Houses and Vessels
The two parshiyos of Vayakhel and Pekudei are devoted, in the main, to a detailed description of the making of the Mishkan and its vessels (Vayakhel), as well as the priestly garments (Pekudei). With regards to the making of the Mishkan, the verses relate that first the body of the Mishkan was made, and then its vessels. In this regard, the Gemara records a most unusual exchange that took place between Moshe Rabbeinu and Betzalel, the artisan charged with the building of the Mishkan:[1]
When the Holy One, Blessed is He, told Moshe, “Go and tell Betzalel to make the Mishkan and its vessels,” Moshe went and reversed the order and told him, “Make the vessels and [then] the Mishkan.” Said Betzalel, “Moshe Rabbeinu, it is the way of the world that one first makes a house and then puts vessels inside, yet you are telling me to make the vessels and only then to make the Mishkan, Where shall I place the vessels that I make? Perhaps the Holy One, Blessed is He, actually told you to make the Mishkan and then the vessels?” Moshe replies, “Perhaps you were in the shade of God that you know this?”
There are many questions that may be raised regarding this exchange. In terms of our discussion, let us ponder the basic question of why, in fact, Moshe reversed the order that Hashem told him to tell Betzalel, and in which the Mishkan was ultimately built?
R’ Leib Gurwitz, Rosh Yeshivah of Gateshead,[2] explains the matter by referring us to a comment of the Vilna Gaon[3] regarding the building of the Mishkan. The verse says, “ועשו לי מקדש ושכנתי בתוכם — And they shall make for me a Sanctuary, and I shall dwell in their midst.”[4] We note that the verse does not say ושכנתי בתוכו — I will dwell in it, but rather בתוכם — in them. The ultimate dwelling place for the Divine Presence is within the hearts of the Jewish People. The building of the Mishkan is a means for this to occur. The way this works is by aligning the people around a spiritual goal. With the Jewish people unified and centered around the construction and running of the Mishkan, they are thus eligible to have the Divine Presence dwell within them.
What emerges from this is a most remarkable idea, and it was this idea that Moshe was seeking to communicate to Betzalel by reversing the order of the Mishkan and its vessels. He did not preserve the natural order of “house before vessels,” but rather reversed it, for he wanted to indicate that ultimately the Mishkan is itself a vessel, and not a house! The real “house” is the hearts of the Jewish People.
This was true of the Mishkan as described in our parsha, and remains true of every Jewish house. A house is essentially a tool for Jewish living, a base and a setting to be used in the service of Torah ideas and ideals. Its full meaning is realized when it is utilized for that cause, while it becomes diminished when the house itself becomes “the cause.”
The standard blessing for a new couple setting up home is that they may build a bayis neeman b’Yisrael — a faithful house in Israel. What exactly does this mean? No one really knows. For many people, the only thing it (hopefully) means is that the person who bestows this blessing has almost finished speaking!
In truth, the blessing is that the house remains faithful to what a house should be for, a base from which to live a meaningful Jewish life. Being “faithful” to that idea means that the house serves it, and doesn’t develop into an entity which itself needs to be served. The common term for a layperson is “baal habos,” which literally means “owner of a house.” Someone who succeeds in truly owning their house, and not being owned by it, is indeed worthy of praise.
[2] Quoted by R’ Avraham Gurwitz, shlita, Va’anafeha Arzei El Devarim, p. 225.
[3] Commentary to Shir Hashirim 1:17.