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By Rabbi Shloimie Lindenbaum
אלה פקודי המשכן (פרק לח פסוק כא)
The Parsha begins with a counting of all the materials that were donated to the building of the Mishkan and a description of how they were used in its construction. R’ Moshe Feinstein says that the Torah specifically detailed this listing of every drop of material donated to teach us an important lesson. Just as the Torah made an exact calculation of everything, ensuring that each item was used for its intended purpose, so do we have to make a calculation about everything that Hashem gives us. Hashem gives us time, so we have to calculate all 86,400 seconds in our day and make sure that they are being used the right way. Hashem gives us talents, money, intelligence, etc.; all of these gifts require a calculation. Are we using them the right way? Are we using them for how Hashem wants us to, using our time for Torah and mitzvos, or are we “stealing” it for other purposes? This is what the Torah wants to teach us by making a specific calculation for the Mishkan.
באחד לחדש הוקם המשכן…ויקם משה את המשכן (פרק מ פסוק יז-יח)
The Torah tells us that on the first day of the first month the Mishkan was erected. It then says that Moshe erected the Mishkan. The Chasam Sofer is bothered that it seems repetitive, after saying that it was erected it repeats that Moshe erected it? The Chasam Sofer explains that Klal Yisroel wasn’t sure about their relationship with Hashem. The giving of the Torah at Sinai was a tremendous revelation of and closeness with Hashem, they weren’t sure if the Mishkan, the resting of the Divine Presence amongst them, was an upgrade from that or a downgrade? On the one hand, they had sinned at the Golden Calf, on the other, they had repented. Were they greater than before through their repentance or were they being demoted from the Sinai revelation because of the sin? As a response to this the pasuk notes “הוקם המשכן”, literally, “the Mishkan was erected”, the Chasam Sofer explains, “the Mishkan was stood up- rose up in rank”. He explains that Betzalel constructed the pieces of the Mishkan but Moshe actually erected it. This was a קימה- an elevation for the Mishkan, to go from Betzalel to Moshe. From this elevation we learn a rule about all matters of קדושה, holiness- מעלין בקדש ולא מורידין- we always go higher in holiness, never lower (see Megillah 26a Rashi “אבל מכרו תורה”). This was an answer to Klal Yisroel- we always go up, and therefore you have risen, you have grown from your experience with the Golden Calf. The תשובה, repentance, that you did afterwards brought you to a higher level, just as the Mishkan rose in rank, so too Klal Yisroel rose from Mt. Sinai to the Mishkan. These two pesukim are not repetitive, they are saying that the Mishkan was elevated through Moshe erecting it, which was a lesson to all of Klal Yisroel.
