BibleThemes - TerumahTetzaveh mishkan shabbos

Trumah/Tetzaveh:

UNEDITED

Parsha: Topics

Why 2 kruvim not one?
"Keep shabbat by refraining from mlachot haMishkan" is a blatant non-sequitar
Did God command the same mlachot for making the mishkan as were used for creating the world?
"Asher boro elokim la’asos": what is "la’asos"?
God's reason for taking us out of mitzrayim is "leshochni besocham".
Three "kelim" for Hashem's spiritual interaction with the physical

.............Adar/Purim..............

* See: My videos re Purim & the megillah

Also: https://sites.google.com/nyu.edu/yosefpurimmegillah/home

Sketchy notes re a video of R Shlomo Carlebach re Purim

The Torah's prescription for how to hear God's voice

Why kruvim (cherubs) on the ark, why facing each other, why two not one, why did God's voice emanate from between the two?

Near the beginning of this week's Torah portion God says "they will build me a temple and I will dwell within them". Right after that, God describes the main part of the (mini-)temple, the ark, in which were the two tablets, and on top of which were the two kruvim. Why are they here?

Perhaps we can better understand if we look at where else in the Torah they are mentioned.

Humanity was made to exit the Garden of Eden NOT because they ate from the tree of knowledge; the Torah states the reason explicitly as "lest the humans eat from the Tree of Life". A very significant difference! And two kruvim were placed to protect the way to the Garden and its tree of life. So are being denied Life? God forbid! After eating from the tree of knowledge humanity entered a different phase and were given God's commandments as a guide to Life. At Sinai God gave the Jewish People the Torah which is called "the tree of life" (Proverbs 3:18).

The Torah , the Tree of Life, is encapsulated in the tablets given by God, and there were two kruvim protecting the aron (ark), which contained the luchos (tablets) just as two kruvim protected the way to the Edenic tree of life.

The kruvim protected the Garden, lest Humanity eat from the Tree of Life in the Garden instead of the alternate tree of life which God gave as more appropriate to the post-edenic state incurred by eating of the tree of knowledge. The kruvim were posted on the ark which was the main part of the holy of holies, somewhat like the Garden of Eden in that it was forbidden to enter except for the high priest after purification, and only once a year on Yom Kippur, asking for God's assistance in returning to God ('teshuva'), where Yom Kippur was itself instituted after the events of Eden. Entering the holy of holies to the ark of the tablets Just as humanity will re-enter the Garden when fully purified, fully returned to holiness.

The Torah describes how God spoke to Moshe Rabbenu (our teacher Moses) via a voice coming from between the two kruvim. (See the last pasuk of the parsha). Why from the kruvim and not from the aron or the tablets, and why between the two? And the Torah specifies that the kruvim were face to face. Why?

Perhaps there are two kruvim because there are two luchos (tablets). Perhap God's voice is heard between the two kruvim because that means via seeing and internalizing and acting on the connection between the two tablets, the subtext in the "white space" between the two, ie understanding how to see one set of the 5 dibros ('words' = "commandments") in terms of the other (ie understanding that the commandmnets relating to God are reflections of those related to human-interaction, since humanity is created in the image of God and each human is a sort of encapsulation of the divine spirit as I explained for parshat Yitro).

May we be blessed to internalize the message of the interconnection of the two tablets, and relate to all humans as the image of God and repository of God's "ruach" (spirit), and thereby be able to hear the voice of God, 'emanating from the space between the two tablets', 'from between the two kruvim facing each other', kruvim which are 'protecting' (keeping available to us when approached appropriately, and serving as a signpost to) the path to the tree of life/Torah-tablets.

(Question: Why two kruvim at Gan Eden? not for the two trees since the whole point is that they were there "lishmor et derech etz hachayim".).

...

Veshachanti Betocham: God/Universe/Human/Mishkan

Although the physical and spiritual are different, and the spiritual cannot be ‘located in’ something physical, there is nevertheless an association of the two (mind/body problem)

· The universe is a physical entity housing God’s presence
· The human body is a physical construct housing the soul, an aspect of the divine.
· The mishkan is a physical construct housing God’s presence: or more precisely, allowing for the presence of God to connect with that aspect of God’s presence which is ‘inside’ us (is our sessence).

Kruvim, veshachanti betocham, all humans are hashem's ruach etc

Drush on/interpretation of: Veshachanti Besocham:

Seems paradioxical but God can dwell in the physical, in the universe of time and space, and in a human ('vayipach...'). This was symbolized by etzba elokim writing the luchos, the 'letters' were not physical. This is why the aron carreid itdelf (binso'a ha;aron), and when BY heard only 'anochi' it was enough to have them feel anochi inside them, resonatingin the ruach of hashem that is their essence, and since klal yisrael had high nevuah then and was 'am' (one), this let them feel each other, that every individual is tzelmen elokim, is at essence ruach of hashem.

