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"Not what you had in mind"
Parashat Truma
Rav Ori Lifshitz
In Parashat Truma we begin to read the commandments surrounding the building of
the Mishkan. The Sages were very concerned with the seemingly paradoxical task of
building a sanctuary that can possibly contain the infinity of God, and offered a
variety of explanations to the conceptual difficulty of the command to build the
Mishkan. Through the Midrash we will attempt to better understand the different
meanings that can shed light on the relationship between the human religious act and
its desired address - the Devine infinity that is God.
A. According to their strength
Rabbi Yehuda Bar Simon stated in the name of Rabbi Yohanan. "This is one
of three things that Moshe heard from the mouth of the Lord and was taken
aback… when he said to him 'And let them make Me a sanctuary' (Exodus
25:8) Moshe said to God 'behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot
contain Thee' (1 Kings 8:27) and it is also written 'Do not I fill heaven and
earth?' (Jeremiah 23:24) and it is also written 'Heaven is My throne, and the
earth is My footstool' (Isaiah 66:1) is it possible for us to make him a
sanctuary? Said the Lord to Moshe, I do not request it according to my
strength, but according to their ability, as it is written ' And you make the
tabernacle with ten curtains' (Exodus 26:1) , once Israel heard this they stood
and willfully volunteered and made the tabernacle and once they made the
tabernacle it was filled with his glory. [Tanhuma Naso 18]
The Midrash places the question in the mouth of Moshe - "is it possible for us to make
him a sanctuary?" according to the Midrash, God's reaction confirms the infinite gap
between divinity and humanity and does not even pretend to try to bridge it. Moshe is
not mistaken, the divine truly cannot be contained in human constructs, and the reality
of the Mishkan is only 'according to their strength'. From the divine perspective the
Mishkan has no actual significance. It is only the human perspective that grasps the
limited Mishkan as the place of Gods Shechina - his presence, and it is this
perspective only that the commandment relates to. The Midrash describes the
willingness of Israel to volunteer, in light of God's response. This teaches us the great
sense of freedom a person experiences when he realizes that his performance of
religious acts is not an attempt to capture the infinity of God in human constructs. It is
just a "taste" of it on our level, a taste that creates a strong will to participate in this
type of relationship with his creator.
The end of the Midrash can be read as the opposing side of the same relationship. God
is well aware that he cannot reside within human constructs, but in response to the
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human "voluntary" gesture, he answers with his own gesture, "giving up" his infinity
so that he can fill the Mishkan with his glory, in accordance with Israel's ability to
build the Mishkan.
B. Mirrors whirlwinds and hair.
In contrast to the humanistic position of the previous Midrash, Rabbi Meir in Bereshit
Rabbah offers a different approach:
A Samaritan asked Rabbi Meir… he said to him" is it really possible that he
concerning whom it is written ''do I not fill the heaven and the earth
"(Jeremiah 23:24) should have talked with Moshe from between the two horns
of the ark?"
He said to him bring me a convex mirror, which makes things look large. He
handed him a convex mirror. He said to him look at your reflection. He saw
that it was larger. Now bring me a concave mirror, which makes things look
small. He handed him a concave mirror. He said to him look at your reflection.
He saw that it was smaller. He said to him if you, a mere mortal, can change
your appearance however you will, he who spoke and brought the world into
being - how much the more so! One must therefore say that, when he wills, is
it not the case that 'do I not fill the heaven and the earth?' but when he wills, he
may speak to Moshe from between the horns of the ark.
Rabbi Anya Bar Sussai said there are moments in which the world and all that
is in it cannot hold his glory, and there are moments when he speaks with a
human being from among the hairs of his head, as is said in the following
verse: 'Then the lord answered Job from the storm' (Job 38:1) [the word for
storm - seara, can be read 'the hair', meaning that he spoke with him] from
among the hairs of his head.
Rabbi Meir's method of dealing with the difficulty is by placing a mirror in front of
the Samaritan. This placing of the mirror accentuates the gap that exists in a persons
life between the essence of "who I am" and the question of "what I look like". The
Samaritan knows (and sees, of course), that the way he is perceived outwardly doesn't
necessarily reflect who and what he is. In this manner Rabbi Meir resolves the
difficulty of the divine revelation in the Mishkan. God can reveal himself in the
Mishkan to whatever extent that he wishes, he chooses the manner in which he will be
revealed in the world, and bewilderment at this presence is equal to denial of the
ability imbedded in the world, to represent one same object in many different ways.
