Parashat Pekudei

by Rav Yosef Zvi Rimon 
Founder and Board Chairman, JobKatif

There is much discussion amongst the classic commentators around the seemingly superfluous repetition of details regarding the building of the Mishkan or tabernacle in parshiote Vayakhel and Pekudei.

The Ramban (Shemot 36) says this repetition occurs to emphasize G-d’s love for theMishkan. Still, He could have written about his love more explicitly, in a few sentences without having to repeat the exact same details. The answer is that G-d wants use to internalize the uniqueness of the Mishkan. We read the Torah every Shabbat. If all the details were focused into one parasha we would be finished with it and then move on to the next topic. This way we are focused on the Mishkan for four weeks.

When a person loves something he can’t stop thinking about it.  If a person loves his children the memory of them or a picture of them is not enough to satisfy him.  He wants to see them all the time. The fact that our parasha repeats itself is not so that we will know about the Mishkan better.  It is so we can internalize the Mishkan into our hearts better. It is not enough for the Torah to just tell us that G-d loves the Mishkan; we have to memorize the pasukim of the Mishkan so that it will nest into our hearts.

We can also explain the repetition with another idea. The Mishkan of parshiote Trumah and Tetzaveh is a G-dly one. It is the same Mishkan that Moshe saw at Mount Sinai. Parshiote Vayakhel and Pekudei speak about the execution of the building itself, the humanMishkan, the one that the nation of Israel built. Therefore the Torah repeats the details because these two pairs of parshiote are speaking about two different Mishkans entirely. One is the heavenly Mishkan and the other is the mortal one.

Which is the greater tabernacle? Clearly the G-dly one, a heavenly structure will always be more perfect then a physical one. However, there is something interesting written about the mortal Mishkan.

“…Moshe finished the work. Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of G-d filled the tabernacle.”(Shemot 40:33-34)

This pasuke is speaking about the mortal act which compared to a Godly act is lower butthis is precisely what G-d wanted. He wanted our efforts and our investment. The Shchina specifically rests in the mortal tabernacle.

Thanks to the efforts to build the Mishkan and its vessels by the hands of the nation of Israel, G-d gave them the incredible understanding of how to bringthe Shechina into this world.

Shabbat Shalom!