The term “sanctuary” no doubt evokes in many of our minds a specific hunchback referencing the medieval law of protection within a safe space. Hearing the word can also conjure a sizeable shul we may remember from childhood or the comfort we feel when we slide into our seat on Shabbos morning. But this imagery is through the lens of the individual. What does the term mean to the entity itself? Can that perspective affect the individual as well?
Emes L’Yaakov demonstrates this when reconciling the fact that the Jews, when counted in Shemos, lacked mention of their flags and their coat of arms, while in Bamidbar, they are reorganized and their flags displayed prominently. He says that the fundamental difference between these two accountings, merely a year apart, is separated by the building of the Mishkan. When the Jews left Egypt, each tribe unto itself, the Torah took no measure to compound our internal distinctions further. Hashem respected the tribal differences by calling each tribe by name, even offering them unique pathways through Krias Yam Suf, but that was it. After the building of the Mishkan, when the count took place in Bamidbar, the unifier was set. The focal point of the epicenter of the camp is the Mishkan. Everyone knows their place in the solar system of the Mishkan. Flags are no longer a source of distinction and conflict but a calling to a particular and unique purpose in communal living. The incredible power of sanctuary is its ability to unite and guide harmony from varied individualism.
