Egel Expiation
Adapted by Channie Koplowitz Stein
Eileh pekudei/These are the accountings of the Tabernacle, the Mishkan Ha’eidus/Tabernacle of Testimony...” We know that after the sin of the egel hazahav/golden calf, Bnei Yisroel built a Mishkan/Tabernacle so that Hashem’s presence could dwell among them. Is this why it was called Mishkan Ha’eidus/Tabernacle of Testimony, that the edifice was testifying to the presence of Hashem among us? If so, how, and if not, what was it testifying to?
While the Ibn Ezra posits that the Mishkan was called Mishkan Ha’eidus because it housed the luchot, referred to as luchot ha’eidus, Rashi, citing the Medrash, tells us that the Mishkan bore witness that Hashem forgave us for the sin of the golden calf. Eilah pekudei/These/accountings, writes Rabbi Munk z”l, represent an atonement for the declaration, “Eileh/these are your gods...” referring to the golden calf. But it is also the fulfillment of Hashem’s promise to Avraham Avinu, that Hashem pakod yifkod/will surely remember Bnei Yisroel and redeem then from Egypt. In either case, it is testimony to the world that Hashem has forgiven Bnei Yisroel and that He dwells in our midst. But hasn’t Hashem already shown He’s forgiven us when He gave us the second set of luchot, asks Rabbi Dovid Hofstedter? Why did we need the Tabernacle of Testimony in this capacity, asks Rabbi Druck?
Testimony, by definition, is something attested to in public. This explains why the second set of luchot could not be a testimony to Hashem’s forgiving Bnei Yisroel. While Hashem indeed gave the first set of luchot publicly to all of Bnei Yisroel, and even to an extent the entire world bearing witness, Hashem gave the second set of luchot privately to Moshe who then descended to Bnei Yisroel. In fact, notes Rabbi Druck z”l, Hashem has never completely forgiven us for the sin of the golden calf, and in each generation we continue to suffer from the effects of that sin. Instead, Hashem overlooks the sin in order to maintain the relationship with Bnei Yisroel that He will never sever. Even if Hashem had not forgiven us at all, had not been willing to be mevater/overlook the sin, He would still have given us the second set of luchot to maintain that relationship. The Mishkan was the testimony that Hashem had reestablished that relationship.
There is a well known parable of a king who has an only daughter. When she marries, the king finds it impossible to separate from her. He asks the prince who has married his daughter to build for him a small apartment where he can stay to be near his beloved daughter.
The analogy is clear. Hashem gave His beloved Torah to Bnei Yisroel. Hashem asks Bnei Yisroel to always be true to the Torah, and to build Him a dwelling so He can remain close to His beloved daughter. Obviously, for Bnei Yisroel to retain a close relationship with the “Father in law”, we must continue to value and protect His Torah. Then, even if the dwelling should be destroyed, the relationship Hashem has with His son in law may remain intact.
What was so powerful about the Mishkan that it could reestablish the loving relationship between Hashem and Bnei Yisroel? Rabbi Parness suggests that with the Mishkan we demonstrated our commitment to the relationship. When Hashem initially gave us the Torah, He showed His love for us with this special gift. Unfortunately, we failed tragically in the relationship, and fashioned the golden calf. But, notes Rabbi Parness quoting the Sefas Emes, that sin was an external lapse; in our inner core, in our essence, we remained committed to Hakodosh Boruch Hu. We proved how strongly we wanted that relationship by our overwhelming and immediate response in donating everything needed for the construction of Hashem’s “dwelling”.
That same shechinah that rested in the Mishkan exists in the core of each of us, writes Rabbi Reiss in Meirosh Tzurim. Just as there is a residual, negative scar left from the sin of the golden calf, so there is a permanent, positive impression of the Beit Hamikdosh left at its site and within each of us. It is the flame of love directly from Hakodosh Boruch Hu that can never be extinguished, even when we no longer have a Beit Hamikdosh. But without the Beit Hamikdosh, how do we access this love?
In Avodat Avodah, the Tosher Rebbe z”l gives us some insight and direction. “These are pekudei Hamikdosh/the accountings of the Mikdosh...” That buzz word pakod is used several several other times in Tanach. We’ve already noted how it was used to herald the redemption. Other times it was used for a different kind of redemption. For example, “Hashem pokad et Sarah…/ Hashem remembered Sarah [and she conceived].” These pekudei Hamishkan, writes the Tosher Rebbe, were similarly meant to bring to mind the good of Hashem’s presence, for all good and salvation comes from there. If we can keep ourselves in a constant state of simcha, of serenity and joy that comes from feeling ourselves always in God’s presence, we can facilitate more of God’s blessings coming to us. This mindset can only come through a sense of gratitude for all Hashem has already given us coupled with an understanding that Hashem has given all this to us not through our own merit, not through entitlement, but through His love. We can be joyous, for we realize He gives us all we really need. Hashem is close to the humble, and He will not reside with the arrogant.
