Loading...
 

Vol 1.33 - Pekudei                         Spanish French Audio  Video
 

Hebrew Text:

Page 195   Page196   Page197   Page198   Page199   Page200   Page201   Page202   Page203   Page204   Page205  

Note: Please see Volume 1 of Vayakhel for some links to Pekudei Sichos
 
Summary:

Par 1) The reason for repeating the aspects in Parshiot Trumah-Tetzaveh in Parshiot Vayakhel-Pekudei
There it states that:
1) They were from G-d
2) To Moshe
3) At Sinai
 
 
Here it states that:
1) Through Yisroel
2) Below in this World
3) in Physical objects
 
The advantage of "actuality" over "potential" And this is "the Mishkan, Mishan of testimony" - two Mishkans

Par 8) The connection between the eighteen bebedictions of the Amidah to the eighteen commands of the second Mishkan (Tal Yerushalmi Berachot 4:4), namely the Mishkan in Parshiot Vayakhel-Pekudei;

Explanation of Tefillah

Par 13) The connection between the conclusion of Pekudei to the beginning of Vayikrah - from concealment to revealment

 

Synopsis:

1. The portion of Pekudei, as well as the previous portion of Vayakhel, discuss at length exactly how all the elements of the Mishkan (the Tabernacle) were made.

2. The Rebbe now questions this:

Three and four Torah portions earlier, in Parshas Terumah and Tetzaveh, the Torah told us that Hashem (G-d) told Moshe Rabbeinu (Moses our teacher) exactly how to make the Mishkan. Now, again, in the portions of Vayakhel and Pekudei, the Torah tells us exactly how the Mishkan was actually and finally made in accordance with the previous instructions. 

Surely, if we consider that the Torah’s general style of composition is to write everything in the shortest possible manner, and indeed many laws are learned out from one extra word or letter, we will be puzzled at the Torah’s repetition of every single detail of the Mishkan. Wouldn’t it have been more fitting for the Torah to simply state in this week’s Torah portion, “And the Jewish people constructed the Mishkan in accordance with all that Hashem had commanded Moshe Rabbeinu”? Why does the Torah belabor the point by going through every part of the Mishkan that the Jewish people in fact made, in the portions of Vayakhel and Pekudei?

The Rebbe says (part one):

1. The portion of Pekudei, as well as the previous portion of Vayakhel, discuss at length exactly how all the elements of the Mishkan (the Tabernacle) were made.

2. The Rebbe now questions this:

Three and four Torah portions earlier, in Parshas Terumah and Tetzaveh, the Torah told us that Hashem (G-d) told Moshe Rabbeinu (Moses our teacher) exactly how to make the Mishkan. Now, again, in the portions of Vayakhel and Pekudei, the Torah tells us exactly how the Mishkan was actually and finally made in accordance with the previous instructions.

Surely, if we consider that the Torah’s general style of composition is to write everything in the shortest possible manner, and indeed many laws are learned out from one extra word or letter, we will be puzzled at the Torah’s repetition of every single detail of the Mishkan. Wouldn’t it have been more fitting for the Torah to simply state in this week’s Torah portion, “And the Jewish people constructed the Mishkan in accordance with all that Hashem had commanded Moshe Rabbeinu”? Why does the Torah belabor the point by going through every part of the Mishkan that the Jewish people in fact made, in the portions of Vayakhel and Pekudei? 

3. The Rebbe now refers to a similar question and recalls its answer so that we can apply it here as well:

The Torah tells us later on in Chumash Bamidbar (the Book of Numbers) that the Nassi (prince) of each of the Twelve Tribes brought offerings to Hashem. There too the Torah doesn’t suffice with describing the offering of the first Nassi and then simply stating, “And so was the offering of the other eleven Nesi’im (princes)”. Instead, the Torah repeats every detail of the offering given by each Nassi. Again, why does the Torah deviate from its usual practice of being as brief as possible?

Our Sages explain that the Torah needed to repeat each Nassi’s (prince’s) offering because they were actually not the same; even though the physical offerings were exactly the same- “One silver bowl…one gold ladle…one young bull…”- their accomplishments were different. In other words, each tribal leader succeeded in bringing down a different energy from Hashem into the world.

