They shall make a sanctuary for Me..for the Torah in the Ark
A collection of commentaries on our Sages' question: ’’THEY shall make an Ark’’- in plural, unlike the other utensils, which they are also commanded to make, but where the command is in the singular: ‘YOU shall make..’ - why?
In our Parashah, Bnei Israel are given the wondrous command (25:3-16 ), by Hashem,‘from every man whose heart motivates him..they shall make a Sanctuary' for Hashem, and also construct all its utensils, the first being: ‘an Ark of acacia wood, in which you shall place.. the Testimonial tablets that I shall give you’.
Our sages comment: ’’THEY shall make an Ark’’- in plural, unlike the other utensils, which they are also commanded to make, where the command is in the singular: ‘YOU shall make..’ -
This led Rabbi Yehuda ben Rav Shalom, to say: Said Hakadosh- Baruch- Hu to Moshe: ’’Let all come and be engaged in the making of the Ark, so that all should merit the Torah’.’
The Ohr Hachaim Hakadosh adds: This alludes to the Torah only being able to be observed by the whole of the people, as no one individual is able, by himself, to observe all of the Mitzvot.
Thus, a kohen, for instance, cannot perform the Mitzvah of giving the twenty-four priestly gifts, nor the redeeming of the first-born, as he is the recipient of these, not the giver, and so too, the others, if they are Israelites, cannot offer up the sacrifices - only by the entire people can all the Torah be performed.
For this reason, the Torah uses the plural: 'They shall make..’, whereas with regard to the other utensils, the command is in the singular: You shall make...’
The Rashbam comments: The command to make the Ark as the first of the utensils of the Sanctuary, is because the Ark is the main reason for ‘make Me a Sanctuary’ as for it - to house it - ‘ it was necessary to erect the Sanctuary.
Rav Elya Lopian expounds: The Midrash: 'And you shall take for Me a portion from each man'..therefore do not leave my Torah, meaning: that which I said; ’Take for Me a portion’ - for the Sanctuary - alludes to ‘the goodly thing that I have given you’ - meaning: the Torah which is to be placed in the Ark, in the Sanctuary.
This is to teach us, that the עיקר: the most important purpose of the Sanctuary - was as a place for the Shechina in it, as it says: ’So that I may dwell among’ you' - is dependent on the Torah, so that if there is no Torah, there is no Sanctuary.
That is why, regarding the making of the Ark, it is written in the plural - whereas, regarding all the other utensils, it is written in the singular - so, too, as to the Sanctuary itself, it is also written in the plural:’THEY shall make a Sanctuary for Me’, that all should be engaged in its making, so that all merit Torah.
Rav Zalman Sorotzkin adds: Why did Hashem command the construction of the Ark before all else, was not Bezalel correct in his query to Moshe: 'The utensils that I make, where shall they go?’, and indeed, Moshe admitted that Bezalel was correct, and constructed the Sanctuary before constructing the Ark.
Perhaps it was to emphasize to Bnei Israel, that though the Sanctuary the place where offerings were to be made, in the service of Hashem, the most honored place in the Sanctuary, the Holy of Holies was allocated to the Torah, in the Ark of Testimony.
This, despite that the Tablets and the Sefer Torah which were placed in the Holy of Holies, were not learned from, but had a loftier purpose and sanctity.
This was to preserve the ‘Torah which Moshe commanded us’, against fakes, modernists and reformers, who arise in each generation, with their innovations.
Therefore, Hashem commanded us to guard the Torah and its purity, in the Holy of Holies, a place where no person was permitted to enter - except for the Kohen Gadol, on Yom Kippur, the holiest day, on which work was forbidden, and in which there was no opportunity for any person to enter for the purpose of altering the Torah, which was there.
Says the Midrash: ’Take for Me a portion’: this is what is writtten: ‘A goodly thing I have given you, do not desert My Torah’; there is a person who buys something, and people do not know what its value is - but the reward of the intermediary, that becomes known.
So, too, the Torah: no one knows its true worth, but only from the ‘reward’ that Moshe received, as it is written (Ki Tissa 34:29): ’And Moshe did not know that the skin of his face had become radiant while’ Hashem ‘had spoken with him’.
Expounds Rav Aryeh Leib Heiman: From this ‘reward’ that Moshe received - to cleave to the mighty Divine light - we can understand that the whole of the Torah is a Divine light and delight.
