Yair Rudick
Orayta
Parshat Pekudei is one of the most overlooked parshiot in the Torah; it is either tacked on to Veyakhel as a double parsha, and even if not, it seems repetitive in discussing the finer material points of the mishkan. But Pekudei actually has one of the most spiritually significant underlying messages in terms of our Avodat Hashem. Pekudei not only provides us with the means of Avodat Hashem, but the how as well.
The means of Avodat Hashem in this parsha is clearly the mishkan. But what exactly was the mishkan? What function did it serve? Some meforshim say that the Jewish people were given the mishkan because of cheit ha’eigel. When I first heard this I was dumbstruck. How could the mishkan come from something as distasteful as cheit ha’egel? To appreciate this we have to understand, at least on one level, what cheit ha’egel was.
Cheit ha’egel was a confused act of Bnei Yisrael who tried to create an intermediary between them and Hashem, instead of the direct relationship which they would’ve/might’ve had otherwise. As a result, they would never be able to directly serve Hashem; it would have to be through something else- through the mishkan. This is one of the most tragic things that has happened to the Jewish people. To an extent, we lost the ability to connect with Hashem directly, and instead we are forced to do so through a mishkan.
The mishkan, in fact, is a place of greater divine perception, meaning that from within the confines and acts of the mishkan we are able to bring ourselves to a greater perception of Hashem. One of my rabbis in Yeshiva gave a brilliant mashal to the mishkan and the subsequent Beit Hamikdash. He described the our connection to Hashem as a radio that has a clear transmission almost everywhere, but there are some places where there’s absolutely no static; where there is the clearest transmission. It’s not to say that we can’t experience Hashem in everything and in every moment, which we can of course – Hashem is within everything and in every moment, He is all of reality and more. But when one enters the Beit Hamikdash, one is able to increase his perception of the divine.
We now have the means of Avodat Hashem, but not the how. The how in Parshat Pekudei is on one hand hidden, but on the other extremely clear. It is hidden in the Choshen and in the Machatzit Ha’shekel that was collected for the mishkan. The Machatzit Ha’shekel represents the uniformity of Bnei Yisrael. No one member of Am Yisrael is different from the other; you are a Jew, whether you are a Kohen, from the tribe of Naphtali or even the kohen gadol himself. The Choshen represents individuality; within the Choshen there were twelve different stones, one corresponding to each tribe. If one of these stones was missing from the Choshen, then it wouldn’t be able to serve its function of having it answer questions posed to Hashem. Every single tribe had a different function to serve, and only when all twelve tribes served in unison could the Choshen work and they could connect to Hashem. But each individual within the tribe is also critical; whilst the tribes working together created the nation, the people working together created the tribes.
This can be seen as the Torah chooses to provide us with the distinct specifications of the Mishkan. At first glance this seems unnecessary; it’s inconceivable to think that we will ever build another Mishkan – we`re no longer in the desert, and have built two Batei Mikdash. The Torah provides us with the specifications to make this exact point. Different aspects of the Mishkan, such as the make of the incense, and the embroidery were known by specific families of Am Yisrael. It was only when the different families all contributed their secrets that the Mishkan could be fully utilized. So too with Am Yisrael; only when each member can learn to utilize each of his or her God given talents for the benefit and furtherance of Am Yisrael, can we truly be whole.
In a sense, it’s a dichotomy; on one hand there is no difference between each and every Jew, but on the other, Hashem specifically makes each stone on the Choshen a different color, representing the different and unique aspects of the tribes. However, these seemingly disparate ideas fit perfectly together. Often, when people think of themselves as individuals, they see themselves – and they see everyone else as separate from them. In reality that’s not what an individual is; that’s more or less an outcast. However, a healthier outlook would be someone who sees himself within the society, but at the same time contributes his unique aspects to society. The way in which Am Yisrael comes to a heightened perception of God is when they come together as an Am, where each individual contributes to the mishkan, with the higher perception of Hashem that was within him. So next time when you think of your relationship with the Jewish people, first of all see yourself as a Jew; then see yourself as a Jew with unique talents and abilities from Hashem. Then ask yourself what can I do to bring my people closer and to a higher perception of Hakadosh Baruch Hu.
