The End of the Beginning

By Rabbi Joshua (Zionistically known as The Hoffer) Hoffman

At the end of parshas Pekudei, we read that the divine cloud of glory hovered over the mishkan, and when the cloud was raised the nation would travel. Until the cloud was raised from above the mishkan, however, the nation remained encamped. This description is then followed by the very last verse in the book of Shemos, which says that the divine cloud of glory hovered over the mishkan by day, and a divine fire would be on it by night, before the eyes of Yisroel, in all their journeys. Rav Shlomo Yosef Zevin, in his LaTorah VeLaMoadim, points out that the divine cloud of glory covered the mishkan when the people rested in their encampment, as well. Why aren't the encampments mentioned in this verse? He answers that since, in the wilderness, even the encampments were merely a preparation for the next journey, they were reckoned as journeys, similar to the Talmudic concept that the two elements involved in the forbidden varieties of carrying on Shabbos- uprooting the object from its place and then setting it down in another place- are both necessary in order for one to incur the death penalty, one element is included in the other. Thus, even the encampments of the nation in the wilderness were reckoned as journeys, because they were all part of the process of the ultimate journey to the Holy Land.

Rav Yehudah Shaviv, in his MiSinai Ba, points out another important factor that is brought out by the book of Shemos ending with a reference to the journeys of the nation while in the wilderness. Rav Shaviv cites the Ramban, who says that the book of Shemos is the book of exile and redemption, describing the exile of the nation to Egypt and its ultimate redemption. That redemption, says the Ramban, was not complete until the nation returned to the exalted spiritual state that obtained during the time of the patriarchs, when the divine cloud of glory hovered over their tents, as we find, for example, with the tent of Yitzchak and Rivkah. when Sarah died, the cloud departed, and when Yitzchak married Rivkah, it returned,, hovering over the tent from one Shabbos eve to the next, as described by the midrash cited by Rashi at the end of parshas Chayei Sarah. Notably, says Rav Shaviv, our poarsha does not end with a description of the state of the mishkan when the nation was resting, but with a description of what happened when they were traveling. This indicates that although, as the Ramban says, the exile from Egypt ended with the inauguration of the mishkan and the hovering of the divine cloud over it,there was yet a further stage that the people needed to go through before the final redemption could occur, and that was the entrance of the nation into Eretz Yisroel, its settling there, and the building of the permanent structure of the Beis HaMikdash. Although Rav Shaviv does not mention this, the Haggadah of Pesach. reflects this idea, in the paragraph which relates the fifteen acts of kindness that God did for us for which we must express our gratitude on the night of the seder. The final act of kindness mentioned in that paragraph is the building of the Beis HaMikdash through which we are atoned for all of our sins.

Rav Shaviv offers another reason for why the establishment of the mishkan in the wilderness cannot be considered to be the final redemption. The task of the Jewish nation, says Rav Shaviv, is to be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation, which serves as an example for all of mankind to recognize God as the creator and ruler of the universe, and guide their lives in accordance with this recognition. In order to serve this role, it is necessary to set up a society which is governed by a system of laws and ethics that are mandated by God. The Torah, in fact, can only be fully operative in Eretz Yisroel, and, so, the role of serving as a kingdom of priests and a holy nation can be fully carried out only in that setting, the only one in which all of the mitzvos of the Torah can be fulfilled Thus, even though, as the Ramban says, the redemption from the exile of Egypt culminated with the establishment of the mshkan and the resting of the divine presence over it, that exalted state did not constate the ultimo level that the nation needed to reach. Even though, as the rabbis tell us, the patriarchs kept all of the rmitzvos of the Torah, Rav Chaim of Volozhin, in his Nefesh HaChaim, points out that they kept the mitzvos in accordance with what was necessary for their spiritual development in a way that would serve the later development of the Jewish nation. Thus, Ya'akov married two sisters, which was later forbidden by the Torah, because it was necessary for the Jewish people to descend from both Rachel and Leah. However, once the Torah was given to the Jewish people, no one had a right to deviate from its exact guidleines because of some spiritual goal. Thus, the book of Shemos ends by mentioning the journeys of the Jewish nation in the wilderness, because they stall had to make those journeys before they could reach their ultimate goal of serving as a kingdom of priests and a holy nation, inspring all of mankind d to recognize of God's sovereignty over the universe.