A human is a kli continaing ruach of God, and when we walk it is actually the ruach carrying us like the aron, not our legs carrrying us. The luchos had one for bein odom lechavero, carved with etzba elokim,opposie the bein odom lamakom, so at sinai we felt the parallel when we heard anochi.

The kruvim were not physical and couldnot be made accoridng to a blueprint, so it was necessary to show it to MR in a vision ["mor'om" bahar (God says to build all according to what was shown to M"R etc at Sinai], and specifically at har sinai, where they all saw sounds etc, and realized that the reality was not as it seemed to be..

Kruvim were stationed to protect etz hachayim in gan eden, and that is the luchos, etz chayim hi, and so the aron was not fully physical .... and the idea of seeing the aron carry itself, and of being in the mikdosh at which 'veshachanti betocham' is that we all then feel that every human is image of god, can be a vessel containing hashem's ruach just like luchos can contian god's handwriting and aron and kruvim seem physical but aren.t, so too a human being.

........

mishkan & gan eden, etz chayim:

Three kelim for Hashem's spiritual interaction with the physical:

phy'l un which is filled with shechinah (creation account);
human which is Hs ruach (Gan Eden account)
kodshei kodshim/mishkan which has H's presence - in the people there

There's a close connection between mishkan/KK & gan eden

6 days to set up mishkan, then 7th they rested, this is like creaiton accuont.

and then H;s glory filled the mishkan, this is like vayipach in gan eden.

[tree of life became torah, the luchot ha'edut = mishkan which is called in this parsha several times 'mishkan ha'edut'.]

Etz chayim in the center of gan eden, had kruvin to protect it, mishkan had kk in center, had kruvim to protect it.

Etz hadaas and hachayim were two supernatural entities in a semeinlgy physial setting, so two the two luchos, written be etzba eokim, and this was the content of thr aron, which was in the kk in the center of the mishkan (Bet hamikdash). Both were 'guardded' by kruvimm.

humans forbdden to reenter, we enter eden only after death,

Mishkan/kk all forbdden ,except on YK, and only kohen gadol.

interior of k k and aron wer beyond laws of nature, inteiror was larger than the exterior.

we were banished from Eden, why? Not bec we ate of etz haddat! but bec lest we eat frm the etz hacahyim! But if so, why have an etx hachayim, Ans: it was supposed to bbe eaten later, etc, and no good aftr eating etz haddaat etc, nd instead of it we were given the torh, which accoridnt to the great mekubel dovid hamelech is an et chayim {Mishlei ch 4?).

Purpose of creation that is recounted in the creation account was to be in gan eden, but after eating etz haddat the way to eden is after life, and the path to it is via the torah (ramchal), so the kruvim protect the way, derech etz hachayim = derech Hashem, , the torah way

we should be blessed to all merit having the benefit of the torah path to eden...

...

I thought I may have come up with the above but I see it also appears here:

https://www.alephbeta.org/course/lecture/terumah-angels-in-t

https://www.alephbeta.org/course/lecture/tetzaveh-2016-5776http://www.tanach.org/shmot/vayak.txt http://etzion.org.il/vbm/english/parsha.64/19teruma.htmhttps://moderntoraleadership.wordpress.com/2016/03/10/mishkan-and-midrash/http://etzion.org.il/vbm/english/alei/14-10eisenberg-ganeden.htmhttp://etzion.org.il/vbm/english/parsha.64/19teruma.htmhttp://www.tanach.org/shmot/pkud/shiur1.htm

parallel of gan eden and the encampment of b yisrael.

(Ramban makes parallel of encampment to situaiton at Har Sinai)

So the etz haddat is in the center of the garden and the luchot are in the center of the encampment.

And the leviim are arrayed about it to protect the people from touching it and dying, similar to kruvim protecting gan eden. Lahat cherev hamithapechet = fire which killed sons of Aharon etc.

Holiness can be dangerous, Kabbalistic truths can mislead. 'Anochi' heard at Sinai almost killed everyone; the luchot were shattered;

Tribes have separate individual roles, when all do as should it is good, other wise problems, if no leviim then people go to touch mishkan and die. And all naitons have their riles and their messengers/prophets, when all do as their role, it is good for all humanity.

In Gan Eden Adam was frightened of God's voice, and we were frightened at Sinai, could stand only heairng 'anochi'.

