In the first pasuk of our parsha, the word Mishkan is repeated twice, “Eileh Pekudei HaMishkan Mishkan Ha’Eidut” (Shemot 38:21).
R’ Bachyei asks, “Why the repetition?” and answers that it comes to teach us that the earthly Beit HaMikdash is directed towards a Heavenly Beit HaMikdash. When the Beit HaMikdash exists here on earth, it is connected umbilically to the Beit HaMikdash up in Heaven, as King David says “Like a city joined together” (Tehillim 122:3).
The Gemara (Chagiga 12b) says that Heaven is divided into seven layers. In the fourth layer, called Zevul, there is a Heavenly city of Jerusalem inside which is a Beit HaMikdash and a Mizbe’ach. The angel Michael, the guardian angel of Am Yisrael, offers Korbanot on the Mizbe’ach.
Chazal do not tell us what the Heavenly Jerusalem looks like nor the Mikdash nor the Mizbe’ach. What we do know is that Michael in Heaven parallels the Kohen HaGadol down here on earth, except that Michael is not wearing priestly garments. Angels have no clothes, just three sets of wings (Isiah 6:2).
Chazal do tell us that everything in Heaven is flipped from the way it is here on earth. When Rivka met Yitzchak for the first time, the mefarshim say that Yitzchak was up in Heaven after the Akeida and was just returning. Since everything in Heaven is flipped, Yitzchak was descending back to earth upside down. When Rivka saw this strange sight, she fell off the camel (Riba, Bereishit 24:64).
The Gemara (Bava Batra 10b) says that Yosef, the son of R’ Yehoshua became seriously ill and fell into a coma, teetering between this world and the next. Baruch Hashem he recovered and his father R’ Yehoshua asked him “What did you see while you were up there in Heaven?”
Yosef replied “Don’t ask! Everything in Heaven is upside down. All the neshamot are seated around G-d and basking in the light of the Shechina. You remember Shmulik the poor blacksmith who we all thought was an ignoramus? Well, he is sitting in the front row. And you remember Berel the billionaire, who we all thought was such a philanthropist? He was in row 117.”
R’ Yehoshua said to Yosef “Don’t worry son. What you saw was a clear world – you saw things as they truly are.”
R’ Yehoshua continued “Was anything in Heaven the same as it is here on earth?” To which Yosef replied “The talmidei chachamim and tzaddikim are the same up there as they are down here!”
Chazal tell us that every component in the earthly Beit HaMikdash is paralleled by a “twin component” in the Heavenly Beit HaMikdash. Just as there is a Menorah down here, there is a Menorah up there. Just like there is a Shulchan down here, there is a Shulchan up there, etc.
This does not simply mean that the Heavenly Shulchan is identical to the earthly one, just flipped 180 degrees, it also means that the form of the Heavenly Shulchan is different to that of the earthly Shulchan. When Rivka saw Yitzchak, it was not just that he was feet-up and head-down, he was also radiating a residual Heavenly light (like Moshe descending from Har Sinai).
Sefer Meir Panim says that this is why there are two opinions regarding the shape of the Lechem Hapanim – R’ Chanina says it was a Teiva Prutza (a rectangular box without a lid) and R’ Yochanan says it was a Sfina Rokedet (a dancing ship with a curved U-shape hull). So, which is the correct shape? The answer is – they are both right! The Sfina Rokedet is the shape of the Lechem Hapanim in the earthly Beit HaMikdash and the Teiva Prutza is the shape of the Lechem Hapanim in the Heavenly Beit HaMikdash. Each reflects a different reality. The straight Teiva Prutza reflects a Heavenly reality of calm, stability and truth while the curved/bent Sfina Rokedet reflects an earthly reality of tumultuous turmoil (ships only “dance” in stormy seas).
This also applies to the debate regarding the shape of the candelabra of the Menorah. One opinion says that they are curved (like the etching on Titus’ Arch) and the other (Rambam) says they are straight. Similarly for the other vessels.
We just celebrated the month of Adar, so called because it is the month in which “Alef Dar,” when G-d resides amongst us. It is a month when we celebrate everything that is upside down. The more surreal things seem, the closer we are approaching the Geulah.
When the third Beit HaMikdash is rebuilt, the upper and lower components will not be identical, they will still have differences of appearance and orientation, because they reflect different worlds, each with a different purpose. The purpose of this world, the earthly Beit HaMikdash, is to do tikkun, to elevate ourselves in spirituality and strive to reach the ultimate level of the upper world. Down here the Lechem Hapanim and the candelabra of the Menorah are “bent.” Our job is to aspire to achieve the level of these vessels in Heaven, where they are straight.
As the Geulah approaches, this world is incrementally being “straightened out” so that it can once again be umbilically connected to the Heavenly Beit HaMikdash via the third Beit HaMikdash here on earth. In this process, our world is acquiring increasing clarity and parity, facilitating the required connection with Heaven.
Since everything in Heaven, the world of truth and clarity, is upside down to here on earth, as this process proceeds, things here on earth are increasingly going to appear upside down to what we are familiar with. This is a symptom of Geulah, may it arrive speedily in our days.
Parshat HaShavua Trivia Question: Betzalel and Oholiav built the components of the Mishkan. Who erected the completed structure?
Answer to Last Week’s Trivia Question: Why did Hashem command Moshe to appoint Betzalel (from the tribe of Yehuda) and also Oholiav (from the tribe of Dan)? Wasn’t Betzalel enough? To show equality in Am Yisrael, that the Mishkan was a joint effort between the most elevated tribe (Yehuda) and the lowest tribe (Dan).
