Musar su Esodo 40:39

We have discussed the kabbalistic concept of שיעור קומה in our commentary on פרשת תרומה; the deeper significance of these allusions is bound up with what the משכן represents, the word קומה being a re-arrangement of the word הוקם in Exodus 40,17: הוקם המשכן. We discussed there the 236 thousand פרסאות, and that the measurements mentioned in the ספר היכלות referred only to a region in which Mattatron was at home. Any higher regions cannot be measured even symbolically, as they are spiritually too far removed from our physical universe. The Ari zal finds an allusion to this number 236 in Exodus 40,34: וכבוד ה' מלא את המשכן. When you spell the word משכן using words instead of letters, i.e. מ"ם, שי"ן, כ"ף, נו"ן, the differential between the regular spelling and the expanded spelling is 236, i.e. 410 and 646 respectively. The משכן povides the link between the Sabbath which is essentially part of the עולם הבא, and the ששת ימי המעשה, the six days of the week during which work is to be performed, i.e. during which all the commandments of the Torah are to be performed. Our sages (Eyruvin 22) have already expounded on the verse “היום לעשותם "ולמחר לקבל שכרם that the reward for the performance of the commandments will be received on the morrow, i.e. in the World to Come. The Sabbath is the reward for the work performed during the six days of work. In view of this it is appropriate that also the Courts in our world should refrain from making any decisions on the Sabbath, even when such decisions involve the performance of Divine Commandments.

We have discussed the kabbalistic concept of שיעור קומה in our commentary on פרשת תרומה; the deeper significance of these allusions is bound up with what the משכן represents, the word קומה being a re-arrangement of the word הוקם in Exodus 40,17: הוקם המשכן. We discussed there the 236 thousand פרסאות, and that the measurements mentioned in the ספר היכלות referred only to a region in which Mattatron was at home. Any higher regions cannot be measured even symbolically, as they are spiritually too far removed from our physical universe. The Ari zal finds an allusion to this number 236 in Exodus 40,34: וכבוד ה' מלא את המשכן. When you spell the word משכן using words instead of letters, i.e. מ"ם, שי"ן, כ"ף, נו"ן, the differential between the regular spelling and the expanded spelling is 236, i.e. 410 and 646 respectively. The משכן povides the link between the Sabbath which is essentially part of the עולם הבא, and the ששת ימי המעשה, the six days of the week during which work is to be performed, i.e. during which all the commandments of the Torah are to be performed. Our sages (Eyruvin 22) have already expounded on the verse “היום לעשותם "ולמחר לקבל שכרם that the reward for the performance of the commandments will be received on the morrow, i.e. in the World to Come. The Sabbath is the reward for the work performed during the six days of work. In view of this it is appropriate that also the Courts in our world should refrain from making any decisions on the Sabbath, even when such decisions involve the performance of Divine Commandments.

