From: Netvort@aol.com
Sent: Friday, March 19, 2004 1:14 AM
To: JoshHoff@aol.com
Subject: Netvort : parshas Vayakhel - Pekudei, 5764




                                                    Not Yet

                 By Rabbi Joshua (hesitantly known as The Hoffer) Hoffman


At the end of parshas Pekudei, the Torah tells us that Moshe constructed the entire mishkan on the first day of Nissan, in the second year after the nation was redeemed from Egypt. After Moshe completed the construction of the mishkan, we are told that God rested His divine presence upon it :"The cloud covered the Tent of Meeting (Ohel Moed) and the glory of God filled the mishkan" (Shemos 40:34). However, even though we are told elsewhere (Bamidbar 7:89) that Moshe was able to enter the Ohel Moed whenever he wanted, and speak to God, the Torah now tells us that at this time he was not able to enter because of the presence of the cloud above the mishkan: "And Moshe was not able to come to the Tent of Meeting" (verse 35). Rashi points out this discrepancy, and answers it by citing the end of this verse, which says, "for the cloud rested upon it." He explains that when the cloud would depart, Moshe would enter and be able to speak to God.

Rabbi Moshe Soloveichik, z"l, of Zurich, Switzerland, in VeHa-Ish Moshe, points out that this verse seems to imply that Moshe wanted to enter the Ohel Moed, but he was not granted permission. He had to wait until the cloud lifted in order to enter. He notes that we find a similar phenomenon occurring after Shlomo completed the construction of the first Temple. He wanted to enter, but, as the rabbis tell us, based on a verse in Tehillim, the gates closed and he was not granted immediate entrance. Only after Shlomo prayed to God and asked Him to remember the kindnesses of his father King David did the gates finally open for him. Why, asks Rabbi Soloveichik, was immediate entry into these holy structures denied both Moshe and Shlomo, who put so much work into their construction?  


Rabbi Soloveichik explained that we often find, in life, that people put a great deal of effort into a certain project, and just as they are about to complete it, some glitch occurs that seems to prevent the project from coming to fruition. At such times, it almost seems that divine providence has set up a wall that frustrates all of the person's efforts. The reason this happens, says Rabbi Soloveichik, is that no matter how great a person is, when he is about to complete something that he put a great deal of effort into, he may develop some trace of arrogance and haughtiness, attributing the entire process to his own efforts, and forgetting the role that God played. At such times, divine providence throws a wrench into the project, momentarily, in order to remind the person that it is only through God's assistance that he was able to accomplish what he did. Shlomo and Moshe, each on his own level, stood in danger of falling victim to this pitfall, and, therefore, they were confronted with last minute delays. While this explanation shows great psychological insight, it seems a bit difficult to say that Moshe, whom the Torah characterizes as the most humble of all men on earth, was really susceptible to this kind of failure. I would, therefore, like to suggest a different reason for the need to delay his entry into the mishkan.

Rashbam, in his commentary to our verse (40:34), explains that the reason the divine cloud covered the mishkan was to show God's love for His nation. Subsequently, the cloud moved to the aron - the holy ark situated in the Ohel Moed, from atop which God would speak to Moshe. Rashbam further notes that in the Temple, as well - as we read in the second book of Kings, chapter eight, verse one - when the Temple was first dedicated, in the time of King Shlomo, the kohanim were not able to stand and serve before God because His divine cloud had filled the Temple. Only later, after the dedication was completed, did the cloud relocate to its position above the aron, at which time the kohanim could enter to perform their service. Here, too, he explains, the cloud hovered over the Temple in ful view of the people in order to honor them during the dedication process. Although Rashbam does not say this, perhaps the idea being expressed in both processes was that the people needed to realize that the special abilities that Moshe and the kohanim had were rooted in the people.
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                
We have mentioned a number of times in the past that Rabbi Mordechai Gifter, among others, pointed out that any special talent that exists within a certain sector of the Jewish nation finds its source in the nation itself. Extraordinary individuals, also, rise up from among the people, and it is a reflection on the nation as a whole that it is able to produce such people (see Netvort to parshas Tetzaveh, 5763, available at Torahheights.com, for more on this). This message needed to be impressed upon the people especially at the time that Moshe constructed the mishkan, because it was to serve as an atonement for the sin of the golden calf. Although, according to Ramban, the commandment to build the mishkan was given before that sin, and so had a purpose in its own right,  Rabbi Shmuel Boronstein, in his Shem MiShmuel, has pointed out that even Ramban agrees that once that sin was committed, the mishkan also served the function of bringing atonement for it.    In order for the people to be reassured that their relationship with God had been restored, they needed to see that Moshe drew his ability to speak to God in the direct fashion that he did, within the mishkan, from them, as a product of the nation. To demonstrate this, the divine cloud hovered above the entire mishkan when it was first dedicated, and from there it moved to its place above the aron, from which it spoke to Moshe. Moshe, therefore, had to wait before he could enter the Ohel Moed to speak to God, in order to impress upon the people the special relationship that they had with God, from which Moshe drew the ability to communicate with Him when he so desired. In this way, he demonstrated to them, at the time of the dedication of the mishkan, that they had, indeed, achieved atonement from the sin of the golden calf.



Please address all correspondence to the author (Rabbi Hoffman) with the following address - JoshHoff @ AOL.com.

To subscribe to Netvort, send a message with subject line subscribe, to Netvort@aol.com. To unsubscribe, send message with subject line unsubscribe, to the same address.