וַיָּ֨קֶם מֹשֶׁ֜ה אֶת־הַמִּשְׁכָּ֗ן וַיִּתֵּן֙ אֶת־אֲדָנָ֔יו וַיָּ֙שֶׂם֙ אֶת־קְרָשָׁ֔יו וַיִּתֵּ֖ן אֶת־בְּרִיחָ֑יו וַיָּ֖קֶם אֶת־עַמּוּדָֽיו׃
At itinayo ni Moises ang Tabernakulo; inilagay niya ang mga patungan nito, at itinindig ang mga tabla nito, at ikinabit ang mga barakilan nito, at itinayo ang mga haligi nito.
Likutei Moharan
And each and every prayer that everyone prays, is like a limb of the SheKhINah/Divine Presence, which are limbs of the miShKaN/Tabernacle, which no Israelite was able to put up piece to piece, each one in its place, except Moshe alone. And therefore it is necessary to bring and tie all the prayers to the Tzaddik Hador, as is written (Exod. 39): "And they brought the Mishkan to Moshe," and he knows how to put up piece to piece and make it a complete structure, as is written (there, 40): "And Moshe set up the Mishkan."
Kedushat Levi
When Betzalel constructed the Tabernacle and all its components, i.e. the candlestick which represented the attribute of love, the table which reflected the attribute of awe, and the furnishings representing other Divine attributes, he constructed a miniature replica of the universe.
Our sages in B’rachot 55 alluded to this when they said: Betzalel knew how to combine the letters of the holy tongue that had been used by G’d when He created the universe. This enabled Betzalel to fashion the various furnishings of the Tabernacle so that they reflected the attributes which we mentioned. According to the Talmud there the name בצלאל is a combination of the two words: בצל א-ל, “in the Lord’s shadow,” i.e. his soul must have been present when G’d created the universe and have absorbed the secret of how G’d had done so. Betzalel did not know, however, to which particular commandment in the Torah each one of the vessels he fashioned corresponded. It was therefore left for Moses himself to reveal the relationship between each vessel and utensil used in the Tabernacle and how it related to a particular commandment in the Torah. This is hinted at in the verse in Exodus 40,18 which describes Moses as erecting the Tabernacle. According to tradition, Betzalel and his helpers had vainly attempted to do this, and they had to call on Moses to do this. (Tanchuma yashan, 8) “Erecting” the Tabernacle, does not refer to the mere physical act of arranging all the boards, etc, in their proper order, but it is a term used to describe Moses as ensuring that the Tabernacle would fulfill the functions for which it had been made, i.e. to mirror Torah philosophy. The reason that the Tabernacle had to be completely dismantled each time the Israelites broke camp and had to be re-erected anew when they encamped was that their trek through the desert was intended to elevate the “sparks” that had fallen off the Shechinah, a task that would be accomplished in stages each time it was erected again. [The concept of these “sparks” has been discussed on pages 21-22. Ed.]
We know through the Baal Shem Tov how the spiritual elevations, עליות, of these “sparks, נצוצות, work. When these sparks come face to face with something of a mundane or secular nature, or even more so when they encounter something actually evil or sinful, they grasp the opportunity to serve their Creator. [If I have understood the concept correctly, it is based on every phenomenon in the universe containing an element of sanctity, קדושה, though it may be almost completely hidden. [The “fallen” sparks that once were part of the Shechinah, due to their sacred origin, are able to locate that element of Divinity within the phenomenon in question. They are able to utilize any of the Divine attributes they encounter and respond to it in kind, be it love, awe, harmony or any of the attributes of G’d. Ed.] When they do this they elevate the respective phenomenon to a higher spiritual level, i.e. it is a kind of repentance for their erstwhile negligence without which they would not have “fallen off” the main body of the Shechinah in the first place.
When the Tabernacle was dismantled, it had lost its cohesion to the various attributes of G’d, something that had been established when it had last been erected. By having dismantled the Tabernacle, the Israelites had contributed to the spiritual rehabilitation of these “sparks,” as they had been presented with an opportunity to elevate these phenomena to a higher spiritual niveau while they were “in limbo,” so to speak. The Israelites therefore were directly instrumental in “salvaging” part of the Shechinah. Seeing that during the period that the Tabernacle had been dismantled the holy attributes of G’d had had an opportunity to be used negatively, i.e. the attribute of love had been used to love that which is evil, or the attribute of harmony had been used to organise a rebellion against G’d, [as had been the case during the building of the Tower after the deluge, Ed.] the Israelites in the desert, where most of these “sparks” had taken refuge on earth, had become instrumental in contributing to the restoration of the Shechinah to its full glory.