All our sages agree that the Tabernacle was a microcosm of the macrocosm, that it reflected to the extent possible, structures and concepts and their development prevalent in the Celestial Regions, though those "structures" and concepts are, of course, abstract. Midrash Rabbah Terumah 33,4 commenting on Chronicles I 29,11: "Yours, O Lord are greatness, might, splendour, triumph, and majesty-- yes all that is in Heaven and earth," quotes Rabbi Berechyah; he sees this as proof that G–d transferred His residence to the Tabernacle. There is also a Midrash Tanchuma on Parshat Pekudey which quotes Psalms 26,8: "O Lord, I love Your temple abode, the dwelling-place of Your glory," as proof that the residence of G–d on earth corresponds to the one He has in the Celestial Regions. Its construction was also a repetition of the process of creation. This is derived from the text of the Bible in Genesis 1,1: "At the beginning G–d created the heaven and the earth," whereas we read in Psalms 104,2: "You spread the heavens like a tent cloth." The Tabernacle was also covered by tent cloth as per Exodus 26,1: "You shall make the Tabernacle from ten strips of tent cloth." When describing what happened on the second day of creation, the Torah speaks about a firmament which is to separate the "upper" waters from the "lower" waters (Genesis 1,6), whereas when giving the instructions for building the Tabernacle the Torah directs that the "curtain shall divide between the Sanctuary and the Holy of Holies" (Exodus 26,33). The Torah, relating the work G–d performed on the third day of creation, mentions that the waters are to be gathered into one area (Genesis 1,9), whereas during the construction of the Tabernacle the Torah commands the construction of a copper basin into which all the water is to be poured (Exodus 30,18). On the fourth day of creation the Torah reports the construction of the great luminaries (Genesis 1,14), whereas the Torah commands the construction of a lampstand as part of the furnishings of the Tabernacle (Exodus 25,31). On the fifth day of creation G–d created the birds, etc. (Genesis 1,20), whereas in the Tabernacle the Torah commands that the cherubs on the lid of the Holy Ark be equipped with wings, bird-like (Exodus 25,20). Sacrifices of birds are also prescribed to be offered up in the Tabernacle. On the sixth day of creation G–d created man in His own image to reflect the glory of his Creator (Genesis 1,27), whereas in the Tabernacle a human being, the High Priest, was to be anointed and consecrated to parallel in this microcosm the function of man in the macrocosm in this microcosm. On the seventh day of creation, the universe is described as having been completed (Genesis 2,1); we find a similar expression when the Torah describes the construction of the Tabernacle as having been completed (Exodus 39,32). When the universe was completed G–d blessed it (Genesis 1,28-2,3), whereas when the Tabernacle was completed Moses blessed it (Exodus 39,43). When the universe was completed the Torah uses the term ויכל to describe the completion (Genesis 2,2); when the Tabernacle was completed the Torah uses the same expression (Exodus 40,33 and Numbers 7,1). When the universe was completed G–d sanctified it (Genesis 2,3); when the construction of the Tabernacle was completed the Torah also relates that Moses anointed and sanctified it (Numbers 7,1).

We have now learned that the three parts of the Tabernacle correspond to the three parts of the universe concerning which King David said in Psalms 103,20: "Bless the Lord, O, His angels, mighty creatures who do His bidding, ever obedient to His bidding. Bless the Lord all His hosts, His servants who do His will; bless the Lord all His works, through the length and breadth of His realm." David's son Solomon also adopted his father's outlook when he alluded to this in three consecutive verses in Song of Songs 5,13-15. Three different parts of the human body form the subject of those verses, each one representing a different aspect of the universe and how man's composition reflects this division of the universe into three constituent parts. I (Rabbenu Bachyah) have explained this in detail when I discussed Jacob's dream of the ladder." Thus far the quotation from Rabbenu Bachyah.

When the Tabernacle was completed the glory of G–d was again revealed, just as after the completion of the universe. The Torah (Exodus 40,38) says: כי ענן ה' על המשכן יומם, ואש תהיה לילה בו לעיני כל ישראל, "For over the Tabernacle a cloud of the Lord rested by day, and fire would appear in it by night, in the view of all the house of Israel." In contrast to this, in the interior of the Tabernacle G–d remained concealed. Within the Tabernacle G–d remained in His capacity as the Ineffable four-lettered Name.

The same subject matter is raised in the Talmud Shabbat 22 where the same question is raised and Tossaphot query why the Talmud claims that the proof comes from the forty years the Israelites marched in the desert. Surely, Tossaphot ask, we also require G–d's light in all our lives ever since? Some answer that Aaron needed the light of the מנורה when he entered the Sanctuary because the pillar of light did not light up the windowless inside of the Tabernacle. This seems to contradict the tradition that during all of the forty years the Israelites were in the desert the pillar of cloud illuminated every last pot in the camp so that nobody ever needed any other source of light. If one merely looked at the outside of a pitcher of water one could see the water-level inside the pitcher! Tossaphot conclude that the principal message of this verse is to tell us that the Tabernacle and the candlestick in it provided proof that G–d's Presence rested over the Jewish people. The Tossaphot in Menachot leave the question of why restrict the fact that G–d provided light for us instead of the other way around open.

This was also the secret which enabled the Tabernacle to be erected, as reported in Exodus 40,17. The word הוקם used there to describe the erecting of the Tabernacle is another way of saying that the Tabernacle was given קומה, "substance." The dimensions of this קומה and its significance are discussed in a book called Sefer Heychalot The author, quoting Psalms 132,8: קומה ה' למנוחתיך אתה וארון עוזך writes about the subject of קומה. In order to comprehend the whole subject matter one needs to preface his remarks with a definition of the meaning שיעור קומה as employed by Kabbalists.