a renowned author, lecturer and educator. He is a member of the Mizrachi Speakers Bureau (www.mizrachi.org/speakers).
