EXODUS XXV:1-XXVII:19

LINKING UP WITH MOUNT SINAI

As is well known, the episode of the bestowal of the AseretHaDibrot (Ten Commandments), or rather, the Ten Words, a term used in the biblical text, is followed by the elaboration of an Egel Hazahav, the golden calf that was identified as the God of the Hebrew people or, perhaps, as the substitute for Moshe(Moses), who had not returned from Mount Sinai and who was assumed to have disappeared or died.

The epiphany that occurred at Mount Sinai is shrouded in mystery. Divine revelation, God’s direct communication with the people, is an event that does not allow for the usual analysis because it defies the canons of experience. The event does not have a date nor is it the occasion for a special celebration in the Torah. On a later date, the Talmud will associate this revelation with the celebration of Shavuot, a holiday that has an agricultural significance, just like the other 2 holidays that together make up the Shalosh Regalim: Pesach (Passover) and Sukkot (Tabernacles).

In fact, in the Talmud there is a discussion about the exact date of Shavuot and not everyone agrees with the accepted one, which is the 6th day of Sivan. Even the Hebrews’ response, “Na’aseh venishma,” their willingness to “fulfill even before listening,” implies that it was a singular event. According to the Midrash (compendium of oral traditions), God raised the mountain above the Hebrew people and warned them that He would drop Sinai on their heads if they did not commit to the fulfillment of what is written in the Torah.

For many additional reasons, the revelation at Mount Sinai is the event that will qualify and define the nature of the Hebrews for all time. However, it must be realized that the revelation was temporary, it took place on a certain date of the calendar and was surely followed by a period of discouragement, because ecstasy cannot be sustained over time with the same intensity.

Mount Sinai demanded a sequel, an evolution of worship, because it had to answer how communication with the Creator could be kept alive. The answer was the construction of theMishkan, the Tabernacle that was erected in the desert and accompanied the Hebrew people during their long journey, and which later served as a model for the Beit HaMikdash built by King Salomon.

The argument that the Mishkan was a response to the EgelHazahav should not be ignored. In other words, the people needed a specific element for their worship. The notion of a Supreme Being invisible to the eye, incomprehensible to the intellect of man, who on many occasions did not comprehend Divine Justice, produced the mandate for the construction of the Mishkan, in such a way that the Mishkan becomes a concession to the man who cannot conceive of a Supreme Being unrepresentable in the physical world.

Without denying the validity of this argument that offers a specific explanation of the Mishkan, we are rather inclined to a different understanding of its meaning. The event at Sinai, which was unrepeatable, was an avenue for a continuous and fluid communication with God, converted the Mishkan with its the daily and constant worship a channel for the expression of man’s relationship with his God. The offering of the sacrifice that will be made in the Beit HaMikdash will be the vehicle that will forge a bridge with God, an element that after the destruction of the Beit HaMikdash is manifested through prayer, the daily and constant Tefillah (prayer).

Should the Beit HaMikdash be rebuilt? This wish is part of the daily prayers in which we ask for it. However, contemporary man cannot easily assimilate the notion of worship of God that expresses itself through animal sacrifice. When this question was posed to Rav HaRashi Kook of Israel, he opined that the rebuilding of the Beit HaMikdash needed direct Divine intervention. There were so many insurmountable obstacles that without God’s help a new Beit HaMikdash could not be erected on the only suitable site for it, which is now occupied by a mosque. 

According to Kook, the same God who will facilitate the third Beit HaMikdash will simultaneously enlighten us in such a way that our contemporary mind will be able to understand the meaning of the sacrifices, the Korbanot for our generation and those of the future.

MITZVAH: ORDINANCE OF THE TORAH IN THIS PARSHA

CONTAINS 2 POSITIVE MITSVOT AND 1 PROHIBITION

95. Exodus 25:8 Building the Beit HaMikdash (Holy Temple).

96. Exodus 25:15 Do not remove the rods from the Ark.

97. Exodus 25:30 Fixing the showbread (lechem hapanim) and incense.