Parshas Pekudei (HaChodesh) 5785
- Torah Tavlin
- Mar 27
- 2 min read
כי ענן ה' על המשכן יומם ואש תהיה לילה בו לעיני כל בית ישראל בכל מסעיהם ... (מ-לח)
Sefer Shemos relates the story of Klal Yisroel’s birth. Beginning in the dark world of Mitzrayim, followed by the Exodus and culminating in the building of a Home for Hashem. The climactic conclusion of this sefer should have been with the words, “And the presence of Hashem filled the Mishkan.” However, the Torah then adds a description of how the cloud rested upon the Mishkan and when it lifted, the travels continued. “For over the Mishkan a cloud of Hashem rested by day, and fire would appear in it at night in the view of all the House of Israel in all of their travels.” This information would be probably be appropriate in Sefer Bamidbar which details everything that happened during their travels in the desert. Why is it written here?
A story is told of a simple man named Berel who once had a dream that a special treasure was buried under a bridge in far away Warsaw. After having the dream several times, he realized that this might be a message for him and he made the long and arduous trek to Warsaw. Upon arrival, he met a guard standing by the bridge. Berel related the dream and explained that he needed to start digging right there. The guard laughed him off, relaying how he also had a dream about a treasure buried under a man named Berel’s oven! Berel quickly hurried back to find the treasure buried in his own home. R’ Bunim M’Pshischa zt”l would comment: people think they need to look here or there for inspiration and guidance in Avodas Hashem. But the truth is, one just needs to look within, realize your own greatness, your own potential, and utilize your inborn ability to serve Hashem.
“Make for me a Mikdash and I will dwell in them.” The Nesivos Shalom explains that Chazal interpret the words “in them” to imply that every individual is a Mikdash - a sanctuary - worthy of Hashem’s Shechina. And just as the Jews had forty-two journeys in the midbar, every man in his life has many stages. These Posukim teach "לעיני כל ישראל" - in the eyes of every Yid, that the story of the Midbar is not an obscure tale. It is your story, and you are the Mishkan that can let Hashem in.