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A PUZZLING MIDRASH

The opening verse of this week’s parsha contains a key phrase, “They shall take for Me an offering.” This was G-d’s commandment to the Jewish people to contribute to the construction of the Mishkan, the portable Sanctuary in the desert.

The Midrash states,

When the Jewish nation said “naaseh-we shall do” before “nishma-we shall listen,” G-d said, “They shall take for Me an offering.”

How should we understand the connection between their enthusiastic acceptance of the Torah—mentioned at the end of last week’s parsha—and G-d’s commandment that they should contribute to the building of the Mishkan.

REVERSING MOSES’ ORDER

To decipher this Midrash, we must first consider an enigmatic discussion in the Talmud (Brachos 55a) concerning Moses’ instructions to Betzalel, the architect of the Mishkan:

When the Holy One, blessed is He, said to Moses, “Go tell Betzalel to make Me a Tabernacle, Ark and vessels,” Moses went and reversed the order and said to Betzalel, “Make an Ark, vessels and a Tabernacle.” He [Betzalel] said to him, “Moses, our teacher, the practice of the world is that a person builds a house and then brings vessels into it. But, you say, ‘Make for Me an ark, vessels and then a Tabernacle…’” Moses said to him, “Perhaps you were in the shadow of G-d and you knew this.”

Commentators have grappled with this inconsistency on Moses’ part. If G-d actually commanded Moses to build the Mishkan before the vessels, then why did he reverse the order in his instructions to Betzalel and then agree with Betzalel and praise him for being in G-d’s shadow?

The Maharal, in his work Gur Aryeh, explains that from a spiritual vantage point the vessels come first because they are considered holier than the Mishkan. Therefore, the vessels take precedence over the Mishkan itself, even though, for all practical purposes, one first constructs the house and then the vessels.

However, to accept the premise that the vessels are holier than the Mishkan requires us to probe further. In the construction of a home, the structure of the home which provides shelter and security is surely more important than its furnishings.

TWO WAYS OF DOING A MITZVAH

The following is an adaptation of the novel interpretation in the Chassidic work, Tiferes Yisroel, of the “debate” between Moses and Betzalel, which will also shed light on the enigmatic Midrash cited above.

Every Mitzvah we do can be performed in two ways.

One can do a Mitzvah precisely the way it was intended, without preparation. In a certain sense, this approach is consistent with the Talmudic principle, “Conscientious people perform Mitzvos with dispatch.” This principle is based on the way the Torah describes Abraham’s actions to fulfill G-d’s command to sacrifice his son: “Abraham woke up early and saddled his donkey…”

This principle is also applied to the circumcision ritual. Although one is permitted to perform circumcision anytime during the child’s eighth day, it is preferable to do it in the morning precisely because of this principle.

There is, however, another approach to doing a Mitzvah. While procrastinating is certainly not a positive attitude in the performance of a Mitzvah, a Mitzvah needs preparation.

For a Mitzvah to be done with complete feeling and soul, one has to go through a process of self-refinement.

Even Abraham, who woke up early to perform what he thought was G-d’s command to sacrifice his son, traveled for three days until he reached Mount Moriah. He was given three days of preparation for his son’s sacrifice.

INTERNALIZING VESSELS

According to Tiferes Yisroel, the Mishkan and its vessels are symbols for the performance of a Mitzvah and the preparation for the Mitzvah, respectively. When we perform a Mitzvah without any preparation, we generate a tremendous amount of G-dly light that envelops us externally. But in order for that light to penetrate and be internalized by our psyches we must have the appropriate vessels.

Hence, the vessels of the Mishkan are metaphors for our ability to be receptive to the energy and light generated by a Mitzvah.

THE DEBATE BETWEEN MOSES AND BETZALEL REVISITED

We can now understand why Moses initially told Betzalel to make the vessels first and then the Mishkan. Moses intended to teach us that when we attempt to create a Sanctuary for G-d to dwell in our midst, we must first create the vessels to receive those energies. While the Mitzvah will affect us regardless of how we prepare for it, as long as the Mitzvah is performed properly, nevertheless, we still need to create the vessels that will enable us to fully absorb the energy and allow our lives to be affected by it.

