"That I Might Dwell In Their Midst"
Student Summaries of Sichot of the Roshei Yeshiva
Yeshivat
Har Etzion
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DAYS OF
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PARASHAT
TETZAVEH
SICHA OF HARAV
AHARON LICHTENSTEIN SHLIT"A
"That I Might
Dwell In Their Midst"
Summarized
by Matan Glidai
Translated
by Kaeren Fish
That
they may know that I am the Lord their God Who brought them out of the land of
Egypt, that I might dwell in their midst; I am the Lord their God.
(Shemot 29:46)
Commenting
on the expression, "that I might dwell," Rashi writes: "[I brought them out of
Egypt] on
condition
that I dwell in their midst." According to this explanation, the verse is
teaching us that the Exodus from Egypt was conditional upon Am Yisrael
building the Mishkan, thereby causing the Divine Presence to rest in
their midst.
Ramban
rejects Rashi's interpretation for linguistic reasons: the introductory
"lamed" in the expression "le-shokhni" ("that I might dwell") is
not used in this sense anywhere else.
Instead, Ramban proposes that the meaning is the same as
"be-shokhni" ("when I dwell); i.e., Benei Yisrael will know
that God redeemed them from Egypt in the wake of the revelation of the Divine
Presence that will occur in the Mishkan: "They will know when
I
dwell in their midst that I am the Lord their God Who brought them out of the
land of Egypt."
The
simple meaning of the verse would seem to find its most accurate reflection in
the interpretation of Ibn Ezra and Rashbam, both of whom maintain that the verse
is teaching that the Exodus from Egypt took place in order that the Holy One,
blessed be He, would dwell in the Mishkan. Ibn Ezra comments:
For
I took them out of Egypt solely in
order that
they would make Me a Mishkan and I would dwell in their midst; this is
the meaning of the words, "You shall worship God upon this
mountain."
Ramban
quotes Ibn Ezra and adds that this is a "great secret." The secret is that the
dwelling of the Divine Presence is actually a Divine need – God, as it were,
"needs" His Presence to be brought down into the world by means of the
Mishkan, and it is for this reason that he brings Benei Yisrael
out of Egypt. Despite the fact that
the Mishkan is obviously needed – both materially and spiritually - by
Am Yisrael, nevertheless it is also something that God "needs," so to
speak.
Clearly,
it is very difficult to understand the idea of the Mishkan serving any
"need" of God. God has no "needs"
that require satisfaction. But
Ramban brings proofs for this idea from explicit verses in Tanakh, such
as, for example, "Israel, in whom I take pride" (Yishayahu 49:3), and "He
has desired it for His habitation" (Tehillim
132:13).
Chazal
expand on this idea and speak of God's "desire" with regard to all of creation:
"He desired to dwell with His creations in the lower world" (Bamidbar
Rabba 13:6). Clearly,
Chazal permit themselves to express such an idea only because there are
verses that specifically make reference to it.
If
we combine the above teaching of Chazal with the verse from the
parasha, we arrive at the full picture. God desires to live in the world
generally, but He wants to dwell in one place more than in all others: among
Am Yisrael, in Eretz Yisrael, in the Temple. The verse explains that owing to this
desire on God's part, there was a need to redeem Benei Yisrael from
Egypt, for God could not dwell in their midst so long as they were still
enslaved and mired in the 49th level of
impurity.
Clearly,
this goal of the Exodus is added to the natural and simple goal of saving Am
Yisrael from suffering. The
Torah notes both goals in relation to the Exodus. On the one hand, the salvation from
suffering is mentioned: "I have surely seen the affliction of My people who are
in Egypt, and their cry… I shall descend to save them from the hand of Egypt"
(Shemot 3:7-8). On the other
hand, we find the goal of having a place for the Divine Presence to dwell on
earth: "that I brought you out of the land of Egypt to be your God"
(Bamidbar 15:41). There is
the idea of "I took you out from under the suffering of Egypt" (Shemot
6:6), but at the same time there is the idea that "I take you as My nation, and
I shall be your God."
Another
matter that is connected to the idea of God’s Presence dwelling amongst Israel
as a "Divine need" is the concept of the "Divine Presence in exile." This idea,
too, is connected to the exile and redemption from Egypt, as God tells Yaakov:
"I shall go down with you to Egypt, and I shall surely also bring you up"
(Bereishit 46:4).
There
are two aspects to this idea. On
the one hand, "I am with him in distress" (Tehillim 91:15) – the Divine
Presence is exiled of its own will together with Am Yisrael, so as to
share in their suffering. As the
Gemara teaches (Megilla 29a):
Rabbi
Shimon ben Yochai taught: See how beloved Israel are to God; to every place
where they were exiled, the Divine Presence accompanied them. They were exiled to Egypt; the Divine
Presence went with them… they were exiled to Babylon; the Divine Presence went
with them….
On
the other hand, the Divine Presence is "forced" into exile, as it were, when
Am Yisrael is exiled.
Because the Divine Presence is bound up with Am Yisrael, it is
"automatically" exiled together with the nation. This is not an exile of choice, but one
that is "forced upon" God. The
Exodus from Egypt, then, also contains an aspect of redemption of the Divine
Presence from its exile.
This
idea is relevant for us, too. We
are not yet engaged in building a physical Sanctuary, but we must build a
spiritual Sanctuary: a sanctuary of values, of Torah and the commandments, in
order that God will dwell in our midst.
We must remember that we need such a sanctuary – so as to sanctify and
elevate ourselves, but it is "needed" also by God, Who dwells with us. This
combination of human and Divine “needs” can be a powerful motivating factor, as
well as idea that elevates our daily lives and our Torah
living.
(This
sicha was delivered on Shabbat parashat Tetzaveh, 5755
[1995].)