In this week’s Parsha, we are given a full accounting of the Mishkan and it’s utensils. But why the need for an accounting? Some sages in the Midrash state that it was based on the complaints of a few disgruntled Israelites who accused Moses of enriching himself from the collection of gold and silver and other precious metals. However, Moses’s integrity was beyond reproach. We just learned in last week’s Parsha that when they collected enough gold and silver, Moses made a call to stop the fundraising. As Rabbi Meir Hager noted in his last week’s Sabbath eve Torah discourse, Moses’ fundraising was a record maker as it was the first and perhaps the last fundraiser that the people were told that enough donations were collected. How many times have we ever heard that an organization requesting donations or charity collected enough money? Perhaps only in our Torah. Moreover, we also see the integrity of Moses in the name of G-d’s dwelling place, the משכן Mishkan. If we rearrange the letters of המשכן , it can be read as משה כן , Moshe Kein, or Moses is correct. Indeed, according to the Midrash, that is exactly what the people said after the count was over. The Torah continues on and recounts the building of the Mishkan. According to Talmud Shabbos 73a, the Mishkan was built with 39 categories of labor. It is these 39 labors that are actually forbidden to perform on the Sabbath. In fact, Rashi states that the building of the Mishkan does not override the Sabbath as we see in the last Parsha, Vayakheil, the Sabbath is mentioned first and after that the details of the Mishkan are given (See Rashi at Exodus 35:2).
G-d’s Divine presence dwelled in the Mishkan as the root term of Mishkan שכן, literally means to dwell. Likewise, as we commemorate the creation of the universe and our departure from Egypt by the Hand of G-d on a weekly basis, the Sabbath plays a special role in our lives as it brings to us in our minds and hearts the presence of G-d’s Shechina(the Divine Presence). As I noted in my book, the fourth commandment spells (in code) זה קלי, zeh keili, this is my G-d (Exodus 15:2), We actually feel the holiness of the Sabbath day with the presence of G-d. Hence, the Mishkan and the Sabbath are eternally linked. Let’s explore additional insights. As noted in a previous Torah discourse, משה , Moses name alludes to the 39 categories of forbidden labor on the Sabbath. Here’s how, מ mem is the 13 letter of the Hebrew Alphabet, שshin is the 22nd and ה hey is the 5th letter. If we add it up it equals 39. With the aid of the Atbash code (reverse Hebrew Letter code), the Mishkan’s name itself alludes to the 39 categories of labor. If we reverse all of the letters of the term המשכן it spells two words (rearranged) צבי לט , tzvi lamed tet, or the glory, splendor of the 39. As a side note, Moses is also Tzvi צבי , with the aid of the Atbash code. It is interesting to note that the term Tzvi links with the Sabbath with the aid of the code as noted in Ezekiel where it says about the land of Israel the following;זבת חלב ודבש צבי היא לכל הארצות , “flowing with milk and honey, a splendor to all of the lands” (Ezekiel 20:6). If we take the acronym of the encircled letters in reverse, it spells שבת, Shabbos. Hence we see that the Sabbath and the Mishkan are our glory and splendor.
Although we do not have the Mishkan today, we can at least study about it’s details in the Torah of Moshe and especially on the Sabbath day as we find the Torah linked with the Sabbath in the following pasuk ויכל אלקים ביום השביעי מלאכתו אשר עשה וישבת, “On the seventh day G-d completed his work, and He rested….”(Genesis 2:1). The encircled letters (rearranged) spells the term תורה, Torah. We are told that the Torah is from heaven. With aid of Atbash code, we see that it actually gives us an out of body experience. If we reverse all the letters of Torah and rearrange them, it spells,כפ צא , gaf tsei, which literally means out of the body. The Torah puts our minds on a higher perspective.
In returning to our discussion of the Mishkan, perhaps we can even find it one day as according to Chadishmedia.com, the Mishkan was never destroyed because it was built with the love of the people. According to Ethics of our fathers, 1:10, the Sage Shemaya taught אהב את מלאכה , one should love his/her work .Indeed, with the aid of the codes, we see an allusion to that concept with numerous phrases in our Parsha. The Torah says, ויעשו את בגדי הקדש אשר לאהרן, “And they made the holy garments for Aharon”(Exodus 38:1). The encircled letters spells the term אהב, o’heiv, love. TTThe Torah says ונתתה את הכיר בין אהל מועד, “Andy they placed the Kiyor between the Tent of the Meeting”(Exodus 40:7). The encoded letters spells the term אהב, meaning love. The Torah says, וישם את המנרה באהל מועד, “And they placed the Menorah in the Tent of the Meeting”(Exodus 40:24). The encoded letters spells the term אהב, love. According to Rabbi Avigdor Miller, we all have the potential to be a physical Mishkan to G-d. Indeed with the aid of the Code, we see that Moses was literally a house of G-d. Moses is comprised of three letters, the mem, shin and hey. The difference between the letter
מ , mem (13th letter) and ש, shin (21st letter) is 8. The difference between the ש, shin (21st letter) and the ה, hey is (5th letter) is 16. In mapping this out, we have the following sequence; ה 16 (21-5=16) ש 8 (21-13=8) מ . If we put it together in reverse as we read the Hebrew letters in reverse, it reads as 861. The Gematria of the Beis Hamikdosh is 861.Hence the letter arrangement of Moses’s name actually alludes to the Holy Temple. May the love of our ancestors to G-d inspire us so that we too can bring G-d’s presence in our midst.
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