VOice comes thrugh keruvim to MR, just as we begger MR to transmit the 10 commandments. My speculaiton: on shvuos night we can hear the anochi again, if we prepare 3 days hagbala, and 49 days sefira.

Question: Since the whole idea of shabbos rests on the 6 days of creation, is it necessary to interpret the 6 days of creation literally?

Connection between shabbos and yetziat mitzrayim:

Imagine if the Torah had not included the creation account, no mention of 6 days, for example if the Torah only said: God designed and created the universe, and made sure it produced humans and other life." And then it went right into the Adam and Eve story. Or if it had the creation account but without the phrases about "and it was evening and it was morning", "one day, second day, third day" etc (and without reference to the six days later on in the Torah).

Other possibilities:

· if the creation mentioned in the Torah was instant, as one might have expected from an infinitely-powerful creating God.

· if the creation account spoke of creation in 6 days, but had no reference to God resting;

· if there was no creation account included in the Torah;

· if there was mention of God resting after creation but there was no mention of the Jewish People having to rest because God rested.

Since Shabbos observance is separately mandated in order to commemorate the exodus from Egypt ('zecher leyitziat mitzrayim'), we would still have shabbos

The commandment to keep shabbos was given only after yetziat mitzrayim. Ie one might have thought that such a key concept would have been given to Avraham etc. So this can perhaps be taken as implying that the institution of shabbos is due to the experience in mizrayim, but that it is on the sixth day because of the creation. So even without the story of the 6 days of creation, we would know of Shabbat, just that there would be no reason to have it on the 7th day, maybe we'd have it annually, or once a month.

Alternately, if the Torah would say ‘rest on the seventh day because you were slaves in Egypt’ we would know to rest on the seventh day but it would be a non-sequitar. Of course in any case the whole concept is a non-sequitar as we pointed out above, and also for other reasons: just because God rested, we have to rest? What is the connection? And why would it take God 6 days to create the universe?

Did God create the universe in 6 days?: To be precise: We don’t know that God created the universe “in six days” , what we know is that the creation account which God told Moses to write in the Torah describes a creation taking 6 days; and much later on in the Torah, and later on in history, a rest day is decreed for every seventh day.

An all-powerful being need not rest, and a being who created time is not bound by it: if we interpret the 6 days, and the 'resting' totally allegorically, as would befit a God who is not physical and is beyond time, we could still have shabbos because of the separate commandment regarding shabbos as a reminder of the end of slavery in Egypt.]

A Reverse Interpretation: In this view, Jews are to refrain from doing the mlachot hamishkan on the seventh day because these were the mlachot used for creation. However we can offer a reverse interpretation: God created the universe “in six days” because the bnei yisrael would later create the mishkan in six days: "sof ma’aseh bemachshava tchila".

The completion of the mishkan may have been before the creation account was given to Moses - so the creation account was designed to fit the recent events of the building of the mishkan, and that was no surprise to those who knew that the mlachot which were to be rested from on shabbat were those which had been used not much before in establishing the mishkan. Alternatively, God created the universe in 6 days because that's how long it would take for the Jewish people to build the mishkan; after completing the mishkan they rested on the seventh day and so that is what it means that God 'rested' from creation and that's why the Jewish people were commanded to have shabbos on the seventh day..

Based on this we could say that if not for the story of the 6 days of creation and God resting after it, if we were commanded to keep shabbos to commemorate creation, we could still know to keep shabbos on the seventh day. Since the malchot to rest from on shabbos are those of the building of the mishkan, since the mishkan took 6 days to build, and they rested on the 7th day (parshas Truma), we would learn that so too God created the universe in six days and rested on the 7th.

…….….

אולי 'שמים' הינו החלק הרוחני שבעולם הנבראים דהיינו המשכן וארץ הינו שאר הברואים החומריים

ואז בריאת העולם והמשכן נעשו באותו זמן על ידי אותן המלאכות. ומכאן אם ה' צווה לבני ישראל לבנות את המשכן באותו צורה שה' ברא אותו אזי מלאכות המשכן הם מלאכות בריאת שמים וארץ ובשבת בו שבת ה' ממלאכות שמים וארץ שובתים בני ישראל ממלאכות בריאת העולם מלאכות בנית המשכן.

[The idea of a rest day is original, and has to do with Yetziat Mitzrayim, and the idea of a seven day cycle is a special invention, not a natural period like day/month/year. ]

…..

Asher boro elokim la’asos: what is la’asos?

Shabbos is tachlis ma’aseh shamayim va’aretz, so God made the world for shabbos.