We can now expound our Midrash, as follows:’לקח טוב: A goodly thing’ - from the little of the good that Moshe ‘took of the good’, from the Torah, we can understand what ‘I have given to you’ - and, therefore, ‘My Torah, do not leave’.
The Midrash continues, with a parable, asking rhetorically: Is there a sale where the seller is ‘sold’ together with the merchandise?!
Said Hakadosh-Baruch-Hu to Israel: I sold you my Torah, I, as it were, was sold with it, as it says:’Take for Me a portion’- read, as ‘Take Me’.
This may, be likened to a King who had an only daughter; a royal suitor wooed her. When he prepared to leave with her, as his bride, to his domain, her father said: ’My daughter that I gave you, she is my only child - to be apart from her, I cannot bear, but to tell you not to take her, I also cannot do, as she is your wife.'
‘However, do me this favor, in whatever place to which you go, keep for me a small room, so that I can be with you.'
So said Hashem to Israel: 'I have given you My Torah; to separate Myself from it - i cannot do; to tell you not to take her, I also cannot do'.
‘Rather, in whatever place you may go, make for Me a small chamber, in which I can dwell - as it says:Make for Me a Sanctuary, and I will dwell in your midst.'
Elucidates the Rav: From this we learn an important matter: that the Sanctuary is a ‘need’ of Hashem, as He is unable to be separated fron His Torah - from the Tablets of Testimony in the Ark - and he therefore asks for a place where he can reside in the proximity of His daughter, that is: in the Holy of Holies, in the Sanctuary.
The passuk:’Take for Me a portion’ can now be given a literal translation: ‘For Me’: I, as it were, have a need for the Sanctuary, so that I may dwell with My only daughter.
We can also learn another important truth from the Torah being the ‘daughter’ of Hashem, that by engaging in the study of Torah - and from Hashem’s wish to dwell with her - that there is a wondrous סגולה: unique quality in the Torah: by engaging in its study, we can cleave to Hashem, because Hashem has ‘bound Himself’ with a special bond to the Torah - His beloved daughter.
So whoever cleaves to the Torah - cleaves to Hashem.
Why is the Torah referred to as the ‘daughter’ of Hashem, and not His son?
The answer may be, that the ties of love of a daughter to her father, are usually stronger than the father-son relationship; and, as love is usually reciprocated, the father is closer to his daughter, she being more likely to frequent her former home.
Therefore Hashem asks that a place be prepared for Him, to dwell always with his beloved ‘daughter’.
‘Recognizing this loving bond of Hashem, we can understand why Hashem has a special affection for those who also ‘toil’ with His beloved daughter - and grants him, special insights into the Torah, to bring him closer to Him.
What is more, the ‘daughter’ from her side, is always seeking to return to her original home - and her father.
The Torah - the ‘daughter - seeks to return to the place Above, from whence she came, and she ‘carries’ all who cleaves to her, with her, there.
Rav Avigdor Nebenzahl brings an intriguing insight, into the unique power of the Torah to ‘carry’ those who toil in it, with her.
Expounds the Rav: We read, in our Parashah, that (25:13-16): ’You shall make staves.. and insert the staves in the sides of the Ark, with which to carry the Ark. The staves ..may not be removed from it.’
Why is it, that the staves differ from all other items, in that they cannot be removed, whereas all the other items - such as, for example the coverings of the Ark, or of the Table - may be removed, when the destination is reached?
This alludes to the fact, that the Leviim - who bear the Ark - do not really ‘bear it’. It is the Ark that ‘carries’ its bearers - if it was permissible to remove the staves, as the Ark encamped, the thought would arise, as if, then, when the Ark was not being borne, the staves can be removed - whereas, in truth, in this regard, all times are the same: at no time does the Ark have a need for the staves, because at no time is the Ark ‘carried’ by men - rather, it - the Ark - carries those who seemingly ‘carry’ it.
We learn this, from when Bnei Israel crossed the Jordan, when the Torah relates ( Yehoshua 4, 11 18- Sotah 38.):’The Ark crossed, and the Kohanim before the people’ - the Ark passed over the waters of the River, and, in doing so, it carried the Kohanim who held on to it.
