Tetzaveh

FB 2024, edited 2025

WE are the resting place for the divine Presence.

All humans are in essence God's spirit/breath, as described in Genesis. However in this week's portion, God reveals the reason God took the Jewish People out of Egypt (and the purpose of the mishkan/'tabernacle'): namely "to dwell in them/among them"(Exodus 29:45-6). 

[We can interpret this as meaning to dwell among them while they are building the mishkan, or always as long as there is a mishkan, but the usual inteprretation is to dwell among those who are in the mishkan.]

In other words the mishkan is a mechanism enabling the maximal expression of the divine presence, in the assembled beings who are at their essence God's spirit/breath. 

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The mishkan's function is as a conduit, catalyst, lightening-rod to channel God's presence - not into the mishkan but rather into the people assembled there!

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The non-physicality in the physical ark: A physical human body has associated to it a non-physical soul. And at the center of the mishkan was the ark, containing the tablets, the Torah which is the "Tree of Life" - the second tablets, and the pieces of the shattered first tablets "written by God's finger", unphysically able to manifest its words from both sides - and it was this which enabled the mishkan to be a spiritual energy-vortex despite the fact that it was not located in a specific holy place eg the Temple mount  but rather wandered from place to place. And the holy of holies where it was kept is said to have an inner width thwas larger than its outer widht - again a manifestaiton of non-physicality among the physical. And according to Tradition when the Jewish People were keeping the Torah, the cherubs at the top of the ark ('guarding the Torah') could turn towards each other , and so were non-physical entities though built from physical material.

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The Jewish mystics explain that the purpose of the creation and of the existence of humanity is the joy achieved by them via closeness to God, especially when the soul is eventually free of the body, after a lifetime lived according to the Torah, which was the soul's mechanism for attaining the requisite initial closeness while in the physical body. Similarly: The Torah is is embodied in the tablets "written by God's finger", and when coming to the mishkan - centered around these tablets - we can be maximally infused with the divine presence. 

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The Torah relates the process whereby the mishkan was inaugurated.

Think in analogy of a nuclear reactor releasing tremendous energies but in a harnessed useful manner (rather than uncontroled as in a bomb), a very complex intricate sophisticated device, all rendered operational by inserting the core, the fuel, the rod of uranium/plutionium etc, after which it is ready for its appointed task of generating energy.

Think of a supercomputer, full of arcane sophisticated mechanisms, all rendered operational by installing the software, the operating system, after which it is ready for its task.

Similarly regarding the 'activation' of the mishkan (tabernacle) as recounted in this week's portion - .

The heavenly spiritual-level mechanism is reflected in the structure of the mishkan and its 'furnishings', and the intricate priestly garments described in this week's portion (see the Traditional teachings about this), and of course the tablets at the center - and it is all rendered 'operational' by the 7-day "sanctification process" described in detail in this week's portion, after which it will be ready to serve its purpose, when the people - whose essence ('soul') is the spirit/breath of God - enter, and open themselves to God, together, at which point God's spirit enters them individually/collectively.

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Conclusion: Since all humans are/have at their essence God's spirit/breath we can always have God's presence within us even if there is no mishkan/Temple, however the degree of spiritual infusion is maximized when all the people are gathered and join together - as during the three major festivals - and open their hearts as one, in the mishkan/Temple in Jerusalem.

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May we all be blessed to make our bodies into a mishkan (listen to the beautiful song 'bilvavi mishkan evneh'), to attach to the Torah and to treat all humans as appropriate for an embodiment of the divine 'breath', to merit the joy of cleaving unto God as described by the mystics, and to rejoice along with all humanity when the Temple is re-established in Yerushalayim (Jerusalem), in an era of peace and human-togetherness with - as described by the prophets in the Torah - all nations living near and far recognizing the Temple for what it is, and coming to worship and give praise to God.