Seach emails "chumash terumah", "chumash tetzaveh", "chumash ki tisa"

Said at Machlis: based on old vorts: I didn;t mention the parallel of gan eden and mishkan/mikdash

Pesach coming up, Important to know not just how to keep pesach, what happended, but also why:

H says in parsha that the reaosn for taking out of mitzrayim is "leshochni besocham".

Where? In miskan/Mikdash. How is it possible? Two aspects: 1. we are the appropriate kli, tzelem elokim and vayipach so we have the potential, and 2. the mishkan is configured around the aron at center, the luchos, ksuuvim be etzba elokim

Why in mishkan can we receive shchinah, veshochanti besocham, have hitvaadut with H? Because purpose of creation and of humanity is closeness to H, it is after-life , and the preparation is via the Torah way during lifetime. The Torah is the luchos, so humans coming to mishkan (centered aorund the luchos) are infused with the shchinah.

And 'here in Ylm' near the Bet hamikdash, we should be blessed to ...

....

Also (not said publicly, said only to R Machlis):

Connecting 'ohel mo'ed' 've'no'adeti' & 'edut':

mishkan ha'edut is for hitvaadut, the luchos are the edut bec we were gathered at har sinai and heard H's dvorim, this is hitva'adut, and the mo'adim are times set aside for us to be together with H, especially to aliyah laregel to mikdash. And the hitvaadut on moed is in the place where the 'edut' is kept.

.....................END of Commentary for this week...........................

chumash tetzaveh, psukim of interest, not vorts

Interesting key-words:

zach, cavod, tif'eret, chochmo , kedusha
lev, ruach,
God-Human connection: venikdash bekvodi, lishkon betoch (leshochni besocham), ivo'ed lecha/ veno'adeti, ledaber elecha shom,

27:20 shemn zayis zach, 28:2 lechavod uletif'eret (related ot need for purity like zach?)

28:3 chachmei lev asher milesiv ruach chochmah

9: shmos bney yisrael , but it means shmos shivtei yisrael, how come it uses this term?

is there a reason given for listing the 12 name sof the tribes (of course we know from medrash etc )

21 & 29

30 is the urim vetumim spearate from the above?

.....

29:35 shiv'as yamim

29: 42-46 ledaber elecha shom, veno'adeti shomo.... venikdash bechvodi...etc.. veshochanti btoch bney yisroel....asher hotzeysi osam meretz mitzrayim leshochni besocham...

30:6 asher ivo'ed lecha shomo

.....

29:46: Here is a reason for taking out of egypt:asher hotzeysi osam meretz mitzrayim leshochni besocham...

And this is a reason for the ritual: they should KNOW: veYod'u ki ani.......asher hotzeysi osam meretz mitzrayim leshochni besocham...

...

30:10 the kodesh kodoshim and aharon on YK.

...

In vaeschanan M”R repeats the aseres hadibros, and in this telling it has:

יא שָׁמוֹר אֶת-יוֹם הַשַּׁבָּת, לְקַדְּשׁוֹ, כַּאֲשֶׁר צִוְּךָ, יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ. יב שֵׁשֶׁת יָמִים תַּעֲבֹד, וְעָשִׂיתָ כָּל-מְלַאכְתֶּךָ. יג וְיוֹם, הַשְּׁבִיעִי--שַׁבָּת, לַיהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ: לֹא תַעֲשֶׂה כָל-מְלָאכָה אַתָּה וּבִנְךָ-וּבִתֶּךָ וְעַבְדְּךָ-וַאֲמָתֶךָ וְשׁוֹרְךָ וַחֲמֹרְךָ וְכָל-בְּהֶמְתֶּךָ, וְגֵרְךָ אֲשֶׁר בִּשְׁעָרֶיךָ--לְמַעַן יָנוּחַ עַבְדְּךָ וַאֲמָתְךָ, כָּמוֹךָ. יד וְזָכַרְתָּ, כִּי עֶבֶד הָיִיתָ בְּאֶרֶץ מִצְרַיִם, וַיֹּצִאֲךָ יְה אֱלֹהֶיךָ מִשָּׁם, בְּיָד חֲזָקָה וּבִזְרֹעַ נְטוּיָה; עַל-כֵּן, צִוְּךָ יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ, לַעֲשׂוֹת, אֶת-יוֹם הַשַּׁבָּת.

So this is also another case of ‘al ken’, the second re shabbos (al ken berach). So if al ken is ‘despite’, Why ‘despite this’? maybe because it seems like a prelude to a command re pesach?

Actually though, the al ken should be before ‘lo ta’aseh kol melocho’ because that is a non-seuitar!