ספר שמות

Getting back to the candlestick, the symbol of light in the ‎universe and how it is to be utilized, the author explains that the ‎reason why this “candlestick” had to be shown to Moses in the ‎form of a menorah of fire suspended in the atmosphere, was ‎that this mystical aspect of the menorah Moses could not ‎have figured out for himself by merely following the instructions ‎of constructing a physical menorah. This was the only ‎furnishing of the Tabernacle which alluded to the possibility of a ‎path to G’d in His essence without looking at the many ‎protective mantles with which He shields Himself, i.e. His ‎creatures, from coming to harm when they may be taken ‎unaware by a manifestation of His glory. As indicated by the ‎name of the month in which the festival of Purim occurs, on that ‎occasion G’d was especially careful to ensure that none of the ‎Jews would come to harm through His intervention against the ‎evil decree of Haman being a manifestation through overt ‎miracles.‎The author now draws attention to another anomaly in the ‎text describing how the Tabernacle was to be constructed. We ‎have already heard that the Torah emphasized how everything ‎was to conform strictly to the pattern G’d had outlined for Moses. ‎He wonders therefore why in connection with the reference to ‎the blueprint G’d had shown to Moses, we once or twice find the ‎expression ‎בתבניתם אשר אתה מראה בהר‎, “as in their patterns that ‎has been shown to you on the Mountain,” (25,40) whereas when ‎speaking of the boards forming the walls of the Tabernacle there ‎is a change in wording, and we read in 26,30: ‎כמשפטו אשר הראית ‏בהר‎ “according to its rules as shown to you on the Mountain.” He ‎explains this as follows: The former formulation, i.e. ‎בתבניתם‎, was ‎parallel to the Ten commandments the people had heard while at ‎the foot of the Mountain, whereas the word ‎כמשפטו‎, refers to the ‎appurtenances that were housed (in the main) within the walls of ‎the Tabernacle. This also explains why Moses listed the individual ‎parts of the Tabernacle in the Torah first, and only after these ‎have been constructed was work on the actual structure, the ‎boards, mentioned. Betzalel did not follow Moses’ example and ‎proceeded with building the walls, ‎קרשים‎, first, saying to Moses ‎that it did not make sense to build furniture before one has a ‎house to put it in. In order to understand why Moses has listed ‎the appurtenances first, seeing that surely he was aware that ‎furniture without a building within which to place it was not the ‎way to proceed, we must remember that Moses was aware that ‎the nation Israel had been “born” i.e. emerged only after ‎possessing numerous negative virtues, and that thanks to the ‎awe of the Lord they had experienced during these years, they ‎had now become virtuous, in the positive sense.Betzalel, however, as his name already indicates, had been ‎born with positive virtues, and did not have to undergo the ‎refinement process that the average Israelite had experienced. He ‎could therefore proceed with the building of the structure first, ‎the building that was to house the Sh’chinah, the proof that ‎the people enjoyed G’d’s countenance being turned to them ‎lovingly.‎In connection with the altar (27,8) on which the animal ‎offerings were offered, the “copper” altar located in the courtyard ‎in front of the Tabernacle, we encounter the unusual instruction ‎נבוב לוחות תעשה‎, usually translated as “make it hollow, of ‎boards.” The reason the Torah gives for this instruction is again ‎similar but not identical to the reason given for the making of the ‎boards, or the making of the furnishings, the Torah writing: ‎כאשר ‏הראה אותך בהר כן יעשו‎ “as He has shown you on the Mountain, so ‎they shall construct it.” The Torah indicates the location of Moses ‎when he received these instructions as being within the domain ‎of the ‎עולם הבריאה‎, the world of the first stage of creation, a stage ‎before G’d had needed to shield His essence from creatures that ‎could be hurt by that brilliance. This is also the reason why this ‎altar has always been described as ‎מזבח החיצון‎, usually translated ‎as “the altar situated outside,” as opposed to the golden altar ‎which was located within the Tabernacle itself. Our author sees in ‎the expression ‎מזבח החיצון‎, an allusion to an altar from which the ‎עולם הבריאה‎, the world closest to the essence of the Creator, could ‎be accessed by means of the fragrant aroma of the offerings ‎burned up on it. It could access a world beyond one which could ‎not be accessed by the lighting of the menorah, inside the ‎Tabernacle.‎