The wise men who made the Tabernacle needed to make an accounting of all the works they had done, in order to arouse the Jews' pleasure in their donations and the vessels that had been made with them. This pleasure brought a vital spirit to these vessels and further established the Tabernacle's work.
Malchut, G-d's store-house, behaves likewise. It receives all divine streams with reckoning; when all that were stored within issue forth, it lets out pools of water carefully, accounting faithfully for them all.
If in supernal affairs, where there could be no embezzlement, one should see such faithfulness, in the matters of the world, how much more so?
The word for "socket" in Hebrew is "aden", the plural construct - "the sockets of" - being "adnei". This is spelled exactly the same as the divine name Ado-nai. With this in mind, the Ari elaborates:
"Know that the one hundred sockets of the Tabernacle are manifestations of the sefira of malchut, which is synonymous with the divine name Ado-nai."
The sockets were the base of the Tabernacle; the boards which formed the walls were inserted into these sockets. The Tabernacle was the means through which G‑d's presence was manifest in the world (and in the consciousness of every Jew); it therefore was a microcosm of the entire Creation. The final, lowest sefira of the ten sefirot is malchut; therefore, the sockets, the lowest element of the Tabernacle, manifest this sefira. As opposed to the preceding nine sefirot, malchut has no "content" or "personality" of its own. It is not an attribute of G‑d per se but rather the power of expression of all the other, preceding attributes. The word "malchut" means "kingdom", i.e. the manifestation of the preceding attributes of G‑d throughout Creation, creating, informing and organizing reality into a unified, harmonious whole - a kingdom run by a King, namely G‑d. The divine name which expresses this lordship over reality is, of course, Ado-nai, which literally means "My L-rd".
Although males are considered adults from the age of 13 and teenagers should also have been liable for this ransom, seeing as they also participated in the Golden Calf episode, the Torah stipulates that the minimum age at which a person had to make his half-shekel contribution was only from twenty years and up.
A person is not yet mature enough emotionally and intellectually to successfully battle the evil urge and to appreciate G-d's message to man until age 20 and therefore not liable to punishment at the hands of heaven until he has reached that age.
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Chasidic Masters
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Gold Rush |
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From Kedushat Levi by Rabbi Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev;
adapted and summarized by Binyomin Adilman
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The Midrash states that G-d originally intended to create the
world using the attribute of strict justice but saw that the world would not be
able to last, so He blended the attribute of mercy together with judgment in
order to provide everything that His creations would need for their sustenance,
both physical and spiritual. The Tabernacle was a model of the original work of
Creation, and Bezalel and his artisans used the different attributes of the
Creation in their work. This is alluded to by the gold and silver, and royal
blue, purple, crimson and fine linen textiles that were used in constructing the
Tabernacle. Gold represents the attribute of judgment, and silver the attribute
of loving-kindness. The Zohar teaches that the Tabernacle needed both precious
metals to be complete.
The gold (representing judgment) was beaten out very thin in
order to reduce and sweeten the harsh effect of the attribute of judgment. Then
it was cut into threads so that attribute of judgment would not be whole.
Afterwards they were spun together with royal blue, purple, crimson and fine
linen threads which represent other attributes of G-d’s Creation. Then the
attribute of judgment would be appropriately blended into all aspects of
Creation and help them when needed to subdue the power of the Evil Inclination.
We find in the Act of Creation that a
blessing was uttered three times: on the creation of fish, man, and Shabbat. The
significance of G-d's blessing to man is that not only is man blessed, but
blessings also emanate from him to others. So too with fish and likewise with
regard to Shabbat, for not only is the day of Shabbat blessed, but all six days
of the week are blessed from it. The tenth
Sefira , malchut, is also called "Cheshbon" ("an
accounting"), because Malchut receives the lights from the first nine
sefirot , and emanates them to the lower worlds; from
Malchut all are blessed.
Our Sages say that a blessing does not reside on something that is counted or
numbered. However, the Torah makes a strict accounting of the donations to the
Mishkan. Now we can understand that a blessing does not dwell on a
counted or numbered thing when a person counts and numbers in order to know how
much they possess of their own. However, if all of the abundance is for the
purpose of giving to others, then on the contrary, a blessing will dwell on the
counted thing; the more that is given away, the more is increased.
"These are the commands of the Tabernacle, Tabernacle of
Testimony"
The verse mentions the word Tabernacle, literally meaning "dwelling", twice.
Thus the verse can be translated: "If you want the Torah commands to truly
dwell in you, you have to make yourself be a dwelling place for the
testimony". A person must examine him or herself to see if the commandments are
being performed properly and without arrogance. If so, it is good for the health
of our souls and bodies for now and the future, and through this will come the
redemption.
The purpose of the Tabernacle is to remind us there is always a path back to
G-d and serves as testimony to the world that the Jews were forgiven for the sin
of the Golden Calf. The Mitamim writes
that the only reason the Jews sinned was to teach future generations that it is
possible to receive forgiveness even for a sin as serious as idol worship.
"It would not be proper for me to accept less than the Apter Rebbe's orders," he responded, but in the end he left empty-handed.
Shabbat Shalom.
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