The religious world, according to Rabbi Meir, is only one such manner of
representing God. It is not the "actuality" or "reality" of God himself. This is not a
case of our human mind's perception, 'according to their ability', but rather focusing
our attention on the reflection of infinity in the mirror of this world.
In the second part of the Midrash, Rabbi Anya takes a step back, and undermines the
question itself. The meaning of the infinity of God simultaneously contains within
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itself the ability to be finite and infinite. The Samaritan question is asked from the
viewpoint of the finite human tools of perception. It is similar to the famous riddle,
"can god create a boulder that he cannot lift?" Rabbi Anya's answer is far-reaching with regard to infinity such a question is meaningless. The greatness of God is such
that he can decide to be infinite and furthermore – he can decide to be finite, even
revealing himself from the hairs of Jobs head.
According to Rabbi Anya, raising the question of the significance of the religious
world and its relation to God himself is in itself a result of our own narrow perception
of the world our limited idea of God. If we can free ourselves from these limitations,
then our encounter with the word of God (whether from within the storm or from
between our hairs, there is no difference…) will be as extensive as possible, as it was
in the Mishkan.
Another Midrash, the Psikta can be explained in a similar manner.
When God said 'And let them make Me a sanctuary' (Exodus 25:8) Moshe said
before the Lord heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain Thee, and you
say let them make Me a sanctuary? Said God to Moshe, Moshe not what you
had in mind, rather twenty planks in the north and twenty planks in the south
and eight planks in the west and I shall come down and limit my [Shechina]
presence amongst you there. As it is written 'And there I will meet with thee'
[Exodus 25:22]
God answers Moshe simply- "not what you had in mind". I have news for you. God's
actions are not confined to human restrictions, according to which the Mishkan is a
reduction of the Shechina. On the contrary, I will come down and restrict my presence
down there, in the Mishkan, amongst you.
C. To receive a reword
And let them make Me a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them. [Exodus
25:8] why was this said, has it not already been written 'do I not fill the heaven
and the earth' (Jeremiah 23:24) then what is to be learned from the words 'And
let them make Me a sanctuary'- in order to receive reward for the making.
[Mechilta De'Rashbi]
The Mechilta's answer takes us back to the human perception of the act of Mitzvot,
God's commandments, but in a different way to the first position of "according to
their strength". The statement "in order to receive reward", points to the fact that in
respect to infinity human religious acts are insignificant. The only significance they
can possibly have is in the reward they entail. The realm of reward is tied to Olam
Haba - the next world. Speaking in these terms is speaking of a different, future
world, disconnected from this one, in a way beyond our comprehension. In a sense, it
is possible to say that it is specifically the lack of significance of the Mishkan that
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makes it a fitting means of receiving reward. The stripping of the religious act from its
human meaning and placing it in the realm of promised reward, is actually the only
possible way to be worthy of reward.
This Midrash continues with the story of Shabbat in Yavne, a story that allows us to
read the reward and the significance of the religious act in a slightly different way:
The students had been staying during Shabbat in Yavne and Rabbi Yehoshua
was not there and when they cam to him he said: What did you do in Yavne?
They said to him: Rabbi, after you. He said to them: And who spent Shabbat
with you in Yavne? And they said Rabbi Elazar Ben Azariya. He said to them:
Is it possible that R Elazar Ben Azariya spent Shabbat with you and nothing
new was said? And they said: Rabbi, this he expounded to us: 'You are
standing this day all of you before the Lord your God… your little ones, your
wives' [Deuteronomy 29:9-19] and can the little ones differentiate between
right and wrong? Rather this was to give reward to those who brought them…
The meaning of the bringing of the children to the making of the covenant with God
goes far beyond the simple understanding of "reward to those who brought them".
The parent who brings along his child to such an event is rewarded educationally.
Even if the young children cannot tell right from wrong, the actual gathering together,
the faith, fear and power that accompany this event are engraved in their hearts and a
permanent impression remains on his inner religious world.
This perhaps might explain the meaning of the reward given to the builders of the
Mishkan. The reward is not only in the world to come, but it is also in the educational
field, in the influence of the existence of a temple in this world, a temple that even if it
is devoid of significance with regard to the actual divine presence, it still has an
amazing affect on the education of children and the moral life of both child and adult,
in itself is the reward given to its builders.