However, Betzalel reversed Moses’ instruction because in this case Betzalel saw a vision of a different Mishkan; the heavenly Mishkan, which is the spiritual counterpart of our earthly Mishkan. This is what Moses meant when he stated to Betzalel, “You were in G-d’s shadow.” Moses intimated that Betzalel was privy to a vision of a higher and more idealistic form of the Mishkan, the Mishkan of the angels.

In the heavenly spheres, where angels—fully programmed spiritual beings— dwell, there is no need for preparation; they are always spiritually prepared and receptive to G-d’s light by their very nature.

Betzalel was able to project that heavenly preparedness onto the construction of the earthly Mishkan and construct it before the vessels, as a way of indicating that the ideal spiritual state is for us to always be prepared.

The need for vessels in Betzalel’s heavenly Mishkan can be understood not as a prerequisite for the reception of the spiritual light, but as a way of deepening the already existing receptivity. For no matter how high we can soar and no matter how deep our G-dly appreciation is, we could always go higher and penetrate deeper. In this higher model, the vessels are not prerequisites.

Moses, as leader of the Jews of all stripes and spiritual levels, directed Betzalel to build the vessels first, so that no Jew would be incapable of absorbing the G-dly light of the Mishkan. Even those Jews with no overt connection to the heavenly and ideal sanctuary can still help construct a meaningful Sanctuary by creating their own vessels, which will make them receptive to the Divine.

DECIPHERING THE MIDRASH

With this distinction between the heavenly Mishkan and the earthly one in mind we can decipher the enigmatic words of the Midrash cited above:

When the Jewish nation said “naaseh-we shall do” before “nishma-we shall listen,” G-d said, “They shall take for Me an offering.”

When the Jewish people declared that they would do the Mitzvos, even before they heard what they were and understood their significance, it was a sign that they did not need preparation. They were like the angels whose actions precede their understanding because they are always ready to do G-d’s bidding. Indeed, the Talmud (Shabbos 88a) states that when the Jews declared “We shall do and we shall listen,” a heavenly voice declared, “Who revealed this secret that angels use to My children?”

We can now see a direct correlation between this declaration and G-d’s command to build the Mishkan in the same order that Betzalel stated.

Moses acceded to Betzalel’s reversal of the order, first the Mishkan and then the vessels, because he agreed that this was the ideal for which we should strive, to condition ourselves to always be receptive to G-d’s will. And while preparation can deepen our receptivity, it is not a prerequisite for our performance of, and receptivity to, the Mitzvah.

THE AGE OF PREPARATION IS COMING TO AN END

Rashi’s commentary on the Torah states that the Mitzvos we do now prepare us for the Mitzvos we will perform in the Messianic Age.

If we follow the view described in Tiferes Yisroel, we can understand that our years of exile represent the “build the vessels” phase. The Mitzvos performed in Galus have prepared us for the Messianic Age, specifically the building of the third and final Beis HaMikdash.

However, as we stand now on the threshold of the final Redemption we are concluding our preparations for, and transitioning into, the Messianic Age, when we will all be receptive to the teachings of the Torah and its commandments and when vessels, as prerequisites, will become obsolete.

We are in a unique position now. We have the benefit of the cumulative effort of Jews, over thousands of years, performing Mitzvos with self-sacrifice and devotion. Their efforts have left an indelible mark on the world, refining it and making it more receptive to G-dly light.

While there always were special souls who were in a perpetual state of readiness for G-dly light, our generation enjoys a privileged spiritual preparedness that is unprecedented, because it extends to everyone. This also explains how the deepest secrets of the Torah, previously reserved only for the spiritual elite, were disseminated to the entire world.

The Rebbe has told us that the world is ready for the Redemption; we just have to open our eyes to see it in front of us. Of course, G-d has not taken away our free will. We can still choose to close our eyes to the new reality, but as far as our potential is concerned, we are eminently prepared for the Redemption.

If there is a residual need for additional preparation, the Rebbe pointed us to several “vessels” for the Redemption, including giving Tzedakah and learning the subjects of Redemption and Moshiach.