The Mishkan’s Spiritual Blueprints

by Rabbi Abe Unger
Special To The Jewish Week

Candelelighting, Readings
Shabbat candles: 8:05 p.m.
Torah reading: Numbers 4:21-7:80
Haftarah: Judges 13:2-25
Shabbat ends: 9:14 p.m.

The meaning of a story is illuminated by its ending. For example, Passover’s account of Divinely granted freedom can only be realized through Shavuot’s celebration of Divinely revealed law. Parashat Naso tells the story of the completion of the Mishkan, the traveling Tabernacle. Through the details of its dedication we can glimpse the purpose of its construction.

The building of the Mishkan is in and of itself a troubling issue. How can a physical structure capture God’s presence? Rashi and Ramban, argue earlier (in Terumah) about

why the Mishkan was built in the first place. Rashi suggests that the sin of the Golden Calf demonstrated that the Children of Israel still needed to express religiosity through the physical use of space. Better a Tabernacle than a statue. Ramban differs. He argues the Mishkan was the natural culmination of a higher level of piety generated after the receiving of the Ten Commandments.

But debates about the reason for the structure itself do not fully reveal the central dimension of the Mishkan’s construction: the human one. Naso rounds out the story by making it clear that without human oversight the Mishkan would not have happened. We know God commanded the Mishkan to be built, and we know it was intended to house His tablets and presence, but what was the flesh and blood component in its coming together?

Curiously, the verse in this week’s parashah relating the completion of the Mishkan doesn’t mention the craftsmen involved in the effort. Only Moses is mentioned. The Torah typically has no problem providing names connected to major events. Why was only Moses named in this particular case when he, alone, didn’t finish the work?

Rashi explains that Betzalel and Aholiav, the master craftsmen of the Mishkan’s design, were not involved with the Mishkan in the way Moses was. Moses devoted himself to the point of personal sacrifice, making sure that every detail of the Mishkan ´s construction matched exactly the blueprint he saw on Mt. Sinai. Moses saw to it that every aspect of the earthly Mishkan met the demands of Heaven. Rashi writes that the completion of the Mishkan “hangs” on Moses because of his intensely consistent, Divinely infused leadership.

The giving of the Torah we’ve just commemorated on Shavuot was an attempt to bridge the divide between the Divine and human realms. The Mishkan was offered as a locus of that bridge. In this narrative, wrapping up the story of this first deliberately constructed sacred space, we are told that even the building of a place for God in this world ultimately relies on the work of human hands. But even good artisans, such as Betzalel and Aholiav, who admirably carried out their mission, needed an inspired vision, and that was the key attribute represented by Moses ´ leadership, completing an effort worthy of honorable mention.

The Mishkan represents the best of humankind’s efforts. The story began weeks ago with a question about why the Mishkan was needed. This Shabbat we know: It is about seeing things through in the best possible way. For all the mystery of faith, this prosaic message reminds us that the purpose of Torah is to speak to human beings, to remind us of the heights we can reach. Regardless of their difference of opinion over why it was needed, Rashi and Ramban agree that the Mishkan reminds us that the spiritual dimension of the human condition means bringing a sense of Divinity down to earth.

The Mishkan provides the blueprint for all subsequent Jewish houses of worship, a lesson for what a synagogue should be: A synagogue, first and foremost, needs to be a spiritual place expressing the sanctity found in that Tabernacle in the desert. All of a synagogue’s offerings, from services to board meetings, ought to be seen as attempts at holiness, and proudly expressed as such. Every aspect of a synagogue’s life is a grasping for Sinai. That is the communal challenge and blessing in our time and place, left to us by the Mishkan.

Rabbi Dr. Abraham Unger, spiritual leader of Congregation Ahavath Israel in Staten Island, is professor and director of urban programs at Wagner College, where he is campus rabbi and faculty adviser to Hillel.

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