* TORAH WEEKLY * Highlights of the Weekly Torah Portion and Haftorah. Plus Ani Ma'amin - The Rambam's 13 Principles of Faith. Parshas Pekudei For the week ending 2 Adar Sheini 5755 3 & 4 March 1995 =========================================================================== This issue is dedicated in memory of HaGaon HaRav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach, Zt''l =========================================================================== Summary The book of Shmos comes to its conclusion with this week's Parsha. After finishing all the different parts, vessels and garments used in the Mishkan, Moshe gives a complete accounting and enumeration of all the contributions and of the various clothing and vessels which had been fashioned. The Bnei Yisrael bring everything to Moshe. He inspects the handiwork and notes that everything was made according to Hashem's specifications. Moshe blesses the people. Hashem speaks to Moshe and tells him that the Mishkan should be set up on the first day of the first month, i.e., Nisan. He also tells Moshe the order of assembly for the Mishkan and its vessels. Moshe does everything in the prescribed manner. When the Mishkan is finally complete with every vessel in its place, a cloud descends upon the Mishkan indicating that Hashem's glory was resting on the Mishkan. Whenever the cloud moved away from the Mishkan, the Bnei Yisrael would follow it. At night the cloud was replaced by a pillar of fire. =========================================================================== Commentaries "These are the accounts of the Mishkan..." (38:21). Prior to the sin of Adam and Chava, there was no shame, and therefore no need for clothing. They perceived clearly that the neshama, the soul, is the essence of a person, and the body is but a tool of the neshama. After their sin, however, this distinction became blurred, and it was necessary to show that the body is of importance only insofar as it supports the neshama. Since the body is visible, man is easily misled into attributing to it primary importance. For this reason, clothes, by covering the body, stress that the inner spiritual essence, the neshama, which is hidden from view, is of essential significance. The Midrash (Tanchuma Bamidbar 3) relates that when the Mishkan was erected, Hashem said that tznius (concealment, modesty) is extremely appropriate here. The Mishkan was covered like a bride, with a veil in front and a train behind to stress that its essence is the Shechina, the Divine Presence, that dwells there. If one sees only the glorious structure, attributing intrinsic sanctity to the materials themselves, while forgetting the spiritual essence, the Mishkan becomes something akin to an idol. Similarly, the Torah requires an extra degree of tznius (modesty) from women (Bereishis Rabba 18:3). In secular cultures, women are reduced to physical objects, and emphasis is placed on what meets the eye. The Jewish woman dresses so as to stress the essence of her inner being. "All the glory of the daughter of the King is inward." (Adapted from Rabbi Zev Leff `s "Outlooks and Insights") "...the Tabernacle of testimony..." (38:21). The Tabernacle was itself a testimony to the accuracy of the accounting that Moshe gave, for had there been even the merest hint of misappropriation of funds, certainly the Divine Presence would never have rested upon it. For this reason it is called the Tabernacle of testimony... (Malbim) "...the Tabernacle of testimony..." (38:21). The Tabernacle drew its holiness from the Aron (Ark), and the Aron had to contain the Tablets of Testimony at all times. Thus, the Tabernacle was called the Tabernacle of testimony only because it contained the Aron, which in turn held the Tablets of Testimony. (Meshech Chochma) =========================================================================== Haftorah: I Kings 7:51- 8:21 "When the Kohanim left the Holy, the cloud filled the House of Hashem. The Kohanim were unable to stand and serve because of the cloud. Then Shlomo said, `Hashem had said He would dwell in the thick cloud.'" (7:51). The completion of the Tabernacle in the desert, which is the subject of this week's Parsha, is paralleled in the Haftorah by the completion of the First Beis Hamikdash by Shlomo HaMelech. After Shlomo finished the building, he saw through prophecy that in the future it would be destroyed; that there would come a time when a dark cloud would cover the place of the Temple, and the Kohanim would be forced to leave. However, he was consoled by Hashem's promise that He would not abandon His people even in the darkest and most difficult times; that He would be with them through the darkest and the most gloomy mists of world events. That is what this verse is hinting to: Even during the celebration of the inauguration of the Mikdash, there was revealed to Shlomo the sad vision of the "the Kohanim left the Holy" -- fettered with iron chains. "The cloud filled the House of Hashem" -- a somber cloud filled the Sanctuary. The Kohanim were not able to fulfill the Divine service, rather, strangers went in and desecrated it. In spite of this, Shlomo was not dispirited, because "Hashem had said He would dwell in the thick cloud." -- Hashem has promised that He will dwell with the Jewish People even in their darkest hour. (Ohr HaMeir) =========================================================================== Ani Ma'amin The Rambam's 13 Principles of faith Principle #13: "I believe with complete faith that there will be a resuscitation of the dead whenever the wish emanates from The Creator, blessed be His Name and exalted is His mention, forever and for all eternity. "The soul which You gave me...which You will eventually take from me and restore to me in the Hereafter..." (Morning Prayers) When man's dead body is resurrected through the return of his soul, he will not have a new soul, but the same one which he had during his lifetime. If this soul was purified and cleansed by Torah and good deeds, it will return to the body in this state. If it was soiled by the sins committed during this lifetime, it will thus return to the body. How much joy will a man have in the Hereafter to welcome back a purified soul and how much anguish and shame will he suffer if his soul is soiled! This is what is written in Daniel (12:2): "And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life and some to everlasting reproach and shame." The purified soul will gain everlasting life while the soiled one will suffer everlasting shame, since it will forever remain soiled. Just as one who wears a shirt which has not been washed for a long time suffers greatly, so will the re-possessor of a soul which will always be dirty suffer eternal shame. (Chafetz Chaim Letter 76) =========================================================================== Where do YOU find TW* ? Astrud Schmidt @ agrar.uni-giessen.de writes "I'm a (female) student from Germany learning for my conversion and I have subscribed to the Torah Weekly list after stumbling over it while browsing the Jerusalem1-Gopher. I share my copy of TW with another woman, who is also learning for conversion, but does not have access to the Net. 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