Strict Construction By Rabbi Joshua ( strictly known as The Hoffer) Hoffman

A number of weeks ago a Netvort subscriber asked me why, with all of the details of the construction of the mishkan provided in the Torah, multiple times, there is no record, in the Torah, of the exact nature of the images woven into the curtains that covered the boards, and which actually gave the mishkan its name. The Torah does say that keruvim should be woven into the fabric, but does not detail what form these keruvm shoud take. There is, in facrt a dispute in the Talmud, both in th eBavli and in th eYerushalmi, between Rav Yehudah and Rav Nechemiah, whether the keruvim took the frorm of two lions, one on each side of the embroidered fabric, or of a lion nd an eagle. Why wasn't the form that was to be woven spelled out in the instructions that God gave to Moshe? Rav Avraham Ibn Ezra says that this decision was deliberately left for Betzalel to make, despite the fact that everything done in the mishkan had to follow precise orders, in order to give Betzalel a chance to use hiis intellect and his power of innovation in the service of God when overseeing thwe construction of the mishkan.

The explanation of the Ibn ezra is noteorthy, particularly in light of the many midrashim which say that the mishkan came to atone for the sin of the eigel. The shem Mi shmuel, moreover, writes that evn according to the Rqamban, who says that ht emishkan had an independent purpose, and the command to build it was given before the sn of the eigel, once the people did commit that sin, the mishkan came to atone for it, whatever other reason was inherewnt in th emishkan already. The Abarbanel, says that the exact conformity to details in the construction of ther mishkan was part of the process of atonement for the worship of the eigel.. This can be better understood in light of the explaantion thgqat the Kuzari gives of the nature of the sin of the eigel. He say that when the people thought that Moshe was not coming back, they decided thhat they would not be able to worship God directly, without some kind of physical connection, or reference point , between God and them. The eigel that they asked aharon to build was to serve as that physical reference. actyually, th eneed for such a reference point was understandable, as we see from the entire institution of the mishkan. a physical structure via which the people worship God.The mistake the people made wass that by fashioning an eigel, they were transgreesing God's prohibition aginst making gods of silver and of gold. To atone for this sin, they needed to build the mishkan in exact conformity to God's instructions. In Moshe's absence, they asked that , who says that the sin of hte igel came about to the Kuzari and the Rambanm, had good intentiions in mind, they did not follow God's comand not to make gods of silve rand gold. Thiis sbeing the case, the equestion almost begs itself, why part of the instructons were left to Betzalel's personakl decision.

Perhaps we can answer this question by taking note of the fact that, as the Ramban points out, Betzalel made the aron himslef, in contrast to the othe rvessels of the mishkan, which he delegated to others to make. On this point the Ramban disputes the opinion of the Ibn ezra, who says that Betzalel made all of the vessels of the mishkan, including the menorah and the shulchan, the table on which was placed the 'lechem ha-panim,' usually translated as 'show-bread.' Why wdid Betzalel personally build only the aron? The Ramban explains that even though, structurally speaking, the aron's plans were rather rsimple, in contrasty to, for example, the menorah, there was a need , in tghe case of the aron, for a spiritual dimension, since it housed the tablets of the Torah, and only Betzalel, who, as the rabbis tell us, knew how to combine the letters that God used in constructing the universe, was able tp provide that element.

We have shown, iin the past, that there were two aspects to the mishkan, in conjunction with its role as an atonment for the sin of the eigel. On the one hand, as we already mentioned above, it served to correct the transgression of God's command, by making sure that everything was bult exactly in accordance with the instructions given to Moshe. On the other hand, there was sitll a need for a personal element to be included in the service of God of each person, and this was provided through the free-will offering the nedavah, that eaqch person was to make for the construction of the mishkan, from one of the thirteen items mentioned in th ebeginning of parshas Terumah. Whatever apart of th emishkan that a persomn felt am affinity to, and was attuned to in aspiritual way, was the part that he contributed to. Thus, within the strict conformity to God'd instruction need in order for the mishkan to serve as an atonement for the sin of the eigel, there was also a need for this personal element, as well, so that each person would be bale to bring out his true inner self when worshipping God. Thus, Betzalel, who oversaw, together with Ohaliav, the construction of the mishkan, demonstrated through hos won invlovement with deciding hopw to fashion the images oon the curtains, that within one's act of conformity to God's law, ther is also a need to bring out his own unique qualities in that service. According to the Ramban,as we have seen, this dual approach comes out within the construction of the aron itself.Thus, Betzalel, through his overseeing of the construction of the mishkan, demonstrated to the people the dual nature to be followed in serving God in the mishkan.