4. The Rebbe now applies this same explanation to our query as well:

The Mishkan spoken about earlier in Parshas Terumah and Tetzaveh is actually a different Mishkan than the Mishkan which the Torah tells us about now in Parshas Vayakhel and Pekudei. In the words of our Sages, there was “A Mishkan down here in this world and a Mishkan up in the spiritual worlds”.

5. The Rebbe now gets more specific and explains the difference between the two Mishkanos (Tabernacles):

The Mishkan which the Torah discusses earlier in Parshas Terumah and Tetzaveh was when Hashem spoke to Moshe Rabbeinu concerning the Mishkan. The quality of their discussion can be gauged by these three things:

1) Moshe Rabbeinu had a Soul from the spiritual world of Atzilut and experienced this world through the “glasses” of Atzilut.

2) The Torah states, “Never again has there arisen a prophet like Moses, whom Hashem has known face to face”. In other words, Moshe Rabbeinu’s level of prophecy will never be paralleled by any other prophet.

3) Hashem spoke to Moshe Rabbeinu when he was on Har Sinai (Mount Sinai), not while he was in this physical world. As the Torah testifies, while Moshe Rabbeinu was on Har Sinai “He did not eat bread and he did not drink water”; he was on a higher, more spiritual, level than when he was in this physical world eating and drinking (even though his eating and drinking was obviously different than other people).

From all of this we can understand that this sort of Mishkan was not made with gold and silver.

On the other hand, the Mishkan discussed now in Parshas Vayakhel and Pekudei is when the Jewish people actually constructed it. This means that:

1) The Torah is discussing the Mishkan as it was made by people who don’t experience this world in a spiritual sense, at the level of Atzilut (unlike Moshe Rabbeinu who had a Soul of Atzilut). 
2) The Torah is discussing the Mishkan as it was made down here in this physical world (unlike when Hashem instructed Moshe Rabbeinu earlier concerning the Mishkan when he was on Har Sinai).

3) The Torah is discussing a Mishkan which was built out of physical things- gold and silver.

6. The Rebbe now points out that even though the first Mishkan was the spiritual Mishkan, the second Mishkan is what fulfills Hashem’s desire:

Even though this world is physical and coarse, and it experiences darkness which is doubled and then redoubled again; this is exactly what Hashem wants- to make a dwelling place for Him specifically here. As our Sages confirm, “Hashem desired to have a dwelling place here in this physical world” . Thus, when Hashem told the Jewish people concerning the Mishkan, “Make for Me a dwelling place and I will dwell in them”, He was surely referring to the physical Mishkan discussed now in Parshas Vayakhel and Pekudei and not the spiritual one discussed earlier in Parshas Terumah and Tetzaveh.

7. The Rebbe now finishes off with the lesson for us:

The message that we should walk away with is that we should never be downhearted or feel dejected because of the state we may find ourselves in. Even if one considers himself to be in a sorry state spiritually or physically, not to mention the darkness of the world, he should know that as long as he is “generous of heart”, which means that he puts in effort to please Hashem with a Jewish warmth and “heartzikait” (full of heart), Hashem promises to “rest in them” – in every single Jew.

The Rebbe says (part two):

1. We explained in part one that the Torah discusses two different Mishkanos- a spiritual Mishkan and a physical Mishkan- at two different times. In the portions of Vayakhel and Pekudei the Torah discusses the physical Mishkan, and in the previous Torah portions of Terumah and Tetzaveh the Torah discusses the spiritual Mishkan.

2. The Rebbe now shows how in truth both of these Mishkanos are represented in this week’s Torah portion:

The first verse of this week’s Torah portion reads, “These are the accountings of the Mishkan, the Mishkan of the Testimony…”

Why does the Torah repeat the word “Mishkan” twice? Why doesn’t the verse simply read, “These are the accountings of the Mishkan of the Testimony…”?

According to our previous explanation, however, this verse becomes clear: The word, “Mishkan”, is repeated twice to teach us that there are two Mishkanos.

3. The Rebbe now explains and proves which word refers to the spiritual Mishkan and which one refers to the physical Mishkan:

The first time the verse says the word, “Mishkan”, the Torah refers to the spiritual Mishkan, and the second time the verse says, “Mishkan”, the Torah refers to the physical Mishkan.

