Friday Torah Shmooze – Mar 15, 2024
וְלֹא־יָכֹל מֹשֶׁה לָבוֹא אֶל־אֹהֶל מוֹעֵד כִּי־שָׁכַן עָלָיו הֶעָנָן וּכְבוֹד ה׳ מָלֵא אֶת־הַמִּשְׁכָּן׃
“Moshe was unable to enter the Tent of Meeting because the cloud rested on it, and the glory of HaShem filled the mishkan.” Ex 40:37
QUESTION OF THE DAY: Why was Moshe now unable to enter the Ohel Mo’ed when G’d’s cloud was on it, especially since he was able to enter the cloud before
“And Moshe came into the midst of the cloud. and went up into the mountain. Moshe remained on the mountain for forty days and forty nights.” Ex 24:18
and right after:
“And He called to Moshe, and God spoke to him from the Tent of Meeting, saying…” Lev 1:1?
And later:
“When Moshe would enter the Ohel to speak with Him, he would hear the Voice being spoken to him from above the Ark-cover which is atop the Ark from between the two cherubim; and He spoke to him. Num 7:89
WORD OF THE DAY: מָלֵא (malei) = Full
RASHI (11thc France): AND MOSES WAS NOT ABLE TO COME INTO THE APPOINTED TENT — But another verse (Num 7:89) says he was? So long as the cloud was upon it “he was not able to come into the appointed tent” but as soon as the cloud disappeared he spoke with Him.
IBN EZRA (11th C Spain): Moses couldn’t go in until God called Moses and told him to enter the tent. Moses used to speak with God face to face in the place where the high priest entered once a year with a cloud of incense, because Moses was, as it were, a member of the house. I was forced to say this because Moses put the tablets in the ark. He similarly placed over the ark the covering with the cherubim on top. God’s glory was always upon them. … Moses alone entered beyond the veil. Moses immediately covered the ark of the covenant with it so that Aaron and his sons would not see it when they took down the veil.
BEKHOR SHOR (Joseph ben Isaac Bekhor Shor,12th c France): Every place where the cloud is, Moshe was unable to enter until called and given permission to enter, as: “And God called Moshe to the top of the mountain, and Moshe ascended” (Ex 19:20). This is the way of the world: to first call a person when one wants to speak with them.
CHIZKUNI (Hezekiah ben Manoah 13thc France): Moses was unable to enter the Tent of Meeting when he erected it. God’s cloud of glory rested above it immediately, to demonstrate G-d’s fondness of the Jewish people. Subsequently, the cloud moved from above the Sanctuary and took up its position above the Holy Ark in the Holy of Holies. As it says: “I will meet with you there and I will impart to you from above the cover of the Ark.” (Ex 25:22) Then Moses could enter the Sanctuary. (Nu 7:89)
RAMBAN (Nachmanides, 12th c Catalonia): Num 7:89 doesn’t mean Moses actually entered the Tent, but that he heard the voice of G’d emanating from the Holy of Holies. He did not cross the threshold of the Tabernacle.
OR HACHAIM (Ḥayyim ben Moshe ibn Attar 1696 – 1743, Morrocco): It seems strange that the “cloud” prevented Moses from entering the Tent seeing that the Torah had told us in Exodus 24,18 that “Moses went inside the cloud, etc.” The difference is clear. In Parshat Mishpatim Moses entered the cloud after G’d had summoned him. Here, no summons from G’d had been forthcoming.
PESIKTA RABBATAI (Aggadic midrash – 9th c.): “…the glory of the Lord filled the Tabernacle.” R’ Yehoshua of Sachnin said in the name of R’ Levi this is like an open cave at the edge of the sea. When the sea storms the cave is filled, but the sea is not reduced. So too, even though it is written that ‘the glory of the Lord filled the Tabernacle’ the upper and lower worlds did not lose anything of the brilliance of the glory of the Holy One, … Just as the Divine Presence was here below at the beginning of the creation of the world but withdrew to above, now it returned to be below as it had been “And it was that on the day that Moses finished…” (Num 7:1) … R’ Simon said: at the time when the Holy One told Israel to erect the Tabernacle, He hinted that when the Tabernacle below is erected, the Tabernacle above is erected, as it says “And it was that on the day that Moses finished…” It does not say ‘erecting the Tabernacle’ but rather ‘erecting this (et – את) the Tabernacle.’ This refers to the Tabernacle above.
THE REBBE: Clouds are a metaphor for the unknowable, unfathomable infinity of God, which is beyond the ability of the human mind to grasp. This is why once God’s presence rested on the mishkan, even Moses could not enter it.
DRASH: Once again (and at the risk of being monomaniacal), אתpoints us the way. Our target verse is preceded by the cascade of 40 את’s. They’re in front of every part, every implement and individual piece of the mishkan. It’s the most repetitive drum roll of any word anywhere in Torah. As the midrash says, the את implies that for every article we manufacture below in the physical realm, we create its parallel in olam habah, in the metaphysical realm. Though it was the work of human ingenuity, the mishkan was a complex divine construct, suffused by God in every cog. So once it is properly assembled, it instantly works (as Chizkuni says, above). And then what happens is literally a replication of the appearance of God to Moses on Sinai, and more astoundingly, a repetition of Creation of the cosmos itself.
If you put it all together, the Torah bends space and time on itself. Think of it as the ultimate app. We have a portal to see (through our avatar, Moses) God in the act of forming the universe and make it continuously present. That’s the lesson of the mishkan’s portability. And as in that former instance, God has to contract Himself to make way for reality to enter. It’s tzimtzum all over again, but now right in front of the eyes of all Israel!
This time we have it in a portable, material reminder, the mishkan, whose purpose is to train us in the most essential, most awesome revelation. It’s the paradigm we brought into the world: that God is ALWAYS making way for what we call our material reality, He is always contracting His essence to invite us into the world; He is continually creating the world by paying His supernal attention in every instant to everything in the cosmos. Of course He is invisible. He has to be to be omnipresent and omniscient. He suffuses every aspect of being. Thus we owe Him our continual awareness through kindness, service (avodah), study of Torah, and gratitude in return.