This was to teach that, the Torah which is in the Ark, carries the people of Israel, and not the opposite - as it says: (Mishlei 3:18):’It is a tree of life for those who grasp it, and those who support it are fortunate.’ - this does not mean only that the Torah is ‘a tree of Life’ to those who ‘who grasp it’, and to those who support the scholars, but also - and most importantly - that those who ‘grasp it’, who realize that it is their ‘safety line’, in this world, to them too, ‘it is the tree of life’.
Our world, therefore, is ‘carried’ and dependent on the Torah.
The Netivot Shalom brings our Midrash, and comments: All the Mitzvot, though said to the whole of the people, bind every Jew - including the Mitzvah of: ’Make a Sanctuary for Me - so that I may dwell in your midst’.
According to our Midrash, this Mitzvah is , that since Hashem cannot be apart from his ‘daughter’, the Torah, one cannot acquire Torah, unless he cleaves to Hashem.
Therefore, ‘make for Me a little place, so that I may dwell in your midst.'
This requires each one of us to dedicate to Hashem, that which is most precious to us, through which we will always cleave to, and be connected, to Hashem.
The Mitzvah: ‘Make for Me a מקדש: a Sanctuary’, suggests that the special ‘little place’ alludes to קדושה: Sanctity, as we are commanded on the language:’קדושים תהיו: ‘You shall be holy, for I, the Lord, your G-d, am holy’.
By a Jew conducting himself with holiness, he comes to cleave to Hashem - and this is ‘make for Me a Sanctuary’, as thereby, ‘I will dwell in your midst’, the Shechins will rest in you.’
A parting gem from Rav Chaim Friedlander.
The Rav first elucidates on the meaning of the ‘reward’ that Moshe Rabbeinu received, that - as we brought from the Midrash - that ‘the skin of his face glowed with light’.
Expounds the Rav: Our Sages say that, as Moshe was writing the Torah that he had been given by Hashem, a residue of the ink with which he had been writing, remained, and that the quill with this residue passed over his head, and from it, the rays of light were created.
Asks the Rav: What does it mean, that a residue from the ink with which he was writing the Torah, remained, from which the rays of light were created?
Answer: The rays of light of his face, transmitted the power of the Torah to the people, as when he related the Torah that he had received from Hashem to them, he had to remove the veil from his face.
Why - we ask - when speaking to the people, did he remove the veil from his face? Answers Sforno: To enable the people to fulfill the injunction: ’Let your eyes see your teachers’ - there is a special matter when Moshe was teaching the people the Torah that he had received at Sinai, that the people should actually see his face, in the manner of ‘your eyes shall see your teachers’.
To understand the depth of what was being taught, it was necessary to see the teacher’s face - there are things which are difficult to explain in words, as the repository of our words are limited, so that their ability to convey is also limited.
There are matters which the listener better understands by the expression of the face of the teacher, by the countenance he portrays.
This is one of the wonders of creation, that the countenance can convey more than words - but that is only from the union of the physical and the spiritual aspects of the person, which glows on the person’s face - when the soul glows, as it were, within the body.
This was the case with Moshe Rabbeinu, who had elevated and purified his body, to be totally spiritual, to the level of the angels.
We can now explain the meaning of our Sages comment, that the radiant glow of Moshe’s face, was from the residue of the ink, which had passed over his head, this ink having been intended to write, to add explanations to the written Torah, according to the understanding that he received as to the Torah, from Hashem.
These were not written in the Torah, but were transmitted orally by him to Bnei Israel, as part of the oral Torah.
Let us now address the Midrash, that Hashem said: I cannot bear to be separated from my ‘daughter’: therefore, wherever his ‘daughter’ is taken, prepare a little chamber for Hashem, so that He not be separated from his beloved ‘only daughter’ - the Torah?
This is to be understand allegorically, as referring not to a physical chamber, but to ‘a chamber of our heart’, in which the Shechina resides.
Our Sages say: ‘There is nothing for Hakadosh-Barch-Hu in this world, but Fear of Shamayim alone, meaning: Only through one’s Fear of Shamayim can one build his ‘chamber’ for Hashem, to always be with Him, as it is only through Fear of Shamayim that one nullifies his own will, to the Will of Hashem, and thereby merits that the Shechina - and Its ‘daughter’, the Torah - reside always with us.
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