The Torah and the Mishkan
STUDENT
SUMMARIES OF SICHOT OF THE ROSHEI YESHIVA
PARASHAT
TETZAVEH
SICHA OF HARAV
The Torah and
the Mishkan
Translated
by
Our
parasha opens with the command to maintain an eternal flame: And as for
you command Benei Yisrael and let them take to you pure beaten olive oil for
light, to kindle an eternal flame (Shemot 27:20).
A
review of the text preceding this command shows a long series of units devoted
to constructing the various vessels needed for the Mishkan. It is
therefore curious that we suddenly find a command concerning the lights.
Admittedly, this is one aspect of the service in the Mishkan, but it is
not directly related to the list of vessels.
In
fact, the question arises already in last weeks parasha, where the text
repeats a number of times the command to gather a variety of materials for the
purposes of building the Mishkan:
And
this is the contribution that you shall take from them: gold and silver and
brass, and blue and purple and scarlet [thread], and fine linen, and goats
hair; and reddened rams skins, and skins of techashim, and acacia wood;
oil for lighting, spices for the anointing oil and for the sweet incense
(25:3-6)
In
addition to the command to take the materials for lighting the menora, we
also find a command to take the materials necessary for offering up incense
which is likewise part of the Mishkan service, but not directly part of
the list of vessels. Seemingly, the best proof that the menora and the
incense are not among the vessels of the Mishkan is the fact that the
function of the Mishkan is essentially to atone, while the menora
and the incense have nothing to do with this function. Why, then, do we find the
command to prepare the lights of the menora and the command to offer up
incense among the units describing the construction of the Mishkan and
its vessels?
In
order to answer this question we must first address a different one, which is
posed by the Rishonim: why is Moshes name mentioned nowhere in the
entire parasha? This seems very strange, and certainly deliberate, since
even in those verses where we would expect to find his name, it is absent.
Instead, the Torah says, You shall command
.
One
of the possible answers proposed by the Rishonim is that this
parasha is always read close to the anniversary of Moshes death
(7th of Adar), and the absence of his name hints to his own absence.
However, I do not find this explanation satisfactory. It seems to me that the
absence of any mention of Moshe in the parasha actually serves to
emphasize his importance.
As
we know, there is a perpetual dialectic between religious experience and
involvement in Torah study. Throughout our history the proper ratio and
relationship between them has been subject to debate: the most extreme example,
perhaps, was the fierce conflict between the Vilna Gaon and the early Chassidic
leaders. This was a principled disagreement so profound that the Vilna Gaon
refused to meet with Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi. In the Vilna Gaons view,
Chassidut had adopted the element of religious experience while rejecting
or ignoring the value of Torah study. After some time it became apparent that
Chassidut had not abandoned Torah study, but it seems that this was the
Vilna Gaons concern.
Coming
back to our parasha, we may suggest that since these two values seem to
conflict with one another, Moshe wanted to be both the giver of the Torah and
the Kohen. He wanted to show that it is necessary to combine and integrate the
religious experience as expressed in the service in the Mishkan and
the Torah; he wanted to show that there is no separation between these two
spheres. However, God decreed that it would be Aharon and his descendants who
would be responsible for the Mishkan service. Moshe had the merit of
conveying the Torah to Am Yisrael, but when it comes to the commands
concerning the construction of the Mishkan there is no mention of him
since this sphere was given over to Aharon and his
descendants.
However,
Moshe was apprehensive about this severance just as the Vilna Gaon was, so
many centuries later. Therefore, in order to reassure him, God conveyed the
command to take the materials for lighting the menora (expressing Torah
study For a commandment is a candle, and the Torah is light Mishlei
6:23) along with the other materials for building the Mishkan. God was
hinting to Moshe that although he was not appointed over the service of the
Mishkan and the realm of religious experience, there was no separation
between this realm and the realm of Torah.
Moshe
symbolizes the complete, perfect, Godly man. The Midrash accentuates this point,
teaching that from waist up Moshe was an angel, and from waist down a man. This
depiction emphasizes Moshes lack of belonging to our world, in view of which
it is somewhat problematic that it is Moshe who receives the Torah and conveys
it to Am Yisrael. After all, God did not want to give the Torah to the
angels; He meant it for man, with his mortal desires and inclinations. God did
not mean for Moshe to keep the Torah for himself. Therefore, when He conveyed
the command concerning the lights (which, as we have said, symbolize Torah
study), He said to him, As for you you shall command
. The mortal part of
you, the part that may be addressed as you, is the part that must give the
Torah, not the angelic part.
Thus,
in these units God is emphasizing a dual message to Moshe. On the one hand,
Torah and religious experience go hand in hand, and there is no severance
between them. On the other hand, the Torah is not given to the angelic, Godly
Moshe. Rather, it is conveyed to the human, mortal, you. For this reason,
Moshes name is not mentioned in the command concerning the construction of the
Mishkan and the taking of the materials for the menora and the
incense, but these commands nevertheless appear
consecutively.
(This
sicha was given on Shabbat parashat Tetzaveh 5767
[2007].)