This Shabbat we conclude the account of Yetziat Mitzrayim that began after Chanukah and reached its climax in the account of the building of the Mishkan over the past few weeks. We also return to its beginning with the reading for Shabbat HaChodesh which constitutes the textual basis for the Seder night and much of the Pesach Torah readings as that holiday rapidly approaches. The first day of Nissan, this coming Sunday, is the anniversary of the dedication of the Mishkan when the nasi of the tribe of Yehuda brought his gifts. Many people observe the custom during the first days of Nissan leading up to Pesach of reading of the gifts of the leaders of the tribes on the day on which they were given. Each nasi spontaneously brought the same gift without coordinating, so the Torah recounts each gift individually, in spite of the repetition. Over the past few weeks as we learned of the construction of the Mishkan, we have been examining the Ramchal’s text Mishkenei Elyon, and we will also conclude that below.
Ramchal makes an interesting connection between the offerings we bring in service of Hashem and the bounty He sends into the universe for our benefit. He explicitly ties this relationship to the twelve tribes of Israel, establishing a resonance between all these disparate threads that have joined in this Shabbat. Ramchal explains that when Hashem created the universe, He organized things such that there is a clear hierarchy associating higher powers with their corresponding forms below. Furthermore, as the light of Creation emanates further from its Source, the effects of this process of illumination become progressively smaller. Thus, everything that exists below is encompassed above, but also added to and enhanced. Furthermore, the critical elements that are divided in the lower realms become unified above as their essence is revealed. The example he brings is the “root” and the “branches” of the soul that are elevated by means of the service in the Mikdash.
We have, in recent weeks, seen in more detail some of the practical ways that this unfolds in the ritual aspects of the service, and indeed have also read ahead a bit in the book. Now, as we conclude this journey, we’ll take a last look back at its sources and origins.
Whether we consider the animal sacrifice or the human who is offering it, or the entirety of the universe – because all these details are encompassed in the Mishkan – there is an internal essence and an external manifestation which must be considered. All of these parts of the whole are unified above and below, even as we have seen previously the souls of the righteous are offered on the mizbe’ach above by the Malach Michael. Ramchal says it is impossible for us to conceive of the intensity of the joy and satisfaction experienced by those who participated in the service of Hashem in the Mikdash, deriving from this visceral awareness that they were fully enmeshed in the purpose of Creation.
The innermost aspects of being are revealed in the interior of the Tent of Meeting in the Mishkan, or in the Hechal (or sanctuary) of the Beit HaMikdash. Only the Kohen Gadol is allowed to pass into the inner sanctum, the kodesh kedoshim, and only on Yom Kippur. Here, where the prayers of all of Israel meet and are conjoined as they rise to heaven, the Divine suffusion of blessing and inspiration comes into our world. But, the Ramchal says, our experience of the Divine comes by way of the gates, the successive portals that connect each realm of the Temple complex, corresponding to the spiritual realms above our material world. In this way, as the Divine Light spreads from point to point, resting upon each of the mizbe’achs, inner and outer, all the aspects of everything we are united with everything Hashem intended for us to be. Thus, when given with a pure heart, our offerings correspond perfectly to the needs of our souls and the aspects of our pure selves that are striving to interface with the parts of ourselves that connect with higher realms.
This light is refracted, as we saw previously, across the four letters of the Divine Name and it manifests in us as twelve points of light that are the twelve tribes of Israel. When all twelve tribes unify in service of Hashem, then all of Hashem’s blessings rest upon us, elevate and inspire us. This is the hidden meaning of the gifts of the leaders of each tribe that begin to be brought on Sunday. Each nasi brought exactly the same offering because each one was perfectly in touch and resonating with the spiritual needs and the longing for completion of each tribe, all of whom individually and collectively manifested the pure and conscious spirit of rectified humanity. Unfortunately, that light only shone briefly, sputtered, and was glimpsed again imperfectly in the first and second Batei HaMikdash.
As we go into Nissan and the season of rebirth and redemption, may it be the will of the Creator of the Universe to restore the crown of old and rebuild the house we shared, which will never be destroyed again.