The Tosher Rebbe gives us yet an additional path to tap into experiencing God’s presence. Just as Hashem’s presence “rested” on the Mishkan, so did He “rest” on the Shabbat. We can tap into that state of serenity and blessing by clinging to Shabbat, for Shabbat is the source of all brachah/blessing. Make Shabbat more meaningful. Introduce a new short ritual to enhance the Shabbat experience, whether it’s singing special zemirot, enjoying a special Shabbat treat, inviting special guests, or playing a “gratitude game” around the Shabbat table. [Reading Shir Hashirim on Friday night may be especially meaningful for you, for Shir Hashirim is the allegorical tale of the reciprocal love between Hakodosh Boruch Hu and Bnei Yisroel. CKS]
Rav Dovid Hofstedter clarifies a puzzle for us. There were two complementary events going on at Sinai. One was obviously Hashem giving us the Torah. But the other aspect was Hashem’s designating us as His am segulah/His treasured nation. When we sinned with the golden calf, we caused terrible harm to the gift of the Torah, and Hashem could never forgive that harm (although He has spread the punishment for that transgression over the millennia of our history rather than destroying us in one fell swoop). The scar from a burn, for example, remains long after the injury itself heals. But as a loving father, Hashem can overlook the insult to His dignity as a momentary, perhaps childish lapse in our judgment that would not permanently affect our relationship.
The Sifsei Chaim offers yet another reality that the Mishkan is bearing witness to. Just as the shechinah came down to all of Bnei Yisroel when we accepted the Torah, so did it come down to the entire congregation again when the Mishkan was completed. The Mishkan was the source. The generating station, into which all Bnei Yisroel could tap to access the energy of Hashem’s shechinah since they were all part of the collective that contributed to build it. Indeed, continues the Sifsei Chaim, the very sockets that supported the entire structure were fashioned from the half shekels that every individual in Bnei Yisroel contributed. Further, although individuals could bring personal korbanot/sacrifices, almost all the sacrifices in the Mishkan and in the Beit Hamikdosh were communal sacrifices.
Rabbi Shmulevitz z”ldiscusses a deeper meaning in Bnei Yisroel’s relationship to the Torah. While we camped in unison at the foot of the mountain and answered the call of the Torah in unison, the acceptance of the Torah was still involuntary. The unity was in appearance. It was only almost a millennium later, at Purim, that we accepted the Torah in its fullest sense, with joy. It was a day when, because we were almost annihilated, that we united not only with a sense of purpose, but also with a sense of caring and sensitivity to each other. And today Purim is equally celebrated with caring for the less fortunate and with a sense of camaraderie and sharing. Purim is considered on such a high level that the day we generally consider the holiest day of the Jewish calendar, Yom (Ha)Kipurim, is compared to Purim as the lesser of the two, as Yom/a day kiPurim/like Purim.
Rabbi Shmulevitz z”l then cites one of the last verses in Mishleh/Proverbs that the Gemarrah uses to compare the righteousness of different generations: “False is charm – refers to the generation of Moshe and Joshua; vain is beauty—refers to the generation of [King] Chizkiyahu [when the entire nation, led by their king, did teshuvah]; but a God-fearing woman is praiseworthy – refers to the generation of Rav Yehudah bar Ilai… when six students would cover themselves with one blanket.” Rashi there explains that although only one blanket was available, no one took it for themselves. Rather they pushed it toward each other, trying to keep the others warm. [Similar stories are told of the Holocaust, when the Nazis would give a blanket to only one prisoner among six, yet the one with the blanket pulled others to share the blanket with him,even if he could not cover himself fully. CKS] It is this “one heart”, this sensitivity to others, that distinguishes us as a nation worthy of the Torah.
The Mishkan was more than just a structure, albeit a sacred one. The Mishkan was a recreation of the world in microcosm,notes Rav Dovid Hofstedter, citing Medrash Tanchuma. Each element represented a different aspect of creation – the curtains represented the heavens, the Parochet that separated the main sanctuary from the Holy of Holies represented the separation of the waters above from the waters below, and so on with each element of the Mishkan.
When Bnei Yisroel made the golden calf, they sullied the whole world so that it was no longer a place suitable for Hashem’s presence to rest in. The world itself needed to be recreated, at least symbolically. This time, however, Bnei Yisroel needed to put in effort, and Hashem would create a successful edifice worthy of His presence.
The second set of luchot could not recreate the world. Hashem imbued Bezalel, the chief architect of the Mishkan, with the qualities necessary for the Mishkan’s construction, the same chochma/wisdom, tenuvah/understanding and daas/knowledge that Hashem used in creating the world. This symbolic recreation of the world was the testimony that Hashem forgave us and cleansed the world of the impurity created by our sin.
There is a link between Hashem, the Torah and Klal Yisroel. We are here to bear witness that Hashem is the Creator of the olam/world, albeit His presence may be neolam/hidden/invisible, writes Rabbi Reiss in Meirosh Tzurim. When we retain our connection to Hashem through the Torah, we are keeping the world alive and bearing testimony to the reality of Hashem’s existence and presence. We no longer have a Mishkan or a Beit Hamikdosh, but we still have the Torah, we have tefillah/prayers of the Beit Hamikdosh, and we have the ability to care for each other through gemillat chasadim/acts of loving kindness. When we enter our inner Mishkan by learning Torah, doing mitzvoth, and helping one another we are helping maintain the world’s existence as the Mishkan and Beit Hamikdosh did earlier in our history, and when it will be rebuilt IY”H, may it be soon in our day.