The Mishkan — Hashem’s Home With Us

Based upon shiurim given by R’ Yisrael Altusky shlita, Yeshivas Torah Ore, Yerushalayim

L’ilui nishmat Gutzya Breina bat Moshe Natan z”l

Once again, air-raid sirens have become part of our lives here in Eretz Yisrael. Since the war with Iran began over a week ago, we have had warplanes overhead, alerts, warnings, and actual sirens. Living in a war zone — once again — brings with it danger, nervousness, school closures, and disruptions to daily life. Anti-Semites seem to be appearing everywhere, far more than before.

Yet we try to remain strong through it all. How can we?

The answer can be understood through the following observations.

In our parshiot we read about the completion of the Mishkan. At the end of Parshat Pekudei, Hashem’s Shechinah fills the Mishkan, with a pillar of cloud resting in and above it. This is how Sefer Shemot concludes — with Hashem’s presence dwelling among Bnei Yisrael.

The Medrash Rabbah (Pekudei 51:5) teaches that the Mishkan is called a mashkon — collateral. When klal Yisrael follows the proper path, we merit the Mishkan. When we stray, the mashkon is taken from us and destroyed by our enemies. When they attack us, it is only because they cannot reach their true enemy — Hashem.

This can be compared to a simple man who hates the king and wishes to harm him. Yet he is afraid to attack the king directly, knowing he would be punished. Instead, he goes to a statue erected in honor of the king and begins drilling into the base supporting it. If he can weaken the base, the statue will collapse.

So too, our enemies attack us — klal Yisrael — because they cannot reach Hashem Himself.

When the Romans conquered and destroyed Yerushalayim, they entered the Beis Hamikdash and even desecrated the Kodesh HaKodashim, cursing and mocking. They destroyed the Mikdash instead of us, because it served as our mashkon.

Today, as we are still without the Beis Hamikdash, we no longer have that mashkon. This is one reason why we suffer so greatly. Yet despite everything, Hashem in His mercy continues to protect us.

Throughout these parshiot, as the Mishkan and its vessels are constructed, the Torah repeatedly states that bnei Yisrael acted ka’asher tzivah Hashem et Moshe. This phrase appears eighteen times! Why repeat it so often? Why not simply state it once or twice?

The answer can be understood through the following mashal.

Imagine Mr. Ilan Muskberg, an extremely wealthy Jew, who has a young son named Junior whom he loves dearly. He could buy Junior anything he wishes — many times over.

One day, Junior decides to bring his father a gift. He goes outside, picks several wildflowers from the roadside, places them in a paper cup he decorated himself, and proudly presents it to his father.

Now the father could easily buy the entire flower industry. Yet instead he receives the gift with excitement and pride. He praises each flower, points out every detail of the decorated cup, and proudly shows the gift to visitors — again and again.

The Ramban in Parshat Vayakhel explains that the Torah’s repetition reflects Hashem’s chibah — His deep love for klal Yisrael. The Torah lovingly repeats the details because Hashem cherishes what His children did for Him.

Similarly, the Torah lists and reviews the parts of the Mishkan and its vessels seven times. When something is precious, it is mentioned often. This repetition also increases the reward for those who participated in building the Mishkan.

The Zohar in Parshat Vayakhel adds another insight. In Parshat Terumah, when Hashem first instructed Moshe about the Mishkan — before the cheit ha’eigel — donations could come from kol ish, anyone who wished to contribute.

However, after the sin of the Golden Calf, Moshe instructed Bnei Yisrael: “Take from yourselves a contribution.” This excluded the eirav rav. Originally they could participate, but after the sin they were no longer permitted to contribute.

The simple explanation is that the Mishkan now served as atonement for the cheit ha’eigel, and the eirav rav had been the primary instigators of that sin.

But there is a deeper explanation.

The eirav rav had a fundamentally different approach to serving Hashem. Their attitude was transactional: “We will serve You, and then You help us. If we do good, reward us — otherwise leave us alone.”

It resembles a worker’s relationship with his employer. Once the workday ends, the worker expects not to be bothered.

Imagine if the employer told the worker, “You are such a great employee that I want to come live with you.” The worker would respond, “Absolutely not! Work hours are more than enough!”

The eirav rav did not want Hashem’s Shechinah dwelling among them. That level of closeness was too much. A representative — such as the eigel — would have sufficed.

But that is not our relationship with Hashem.

We are not workers. We are bound to Hashem like a marriage. Har Sinai was our chuppah.

Our relationship is one of love and trust. Would anyone want their beloved spouse to live far away? Of course not.

After the forgiveness of the cheit ha’eigel, Moshe received a remarkable promise: from that point onward, the Shechinah would rest only upon klal Yisrael, not upon the other nations.

Torah and mitzvot are how we express that love.

And therefore, in the turbulent times we face today, we know where to turn. Through our closeness to Hashem and the way we serve Him, He performs remarkable miracles for us — something we can clearly see even now.

So many missiles have been launched, yet compared to what could have happened, there has been relatively little damage and comparatively few deaths. Of course, every loss of life is a tragedy. Yet we continue to witness extraordinary protection.

Even developments such as Iran attacking other regional countries and creating conflict among its own allies show how events unfold in unexpected ways. The Zohar already hints that such dynamics can occur.

We certainly wish the United States and its allies, led by President Trump, much hatzlachah in defeating the evil regime in Iran and elsewhere.

But even with strong allies, we know they are only messengers. Ultimately, our reliance is only on Hashem.

May we be zoche to see Hashem’s Shechinah dwell openly among us once again.

Do we want the Shechinah to be tangible among us? Yes.

Do we want the Beit Hamikdash to be rebuilt? Certainly.

May we all be zoche to greet Moshiach b’karov mamash.

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R’ Dovi Chaitovsky and his family have the zechut to live in Eretz Yisrael, where he dedicates himself to Torah learning and teaching in Yerushalayim Ir HaKodesh. His divrei Torah often draw from the shiurim of Rav Yisrael Altusky, shlit”a, Yeshivas Torah Ore, Yerushalayim which can be heard at kolhalashon.com.