We know this because the second time the verse says the word, “Mishkan”, it says, “the Mishkan of the Testimony”, and surely testimony/proof is only needed when something is not clear and evident, like the physical Mishkan where holiness and spirituality is not clearly visible to the naked eye (it looks like gold and silver).

4. The Rebbe now quotes and questions the Jerusalemite Talmud who touches upon the idea of the Mishkan:
The Jerusalemite Talmud writes, “A Jew should recite a prayer every day which consists of eighteen blessings, correspondent to the eighteen times the Torah says, ‘As Hashem commanded 
us’, when discussing the second Mishkan”. (Note: When the Jerusalemite Talmud says, “the second Mishkan,” it is referring to the Mishkan discussed in the portions of Vayakhel and Pekudei, as opposed to the “first Mishkan” discussed in the portions of Terumah and Tetzaveh).

The Jerusalemite Talmud then continues and answers a question we might have. “Even though the Torah actually says, ‘As Hashem commanded us’, nineteen times regarding the second Mishkan, we only acknowledge eighteen of them because these eighteen were said to both Betzalel and Oholiav (the builders of the Mishkan), unlike the nineteenth one which was said only to Betzalel”.

Question one: What is the connection between the eighteen times the Torah states, “As Hashem commanded us”, regarding the Mishkan, to the eighteen blessings we should recite in our prayers?

Question two: Why is this particularly connected to the second Mishkan and not the first Mishkan?

Question three: Why is this indeed so that for prayer we only acknowledge the commandments which Hashem gave to both Betzalel and Oholiav concerning the Mishkan and not the commandment which Hashem gave to Betzalel alone?

5. The Rebbe now answers the first two questions:

When Yakov Avinu (Jacob our forefather) was on his way to his uncle Lavan he had a dream, “And behold! A ladder was set earthward and its top reached heavenward”. Our Sages in the Zohar explain that this ladder which is in the earth but reaches heavenward is the ladder of prayer.

Chassidus explains that when we pray we have the strength to elevate the crudest physicality to the highest heights of spirituality. This being the case, we can understand the connection between prayer to the Mishkan, and to the second Mishkan specifically:

As we explained earlier, the purpose of the physical Mishkan, the second Mishkan, was to make a perfect dwelling place for Hashem in this world where every single bolt and nail, every single nook and cranny, was filled with Hashem’s presence. So too when we pray, we acquire the strength to bring Hashem into every aspect of our lives. 
Therefore, when our Sages instituted our prayers they wanted them to correspond to the Mishkan’s setup and design because prayer is the substitute for the Mishkan now that we don’t have a physical Mishkan. Furthermore, they linked our prayers to the amount of times the Torah says, “As Hashem commanded us”, because the Hebrew word for, “commanded – Tzafsa”, also means, “connected”; thus the Torah was saying concerning the Mishkan, “As Hashem connected to us” (eighteen times).

6. The Rebbe continues this explanation and answers the third question:

Our Sages in the Midrash explain that the Mishkan had to be built by both Betzalel and Oholiav because Betzalel was from the highest of the Twelve Tribes (the Tribe of Judah) and Oholiav was from the lowest type of Tribe (the Tribe of Dan, who’s mother was a maidservant).

Bearing this in mind we can understand why with regards to prayer we only acknowledge the commandments which Hashem gave to both Betzalel and Oholiav concerning the Mishkan and not the commandment which Hashem gave to Betzalel alone:

As we just explained, during prayer we have the strength to elevate the very lowest levels of our personality and the world as a whole. Therefore, when our Sages instituted our prayers, which are correspondent to design of the Mishkan, they only included the eighteen times Hashem “commanded=connected” to the highest and lowest type of Jew- Betzalel and Oholiav.

http://crownheights.info/something-jewish/32875/sicha-of-the-rebbe-parshas-pekudei/. Translated and adapted by Shalom Goldberg. Taken from Likutei Sichos volume one, first Sicha.


Translation:

 

Links:
 
Date Delivered:   Reviewer:       
Date Modified:    Date Reviewed:  
Contributor: