Truma-To Become a Tabernacle

We live in a simple world. That is, as long as we don’t gaze beyond the veneer.

A closer inspection reveals that the world is immeasurably complex.

For example, an iceberg that is four hundred feet high above sea-level and weighs one million tons can be nine million tons beneath the ocean surface.


An ordinary desk appears to be a solid mass of matter. Actually, it is mostly empty space. Its constitution is of atoms. The gap between each nucleus of an atom and its electrons can be compared to the following. If you could scale up the nucleus of an atom to the size of a baseball and place it in the center of the fifty yard line of a football field, the electron cloud that orbits the nucleus would be all the way at the goal posts.


Above us we see the sky. But beyond that mesmerizing blue plane is a Universe that has more stars than the grains of sand on every beach and desert on our planet.

Similarly, the outer appearance of the Tabernacle is that of a sanctuary. But the homiletic and kabbalistic sources reveal that there are deeper layers.

-Rabbi Chaim of Volozhin (Nefesh HaChaim, gate 1, chapter 4, note)
writes that the Tabernacle is a crucible that encapsulates reality which contains the energies of all the spiritual and physical universes.

In addition, Rabbi Yehoshua Heller (Ohel Yehoshua, drush 1, chapters 26-28) writes that the Tabernacle is a model of a human being.

Simply put, the Tabernacle is a sanctuary, a spiritual container of the universe and a simulation of humans.

Rabbi Heller brilliantly opines that a closer look at the Tabernacle’s structure and its vessels reveals the image of a face. The Holy of Holies is the forehead that surrounds and protects the brain which is the ark containing the Tablets of G-d. In the next chamber is the candelabrum which is the right eye and the showbread table which is the left eye. The incense altar in the middle is the nose which relates to scent. Outside of the main building is the sacrificial altar which is the mouth. Just as the mouth consumes victuals, so does the altar consume sacrifices.

The message of this representation is that we should model ourselves after the Tabernacle as we see in this week’s portion, ‘And you shall make for me a sanctuary and I will dwell in each of you.’(Exodus 25:8).

How do we make ourselves into a sanctuary of G-d?

The answer can be inferred from the Talmud (Bava Basra 25b)
which states: Rabbi Yitzchak said, (when one prays) if they want to become wise they should face the south. If they want to become rich they should face the north. And your symbol (to remember this) is that the showbread table was in the north and the candelabrum was in the south.

This signifies that the candelabrum represents the wisdom of the Torah while the table represents the physical bounty that G-d funnels into the world.

Thus, we can employ transitive logic. If our eyes are represented by the candelabrum and table, and they, in turn, represent Torah wisdom and G-d’s bounty, it follows that our eyes need to become Torah wisdom and G-d’s bounty. This is the way we can make ourselves into the Sanctuary of G-d.

We should control what our eyes see and our mouths ingest. We should see the wisdom of the Torah with our right candelabrum eye. We should understand what rightfully belongs to us with our left table eye. We should eat the right foodstuff with our sacrificial altar mouths.

From this perspective we are empowered by the idea that our every action constructs the tower of our spirituality and affects the world around us.

Noach-Serving Hashem with Unity in Context

Rabbi Channina the deputy High Priest said, “Entreat for the welfare of the government because if it were not for its fear, people would swallow each other alive.” (Avos 3:2)

R’ Hirsh explains the motivation behind the juxtaposition of this avowal to the previous mishnah.

It states: “Akavia ben be Mahalalel said, consider three things and you will not approach transgression. Know from where you came, where you are going and before whom you will face judgment and reckoning” (Avos 3:1).

R’ Channina is teaching us that the optimal devout state is to be cognizant of G-d. However, most of us lack such towering devotion. Therefore, one should supplicate the Almighty that at the very least the fear of the government should swathe them.

R’ Hirsh’s revelation that the correlation between these two mishnayos is intentional sheds light upon the commentary of Rabbeinu Yonah (ad locum) on this mishnah. He understands that when a building is destroyed in New York, a tsunami originates in the Indian Ocean, or an earthquake hits in Haiti, one’s consciousness needs to be saturated with concern for the plight of others. The righteous must feels their pain and rejoice in their triumph. Therefore, the mishnah mandates prayer for peace.

What is the connection to the previous mishnah of Akavia’s statement that one must be attentive of G-d’s presence? The answer is that certainly peace should be our priority.
However, it must be within the context of G-d’s existence in the world.

Peace is an ideal which can yield beautiful results provided it is utilized appropriately. For example, the generation of dispersion achieved peace for the purpose of rebellion by building the tower of Babylon G-d (Rashi, Genesis 11:9).

On the other hand, the Jews achieved peace amongst each other to leave Egypt (Aznaim LeTorah, Exodus 12:17) and to receive the Torah (Rashi, Ibid 19:2).

To illustrate the point, the same principle applies to character traits such as stubbornness and love. Rabbi Yosef Zevin (LeTorah U’LeMoadim, 10:1) writes that love is not inherently evil or good. One can love one’s neighbor as oneself (Leviticus 19:18) or love G-d (Deuteronomy 6:5). However, one can also love evil more than good. (Psalms 52:5)

One can be born with a proclivity to see blood. Nevertheless, they can choose to be a doctor, a ritual slaughterer, a circumciser or a murderer (Shabbos 156a).

Hashem provided people with a box full of tools such as love, peace, strength and courage. They encounter constant opportunities to use these tools to grow or to regress.

When presented with the challenge of how to use our tools, how will we respond?
Thursday, Feb. 18