If, after having established the connection with the Divine attribute contained within a phenomenon one does not exploit this good fortune and make this attribute part of one’s personality, one will forfeit all the benefits that one’s discovery had presented. The reason for this is that good attributes that remain in a vacuum are worse than good attributes never discovered. Possessing אהבת השם “a love for G’d,” without following this up by performing the commandments in the Torah that reflect this attribute, results in one’s losing even the theoretical, or “platonic” love of G’d. As soon as the Jewish people became aware that they had become an instrument for restoring one of the “sparks” to the Shechinah, they would re-erect the Tabernacle and make a point of observing the commandments associated with that attribute meticulously. As only Moses was on a level that enabled him to understand all these connections between the terrestrial world and its celestial counterpart, it was his task to erect the Tabernacle (each time). He thereby connected the appropriate sections in the appropriate manner.
Our sages in B’rachot 55 alluded to this when they said: Betzalel knew how to combine the letters of the holy tongue that had been used by G’d when He created the universe. This enabled Betzalel to fashion the various furnishings of the Tabernacle so that they reflected the attributes which we mentioned. According to the Talmud there the name בצלאל is a combination of the two words: בצל א-ל, “in the Lord’s shadow,” i.e. his soul must have been present when G’d created the universe and have absorbed the secret of how G’d had done so. Betzalel did not know, however, to which particular commandment in the Torah each one of the vessels he fashioned corresponded. It was therefore left for Moses himself to reveal the relationship between each vessel and utensil used in the Tabernacle and how it related to a particular commandment in the Torah. This is hinted at in the verse in Exodus 40,18 which describes Moses as erecting the Tabernacle. According to tradition, Betzalel and his helpers had vainly attempted to do this, and they had to call on Moses to do this. (Tanchuma yashan, 8) “Erecting” the Tabernacle, does not refer to the mere physical act of arranging all the boards, etc, in their proper order, but it is a term used to describe Moses as ensuring that the Tabernacle would fulfill the functions for which it had been made, i.e. to mirror Torah philosophy. The reason that the Tabernacle had to be completely dismantled each time the Israelites broke camp and had to be re-erected anew when they encamped was that their trek through the desert was intended to elevate the “sparks” that had fallen off the Shechinah, a task that would be accomplished in stages each time it was erected again. [The concept of these “sparks” has been discussed on pages 21-22. Ed.]
We know through the Baal Shem Tov how the spiritual elevations, עליות, of these “sparks, נצוצות, work. When these sparks come face to face with something of a mundane or secular nature, or even more so when they encounter something actually evil or sinful, they grasp the opportunity to serve their Creator. [If I have understood the concept correctly, it is based on every phenomenon in the universe containing an element of sanctity, קדושה, though it may be almost completely hidden. [The “fallen” sparks that once were part of the Shechinah, due to their sacred origin, are able to locate that element of Divinity within the phenomenon in question. They are able to utilize any of the Divine attributes they encounter and respond to it in kind, be it love, awe, harmony or any of the attributes of G’d. Ed.] When they do this they elevate the respective phenomenon to a higher spiritual level, i.e. it is a kind of repentance for their erstwhile negligence without which they would not have “fallen off” the main body of the Shechinah in the first place.
When the Tabernacle was dismantled, it had lost its cohesion to the various attributes of G’d, something that had been established when it had last been erected. By having dismantled the Tabernacle, the Israelites had contributed to the spiritual rehabilitation of these “sparks,” as they had been presented with an opportunity to elevate these phenomena to a higher spiritual niveau while they were “in limbo,” so to speak. The Israelites therefore were directly instrumental in “salvaging” part of the Shechinah. Seeing that during the period that the Tabernacle had been dismantled the holy attributes of G’d had had an opportunity to be used negatively, i.e. the attribute of love had been used to love that which is evil, or the attribute of harmony had been used to organise a rebellion against G’d, [as had been the case during the building of the Tower after the deluge, Ed.] the Israelites in the desert, where most of these “sparks” had taken refuge on earth, had become instrumental in contributing to the restoration of the Shechinah to its full glory.
If, after having established the connection with the Divine attribute contained within a phenomenon one does not exploit this good fortune and make this attribute part of one’s personality, one will forfeit all the benefits that one’s discovery had presented. The reason for this is that good attributes that remain in a vacuum are worse than good attributes never discovered. Possessing אהבת השם “a love for G’d,” without following this up by performing the commandments in the Torah that reflect this attribute, results in one’s losing even the theoretical, or “platonic” love of G’d. As soon as the Jewish people became aware that they had become an instrument for restoring one of the “sparks” to the Shechinah, they would re-erect the Tabernacle and make a point of observing the commandments associated with that attribute meticulously. As only Moses was on a level that enabled him to understand all these connections between the terrestrial world and its celestial counterpart, it was his task to erect the Tabernacle (each time). He thereby connected the appropriate sections in the appropriate manner.