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At the end of this week’s Torah portion of Naso we find the biggest perek (7) in terms of pesukim in the Torah, where it discusses the dedication of the Mishkan. The seventh perek of Bamidbar begins: “It was on the day that Moshe finished erecting the Mishkan that he anointed it , sanctified it, and all its utensils, and the Altar and all its utensils, and he anointed and sanctified them.”
The Medrish Tanchuma (22) says in the name of Rebbe Yehoshua ben Levi: “Hashem made conditions with the Jews while they were still in Egypt. (1) He would only take them out on the condition they make a Mishkan, (2) and that His Shechina (Holy Presence) will rest upon them. As it is written ‘They shall know that I am Hashem, their G-D Who took them out of the land of Egypt to rest My Presence among them’ (Shemos 29:46). And once the Mishkan was assembled the Shechina came down and rested among them. At that moment all the conditions were fulfilled. That is why it writes ‘The Mishkan’ the fulfillment of the conditions that Hashem made, was fulfilled.” The Etz Yosef in the name of the Alshich explains how the medrish came up with this. “Why would Hashem make a physical and ugly world in this land? Rather it must be that the land wasn’t the main point, because who cares about the land? However the reason why Hashem ‘settled’ on the land was for the sake of mankind, since man’s soul is a part of Hashem, and by fulfilling Torah and mitzvos they merit and whiten themselves until they sit among Hashem, as it writes, ‘and they should know I am Hashem their G-D… to rest within them’ (Shemos 29:46). Within him it does not say, rather within them, because they are the palace of Hashem.” (Click here for Hebrew text.)
We have to try to understand or at least take a miniscule glance at Hashem’s perspective. What our mortal eyes see as gorgeous and amazing, like snowy mountaintops, sunsets, or crystal-clear blue oceans, or what’s attractive in our eyes, like gold and silver, are worthless and even ugly from His perspective. To He Who is purely spiritual and holy, the most beautiful, valuable, and exotic human palace, which the Mishkan or Beis Hamikdash was in our eyes, and for example all the gold and silver put into the mishkan or a cover made out of hide of some animal which only existed once, for the sake of using its hide for the Mishkan, is still considered of no value and ugly to Hashem. Therefore, it must be that Hashem only settled His Holy Presence among us for our sake, to encourage Torah and mitzvos, and to create as close of a relationship with us, as one can, with Hashem.
If one thinks about it, that is exactly what the Mishkan and Beis Hamikdash were all about – creating a closer relationship with Hashem. That is why people brought sin or guilt offerings for atonement if they distanced themselves from Him through sin; they would also bring thanksgiving and peace offering to bring themselves extra close to Hashem. The whole aura was of showing honor, respect, and love for Hashem. The singing of the Leviim, for example, and the Simchas Beis Hasho’eiva on Sukkos that had all the singing and dancing in Hashem’s honor. Indeed there were three times of the year where there was an obligation upon men to show up at the Beis Hamikdash and Mishkan, and there was a voluntary mitzvah for anyone to show up and be seen there at any time of the year. Once every 50 years for Hakhel there was also a mitzva for men, women, and children to show up and be inspired there. The Sanhedrin, the high court, also operated in the Beis Hamikdash. There were many awesome miracles as well. So we see that the entire essence of the Mishkan and the Beis Hamikdash was to encourage and motivate us to come closer to Hashem and create a close bond, that will eternally continue in The World To Come.
The Alshich, in the end of his commentary, points out that Hashem could have rested His Shechina inside each of us individually, but instead chose to do it in a more collective way. Why is this so? Why is this better? If an individual is a tzelem elokim, made in the image of Hashem, wouldn’t it make more sense for Hashem to have our souls reconnect with Him on an individual basis in this world instead of resting His Shechina on a building like the Mishkan and Beis Hamikdash?
We must say that there is a greater kavod Shem Shamayim, honor towards Hashem, when as a collective, we come together to be close with Him and His Shechina, rather than each individual being close to the Shechina. Therefore the Shechina rested in the Mishkan for everyone to gather around it to be a greater honor to Hashem than the Shechina resting in each individual. The greater show of honor for Hashem, the greater the respect, awe, and love one will feel towards Hashem, b’rov am hadras Melech; then the individual relationship with Hashem will be closer.
Nowadays, in our unfortunate state of exile, what this means for us is that we have to help each other come closer to Hashem, either by way of teaching others Torah or by sharing with others to help them perform mitzvos. By reaching out and working together to come close to Hashem, that creates a bigger kiddush Hashem and Kavod Shem Shamayim! This will in turn develop our personal relationship with Hashem, as the first chapter of MesilasYesharim says, is our ultimate goal.