From: JoshHoff@aol.com
Sent: Wednesday, March 12, 2008 12:03 AM
To: JoshHoff@aol.com
Subject: Netvort:parshas Pekudei,5768-corrected version
Hang
in There
By Rabbi Joshua ( patiently known as The Hoffer) Hoffman
In memory of the
students of Mercaz HaRav who were savagely murdered by a terrorist
beast last week, and in prayer for the recovery of the wounded. may God
avenge their blood.
Note:An educated and
alert Netvort subscriber pointed out an error in paragraph 2 regarding the
defining trait of Yitzchak,so I am sending a revised version.My thanks to the
subscriber for notifying me of the error. JH
In parshas Pekudei, we
read that the mishkan was erected on the first day of the first month, or, in
current parlance, the first of Nissan (Shemos 40:2). The Midrash Rabbah notes
that even though the actual work of the mishkan was completed on the
twenty-fifth of Kislev, God wanted to delay its erection until the birthday of
Yitzchok. We need to understand why Yitzchok, more than the other patriarchs,
had a special connection to the erection and dedication of the mishkan.
Although we have, in the past, offered our own explanation for this connection,
and also expanded upon an explanation offered by Rabbi Yosef Salant in his
Be'er Yosef, I would like to mention another explanation offered by Rabbi
Salant, and expand upon that , as wel.
Rabbi Salant writes that
the reason the nation needed to wait after the completion of the mishkan before
its dedication was because the mishkan served as an atonement for tor the sin
of the calf, which came about when they thought Moshe was late in returning to
them from Mt. Sinai, and had, in fact, died. They made the eigel in order
for it to serve as a replacement for Moshe and lead them in the desert.
Since the mishkan was to atone for the sin of the eigel, it was appropriate
that part of this teshuvah process would include the need to exercise patience.
What does this have to do with Yitzchak. Perhaps we can suggest that the
defining character trait of Yitzchak, in kabbalah, is that of gevurah, or
strength. My teacher, Rav Ahron Soloveichik, explained that strength
exhibits itself in the ability to persevere in the face of adversities
and failures. In parshas Toldos, the Torah tells us that the Plishtim filled up
the wells that Avraham had dug, and Yitzchak continually re-dug them, until the
Plishtim finally made a pact with him and ceased their destructive behavior.
why were these wells so significant. Rabbeinu Bachya writes that Yitzchak would
use these wells as a gathering point to teach people about God, just as his
father had. despite all the attempts of the Plishtim to end this activity,
Yitzchak persevered, and continued his father's work of teaching the worl about
God. Thus, it was Yitzchak who exemplified the trait of patience, and,
therefore, the dedication of the mishkan was delayed until the month of Nissan,
in which he was born, in order to train the nation in the exercise of this
trait, thereby reinforcing thier repentance over the sin of the eigel.
Rav Moshe Tzvi Neriah, in his Ner LaMaor (incorrectly referred to in last
week;s message as Ner LeMeah) gives a different explanation fort he delay of
the dedication of the mishkan until Nissan to correspond to the month of Yitzchak's
birth. He writes that Yitzchak was the only person who was actually
brought as a sacrifice to God, and the main purpose of the mishkan was to bring
sacrifices, as the Rambam writes in the Laws of the Chosen House ( Beis
HaBechirah). Actually, this was one of the reasons for connecting the mishkan
to Yitzchak that Rabbi Salant offered, and that we expanded upon in Netvot to
parshas Pekudei, 5760. However, Rav Neriah adds an additional point in this
regard. He writes that King Shlomo dedicated the Beis Hamikdash in the month of
Tishrei, as soon as he had completed it. He did so in order for the dedication
to correspond to the month during which Avraham was born, because Avraham was
the one who brought Yitzchak as a sacrifice. Following Rabbi Salant's explanation
of the need to wait in order to rectify the mistake which led to the sin of the
eigel, we can understand why Yitzchak;s birth was commemorated with the
dedication of the mishkan, while Avraham's birth was commemorated with the
dedication of the Beis Hamikdash, when atonement for the eigel was not a
factor.
Interestingly, Rav Zalman Sorotzkin, in his Oznayim LeTorah, notes that
according to the Midrash Tanchumah in parshas Terumah the construction of
the mishkan corresponded to the creation of the world. Although Rabbi
Soorotzkin does not mention this, the Netziv, in his introduction to
Shemos, writes that the book of Shemos is called ,by the author
of Halachos Gedolos, 'Chumash Sheni,' or the second book,because it relates the
spiritual completion of the universe.Following this comment of the Netziv, we
can suggest that it is in this sense that the Tanchumah views the construction
of the mishkan as corresponding to the creation of the heavens and the
earth,since the mishkan infused the world with spiritual meaning. Rabbi
Sorotzkin goes on to mention that there is a dispute in the
Talmud regarding which month the world was created, in Tishrei or Nissan.
Rabbeinu tam,as cited in Tosafos to tractate Rosh Ha Shanah 27a explains
that both opinions are true. God's plan to create the world was conceived in
Tishrei, but He did not actually create the world until Nissan. So, too, says
Rabbi Sorotzkin, the command to build the mishkan,which we have explained as
constituting the spiritual completion of the world, was given in
Tishrei, while the actual dedication, by which God's presence dwelled there on
a permanent basis, came in Nissan. Perhaps we can add that, following the
Rambam, the main purpose of the mishkan was to bring sacrifices to God, and,
therefore, the concept behind the mishkan commemorates the birth of Avraham,
who brought his son as a sacrifice to God, while the actual dedication of the
mishkan, which, following Rabbi Salant's explanation, marked the completion of
a stage in the nation's repentance for the sin of the eigel, took place in
Nissan, to commemorate the birth of Yitzchak, who displayed the character trait
of gevurah, which the nation lacked when it sinned. This element of
repentance did not play a part in the building of the Beis Hamikdash,
and, therefore, Shlomo dedicated it in Tishrei,the month he completed
its construction, in commemoration of Avraham, whose spirit of sacrifice served
as a model for those who would bring sacrifices to the Beis Hamikdash.
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